Warmind

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Warmind
Developer Forward Software
Publisher Andromeda Media
Series Warmind
Launched 1680 AN
Genre Real-Time Strategy
Modes Single-player
Cooperative
Competetive

Warmind is a real-time strategy video game developed by Forward Software and published by Andromeda Media. It is the first game in the Warmind series. The game was launched in 1680 AN for Andromeda OS and was intended to be ported onto foreign operating systems within a few months of its release.

The game is set in an alternate reality at some indeterminate point in the near future, in which the world of Micras has been almost entirely split between four world powers, the largest being the Raspur Pact, led by a reformed Shireroth, and the USSO, led by Jingdao, with the two smaller powers of the Batavian Confederation led by Batavia and the Union Australis led by the Ciric Confederacy. In Warmind, the game is set just after the assassination of the Chidao Emperor by a person of undisclosed nationality, which opens the doors for the Raspur Pact to declare war on the disorganised USSO in an attempt to finally put their old rival away once and for all, as well as suddenly attacking the Union Australis in order to remove a perceived threat; the Batavian Confederation follows this by striking at the distracted Raspur Pact in order to obtain hegemony over Benacia and Micras's western hemisphere. The game allows players to play campaign modes as all four factions in an effort to dominate their enemies and achieve global dominance. Gameplay involves constructing a base, training an army, and accomplishing objectives in missions in order to defeat the enemy. Players can choose to play each campaign in single player mode, or in cooperative mode with a friend or an AI player. In between missions the game features cutscenes filmed in full-motion video, featuring prolific confederate actors Joshua Marek, Karl Bigurdsson, Shaun Culver, and Sinh Quố.

The game received good reception upon its release, with critics lauding the game's writing and gameplay, with the game featuring engaging missions and well-designed and balanced cooperative gameplay; critics have also cited the game's music, which was composed by Maria Allet and performed by the Haven Rock Orchestra.

Gameplay

Warmind uses a real-time strategy system and mechanics similar to past games that Forward Software has made, with factions having a limited set of resources to exploit in each map to build their army and base on-site. Factions build structures on-site, and these structures make up a tech tree that is shallow, but wide, and unlock in-match access to new units, structures, and superweapons. Units are equipped with a variety of weapon types that are extremely specialised, to the point where an infantry unit can take direct hits from anti-armour weapons without taking a significant amount of damage.

Players have the option when starting a new campaign to play it in single-player mode or cooperative mode. If the player is online, they can choose to play with another player that they have added to their friends list, and if the player is offline they play the mission assisted by one of a number of commanders played by artificial intelligence. When playing cooperatively, a team shares income and starts with the same units and structures, and the mission is slightly rebalanced (more enemy units, etc.) to compensate for more players. Players can command commanders controlled by AI to perform certain actions, such as holding a position or attacking a specific enemy unit or structure. Each campaign has a total of twenty missions with mutually exclusive plotlines.

Almost every single unit in the game for all factions has a special ability, though these abilities take several different forms and are used in different ways, such as being toggled, targeted, or instant. For example, the Pact Gravship can toggle hovering for faster speed but lower damage, Australis Phoenix Tanks can switch between a regular tank gun and a low fire-rate high damage railgun, Batavian Leeuwen Troopers can throw poisonous hand grenades, and the USSO Tracer Fighters can perform kamikaze attacks on targets. All units' abilities are bound to the same key on the keyboard. The game also awards points during matches or missions depending on a number of factors like overall destruction and money spent. These points can be used to unlock special commander abilities during a mission or match, which are single-use and operate on a cooldown, such as the Raspur Pact's Orbital Bomb, the USSO's Bombing Run, the Batavian Confederation's Sabotage, and the Union Australis's EMP Blast.

Players gather resources to build their army and base using several methods. The most commonly used resource in matches is money, which is registered in non-nationality specific "credits", and can be obtained by building a Processing Facility near an Ore Mine, which will summon a worker to automatically begin gathering ore and generating money. There are a limited number of ore mines in each map, and each ore mine has a limited amount of ore in it, so players are encouraged to expand their bases to new ore mines to make sure they do not run out of money, which is used in the construction of all structures and training of all units. Structures also do not function unless the player has enough overall power, which can be generated simply by building Reactor structures. Units, additionally, take up "supply", and players can increase their maximum supply by building Refineries.

