2.2 Faction Profile: Warlord Zsinj

[Corey]

With Ascendancy 1.0 in beta and soon to be fully released pending the official Sins 1.83 update, the old behemoth that is Imperial Civil War has been de-mothballed and pulled back into active service alongside her little sister. In the 2.2 announcement update, we announced that we would be doing a GC based on the Galactic Civil War era, however ultimately the team has decided this will no longer be the case. Rather than using those resources to expand the timeline of the mod, we'll be continuing to fine-tune and polish the area between the Battle of Endor and the beginning of the Vong War. This will involve a lot of things, some under the hood and some more obvious, but the first thing we'll be talking about, and the biggest change, is the disintegration of the Warlords.

Rather than being a single brown mass on the galactic map, the Warlords are being split into three fully-playable and distinct factions, representing (in our opinion) the biggest and most important of the Warlord groups; Warlord Zsinj's Empire, Treutan Teradoc's Greater Maldrood and Sander Delvardus' Eriadu Authority. As the faction which should be most familiar to our players and which requires the least 'new' units, Warlord Zsinj's Empire will be the first to be addressed.



Zsinj's Empire

Capital: Serenno, Dathomir

One of the first and ultimately most powerful groups to denounce the authority of the Imperial Ruling Council, Warlord Zsinj's Empire formed around Serenno and his flagship, the Executor-class Iron Fist, in 4ABY. Initially he was ignored by the New Republic and managed to coexist with all except the neighbouring Greater Maldrood. During this time, he subsumed the Corporate Sector Authority and parts of the Hydian Way, ultimately moving his capital to Rancor Base at Dathomir, whose Nightsister populace he began to exploit. The New Republic takeover of Coruscant bolstered his forces even more, as former Imperial loyalists flocked to his Empire. Ultimately a coalition of New Republic, Hapan and Imperial forces led by Han Solo, Prince Isolder and Teren Rogriss defeated Zsinj.

Key among his forces are the Raptor Troopers, an elite corp of Stormtrooper-esque soldiers, as well as the TIE Raptor, a unique fighter type available only to Zsinj. Zsinj will also be taking some of the Pentastar roster based on the Corporate Sector Authority, including a few new units in 2.2, while the Alignment gets replacements from their units in Ascendancy.

Space Unit Roster
Executor
Lucrehulk, ISDI, ISDII, Invincible, Allegiance
Nebulon-B, Nebulon-BII, Quasar, CR90, Carrack, Dreadnaught, Strike Cruiser, Gladiator, Neutron Star, Immobilizer-418, Providence
TIE Raptor, TIE Interceptor, TIE Bomber, Authority IRD, Warpod Pinnace

Ground Unit Roster
AT-AT, Juggernaut
AT-ST, Chariot LAV, AT-AA, IDT, SPMAT, TIE Mauler, TIE Crawler, 1H Repulsortank
Unique Infantry: Raptor Troopers, Nightsisters

Heroes
Warlord Zsinj - Iron Fist
Tetran Cowall - False 181st
Terrinald Screed - Demolisher
Apwar Trigit - Implacable
Gethzerion
General Melvar

As ever, if you have suggestions for this faction, feel free to post them in the comments on our forums or on ModDB.

 

[Jorritkarwehr]

Looks wonderful!

[Delta]

Looks good can't really see any additions other than possibly having the Razor's Kiss buildable if you capture Kuat as Zsinj.

[Corey]

That would be covered by their ability to build Executors in general.

[Lord Xizer]

This looks quite promising indeed.

[Vons Barador]

Heavens, 2.2 is going to be a fun patch, isn't it?

[Guderian]

This just looks amazing.

[kucsidave]

Have you thought about faction bonuses? I mean in the form of some small bonuses.
For example Zsinj's forces could have a retreat time bonus, though not as mayor as the Hand's, but still.
Maldrood's ships could be faster travel speed(between planets) and finally EA could have self healing infantry as a nod to Delvardus' search for the most advanced medical techs to help his comatosed love.

