Relic Game's Warhammer: Dawn of War franchise is soon to expand into its third generation, but before it does, there will be an open beta, letting us test the game out and Relic make sure that its servers are up to snuff. It's set to run from April 21 through the 24th. That's just a few days before its 27th release date, so this seems more like a way to hype up the game's launch than anything else, but no doubt data acquired during testing will lead to some balance tweaks on day one.
Since THQ went under, the Dawn of War franchise is now held under the Sega banner, which is why that publisher is handling certain aspects of this testing period. It tells us that this beta test will focus on the multiplayer aspects of the game, letting players take control of one of the three game's major races - Space Marines, Orks or Eldar - to battle it out on a variety of maps.
Those taking part will also be able to equip their army with different doctrines, meaning that the type of war they can wage will be subtly different in each game. There will be custom and quickmatch battles, as well as three different maps to play on.
When the full game releases just a few days later, we can expect eight multiplayer maps to choose from, as many as 20 doctrines per faction, and nine elites per race, so there are new units to look forward to as well.
There will also be the addition of playing against AI in the main release.
If you'd like to take part in the open beta, you'll need to sign up on the official Dawn of War website and await your confirmation.