Design

The design of military units and structures in Warmind are purposefully silly and beyond the realms of normalcy, with the developers allegedly pursuing a "campy" style for unit design. The game incorporates several different varieties of units considered high-tech and impressive visually, including mecha troopers, lightning cannons, and anti-gravity bombs. Several of the units in the game are based off of real military units employed by various members of each of the factions portrayed, such as the Union Australis's use of railguns.

The Raspur Pact favours large and armoured units, focusing on dealing heavy damage very quickly in blitzkrieg war style. The Pact uses brute force, employing huge Ark Gravship bombers and utilising Froyalanish prisoners pressed into service wielding miniguns, and using armoured drones to perform reconnaissance and provide light anti-infantry support. Many Pact forces use gravimetric technology that is particular to the Pact, such as Titan Gravtanks that can speed over water and Gravships that can put on a burst of speed by briefly hovering. The Pact also makes use of traditional tanks with treads, using the heavy Aegis Tanks armed with flamethrowers, and support their heavy armour with a variety of infantry, such as the basic Legionary unit that can plant explosives on buildings, Saboteurs who can dismantle enemy buildings and large vehicles, and Pyros Troopers who are armed with rocket launchers. The Pact's units and style are oriented towards maintaing land superiority, however they are weak to attack from the air. Pact superweapons include Orbital Bombardments and the Wave Shield that can make mechanical units briefly invulnerable.

The USSO is more oriented towards building units that focus on speed, with the faction easily having the most powerful airforce, though this leaves them vulnerable to the powerful anti-air utilised by naval units. USSO signatures include the Raptor Fighter that can freeze enemy aircraft and the previously mentioned Tracer Fighters capable of initiating kamikaze attacks. These are supplemented by the fast and powerful Fortress Bombers that can toggle between single-target bombs that deal high damage and splash damage bombs that deal less. These aircraft allow the USSO to excel at defence, utilising bombers to keep enemy units at bay and employing powerful fighters to maintain air superiority to defend those bombers. The USSO is also decent at land and naval prowess, though they are not as strong as others in this regard, using Imperial Carriers to carry their air superiority out over the water, and using Hunter infantry that wield ice-cannons that can kill infantry and freeze vehicles. Both of the USSO's superweapons exemplify their defensive nature, with both of them being mines; the USSO can utilise Nuclear Mines as well as Iron Mines that make all friendly units briefly invulnerable when an enemy unit triggers it.

The Batavian Confederation's main gimmick is that many of its units can transform into different units, allowing it a great amount of flexibility, though it does not excel in any one area. The confederation can build Lion Mechs, which are walking mechs that can launch into the air and transform into attack helicopters, and amphibious Bruin Tanks that can cross land and water equally well. They employ Hurricane Submarines as well that can launch themselves out of the water and transform into air-superiority fighters. The confederation's infantry units are highly specialised, with their basic Leeuwen Troopers being outfitted with poison and machine guns to solidify their purpose as anti-infantry, and they have cluster bomb launcher wielding Peacekeepers, that are heavily intended to fight armour units. The Batavian Confederation's superweapons include an Area Missile Launch system, and a Repair Cannon that can launch repair drones anywhere on the map that passively heals nearby friendly mechanical units.

The Union Australis uses the most high-tech army out of any of the factions, with units being split between specialist confederate units and brute-force Caradian units. The Union is highly specialised towards naval dominance, having the most types of ships and the most powerful, with their capital ship being the Black Knight Dreadnought, which is a dreadnought with a massive arsenal that can deploy treads to move over land. Other notable naval units employed by the Union include the Typhoon Submarine, which can toggle between torpedoes that deal a high amount of damage to ships and weapon scramblers that make enemy units deal significantly less damage, and the Crusader Ship that utilises a powerful railgun to deal slow but high damage to enemies at very long range. The Union also uses a variety of units utilising lightning technology, such as the Tempest Tank, which is an amphibious tank that is armed with a lightning cannon that can arc between enemy units, and the Thunder Walker, which is a mechanised walker that employs a mortar to deal damage at long range and can toggle between explosive rounds and shells that summon a lightning strike when it hits a target. The Union's infantry is comparatively weak, using mainly explosive and lightning weapons to deal anti-armour damage, such as the Legionnaire (not to be confused with the Pact's Legionary) armed with a grenade launcher and the Snowbounder that can use a regular assault rifle or an electrically charged punching weapon. Union superweapons include a Neutron Cannon and an EMP Rain that can disable mechanical units and structures over a huge area.

