Thorun

Races

**Federation**

**Sylon**

**Athrael**

**Thorun**

**Zhogarn**

* Portrait
* Logo

## Overview

*NOTE - This section covers gameplay specifics for the Thorun faction. For background history, check Thorun lore.*

The **Thoruns** (represented by the Thorun Empire) are one of the five playable races of Five Nations. This relatively young space-faring humanoid race was once one of nomadic brutes, fighting each other in fierce and barbaric wars until an intelligent alien race, the Zahak, attempted to colonize their homeworld of Thorun Prima for the unique Kanoid gas present on world. The Thoruns united against their invaders under the flag of the legendary hero Marendor. During the Thirty Years War, using guerilla warfare tactics, they have defeated the aliens. After the war the Thorun clans, who had a medieval level technology by then, started to understand and adapt the technology gained from Zahak wrecks and weapons.

The Thorun species is divided in two - the extremely warlike, powerfully built Godars, mostly with green, scaly skin, and the frail but smarter, more dominant brown-colored Herjars. Thorun Society is still currently highly feudal, and although it doesn’t discriminate between the Godar and Herjar species, the Godars remain as the monarchy and landlords, while the Herjars consist of Scientists who research and maintain the technologies, as well as Advisors and preservers of ancestor knowledge.

## Gameplay Style

Thorun gameplay is centered both on strong defense, of potent defensive stations bulwarked by sturdy structures, and strong offense of indomitable war fleets, spearheaded by the mighty Flagships, that leave nothing in their path.

Because of this, they have the strongest combat units than all other factions and can dish out the most direct firepower. A dedicated attack force of Marauders and Havocs alone can cause the most damage, for a while, to a whole heavy fleet, be it Athrael, Sylon or the Federation, or a swarm of Zhogarn units for a while, before the *actual* Thorun powerhouses - Corsairs, Devastators and Flagships, arrive. Grinders, if allowed to get close enough, can cause untold damage to most barricades and defenses and can demolish a whole base on their own. The Thoruns also possess arguably the most dangerous stealth unit in the game - the Raider - which can dominate the battlefield in early/middle games, and are a force to reckoned with, especially when Absorptive Plating is researched. Finally, the Thorun Predator, if even in smaller numbers, is a more present threat than swarms of Spears and Guards combined, as they possess the firepower, durability and even the ability to alter modes (between anti-fighter and anti-cruiser weapons) on the spot, to dominate most interception and harassment roles, and made almost invincible when assigned to Flagships themselves.

This isn't to say that their spellcasters are left behind for all this firepower, as the Vanguard is deceptively the most versatile of support units, being able to fill roles such as support (with both it's Tractor System and Energizer Aura) and reconnaisance (Releasing Probes for extra vision and detection, as well as possessing detection itself), and the Breaker is also not to be underestimated, as it's Antimatter Cloud can devastate whole groups of smaller ships, can drastically increase further the attack capacity of ships than Vanguards with it's Overvoltage, and is the sole multiplayer unit to possess the Recall ability, teleporting even enemy units to it's position, allowing a wise Thorun commander to pick off whole fleets piece by piece.

Thorun defenses are the strongest of all factions, with even their Habitats being the most capable bulwarks against enemy fire. The Guard Station is the strongest Tier 1 defense in the game, with an instant hit attack that causes splash damage to enemy fighter squadrons and can fight off small and medium capital ships for a time, and the Ion Cannon is unparallelled in destroying enemy cruisers in a few hits, only requiring some cover against enemies that can come past it's minimum range.

Thorun infra-structure is unique in regards to it's workforce, with separate miner and construction drones - Extractors and Welders - which are able to fulfill their functions without any cost of interrupting a previously assigned role in any means, when compared to other workers. Welders, when upgraded, can also provide emergency repairs when not busy with construction duties. Zoners themselves are quite durable and when destroyed - much alike the Vanguard, Grinder, Breaker and Flagship - detonate in a large anti-matter explosion that can harm or destroy any attackers, especially fighters, close to it. It's not uncommon for idle Zoners or Grinders to be thrown ahead of battlegroups as shielding or causing initial damage before an engagement. Finally, Thoruns have no need for expansion ships such as the Kutuzov, Gathering or the Installator, their Capitols being able to be assembled by Welders directly.

For all this durability, reasonable flexibility and firepower, the Thoruns are not invincible, however. They have severe issues with speed, perhaps relying on the Recall ability of Breakers to compensate for long travels, and will suffer to reach fleets that can strike at long ranges and move away just as fast. Thorun ships and structures are also the *most expensive* of all, the losses in bad engaments dearly felt and rebuilding a fleet or base can deplete whole resource asteroid fields or energy reserves. In addition, the mightiest Thorun weapons - the Ion Cannon and the Flagship's Antimatter Beam - have a great thirst for power, more than the Athrael's Harbinger, so other units and defenses are needed for prolonged fights, especially if they run out of power and need to recharge. Welders themselves aren't much effective repair units on their own, requiring high numbers of them to be even able to repair a small group of units. Finally, unless Protective Shield is researched, anti-matter explosions can cause great damage to one's own fleet, so spreading tactics will serve a Thorun commander well.

## Units

Capitol Units

Foundry Units

Siege Yard Units

Hall Units

## Buildings

Tier 1 structures

Tier 2 structures

Tier 3 structures

Campaign only

# Renegades expansion

## Units

File:Crippled Welder-ingame.png Crippled Welder
File:Garuga-ingame.png Garuga
File:Royal Havoc-ingame.png Royal Havoc
File:Talma-ingame.png Talma

## Buildings

File:Aether Beacon-ingame.png Aether Beacon
File:Harpax-ingame.png Harpax
File:Kanoid Silo-ingame.png Kanoid Silo

## Researches

File:Royal Havocs.png Royal Havocs
File:Forward Command Post.png Forward Command Post

# Trivia

* The Thirty Years War featured in Thorun history may be a reference to either the Hundred Years' War between Great Britain and France, or literally the Thirty Years' War that was part of the European Wars of Religion, especially in the defunct Holy Roman Empire.

* Thorun guerrilla tactics, destructive campaigns and warfare methods such as Grinders (resembling medieval rams) for siegecraft may be remniscent of Hunnic rampages across the Eastern and Western Roman Empires.
	+ Coincidentally, Thalok's uncle Bleda has the same name as Bleda, the brother of Attila the Hun.
	+ Also, Thorun tech structures such as the Forum, Consulate and Senate draw reference to Roman Empire institutions.

* Thorun physiology and culture - as well as the concept of a space-faring warrior race - may have been inspired, respectively, by the Yautja in the *Predator* franchise and the Klingons in *Star Trek*.

* Some Thorun ship designs may have taken inspiration from the Kilrathi in the *Wing Commander* franchise, which also shares the thematics of a space-faring warrior culture.

* The Thorun trend of treasuring relics such as skulls may be a reference to the works of renowned American writer Robert E. Howard, known for his character, *Conan the Barbarian*.

* The Ion Cannon may be a reference to the epynomous weapon system featured in *Star Wars' The Empire Strikes Back.*

## See Also

 * Federation
* Sylon
* Athrael
* Thorun
* Zhogarn