A new and interesting turn for an RTS game
The fact that you now no longer churn out endless units but instead have to work to keep the 4 units you have alive is refreshing, and that alone brings the Strategy out in RTS. Equiping your Marines with the right weapons for the right jobs between missions can make a huge difference (some bosses have certain weaknesses, like fire, plasma or bolter rounds) Gaining intelligence on enemy units through special captured buildings such as Communications Arrays alalows you to find this out. Other capturable buildings allow you to gain Artillery and even temporary invincibility through tempes (Praise the Emperor!)
Tactics do play a part in the game. Your troops can hide behind cover. How effective this cover is can depend on how much damage they take, but the enemy also have the same advantage. Having your Dreadnaught stomp or blast its way through those fortifications and scythe through the enemy is very satisfying when otherwise you could get bogged down!
Between fights you level up your troops, giving them points to put into different areas such as close combat, ranged combat, health and energy (energy allows your units to activate their special abilities)
Weapons, armour and equipment drop randomly now and then during battles, and there is a special reward for each completed mission, which offer new or improved things for you to use. All equipment is switchable (as long as they have the right training to use it, which is partly where your levelling up comes in)
Multiple mission options begin to open up as you play, giving you the choice of where to attack next, and the story is very well produced and keeps you playing to find out what's going to happen next
Graphically the game is lovely, and sound is also well produced
The only downsides are that Vista has had a few issues running the game, but most issues have now been sorted. Internet is required for activation but this is something that's becomming the norm these days unfortunately. A few more maps would be welcomed but this could be implemented with downloadable content easily enough (I think this may be the intention)
To sum up, I love DOW and it's add-ons, but I can now happily say that I love DOW2 and it's difference too. Don't let the fact that it's now DOW 1.5 ruin the chance to have LOTS of fun