Multiplayer

The game allows online multiplayer matches, which are supported by Andromeda Media's game servers. The matches allow players to each select a faction and allows for 1v1 or 2v2 matches. The game also allows players to create "minigames" which feature different rules and objectives for players.

Plot

The map of the world at the start of Warmind
  • Red is the Raspur Pact
  • Orange is the Batavian Confederation
  • Blue is the USSO
  • Black is the Union Australis
  • Purple is independent or neutral nations

Background

Prior to the events that make up the main game, the plot of the game is explained. The game begins with an opening cutscene, describing the current state of Micras; Shireroth has reformed, and reabsorbed many of the nations that split from it during the Kalirion Fracture, and it has consolidated its holdings with its partners of Natopia and Constancia in maintaining a resurged Raspur Pact. The USSO has, meanwhile, lost certain members, such as Graustark and Palesmenia, who have fallen either to invasion or internal collapse. Jingdao and Krasnocoria have instigated a massive takeover of Apollonia, while Ralgon and the Haifo-Pallisican Imperial Trade Union being the only USSO members who maintain territory outside of Apollonia. The Batavian Confederation, meanwhile, has expanded its holdings in Benacia and Cibola, with Los Liberados taking a number of islands along the coasts of Apollonia and Keltia. The Union Australis has taken its home islands of Sypyr, Hypernostria, and Caplona, and has taken Pacary and land in both Eura and Corum. Meanwhile, only five nations remain that have not been absorbed into one of the four powers, these being Craitland, which has lost its overseas holdings of New Vaduz, Lakkvia, Zandarijn, and Incontinentia, Alduria, which has been forced into becoming a completely neutral economic power highly concentrated in its capital of Punta Santiago, Stormark, which has had all of it land outside of Lyrica being taken or removed from its control, Senya, which is locked in a war with Jingdao, and the Skerry Alliance, which is an alliance of small nations located in the Skerry Isles

The cutscene's main action begins by showing the Chidao Emperor, who in the alternate universe that the game takes place in does not have any children or a spouse, meaning he has yet to name an heir. A person of unknown nationality enters Daocheng Palace and assassinates the emperor, being shot by Jingdaoese guards while trying to leave. In the brief panic that ensues as the Jingdaoese search for an heir and the USSO attempts to help keep the peace in the empire, the Shirerithian armada, led by Shirerithian Steward Ramak, seizes the moment and attacks Jingdao while the empire is left leaderless; at the same time, Natopia instigates an attack on the Union Australis as part of the Raspur Pact's plan to use this period to obtain world domination. While the Shirerithian armada is absent, however, and the Raspur Pact is distracted with war against the USSO and the Union Australis, the Batavian Confederation declares war against all three other powers and enters into the struggle for world domination, striking at Shireroth's border on Benacia, and announcing that it will take over Benacia and hold the world's Western hemisphere for itself. The violent war causes Senya to back off in its war against Jingdao, leaving only the four major powers to fight it out in the Great Micrasian War.

Raspur Pact Campaign

In the Raspur Pact Campaign, the player takes on the role of an unnamed Pact general, whose first task is to assault the city of Houhangye in western Jingdao to obtain a foothold in Apollonia. Following the commander's success, they are transferred to command a joint Natopian-Constancian force preparing to take control of the Australisian city of Hatkrou, which they had taken from Alduria some years back. At this point in the game, the Pact forces are informed of their troops' defeat at the hands of the Batavians, who are marching east across Benacia. The commander is sent in, and successfully repulses the Batavians at the military city of Merensk. The commander then leads Pact forces to push the Batavians all the way back and take the Batavian capital of 's Koningenwaarde, and takes the city. The commander then chases the fleeing Batavian king Arvus I to Helderbourgh, and assaults and destroys the city of Helderbourgh, killing the Batavian king.

