Gaiaterra: Elysea's Conflict/A Commander Is You

This is a simple summary/cheat sheet that describes all of the factions in Gaiaterra: Elysea's Conflict by tv tropes.

Summary
There are many different types of factions that a commander can lead in strategy games. Factions that specialize will almost always have some sort of downside, such as lower firepower or increased costs for other units.

Sometimes the faction is specialized on the basis of their combat abilities, in both numbers and doctrine:

Numbers

 * The Spammer Faction: This faction works by sending wave after wave of weak units at the enemy. Their units are cheap and disposable and are produced and die in huge numbers as they gradually overrun their opponent's defenses. The Spammer faction always has reserves.
 * The Elitist Faction: The opposite of the Spammer faction. This faction focuses on an army composed of a small number of powerful but costly units. The exact scale of Eliteness may vary, from nearly One-Man Army-level units to units that are just a bit stronger than those of the Balanced faction. Sometimes they have very strong starting units, but not much variety other than that.
 * The Balanced Faction: In between the Spammer Faction and the Elitist Faction. Their units aren't as powerful as the Elitist units and aren't as numerous as the Spammer Faction. This faction can only exist if there are two or more other factions to compare it to or both factions in game can field roughly the same amount of units.

Doctrine

 * The Generalist Faction: None of the units in these factions specialize in anything, nor do they have any downsides. If they do have a specialized unit or two, then said units can still hold their own when outside their specific specialty, though they may not be the absolute best there is at what they do. Basically, a "Jack-of-All-Trades, Master of None" sort of deal. Tends to be easy to learn and play, and is a good beginner's faction for getting a grasp of the game mechanics. Often overlaps with the Balanced faction.
 * The Guerrilla Faction: This faction uses the element of surprise to their advantage, usually at the cost of raw offensive strength and/or staying power. They may have a myriad of odd stealth and cloaking or deception abilities. This faction tends to be absolutely infuriating. Works best in its pure form with an elitist doctrine (small numbers of strong units bolstered by stealth), but there are balanced and spammer doctrines that rely heavily on guerrilla-type tactics as force multipliers.
 * The Brute Faction: A faction that pounds their enemy into submission with raw power, and does not partake in any sort of trickery, fancy tactics, or intricate micromanagement, except perhaps abilities that simply make them hit even harder. Common disadvantages are slow movement and a lack of special abilities. Along with the Generalist faction, the Brute Force faction tends to be easier to learn due to the lack of complex combinations and special abilities. May overlap with the Balanced faction or Spammer faction, and sometimes even with the Elitists.
 * The Technical Faction: The opposite of the Brute faction — lots of nasty special abilities, but poor base stats and/or relatively high unit costs. Typically requires a lot of micromanagement to use effectively, and therefore not the best faction for novice players. Often have the best tech trees in the game, which make them slow starters, but very powerful in the late game. May overlap with the Elitists or Guerrillas.
 * The Ranger Faction: This team has high movement speed, better ranged attacks, and/or both, usually at the cost of staying power. Expect a lot of Hit-and-Run Tactics. May overlap with the Guerrilla faction.
 * The Unit Specialist Faction: This faction is full of highly specialized units that will dominate in their specialty, but get curb-stomped when outside their specialty. They are usually disadvantaged by having their non-specialized units nerfed in some way, sometimes to the point of being useless. Their game tends to rely on holding out and manipulating the Tactical Rock–Paper–Scissors so that their specialized unit(s) can be deployed heavily without fear of being hard-countered, and then steamrolling the opposition. Usually found when factions in a game have sub-factions, such as a brute faction having sub-factions that improve infantry power, vehicle power, or air power. Also found when a game has so many factions it covers all the other faction types and just takes the base idea of one faction and leans it to a certain unit type.
 * The Turtle Faction: This faction relies on heavy defense and in some case, the ability to engage the enemy in extreme range. Although they have low mobility just like the Brute Faction, they are usually not as tough as them. Also, Brutes often have a higher focus on heavy units while Turtle often focuses more on static defense and long-range support as those two types work well with each other. The common tactic of Turtle is to stall the game into late game and defeat the enemy through attrition battle.
 * The Gimmick Faction: This faction has an unusual quirk or trait that makes its gameplay very different from the others. The nature of this quirk or trait is usually based on their lore or background within the game itself. Mastery of this faction often involves exploiting their quirk or trait to its fullest potential.

