This is a request to all you Iron Core Fans and I trully belive their are a lot of us out there. Mark Moondragon had a dream to creat a Universe of models and fiction for those. He was one person with some friends but what was created was a joy. The blog was full of story items like (Salvaged Shadowkesh) soldiers, worlds. races. all given format like the Shadowkesh surly I wasn`t the only person to down load these . So come on the Iron Core Universe needs this information back here in the new forum to build the world bit by bit. Search them out post them here then we can rebuild Marks universe. Common guys and girls for the journey. Cheers Geoff
Bring Back The Missing Lore.
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Was his blog the only place that it was posted? I went looking around on the Wayback Machine and couldn't seem to find anything lore-wise.
Anywhere else to try digging?
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The forum was the only place that I picked up things, and I really wish I`d paid more attention to were I put the back up disks from our old computer. Allthough one man Mark, did exellent works like the Shadowkesh file on all the other races and creatures. Planets, space lanes, and a brilliant combat stratagey of bringing your invasion fleet to close to the outer edges of your opponents space to change his weather paterns. Snow in summer first time I`d ever heard this in a proposed game. The Leviathens ,APC, all were discribed in detail. I`ve not a clue sadly were to try "Bing Images " have a few pictures but no fact PDF`s Geoff
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Would Mr. Mondragon himself be able to help? Any way of getting a hold of him?
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@Benjamin Hayward To be totally honest, I don`t know, you will see from a couple of other posts, Mark appeared to be depressed. I`ve tryed in the past,when I lost the second forum to contact him, so as to gain axess to the third . I never managed, Iam 67 now,then I was 58?. Perhaps my inadicate computer skills were to blame, however I don`t seem alone. Iron Core as many levels of followers, for a small few it as been very lucerative and they have done very well out of others problems, by them no atempt to war game is made. Several of my friends think this as added to wargaming problems, now with the release by Wargames Atlantic, perhaps we will finally realise the great full potential of all items for this world. Then maybe in time see the return of an entusiastic Mark. The man has a wonderful talent but he was only one man, if he see`s how important and loved his world is. we might see at least a draft Pdf. In the mean time the models are usable for so many other things time will
see.
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Time to revive a dead thread!
I reached out directly through the Dreamforge Blog and asked if the lore was still available anywhere, and suggested with the Valkir on their way, we're all gonna be pretty amped about the setting when they drop.
Who knows? Maybe there's something internal being worked on by Mark and WGA, but even the stuff from the old web site would be amazing to have.
A couple things salved from the Blog to add to the collective knowlege:
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@Eric Even Thanks you had a bit more luck than us, I`m puzzled about Iron Core, there was so much on the old site, and it as all now gone, including the rough draft rules. Some one out their must have coppies, but it doesn`t appear as if it`s for sharing.
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I recently dug out and built my original box of Valkir assault troopers, original Panzer Jaeger, and Ada. Wargames Atlantic seems to conduct itself and its business in a way that is sustainable in the long term. Well planned releases, not over promising, etc. Very much NOT what Wargames Factory was back in the day. I'm really hopeful we'll see the full Iron Core range return, and with it all the fluff and lore. Though I'd love to see that fluff and lore in advance so we can start hyping up!
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@Geoff Maybury I would like to say I picked that up, the concept was interesting (I think it was like frostgrave war bands/smaller armies but with vehicles replacing wizards), but that would be on my first laptop or its backup drive if its there, I would have to find them and dig through it all. To be honest I am surprised no one archived everything on Archives.org or have they? Has anyone checked yet?
Anyway we should probably start doing so now if it has not been done already.
I did pick this up wholesale from the blog (Mark's own post, there may or may not be a cartoon pic of a guy things popping out of his head which I think is just clipart):
"A War of Resources
More ramblings from a cluttered mind….
As we move towards the development of the next faction, I will try to give some insights into the conflict between the Eisenkern and Shadokesh Empires. Please keep in mind that this is still a draft and open to revision and correction but it will touch on both cultures, the war and why anyone in their right mind would build a huge walking target such as the Leviathans.
The Prize
Ardinium: A rare, naturally occurring mineral that neutralizes the effect created by tears in the Veil and the broad spectrum radiation leaks created by Void space incursion. Ardinium is used to shield Iron Core Reactors, sensitive electronics and more recently it has been introduced as a component in building materials to mitigate exposure for the occupants and equipment.
(Faster than light travel is only possible in the Veil and re-entering normal space without a receiving gate, tears a hole in the Veil that releases immense energy. Any unshielded tech within several AU is usually destroyed)Ardinium Oxide: When Ardinium is exposed to the Void or the energy of an Iron Core Reactor it develops a purple blue crust of oxidization. This material when properly processed and when a sufficient charge is applied will repulse itself from a non-charged object or attract itself to a like charged object much in the way a magnet pulls or pushes. This is the base material all TR bands are constructed from. Without this material the huge Leviathans would not be possible.
The Shadokesh
The Shadokesh care little for human society; until recently they have been completely indifferent to the plight of humanity, thrive or fall, humanity is viewed as nothing more than another animal species hardly worthy of distinction. This view has changed drastically. The shift in this attitude came when the Shadokesh realized that three of the major worlds in the Eisenkern Empire contained vast quantities of Ardinium, the key component used in all Shadokesh technology. This awareness came when the Eisenkern Empire launched its first retaliatory offensive against a Shadokesh rim world in response to a cleansing of one of the Eisenkern border colonies. The Eisenkern Empire landed on Sokesh Prime, fielding twenty Leviathan Mortis and handily took the Shadokesh outpost.
