Just a little Intro

Hi guys, the Supreme Commander universe is one of my most favorite concepts and I just wanted to start my own discussion about my fictional ideas of a new faction rising to power. I originally posted most of my thoughts on a previous discussion board (SUPREME COMMANDER 3 suggestions) but, I really wanted to expand on my thoughts and origins on a seperate page because this topic is broad and my ideas just keep shifting around the more I learn about other people's ideas.

I admit I do not know much about modding and all this other neat stuff all you guys are capable of. You see I'm just a guy who thinks about science fiction a lot and ever since I started discussing about my fictional Pirate Faction I got so hyped up and started drawing quite a few concepts on sketch pads etc (top-view). I will edit this page when the time comes and I assure you my previous entries shall be evolved on this discussion page.

To get things started, what do you guys think of the title? Trust me it took a lot of thinking!

While the title is interesting, id be happy to see that the Supreme Commander series doesnt die with the ugly SupCom2. If they do make a SupCom3, It better be freaking awesome, with mod support.

A fourth faction? So, we're talking about the Seraphim?

My idea of a new faction isn't the Seraphim but rather an organized ex-con who seeks revenge against all factions for a reason I shall explain about later. You see his story is linked to all three "core" factions (UEF, Cybran, and Illuminate) in a certain "secret" way.

In my fictional plot line the Seraphim are indeed returning in the third chapter but their civilization is pretty much just remnants and so they are hiding somewhere in some sort of hybernation stasis outside controlled territory of the UEF, Cybran, and Illuminate. Their leader is a Seraphim Emperor who has rallied the rest of his remaining forces/people and shall be an antagonist as the story unfolds.

(Oh yeah, and I do agree with the Supreme Commander 2's ugly visuals, etc. but I think Chris Taylor just wanted to introduce some new designs and "upgrade" concepts into his universe, he simply tried to make it like an arena style game sort of like Demigod.)

Origins of the Pirate Lord: Part 1 of 3

During the years of the Seraphim invasion, a few secret military bases and facilities were constructed to test new technologies and experimental projects designed by a shadow group only known as "The Watchers". This shadow group was seperate from the New Coalition and they were extremely corrupt and twisted individuals, they consisted of people from all three core factions (UEF, Cybran, Aeon).

The first members consisted of two UEF politicians, three UEF military masterminds and two Cybran "Alpha Symbionts" who were the first to be tested with the "twining process" before Dr. Brackman, who then later tested it upon himself. The Alpha Symbionts were prototypes and had many flaws, most which where they became disloyal to Brackman and questioned his authority. Because of this they fled into regions unknown (notice how their are no control nodes, because this event took place before the Earth Empire ever forced strict rules, etc. about symbionts). The Alpha Symbionts are the oldest in the secret organization and are rumored to be the leaders.(Commander Gauge is not aware of the Alpha Symbionts. He is a protobrain which was a whole seperate project)

The last to join was a young rutheless Aeon Warlord who was banished from his society by Princess Burke for reasons unknown. One possible rumor was that he attempted to become King of the Aeon by assassinating her and key individuals, but the theory was dissapproved thanks to lack of evidence. He was found by the Alpha Symbionts and corrupt Earth Federation characters due to his violent war record and how much potential he had as a commander of an ACU on the battlefield.

Together this small clan of "Watchers" became a secret formidable terrorist group secretly behind the lines of command who were also deciding the fate of the galaxy. It was all a game to them, and the enjoyed examining the Seraphim and their deadly weapons. It was only a matter of time until they started a secret project only known as "project Archon".

When the Seraphim Invasion was nearing the final months one particular region took the hardest hit and this region was one of the first to seek aid in rebuilding and gathering up wounded from the assault. As bodies littered the streets in the cities a boy about 3-4 years of age is seen standing and looking at his dead family. Soon enough a Cybran approaches him and says we've been "watching you", he is then told that he would be taken to a secure and secret facility and is soon picked up by a Cybran transport.

Project Archon was about to begin...

Origins of the Pirate Lord: Part 2 of 3

With the new Coalition defeating the Seraphim the war was coming to a close and the boy who appears to be nameless is transported by an unknown Cybran to a secret test facility known only as "The Ziggurat" in a nuetral territory zone.

