LBT: Future Wars Repository

[Serris]

That may work.

Game breaker is a term that refers to something that unbalances a video game.

[Dima02]

How does it unbalance the game? (p.s. I'll be adding in Claw's units later)

[Caustizer]

Yes, your suggestions are nice and realistic.  I agree with Serris though in that it might need to be toned down to fit within a videogame style setting.  For example:

Let's say that the VDF and Claw can only build 4-5 Types of Naval vessel each with at least 1 Support vessel to keep things interesting (like a unit with special powers or abilities but little combat role), and that every choice is completely unique in it's role. Here, i'll show you by narrowing down your list as well as making a few ammendments:

VDF Naval Forces:

Hydrarunner Boat $700
Requires: None

- Hydrorunners are cheap and fast multipurpose patrol/attack boats produced by the VDF
- Their small size, light design, and powerful engines give them great speed and provides a very small target
- Carries Cluster Rockets that can be switched between Air Burst or Hedgehog modes, filling the roles of anti-air and anti-submarine as the player chooses.
- Weaker up front compared to Claw's early naval unit the Predator Drone Submarine, but can be used to hit and run on these much slower units to great effect

Gravimetron Vessel $1200
Requires: Tactical Control
 
- Expensive support craft that uses a technology similar to the Chronometron, but different in application.
- it's main weapon, the gravity distruptor, negates gravity in a small localized area causing the target unit to float helplessly into the air.  In order for this effect to continue, the weapon must be channeled and any interruption causes the target to descend back to Earth
- makes an excellant combination with the Hydrarunner or Ramjet against land targets and enemy ships because enemy units effected by the gravimetron can be targetted by anti-air.
- With the proper upgrade from the Tactical Control, the Gravimetron can convert itself from a Naval Vessel into an amphibious land unit to aid your land based-armies.

Thunder-Class Destroyer $1500
Requires: Tactical Control

- Thunder-Class destroyers are large new VDF destroyers of state-of-the-art design
- Armed with a Support Cannon, but it's true strength comes from it's ability to convert itself into an immobile sea-fortress
- When converted into a Sea-Fortress the Support Cannon folds in and Two Torpedo Snipers with an Electroshocker emerge.
- The Two Torpedo Snipers can quickly sink any nearby vessel with a few well placed shots, but unfortunately aren't useful versus underwater submarines unless they emerge, which is where the Electroshocker comes in.
- The Electroshocker immobilizes all vessels and submarines temporarily within a radius of the ability usage, making them easy prey for either the Torpedo Snipers, or Hydrorunners.

Mosas-Class Battleship $3500
Requires: Battle Centre

- Mosas-Class heavy battleships, like its cousin, the Brontodons, are the most symbolic, high tech, heavily armed, and heavily armored ships in service with the VDF Navy.
- Armed with two of the brand new (and officially banned) Vortex Cannon batteries, these horrendous weapons ignite a miniture blackhole that persists for a couple of seconds where-ever they strike using an anti-matter fuse.
- Topsy has used his influence to ensure that all 'Vortex' weapons remain in service amidst hot debate over the morality over their use.  Some believe that erasing so much matter is breaking down the Earth's temporal field, though this has not yet been proven.
- These expensive ships cannot be built in standard missions (as the sky-bourne Dreadnaught fills their previous role) but in the campaign you use them a couple of times

[Dima02]

So should we just get rid of all the aircraft carriers?

[Caustizer]

Or have it so that there is only one - and Claw has it.

Claw has an Aircraft Carrier Submarine, so I wanted to keep that concept away from the VDF to preserve originality.

VDF has an ultra devestating water Battleship and space based one too.

[Dima02]

Yeah, I was gonna ask about the submarines too. It seems like a good idea. Claw seems like the faction that would have a bunch of weak "meat shield" units and one powerful hero unit. I based a lot of the VDF ships on WWII US Navy ships, and I was thinking that Claw's Navy should have a capital ship like the Yamato. I think that the underwater carrier/sub perfectly fits this description. Nice job.  

[Dima02]

VDF Air Force

Ever since the first Flyers took to the skies, each and every one of them wanted to fly higher and faster. After the development of the internal combustion engine, aircraft of all different sorts began to appear. It was not long before the VDF recognized their ability to locate and attack enemy troops. Thus, the VDF Air Force was born. Operating from land bases and carriers, the VDF Air Force consists of Flyer pilots with years of training operating under the command of Commander Petrie.

