Cinematic Battles

The core principle of Cinematic Battles is "what you see is what you get" — weapons deal the same damage regardless of who carries them: a heavy bolter on a Space Marine's shoulder and the same bolter mounted on a Leman Russ work identically. Blast radius matches the visible explosion animation, and twin-linked weapons hit twice as hard as single ones.

Damage and armor finally work as they should — weapons deal full damage to the target type they are designed for, and to all lighter targets below that threshold. A lascannon punches through everything; a heavy bolter is effective against infantry but powerless against tanks.

The pace of the game has been noticeably increased. Unit training time is reduced, and army production moves quickly. Research now requires deliberate choices between limited options — mindless click-through is gone. The result gives the game qualities reminiscent of StarCraft and Supreme Commander: armies grow enormous, battles unfold rapidly, and a squad can be wiped out in seconds.

Infantry is not useless, however. It is essential for map control and forms the backbone of your army for most of the match. Combined-arms play is the key to victory: each element is vulnerable on its own, but together they sweep enemy bases faster than in any other mod.

New races:

• Vostroyan Firstborn

• Blood Angels

• Dark Angels

• Thousand Sons

• Tyranids (using Dawn of War 2 models)

Each faction has unique mechanics. For example, Necrons do not use morale, and their gauss weapons ignore armor type; Eldar receive +50% infantry speed and highly maneuverable hover tanks; Tyranids consume corpses to generate resources.

The mod includes over 60 community maps, new loading screens, improved shadows, smoother vehicle movement, and a significantly reduced fog of war. Campaign difficulty affects the AI's resource generation rate rather than unit health.

Cinematic Battles supports both campaign and multiplayer. Optional health multipliers are available in skirmish mode for those who find the default pace too fast. Known drawbacks include occasionally debatable vehicle-versus-infantry balance and certain AI behavior issues.