Quest:Iron Hearts

A tactical simulated paper and dice RPG/War Game created by Monday, normally played on 4chan's /tg/. A world where fantasy meets World War II technology, lovingly dubbed Diesel Punk by a few players. It's ran primarily late evenings on Thursday and into the weekend.

Not to be confused with the Paradox's Hearts of Iron series

The Game

Skirmish Quest is a quest in the form of a wargame in the line of Warhammer or Infinity. Rather than controlling a whole army however, every player controls a small squad of soldiers numbering from 1-4, depending on their class. Each player acts independently within the army, working together to conquer their enemies. Because there are usually no npc mook filler to absorb stray bullets, though (The Voss Army being the major exception), character fatality is common in every battle. However, players may roll a new character mid-battle, depending on the allowance of the situation.

When a battle commences, the GM will post the map, and a short briefing to the day's battle. Veterans and new players alike participate by simply reporting in with a name, class designation, and tripcode. After a certain number of people have reported in during roll call, action phase commences. This is when the players are given a chance to post the actions and movements of their unit, as well as any dice checks that may be necessary. Action phases generally last for 3-10 minutes, averaging 7 or 8. Because of this, perfectly coordinated strategy is rare.

An example of a post:

Name: [R1] Sanchez#y863erlr
Email: dice+9d10
dice rolled 7, 8, 4, 4, 5, 1, 1, 8, 10
> Move 3 NW
> Fire 3 bursts on the enemy North
"Eat slag you fethwipes!"

Once Action phase ends, the GM processes each individual order, based on the order they were posted. Care must be taken when writing one's actions, as badly written ones can and will be mis-processed or outright ignored. Cheating with noko dice or low numbered dice is not tolerated. Once done, OC posts a picture of the resolved action phase.

After the results of the action phase has been posted, the enemy phase commences, wherein the enemy takes their turn. During this time, players may freely plan a strategy with their teammates, or await orders and requests from superior officers. Once the enemy phase is through, the cycle repeats with another action phase, and the remaining players may continue to post actions.

Players whose characters met an untimely end may redeploy with a new name, however their XP pool is reset back to 0. There are some deployment restrictions depending on the army and ultimately it will be up to your commanding officer if they are willing to pay the points or bench other units to deploy you.

Bowing Out

Sometimes it is not possible to play through a whole skirmish. OC does not mind this and thanks you for contributing, if even for a short while. For this reason, players may do the following in order to free up unit space or ensure that the strategy doesn't fall apart.

1. Retreat your unit back to a base or flag and [Withdraw]. This will allow you to safely redeploy when you are ready to fight again and you may return to the field fully resupplied! This also allows other players to join and frees up processing for OC.

2. Defer your character to be botted by your squad leader, commanding officer, or trench buddy. Braver men continued fighting even after their minds left their bodies simply going through the motions or simply lending their power to a bigger squad. Players that are obviously idle may be botted to join your squad or be fed their own independent set of orders.

Battle Over

A battle ends when the objectives have been met, the enemy has been beaten back and defeated or if the Army has retreated, surrendered or have been completely wiped out. At the end of a battle, situation-appropriate XP is handed out, and each player gains XP for their kills and assists made throughout the mission. The responsibility for tracking kills and assists falls to the player.

The Backstory

~~This section has gotten no love, and that's terrible. The info is coming soon.~~ GOOD NEWS, EVERYONE! We have backstory coming up.

The story takes place in the 600th year of Terra and possibly many decades after when the War of the Black Oil has begun to percolate in full as the bloodiest war in history since the founding of the Valknyre Empires. During this period, the great Realization was in full swing where magic and technology developed hand in hand with various cultures to the point of being able to advance one's empire to contest against other nations. At the core of such developments was the discovery of Ibonyte, a mysterious substance that can be manipulated to take on any property in the existing universe. Various Mystical Forces, Sciences, Cultures, Philosophies, and even Races strove to keep up with each other. And as massive battles broke out, smaller, more isolated regions stood by and watched in horror and anticipation of such harrowing trials.

Canonical History of the Valknyre Region

About Valknyre Clans

At the pillars of Voss society is the rich history that the wars of Valknyr have burned in their very pages. The living testimonies of those once remembered battles and wars rest with the proliferating clans of the Valknyr War Clans, known today as the GranKinn or " Great Descendants "

While many nations and empires have came and went in the Valknyres, it is in the genes of the Grankinns that the history of the region lives on through the Voss. From the north are the Belarusa clans comprising of the Urs ,VonClaudes, and Reiders, who were said to have played a key role in the demonstrification battles that reached its high point during 1st Von Voss's lifetime.