Following the destruction of Batavia, the commander is instructed to turn their concern to the Union Australis, which has launched a counterattack on Natopia and taken some of the southern reaches. The commander leads the Pact forces to retake the cities of Hoffenheim and Zoom City, before assaulting the occupied Nandaton and pushing the Australisians off of Natopian soil. The commander then takes the city of Porto Vormouna, erasing Australisian presence in Eura, and then pushes to the island of Caplona, striking at Adăpost Citadel, and then taking the Caradian capital of Relacul, destroying Sînpișul Castle and killing the Caradian Duke Veranu I, before travelling to Sypyr and destroying an antimatter cannon that the Australisians are building in Hemsgard, and finally assaulting the Great Southern Hall in Stonewall, successfully destroying the Union.

Finally, the Pact returns to the USSO, which has pulled its forces back to its mainlands in Apollonia, Corum, and Dragos. The commander firsts leads a fleet to destroy the Ralgonese capital of Glacier City, and then using the now disorganised Ralgonese colony of Adrestia as a staging ground for a large-scale invasion of the Haifo-Pallisican Imperial Trade Union, taking the city of Lucíusu, and burning the city to the ground. The Pact then receives a transmission from Craitland, informing them that the USSO is assaulting Craitland and they need the Pact's help to repel them. The Pact succeeds in repelling the USSO forces from the city of Jedu-ó-Kuiĵ, and securing an alliance with Craitland. The Pact then encircles Apollonia with a blockade, and assault a Krasnocorian airbase near Nuví Pelezu that was building an airship to destroy the blockade, and then take the city of Grandbay. The Pact then pushes inland, taking the city of Jijiang and finally taking the Jingdaoese capital of Daocheng, renaming the Daocheng Palace the Palace of New Kildare. It is then discovered that the Yu Emperor, who had taken power in Jingdao, had fled as a last-ditch effort to the Storish capital of Haraldsborg. The Pact then invades Lyrica, destroying Stormark and killing the Yu Emperor. The commander is then declared regent of the lands that were once the USSO, which are renamed New Kildare.

USSO Campaign

In the USSO campaign, the player assumes the role of a USSO officer, who is ordered by the Yu Emperor who had taken power after the death of the Chidao Emperor to repulse an attack from the Raspur Pact against the Jingdaoese city of Shusimiao, before pushing the Pact forces back and retaking a missile base in the city of Muxiecheng. The USSO then pushes the Pact forces out of Jingdao, before turning their attention to the Batavian Confederation which had used Los Liberados to launch attacks on Krasnocorian ports; the commander defends the city of Slavograd, before pushing the Liberadosan forces back and taking the city of Kadim, liberating the Thraci Confederation which joins the USSO in attacking Los Liberados proper and taking Puerto Arcadio.

The USSO is then forced to defend against a surprise attack by the Union Australis against the Haifo-Pallisican Imperial Trade Union, successfully defeating the Australisian siege of Pach and pushing the Union back to their final holdings on mainland Corum, taking the Harkman base, which is their last base in Corum, before assaulting and taking the city of Nha Dac, removing the Union from Corum. The commander then pushes against the Laddock Naval Base in Sypyr, before assaulting and capturing the cities of Haven and Mourn. The Union backs off from fighting the USSO, attempting to repel a Batavian invasion of Caplona.

While this is happening, the commander uses the occupied city of Stonewall to stage an invasion of Helderbourgh and destroying Moorheim and Leichenburg, before assaulting the city of Helderbourgh. The commander follows this by assaulting the Shirerithian controlled Leng, and working their way to the mainland of Benacia and assaulting Fieldburg before taking the capital of the Elwynn province, Eliria. The USSO then marches across Benacia and assault Francia, taking Mittlere Stadt and Iskander before taking the Frankish capital of Brandenburg.

At this point, the leaders of the three forces fighting the USSO announce that they wish to sign a peace treaty and will end the fighting. The Yu Emperor orders the commander to go to Punta Santiago, where the peace treaty will be signed, and ambush the leaders to kill them. After blowing up the battleship containing the leaders, the Yu Emperor is revealed to have been a traitor, and attacks the commander's forces. The Diwang of Jingdao, Tzu Sun, informs the commander that the Yu Emperor is not a legitimate heir and forced himself into power, and the commander uses the opportunity to kill the false emperor. Following the death of Duke Veranu I in Punta Santiago, the Union Australis surrenders unconditionally to the USSO.