Scans of the new human technology revealed their origins as simplistic copies of Shadokesh technology but what intrigued the Shadokesh was the quantity of Leviathans far outstripped what was lost or what could have been salvaged in the minor engagements with the primitive humans. This could only mean that the humans had discovered Ardinium and it was surmised, given the time between the first encounters with the Shadokesh and this attack that they must have access to a large supply of this rare ore. Experience told them it would take far longer to amass this quantity when compared to the amount of Ardinium the Shadokesh had been extracting from their core worlds.
The Shadokesh set out to map and scan Eisenkern space, sending drones to every corner of the Empire. They found three worlds at the core of the Empire brimming with Ardinuim. The ore so plentiful that the primitive race was using it in their fabrication of buildings and other structures as plating of their steel reinforcements buried within the concrete and even mixed into the concrete itself. If a Shadokesh could be offended, surely they would have been at such an egregious display of excess. Fortunately for humanity, the Shadokesh are incapable of feeling such an offence. Unfortunately, this did not change or soften the outcome. The first Great Call (gathering of the collective consciousness) after the analysis was concluded, decided humanities fate in the blink of an eye. Extermination and reclamation of all settlements containing the precious resource.
This would be the start of the great purge. Settlement after settlement was methodically sacked and its once proud cities rendered for the minerals they contained. Only a tide of Iron would halt this onslaught; Leviathan construction had not yet reached its peak and the Mortis needed refinement and a more robust design. The Crusader class was still in its infancy and not yet available in any quantity that would change the outcome. The fate Eisenkern Empire was sealed, they needed time, time they did not have.
As fate would have it, when the Shadokesh met with a Dhar-Hazier Queen and her envoys and decided they were of no use or threat to the Shadokesh Empire and were promptly dispatched. This miscalculation may be the only reason the Eisenkern Empire still exists. The Dhar-Hazier Clans declared open war on the Shadokesh, sending genetically altered and tailored soldiers and equipment flooding across the border into Shadokesh space. The Shadokesh quickly realized that their efforts would need to be turned towards another front, the Dhar-Hazier were a far more formidable foe than originally anticipated.
Shadokesh Walkers
The Shadokesh use walkers primarily as tools, flexible extensions of their own physicality, mining, building and subjugation devices, only more recently have they been primarily used as weapon platforms. Shadokesh walkers are faster, more agile but more susceptible to damage, their shielding provides them with an equalizer against the more heavily armored Eisenkern Leviathans.
Leviathans
What is a Leviathan, why build a large walking target, what tactical purpose could such a device possibly serve?
Leviathans are weapons of terror, they are tools of distraction and a means to bolster morale. Leviathans were designed to hold city blocks, a statement, “Here I am, I own this, come and take it”. They are anything but subtle.
The Eisenkern Empire developed the Leviathan because it was the perfect tool to fit a need. It could go toe to toe with the Shadokesh walker. The Shadokesh primarily target cities as this is where they find they resources they are after. The soldiers defending these cities found themselves face to face with the towering Shadokesh walkers and in desperate need of being bolstered, not just in firepower but in steadfast will. Even the brave Eisenkern forces would crumble under the sheer terror of a Shadokesh walker rampaging towards their lines. The Eisenkern trooper needed a big brother that could beat the snot out of the neighborhood bully.
Very early conflicts with the Shadokesh led to some unusual observations of Shadokesh behavior. The Shadokesh, when unchallenged will go about their work tearing down buildings and rending resources with little regard for the occupants or soldiers until they are deemed a threat. This stems from the fact that the Shadokesh do not perceive humans as a true threat, more as a nuisance to be swatted when it becomes annoying. This would give precious time for the Eisenkern troopers to maneuver, this also left the civilians some options for egress before all hell would break loose.
The act of remaining seemingly oblivious would soon end as the Shadokesh begin to understand human tactics, in response the Shadokesh began annihilating a city’s population by releasing feral Shadokesh to clear out a city. Essentially, allowing the Feral Shadokesh to reap the city of its biological infestation so that the core force could concentrate on the work at hand. This could not be allowed to continue. The Eisenkern forces needed to find a way to distract the Shadokesh, allowing the citizens time reach evacuation points so the soldiers could concentrate on the Shadokesh without fear of inadvertently killing friendlies.
Assaults by infantry and armor only peeled layers from the Shadokesh forces, just enough to deal with the perceived threats. The Eisenkern forces needed a larger hammer a weapon that could not be ignored, the Leviathan was that tool."
As of this writing I have been trying for the last hour or so to find the original blog post this was on (its probably still there just hard find, that teaches me not to just cut and paste tha articles I want to share while ignnoring the Hyperlink info as well).
That said some of this does get resaid in a PDF here and in case that doesn't work the blog post its attached to is here.
There is also a post on the Republic but it is mostly just mecha designs from another artist meaning he really seemed to concentrate on vehicles for the overall feel of the world building. That stated from whats been said elsewhere on this forum it seem to be more modern 21st century USA army themed which works with these designs.
http://dreamforge-games.blogspot.com/2011/09/mechs-for-republic.html
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