From Heartlands of the Valknyres is the Thanes, the Reins, the Sturm clans and the noble families connected to the Von Voss. Who created the first sparks of revolution to overthrow the black kings that ruled tyrrannically over them for centuries.

As the Valknyres is a region vulnerable to invasions and is doubly attractive for its richness of resources and access to all other areas of the Midland kingdoms, aspiring nations from all corners have risen, trampled, and taken and settled on these lands populated by these white-haired ancestors.

Because of these recessive traits, genetic dominance became an all too clear sign of foreign invasions, on top of that, the Valknyres that lived in a region with no need to advance technologically was simply outright repressed by the warring powers that came to visit them from distant corners.

Very quickly did the situation develop an "us and them" mentality that the invading lords tried to appease it's citizens by scape-goating and even attempted to fight the local inhuman residents there.

At the center of such racial strifes impostor kings indoctrinated the Valks with their own brand of anti-monster propogandas with neighboring tribes and clans being turned against each other. It was here that the bloodshed reached a turning point and the one they would call Killer King would arise from the killing fields to restore the Valks to their former peace.

Ascheron VonVoss, or the first of the Killer Kings started like any warring clan in the Valknyres looking to overthrow any self serving baron or count. At the time , at least 4 nations were vying for dominance in the region. One of which were the Aeon Holy Empire, then known as Cruxtania. Predatoria, Kashir and the Machine city of Labrese.

Residing in the Valknyres were what was once the majority of Iffram's demihuman population, and the various clans in the Valks themselves. Those who were a resident valknyre in these times survived a thousand years of monsters and beasts that only their legends could speak of. It was through these common bonds that Ascheron took on the black mask, forged by castors and cursed by witches to befall on the head of a true Valknyrian Hero that will lead them to victory or certain death.

With such words to accompany the meaning of the Black Crown, the numerous warring clans of the Valknyres took up arms, settled their differences and found the only true king they will need to topple these impostor kings.

The first Valknyre army was formed then. So prolific were their presence that it was said that even Valkryes, Demons, and Dragons joined hands to fight all 4 opponents simultaneously fighting them back all the way to their homelands and turning the cultural invasion inside out.

Today the Valknyres are said to only exist in meaning within these Clans and it is through them and the so called Ancients that the Voss retains its name as the true ruler of the Valknyre region.

Notable Valknyre Clans*

Gaunts: Farming Clan that poisoned their harvest and outstarved their Cruxtanian oppressors.

Von Voss: Gave rise to the Von Voss empires that intermittently ruled the Valknyres when the crown was said to choose a wearer. The third and most recent being Vilkas Von Voss, an illegitimate child to a wandering concubine.

Monandeas- Shamed family line that was said to only have one notable hero: Basillica Monandeas. Their dark history with the black hordes still stirs terror from ancient wars.

Axolos- Predatoria Sword masters

Volerons- Predatorian Assassination Clan. Known for using circus performers to train their runners.

Carmelias- Predatorian Assassination Clan [Known to hunt humans for sport]

Lupins- Predatorian Thieves Guild

Bellic- Laboria Union resistance leader

Petrovics- Laboria Machine specialists

Domovoi- Laboria Seige clan

Odderkonn- Northern Laboria Industrial safety Comittee [Espionage]

Ibrahim- Southern Laboria Bomb makers.

Kalashnikovs- Family line has a predetermined prison sentence even before birth. Those who kept the Kalashnikov name was considered a criminal citizen. Kalashnikov relatives still developed high criminal tendencies in their lives.

Thorfinn- Warrior Clan [God Slayer]

Odahviing- Forger Clan [Heaven Ring]

Skwiglef- Warrior Clan [ The Fast Men]

Wolfgang- Mounted Cavalry / Armored Clans

Augustine- Assassination Clan. Dates back 323 Years as of 632.

Schmidt- Forge Family. Produced motorized transports.

Gunthers- Engineering Family. Self Propelled Artillery

RosseWeisse- Armor Pilots, protected VonVoss nobles

Pandemon- Noble Family. Funded wars. Breadmakers.

Krauss- Red Knights. [Krieger Family line]

VVinkles- Notable Riflemen/ Huntsmen. Said to fire on targets a mile away.

