Since you only control basically two squads, you can get in a situation where if you split up, both players can be overwhelmed by superior numbers.
Since the game uses Microsoft's Game for Windows - Live system, there's built-in voice chat support and THQ revealed on Thursday that the game also uses Valve's Steamworks for authentication. Once you land on the battlefield, players must communicate with one another, which should be relatively easy if both players have headsets. The way the campaign is designed, you can't take every squad type with you into battle, so you have to weigh capabilities and select the squad types that you think will get the job done. This makes cooperation important even before a battle starts, as one player might decide to serve as a scout element while the other provides the heavy firepower. The second squad is one they get to choose, and it provides the soldiers it could be a scout squad, a heavy weapons squad, or an assault squad. Some commanders can heal, others can build defenses, and others are exceptional in combat. One of the squads is the commander that the player has chosen these are basically hero units that have powerful abilities. Co-op in Dawn of War makes this kind of intimate control easier, because both players have only two squads they control. It's+far+easier+to+micromanage+your+squads+in+co-op. An example is that you might have a scout squad cloak and explore ahead, then use their sniper ability to pick off a particularly tough foe. By eliminating quantity, the designers focus on quality you have to carefully maneuver each squad, as well as effectively use their powers and abilities to maximize results. Instead, you control a handful of Space Marine squads in battle. You don't control huge armies, and you don't have a base that pumps out new units constantly. The big idea to wrap your head around in Dawn of War II is that the campaign missions feel like tactical warfare. Dawn of War II takes a slightly different approach, as we discovered recently. If you were playing by yourself, the computer would control the second commander. In Red Alert 3, co-op play was possible because the campaign was built around the idea of each mission having two commanders. Last year's Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 featured co-op play throughout its campaign, and now THQ and Relic have built co-op play into the campaign for Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II. If you're interested in exactly how the Swarmlord will work in the single player campaigns, check out our preview of the Tyranid campaign.Co-operative play in real-time strategy games seems to be an idea gaining traction. There's more information about the different units that will be available in Dawn of War 2: Retribution on Relic's Dawn of War blog. Upon landing the Autarch increases the speed, damage, health and of nearby infantry units. Soar through the air and land at the targeted location. Greatly increases the unit's speed but reduces the Autarch's damage output for the duration of the ability. Once the Autarch's work is done, she vanishes from the battlefield, ready to be called upon again at a reduced cost. Once triggered the grenades will be called in from the sky, once they've gone off, the Autarch crash lands to clean up the aftermath. Upon activating the Autarch the play gets to hand place the landing points for a volley of grenades. Instead the Autarch takes the form of a special ability that can be activated once enough kills have been made. Unlike the Swarmlord, Eldar players won't be able to train and deploy the Autarch from base as with ordinary units.