Vanguard

"Join the Vanguard and lead the last hope for humanity in a battle for survival! These resilient soldiers have harnessed futuristic technology to rebuild their civilization after surviving an Infernal Host invasion - a devastating near-extinction event."

- Faction description(src)

The **Vanguard** is a Human Resistance group that will form over the storyline of *Stormgate*.

## Overview

The Vanguard was formed to serve as humanity’s last bastion of defense with Earth on the brink of extinction. Representing the greatest scientific minds, toughest soldiers, and most brilliant strategists from around the world, the Vanguard stands resolute against the invading Infernal Host.

Elite Vanguard units are split into "Dagger teams" composed of its most veteran units. These soldiers tend to use colorful callsigns on the battlefield for ease of communications.

## Gameplay

The Vanguard is designed to be the most approachable faction in *Stormgate*. Compared to the Infernals, the Vanguard field fewer, tougher, and larger units. The Vanguard has a lot of healing and support units which are designed to operate in tandem with one another, and many of their units are able to convert into an alternate mode. Per their nature as a resistance force, the faction excels in defensive gameplay.

The Vanguard is themed around the use of technology, and has access to a variety of mechanical units. Mechs have been confirmed. Other possibilities include tanks, artillery, and track/wheel vehicles.

Unique to the Vanguard faction is a veterancy system. Keeping Vanguard units alive will give them an opportunity to earn experience and level up, gaining increased health.

### Structures

* Barracks
* Biokinetics lab
* Command post
	+ Central command
* Gantry
* Habitat
* Hanger bay
* Machine factory
* Mech bay
* Sentry post
	+ Buzzsaw cannon
	+ Flak cannon
* Therium refinery

### Units

* Aerial bomber
* Atlas
* B.O.B.
* Evac
* Exo
* Giga-mech
* Hedgehog
* Hornet
	+ Sky mine
* Lancer
* MedTech
* Multi-fighter mech
* S.C.O.U.T.
* Skyrider
* Vulcan

## Development

* Early in the development of *Stormgate*, the Human Resistance was portrayed as the de facto human faction. Over time, this has shifted to the Vanguard, with the actual Human Resistance scarcely being mentioned. In June, 2023, Micky Neilson stated that the Vanguard was one of the branches of the Resistance. To this end, the wiki has placed relevant information in both articles within their purview.

* In late 2022, the concept team spent six weeks focusing on the visual development of the Vanguard.

### Inspirations

* The Vanguard takes direct inspiration from the terrans of *StarCraft*. It has been suggested (though not by Frost Giant themselves) that the Resistance are representative of the *StarCraft* IP as a whole.

* The aesthetics of the Vanguard have been described as being "somewhere between" the terrans of *StarCraft* and the aesthetic of *Overwatch*.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 2023-06-17, Stormgate Gameplay Reveal AMA - All Answers. *Reddit*, accessed on 2023-06-21
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Vanguard, *PlayStormgate*. Accessed on 2023-12-22
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 2023-06-12, The Perfect Mix of Warcraft & Starcraft? Stormgate Developers Deep Dive. *YouTube*, accessed on 2023-06-14
4. ↑ 2022-12-09, PC GAMER COVER FEATURE: GAME MODELS AND ART. *Stormgate Nexus*, accessed on 2022-12-14
5. ↑ 2023-05-30, Stormgate Human Units Revealed! | Stormgate Snapshots. *YouTube*, accessed on 2023-06-08
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 2022-12-07, Stormgate Technology & Art Reveal - December 2022. *YouTube*, accessed on 2022-12-07
7. ↑ 29-06-22, Frost Giant AMA - All Questions and Answers. *Reddit*, accessed on 2022-07-04
8. ↑ 2022-06-09, Frost Giant Studios’ Debut Mixes Starcraft With Diablo. *Wired*, accessed on 2022-07-06
9. ↑ 2023-06-11, Stormgate fuses StarCraft and Warcraft in new gameplay footage. *Video Games*, accessed on 2023-06-14