Alexanders- Holy Knights that lent their aide to oversee peacekeeping treatise with Cruxtania

Major Factions and Groups

Ragnyll

The nationality of the protagonists of Iron Hearts. Embroiled in a bitter war with their former allies of the Voss Empire, Ragnyll separated from its brother-state. The young nation quickly developed a strong economy, more likely than not due to its deposits of a new, abundant, and powerful resource, Ibonyte. The metal, once mined and refined, is highly reactive, and can be bonded and/or converted to any element through a special electrical process that isn't fully understood.

Hellghast Armored Unit

The fighting force that the playerbase controls, the Hellghast Armored Unit was bathed in the fires of war from its inception, the earliest cadets having to fight their way out of their own military academy after it had been overrun by a Voss offensive. The Hellghast forces have fought all across Ragnyll, from the forests of Dandelion and Wassau to the mines of Kolstec. The Armored Unit functions through the usage of combined arms, utilizing conventional infantry and armor forces alongside a limited air corps and, in some cases, elemental casters.

The Hellghast Unit has made a name for itself by being one of the more infamous units of the Ragnyllian military, leading the charge that is the Ragnyllian counter-offensive. Currently led by Major Gunther.

Ragnyllian Legion

Ragnyllian company famous for its usage of large amounts of infantry. Deployed alongside the Hellghast unit during the Invasion of Stallion. Led by a Major Thaneus Kane.

3rd Ragnyll Air Wing

Ragnyll air corps, nicknamed "The Flying Scissors." Composed of natural pilots, and specialize in the patrol, interception, and harassment of enemy supply lines.

Bad Company

A band of 13 soldiers that functions pretty much like Schaeffer and his Last Chancers. Fight battles of attrition with the Voss and win. An elite unit, sent on highly dangerous, top secret missions deep into enemy territory.

Class of '56

The survivors of the elementalist academy in Solstice, the class has reformed into a sort of quick-response group that specializes in battlefield control, anti-occult warfare, and research expeditions. Have contributed heavily to the rebuilding of Ragnyllian cities in the wake of Voss attacks.

Voss

The primary antagonists of Iron Hearts, Voss is a nation fueled by war. More martial than its Brother-state, the Voss Empire has recently launched offensives into Ragnyll, no doubt to secure the nation's newest rare and valuable resource, Ibonyte. Besides conventional infantry and armor, Voss forces are also made up of mindless hordes of reanimated corpses, Ghouls, and beasts of varying size and power, from the deadly flying Gargoyles to the heavily armored Dullahan.

Voss armies function on the generation and usage of a special battlefield resource, Terror. Terror is gained through attrition, ripping apart enemy units and the like. Once enough Terror has been created, it can be used to purchase new units. This aggressive style of play suits the Voss well, their tactics revolving around the usage of massed, weak infantry, heavy armor/monstrous creatures, and large Monotanks that make most anyone shit their pants.

The Three Generals of Terror

The Generals of Terror are the most brilliant and well-known tacticians in all of the Voss Empire's armed forces. Two of the three have been met on the field and killed; the third, however, remains to be seen.

Thanatos

An ancient god of immeasurable power, Thanatos was accidentally summoned by Hellghast during the Invasion of Stallion when the Hellghast denied the god its Vossian tribute, human souls in the form of civilians. May or may not be the source of the Voss' ability to resurrect its dead as Ghouls/ source of power in general. Has given Hellghast something of a timeframe, proclaiming that it will claim the souls of those who fought that day in 99 days from the battle.

The Terrible Children

A special unit of the Voss Royal Guard, the Terrible Children's sole duty is the protection of the last living heir to the Voss throne, Prince Vilkas von Voss. Due to their unique command structure, The Terrible Children answer only to the Prince, and will defy even the mighty Generals of Terror if ordered to do so.

Vilkas von Voss

The future Emperor of the Voss Empire. A bastard child born of Kashir and Voss blood, Vilkas is the rightful air to the Voss throne. The child's progression from baby to teenager is being told in the 2nd volume of the Iron Hearts game.

Aeon

A holy empire founded on the teachings of Alexander, The Holy Church of Aeon has mainly kept to itself during the wars, holding Ragnyll in contempt and eschewing alliance with the Voss for their profane treatment of the dead.

Aeoni units are separated into three different groups: The Crown, which holds the armor units; The Inquisition, who provide heavy hitting but fragile units (think glass cannon), and The Order, which provides the main infantry forces.