Other times, they are specialized on the basis of some non-combat strength, in which case they are one of the:


 * Unconventional Factions: These are similar to The Balanced faction but have some non-combat advantages (see below for examples). Their downside may be that they are slightly weaker in combat. Sub-tropes of the Unconventional faction include:
 * The Industrial Faction: This faction is capable of building things very quickly. Their gameplay will inevitably have early-game rush strategies that use their fast-building advantage to get the drop on other factions who are slower to start up. They tend to overlap with the Economist faction or the Spammer faction.
 * The Economist Faction: High income and/or trade bonuses. This may allow sneaky tactics like bribing people or buying research and units from third parties. Disadvantages vary, but having slightly weaker units, in general, is a common one. May overlap with the Industrialists.
 * The Research Faction: This faction gets a bonus to research, allowing them access to advanced units and abilities that give them an edge early on. They may overlap with the Elitists if their superior technology comes at a higher price.
 * The Diplomat Faction: Has no strengths except for the ability to make other people do their work for them. They're often able to push their agenda in inter-faction relations, cover up any dubious actions without morale loss, and generally get better deals in trading and diplomacy.
 * The Espionage Faction: The Espionage factions are not particularly adept fighters. Fortunately, they can cripple everyone else through sabotage, spying, theft, bribery, hacking, and general underhandedness. This can overlap with Guerrilla, but there is a difference between the two; Guerrilla focuses more on directly killing enemy troops and slowly picking away at the opponent's forces, while Espionage focuses more on undermining an opponent's systems and debuffing their enemy's army to the point that a sneeze could be lethal.

The Federation of Aquila
Generally: Balanced (conventional)/Elitist (futuristic)/Generalist.

Task Force Eve: Guerilla.

Task Force Apollo: Turtle/Technical. Their troops lose out in most straight engagements but make up for it with powerful special abilities, and they have access to a number of unique and powerful units like the F-6. They also has the strongest base defenses and superweapons in the game.

Task Force Eagle: Ranger/Unit Specialist (aircraft). Their air units are devastating and can deal with nearly any situation, but air units are universally-squishy and fairly easy to counter, meaning they have to rely on well-planned surgical strikes combined with limited ground and support forces to take down enemy fortifications. Becoming an absolute terror that can wipe bases and units off the battlefield in seconds nearly anywhere on the map.

Task Force Wolf: Brute/Unit Specialist (tanks). Very powerful, but expensive, tanks, combined with specialized artillery, specialist support infantry, and a powerful multi-purpose hero unit make for a versatile wrecking crew. That being said, many of their heaviest units favor offense over defense and can be torn down with focused fire fairly easily.

The Alliance of Hawke
Generally: Generalist/Ranger/Technical/Economist. They have a balanced roster that boasts unique but fragile prototype units that are either Glass Cannons or provide unique buffs/debuffs. They also have some of the best air units in the game.

Ironforge-Orlais Front: Brute/Turtle. The Ironforge-Orlais Front specializes in long-range weapons and artillery. Their usage of Collider weaponry allows them to deter enemy units from reaching their position as well as easily deal with infantry and aircraft. They also boast the heaviest ground unit in the Alliance Arsenal in the form of their Superheavy tank, the Battle Tortoise.

Athel Loren: Guerilla/Ranger. Athel Loren specializes in rapid deployment and highly mobile troops, including a good variety of aircraft and the ability to call down paratroopers. They also make heavy use of spectrum weaponry as means to deal with armored targets, as seen with their special tank, the Mercury Satellite, and Naestra and Arahan. However, Athel Loren is one of the most fragile factions in the game, with their tanks being lighter than those of other factions barring guerilla factions like the MLA and MInutemen.

Aselian Federation: Technical.

Ferelden-Europan Alliance: Brute/Elitist.

The Aion Defense Initiative
Generally: Elitist/Generalist/Researcher. They are the heaviest of the Guardians, but not as heavy as late-game Voshkod, and they have the most upgrade options out of the main factions, with various high-tech upgrades such as installing a Vulcan AA gun on their APCs, EMP for their Grenadiers, upgraded Mammoths, and more.

Steel Talons: Unit Specialist (mechs)/Brute.

