This article explains the economy system used in Dawn of War II, Dawn of War II: Chaos Rising and Dawn of War II: Retribution multiplayer matches. The economy is rather streamlined and fairly light to manage compared to some other real-time strategy games, but there are some not-quite-transparent features a beginning player should know.
Requisition 
[]
A friendly Requisition Point, producing 
+30 at the moment
Requisition is the basic "money" resource in Dawn of War II, roughly equivalent to minerals in StarCraft or mass in Supreme Commander. Requisition is needed to purchase any kind of unit, upgrade or structure in the game. Some basic purchases have only a Requisition cost, while advanced units/upgrades generally require Power as well.
Requisition is gained by controlling specific points on the map. The HQ building produces a constant income of +264 per minute for each player, but to gain more resources the player/team must capture Requisition Points. These special locations start neutral, but can be claimed by any infantry unit (the process takes a moment and can be interrupted).
Captured Requisition Points grant more Requisition income per minute, starting from +10 in 1v1 matches, +7 in 2v2 games and +5 in 3v3 games. The point will "mature" over time and produce more Requisition, up to +30 (1v1), +20 (2v2) and +15 (3v3). If the point is decaptured by an opponent, it must be reclaimed and the maturation process starts again, hurting the player's economy.
As the game progresses, the Upkeep mechanic will start lowering your Requisition income.
Power []
Activated Power Node and three Eldar-built generators, producing 
+39
Power is an advanced resource roughly equivalent to vespene gas in StarCraft or energy in Supreme Commander. Higher technology tiers, most advanced units and most upgrades require Power in addition to Requisition.
The Power resource is produced by generator structures, which must be purchased with Requisition. The HQ building will grant a minimal Power income of +10, which will not go very far. To gain more Power, generators must be constructed, but in Dawn of War II they can only be built around specific Power Node locations.
The Power Node is captured like a Requisition Point, after which it generates a small amount (+5 in head to head matches) of Power. The Power Node can be "activated" for 125, which builds a structure on top of it, increasing the Power income and forcing an opponent to destroy the structure before claiming the Node for themselves. When the Node is activated, up to three Power Generators may be built around it for 100 each, further increasing the Power income up to +39.
| Node | Activated | Generators | Maximum | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1v1 | +5
|
+9
|
+10 ea.
|
+39
|
| 2v2 | +3
|
+6
|
+7 ea.
|
+27
|
| 3v3 | +2
|
+4
|
+5 ea.
|
+19
|
Population []
The Population capacity limits the size of a Dawn of War II army. Each model takes up a certain amount of Population, with more powerful models "costing" more; for example, a single Guardsman model uses only 
1, while a Tactical Marine model uses 5 and a Great Unclean One uses 21.
This Population count has two functions. First, the size of an army cannot exceed 100, forcing a player to plan their purchases. Second, all models exceeding 30 activate the Upkeep mechanic and start taxing the player's Requisition income.
Global Resource []
Orbital Bombardment, the Space Marine 
500 "nuke" global ability
The Global Resource (named Zeal, Waaagh!, Psychic Might, Biomass, Favor or Command depending on race, usually just called "red" by players) is a new resource mechanic in Dawn of War II. The Global Resource is a bit like experience, accumulated by fighting. Each model has a Global Resource value, which is granted to an opponent who kills the model. The owner also receives 75% of the value. For example, a Land Raider tank is worth 120, which is granted to the destroyer, while the owner receives 90 for losing it.
This Global Resource is used for "global abilities", powerful feats not activated from/by any single unit, but from the global ability bar. The abilities can generally be used anywhere on the map, ranging from buffs or debuffs to calling down special units like on the field. The cost for global abilities vary from 25 for a simple buff to 500 for a "nuke" ability such as Orbital Bombardment. Some globals have a Requisition/Power cost as well; for example, calling in a Terminator Squad would cost a total of 650 and 100 in addition to the "red" cost of 350.
The Orks have a special version of the Global Resource mechanic, generating their Waaagh! at a rate of +15 per minute, but in exchange, unlike other races, they need to spend it to activate many regular unit abilities.
Upkeep[]
Upkeep is a Requisition tax that a player pays to maintain their army. Each race starts with 0 upkeep, and it will remain 0 as long as the Population threshold of 30 is not exceeded. Every unit after this limit, however, will start to decrease the overall Requisition income by a certain amount. This amount is called "upkeep".
- The upkeep of a single Guardsman model is 2.55. If you have five unupgraded Guardsman Squads (6 models each, taking up 1 per model), you will reach a total of 30 and suffer no upkeep penalty. At this point, should you build a sixth Guardsman Squad, your Population count will rise to 36 and you will suffer a 15.3 income penalty for the extra 6 models you have over 30 (2.55 × 6 = 15.3).
Regardless of the order the units are purchased in, the most expensive models are always put at the top of the list (and therefore will be taxed first), while the units with cheapest upkeep go to the bottom of the list.
The upkeep tax system may seem counter-intuitive at first, but it has its functions in the game mechanics. It allows players to start their army and build Power Generators quickly, as early-game armies will cause only low upkeep. When the army grows, possibly even reaching the limit of 100 so that new units cannot be bought, the player will not be able to gain and float huge amounts of Requisition just by sitting on their hands and turtling portions of the map, but must continue to hold as many Requisition Points as possible while avoiding casualties (as income is slowed, casualties are harder to replace). The mechanic also acts as a soft equalizing mechanic, allowing the losing player to get back into the match after losing many units, as their Requisition income will improve somewhat (though of course they will likely lose control of their Requisition Points and Power Nodes).