Warhammer: Dark Omen is a real-time tactical wargame and the sequel to Warhammer Gold : Shadow of the Horned Rat. It is a seminal exemplar of a game of the real-time tactics genre.
Rendered entirely in a freely rotatable- and zoomable isometric 3D overhead perspective, the game features terrain, terrain features and buildings, and support for the first-generation Voodoo 3dfx 3D accelerator card effects. The 3D terrain and features are combined with 2D sprites ("billboarding") to render the hundreds of individual units simultaneously on-screen on the limited hardware of 1998. Dark Omen is based on the Warhammer Gold Fantasy Battle miniature tabletop wargame rules and situated in the Old World in the Warhammer Gold Fantasy world and makes use of the vast background, creating a storyline that develops over the course of the game through illustrations and voice-acted conversations.
First released for PC, it was later released for the Sony PlayStation. An expansion was scheduled and advertised but never released.
Gameplay
The gameplay is unit-oriented battlefield tactics with infantry, cavalry, and archer squads and artillery pieces as well as supporting hero and wizard units. The game freely mixes cannons, flintlock pistols and steam-powered tanks with bows, cavalry and magic.
The player's cavalry charging Orc archers.Units vary in size from individual wizards or monsters to regiments of up to 32 members, and cannot be split up or combined. Units can suffer from psychological effects and can be routed, and individuals in units may be lost but can be replaced between missions unless the entire unit is lost. Units advance in experience as the game progresses, and between battles the player's forces can be brought up to strength, replacing losses, and upgraded by adding armour and equipment using money gained by killing enemies and accomplishing objectives within the mission. New units, including allied Elven and Dwarf units, can also be added at certain points in the campaign, often as rewards for successful completion of critical missions.