ZOCOM: Technical/Ranger

Zemurian Raiders: ...

Arborean Angels: Unit Specialist (aircraft)/Ranger.

The Katsuragi Protectorate
Generally: Generalist/Ranger. Lots of light but very fast units capable of mounting hit and run attacks, transforming to get in or out of danger, and good at maneuvering and expanding with hordes of transforming mecha, allowing individual units to fill more than one role.

Erune Command: ...

Asur Command: Elitist/Unit Specialist (navy).

Exo-Command: Brute/Unit Specialist (mechs).

Psionic Command: ...

The Andoran Republic
Generally: Turtle/Generalist/Technical. With artillery and a focus on defenses, as well as infantry who gain additional bonuses in Garrisonable Structures. Unlike the other Guardians, they have limited access to aircraft beyond support helicopters and jets, and much of their normal army is focused on ground warfare and overwhelming static firepower.

Chimera Venom Command: Brute. Uses frontal tank assaults and mechanized infantry with superior stats compared to their counterparts of the other Andoran Generals.

Black Desert Command: Ranger/Guerilla. Uses a combination of advanced artillery, subversion, and using versatile aircraft for flanking strikes.

Avalanche Pandora Command: Turtle. Exaggerates the Republics' strength of powerful defences by using even more powerful defenses and advanced repair powers.

White Tundra Command: Technical.

The Elsword Empire
Generally: Spammer/Brute Force. Employ countless numbers of cheap infantry and tanks who all gain a bonus when performing as a Horde, has some strong units that are fewer in number, as well as electromagnetic weapons, hackers, and inspiring propaganda.

Harvin Experimental Command: Technical. Their units are generally weaker, but all make use of unique and powerful weapons and upgrades that can tilt the fight in their favor in various ways. Notably, they make heavy use of flame weaponry, ECM, EMP, hacking, and surveillance.

Castanic Nuclear Division: Brute. All of their units utilize nuclear power in some way, resulting in extreme, but often indiscriminate, destruction, and holds the most powerful superweapon in the game, capable of ending their opponent upon firing. But nearly all of their units also tend to explode upon death, so losses can result in devastating chain reactions. And their defenses are the weakest, forcing the commander to rely on landmines, Attack Outposts, and guarding key locations to defend their base.

Elsword's Royal Force: Elitist/Brute/Unit Specialist (tanks).

Grand Chase Royal Guards: Spammer/Brute/Unit Specialist (infantry). Very, very good at churning out waves of infantry that all have very specific and clearly-defined roles, but their units tend to have very poor crossover and need to be sufficiently varied to deal with the appropriate threats, as well as gaining an even better Horde bonus.

The Community of Cantha
Generally: Gimmick/Balanced.

Serpent Clan: Technical.

Lotus Clan: Technical/Ranger.

Dragon Clan: Generalist.

Wolf Clan: Brute.

The Ariadna Strategic Alliance
Generally: ...

???: ...

Satyr Inclusive Unit: ...

PanOceanic Division: ...

Global Risk Special Ops: ...

The Telogrus Bastion Fists
Generally: Turtle/Ranger

Void Elf Siege Command: ...

Targaryen Defense Command: ...

Lightforge Mechanical Group: ...

Sylvaneth Strike Force: ...

The Tacitus Rangers
Generally: ELITIST/Technical/Gimmick/Research. Playing more like a MOBA. The Tacitus Rangers is the smallest faction in the game with the commander only controlling up to six pseudo-commando units but said units are equal to an Epic once at full level with powerful stats and abilities. To compensate for their small numbers the Rangers have one of the strongest defenses and can create structures that produce Creeps, weak units that are built in waves for free to act as cannon fodder, have an entire subset of powerful call downs and powers that cost resources, and a myriad of upgrades to improve their six units.

Promethea Rangers: Generalist.

Phantom Thieves: Guerilla.

International Rescue: Technical.

Counter Team: Ranger.

The Socialist Union of Voshkod
Generally: Brute/Spammer/Unit Specialist (tanks). All-rounders capable of specializing in offensive, defensive, or support roles depending on which upgrade paths are taken. And they have tanks. A lot of tanks. One for every conceivable need, in fact, and cheap, disposable infantry.