The USSO then receives a communication from Craitland, informing them that Batavia has invaded, and they need the USSO's help. The commander successfully repulses a Batavian assault against F'ed-Ĵars, and secure an alliance with Craitland. The commander then learns that King Arvus I of Batavia has been hiding in the Arcadian capital of Koningsrots, which the commander assaults and destroys, burning Castellum Avalon to the ground. Finally, the commander addresses the final remaining Pact forces in Shirekeep, which the commander sieges and destroys, finally ending the Raspur Pact. Tzu Sun becomes the new emperor of Jingdao, being renamed the Hei Emperor, and the commander becomes Diwang of Jingdao.

Batavian Confederation Campaign

In the Batavian Confederation campaign, the player becomes a commander in the Batavian army, and is first commanded to focus solely on achieving Batavian hegemony over Benacia. The commander first assaults the so-called "unity province", where the Unified Governorates of Benacia once were, taking Sansabury and Gibbet Cove before taking the old governorate capital of Merensk. The commander then pushes east across Benacia, taking the Tellian capital of Romero and then the Sanaman cities of Spleazure, Acquecalde, and Sanama City. The commander then repulses a counterattack in occupied Araxion, before pushing to Eliria and Kingsgate. The commander finally assaults Shirekeep, taking the city and toppling Shireroth.

Finally having control over Benacia, King Arvus tells the commander that with this victory, Batavia can control all of Micras. He then sends the commander to take back Helderbourgh, which was taken over by the Union Australis while Batavia was focusing on Benacia. The commander sieges and retakes the occupied cities of St. Litavia, Vaduz, and finally retaking Helderbourgh. The commander then pushes into Sypyr, taking Stonewall and Mourn. The Union then retreats to Caplona, taking the Andromeda Tech Corporation with them.

Batavia, however, focuses on the USSO, ordering the commander to take Ralgon to secure the western hemisphere; the commander takes a Natopian naval base on the northern Cibolan coast, and uses it to launch a naval of invasion of Mashiro, Nixtorm, and finally assaulting the Ralgonese capital of Glacier City. The Ralgonese retaliate against Charlotteburg, which the commander repels, before assaulting Adrestia and destroying Gondolin. The Batavians then fight against the Pallisican city of Lucíusu, and wiping out the last bastion of Pallisican defence at Ossyo. The Batavians now encircle the remaining two powers.

The Batavians then learn that the Shirerithian Steward Ramak has set up a government-in-exile in Caradia, and has begun the process of building a new city called New Shirekeep. King Arvus orders the commander to obliterate the city, but then the Union launches an antimatter missile at the USSO and completely annihilates Daocheng, presumably killing the Yu Emperor. The commander is ordered instead to quickly take the city of Theogiorick where the missile was launched from before they can prepare another missile to be launched. The commander is successful in destroying the launcher, but the Andromeda CEO who had developed the missile chooses to detonate the one remaining in the city, annihilating it along with a large contingent of Batavians and the technology of the missiles. Batavia then receives a communication from Craitland informing them that they are being invaded by the Union and require the Batavian's help. The commander successfully repels the Union invasion of Eĵars, securing an alliance with Craitland and leading an invasion against New Shirekeep, ending Union resistance and killing the Steward Ramak.

Finally, the commander is ordered to take the last bastion of USSO power, which remains in Krasnocoria. The commander frees Puerto Arcadio from USSO control, liberating Los Liberados, and retakes Kadim, essentially taking Jingdao out of the fight as their forces are decimated by the fighting. The commander then leads the Liberadosan forces against Krasnocoria, assaulting Slavograd and Nuví Pelezu before finally taking the capital of Grandbay. The commander is then celebrated in Batavia as a hero, and is made the Grand Duke of Eura in the wake of the Batavian's victory.