Aeon armies make usage of two unique battlefield resources, Faith and Glory. Faith is acquired whenever bodies are consecrated, selfless acts of service are performed, or when holy works are created. Glory is gained upon defeating enemy units, and is lost whenever allied units are destroyed. Faith acts as a multiplier to Glory (if one has 2 Faith points and 35 Glory points, the total Glory the Aeoni player would have would be 70), and Glory, in turn, can be used to purchase new units. This makes Aeon armies deadly if they hold out long enough.

Legio Aurora

Something of a splinter group from the main body of the Aeoni Order, Legio Aurora consists of the remnants of a larger Aeon force that had originally been sent deep into Ragnyllian lines to confirm that the Vinculum Gate, an interdimensional portal through which daemons poured out, had opened. The group found itself whittled down by constant Voss attacks, until Hallow's Eve, when, during the Battle of The Fist, a miracle occurred. Just as all seemed lost, the Voss continually sending soldiers against Aeon's dwindling numbers, a large group of reinforcements appeared. Ghostly Hellghast warriors and armor, casualties of previous battles, miraculously appeared out of thin air, and cut down the Voss with frightening precision. The Legion, seeing this as a sign of divine intervention, had their spirits renewed, and continued fighting until the Voss forces were completely wiped out. The ghostly soldiers, their job done, then quietly disappeared with the first light of the new day.

The Legion, led by the Chapter Master Wight, held brief relations with the Hellghast Armored Unit until Wight led the legion on a merry chase to find relic gear that could slay the demons and close the gate once and for all.

Iffram

Forest-dwelling elf people. Rely heavily on magic. Unfortunately, not much has been mentioned about them.

Riverns

From the Faelands are the Riverns who travel across such a vast mythical plane that unreliably changes shape and form, inviting one danger too many or inducing one distraction too much for them to bear its vastly complicated ecosystem. It is thus that the Riverns trace ancient rivers until their solitary and nomadic quests take them to the other side, where the waters become more still and the skies become less wrinkled. As a result, they are constant visitors to every Terra they visit, oftentimes seen as an uninvited guest or a stationary fixture, incapable of keeping up with the underclocked lifespan of the humans.

A Rivern shares the Ragnyllian spirit of exploration and progress; however, vary rarely will a Rivern ever be compatible with his true home, wherever that was. So here they settle, taking with them the odds and ends from the Fae, acting as liaisons to these chaotic lands that even they would shun.

Riverns are said to be splinter reincarnations of themselves--that is to say, if a Rivern dies on another world, chances are he will come back as some random race that could have been. From this, it can be surmised that an Iffram army would focus on something such as random rolls to be effective.

Riverns have come into the spotlight as of the Battle of Hinzerhaus, in which, due to interdimensional dickery, Scout Sniper Finch transformed into a Rivern.

Clovis

Clovis was created by an international exodus of peoples whose homes and countries were destroyed in the Midland Wars. That burned through the Valknyres up to the wastes of Qwloo, primarily it was also spurred by the sheer need of resources to keep their nations afloat. However the rich and fertile lands of Clovis only had so much but more in the way of agriculture and essentially isolation from the rest of the world. Here, trade federations began to spring up, and due to the escalating diversity of interests , became a nation onto itself in order to conduct said trades.

Valuing a base set of ethics and hard practical knowledge, Clovis became the incidental nation that never could have happened, hence its flag; a 5 leafed clover that stresses its separation of many ideas and values that often times MUST meet in a middle point. In its growth as a nation, Clovis focused their resources on the industrial sciences, and improved their means of living through practical use of growing technology. Many a times, resource struggles would break out in its more fringe parts where the government proper could not reach, in these instances much of their military technology operated on the concept of fast hitting, and fast moving forces that can occupy, invade, and reinforce yet another skirmish that is sure to break out elsewhere. As a nation they rely heavily on the many trade companies and industrial corporations that make up its fast paced military.

Clovis are what happens when you take a merc unit, give it a nation to run, and make said nation ultra-capitalistic. Clovis operates much like a modern-day PMC--they sell their services to nations that need a little bit more firepower. Clovis first came into contact with the Hellghast unit during the First Battle of Five Fingers, wherein a Clovis supply plane crash-landed right in front of the battlefield. The Hellghast unit moved to secure the supplies that had dropped out of the plane upon impact, and Clovis had sent a massive reinforcement force to make sure her assets were protected. Clovis units, particularly the Clovis air unit Peregrine, are currently under the employ of the Hellghast Unit, on the assurance that they will be paid handsomely for their services in Ibonyte.