Gorizont Division: Brute/Elitist. Using the heaviest units in the Voshkod arsenal, attacking mechanized assaults of big, brutish, elite tanks and some good infantry, all of which employ powerful high-tech weapons, but also boast a better infrastructure to support a typical Voshkod base and have a powerful defense structure.

Vieran Reserves: Guerilla/Technical. They are much lighter when compared to their fellow Generals in terms of armor but make up for it with excellent infantry combined with chopper assaults to attack from the flanks. Many of their units are highly mobile and they have strong helicopters.

Zenit Division: Spammer.

Kvant Division: Ranger. Uses several powerful and splashy artillery, as well as vacuum imploder weapons to soften up the enemy before an assault, and even some support infantry with functions other than "disable/kill enemy".

The Brotherhood of Asmodia
Generally: Guerrilla/Technical.

Black Hand: Brute/Spammer. Their stealth and aircraft are extremely weak but make up for it with powerful, and cheap, flame units, and their Purifying Flame upgrade gives their flame units explosive firepower that can melt enemies in close combat.

CABAL: Brute/Elitist.

Marked of Asmodia: Ranger.

Sons of Kane: Guerilla.

The Moonlight Liberation Army
Generally: Guerilla/Spammer. Employ stealth, toxins, suicide bombers, booby traps, and other mean tricks. Their greatest advantages are being unreliant on power and tunnel networks to quickly transport troops.

Whisperwind Cell: Guerilla/Technical. Nearly everything has some sort of stealth capability, with second-to-none hit-and-run capabilities, but both direct firepower and defense are on the low side. They can set up traps and false bases, cloak their units to slip through gaps in the enemy defense and visibility and launch sneak attacks on unprotected flanks, but in a direct fight they are rather weak and depends on micromanaging.

Stormrage Cell: Brute/Ranger/Gimmick. Their troops aren't terribly powerful on their own and lack special upgrades like the other MLA Generals' troops, but they have a lot of raw power improvements and can upgrade their units with salvage stolen from enemy vehicle kills, dramatically improving their firepower. A fully-upgraded column of the Stormrage units has some of the most terrifying offensive capabilities in the game, but they're wholly dependent on slow research and getting those vehicle kills to snowball.

Nightborne Chemical Cell: Technical/Unit Specialist. Their toxin weaponry is horribly, universally lethal to infantry, and they has a number of nasty tricks to make them effective against other targets, but their troops' direct firepower sucks. Good use of poisons, specialists, and traps can help him deal with different threats, but he struggles in direct fights against armor.

Draph Terror Cell: Brute/Spammer. Their troops pack devastating explosive weaponry, are cheap to produce, and nearly everyone is, can place, or can become explosive. Although their options for combat are pretty much limited to "blow it up and hope it dies", they have so many options for this at their disposal that they can easily turn half the map, including their own army, into a booby trap.

The Great Horde
Generally: Brute/Spammer.

Destruction War Band: ...

Darkspear War Band: ...

Beast War Band: ...

Looters War Band: ...

The Collective of Auring
Generally: Gimmick/Technical. Relies on mind-controlling units to manipulate enemies alongside other subversive tactics and rapid assaults of powerful but fragile units.

PsiCorps: Technical/Unit Specialist. The premier mind control specialists of the Collective Army, with stronger mind control infantry and their special tank being able to mind control multiple units. Several of their units are highly mobile to the point of being able to launch amphibious assaults.

Cult of Pleasure: Brute/Spammer.

Guardians of Yuri: Brute/Turtle.

Forsaken Cell: Guerilla/Spammer/Technical. Arguably one of the most fragile factions in the game, but they make up for it with mass numbers, hit-and-run tactics, and chemical weaponry. They also possess the ability to construct fake buildings to confuse enemy forces.

The Aristocracy of Encantadia
Generally: Elitist/Espionage.

Adamya: ...

Sapiro: ...

Lireo: ...

Hathoria: ...

The Scrin
Generally: Spammer/Ranger (early-mid)/Elitist/Brute (late).

Traveler-59: Brute/Spammer.

Reaper-17: Ranger/Technical.

Harbinger-31: Unit Specialist (artillery)/Brute.

Collector-73: Gimmick.

The Pirates of Lustria
Generally: Spammer/Ranger/Technical/Unit Specialist (navy).

