There will be... RETRIBUTION! Huge thanks to all of you once again for watching these over the course of several years. I really hope these have been worth the wait! Even though there's more to go, this feels like such an important end to the road. For many, its where Dawn of War does end! These games are incredibly special to me, and being able to talk about them so passionately online has been wonderful. Despite any stresses or difficulties in producing this stuff, its always been a blast, and I hope to be able to do it all over again with even more games that mean just as much to me as these have! Oh god, also wanted to say: This video had to be re-uploaded during the premiere because it got copyright striked. Sorry to everyone who followed the initial premiere for the confusion! I hope to put the OG clip that got striked somewhere in the future so you can see what it was meant to be. To support me making videos in the future, and to have your own input on future releases alongside other bonuses, please consider following me on Patreon: www.patreon.com/ThunderPsyker Or, if you would prefer to send a one-time donation, you can do so via Ko-Fi: ko-fi.com/thunderpsyker

"Welcome to Retrospective Review - Dawn of War II: Retribution. After 8 Years of development, hopefully it would have been worth the wait. Thanks and have fun" - ThunderPsyker

Come! Let's see what passes for a retrospective among your misbegotten kind!

While the tyranid campaign definitely sucks compared to all the others, it does have one highlight at the very end. Every other campaign has Kyras trash-talking the shit out of you, but when he's up against the tyranids he knows his words are useless, so instead he talks himself up but you can hear the fear in his voice. It's a very satisfying feeling of the game recognising that you're something scarier than the final boss.

A captain Bluddflagg game could be amazing. Meet new people, do their dirty work, and steal their shiny stuff.

I do like how there's an in-lore reason for Commissar LORD Bernn not speaking in the cutscenes; he doesn't want to draw attention to his scarred face to the other 'important' characters, but he's a lot more vocal with guardsmen. If Merrick wasn't with the Inquisitor and General all the time they might even have some sort of dialogue.

"But Abbadon is one of the big important characters so... WHY does he care!?" Look, anyone in a position of executive control will tell you that sometimes they just need to micromanage the shit out of something unimportant to blow off steam, and throwing Eliphas at the blood ravens just to fuck up their day sounds like some great stress relief to me.

Thank you so much for having me come in to voice Keyleth! Was a fantastic time

For anyone wondering: Retribution has a metric fuck ton of cut content, most of it is still in the game files, waiting to be modded back in. Each campaign was suppost to be a bit longer and more unique, the game was also suppost to use the day system from the original dow2 and chaos rising which would have been relevant in the chaos campaign for example, when abbadon gives eliphas "3 more pitiful days". There is so much more stuff i cant remember off the top of my head, but i plan to make a mod for each faction's campaign that re enables the remaining cut content for each campaign so keep your eyes peeled.

Holy shit VoiceQuills in a ThunderPsyker video is the most unexpected crossover I've ever seen

Relic more or less confirmed that the "slightly tainted" ending of Chaos Rising is canon, with Avitus being the traitor, and the FC and Thaddeus being the slightly corrupted ones. Hence their absence in retribution, they're dicking around on their repentance crusade.

3 years to review the whole DoW 2. The Imperium is proud of this blazing fast pace

At first I was sad, when they nerfed Cyrus’ explosives…then I gave him the ability to slow down time and a high level sniper rifle. :)

A lot of people give shit to Diomedes as a character, but I think his voice lines and delivery are awesome. He’s a zealous freak that talks in mixed oldie English and honor jargon. He’s angry, he’s confident, and he’s just the right amount of dumb. You may laugh at him, but you will remember him

Indrid Casts, is honestly a hero for still doing casts of DOW2

As insightful and hilarious as ever. The "orks doxxing kyros" joke and rohnan's mlg montage had me legit laugh out loud.

It’s such a shame the commissar didn’t get any lines in the campaign because holy shit his voice actor kills it. Go do yourself a favour and watch a compilation of his voice lines sometimes. “It’s me versus a *shred* of their god!”

Cyrus: The ONLY Scout marine that has PTSD equivalent of a Terminator.

"8/10, needs more corpses." - Avitus Reacts™

7:58 That voice, a voice of an elf lover and the man who loves a Karl Franz.

So, if this wasn't mentioned yet but the reason why the MC from the first two games isn't in Retribution is because the canon ending of Chaos Rising is the MC being sent on a redemption crusade as Gabriel discovered traces of chaos corruption on them and some of their soldiers (likely including Thaddeus), Avitus not being in Retribution is well hinted at in Retribution by Tarkus, he was the canon traitor for Chaos Rising which is why Tarkus was mute a good chunk of Retribution.