Sonicopter Patrol/Strike Plane

-   Flyers who join the air force no longer fly on their own, but behind the wings of a turbo powered jet craft with a few inches of armour plating between them and their enemies.
-   Uses a revolutionary new sonic weapons system to devastate groups of enemy vehicles, but is disappointingly ineffective versus groups of heavily armoured infantry and structures. On the plus side though, at least they have unlimited ammo.
-   Possesses the latest sensors and tremor graphs to detect hidden forces, to maximize the effectiveness of the experimental weapons they carry
-   Heavily used as a patrol craft, but still on request for VDF commanders in the field beyond the normally permitted forces.

Pulverizer Heavy Bomber

-   Mighty bombers of the VDF air force, these massive hover aircraft can pummel an enemy base into oblivion, and then some.
-   Flyers who find the Sonicopter not heavy enough are quickly moved into the Pulverizer Corps, which also has a habit of naming their planes and decorating them with art.
-   Also capable of para-dropping loads of infantry onto the battlefield, but said infantry have to endure the gibes of the fly boys, who make fun of the cushiness of their aerial ride.
-   Pulverizers are only commissioned on a “must-be-destroyed” basis, so are rare in small scale skirmishes and naval operations

Havoc Helicopter Gunship

-   The Havic Helicopter Gunship is a stealthy, high-agility gunship that represents the latest innovations in helicopter design. Its unique fly-by-wire 2.0 system cuts down the time required to train a Flyer pilot. It can also be upgraded to use a high-efficiency hydrogen engine recently designed by Longneck architects.
-   Its targeting system is another point of pride for its developers. Previous gunship targeting systems were connected to the gunner's helmet, pointing the gunship's chain gun at wherever the gunner is looking. The Havoc's advanced targeting system takes this premise one step further and actually monitors the gunner's eyes making targeting virtually instantaneous and incredibly precise.
-   Once the gunner has a target picked out, the Havoc's 30mm chain gun can make short work of it. The Blackfoot is also equipped with rockets and guided air to ground missiles, making it a very effective tank-killing unit.
-   The Havoc Helicopter Gunship almost never happened, as a result of the 30mm chain gun being considered too bulky and ammo-greedy. However, as a result of constant lobbying from Threehorns, these helicopters were put into production and service.

Tornado Air Superiority Fighter

-   The Tornado, often considered to be the “big brother” of the Sonicopter, is based on a completely new design built for air-to-air work
-   Having four powerful CX-300 jet turbine engines, this plane is very large and heavy, especially compared to its Claw counterparts. Despite this, this plane is stealthy, fast, easy-to-fly, and low-maintenance
-   Thanks to its heavy armor and rugged design, these planes can absorb missile hits and are known to be able to return to their bases even after being heavily damaged
-   Armed with six air-to-air missiles and a 20mm chain gun for strafing, these fighters pack a devastating punch to any land, naval, or air unit
-   These fighters can also carry air-to-ground missiles and extra fuel for ground-attack work, but their large size prevents them for being used on aircraft carriers

Guimic Light/Torpedo Bomber

-   A fine example of the ingenuity of TDV engineers, Guimic bombers are the latest and technologically advanced bombers to date
-   Armed with two sono-cannons in the wings and two laser guns for protection as well as strafing
-   Can be modified to carry laser-guided plasma bombs, six air-to-ground missiles, anti-sub homing torpedoes, and the most devastating weapon of allóone heat-seeking anti-matter rocket
-   Note: Before Petrie was promoted to the rank of commander, his plane was badly damaged by a sky-hunter. However, instead of immediately ejecting, he bombed his target before ejecting over a destroyer. Petrie was praised as a hero, and he was soon promoted to command


I based the aircraft all on WWII aircraft. Feel free to edit them. I guess I'll be adding the hero units tomorrow, if not later today.

[Serris]

Let's say that the VDF and Claw can only build 4-5 Types of Naval vessel.

The old RTS game Total Annihilation had a total of 9 ships per side. So more than 5 ships can work in a video game setting, just add prerequesites.

[Dima02]

Never heard of that game, but it seems like a good idea. However, I do not know what requirements to come up with, so I'll leave that to you guys.

I based the ships on real WWII ships, Hydrorunner= Elco PT boat, SWP Frigate=Clemson-class destroyer, Rayfin-class submarine= Gato-class submarine, Thunder-class destroyer= Fletcher-class destroyer, Valley-class light cruiser= Cleveland-class light cruiser, Plesio-class heavy cruiser= Northhampton-class heavy cruiser, Mosas-class battleship= Iowa-class battleship.

[Caustizer]

Let's say that the VDF and Claw can only build 4-5 Types of Naval vessel.

The old RTS game Total Annihilation had a total of 9 ships per side. So more than 5 ships can work in a video game setting, just add prerequesites.

You are right, they can work in an RTS setting fairly well.