Souf

DINOSAURS!!!

Well, um, yes. The Souf is what happens when you take Warring States-era Japan, blend well with the hillbilly and redneck cultures, and sprinkle a hearty amount of dinosaurs on top. The Souf is a dangerous, odd place, filled with moonshine-running, dinosaur-riding redneck folk who *will* go after you if you do so much as touch their hooch or look at their daughters. Unfortunately, that is all we know about this place.

The Story so Far

The story of Iron Hearts begins with the Fall of Sylvia. On that fateful July day in the 656th year, the Voss Empire marched across the borders of Ragnyll and began their attack. The response army shattered, the Cross Military Academy was the next target of the Voss forces. The cadets fought bravely, but ultimately had to make their escape as Ghouls overran their defenses. With the images of the dying academy burned into their memories, the cadets quickly swore revenge, christening themselves the Hellghast. The Hellghast soon found themselves thrust into deployment after deployment; at Norwood Forest, still raw from their first deployments, the unit routed the Vosskon offensive; at Stilemar, they became liberators, and at Dandelion, they became heroes.

It was not until the Battle of Five Fingers that the Hellghast started to form alliances with the various factions that populated the land. How opportune, it seemed, then, when a Clovis cargo plane dropped out of the sky, disgorging its cargo of supplies and soldiers in the midst of traded cannon shells and whistling death! The unit, then under the command of the fiery Captain Iceval, immediately stepped forward to protect the Clovis units and secure the precious cargo. The battle, though successful, saw the end of Iceval, and the passing of the torch to Mana Lanista, a Vanguard Knight, and one of the original survivors of the Fall of Sylvia. In the Battle of Solstice, Mana, then a Captain, was caught in the middle of an artillery barrage, breaking her body and leaving her for dead. Fortunately, a process was revealed wherein Mana could be rebuilt. She became more machine than human, her flesh and bone replaced by armor and wires. Black-gold oil pulsed through veins where blood would have pumped. She had become something not quite human.

Under Mana's leadership, Hellghast's next battle came in the form of sweeping the undead-infested mines of Kolstec. The town held high strategic value to both sides; a massive store of Ibonyte lay within the town's mines, and both parties wished to control it. Though Hellghast took the several losses and Mana was heavily damaged, the mines were liberated, and a massive parasitic worm creature that had been feeding on the Ibonyte deposits was destroyed in a rather large, rather impressive explosion that made the inside of the mine momentarily glow as bright as midday. For their efforts in this battle, the unit was rewarded handsomely: alternate weapon choices were procured for the infantry, and new armor was introduced into the unit's vehicle pool.

The next test for the Hellghast came deep in the forests of Wassau. Under commission from an Aeon Inquisitor, the unit's objective was two-fold: first, to rescue a band of Aeoni missionaries holed up in a small chapel in the woods; and second, to exterminate a fellow Ragnyllian Army unit that had decided to use unholy magicks, shaping themselves into beings that were more beast than human. The extermination effort, however, did not entirely go as planned: while searching the forest for the unit, A Voss contingent made itself known, and both Ragnyllian units formed a temporary truce to beat back the Voss. The battle shifted, though, when a Scout Sniper took a wounding shot at the targeted Ragnyllian unit's commander. The veil pulled back and the Voss all but routed, Wilder's unit turned on the Hellghast, some of their number turned into fierce were-beasts. The fighting became fierce, as brother turned against brother, but the Hellghast prevailed at a high cost: the units that had not been outright killed by the were-beasts were to succumb to lycanthropy themselves unless something was done quickly. Fortunately for the unit, a mystical Aeoni artifact, a sword known only by the name of Sol, was housed in the missionaries' church. The good Captain, seeing the potential of the weapon, took the sword as her own. The sword purified those who had been bitten; amputation of the infected limb stopped the lycanthropy from overtaking the afflicted.