I remember playing the campaign for the first time at launch with the Imperial Guard and laughing at the last boss because my army was invulnerable during the moral boosting effect of the commissars execute ability (which lasted longer than the cooldown of the ability). Even better, I would only loose a guardsman the first time I activated the ability, since the invulnerability would protect the next poor bastard that got picked to be executed. One of the most broken things I've ever seen in a video game. Not sure if they ever changed it.

Bluddflagg is still the absolute best part of this whole thing.

“IT IS THE RETROSPECTIVE!!!”

One detail I loved with the Guardsmen campaign was when Merrick hits the Lord General on the space hulk, you'll see Commissar Bern point his weapon at Merrick.

*Captain Diomedes sees the new Legions Imperialis release, among which is a box of two Solar Auxilia superheavy tanks* "IT IS THE BANEBLAAAAADES!!!"

I remember when you originally mentioned the DOW mods in the original videos, amd having retribution be the milestone. Some say its been a long road. I say its a road that was a pleasure to travel down with you ^_^

To be fair, what would the Tyranids even say. They are a hive mind so they are already thinking the same thing. They just hunger and go out to fill that ever growing hunger. All other factions and characters have their own thoughts, motivations, wants, and desires. The Tyranids have only one mind and one goal.

The IG Commissar gets a guaranteed power fist that makes him functionally invincible near the end. It's glorious to beat Kyras to death single-handed!

Thanks! As a person who also grew up playing warhammer, I appreciate the things you do, it's keeps it alive and might bring more to enjoy the cruelty of the 41st millennium. Maybe after the DOW 2 mods and DOW3 reviews we might see Battlefield gothic 1 and 2 about a man who single handedly faced Abaddon two times with his wits and courageous charisma that attracts the eldar, Space Marines, and A fuking Primarch to join him in his battles against the eye of terror. Another awesome looking into warhammer is Captain Titus and his unyielding loyalty to his duty to humanity and his story that changes him from the experimental warp device for the better to be immune to Chaos! His understanding of tactics and strategy are incredible and yet simple. He doesn't think himself a god and cares for his brothers and the ppl around him, ppl might compare him to the salamanders but I think he just still has his humanity. We are glad to are still pushing through and giving us something to wait for. Till next time, thanks.

Honestly, a Legacy of Kain retrospective sounds really really cool. Another game that is more dark in nature, but given the way the games are written, also much more theatrical! Can't wait tosee how that video ends up being like, seeing my love for the series.

Glad to see that Indrid Casts got a bit of a shout out in this video. He single-handedly has kept the competitive scene alive. Awesome vid as always!