However, if you have too many unit types they start to lose their character and identity.

If your unit list looks like this for example:

Light Submarine
Attack Subarmine
Missile Submarine

Patrol Boat
Destroyer
Cruiser
Battleship
Aircraft Carrier
Support Aircraft Carrier
Supply Ship

Will you remember any of these units when you walk away from the game? Possibly.  But will they spark your imagination or expand your tactical thinking? Probably not because they are so similar to the modern world ships with only slight variations between each one (ie the Aircraft Carrier has slightly better planes then the Support Carrier, or the Cruiser is slightly better at ship-ship battles then the Destroyer etc.

Compare that to this list:

Hydrarunner Patrol Boat
Gravitron
Fortress Destroyer
Tidecrusher
Vortex Battleship

In this you can see potential for both Iconic and memorable units, as well as completely out of the box technologies that make the VDF Navy stand out as not only different but much more interesting then today's Navy.

It also paves the way for interesting unit quotes like:

Gravitron: "Raising the tides."
                "Be a flyer."
Fortress Destroyer: "Sea Fortress on station."
                             "Pack it up dinos."
Vortex Battleship: "Greatest ship in the Fleet."
                           "How about a Black Hole?"
                           "Defying matter and the mind."

One of the key failings of Total Annialation and it's spiritual sucessior Supreme Commander was that none of the units had any character whatsoever.  There was no unit acknowledgements, and very few cases where units worked outside the box apart from the experimentals.

[Dima02]

It's an interesting thing to note that the VDF (Valley Defense Force, the primary leaf-eater army) is Communism at it's best ideologically, where every race is assigned a place within society and nobody is left behind.

Claw on the other hand (the Sharptooth faction) is Capitialism at it's worst, where it is a sharptooth-eat-sharptooth world and only the strong survive to prosper. Claw will use the most hienous and horrible weapons in battle as long as it means they win in the end, and often it's soldiers are in it purely to be fed from day to day.

Very interesting point Caustizer, but I'm afraid that I might have to disagree with you. Your observation is very good, and the government/economic systems of Claw and VDF should be noted, but I have to argue against your idea.

First, communism should not be compared to capitalism, as communism is a government system while capitalism is a market system.

Secondly, no military in the world (that I know of) is operated according to communist principles. Since true communism is classless, a military operating according to communist principles would have no rank, which means no command. There is no military (that I know of) that has no command structure. Also, communism is built on the principle of total democracy, where everyone votes on what to produce and what to do. I do not know of any military that allows soldiers to vote directly on which city to attack, etc. Also, true communism has no government, but the Great Valley definitely has leaders and representatives. Although I do agree with the fact that the VDF is definitely not entirely capitalist, I disagree with the idea that the VDF is socialist.

Thirdly, from a global perspective, all nations, including Claw and VDF, can be considered capitalist. All nations try to lower the prices of the goods they produce and wipe out their competitors. So in a sense, all nations are capitalist. Also, in a true capitalism is based on competition, which I do not see in the Claw faction. Claw is the supreme leader, and he has no equals. There is no one to compete with him, so Claw's faction is not capitalist. Although I'm not sure exactly how Claw is operated, I like to believe that Claw is a dictator who assigns everyone careers and makes most of the population join the army. Thus, Claw, in my humble opinion, should be compared to a totalitarian dictatorship/oligarchy.

Now, the rule of government should not be downplayed in your story. That will add a lot of philosophy and meaning into your story and hopefully  <_< prevent the usual criticism of war fanfics from being targeted at your story. However, I see the conflict between the VDF and Claw as a Republic vs. Dictatorship/Oilgarchy conflict, not a communism vs. capitalism conflict. Nonetheless, Caustizer, you made a very good point, and the above are just my opinions.

(p.s. I'm having some trouble comming up with warships for Claw. Do you want just one major capital warships surrounded by meat-shield fodder, or do you want to make it more like the VDF fleet? Also, who do you want the Claw ships to be manned by? Bellydraggers or swimming sharpteeth?)

[Caustizer]

Crap... I came up with such a good idea for a storyline and JUST after I posted the VDF bit.  Does anyone mind if I take it down and 'change' it a bit to suit the new plot?

I want Future Wars to have a good send-off, both on the VDF and Claw sides.

EDIT: Ah how I miss the Future Wars: Invasion era music... it's a shame that Frank Klepacki only did one album with music that perfect for the campaign.  It feels like alll the rest of his work I'm having to jerry rig to fit what I want for this.

[Dima02]

Nope. What do you wanna change?

[SouthPawRacer]

I'd be fine with anything you do.

