SouthernKing
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Nice. Thank you.The Roots of the Sunshine kingdom, despite its important presence in Alabama, are in the wastes that bare their name. Originating amongst the descendants of the US space agency, they created one of the earliest, and most powerful states in florida. Uniting a coalition of independent city-states under the Parliamentary monarchy of the Bede dynasty, The Sunshine Kingdom first repelled the Minorne, creating a last great alliance and leading them to battle against the inhuman hordes. It was at the walls of Nasacity, their capital, that this great evil was finally undone. In the years following, The Kingdom grew and prospered, even recovering and activating a GECK, building a working rail line, and furthering Scientific advances both through the development of numerous important technologies, but also the creation of the Royal Smithsonian archaeological society. Throughout all of this, the Kingdom fought tooth and nail against the spreading blight of slavery. It was this fight that eventually brought them down, as they were betrayed. Jacksonia, jealous of the Kingdoms might and power, turned on them, destroying what had been floridas last great civilizing light. The Kingdom took what they could, and escaped, fleeing north. To their dismay, they found that slavery was prominent even in those much less civilized lands. With the help of the railroad, an anti-slavery organization, the Sunshine Kingdom helped a rising amongst the slaves of Fort Rome, and assumed control of that barbaric factions resource. From their New Bunker of the Queens Citadel, power armored patrols crippled much of the slave trade in the south.
2. Semi-Feudal. Scarred, violently anti-slavery. Good is not nice.
3. Units:
- HQ - various leaders of your army;
- Queen Laura Bede the Breaker of Chains, Protector of the Sun, and Liberator of Rome, Walker of the Stars, and Queen of the M. Younger daughter of the first Queen, Jayne Bede, she was the darling child of the Kingdom, precocious, adorable, and loving. It was rumored that she even adventured the wastes, fighting along side a vault dweller, and, with him, came across ancient secrets which she now uses to make life better for her people.
Sam Bede Once married to Tiffany Jackson, on the fateful night that Jacksonia launched its invasion, he was set upon by the Jacksonian Secret Police. Imprisoned, he bided his time until it he was able to escape, before overpowering his captors and carving a path of destruction northwards as he joined up with his sister.
Harding Once a slave of Fort Rome, he lead the revolution in the catacombs of the bunker, personally slaying the overseer of the slave barracks and inciting his compatriots to rise. He is now a general of the army and a significant voice in the congress, advocating against slavery everywhere.
Jayne Bede Former queen, stepped down in the wake of a disastrous expedition she ordered. After her tenure as queen, she dedicated herself to the Royal Archaeological society, which she championed. Personally leading countless expeditions into the ruins of the old world, she was instrumental in planning the escape route the Kingdom took northwards.
Marjorie Morrow: Diplomat, currently working with the Transmissippian confederation to build ties and help destroy slavery.
Titus Nasus: Former Fort Rome Politician, saw the way the wind was blowing during the revolution. Helped keep a large number of slaves safe from his compatriots, and was rewarded with leverage in the new regime. A leader in the Congress.
- Elite - Power Armored, equipped with plasma weapons and heavy weapons.
- Troops - Chain-mailed soldiers, usually equipped with laser weaponry and a sword strapped to their hip.
- Fast Attack - See above, but mounted on motorcycles. Maybe snipers.
- Heavy Support - Truck mounted Howitzers.
Nice. Thank you.
For the Sunshine Kingdom, I've been toying with the idea of "knightly honor" as an abstract resource that boosts the performance of the whole army when particular feats are performed on the battlefield. For instance, characters winning character challenge (pretty much duels between commanders or officers) gives the player some honor points to spend, while not accepting character challenges is viewed as cowardly behavior and leads to losing honor points. Different units may have various honor rules. It's a hard-to-balance feature, but extremely fun to play with.
Another feature I'm thinking of adding is Noble Houses. Basically, any non-character unit can be marked as belonging to one or another Noble Houses (reflecting the neo-feudal structure of your country), thus giving them some bonuses and maluses on the battlefield. For example, when two Elite units from two competing Noble Houses are located near each other on the battlefield, they may be prone to breaking the discipline and charging the enemy with the goal of proving they're better than the other House's retainers. Such charge may be very powerful, but out of player's control. (That's just an example, there may be more "neo-feudal behaviors.") Do you want to give me ~4 Noble Houses and their lore, so that I could use them for that feature?
I'd also include in your army the Royal Archaeologist that ambushed the Traveler twice in the Adventures Of The Traveler. Can't remember his name, but I'll find it.
Also, I don't remember: what are the types of vehicles your faction ever deployed? Bikes, trucks, artillery trucks, plus regular field artillery? Is that all? Any aviation? Do you want to nickname any of your vehicle models (e.g., "T-34," "Tiger," etc.)?