[Lord Xizer]

Kucsidave makes a good point lol we've been brainstorming on the Warlords for some time too.
Raptor saboteurs for Zsinj and some way to implement his secret businesses behind enemy lines for economy. 

[Pali]

Potential hero ideas for Zsinj:
Night Caller, CR90 captained by Zurel Darillian with a mine drop ability.
Captain Radalf Netbers, special stormtrooper/raptor unit

[Lord Xizer]

Potential hero ideas for Zsinj:
Night Caller, CR90 captained by Zurel Darillian with a mine drop ability.
Captain Radalf Netbers, special stormtrooper/raptor unit

Not sure they would do Netbers, but I could see Night Caller perhaps.

[kucsidave]

I can see Night Caller too.
But question(s): Will the Nightsisters' recuitment be linket to Gethzerion? I mean she was the only link between Zsinj and the Nightsisters so it would make sense.
Will Zsinj have an even more limited access to the Executor-class than the remnant?
I also have an idea, and this is not exclusive to Zsinj.
Ground "Structure": Capital Planet. Basicly a "building" that would give you certain advantages, but you can only build it to some planets and can have only 1 at the time. This would be logical, and would represent the real value of some planets in the galaxy, so it wouldn't be just the Income and structure slots that count.
For example:
As zsinj you can build it to Seranno and Dathomir
As Greater Maldrood to Centares and Hakassi
As Eriadu Authority to Eriadu and I don't know, maybe Odik II?
As Remnant to Coruscant, Bastion, Byss, Ect.
As PA to Bastion(i know it was not it's capital, but it was still important) and Entralla(if you add the planet)
ect.
What does you guys think?
This could also make the current GCs more accurate by adding that to that planet's land forces so you can represent the current capitals of the time and their significance. Of course "relocating" your capital would be costly, especially if you not just relocate, but lost your capital. Maybe around 20000 credits to build cost and a lot of time to represent the time which required to relocate and build up the infrastucture.(the reason I said it would be more costly to lose it, because if you simply sell the last then it would give you back half of it's cost)

This way, losing your capital could really criple your economy. Just imagine what a blow it could have been for the IR to lose Coruscant or Byss. There was no central command (and every warlord went on their way).

Edit: Some extra possibilities to capital locations and some extra reasoning and feature

[PhoenixC279]

Hm. Definitely an interesting idea Kucsidave, and it does make sense in more than one way. And I do like that you did not add in the NR, as they really didn't have that kind of a place in the beginning before they took Coruscant,

[Revanchist]

Have you thought about faction bonuses? I mean in the form of some small bonuses.
For example Zsinj's forces could have a retreat time bonus, though not as mayor as the Hand's, but still.
Maldrood's ships could be faster travel speed(between planets) and finally EA could have self healing infantry as a nod to Delvardus' search for the most advanced medical techs to help his comatosed love.

I like this idea as well (or some form of it at least). The 1H sounds cool; wookieepedia makes it sound like a more armored, slower version of the freerunner. Also: Invincible? That ugly tub is going to be added?

[Corey]

But question(s): Will the Nightsisters' recuitment be linket to Gethzerion? I mean she was the only link between Zsinj and the Nightsisters so it would make sense.

It will be tied to Dathomir, but not necessarily to Gethzerion. Don't want to have multiple prerequisites for that or it would limit their/Gethzerion's use too much.

Will Zsinj have an even more limited access to the Executor-class than the remnant?

No, he'll be equal. Really, if anyone would want to use a lot of Executors I feel like Zsinj would be a better candidate than any of the five Remnant leaders.