Ah, Retribution. This is the DoW2 expansion I started with, and one I undertook an insane task of mapping every single piece of wargear in all single player campaigns in... whilst discovering at least one bugged unit and two major exploits (see below) that weren't as bad in Chaos Rising and not even viable/possible in OG DoW2. (Do pin this comment Thunder if you want, since that insanity is just dumb) Still love the Exterminatus and Marine epilogue scene - then again I am a massive Blood Ravens fan x -) and in my books Angelos' story ends here, for he has lost many friends, nearly died and endured Hell on earth, but now our boy Gabe is the Chapter Master we all knew he was destined to be. There is no official 3rd installment in the franchise, only a despicable fan game wearing Relic's skinsuit... OK, time for the busted stuff in retribution's campaigns that I found Borked unit was Chaos' Bloodletter squad. For some reason, as soon as you unlock it it has both its abilities active - abilities which it should only unlock with separate upgrades. Already bad when you unlock very powerful melee unit that teleports and can become momentarily invulnerable, BUT combine this with borked exploit 1 and it's a menace. Additionally, Terminators could be equipped to have the missiles, minigun and heavy flamer's ability if youclicked to upgrade all three before the 1st one you choose is fully researche, that gets funky at times... - borked exploit number 1: reinforcing infantry units cost a noticeable amount less than their OG mathemathical cost. For example, the 4x Bloodletters cost 440 requisition and 100 power as a squad, so naturally each individual is worth 110 and 25. However, when reinforcing the req price is 88. SO theoretically you can unlock infinite money by grinding units - including friendly fire AoE effects!!! - as long as one member of that squad survives long enough to get back to a reinforcement point. Bad already, but when the Imperial Guard, Orks and Tyranids each have ways for FREE reinforcements... *cheese level: Wallace and Gromit* Oh, and that's the LESSER broken exploit, here's the bigger one. - borked exploit 2: one of the ways in which you gain wargear is that some items are bound to specific secondary objectives. If you click "End Mission" during a mission before the "Mission completed" screen but after getting any wargear you retain said gear you found during that mission attempt along with any exp the deployed heroes gained during it. Should you do so during the next attempt you won't get another copy of it even if you complete the same objectives. On its own, OK - means a horrid crash of the game stings a bit less. However, if you donate that piece of gear for exp and re-try the same mission, you will get it again. Now my hunch is that the game engine checks if you have item X in inventory, and if you do it won't give you another 99,9% of the time. Trust me, I ran a total of 25 campaigns across 6 races and only saw duplicate gear outside this exploit once. This "exploit" system was in place already in OG DoW2. However, in that game "End Mission" also progressed the day counter which could lock you out of missions and really screw you over with ever increasing mission difficulty if you tried to abuse this exploit there. In Chaos Rising when they soft-locked the campaign to "each completed mission advances the calendar by one day" this exploit become s a viable free XP and wargear farm. So why is it i.m.o. only truly and disgustingly broken in Retribution? Well, because it's the only one where some secondary objectives are coded to reward you with unit upgrade expendables. For example, in the Aurelia (ice planet) missions you have them tied to the "destroy bloodletter shrines" and "destroy Manticores" secondary objectives in mandatory and optional missions respectively, which in that sequence reward you with heavy infantry and walker upgrades. And you get them each and every time if you expend them to upgrade units, since they are nno longer in inventory and thus game's built-in checker sees no wrong. Which means, if you use the end mission exploit, you can get FULLY UPGRADED units like Terminators, Wraithguard, Carnifexes and Deff Dreads wihtout EVER choosing them from a mission reward option! Eldar and Marines in particular get disgustiong with this, since Termies and Wraithguard are horrendously OP when the IA is not prepared to deal with them yet (hell, 4 units of full upgrade Wraithguard plus Farseer is OP borken in ANY mission xDD). The only caviat seems to be that you cannot hop between different missions in the middle of a loop, that breaks the loop in a way that you can never get that in-coded objective reward again in that specific campaign. Finally, to add on the hero system. It's very clear each faction's hero has clear cheese build strats you can focus on to a ridiculous degree. Chaos Sorcerer maxing the damage and energy traits: now you cast twice the damage in spells and can clone any non-boss unit (how does it feel getting Manticore'd across the fucking map AI?). Lord General - how about I drop Leman Russes everywhere for less price than when buyying them from HQ? Oh, and the infamous Nids - unsuppressable blob with extra HP and armor packed full of venom cannons that heal everyone in that blob each time any of them do damage to an enemy, no wonder the final boss gets melted in under 3 minutes.... Holy hell I printed half an essay here, please do give it a like and comment if you found other borked units or exploits in the game xD o7

Tyrea wanting to murder the player in the second Eldar Versus mission made sense to me, since it IS our fault the planet got glassed by the Imperium. We killed them as they tried to stop it.

Been here for this Dawn of War jounrey since the very beginning and never thought I'd see the day you'd get to Retribution. This series holds immense nostalgia for me and your videos have been a little gateway to that for me. Thank you ThunderPsyker.

My god the epic montage with ecclesiarchy approved version of bury me had me in stitches. Your retrospectives were always peak entertainment but this one here takes the gold star.

To think these reviews will be the closet thing we to a new episode of TTS is bittersweet.

to any who read this I hope you are having a good day

3:11 this "Meanwhile" have never been bested to this day.

Man. It sure is a shame Relic folded and never released DOW3. I guess we'll just have to look at that fatally badass teaser trailer and imagine what might have been.

Despite the lack of character for the tyranids I suppose it was the best option to make everybody happy. The lore guys don't go crazy and the people asking for the tyranids get the playable faction, even though building a none speaking character is possible, the way dow2 tells its story not through pre-made cutsences would have flatend any punch the character would have had.

I knew I heard Voice Quills in the Eldar bit lol

Retribution was my gateway into warhammer 40k and well Bluddflagg is the reason orks are my favorite factions, diomedes and the space marines might scream about courage and honour but bluddflagg and his crew are just fun. And thats before they get to meet the nutcase on the space hulk.

