I’m a latecomer to the Dawn of War series. Chalk it up to innate fear of getting myself mixed up with the Warhammer crowd (who can almost out-geek D&D folks), but I stayed away from it till about two weeks ago. Picking up the THQ bundle on Steam might have been one of the greatest things I’ve yet done (sorry, wife) as it’s given me plenty of time to appreciate both games as some of the best real-time strategy games around.

Dawn of War II hit earlier this year to much-deserved acclaim, and will soon be expanding with a free Last Stand multiplayer mode hitting next month.

But today THQ and Relic Entertainment announced their “sequel” (read: expansion) to Dawn of War IIChaos Rising. In it you “return to sector Aurelia where a long lost frozen ice planet has reappeared from the Warp, bringing with it new secrets to uncover and foes to face.” Once again you’ll take command of the Blood Ravens and try to defend this sector against the evil Space Marines of the Black Legion. Those traitorous bastards work to destroy the Blood Ravens from within, so you can upgrade your squads with new legendary wargear, unlock new abilities, and advance your squads to level 30. You can choose to give in to the dark side and do the same in multiplayer against new units from all the other factions.

God, it’s so great and dorky. Never mind the story if it’s too much for you and definitely at least check out the demo of the game if you haven’t yet, as the gameplay is incredible.

Check their official site for more.