Winter Assault is the 2nd game of the Dawn of War series to be released, and requires the original Dawn of war game to be played.

The game introduces the Imperial Guard, who are a human race (us basically) and you can now take full command of the guard army. Having collected the Guard in Warhammer, it was really exciting to be able to play them for the 1st time in the game and I have to say no detail has been lost. There are almost every single type of unit present, normal riflemen, Kasrkins, Ogryns, snipers, Commisars, Generals and so it goes on. However the best thing of the new army has to be the artillary, the Guard's fist. Here we have Basalisks, Leman Russes, Hellhounds and the Baneblade. Also sentinals are available to play. You can customise the weapons on the tanks with upgrades to make it even more personal.

The campain story varies depending on what race you play. Lets say you play the Guard, the story will revolve around you protecting the titan crew to the crashed titan along with the help of the space marines, as you try to rush to get there before the orks or anyone else gets there. It's a change from the last game and is pretty refreshing. You can also play as the eldar and chaos campaign.

Visual wise, its pretty similar to the previous game, scenery is well designed with most of it being covered in snow. Controls and layout of the hud are all pretty similar, so it doesn't feel like a whole new game. The great thing about playing as the Guard are sure to be the numbers, with up to 15 men in a squad, the ability to equip them with grenade launchers and flame throwers all together mounts up to be devastating, even against stronger foes ie chaos.

If you liked the 1st game, this will not disappoint. Most of the key aspects have been kept and an amazing new army added and implemented. Long live the Guard.