The Ziggurat was megalithic in size and it hosted numerous training grounds for expiremental units as well as Armored Command Unit field testing. The Watchers knew the New Coalition would beable to push back the Seraphim and they knew also in time that the core factions would come to a period of peace. The Watchers loved violence and so they trained the boy to be an "archon" of destruction who would later rise to power and start a whole new war that would rid the three factions of the Coalition (permanantly purge all three cultures and enter a new age, something the Seraphim failed to achieve). During the 25 year elapsed time between the events of Forged Alliance and Supreme Commander 2 a deadly knew foe was brewing in a far corner of space. The boy was put to the test to become physically and mentally adaptive in the arts and tactics of war and so the Ziggurat facility became his new home.

The Aeon Warlord saw a lot of potential in the boy's ACU skills and his engineering and robotics knowledge became off the charts he knew for example how to build small assault bots from scratch and take control of all the core faction's as well (after all they were only drones). Although he was training to become a "tyrant of destruction" he was truly unaware of the Watcher's true plans, in other words he did not know he was becoming a tyrant at all. From a very young age the Watchers simply told him that the, so called "aliens/Seraphim" were actually bio engineered beings created from the New Coalition themselves and that they used them to rid strategic regions around the galaxy that would later set new problems for the future.

Easily persuaded, the boy took this thought into consideration greatly, and so fueled his rage against this New Coalition. As the Alpha Symbionts grew older and their bodies greatly deteriorating their brains were put in the same oxygen-rich amniotic solution just like Brackman by their very own and secret scientists. The only difference though was that their brains and spinal cords were directly fused with fully functional, mechanical and robotic parts meaning they literally can walk, talk, fight etc. It was a revolutionary change in the simple twining process, not just with an AI but with moving robotic parts too! Horrific in appearence the all new "Cyborg Alpha Symbionts" seeked to rid their great father and later become the new leaders of the Cybran Nation.

The UEF politicians wounded up growing old and later both died of natrual causes. Although dead, new corrupt politicians took their place as well as fresh Military masterminds who would replace the original military leaders. One such commander was colonel Rodgers who didn't care about age as he simply states "with age comes wisdom and newer strategies". Rodgers hated cybrans and the new "Illuminate", but he was completley unaware of working for them as it was all part of the contract! With his amazing record Rodgers was hired to help fuel conflict and set the clock going, but these events only led to his downfall by a very tactical commander known as Maddox.

This sounds like it belongs in Fanfiction.

But seriously, if you're going to talk about Pirate Lords, you better bloody be talking about Bagby!

I'm sorry guys if this indeed sounds like a fan fiction, but I just had to tell you guys a simple storyline that would link together all supreme commander games so far, and give you a reason behind why the guy in the "Ziggurat Facility" becomes the "Pirate Lord" in the first place. (isn't "Ziggurat" a pretty neat name? I mean look up the definition...)

I will share some more ideas in terms of unit designs and suggestions about my vision of a third game, but again I apologize. Trust me though, I am not going to expain massive loads of details in terms of chapters, etc. like the true fanfiction guys in that section, this is why I made this story in SUPREME COMMANDER SUGGESTIONS. I mean c'mon its only "3" parts...

Anyways can anybody give me any feed back on what they think of this this "origin story"? Is it good, does it have merit/potential, does it make sense, is it confusing, or is it crap? (maybe all of the above, I mean c'mon sombebody out their gotta like the idea of "Alpha Symbionts"!)

There's already a post with an idea for SupCom3,anyways.
I guess GPG have enough things to do and enough problems to solve *cough* gpgnet*cough*
And I wouldn't give any ideas about the game,first I would give some suggestions to choose the correct publisher. o.o

Steam~fail
THQ~Lack of patches
EA-Origin~ Well ,I guess you all know what happens when you play BF3


Prince

SupCom 3: Raids of Tyranny is my vision of the third game (you know about a fictional story and what not, Pirate Lord, Alpha Symbionts, Scrap Tyrants, blah, blah, blah) I do know suggestions are important about a third entry into the series, so I am going to ask your opinion what is your vision of a new faction?

My fictional made up faction is indeed raiders and/or pirates lead by the organized ex-con (You'll find out how he becomes ex-con in my third entry of his "origins") known as the "Pirate Lord" he is also known as "Project Archon" to the secret society (in my fictional story) called "The Watchers".

Once I finish writing my third and final article on the Pirate Lord's origins I will discuss and explain his faction's unit designs, etc and where he aquires his own custom ACU.

Again, I do understand and in fact agree that suggestions for publishers, etc are important. I am also aware there is in fact a seperate SUPREME COMMANDER 3 page, but I just wanted to make my own page about my ideas of a "5th" faction that was secretly brewing in the darkest corner of the known galaxy under everyone's noses. (I mean it feels good when people read my made up stuff and comment about their opinions)

Lol wut?

