THQ has announced the beta date for Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II -Retribution today. This will be a closed beta that will feature six multiplayer races and run from end of January until the end of February.

The beta is scheduled to go live on Monday, January 31st. How do you get in? Become a Dawn of War community member. They will be given access as well as anyone that has pre-ordered Dawn of War II – Retribution on Steam. Anyone who has bought a Dawn of War game on Steam will get an invite on February 8th.

The beta will run through midnight on February 24th. This is a closed beta otherwise, so if you are anxious to play, you may want to make sure you qualify.

I always know a holiday is coming because the press releases from various MMO companies start coming in detailing their holiday celebration.

Today we have Mythic Entertainment detailing events in Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, Dark Age of Camelot and Ultima Online all of which start on December 15. Players can have fun with parties, win prizes and receive gifts.

Here are the details for Mythic’s Holiday celebrations:
Warhammer Online’s 2nd Annual Keg End Live Event runs from December 16th – January 4th: http://herald.warhammeronline.com/liveevents/2009KegEnd.php
• During the celebration of the Dwarf New Year, players can earn exclusive in-game rewards, including the titles “Brew Hound” (Order) and “Broo Dawg” (Destruction), a deployable Party Keg allies may interact with to increase their morale gain rate, and a Keg Tap with career-specific stats.
• Rare World Drop Items include the Battlebrew Backpack (one for each tier in which they are found) and your own personal keg toting servant – the Dwarf Keg Handler (Order) or Goblin Bar-Back (Destruction)!

Dark Age of Camelot’s Midwinter Festival kicks off December 17th and runs through January 14th bringing celebration and decoration to the coldest and darkest times of the year:
• During the festival, tavern keepers will decorate their buildings with holiday adornments while the citizens of each Realm set up decorated evergreens and offer them as gifts to those who provide them with assistance.
• The Realms will also be visited by four special guests: Olibar the Midwinter Tomte (all Realms), Santa Nicholas (Albion), Lucia of the Light (Hibernia), and Jack Frost (Midgard), each who come to bring Midwinter cheer and gifts.
• Players may also participate in the Trinkets for Tots quest to round out this season of giving.

Ultima Online’s Festival of the White Hart will take place from December 15th through January 4th:
• White Hart, a holiday white stag, will appear on each shard to give out Christmas goodies, including holiday cookies, Rum Balls, Angel Food Cake and Naughty Switches to all the bad boys and girls.
• All current players who have characters 30 days or older may choose from a collection of gifts for their homes, including a nutcracker, four statues (Mermaid, Pegasus, Seahorse, or Griffin), or icicles. There are also new holiday gift box containers and one special rare box.

Let us know what MMO you play so we know which holiday details GamingAngels readers care about!

An easy start is to get them something new to play! Aion ($46.99) is the newest MMO to be released and has been getting some rave reviews. Released by NCSoft in September 2009, there has been a steady buzz around the game, and I’ve known several people who have given up other MMOs to play this one. From all I’ve seen and read it’s a pretty solid game, and will appeal to most fans of the genre. And if they’re already playing Aion, why not snag them one of the cool shirts that Jinx just released?

If your friends or family are already playing another game, you can always buy them game time via cards or offer to pay for in game items to help them boost their characters or explore new regions. Blizzard sells pre-paid cards for game time in World of Warcraft ($29.99) and so does Warhammer Online($29.99), Age of Conan ($25.99), and Lord of the Rings Online ($29.99). These will give them 60 days of free time to play in their game of choice!

Tactx keyboard from Alienware

For the World of Warcraft fan, I found many things that one could buy, but I’ve narrowed it down to just a few products. First off, from the official store I have to recommend either Murky or Lurky ($15 each) plush dolls for either kids or for adults (My Murky sits on the top of my computer). Also along the kids line, if you have a guildmate or friend who just had a new baby or is expecting, I highly recommend the “My Other Stroller is [Epic]“ onesie from Jinx. For the more grown up WoW fan, you can also get a Horde or Alliance appropriate beanie so that they can show their pride throughout the winter! In general the majority of the WoW collection at Jinx is pretty awesome, and it’s all reasonably priced.

Now if you want to get your friends some new gaming peripherals, I recommend checking out the latest Alienware line which I have previously covered. The TactX mouse and keyboard are a little more pricey, but they’d be a great gift idea, especially if they’re in need of an upgrade. Also in November, Creative will be releasing special WoW themed headsets that look great and will help show your Horde or Alliance Pride! Another great item that you could get is the Xeno by Bigfoot networks. Cherithe recommended this in our gadget gift guide, and it’s definitely worth repeating! The Xeno is a great plug-and-play card that will prioritize gamng by bypassing your OS which enables smoother playing and voice chatting.

Now the other gift idea that you can do is for those fellow players who want to get something nice for an in-game friend or guildmate. You can save up to get them a vanity pet,  money for a new mount, or some new armor. It’s thoughtful, and something that will surprise them to see in their mailbox or a trade window! There are also the new in game pets that Blizzard released which you can buy from the online pet store: the Pandaren Monk who does some impressive kung fu and Lil’ KT who is the most adorable little lich!

