In an attempt to break up the Imperial Army, the Guardsmen and the Imperial Navy were separated into two different forces of the Imperium. The Imperial Guard as seen in the 41st Millennium was created along with the Space Marine Chapters in the wake of the Horus Heresy. While there is central leadership, forces that make up a guardsmen detatchment in a region depend mainly on the people inhabiting the planets on that system. The Guard isn't an entirely uniform organization. The Imperial Guard act as the main army of the Imperium, with billions enlisted. Winter Assault was followed up by Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade, which established which endings were accepted as canon at the conclusion of Winter Assault. In other cases, the types of wargear that a squad can be equipped with have been changed or removed and some unit abilities and upgrades have been wiped from some races entirely. The most obvious change is that some units are now capped, preventing players from making excessive amounts of units. Many changes have been made to the returning races, mainly to balance out each faction. Players can influence the story by making choices as how to progress through the story, ultimately affecting how the story ends. The mission-based campaign system returns in Winter Assault as well, with two different stories. While they were seen and occasionally playable during the first title, this expansion makes them their own playable race, separate from their Imperial brothers, the Space Marines.

The first of three expansion packs to Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War, Dawn of War: Winter Assault continues to bring Games' Workshop tabletop of the same name to life, this time giving players control over the Imperial Guard.

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