There is no Supreme Commander 3 page.....except for a spoof once concering an E3 not too long ago.

Mike

Google tells me he is mistaken - it can only find that same spoof article, as well as every muppet that thought the spoof was real.

Sorry guys, I meant a seperate SUPREME COMMANDER 3 topic on this forum. You know the one that is labled SUPREME COMMANDER 3.

Origins of the Pirate Lord: Part 3 of 3

Project Archon began to gain increase in tactical combat utilizing UEF, AEON, and CYBRAN ACU's and the way he brew his armies was quick and efficient. Because of this The Watchers decided to use real life commanders against him to truly test his potential. These commanders were mostly war criminals and people who secretly signed contracts for an abundant amount of credits. One by one each commander was decimated, and their strategies were useless against him. After countless wins, one commander was put to the test and she was neither a criminal nor a contract signer. She instead was a prisoner who was found also by The Watchers at an early age during the Seraphim invasion. Sabrina was her name, but it was uncertain which faction and culture she was affiliated with during that time. Sabrina was also surprisingly found in the same scenario as Project Archon himself.

Sabrina was not trained in the Ziggurat Structure, but instead was taught and educated in a seperate containment facility rumored to be an underground prison which was secretly funded by the Watchers to turn certain people into back up commanders in case if the Coalition were to run low during the Seraphim invasion. Sabrina was taught via simulators and such and was only aloud out the prison on rare occasions. (Mostly for field command unit testing). While the years went on the Watchers told her that such an enviroment would lead to gaining a tough and cold personality and that she would some day help in the shaping of the future of humanity via decimation. This idea was held in her head and she soon figured out that the so called Watchers were not whom what they seemed to be. Instead she saw them as ruthless warlords on quest for power over who gets to rule the galaxy.

When she was assigned to fight Project Archon in the Ziggurat Facility, as the "ultimate test" she persuades him that The Watchers were evil people and that not only the lied to him, but also that their lives were wasted on teachings of becoming tools/pawns of destruction. She also tells him that the Watchers are on a quest to purge the galaxy and rule it for their own doing. For the first time in his life Project Archon reveals his true identity and tells Sabrina his name is Gavin. It is here where Gavin decides to take matters in his own hands against the Watchers for their many lies, and so Gavin stands down against Sabrina. All of a sudden both commanders are shut down electronically by operatives who have been examining the two. Here they are met by the Aeon Warlord Watcher who reveals himself as "Xzor The Dark Aeon". Soon enough Xzor relinquishes the ACU's of Sabrina and Gavin and since the "Archon of Destruction" knew the truth he decides to throw them into a secure Prison Facility known as the "Labyrinth" where they would be under constant watch and servalence by the UEF.

The Labyrinth is where the first mission of the game would take place. And it is here where Gavin trains himself to get stronger physically and more mentally on his quest for vengence against the Watchers who have been controling the galaxy secretly and have been responsible for many conflicts since the beginning. Gavin knows the only way to flush out and prove these evil beings exist is to conduct small raids strategically on key locations and start a new war. While in the Labyrinth, he hears rumors of the Seraphim from other prisoners telling him that they were not all wiped out and that when the "Arch" closed some of them rallied together in a dark corner of space and entered in some sort of hybernation stasis.

Even if it wasn't true Gavin decides to to make amends in finding these aliens responsible for the invasion of humanity, they would be a versatile ally if he could find and persuade them. Soon enough prisoners rally and join the cause of Gavin's true beliefs he decides to take Sabrina as his Pirate Lueitenant (you know sort of like Dostya!). Gavin uses his military training and soon becomes to familiarize himself on how the system works. Soon enough he secretly hijacks a new UEF unit called a "Purge Marine"(drone) T2 assault bot. He then secretly conducts and builds it into a custom mini command unit, faster but weaker then sub command units. Soon he frees a man named Dredd Vakken who was also familiar with The Watchers, he is a master tracker and navigator and decides to help Gavin in destroying the secet society once and for all, he too becomes a Pirate Lueitenant. The Labyrinth proves no match for Gavin and his advanced tactics he destroys the warden's Sub Command Unit and then escapes with Sabrina, Dredd, and a handful of other prisoners via a T2 UEF Transport carrier into an all new Aerial Quantum Space Gate that takes him to a new destination known as the Scrapyard on a distant moon (sort of like the DUMP mission from Total Annihilation!) where he begins to construct and design his very own custom "Pirate Army" he is then dubbed as the Pirate Lord.