With the Voss offensive halted and progressively pushed back, Hellghast's next priority came in the liberation of the military airfield at Albane, Voss' last firm stronghold in Ragnyll. Though resistance was heavy, and casualties were taken, The Hellghast Armored Unit prevailed, accomplishing two feats. The first of these was the liberation of the airfield, thereby ensuring Voss had no more footholds in Ragnyll. The second of these feats was an opportunistic boon: from intelligence gathered prior to the mission, it was perchance learned that the Voss were using the airfield to house a prototype airship, capable of dropping weaponized biological agents across city-wide areas. The Hellghast, in a rather bold move, boarded the aircraft as it was taking off, killing or capturing the Voss crew and securing the airship for Ragnyll.

The Voss, not wanting to be outdone, soon staged a counterattack. Hellghast chose to intercept the Voss force at the site of a previous battle, Five Fingers Valley. It was here that Hellghast had its darkest moment, sustaining heavy casualties due to a mixture of reasons--thinly forces, miscommunication, the list could go on and on, though Ragnyllian historians debate on just what was the key moment that determined that the second battle of Five Fingers shifted in the Voss' favor. Among the dead, Hellghast lost several officers, one of its top Pilots, and all of its deployed Casters. All was not lost, however; with his last actions, Lieutenant Rip van Winkle was able to eliminate the first of the three Voss Generals of Terror, high commanding officers of the Voss Empire known for their tactical genius and ruthlessness.

Their forces routed, Hellghast had no choice but to retreat to the town of Kolstec and lick its wounds, regaining its strength for the next battle. It was not long after the second battle of Five Fingers that the Voss began to march once again. Of special note during the defense of Kolstec is an event that happened shortly after the battle had began: a young Caster by the name of Magus, misinterpreting an order from a commanding officer, dropped away the stone bridge that connected the town to the outside world, leaving a majority of the forces stranded at the foot of the city, their backs against a deep ravine filled with the valuable black gold Ibonyte. The battle was fierce, pitting the tattered unit against a plethora of enemies, among them two Monotanks and an airship not unlike the one fielded by the Voss at Albane. Hellghast, proving themselves starved for vengeance since their defeat, valiantly stood their ground, even with the unit's heaviest armor units, its tanks, stuck ineffectively on the other side of the ravine.

It was at this battle, too, that the second of the three Voss Generals of Terror, Asmodeus, made himself known. A wicked figure, the demon-general drew power straight from the Ibonyte in the ravine of Kolstec, the black material turning blood-red, the bones of fallen soldiers seemingly phasing in and out of existence within, their moans filling the air. The good general then challenged the Hellghast commanding officer, the increasingly robotic Captain Mana, to a duel. The duel went along splendidly, until Mana was, much like previous missions, chopped into still-living but annoyed bits, and Asmodeus was ripped apart in a hale of machine gun, cannon, and blessed railgun rounds.

While this was happening, an odd turn of events was being had for an Aeoni force some distance from the city of Kolstec. Originally inserted deep into Ragnyllian lines to determine the existence of the Vinculum Gate, a portal through which demons creeped from dimensions most foul, had been under constant attack from Voss forces scattered throughout Ragnyll. With the death of Inquisitor Derf, command of the unit fell to Brother-Adjutant Makkor. The Aeoni force had been backed up against The Fist, a geological formation that jutted out from the Ragnyllian landscape, and had thus deemed to make their stand there, to fight to the last man. With only a handful of units, the Aeoni force cut a violent swath through the Voss, though as the night continued, it became clear that the seemingly endless tide of Ghouls and tanks would overwhelm the holy warriors. It was here, though, that something...strange happened. In the light of the moon, as Kolstec blazed with the fires of war behind them, the beleaguered Aeon force was visited by reinforcements. Spectral soldiers, all of them Ragnyllian casualties from previous battles, materialized around the Aeoni soldiers, giving them a chance to claim their second wind. Their spirits raised to a zealous fury, the Aeoni soldiers then marched against the Voss hordes, routing them completely with the first rays of the dawn. Their jobs completed, the spectral warriors dissolved as well, leaving the soldiers of Alexander in peace.

The days passed somewhat more peacefully from here. Legio Aurora, as the remaining soldiers of the unit came to be known, soon made its way into through the gates of Kolstec. The newly christened leader of the unit, Chapter Master Gabriel Wight, met up with Father Zwei, Hellghast's Aeoni liaison since the unit's timely rescue of the Aeoni missionaries in the forests of Wassau. Other soldiers from both units began to mingle in other ways, with one unfortunate scuffle between an Aeoni Knight pilot and a Hellghast Strider pilot ending only after a member of an Aeoni Sheperd's flock fired a gunshot into the ceiling of the vehicle bay, said gunshot being heard all around the base and attracting an undue amount of attention. In light of this incident (among several others), it was soon agreed upon by both forces that a friendly skirmish match was to be had between the two concerned parties. Hellghast won.