Union Australis Campaign

In the Union Australis campaign, the player assumes the role of an Australisian officer, whose first goal is to repel the Natopian-Constancian invasion of Porto Vormouna, following which the commander is instructed to take Constancia out of the fight, and takes the cities of Aqabâ and Astérapolis, successfully conquering Constancia and forcing the Natopians to back off. The commander then defends the Harkman base in Corum from a Pallisican invasion, retaliating against Pach and Ossyo to obtain control over Corum and eliminate the Pallisicans. Finally, the commander repulses an invasion from Batavia launched from Helderbourgh, defending Stonewall and taking the Helderbourgh province, assaulting Moorheim, Steerswick, and Kronstadt, forcing the Helderbourghish to surrender.

The commander is then ordered by the head of the Union, Jericho Karesh, to take Natopia and make sure there will be no more invasions. The commander successfully takes the cities of Miria, Aristarchus, and Bagelston, pushing the Natopians back to their capital of Lindström. Following a swift retaliation by the Natopians against occupied Butter Cow City, the Union is forced into an alliance with the USSO, jointly assaulting and taking Lindström and removing Natopia.

The commander is then sent to fight against the Batavian Confederation which has begun assaulting Adrestia from the Los Liberados-controlled city of Valarion. The commander repels the invasion of Adrestia and takes Valarion, before leading a series of attacks against Los Liberados-controlled islands, freeing Mirran and Kipei from the Confederation's control, and leading a contingent of soldiers from the Union, USSO, and Skerry Alliance to attack and take the capital of Los Liberados in Puerto Arcadio.

The commander then repulses an attack on Glacier City by the Batavians based in Arcadia. During the siege, the Yu Emperor betrays the Union and Ralgon by launching a nuclear missile at Glacier City, destroying the city and killing the Ralgonese emperor, along with the Union and Batavian forces. The remaining forces of Ralgon announce that they surrender to the Union and will fight against the corrupt Yu Emperor, and assist in an invasion of Arcadia that destroys Koningsrots.

The Union then receives word that Craitland is being invaded by the remaining Raspur Pact forces in Shireroth, and requires the help of the Union to defend against the invasion. The Union successfully defends against the invasion of Róndliga, and retaliates against Shireroth by sending the commander to ambush Steward Ramak's battleship, which the commander does, allowing the Union to replace Ramak with an android who announces that the Raspur Pact surrenders unconditionally to the Union. The Union then leads an assault to destroy the remaining Batavians at 's Koningenwaarde, which succeeds and ends up killing King Arvus, ending the Batavian threat.

Finally the Union assaults the corrupt Yu Emperor in Jingdao, first taking Jiangtian and Xingang, then repelling a Jingdaoese invasion of the Krasnocorian city of Šer-ku-Riž. The Union then surrounds the city of Daocheng and begin a siege, but the Yu Emperor announces after his palace guard have been killed that he will not be killed by a foreign aggressor, and detonates a nuclear missile in the palace, killing himself and destroying the palace. After the war is over, the broken USSO begins repairs in Jingdao, placing Diwang Tzu Sun on the throne as the Hei Emperor, and the commander is elected head of the Union.

Music

Warmind was praised after its launch for its musical score, which was composed by the confederate composer Maria Allet, and performed by the Haven Rock Orchestra. The music is primarily in a "metal" style, evoking a dark feeling because of the world war that is the game's setting. Each of the factions has a main theme, which play in their first mission, last mission, mission in Craitland, and randomly in online matches. The Warmind soundtrack is one of the most purchased video game soundtracks in the Ciric Confederacy.

Song Name Theme of Notes
Return of the Imperium The Raspur Pact Also the theme played in the game's trailer
Sovereign Defenders The USSO Also the theme of the game as a whole
For King and Country The Batavian Confederation
March of the South The Union Australis

Cast

Raspur Pact

  • Steward Ramak - Shaun Culver
  • Chancellor Rorik - Arin Ardos
  • Imperator Parklos - Heyga Narish

USSO

  • Yu Emperor - Sinh Quố
  • Diwang Tzu Sun - Quin Lhồ
  • King Zivko - Areshk Nakli

Batavia

  • King Arvus - Karl Bigurdsson
  • Grand Duke Vincent - Gunnar Rhysson
  • Rico de la Somera - Jack Marr

Union Australis

  • Jericho Karesh - Joshua Marek
  • Duke Varenu I - Mara Tarriy
  • Prince Caldero - Anna Singhar