And so The Raids of Tyranny begins...remember though, the Watchers control and also have the power to manipulate the Illuminate, UEF, and Cybran leaders into thinking they are good and know what is best. So Gavin has to fight all three factions to get to the Watchers. He tries to persuade some fellow commanders, but everyone doesn't believe him...

Known Characters for each faction...

Pirate Faction

Gavin/Archon of Destruction: The Pirate Lord, Engineer and extreme strategist
Sabrina: 2nd in command, Tactical Commander and is also a Pirate Lueitenant
Dredd Vakken: Recruited Navigator and Tracker and is also a Pirate Lueitenant

Secret Society of The Watchers

Extinct Aeon Race
Xzor: The all new "Dark Aeon" who leads his own philosophy and wants to control the faction and culture of the Illuminate and become the King of Illuminate.
Cybran
Two all new Cyborg Alpha Symbionts on a quest to rid Dr. Gustaf Brackman and rule the Cybran Nation. Their identities are yet to be discovered.
United Earth Federation
A handful of unknown politicians and military commanders. Their leader is yet to be discovered.

Seraphim Remnants
Word has been said to Gavin in the Labyrinth that the Seraphim are indeed in a secret nearby system and/or region in some sort of hybernation stasis. It is also rumored that the Seraphim Emperor was behind humanitie's invasion and that he will strike again in time, unless of course he is found.

What do you guys think?

Concept Idea: Hitpoints

In the previous Supreme Commander games, units had hitpoints and in some cases shields, now imagine taking this to another level. What if we split this concept into three categories. Think of this as your own body!
Personal Shields: absorbs high impact shots, lasers, machine gun fire, etc. to a certain extent (clothes)
Armor: which is the thick hide of the combat machine and/or structure [the main hitpoints] (Muscle/skin)
Critical Components: the real important parts of the machine and takes few shots to finally kill the unit. (your internal organs)
All combat units would have Armor and Critical Components, while certain other combat machines and/or structures get Personal Shields.

For Example: a Pirate "Scrap Drone" T1 Assault Bot comes equipped with only Armor (50HP) and Critical Components (20HP), but with good efficiency and a cheap resource price, speed is no problem here and fast attack targeting systems come in handy against slow moving and firing units such as an Assault Tank. Of course you would also get upgrades to all unit classes which further more would expand all your strategies. I mean the concepts here could work and even possibly give more unit classes to each faction.
I hate the rock paper scissors stuff in other certain strategy games where vehicles beat infantry, infantry beats air, and air beats vehicles. In my fictional version of Supreme Commander 3 I would incorporate an expansive hitpoint system, where certain ammunition types recieve a small bonus to whatever hit point type they are strong against. I am not saying lasers can only destroy shields and artillery armor, but if just give a thought to physics a bit, certain ammo types would have tremendous differences on certain things. I mean in real life for example we have anti-tank rounds...

Raids of Tyranny: A New Breed of Naval Warfare

If anyone has ever played Total Annihilation Core Contingency, you will be familiar with a planet known as Hydross. This planet was basically made up of just water, and deadly sea serpents armed with flame throwers prowled in the depths destroying light armored ships and structures.

Today I came up with some intresting concepts for the war at sea. I am well aware of some other fellow people's ideas on this forum in terms of sea units, and if a fourth installment into this strategy series were ever to happen I would strongly agree to unleash some new naval units. Some of my concepts in terms of new units include underwater resource structures including Fusion Power Plants (different tech levels) and possibly underwater Research Stations.

In my fictional story Gavin the Pirate Lord stages an underwater base on an "all water" planet similar to Hydross in Total Annihilation. Since their would be no land except the sea floor, your game screen would be underwater! And if you used strategic zoom you would simply start at the base of the sea floor slowly panning out to the mid-layer of ocean to the ocean top and beyond! Of course you would also have your little blips of symbols and such. This new concept would add a huge feat to the Strategic Zoom concept.

Uncharted Underwater Realms
The Sea Floor is a new "Alien like World" vastly unexplored, and so all kinds of things can happen down there on any planet. All new Natural Disasters including Underwater Earthquakes and Hurricanes above sea could vastly change the outcome of naval warfare and your Intel Structures will be able to predict storms and anomalies out at sea and even tell you a probable projected path of the storm itself! (if upgraded of course) Rogue waves would be possible especially if a Storm takes place above sea and can destroy naval ships with ease by flipping them over. If you set a Nuclear Missile of at sea, giant waves would be emmitted and would beable to ravage anything in their path including the mighty Battleship.