With the Aeoni unit rested and gone, Hellghast turned its attention back on the warpath. Now that Voss had been cleared from Ragnyll, now came the time to go on the offensive. Higher command chose the Hellghast's striking point to be the coastal town of Stallion, a former trading port for both Voss and Ragnyll. With support from Major Thaneus Kane's Ragnyllian Legion, the Hellghast Armored Unit deployed in force, quickly taking the beaches and fighting their way inland. As they fought deeper into the town, a Private Henessian Kess captured a seeming small, unremarkable hut situated on a small island in the middle of a river that ran through the town, naming the small structure HinzerHaus. Upon capturing the hut, Kess discovered a Ghoulified, though still somehow human, inhabitant, a certain miss Mary Susan. She detailed herself as a corpsier, a practitioner in the occult arts of the Voss. What was unknown to anyone, though, was that the structure, as well as its inhabitants, would have a deeper role in a future deployment (more on that later). The fighting past HinzerHaus was fierce, Hellghast and Ragnyllian Legionnaire forces both pushing hard against the seemingly insurmountable wall of Vossian massed infantry and tanks. The Hellghast's priorities shifted, though, when a Captain Gunther called down an artillery strike on a mass of Voss Infantry that, coincidentally, had an allied Stork positioned right above it. The Stork, torn to pieces by the artillery strike, proceeded to crash land deeper into Voss lines, its pilot, though unharmed, in danger of being captured.

Hellghast moved quickly to recover the downed pilot, ripping apart his captors in a hail of minigun fire. Meanwhile, Kane's Legionnaires brought the landing craft deeper into the town, deploying more reinforcements as the Hellghast continued to press their assault. It was at this point in the battle that the Hellghast noticed two things: one, that there was a very large, very imposing statue in the town square some distance from them; and two, that the civillians were being herded onto train cars, no doubt to be sent ontward to some Ghoulifying Processing Center. The unit promptly blew up the statue and rescued the civillians, Major Kane's Legionnaires plodding forward behind them. It should not be ignored, however, that the Hellghast lost yet another CO in the midst of the fighting: Major Mana, the last survivor of the original Hellghast unit that survived the Fall of Sylvia, that glorious close-combat beatstick whose power could rival that of that one armless asshat of a failure in another universe, was unceremoniously blown apart in a flurry of artillery fire. Captain Gunther became the overall commander of the Hellghast in her place.

It was here that the story came to a shift: A sickly green light pulsed at the base of the broken statue, before shooting upwards in an awesome display. Weapons could not pierce this column of light, nor dissipate it. The green light gave way to black, and a form materialized in the middle of this column. The monster bellowed out its challenge to the Hellghast: for disrupting the ritual and denying the beast its sacrifice, it swore that it would claim all of the Hellghast, 99 days after Stallion. After giving this proclamation, the column of light promptly collapsed in on itself, leaving the battle-scarred town to lick its wounds and bury the dead.

Through the help of Mary Susan, it was determined that the entity's name was Thanatos. He was a Death God, a being formed from malevolence incarnate, and that the Voss had been serving this being for some time before the unit's unaccounted-for interruption. The Hellghast had two options: submit to the Death God and proclaim all its kills in its name, or destroy it. Naturally, the unit chose the latter option. The apprentice corpsier gave the unit an opportunity to lend her assistance to the unit in its search for more information on the Death God and how to defeat it on one condition: they had to go into the basement of Hinzerhaus and take care of a certain bug problem. Not wishing to waste an opportunity on finding out how to kill this new nemesis, the unit gladly accepted the offer.

What followed was a grueling ordeal that went on for a week. Roaches, beetles, and mantids--creatures unseen since the days of Skirmish Quest--reared their ugly heads, descending upon the unit. Undaunted, the Hellghast cut through the mindless droves, discovering that the basement was less of a basement and more of an underground research facility, complete with lab, office, observatory, and library. The fighting was intense; what the bugs lacked in firepower they compensated for in sheer number. For every Roach killed, 3 more took its place; on top of this, if the bodies weren't outright destroyed, eggs could spawn in the corpses, leaving a nasty surprise for the wayward soldier that moves close to the dead Roaches. On top of this, soon flying beetles that could slice through armor and flesh harassed the infantry as horned beetles that spewed fire ripped apart the armor support.

