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Steam has opened the Dawn of War II Beta for everybody! You can grab it from Steam right now.

Dawn of War II Beta @ Steam

Co-Optimus has posted an interview with Relic about the Co-op single player implementation in Dawn of War II. They do cover a few general single player questions as well.

Co-Optimus: What sort of tutorials can we expect in the game? Will there be any kind of advanced options other than the typical - “This is how you move!” and “This is how you build a soldier” ? Relic: Instead of a tutorial, we use something called a “Simplified Entry Point”. When you start a campaign you aren’t posed the question of whether you’d like to try a tutorial, you just start playing. For those at home in an RTS setting they can simply go about playing, those that are treading new territory have access to quick tips which explain the basic functions in the game similar to a tutorial. If something is too basic you can simply close it and move onto the next tip or continue playing.

Nick also pointed me towards their listing of Dawn of War II Achievements.

Rumour has it that the Dawn of War II Beta will be available immediately after it becomes the 21st at Greenwich Mean Time.

DoWSanc has a post from a THQ employee that describes what you need to do.

I activated Soulstorm via Steam last night (I had purchased a retail copy) and was able to download/install via Steam.

Someguy: It’s up and running now on Steam! Also, Soulstorm is on sale for 7.50 US dollars.

We should have DoW II by February 19th if Kotaku’s right.

We knew this yesterday of course, but didn’t pay attention to the gold announcement that closely.

With the Multiplayer Beta (Demo?) starting this week, the news that Dawn of War II is gold almost certainly means a zero day patch.

That being said, it means it's close!

THQ Inc. (NASDAQ: THQI) today announced that Warhammer(R) 40,000(TM): Dawn of War(R) II, developed by the award-winning Real-time strategy (RTS) developer, Relic Entertainment, has reached the gold master stage of development and is now entering manufacturing. Set in the grim, war-ravaged world of Games Workshop's (LSE: GAW) Warhammer 40,000 science fiction universe, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II delivers visceral combat, stunning visuals, and destructible environments throughout a non-linear single-player experience as well as a fully cooperative multiplayer campaign via Microsoft's free Games for Windows(R) - LIVE service. Developed exclusively for Windows PC and powered by an enhanced version of Relic's proprietary Essence Engine(TM) 2.0, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II is scheduled to be on store shelves at retail outlets nationwide on February 19, 2009.

"Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II will build on the critical acclaim and commercial success of the Dawn of War franchise, letting players experience RTS gaming like never before," said Kevin Kraff, vice president of global brand management, THQ. "Combining non-linear gameplay, cooperative multiplayer, cinematic visuals, and destructible battlefields brings a new, innovative dynamic to the genre."

"Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II stays true to the fast-paced, brutal heart of the Dawn of War series, while introducing branching single-player storylines and unique unit customization," said Tarrnie Williams, general manager, Relic Entertainment. "The deep, tactical gameplay lets players develop and lead personalized elite units who gain experience and grow stronger with every ferocious battle."

What do you think will be in the zero day patch?

Update: ESRFoof posted about this Q&A with Mark Noseworthy about the state of DoW2, and it includes info about the Zero Day patch.

Hirmetrium posted about a Ladder that’s getting going for Dawn of War 2.

Full details at the Electronic Sports League’s ladder site.

Thunder posted about what might be the final balance playtest patch before retail gets patched.

Patch 2.508 will be going live on the beta server “soon”. We’re locked down on balance right now and just in bug fix mode in anticipation of finalizing the patch for retail. Below are the patch notes for 2.508:

Online

- Further optimizations & fixes to the new network code.

Fixes

- Various crash fixes.

- Fixed auto patch downloader.

- Fixed team automatch.

- In game notification icons no longer overlap.

- AI no longer uses abilities such as such as sector artillery, gliders, etc in illegal situations.

- British Command Tank’s Creeping Smoke Barrage, once triggered, will no longer refund resources if canceled.

Hahaha AI Player can’t cheat anymore!

Update: Beta Patch 2.508 is released

Following their launch of the Dawn of War II Community site, Relic has just launched their CoH Community site including forums.

Sign up now!

Gamespot posted a new DoW2 video featuring a multiplayer SM vs Orkz battle. It runs a little over 3 minutes.

Dawn of War 2: Mutliplayer video feature @ Gamespot

Some new information popped up from the official Company of Heroes page about Operation Stonewall, a new multiplayer mode for Tales of Valor.

Operation Stonewall is one of the new multiplayer modes for Tales of Valor. It throws up to four players into a scenario where they defend a town against an all out attack by an overwhelming AI opponent. You’ll have to use everything at your disposal to try and hold out.

I’ve been waiting for a official co-op mode since mannerhiem went forward to create his own co-op maps for the community.

Tales of Valor