Kalran: Tales of the four nations

Kalran: Tales of the four nations is an science fantasy rts made by ssbob90. Set in the planet Kalran it follows the stories of four continents in the eighth age.

Background
Our story takes place on Kalran, a planet with three moons and two suns, and four continents.

To the north lays Arkalion, a nation where the shadow of war looms, with hordes of demon and daemons in the south only contained by the citadel city of Byzalem.

To the west lays Alcradia, a pangaea split apart by the fall of the old Tuatha empire, with the east being a frontier, where monsters, beast, and demons roam, and beneath that wasteland are the Reclaimers, who desires to reforge the world through blood and ash with only the Aegis Defense Force task force slowing them.

To the east lays Axio, an archipelagos where the north is under the rule of the ouroboros goverment, but in the south comes rumor's of a resistance call the Tenkos.

And to the south comes Askrian, a great desert where few truly safe havens exist, each guarded by magical pillars, with nearly the whole desert inhabited by wandering demons and the Cult of Asura, who are hellbent on covering the world in bile, with the Reclamation guilds working to make new havens and stop the cult.

In each nations magic exist in arcane, using chi, and divine, using mana, that uses the four elements, earth, wind, fire, and water, and four races, in each nation, known as the firstborn, blessed by one of the elements.

Gameplay
In Kalran: Tales of the four nations is a science-fantasy rts, a fusion of command and conquer, company of heroes, 8-bit armies/horde/invaders, dawn of war 1/2/3, ground control, starcraft, warcraft, and act of aggression/war with elements from Age of empires, anomaly: warzone earth and kingdom rush featuring a total of 24 factions, 6 in each continent, each with five unique commanders, a total of 120 sub-commanders, simplified into:


 * Classic: focus on enhancing their faction strength
 * Airforce: focus on fast using airforce to to attack or empower ground forces
 * Defense: focus on defense and siege
 * Infantry: focus on infantry and unorthodox tactics
 * Armor: focus on armor assault and straight on attack

In battle there are three different resources the player must manage.
 * Supply: must be mined and refined but passively gains a small trickle. With patches of it around the map
 * Fuel: must be harvested from oil derricks. Required to make most vehicles and cavalry
 * Minerals: can only be produce by pumps that must be captured. Also forms a supply line. Required to build high tier units and upgrades

Controls
See here

Morale
Infantry have a secondary health, called morale, which takes damage when they suffers heavy damage in short amount of time, heavy suppression, heavy artillery, or terror weapon like toxins and fire. And will suffer heavy debuffs to their damage, range, and suppression resistance but increase speed and defense once it's depleted. And if infantry morale stays deplete for too long, or suffer heavy morale damage like a bombardment, most will retreat off the map.

Suppression
When medium or light infantry are hit by a machine gun, rapid artillery bombardment, or a sniper, they will go into a suppressed state. Lowering the speed of medium infantry and immobilizing light infantry but briefly increases their defense, especially if in cover, slowly loses morale, and deal reduced damage. And if suppressed for a few more seconds will become pinned, fully immobilizing infantry and briefly grant a large buff to defense but will take more damage afterwards and can't attack. Heavy and superheavy infantry are immune to suppression effect but heavy infantry will take more damage and heavy artillery strikes will stun them.

Protocol
Protocols are special abilities used by each faction and are split in three forms. The first are tech protocols, a tech tree forming the basic of each factions and useable by all faction commander which are unlocked as the game progresses. The second are structure protocols, which as implied only comes by building a structure and will be lost if said structure falls. And the third are commander protocols, a combination of the first and second with tech tree which abilities can only be unlocked points earned in battle or a commander exclusive units. Each protocol are suited for the factions and commanders and can turn the tide of battle, from summoning special units to bombardment powers. But each of them have a cooldown and/or cost resources.

Superweapons
Many real-time strategy games employ a superweapon or tactical weapon, a very powerful, near if not limitless range, endgame weapon with large technological requirements and high costs. Popular examples of superweapons are the nuke and iron curtain from Command & Conquer and the nuclear missile from StarCraft.

In Kalran: Tales of the four nations, superweapons or tactical weapons are split between offensive, used to simple destroy the target, and support, built to support their forces and charges faster, can be technologically unlocked at the third or highest tier, and require high costs and amounts of funds.

Weapons and armor types
In game the basic counter surface-based counter cycle of Kalran: Tales of the four nations is a three-stage gradated counter system with three weapon types and three corresponding armour types; Gun, Autocannon and Cannon opposing Infantry, Light Armour and Heavy Armour. Each armour type is hard-countered by one weapon type, and each weapon type also soft-counters the next armour type up and down on the list. Relying on soft-counters will lead to defeat by better composed armies, but allows armies a degree of flexibility.

