After successfully adding a 5th race into the Dawn of War, THQ and Relic decided to put their skill forward in introducing two more races in the stand alone expansion pack: Dark Crusade. The Necrons and Tau made their debut in Dark Crusade, two highly different races with two different play styles from the existing races in the Dawn of War universe.

The Necrons are an ancient race who's souls were ensnared by the C'tan gods and trapped inside metal bodies to feign immortality. With a unique type of requisition income and a powerful array of units the Necrons brought a different style of play to Dawn of War. The Tau however are an advanced technological race with immense firepower and superior weaponry to the other races in the universe. With alien allies such as the Kroot and Vespids, the Tau have a diverse feel.

The Singleplayer campaign took a different approach to the previous two games and took place in the style of a campaign to control a planet; each mission was to attempt to conquer an area of the planet, afterwards the territory could be defended from enemy attack. A second new aspect came in the form of customisable hero's, with weapon and armour upgrades available after each successful mission. The hero's could also have an honour guard, made up of elite troops; this created a progressive feel and gave the player a sense of achievement to see there character developing.

The multiplayer again saw the addition of new maps, all based on the geography of the planet Kronus (the planet in the singleplayer), and being named after various sectors of the planets surface.
 

The Necrons

Imperial Guard Heavy Weapon Team - A deployable defensive turret with various weapon upgrade options, the Heavy Weapon team brings a boost to the Guards tier 2. Its basic weapon is a Heavy Bolter, with a lascannon upgrade optional straight away and an Autocannon upgrade at t3.

Space Marine Grey Knights - From the Daemon Hunter order, the Grey knights are Space Marines with psychic abilities. Each Grey Knight carries a Power Halberd and a Storm Bolter, and the unit as a whole excels at both ranged and close combat attacks. With the furious charge and Inquisition abilities, the Grey Knights give the Space Marines a increased deadliness in tier 2.

Ork Flash Gitz - Orks who are obsessed with weapons and shooting can be promoted to Flash Gitz. These squads carry powerful weapons to chew up the enemy in a hail of slugs. Although weak armoured, the Flash Gitz are a powerful unit and can out shoot even the Tau.

Chaos Daemon Prince - A Chaos Lord who has succumbed completely to the taint of chaos can be elevated to a Daemon Prince. Receiving energy from the warp itself a Chaos Lord transforms into a mutated monstrosity capable of taking on entire armies on its own.

Eldar Harlequin - A close combat expert dedicated to the Eldar laughing god, the Harlequin is a deadly hero that can take on squads on its own and when using its special abilities, can take down heavy armoured foes in single blows. With great speed and the ability to disrupt whole infantry fire lines, the Harlequin boots the Eldar's combat prowess.

Screenshots

Tau Commander

Ork Combat

Necron Lord

Imperial General