The Awakened: ...

Forgotten Naval Command: ...

Daughters Raiding Company: ...

Morgwar Submarine Command: ...

The Ascalian Monarchy
Generally: Balanced/Technical.

Regalian Guards: ...

Ascalian Shock Command: ...

Alfheimr Experimental Unit: ...

Gungan Marines: ...

The Regal Sultanate of Elona
Generally: Spammer/Unit Specialist. Large numbers of infantry divided into several different categories, with vehicles for support instead of the center of the force.

Guards of Harkonnen: ...

Haqqislam Battlegroup: ...

Lashunta Command: ...

Tomb Kings: ...

The Karak Overlord Coalition
Generally: Elitist/Brute/Turtle.

Dwarfen Guards: Elitist/Turtle.

Astarte Legions: Generalist.

Aio Expeditionary Corps: Spammer/Brute.

Primaris Votann Guards: Elitist/Unit Specialist

The Black Banner Conglomerate
Generally: Elitist/Research/Technical/Generalist. With a limited army size, The Conglomerate needs to make good use of abilities and calldowns to keep them going for as long as possible. This also frees up resources for researching her units' various upgrades, making them more effective in the field.

Scorpion Cell: Guerilla.

Farsight Enclave: Brute.

Hawke Revolutionaries: ...

Fodlan Revolt: ...

The Minutemen Survivors
Generally: Guerrilla/Generalist (late)/Balanced. Almost every unit has access to stealth in some form, and they can build fake structures as well, but compared to the MLA their units are significantly stronger but are more expensive as a result. Their gameplay also revolves around starting out weak but slowly getting stronger, as their units start out very weak but can be upgraded to match those of other factions in quality.

Aquila Remnant: ...

Brotherhood of Steel: Elitist.

The Forgotten: Guerillla.

Voshkod Exiles: Brute.

The Lumeris Syndicate
Generally: Ranger/Economist/Unit Specialist (infantry). Their best units are long-range infantry and artillery that specialize in urban warfare and benefit from an immense economy.

Lumeris PMC: Economist/Spammer/Balanced. Their units are quite balanced but because of the huge economic bonuses they get, producing them in quantity isn't much issue.

Tau Merchant Guards: Elitist/Ranger.

Skaven Horde: Spammer.

Syndicate Black Ops: Elitist/Guerilla.

The Heralds of Chaos
Generally: Gimmick/Generalist/Brute (Knorne)/Technical (Tzeentch)/Turtle (Nurgle)/Ranger (Slaanesh).

Heralds Of The First: Brute/Gimmick.

Heralds Of The Chosen: Elitist/Brute.

Heralds Of The Gods: Elitist/Generalist.

Heralds Of The Twisted: Spammer/Guerilla.

The Grey Steel Order
Generally: Elitist/Technical. Units are slow and rather expensive but possess extreme armour, and rather than traditional bases, they instead have Crawlers and their units gain unique abilities at every experience level, encouraging an Elite Army playstyle.

Sisters of Battle: Generalist/Unit Specialist.

Grey Knights: Brute/Technical.

Assassins Order: Guerilla/Espionage.

Jedi Order: ...

The Lineage Steel Legion
Generally: Ranger/Technical/Spammer/Turtle. The Steel Legion can be best described as a "Wall of Guns"; weak infantry squads, backed up by some of the toughest tanks in the game and some of the best artillery of any faction, they fold quite quickly in the face of anything remotely optimized for close combat, and have a very defense-centered playstyle, building strong bases (and moving troops between their buildings through tunnels) and letting the enemy break themselves against the gun-wall, gradually inching them back until they have no more ground to stand on.

Artillery Command: Ranger.

Mechanized Strike Force: Balanced.

Armored Fist: Elitist/Unit Specialist (tanks).

Adeptus Mechanicus: ...

The Koprulu-Khalai Dominion
Generally: Generalist/Guerilla/Ranger/Turtle.

Raynor's Raider: ...

Core Defense Force: Turtle.

Beta Strike Force: ...

Protoss Special Ops: ...

The Alberian Security Company
Generally: ...

Flame Security Division: ...

Water Security Division: ...

Wind Security Division: ...

Light Security Division: ...

The Simian Ascendancy
Generally: ...

???: ...

???: ...

???: ...

???: ...