Orc Race Mechanic: Brothers in Arms

[Shar Dundred]

Race Mechanic

Orcs:
Brothers in Arms

What is a race mechanic?
As the name suggests, race mechanic defines a mechanic specifically made for a particular race.
For the Secon Books of Arkain, every race will receive at least one race mechanic to make the race more unique compared to the others.
They also increase the replayability of the campaigns since they are coupled with gameplay choices.


What is Brothers in Arms?
Those of you who have followed the Orcs through the First Books know that they are a race close to extinction - and that they lost much during the war.
Those of you who followed the news of Arkain and/or played the Second Human Book already know how they solve their problems: Adding other races to their ranks.
The races include but are not limited to:
Orcs, Dark Trolls, Gnolls, Goblins, Golems, Centaurs, Bearmen, Ogres, Dragons and Harpies.

How do they work ingame?
You have a massive amount of units (more than 30!) at your disposal, however you do not just train them in your buildings.
You can recruit a unit like the Grunt normally in your Barracks. The Grunt can then switch to become an Axethrower for free and vice versa.
While some units share roles, they are all different from each other, allowing you to fully customize your army. Of course you have only access to the races that have joined you already.
Brothers in Arms will allow you to decide yourself what race/s you want to play as during the missions.
Do you want a cavalry-heavy centaur army with Ogre reinforcements or do you prefer militarized gnoll legions with harpy support from above?
The choice will be all yours to make!

When will they be included?
Brothers in Arms will be available from the very moment when you are playing with your first allies in the Second Orc Book!

Be sure to subscribe to the Arkain News Network thread to stay up to date with all news!

 

[Championfighter25]

Awesome man. This sounds cooler than the leadership boni in my opinion.
Also will the choices we made in the first book have a big influence on the races we may ally with in the 2nd?

 

[lekxman22]

Yea its super cool as i see it But we need to be patient

 

[LickMyEyeBall]

Will this affect the plot?

 

[Shar Dundred]

Awesome man. This sounds cooler than the leadership boni in my opinion.

Wait until I publish the next race mechanic.

Also will the choices we made in the first book have a big influence on the races we may ally with in the 2nd?

It will have influence, but nothing too big planned atm.

Will this affect the plot?

Not too much.

 

[DD Mikasa]

So you finally decided to add Ogres as a sub faction within the orcs...
*Tears of joy*

 

[The_Messenger]

This setup reminds me a lot of the Fortress faction from Heroes of Might & Magic VI. They had Goblins, Centaurs and Harpies of course; I guess Ogres here will replace the Cyclops.

This makes me wonder about a few things though:
1) Does this mean that each potential ally faction will have an Emissary you will talk to or will you have to do a few favors to win them over?
2) Will there be a faction Hero that you can recruit (ex.: Centaur Kahn Chieftain, Ogre Warlord, Troll Shadow Hunter, Goblin Tinker, etc) after you've successfuly recruted that faction?
3) Weren't the Orcish clans too proud to accept other races into their own rank to bulk up their numbers?
4) Does this mean that the Orcs have abandoned their home and turned into a nomadic race in an attempt to fulfill their new destiny?

Overall it sounds like a good idea as a future for the Second Orc Book.

 

[Shar Dundred]

1) Does this mean that each potential ally faction will have an Emissary you will talk to or will you have to do a few favors to win them over?

You will meet representatives of the different ally factions in the story.
About the "how they join", I don't want to give too many spoilers regarding that yet since it is story-related too.

2) Will there be a faction Hero that you can recruit (ex.: Centaur Kahn Chieftain, Ogre Warlord, Troll Shadow Hunter, Goblin Tinker, etc) after you've successfuly recruted that faction?

Oh yes, there will be, you can take a look at some of them here

3) Weren't the Orcish clans too proud to accept other races into their own rank to bulk up their numbers?

They were, but... times change. I can only say that the Second Orc Book will shed some light on the how and why.

4) Does this mean that the Orcs have abandoned their home and turned into a nomadic race in an attempt to fulfill their new destiny?

Well, let's just say that they will not be able to return to the Orc Islands.
More on that in the Second Orc Book.

