Lets talk factions: Speculation

Colin Brinkley

1/25/23, 8:04 AM

Thought it might be interesting to sort of compile what little we know about the factions in this universe, as well as speculate a bit on what can be inferred by the old map.

Eisenkern Empire- Germanized, preciding over an ever-expanding and heavily industrialized Empire and increasingly resourced-stretched by a war with the Shadowkesh. As indicated by the overlap on the map, even the Imperial capital is/has been assaulted by the Shadowkesh. 'Empire' makes me think Emperor? Dictator?

Shadowkesh- Hive-minded avian invaders from outside of the Iron-Core universe. Cold, remoreseless etc. Formerly part of a greater whole.

Protectorate- Soviet-inspired, from what we've been shown, so a bit can be extrapolated from their. Involved in some territorial disputes with the 'Commonwealth' as indicated with the map, and likely hostile with the Eisenkern as well, judging by blurbs of lore on Eisenkern boxes. Possibly some form of 'party' government?

Dhar-Hazier- Seem to originate, or have expanded to, outside of the known Galaxy, much like the Shadowkesh, against whom they are waging a bloody war. Seem to have small warrior dynasty led by kings and queens, according to what I've seen from the old documents posted about, as well as 'enhaned' warriors of some king. Potentially Arabian influence?

Brotherhood- Nothing known, but seeing as the occupy the very center of the galaxy, must be a faction of some importance. Interestingly they don't seem to be in any border conflicts. Potentially a 'Switzerland' of factions?

Commonwealth- Involved in some border disputes with the Protectorate, little else known. Potentially English-influenced?

Republic- Following the theme of the above, this seems the most likely 'Americanized' faction, in keeping with the other themes I'm assuming.

Kraggen: ??, however it appears to have two capitals?

Anyway, I just thought this would be a fun little lore/narrative exercise. Been reading the forum stuff for awhile and wanted to put my unprompted two-cents in, so to speak. :)

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Caratacus

1/25/23, 9:28 AM

I wouldn't be at all surprised if the Commonwealth are British in this universe. It'd be interesting to see how they could be overlapped with the Bulldogs for WA's Death Fields.

The Republic could be American, or it could equally be space Romans or French, as the other two famous republics that have changed the world both for good and ill. Either of the latter would be more interesting.

Hive-minded avian invaders sounds interesting. It's about time bird-men were better represented with plastic models.

Colin Brinkley

1/25/23, 10:03 AM

@Caratacus Shadowkesh, from my research, seem to be the only non-Eisenkern faction that received any plastic treatment, albiet only in Kickstarter fufillment boxes. :)

Frank Reischmann

1/25/23, 1:10 PM

@Caratacus

You can see here pictures of Marks Shadowkesh: https://wargamesatlantic.com/community/xenforum/topic/65179/salvaged-shadowkesh

I think, it's a good idea to use boxes from Death Fields for Marks universe, it would be great if he go on with this... and I hope that WA let the Valkyrs on table as soon as possible...
i would buy Shadowkesh-boxes and i woud like to see the "Antigrav STUG III"... perheps in WA-digital... or other vehicles from the Eisenkern-universe...

JTam

1/25/23, 3:25 PM

@Colin Brinkley

Some Protectorate art here:

https://wargamesatlantic.com/community/xenforum/topic/44343/space-russians

Colin Brinkley

1/25/23, 5:07 PM

@JTam Good catch! I remember seeing that one awhile back, as well as the render.

Colin Brinkley

1/25/23, 5:07 PM

@Caratacus I hadn't considered Roman, and had given French only a passing though. Interesting!

Caratacus

1/26/23, 3:53 AM

@Frank Reischmann @Colin Brinkley They don't look particularly avian to me, they look more like a cross between Beastmen, Xenomorphs and Protoss.

However, they're certainly an interesting aesthetic, and those plastic models look pretty good. I hope WA give these some attention in the Iron-Core line soon.

Colin Brinkley

1/26/23, 11:03 AM

@Caratacus The avian connection was made by Mark Mondragon, in some of the old documents. I can certainly see the 'birdlike' aspects more in the feral models more than the, I'm not sure what you'd call them, 'pure' Shadowkesh?

Mithril2098

1/26/23, 4:48 PM

@Caratacus based on those minis, i'd describe their equiment as "Protoss meets Vorlon"

BVD

Brian Van De Walker

1/27/23, 1:39 AM

I remember Dhar-Hazier factions being bio engineering heavy Aliens. My guess is the name is all the Arab influence involved with them given the Queen thing.

The Eisenkern though would likely be Germany if they didn't get involved in WW1, so likely a parliamentary monarchy with a more powerful monarch and nobility than modern England but not at the same levels as feudal land (it could also be the roman empire government wise but German Luthuran/Cathloic culturally). The main point to consider though is that they are the guys your suppose root for given the PDF lore we have and the fact they are on the defensive, so they are refershingly not the almost racist generic Hollywood depiction of Germans despite the appearance of their armor, arsenal, and motorpool😆.

My guess is the Brotherhood are a "Holy order of space knights" style faction based on the name alone, probably guarding Earth and older colonies given the “Battletech” style star map (they could also be Chinese themed, a lot of cultures have cults/gangs that go by word "brotherhood", could also be the "UN proxy" faction).