I hope that this guide can help you out with some ideas for that MMO fan in your life. Have a great holiday and spread some /cheer!

Endless Trial accounts are restricted to Tier 1 of the Empire versus Chaos pairing. This includes Tier 1 scenarios but does not include access to the Capital Cities or the other racial pairings within the game.

Endless Trial accounts may receive mail and purchase from the auction house; however, they cannot send mail or create auctions.

Endless Trial accounts are limited to designated servers. If you’d like to play with friends on other servers, you will need to purchase a retail copy of the game and transfer your character to their server (or create a new character on their server). All characters Rank 11 and under on purchased accounts have access to unlimited transfers, with a max of one transfer per day. Please note that you can only transfer characters to the same server type as the server you created your characters on (Core, Open RvR, and Roleplay). Please see the full server list here for details about each server, including server type. Alternatively, if you have a friend who is currently playing WAR, you can ask them for a Recruit-a-Friend code that will allow you to create a Recruit-a-Friend trial account which has access to all servers. Please see the Recruit-a-Friend section for more information.

Sounds like a good deal, and a great way for you to play for a longer period of time to really see if you want to commit to that monthly fee. More details on the Endless Trial and where to download both PC and Mac versions can be found here on the official site.

Mythic Entertainment has announced that they will be releasing Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning for Macs on October 28, 2009. WAR will be available by digital download to new subscribers at gametreeonline.com for $19.95 and includes 30 days of game time. Current subscribers can download the Mac client for free.

“We’re incredibly excited to bring Warhammer Online and its enthralling Realm vs. Realm combat to the Mac community,” said Jeff Hickman, Executive Producer of Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. “Come October 28th, the sides of Order and Destruction will be bolsters by a fresh recruit of Mac gamers experiencing for the first time exactly what we mean when we say that ‘WAR is everywhere!’”

A new MMORPG to the Mac is always a good thing. There is a beta for Macs going on right now where players can download the beta client on their Mac and play with their accounts. If a player is new to WAR then they can download a 10 day Mac beta trailer.

To download the beta version of Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning for the Mac and the 10 day trial visit www.warhammeronline.com/mac

As the armies of Destruction continue their war upon the civilized lands, the Raven Host of Chaos is poised to march upon the Empire of Man in an unstoppable tide. To ensure victory against the Emperor’s Order of the Griffon, an elite party of Chaos warriors is tasked with the quest to find the Spear of Myrmidia and fully unleash the power of the Winds of Chaos. To work such awesome magic, the marauder Kormak must dare venture into the Bastion Stair, portal to the Realm of Khorne, and defy the Blood God’s wrath. However, the warriors of the Raven Host are not the only ones with an interest in harnessing the powers of Chaos; Treacherous Dark Elves and brutish Orcs each look to seize the power for themselves, while a desperate Imperial army races to deny all of their foes the dreaded might of Chaos.

“With the first two Warhammer Online novels, Empire in Chaos and Dark Storm Gathering, we saw the Realm vs. Realm conflict from the besieged viewpoint of Order,” said Jeff Hickman, Executive Producer for Mythic Entertainment. “Forged in Chaos provides readers with their first look into the dark, megalomaniacal minds of the forces of Destruction. Rife with internal conflict, shifting allegiances, and a never-ending lust for murder, we see firsthand how this unholy alliance of Destruction is just as deadly to each other as they are to the armies of Order.”

Forged in Chaos is slated to be released later this fall online and in retail stores. Keep your eyes on Gaming Angels and The Black Library’s website for more info!

Warhammer Online cake

We love game-themed cakes and who better to create one than the team at Ace of Cakes. Tomorrow night on the show, at 10pm, Warhammer Online will be the star of Ace of Cakes after Chef Duff creates a massive cake modeled after the Squig. Duff calls the Squig the best cake he’s made on the show.

USA Today posted their interview with Chef Duff: “The best cake he has made on the show. “It’s coming up. We made a cake of a monster called Squig from a video game called Warhammer for a video-game convention. This thing was about the size of large sheepdog. It was gigantic. It was a humongous cake balanced on two legs.”

The thing is HUGE and is a combination of amazing and totally disgusting. It should be fun watching the Ace of Cakes team work on creating the Squig.

If you like to game on your Mac, now there is one more MMO that will work on your machine. Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning is in beta for Mac users. The official release is fall of 2009.

Players that don’t already have a WAR account can download a 10 day beta trial account. By participating in the beta, players will get an exclusive title and trophy reward for their characters in the game.

“The MMORPG audience continues to expand, and that means gamers eager to experience WAR aren’t all playing on a PC,” said Jeff Hickman, Executive Producer of Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. “We want as many players as possible to experience the glory of Realm vs. Realm combat, and bringing WAR to the Mac makes this an exciting reality.”

You can get the trial at www.warhammeronline.com/mac