Single Player

 * Tutorial - teaches the basic mechanics and summary of commanders
 * Campaign - allows you to complete the stories of each faction.
 * Challenge - similar to those of Command & Conquer: Generals and Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 - Uprising, you can choose your commander to challenge the each factions five commanders. Ending with the player having to face all five commanders of that faction at once
 * Custom - allows you to play maps that are in either skirmish, or use map settings game mode against computer-assisted opponents.
 * Survival - survival mode has the player either choose a commander before being tasked to hold off waves of ai controlled enemies, either from one faction commander to potentially every commander depending on difficulty.

Multiplayer

 * Versus - you can fight opponents in 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, 4v4 or FFA cooperatively or singularly.
 * Custom - allows you to play maps that are in either skirmish, or use map settings game mode against computer-assisted or human-assisted opponents.

Remlia Legion:
The Remlia legion is the army of the Remlia Republic, consisting of the Humans and their allies of the Trolls, Lapori, and Papillion. As a military force they consist of a mixture of numerous recruits, from legionaries to musketmen, and elite veterans, with sharpshooters armed with lever action muskets to their famous dragon knights. Able to handle any foe that comes at them.

Volksgard Expeditionary Group:
Masters of armored warfare and tanks, the Volksgard consist of the Dwarves most elite military. Wielding advance technology and earth magic, from diesel powered vehicles and advance gunpowder weaponry, that compensates their lack of research in magic. Utilizing brute force and a slow, heavy, charge, with a variety of powerful and heavily armored tanks, supported by fleets of helicopters, to make one concentrated strike through the enemy defense.

Salkoy Strike Force:
Ruler of cavalry and sky, Salkoy consist of the Elves, the strongest cavalry in all of Kalran, having been the ones who brought equestrians to Arkalion, while ruling the skies with their famous pegasus knights. With advance research in the arcane magic, particularly wind magic, wielding chi powered guns and hover tanks, despite wielding weapons made of glass and stone. In battle they are a force as fast as lightning, their infantry infiltrating and scouting out the enemies weaknesses before their airforce and cavalry deals a devastating blow before escaping to strike at another angle.

Orc War Company:
Rapid and hard hitting. The Orc war company, compromising of volunteers who leaves their tribe to defend their people, using mobile command wagons to summon their forces anywhere. With weapons of mass destruction, superior firepower with their hellfire weaponry and vehicles, frontal assault, fire magic, strength, courage and valor in order to combat their enemies

The Southern Hordes
Masters of besieging. The Southern Hordes consist of small but strong cultist units supported weak but cheap and numerous slave units to break through a defense line and follow through. And in battle the Horde sends out the slaves first to be the breachers for the cultist, tasked with the suicidal mission of charging through towards the enemy defense to break to hole in the line, supported by large but heavily specialized artillery, before protecting the cultist as they make their way towards the breach and slaughter their foes.

Byzalem Garrison Forces:
As the only nation stopping the Southern horde from invading the rest of Arkalion. The Garrison forces of Byzalem, consisting of the ten races and Vardskuls, are masters of siege defense with great wall and bunkers to hold off their foes, able to transforms a barren land into a large fortress, filled with an array of garrison structures, traps, and kill zones garrisoned with an array of infantry and artillery, where the garrison punishes any foe foolish enough to charge upon their city without planning.

United Columbia Alliance Armed Forces:
The United Columbia Alliance Armed Forces, or UCAAF, is an alliance consisting of the Fenrirs and their allies of the Harpies, Skarnops, and Goliaths. This faction is generally fights with a combination of adaptable tactics, superior firepower (including railgun and powered armor), and combined arms in order to defeat its enemies and their tactics. Relying on skill, versatility, and advanced technology to handle anything.

Hansion Warband:
The Hansion Warband, consisting of the Navaheims, focuses on divide and conquer. Using elite infantry and mobile airforce to quickly strike upon their foes weak points before escaping retaliation. Using their tunnel networks, spiral power, and pressure based weaponry to close the distance before attacking with their full might, where even the toughest foe with crumble to the might of their warriors.

Kevros Federation Guards:
The Kevros Federation Guards consist of the Humans who survived the hyperion bombardment, thanks to the creation of fallout shelters in the mountains, with an army of androids. Favoring defense over offence with use of advance towers and walls, each connected to the base by pylons, to funnel their foes into designated kill zones for their defense and using mass produce droids, support by Human piloted mechas, to take territory. Utilizing advance laser, cryo, and missile based weaponry and tough mechas and droids to stem the tide.

Rokhari Riders:
The Riders consist of the Rokhari fiercest warriors who emphasize penetration warfare. With their units, consisting of a fleet of fast light vehicles and cavalry, coming from their walkers, mobile bases that can become a walking siege or support engine, which allows them to strike anywhere and replenish losses quickly. Armed with plasma, microwave, thermobaric weaponry, and fire magic they can carve through any defenses and strike the vulnerable base within.