[Caustizer]

Note the Following Features:

The Twilight War encompassed most of present day North America, with the following factions being in direct conflict:

Great Haven
Misty Haven
Verdant Haven

Claw Empire
Fang Empire

The Lower Colonies are a sub-nation that is under the governance of the Great Haven, and are sparsely populated with the exception of a few hubs.  On the Fang Border, military prescence is greatly hightened to stave off attacks.

Scythe Empire is thought to have offered plenty of weaponry, equipment, and material to Claw during the war (for a price) but for selfish reasons its leader Maia (yes its Ms. Maia) held back any official declaration in order to continue to profit from the sidelines.  

The VDF knew all this, and was loathe to attack Scythe Valley directly because of a few reasons:

1) Claw's surprise attack hit hard and deep, and the last thing the leaf-eaters needed were more enemies.

2) Scythe Valley was famous for its Basilisk Warships (massive airborne battleships that are not quite space capable) and the VDF was not willing to gamble on how powerful they really were until the leaf-eaters had a suitable counter

3) Misty Haven was almost completely unmilitarized, so an attack from Scythe forces could have taken it out of the war completely which would have been devestating for VDF supply lines.

Proxy Wars:

Free Haven had been fighting Oligos Empire incursions and outright aggression for decades, but until the Twilight War began they did not recieve any additional support from the VDF because of a lack of funding.  During the war Free Haven forces (with a bit of help from Chomper at times) made considerable gains over the barbaric sharptooth pirates.

Far Haven and the Horn Empire mostly persisted in peace, since Far Haven had few military resources and Horn got a lot of food coming in from the Preylands (named for the vicious sharptooth hunters who dwell there).

[Caustizer]

Good news... Future Wars will be returning again with the leaf-eaters and sharpteeth having found new and innovative ways to kill each other as the end of Cretaceous Earth draws near!

In the VDF, there has been a bit of a dissent into more 'Morally questionable' weaponry including Freeze Rays, Time Bending Airborne Laboratories and Black Hole inducing ammunition in return for greater firepower and functionality.

Only Chomper and Ducky still continue to fight in their old age as long as their friends and families remain in danger from Claw aggression, while the others have moved on to diferent persuits.

In Claw, Manhatten and Raptix (along with their old friend Ozzy) have broken off their alliegences with Theta's new and cruel empire and prepare to take part in a civil war that will once again change the leadership of the Sharptooth Empire or have it remain the same and ascend into dominance.

Outside factions such as Maia's Scythe Valley and Cardine's Fang Valley vie for contol of Claw lands and authorities over ever greater weapons of mayhem and destruction, threatening the survival of all species on the planet.

All the while, sliver's of Achille's brief reign over the sharpteeth remain... leaving some to believe that a part of him might still be alive and plotting revenge against sharptooth and leaf-eater alike.

[Serris]

Oh yeah, I am really liking this!

Actually I found some more music that would work:

Chopperhead - Two Steps From Hell (Sounds like something right out of Command and Conquer)

Iridium Factor - Two Steps From Hell

[Caustizer]

Land Before Time: Future Wars II

The Icestorm Crisis - 35 Years after the end of the Twilight War

As was recorded in both Leaf-eater and Sharptooth history, the alien race known as the Dirge was finally defeated by a combined force of VDF and Claw - though it is not mentioned that Claw's small contingent was annialated at the beginning of the battle by an alien superweapon... VDF historians consider it irrelevant and Theta Era propagandists would rather it remain hidden.

Regardless, the hideous aliens were routed and only two of their ten hive ships ever reached the upper atmosphere to escape into space.  It was learned during the battle (or rather revealed by Icarus, the Dirge leader) that they were responsible for the virus that mutated the dinosaurs giving them reduced size but larger brain power.  This truth was unsettling, and was quickly confided to forbidden archives as the matter was put into investigation.

There was no denying either in the VDF or Claw that relations had changed between the two mortal enemies since the cease-fire had come into place to fight the combined menace of Achilles' Machine Army and the Dirge.

For the first time in the history of leaf-eater and sharptooth existance diplomatic relations were opened between the VDA and Claw's new leadership.  Treaties were signed that contained provisions about territorial and military boundaries.  Each faction was permitted an ambassador to the other, positions that Hasta and Bluescale were all to glad to fill.  The most important deal however was the 'Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty' that was struck later in the process.

...

The SART was signed by General Longtail and Marshal Raptix (an inky foot print and taloned claw mark respectively) and it stated that each faction could demand the dismantling of a single weapons program within the other without negotiation in order to reduce the threat of mass destruction that loomed over the world at the time.

The decision as to which one it was to be was made at the highest level, with Theta and his advisors selecting one of the VDF weapons, and Grandpa Longneck and the VDF council picking one of Claw's.

