Squads
Force Commander: The player-named Force Commander leads the strike force throughout the game and is the one "squad" that always deploys. The youngest Force Commander in the history of the Blood Ravens, he earned a reputation for his ability to command in situations that would have broken other leaders. The Force Commander is never heard speaking outside of battle, where he can be heard shouting the generic battle cry "For the Emperor!" when using the "Rally!" ability, making him an almost silent protagonist. He can use almost any piece of equipment, save for some squad-specific items and, until he unlocks the relevant skill in the "Ranged" tree, heavy ranged weapons.
Tarkus: A veteran of countless battles, Tarkus leads a squad of 3 Tactical Marines, who specialize in drawing enemy fire with his "Taunt" ability, while reducing ranged damage and ignoring suppression with his "Tactical Advance" ability. They are armed with the ubiquotous bolters, but Tarkus can also wield plasma guns and flamers and can turn frag grenades into an energy-using ability rather than one replenished by supply drops. With investment in "Melee" tree, Tarkus and the squad can switch to chainswords and bolt pistols, and Tarkus can wield power swords and plasma pistols, but that reduces their ranged capabilities; investment into the "Fortitude" tree upgrades the squadmates to Veterans, granting two of them plasma weapons. Other than the Force Commander, Tarkus is the only member of the strike force who is able to equip Terminator armor by default, whereas Avitus and Thaddeus have to unlock by investing enough points in the right skills. As Terminators, Tarkus and his men can't take cover, enter buildings, use hand-thrown ordnance or normal weaponry, but are well-protected, crush through most obstacles, and are armed with storm bolters (twin-linked bolters) and tank-crushing power fists; Tarkus may also equip a heavy flamer and a shoulder-mounted missile battery. His professional, confident, seen-it-all demeanor makes him a model Space Marine Sergeant.
Avitus: Avitus leads a squad of 2 Devastators, heavy weapon specialists, whose belt-fed heavy bolters can suppress and slow enemies caught in their line of fire; Avitus can also use his "Focus Fire" ability to additionally increase his attack damage, and can trade his heavy bolter for an anti-vehicular missile launcher or a plasma cannon. The squad's vulnerability is their need to spend a few seconds setting up their weapons and their complete ineffectiveness in melee. Avitus can gain the ability to wear Terminator armor by investing enough points in the "Fortitude" tree; as a Terminator he wields an assault cannon (Gatling gun) but his teammates are limited to storm bolters. He is also the most ruthless of the characters, inspiring fear even in his fellow Space Marines, and gleefully wipes out the Emperor's enemies; his hatred even extends to non-Space Marine Imperial forces, especially the Imperial Guard, who killed several of his brothers-in-arms during the events of Dark Crusade. However, this hides a deeper conflict: Avitus, after being ordered to fight against loyal Guardsmen who were just following their orders, has lost faith in his own Chapter, and is disgusted by its endless secrets, one of which caused the Blood Ravens to fight fellow Imperials on Kronus.
Thaddeus: Thaddeus leads a squad of 2 Assault Marines who specialize in close range combat and use jump packs for rapid assault. Thaddeus can train to use almost all melee weapons, but he's limited to pistols unless he receives additional "Ranged" training; even then, equipping a bolter, flamer or plasma gun forces the squad to abandon their melee weaponry. He can learn to wear Terminator armor by investing points in the "Melee" skill tree; while wearing it, he can use its teleporter in lieu of the jump pack, and carries a thunderhammer and a stormshield, but lacks mobility and ranged weaponry. A former ganger on Meridian, Thaddeus was the first recruit from that planet in decades, and, although over 80 years old, is considered young and inexperienced. The process of Space Marine maturation, from a brash fighter into a cold-blooded warrior, is discussed after one of the missions.
Cyrus: Cyrus leads a squad of 2 Scouts who specialize in stealth and infiltration, using their "Infiltrate" ability to turn invisible and scout ahead. While Space Marine Scouts are fresh recruits, Cyrus himself is very much a veteran, and a Scout by choice - he is a teacher and a master of special operations the Scouts are well-accustomed to. Scouts are the only squad that uses Carapace Armor rather than the iconic Power Armor, trading protection for stealth and mobility. Investment in the "Will" tree greatly improves "Infiltrate", allowing Cyrus to remain camouflaged indefinitely while stationary and use abilities without compromising himself. While Scouts are equipped with the ubiqoutus bolters by default, and Cyrus can be trained to use flamers, their most effective weapons are proprietary to the squad - combat shotguns and sniper rifles. Cyrus also has a special ability for each weapon type he can wield. Worse than that, the Scouts have more Accessory slots than other squads, and can fill them up with a variety of very destructive explosives. His unortodox tactics were heavily opposed by the more conservative Blood Ravens like Captain Indrick Boreale, but also attracted the attention of the Deathwatch, the Inquisition's elite alienhunter corps; as a result, Cyrus is all too familiar with the Tyranids.
Davian Thule: After being critically injured by a Tyranid warrior in the Blood Ravens' first encounter with the aliens on Calderis, Davian Thule is placed in stasis, and becomes a Dreadnought - a cybernetic combat walker - after the Strike Force secures a sample of the Tyranids's biotoxin, and joins them. Although powerful, Thule is more vulnerable to anti-vehicle weapons and explosives, and cannot heal unless another squad uses the "Repair Rites" item, or he is nearby a "field asset", which heals and reinforces nearby squads. Thule can overcome this weakness by learning the "Ancient Defender" ability, which allows him to heal to full, by investing skill points in the "Fortitude" tree. His default armament - a pair of massive arms with a flamer fixed under one of them - is geared for melee, but by replacing one of the arms and the flamer with an assault cannon and investing into the "Ranged" tree Thule can be turned into an equally devastating ranged walker.
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