Your editing, your humor, and just the personality from your vids will always make my day! Thanks for the vids this year John Lunch Time

The editing is gold

Very glad you gave the voice actors props at the end. The fact they remained consistent aside from a few recasts here and there (Though then reprises) throughout the seven games is phenomenal. I will never stop singing the praises that these games have the best music, best voice acting and some of the best storytelling in video games.

One of the big things that made me sad about the nids was that as you level up you’re encouraged to get *smaller* units instead of bigger ones

Can we talk about how crisp the voice acted segments are ? I seriously thought Rohnan and Kayleth's voices were the real in-game deal until I realize it's voice acted and not just taken from the game

"in a GAME for £20 back in 2011" and once again Thunderpsyker is relatable within the first 60 seconds of a video

Always love seeing these come around, great stuff bossman!

Great Video as always ! See you back in another 2-3 years !

Every time this channel posts a video my whole week gets better ❤

Me: Hey Thunder, how’re those videos coming- Thunder: There will be… RETRIBUTION! Me: …

I lowkey adore the voice acting in this game. Big fan of the work the Eldar in particular put in.

Good to see you back in the saddle, Kitten. How are things with you and Magnus? He treating you well?

Love your stuff! Thanks for making the video!

Glad to see that the orks got it right, and I am so FUCKING excited to see your thoughts on Blood Omen.

ayyyyyyy new thunderpsyker! glad to see this video finally make it out and excited to see what kinda content youll do going forward

I want you to know you sent me down a giant rabbit hole of Alestorm videos at 3:06 lol thank you

I feel a bit of pain knowing that by far one of the best voice-acted units in the game, the commissar lord, isn't actually a voiced character in the campaign.

Great review and seeing you mention Indrid and Torpid alongside mods is a really cool thing too.

My headcanon is that when Eldar fight, the opposing Autarchs do a psychic wargame, simulating the battle, with a Farseer authenticating its possibility as a future outcome. Obviously though, in 40k there's only war

I'm so glad I stuck around all these years ever since your first DoW review.

You are the GOAT, TunderPsyker.

Amazing funny video, been looking forward to this since the first dow retrospective. Love the montarge bit, phenomenal work!

Glad to see you bring up this nostalgia piece! Also, Vae Victis! (Watch to the end to understand that reference 😂)

Thanks TP, really needed some good news today! ❤

watching this makes me wanna do a DoW II trilogy playthrough, god I miss this series

I have nothing to add except that having just done another playthrough of New Vegas, that when Diomede's voice actor is not shouting 24/7 he sounds SO good, and he already sounded great

I haven’t laughed so hard at something in a long time until: “Mr Nailbrain, leak his IP address!” *aggressive orky keyboard tapping* “UUUUUGGGHHH”

I’m actually so exited about the blood omen review also, also side note I’ve always loved these videos cause with these retrospectives and ITEHATTSD got me into 40K way back in 7th edition when I was a wee lad

19:32 Krieg-skin Adrastia is making me feel things The Emperor doesn't want me to feel.

"The whole planet must be bathed in blood." Quite appropriate, given the ending of Retribution.

Great video, I look forward to seeing more :D

I'm so happy when TP uploads

The idea of orks DDoSing a craft world has me in stitches. They’d absolutely do that just for a laugh.

This video brought back the memories and laughs. Thank you!

I like to think that all the _Retribution_ campaigns happened in some way (except the Tyranids’). * The _Spehs Mehreens_ campaign was just the storyline missions with no real deviation from what the game depicted. * The Wall of Guns’ campaign was about General Castor and friends tracking down all the remaining Guard units in the subsector and gathering them back up, as well as ensuring that the corrupted guardsmen didn’t release Ulkair, since if that actually happened, the plot of the game would have gone very differently. Unlike Diomedes, the Flashlight Brigade used their already present and useable fleet of ships to move around the subsector. * The BEST campaign was about Kaptain Bluddflag krumpin’ all da ovva Orks still in the subsector and press-ganging them into his crew. He actually made it to Cyrene before anyone else did and fought Kyras before he ascended, and would have killed the Chapter Master if the Eldar hadn’t interfered long enough for the git to escape, so the Kaptain decided to count it as a win and helped himself to the Inquisitor’s hat before eventually leaving Aurelia in his space hulk turned krooza. But before getting his new ship, he was forced to use tellyportas jury-rigged by Mr. Nailbrain that piggybacked off of the teleportatium network being used by Diomedes. * The Elf campaign was about the Eldar sneaking around for their own reasons, like saving as many Eldar lives and soulstones as they could before everything managed to get even worse. Ronahn interfered with Kyras’s and Bluddflag’s duel in order to save his sister’s soulstone. They got around by using the Webway, _like normal._ * The _KAYOSS_ campaign was about Eliphas being ordered by Abaddon to bring the renegade elements of the Black Legion back under his command, or to eliminate them for their disobedience. Interfering with the plans of the nobody Chapter Master responsible for their insubordination was just a bonus. They traveled via portals.