[More to come.]

Joining in on the War

There are only a few things you need to play Iron Hearts: A name, a tripcode, and a class to play as. Seems easy, right? Yes and no; there's quite a few things that veterans know that fresh recruits don't. Quite a few of these things will be mentioned here so that you might live longer, and *then* die in a ditch, clutching your spilled out innards, sobbing for your mother before succumbing to your wounds in a puddle of your own mess and afterwards shipped home in a box--and that's if the Ghouls don't eat you first. But hey, at least you'll have some shiny bits to affix to that dress uniform. Before that you might want to get to know the images below with the unit types on them as they will include your possible player card. Player Cards are your personal stat sheets which you can edit with color and any upgrades you might get from spending XP.

Upgrades

So you just survived your first mission and cracked open a few Voss skulls. Congratulations, you now have XP! XP is earned by doing just that--surviving missions and killing enemy units, with most enemy units giving different XP amounts for being killed. Assists are awarded as 1xp each. XP can then be used to purchase either unit upgrades, which are 10XP apiece; or an Aspect upgrade, which are unique to particular classes and cost 20XP each. Unit upgrades can be to increase anything--movement, number of actions, weapon damage, weapon magazine capacity, even a new squadmember can be purchased, though are capped at 6 upgrades to allow players to diversify their playstyle and try different classes.

Aspect Upgrades, on the other hand, function somewhat differently. In addition to a stat bonus, such as a +1 health or a +1 movement, Aspects modify some part of the character's unit, allowing a sort of specialization to take place; for example, the Monkey Aspect for the Mobile Artillery class allows players a +1 action bonus, alongside the bonuses of unhindered climbing by running, automatic reloading at the end of every action phase, and the ability to steal objects from running past enemy units. In addition to being purchased, Aspect Upgrades can also be upgraded up to three times, further enhancing an Aspect's usefulness.

Unit Cards

An Example of a Unit Card with upgrades
Ragnllian Infantry
Ragnyllian Armor
Alternate Equipment for Ragnyllians
Aeoni Infantry
Aeoni Armor

Field Manual

The Field Manual made up by Monday and a few others with possible things you can do in the game is always something you might want to read at least once, since it might have something you can do that you'd never think of to begin with.

Basics like how to read unit cards
Standard maneuvers and firing
Special actions
Special actions continued
Array actions
Current Aspects available

VOSS PC Gameplay

15 years before the Voss offensive that caused Hellghast unit to come together, a Vosskon unit of war orphans known as the Terrible Children saw their first deployment. In the sands of the Sansik Empire they rescued a child from the corrupted grasp of his sacrificed mother, and found a new Emperor to wear the Crown of Dead Kings: Vilkas von Voss. In his name they fight against the Skylands and her people, the Kashir who worship heathen Death Gods.

The Voss Royal guard are the main players of IronHearts Volume 2. Unlike Ragnyllian basic soldiers, Voss "Royals" are considered a level higher than the standard voss trooper. As such, they can only deploy at the start of games and upon death may only redeploy as members of the regular army ("mooks"). Playing as a standard regular soldier is also fine.

The Royal Guard is comprised of various tactical fighters, rear line supporters, and even Officers that can fall under either category. Any Royal can ORDER nearby mooks to join them, causing the lower soldats to gain a command bonus. COs can choose their command auras as indicated by the base of their cards, but the blanket of units they can affect is dependent on Rank.

Progression

Exp collected at the end of the game can be used to buy things in the Varmach, which contains upgrades that affect the army as a whole. Hats can be worn to upgrade stats, alternate weapon sets can be brought in, and new mook cards can be purchased in order to field a greater variety of troops. Armor units have the option to upgrade themselves using XP much like Ragnyllian vehicles. However, the cost of each upgrade increases by 10 for every purchase. (Ex. 1st Upgrade = 10 XP, 2nd = 20, 3rd = 30, etc.) Finally, players may choose to play a mook squad via Heromode, which allows the mooks to spend XP to upgrade statistics much like armor. However, casualties in a [HERO] squad can not be replaced except by XP purchases.

Voss Royals can also use their new-found control over the undead to become the more fearsome Death Korps classes. Death Korps status is typically achieved through death by specific means, otherwise known as siring, and undergo strenuous training to fight efficiently for the Voss ideal.