The commonwealth does sound like it should be England based on the name and is most likely considering everything, but it could also be code for a unified English speaking sphere (America, Canada, etc.), European Union or even another non-human faction (which frankly would be cooler). Point being it could mean anything with what we know.

The Republic could be France or America in space (most likely the latter), though it could also be Taiwain,China, or any other culture group that goes by "Republic" for thier goverment in history (its like going by "the Kingdom" or "Empire" in a fantasy setting).

The protectorate is space Russia, given the original flag art clearly WW2 style Soviet Russia though that may change.

As to the Shadowkesh, they are avians given the Sokesh but very strange ones (I will add you would not think Dinos are related to birds but they supposedly are🤷‍♂️). Also of the factions they are the ones we have the clearist picture of lore wise, to an extent even compared to the Eisenkern who had the most sets, probably because thier "culture" is dead simple while still being horrorifingly alien.

The Kraggen are a mystery, but probably either more aliens with guns that have some sort of 2 capitial goverment or more space hiveminds. Could also be mutants.

Battle Specter

1/27/23, 6:18 AM

Given as I'm American and kind of proud of that fact, I'm hoping the Republic is an American offshoot. It seems that he's pulling from the major powers of WWI though, so it likely could be French given that the US didn't enter until the latter portion, and his fluff works with alt-history. I don't see it being the Chinese in that case (or Taiwan) as neither was a legitimate power at that point, and China is as much a Republic as North Korea is (which is to say it's not). Japan would fit better than either of them- and that would honestly be pretty cool. They were an absolute power house of a nation in the early 20th century.

Given what little I've read other places (I think- someone can double check me on this) the Republic is more a loose collection of independent entities that work together. If that's the case, then we're looking at it being influenced by the United States, which is a loose collection of independent entities working together under a common flag. This could also allow for a WIDE range of possibilities for modeling prospects if there is no unified force structure they operate under- which would be cool.

It would be cool to see the Leviathans get a redux at WGA alongside some of the vehicle ideas Mark has. I'd like to see some stuff other than the Eisenkern. I really dig the models (two of my favorite scifi infantry sets ever) but I need some more flavor. Not sure that the Deathfields troops really fit the aesthetic all that well. Maybe- we've never seen anything outside of the Protectorate, kesh, and Eisenkern. I feel that the way Deathfields is styled, they're meant to work well with another companie's rules and IP.

Valkir incoming is pretty sweet. If they drop this year, I will have to wait until next year to grab some. I'm busy working on getting Hardsuit production up and running. That takes time and cash. May take more cash than I'd like, which may delay getting into anything else even longer. Only time will tell on that one.

Colin Brinkley

1/28/23, 2:27 PM

@Brian Van De Walker I hadn't considered other non-human factions besides the Shadowkesh and possibly the Dhar-Hazier. Something about the universe screamed Humano-centric to me. Perhaps you're right, though?

Colin Brinkley

1/28/23, 2:29 PM

@Battle Specter The idea of the Republic representing a sort of Pre-American (as we know it today) Republic is an interesting though. Very remenescent of the US Pre-1870. As for the Leviathans, they pop up on Ebay every so often. I know Mark Mondragon/Dreamforge have at least one up for sale presently.

Battle Specter

1/28/23, 2:45 PM

@Colin Brinkley Yeah, I look every oncein a while, and see some up there. I like the 1/100 scale ones. They are well scaled to stand in as Armigers or the like. i have one of each full sized, and they are two of my prized models. Still need finished paint wise, but man are they cool. And at the time- VERY competitively priced versus Knight models. Still are all things considered. May have to take the plunge later in the year if I find another. They are cool kits.

Mark Dewis

1/31/23, 9:49 PM

There's a 2011 interview with him that has this:

"I am currently working on a game system, Iron-Core. The Iron-Core is a game system being developed for vehicle centric combat. In the Iron-Core universe there are ten major factions, each faction has its own unique style. Eisenkern, the more gothic look, the commonwealth, a more advanced manga feel, the Protectorate, a nostalgic Russian influence, The Republic a more updated US military look and the alien races with their own distinctive designs. It is my hope to provide each faction with a complete set of vehicles and Leviathans. Within this framework, there is enough diversity of designs that I will be able to express my creative juices and provide the gaming community with a wide and varied selection."

http://apocalypse40k.blogspot.com/2011/04/industry-interview-mark-mondragon.html

Colin Brinkley

2/3/23, 9:06 PM

@Mark Dewis Just caught this, thats an interesting snippet, certainly! Gives a little more insight, and some hope that maybe Mark will want to be a little more public-facing again as the range picks back up. If nothing else its more insight than I previously had on the factions.

BVD

Brian Van De Walker

2/3/23, 9:09 PM

@Mark Dewis So commonwealth is either Manga Japanese miltary in space or a Manga style generic human space force (either would be cool and I wouldn't pass up🤑) while the republic is either scified up modern or post WW2 US (my guess is modern).

Greaver Blade

3/4/23, 7:47 PM

Faction Flags:

Geoff Maybury

3/24/23, 2:13 PM

@Eric Even If this old fart remembers right, when you clicked on the flags, you got the fluff of the fraction, dam wish I`d coppied more from the site. Can`t remember all the dam fractions now.