Bluddflag doesn’t actually kill Kyras. He leaves her alive because he wants her to come after him to get her hat back. Because it’s more fun that way.

Didn't watch the video and i already subbed, that pfp is class sir

Already stoked about the next one!

Pancreasnowork cameo!!!!! Let's gooooo

A Patreon for my favorite voice actor? Say no more!

that video of the voice actors in the studio is so great. i love zach hanks just busting out his catachan voice

I haven't played a single DoW game myself and a lot of things you describe or compare to past games go over my head, sideways from my ankles and diagonally away from my solar plexus, but i don't mind much because i very much enjoyed the way you explain things, narrate, and all the editing of the video overall. Both on the actual gameplay and the segments with character cut-outs moving. "MISTAH NAILBRAIN! LEAK 'IS IP ADDRESS!" Got me laughing out loud. And I like the mix between the more even-voiced explanation to your more emotive moments. Plus, it's sweet that you point out some specific characters like the Blood Raven fellows and talk about them so fondly. The discovery of your channel i mainly have to thank the algorithm for recommending your update video, after following the Bruva Alfabusa projects, so i don't have any proppa pre-existing history with your content. Part of me kind of wishes i had, you seem like a fun chap though I better beware not developing a parasocial relationship lest i fall into entitlement the likes of which Chaos would be proud of. In any case, this feels like a somewhat special video in how the circle is made full. Discovering you from a project where you provided (voice) acting, getting a taste of your return with your own content with this video, and learning that this game is in part responsible for your very interest in voice acting. Thank you for the video, and wish you and others good luck and fun for the future. Beware of ruinous powers, give thanks to all your blessings, and cherish all that matters. 'Ave a good one.

17:17 Playing as the T'au commander is MUCH fun. (I practically forgot there are other choices.) You get to feel how T'au battlesuits should feel like using: mobile, customizable, devastating. Able to move in swiftly to deliver devastating damage up close before swiftly getting out of harms way, as it is customizable it can be made into a single entity executioner in ranged combat, a very mobile artillery, a mob clearing "brothergetthefamertheheavyflamer" kind of suit even. Oh, also the missile pods have a chance to 1 shot 1 kill almost anything. Sure, he is near helpless in melee but that is what the jetpack is for...among other things. I wish Dawn of War Dark Crusade XV-8 crisis battle suits where a bit more similar.

I will look forward to you weeping through most of Dawn of War III review.

2024 will be a good year if we see more @ThunderPsyker Dawn of War content!

8:05 given “eldar diplomacy” feel not out of line killing each other without asking is all part of Eldrad’s master plan.

A new ThunderPsyker? That's always worth the wait. But especially if it's him covering Blood Omen! Fantastic video, and here's hoping we get to see some Legacy of Kain love soon.

Now that the series is (almost) complete, I will have lots of fun rewatching all of them while painting my figurines ! I love your writing and editing, so I hope you will review more games. Maybe the original Halo trilogy ?

A THUNDERPSYKER VIDEO :))) yay

Now that hes done ALL Dawn of War content, i wonder whats next. Its sad they never made a third game.

And another great video. Thank you.

Given what the Blood Ravens are like, they probably stole Abaddon's favourite coffee mug.

I swear that Lord General says sometime in the multiplayer "Quit your life,Eldar!"⚡💀

I wanna thank you for being part of the reason I've invested all my money into cool grimdark lore and overpriced plastic crack. Jokes aside, you're cool as hell.

Yes! ThunderPsyker! Your awesome

Retribution was just gloriously broken at release and I think some of those "bugs" still exist to this day. I mean,summoning IG units in the campaign actually giving you resources is just surreal and...weirdly fitting.

I’m always a guardsman, and Castor is my favourite general. His attitude is the perfect mix between Sturns raw chad energy and a British man from the empire. I liked retribution as it feels like a rushed version of the Dow 1 campaign, feels like they were trying to modernise the dow1 style into the dow2 engine.