Reclaimers:
The Reclaimers focuses on victory through attrition and superior firepower. While nowhere near as technologically advanced as the UCA and other technologically superior factions, they rely on apocalyptic manpower through cloning, attrition warfare, chemical warfare, terror tactics, advance but invasive cybernetics and thermal based weaponry, outdated arsenal of military weapons, vehicles, aircraft and vessels, and devastating superweapons to bring victory. No matter how many clones will die for them, either by the enemy or their hands, as the clones are the equivalent of bullets in their eyes. At the cost of having little to no defense

Aegis Defense Force:
The ADF is a force that relies on rapid, precise, strikes at the enemies weakpoint. While each of their units have a build limit, meaning that the commander controls more of an elite strike force rather than an army, they compensates with devastating abilities and powerful upgrades and promotion, with a five star veteran being almost a one man army, and protocols capable of wiping out armies and razing bases, at the cost of being expensive. Using bleeding edge technology, from Faster then light drives to hard light, to defeat their foes. But their early game is noticeable weak, with their expensive units gimping their start, with the loss of single unit taking a heavy toll, especially if it was a veteran.

Kyoira Armed Forces:
The Kyoira Armed Forces is an offense and arcane oriented faction, Consisting of the Nekomatas and their allies the Minotaur, Tengu, and Kitsune. With their army focusing on using numerous, if somewhat weak units, to face any foes, with advance wind magic and naval firepower.

Seujin Royal Army:
The Seujin Royal Army is a defense-oriented and technologically advantaged, at least compared to other Axion factions, faction composed heavy artillery forces, from the simple hwacha to chongtong rockets, decimating their foes before they see them while Xiagui militia, wielding spears and arquebus, holds off and push back any survivors.

Salamander Attack Wing:
From their great airships, a flying fortress capable of transporting a small army, attacks the Salamanders, composing of their fleet of airships ruling the skies while sending down deadly infantry and ight vehicles to claim land.

Sathspor Reavers:
From the great waves comes the Reavers of Sathspor. A offense focused faction whose units, from their standard Raider to their Longboats, are amphibious, allowing their entire army to handle their foe whether on land or sea and strikes anywhere in rapid, devastating, raids before retreating back to their hidden bases, which are either on land or under the sea.

Ouroboros Battlegroup:
As the reigning superpower of Axio. The Ouroboros Battlegroup uses propaganda, mind controlling, possession/brainwashing tactics to control the battlefield. With a small but elite combat forces, technological superiority, massively destructive weaponry, psychological warfare, and vast number of infantry, vehicles, aircraft and vessels, their deadliest being the penitent legion, which composed of criminals and their families forced into combat suits to fight to atone for their sins, with the empty promise of release for their service.

Malkara Attack Forces:
From the desert the Malkara Attack force consist of the Mukasura and their allies, Gnomes, Kobold, and Potnia. With their army focusing on mobile warfare, with their Gernerals able directly call in units on the field, no matter where they are

Delteroa Self-Defense Forces:
The Delteroa Self-Defense Forces are the soldiers of the normally pacifist Faunus, and masters of guerilla warfare. Using elite, stealthed, infantry and mobile airforce to quickly strike upon their foes weak points before escaping retaliation. Using their masterful control of illusion magic and pressure based weaponry to engage their foes from a distance and retreating before the enemy can find them. Fighting against the Faunus is less of facing them but finding them.

Cult Of Asura War Caste:
Ruling nearly all of Askrian. The War Caste of Asura are the weapon arm of the Cult. Spreading their tainted poison, known as bile, upon which their structure are built and where their forces are stronger, while any foes stepping into such tainted land will have a hard time navigating. While creating creatures of shadow that terrorize the lands, but their deadliest weapon is the markers, obelisk of Devil magic, that revives the corpses of friend and foe to serve them, whose bodies can even be remade into stronger beasts.

Reclamation Guilds:
Situated at the edges of the wasteland. The Reclamation Guilds work to remove the bile on their nation and claim new grounds for the people of Askrian, with expeditions groups, composing of veteran leaders aided by hired mercenaries. While their numbers of veteran is limited they are strong and can strengthen the mercenaries they lead.

Cast
See here

DLC

 * Heroes and Villains: Brings in a special Radio tower that allows the commander to call in special heroes, assassination mode, where the commander must destroy their opponents VIP unit to win, and allows each faction to send their commanders into battle. Includes a minor update giving almost all units a chance to spawn with an alternate gender voice.

Trivia

 * Each of the continents has different technology level
 * Arkalion is Napoleonic/wild west era
 * Alcradia ww2/cold war era
 * Axio stone age/age of sails era
 * Askrian bronze age/renaissance era