I also have an idea, and this is not exclusive to Zsinj.
Ground "Structure": Capital Planet. Basicly a "building" that would give you certain advantages, but you can only build it to some planets and can have only 1 at the time. This would be logical, and would represent the real value of some planets in the galaxy, so it wouldn't be just the Income and structure slots that count.
For example:
As zsinj you can build it to Seranno and Dathomir
As Greater Maldrood to Centares and Hakassi
As Eriadu Authority to Eriadu and I don't know, maybe Odik II?
As Remnant to Coruscant, Bastion, Byss, Ect.
As PA to Bastion(i know it was not it's capital, but it was still important) and Entralla(if you add the planet)
ect.
What does you guys think?
This could also make the current GCs more accurate by adding that to that planet's land forces so you can represent the current capitals of the time and their significance. Of course "relocating" your capital would be costly, especially if you not just relocate, but lost your capital. Maybe around 20000 credits to build cost and a lot of time to represent the time which required to relocate and build up the infrastucture.(the reason I said it would be more costly to lose it, because if you simply sell the last then it would give you back half of it's cost)

This way, losing your capital could really criple your economy. Just imagine what a blow it could have been for the IR to lose Coruscant or Byss. There was no central command (and every warlord went on their way).

I don't dislike the idea in general, but I think the difficulty is in finding a purpose for it to actually service and the only once I can think of offhand would be in the diplomacy system. I don't think it's a good idea to have it be economic, since that basically increases the problem of centralizing the economy on one or a few planets that already exists in the game. In order for it to worth that much to build, it would have to put out a pretty gigantic amount of credits, and any extra credit income we add to the game has to be removed from other sources, which means planets start losing slots or tax/mining facilities lose a lot of their individual output. You can then start losing a lot more planets without even feeling it. It would also be pretty hard to balance across all the GCs, since some factions may not have their capital options available to them in each GC, or some might be a lot more advantageously placed than others.

Hm. Definitely an interesting idea Kucsidave, and it does make sense in more than one way. And I do like that you did not add in the NR, as they really didn't have that kind of a place in the beginning before they took Coruscant,

I feel like the New Republic would be the easiest to actually make something work with, since where Imperial groups could rely on an individual (which already exists in heroes) the New Republic could be made to rely more on the existence of the Senate.

Also: Invincible? That ugly tub is going to be added?

Last to be added and first to be cut if it comes to that, but it's the best representation of the CSA without going even more into the CW. I'd rather not have to use the Providence for more than one faction.

[Thrashia]

This hasn't been released yet, right? I'm just trying to keep track and seem to be failing at reading atm.

[Jorritkarwehr]

It's not out yet. The latest patch is 2.15.


Will Zsinj get the Marauder? It was pretty heavily associated with the CSA

[derp]

This looks great, imho the Iron Fist should  spawn Tie Raptors because from what I've read he had a squadron of them on his flagship. Just throwing an idea out there, the preybirds could be part of his forces since he did use pirate mercenaries.

[Revanchist]

This looks great, imho the Iron Fist should  spawn Tie Raptors because from what I've read he had a squadron of them on his flagship.

Definitely agree it should get these, and should be pretty doable if it isn't in 2.15 already (haven't fought with/as Zsinj for a while so I can't remember)

Just throwing an idea out there, the preybirds could be part of his forces since he did use pirate mercenaries.

Personally I doubt this one would happen, as they weren't at all common until well after Zsinj died (and only then because of the Remnant's need of them). Though it would be cool if Zsinj could build the old Pirate Asteroid Base from vanilla on certain planets.

[derp]

Definitely agree it should get these, and should be pretty doable if it isn't in 2.15 already (haven't fought with/as Zsinj for a while so I can't remember)

Personally I doubt this one would happen, as they weren't at all common until well after Zsinj died (and only then because of the Remnant's need of them). Though it would be cool if Zsinj could build the old Pirate Asteroid Base from vanilla on certain planets.

Yeah I'm fine without preybirds but the fluff says they were designed a couple years before the battle of endor so it would fit the timeline, obviously they shouldn't be represented in mass but maybe a certain pirate base gets them. I've been playing with the iron fist a lot lately and zsinj doesn't spawn Tie Ratpors in 2.15.

*spelled zsinj with a g*