The question remained as to which one they would choose...

[Caustizer]

The VDF reached their decision first.  Within two weeks of the treaty deadline, the VDA council demanded that Claw dismantle their Soul Nuclear Warheads.  The 'Soul Nukes' were claimed by Claw propaganda to 'devour the souls of the enemy, and turn them against them to charge our weapons'.  Whether it was true or not very few knew, since these armaments were only ever used in battle on Scythe Valley's Basilisk sky warships.

Leaf-eater intelligence had compounded a collection of video-graphs and photo-graphs depicting Claw Nuclear tests that appeared to show a 'blue mushroom cloud' instead of the standard fireball of the sharpteeth's other Nuclear weapons.

That Grandpa Longneck and the other councillors unanimously agreed to 'Soul Nukes' was because of two reasons.  Firstly, during the Twilight War the rogue sharptooth-AI Achilles had assembled an arsenal of Soul Nuclear Missiles that he planned to use against the Verdant Haven.  The plan was only brought to an end by a preemptive raid by Claw on Achille's submarine base in the mid-atlantic, wherein Theta's army captured the 80 unfired missiles and took them to an unknown location.

Secondly, the very concept of destroying not only a being's body but also destroying their soul is an absolute abomination to the leaf-eaters' religious beliefs.  In their culture, they believe that when somebody dies their soul returns to the same family in a later generation, in the form of a son or daughter.  Should a Soul Nuke ever be used on a VDF colony or city, it would not only take lives but also annialate the souls of those caught in the blast.  Such an event would be intolerable, so the decision was made.

Claw's 'Emperor' Theta was only slightly annoyed by the decision.  While Soul Nukes were certainly a valuable weapon for intimidation, the consiquences of losing them would only really apply to Ms. Maia since her fleet was the only unit that used them.

It is rumoured that Ms. Maia executed the Diplomat who signed the treaty in her name, though unfortunately none of his family members were alive long enough either to confirm or deny it.

[Caustizer]

Claw took a bit longer to decide which VDF weapons program it wanted to shut down.  An unfortunate loop-hole in the treaty was that the choices only included weapons of mass destruction that were actually confirmed to exist.  The longnecks whom had written the treaty had included this clause so that the VDF could force Claw Intelligence to prove that some of the more obscure technologies were in active use in the leaf-eater military.

Theta was furious to find the state of disarray that his intelligence was in. In his betrayal Achilles had erased or locked off countless data stacks that Exidium had kept on the enemy prior to the start of the war.  The existing blocks could be decoded, but not in time for the treaty deadline.

In the end the sharpteeth knew about the Chrono and Gravitron technology that the VDF was employing, but since they couldn't prove it they had to choose between three options:  The Titan Uplink, the Drawler Systems, and the Brontodon program.  Claw's generals had come to warroom brawls at one point about what choice was to be made, and the leadership was in a near deadlock as the deadline grew nearer.

Ground Generals such as Red-Eye pushed aggressively to end the Brontodon program, as those metal monsters were responsible for countless casualties during the Twilight War and proved to be near unstoppable thanks to all the experimental technologies they carried.

Air Force Generals such as Sierra were equally venomous about wanting the Titan Uplink to go.  The Space-based Weapons Platform worked by dropping a salvo of Tungsten Rods which quickly reach Supersonic velocities and incinerate whatever they strike in white hot impacts.  Sierra and the other flyers were greatly alarmed by the fact it could potentially strike their Air Towers with no warning and no chance of reprisal.

Submarine Admirals such as Navar wanted the VDF's Drawler technology to go.  Messing with the weather could produce perpetually poor sea conditions to make traditional naval operations impossible.

After hours of senseless debate, threats, and some stray shots 'Emperor' Theta stepped in and made the decision for them.

The VDF would cancel their Weather Machine and field use of Drawler Technology perminantly.  Theta knew that the global climate was changing thanks to the 'Drawler Storm' that lingered after the war and made certain areas of the sea impassible.  The planet was getting colder, and even now some of the northern regions were becoming ghostly as the cold blooded dinosaurs retreated from the snow and ice.  The fast-biter reasoned that since the majority of Claw cities and settlements were in the tropical regions, the faction as a whole would benefit more from a cooling then the VDF would, and without their Weather Control Technoloy they could do nothing about it.

After all 'Emperor' Theta had a plan... but first he would need to gather his resources, bide his time, and prepare for the coming conflict.  And when the time came that the VDF became weak and paralyzed by the cold, his army would strike and conquer the world in his name.

The foundations of the Icestorm Crisis had been set in motion...