Some unit ideas I have so far for the Sunshine Kingdom:
Elite:
Spoiler :Heraldic Retainers: not the most heavily armored troops with heavy pavise shields and various laser assault guns. As suggested by the unit name, they HAVE to be given Noble House heraldry. Their key feature is formation fighting: they may create a defensive "sheltron" or an offensive "manipule." Each of these formations gives them good fighting bonuses, but limits their mobility and forces them to "crowd" very close, making them vulnerable to ordnance weapons (such as artillery). In general, the unit is better suited for protecting objectives rather than charging ahead.
Knights-errant: basically, and assault unit that is going to be super-specialized on using the Honor system I described above. Haven't thought it through much more yet.
"Excalibur" Armored Truck: basically an improvised armored truck with a squad of shotgunners and flamethrowers inside. Is good for tank-shocking enemy troops and then charging them from inside the vehicle "viking-style."
Damned Paladins: elite warrior-monks from the Cult of the Damned. Not as tough or mobile as other elite units, plus not benefiting from the Noble House Heraldry or the Honor rules. However, they cause fear, which helps breaking enemies in close combat.
Troops:
Spoiler :Men-at-Arms: somewhat better armed basic shooting unit. Good, sturdy, not as costly as the elite stormtroopers, although not anywhere as powerful.
Exodite Levy: very cheap, rag-tag militia unit that compensates with amount of firepower for the lack of shooting skills. Still better than Transmississippian Youngboolds, albeit not as agile.
Chainbreakers: ex-slaves and flagellants. A cheap, large, soft, but nigh-unbreakable offensive unit that can do a lot of damage when/if it reaches the enemy.
Fast Attack:
Spoiler :Railroad Men: sneaky, flanking unit of heavy gunners from the Railroad organization (an anti-slavery group). I can't resist arming them with railguns, which makes them a good tank-killer force as well.
Broken Lances: motorbike-riding charge "cavalry." For their charge, they use explosive lances similar to the ones featured in "Mad Max: Fury Road," but then just fight regularly. The "broken" part of the unit name is a double reference to the Renaissance Italian heavy cavalry and to the BOTWAWKI lore (they're members of Noble Houses that got wiped out during the Jacksonian Betrayal, so they're a sort of "the last of the Mahicans").
Royal Dragoons: laser shooting "cavalry" on quadracycles, with access to heavier plasma weapons to kill off tanks. Not cheap, but very flexible, as one could imagine. Can't belong to any Noble House, since they're an exclusively royal force. Honor rules may still apply.
Sons of Oscar Strike Squad: very light but equally deadly close combat unit. Pretty much a small group of assassins that can very precisely target enemy units in almost suicide attacks.
Heavy Support:
Spoiler :Astroknights: power-armored knights with tons of heavy plasma weaponry. The name is a bastardized word "astronauts" who in the old Nasa written tradition were considered to be star-travelling heroes and champions of the ancient, pre-war times. One of the rare units in the army list that can't be given a Noble House heraldry (thus giving it bonuses and maluses as established in the previous post), because Astroknights server personally to the Queen and to the Crown in general.
Robot Serfs: A group of Mr.Hardy's and Protectrons. Obviously doesn't use any of the Honor or Heraldry systems. Their AI may sometimes malfunction, but otherwise they're pretty sturdy by the Wasteland criteria.
"Camelot" Field Howitzer: a heavy gun that fires ordnance shells across almost the entire battlefield. Obviously vulnerable to rear attacks that can wipe out the crew.
"Avalon" Assault Truck: an improvised "assault gun" made out of a truck, heavy armor screens, and a mortar. Not the best fighting vehicle in the Wasteland, but still better than none.
Also, many units in the list will be able to include up to one Duelist in them (similar to how Transmississippian units may include up to one Medicine-Man usually). Duelists may replace unit leaders in personal challenges against enemy fighters without making the army lose any Honor points. On the other side, they don't gain any Honor points either. Just a socially acceptable (for the Sunshiners) way to not risk getting killed in a duel.
Any comments? Additions? Changes?
That aspect is covered in WH40k by conversion of models:Looks good: One thing, though... the Heraldic aspect of the SK was originally closely tied to their power armor, and nobles would often customize their suits of armor to represent their heraldry. it might be interesting to incorporate that somehow.
Broken Lances: motorbike-riding charge "cavalry." For their charge, they use explosive lances similar to the ones featured in "Mad Max: Fury Road," but then just fight regularly. The "broken" part of the unit name is a double reference to the Renaissance Italian heavy cavalry and to the BOTWAWKI lore (they're members of Noble Houses that got wiped out during the Jacksonian Betrayal, so they're a sort of "the last of the Mahicans").