 

[The_Messenger]

You will meet representatives of the different ally factions in the story.
About the "how they join", I don't want to give too many spoilers regarding that yet since it is story-related too.

Oh yes, there will be, you can take a look at some of them here

They were, but... times change. I can only say that the Second Orc Book will shed some light on the how and why.

Well, let's just say that they will not be able to return to the Orc Islands.
More on that in the Second Orc Book.

Have you ever considered a possibility where you could neglect an ally faction causing them to potentially seek payback?

For example: You pick Centaurs over Ogres, as a result Centaurs get to fight while Ogres are sentenced to manual labor which is something they didn't sign up for. Later on in the 4th or 5th story mission you get ambushed by a group of Ogres that broke off from the main body of the ally faction. By the end of the Second Orc Book Orcs and Ogres are on unfriendly terms because they were neglected during the alliance and their leader attempted to sieze control over the Orcs at some point but failed thus solidifying the foundation of hatered between Orcs and Ogres.

The problem with having too many allies means that you'll have to give the faction leaders some satisfaction, or they get mad. Of course this adds tension to the story's flow, its a good thing, but it would be a bit of a problem if your base is suddenly flanked or ambushed while you're away.

 

[Grey.Knight]

I'm excited to see that there are new mechanics still being developed, hopefully the 2 orc book will be better than the 1 book

 

[Shar Dundred]

Have you ever considered a possibility where you could neglect an ally faction causing them to potentially seek payback?

For example: You pick Centaurs over Ogres, as a result Centaurs get to fight while Ogres are sentenced to manual labor which is something they didn't sign up for. Later on in the 4th or 5th story mission you get ambushed by a group of Ogres that broke off from the main body of the ally faction. By the end of the Second Orc Book Orcs and Ogres are on unfriendly terms because they were neglected during the alliance and their leader attempted to sieze control over the Orcs at some point but failed thus solidifying the foundation of hatered between Orcs and Ogres.

The problem with having too many allies means that you'll have to give the faction leaders some satisfaction, or they get mad. Of course this adds tension to the story's flow, its a good thing, but it would be a bit of a problem if your base is suddenly flanked or ambushed while you're away.

I had that on my mind, yes, but I have currently no plans for that.
I think it is more likely to be something in a spinoff, if it happens at all.

I'm excited to see that there are new mechanics still being developed, hopefully the 2 orc book will be better than the 1 book

Personally, I consider the First Orc Book the weakest part of the series at this point.
I am very optimistic that the Second Orc Book will be much much better than its weaker first part.

 

[Boriss]

Personally, I consider the First Orc Book the weakest part of the series at this point.
I am very optimistic that the Second Orc Book will be much much better than its weaker first part.

Naaah. You just created the most hated race in all universes together. Even Daleks come thinking "Those guys are douchebags. EXTERMINATE!".

By the way, reunion of Vanessa (Redfist) with duke Volarian Redfist? That would be unforgettable. And very passionate (understand explosive, hostile, executive, plenty of bash and smash etc.). Will we actually get to choose Vanessa as an ally?

 

[Shar Dundred]

Thread updated & re-opened

 

[Hinata28]

You will meet representatives of the different ally factions in the story.
About the "how they join", I don't want to give too many spoilers regarding that yet since it is story-related too.

Oh yes, there will be, you can take a look at some of them here

They were, but... times change. I can only say that the Second Orc Book will shed some light on the how and why.

Well, let's just say that they will not be able to return to the Orc Islands.
More on that in the Second Orc Book.

Either, the return to their homeland is a no no too.

--

Suggestions only:
Brothers in Arms need 2 sets of choices:
Deathbreeze with strong units.
Darkmind with rider units.
Goldaxe with better upgrades.
Skullblade with better air units.
Ironthunder with support units.
Ravaging Fire with stronger spells on both heroes and support casters.
Bloodhand with strong melee units.

Other races:
Goblins with better machinery.
Centaurs with cavalry.
Ogres and Cyclops with bruisers and strong upgrades.
Dark Trolls with strong ranged units.
Gnolls and Harpies with their variable units.
Bearmen with better healing and debuff spells, and stronger vitality upgrades.