Iron Fangs

**Dev. Status** | Conceptual

"*A beautiful bunch o' ripe banana*

*Daylight come and me wan' go home*

*Hide the deadly black tarantula*

*Daylight come and me wan' go home.*"

- "Banana Boat Song" by Harry Belefonte, sung in Iron Fang plantations to *lift the spirit.*
The **Iron Fangs** is a minor fan faction made by BouncyTEM and resuscitated by the Quantum Group. A coalition of various African warlords, cartels, and malcontents in opposition to League aggression and Allied intrusion, the Iron Fangs are trying to make a desperate stand to keep things in their favor and to prevent losing their influence. The Fangs, however, start off with feeble units in which with sufficient upgrades can completely wipe out anyone standing up to them.

## Background

### Slithering

Post-WWII, the African continent was slowly undergoing decolonization. At first, former colonies like Ghana and Guinea which were peacefully given self-rule gave the impression that it was going to be a bloodless ordeal, but conflicts such as the Mau Mau uprising and the Algerian Civil War cast doubt on it quickly. Soon, Allied-aligned leaders launched extermination campaigns against 'enemies of democracy' (often rival bands), Soviet-backed revolutionary groups started butchering 'reactionaries' and 'oppressors', and the African League slew much more trying to quell the violence indirectly caused by both sides of the Cold War.

Of course, chaotic environments breed the most ruthless individuals. Viewing the crises around them as ladders to power, aspiring strongmen (many of which were disgraced generals and colonels) immediately began raising their private armies for the chance to play apex predator. Regional dictators turned off by any other great powers purchased a great deal of hardware from International Inc., and the wealthiest of them contacted middlemen from Syndicate arms dealers. To add manpower, civilians from all classes were conscripted into militias explained as 'national self-defense actions', leading to then-unconfirmed whispers about child soldiers. Soon enough, these military men all across the continent went rogue, their regiments following them as to carve out pieces of Africa for themselves.

These leaders, set out to realize their fantasies with their new-found armies. For instance, dissatisfaction with the Soviet-aligned Union of Western African Socialist Republics has led to the formation of *"Nouveau Empire Toucouleur"* - an unrecognized theocratic state smack dab in West Africa with the help of GLA commanders. Pirates aligned with the infant Dread Corsairs pillaged Djiboutian towns, which radical Somalian unificationists declared responsibility for. Coups and counter-coups exploded all over the continent as generals attempted to overthrow those in power, while breakaway states proclaimed independence from either colonists or existing regimes. Even stable democracies were not spared from the surges of commotion, when talks of further anti-communist action emerged from certain sectors of southern African nations.

Competition dictates the least powerful and influential of these armies would die off, while the strongest gets the biggest share of the pie. As the dust settled, the victors came only to notice a greater threat than their rivals: the African League. The Allies, for all their military strength, could easily be eluded if they knew what countries they shouldn't be most present at. But the League is a different beast entirely, one with pan-African ideals that would imperil the strongmen's ambitions. With them sweeping throughout the continent, influencing once-neutral countries would be harder thanks to the League's pleasing rhetoric. Friendly tinpot dictators will be shafted out in favor of League-friendly ones, and operating in once-unstable democracies will now be unfeasible with them around. Their open alliance with the Axis during WW3 also could spell Imperial intervention on the continent - that fact alone shook even the most detached colonels.

In a do-or-die attempt to resist the brown tide, many of these generals convened together in a remote farm in Monrovia. There, General Matthias "Grizzly Bare" Everett, the self-proclaimed president of the 'Liberian Free State', presided over the meeting. He discussed the need for collusion, stating that their arsenal combined together can drive out both the Genevese, Muscovite, and Tokyoite powers from Africa. Differences should be set aside, owing to what are essentially existential threats against them. The black mamba would be the perfect sigil for the 'ferric brood', the serpents ready to finish off the League as it overstretches. Ending his rousing speech with his famous epithet about how 'the fangs of iron can chomp on any and all metal', the generals came out of the barn with a name for their new army.

The Iron Fangs.

### Snakebite

At an incident in the Siege of Solwezi alone, masked militants forced an entire village (including women and children) to open fields before decapitating them and draining their corpses, spilling an entire red ocean of blood to the tune of the Beatles' *"Strawberry Fields Forever"*.

**WIP**

## Gameplay Mechanics

### Veterancy Mechanic

Unlike other factions, Iron Fang units can't gain veterancy. Instead any experienced gained is coverted into Escalation points, which are used for...

### Resource Mechanic

Escalation points are a special secondary exclusive to the Iron Fang gained when their forces, or their allies, kill the enemy. These points are spent to purchase upgrades for each unit type (example: once upgraded to Zaptie, all Askari units on the field and trained become Zaptie, but their other units remain the same) the up to three times, the third upgrade transforming them into their elite unit (example: the Askari third upgrade transform them into the Zaptie), but once the upgrade is purchased the unit can't be produced until the upgrade finishes and the price of the unit is increased by 50%. Thus the commander must be aggressive, but careful, to get the needed escalation points without too many casualties and must know what unit to prioritize upgrading. Alternatively, escalation points can be turned into money to buy more units.

### Abilities

Unlike other factions, all Iron Fang units have no secondary abilities initially but can gain them when getting their first upgrade.

## The Ferric Brood

### Buildings

 File:IconFangs.png | Pummeler | Artillery bunkers armed with similar 240mm guns to those found on the Knobkierie, though equipped with highly effective autoloader systems that allow them to pound an area relentlessly with huge shells; these ensure that enemies approaching an Iron Fangs strongpoint are going to be under artillery threat the whole way through.

### Deathmatch Reinforcements

**Elite Upgrades**

Similar to a few factions. The Iron Fang doesn't have reinforcements, after all they are already elite, and instead they have access to further upgrades to improve themselves. Essentially this means that all Iron Fang units have an additional unit upgrade.