Naval combat units would be more tweaked and more strategically adept to the war on both land and sea. For example: Laser Turrets or Rail Guns (favored by the Cybran) would have a flat trajectory and are more useful at destroying vessels at sea and/or land units in the open and not behind hills and such. Artillery and other bombardament cannons are responsible for destroying structures and land units on land behind hills, as well as at sea although inaccuratley. Their would be all new missile classes including: Tactical, Ballistic, and Lock On Rockets. Tactical missiles would be simply long clusters of missiles as seen in Supreme Commander 2 designed to destroy stationary targets (buildings) at extreme ranges. Ballistic Missiles are for shore bombardment and have a mid flat trajectory with a small to medium explosion capable of splash damage. This is where Orbital Sattellites could come in handy to help project a path for your missile (imagine all the strategy). Lock on Rocket launchers would be an upgrade to the Destroyer class ships to better help combat fast attack ships and Frigates.

Seaplanes
You also cannot forget about the beloved Sea Planes from Total Annihilation, these guys came in handy especially on all water worlds. Of course refueling and repairing would be required, but underwater Air Staging Facilities would be created to help with the problem (not to mention underwater refuel and repair submarines with torpedo launchers!)

Concept List
Natural Disasters
Hurricanes
Underwater Earthquakes
Volcanoes
Rogue Waves

Aramnents for Sea Vessels
Anti-Air Turrets: (can attack extremely tall sea and or land units if up close)
Railguns: (good against fast units, can be considered as a high caliber machine gun)
Charge Beams: (High Impact Shot)
Laser Turrets: (bonus against shields)
Missiles and Anti-Missiles turrets
Artillery Cannons: (bonus against heavy armor)
Torpedoes and Anti-Torpedoes
Radar, Sonar and Stealth
Speed Boosters: (helps smaller patrol ships and subs)

Whole New Fighting Style
Enhanced Strategic Zoom (can zoom into the ocean depths)
Inteligence Stations able to predict bad weather and anomalies
New abilities for your ACU
Underwater structures and units (Mass Pumps, Reactors, etc.)
Underwater Mines
All new Construction sub that can build units too deep for ordinary Engineers
Sea Planes of all sorts of classes

Faction Unit Styles
Every faction in the Supreme Commander universe has their own style, and to quickly recap things here is a short list of details...

UEF: These guys utilize a lot of symmetrical, cube/block like structures. UEF machines represent 21st century military hardware of the future and follow a very solid, earth like look. Their main color is usually blue mixed with some other secondary colors like a light shaded blue (like the original Supreme Commander game) or yellow from the sequel. Rapid fire and artillery were seen quite frequently as projectile types for the UEF.

Cybran: Red and Black in appearence, and have many jagged/razor like looks on their combat machines. In the original Supreme Commander they used a wide variety of unit types and most had a unique design (tanks and wheels), but in Supreme Commander 2 the Cybran favored the spider/insect like design. Lasers and charge beams were the Cybran weapon of choice.

Illuminate: This faction contained a sleek and round like design, and gave an alien like look to Supreme Commander franchise (excluding the Seraphim at the time). Their main color was green with a mix of silver and white, their structures and units tend to have a luster as well. Many of their units also favor the hover ability. The Aeon/Illuminate also used green plasma like projectiles for many of their units.

Seraphim: The invaders of humanity in Forged Alliance had similar designs to the Aeon/Illuminate counterpart. Round, and contained a luster, these guys favored the color black with a yellow glow which was emmitted from the internal components of the machines. Their design was indeed mysterious and alien and some of their units were not symmetrical what so ever. Powerful quantum projectiles were the weapon of choice for this faction.

Pirates: The pirates would utilize mutant like scrap machines with menacing designs (lets just say recycled tank treads for shoulder pads or hoses connected to their weapons from their back). Most of the Scrap Bots are armed with rifles and are held with two hands to give them a unique weapon design. The pirates favor a rust and lack luster look color and can possibly blend in more with wreckage from past battles (consider this a camoflauge). These guys also like to use obsolete models from the past and turn them into their own deadly variants as they see fit, an example of this would be the spider mechs found in this link: http://www.ign.com/images/games/supreme ... 87/1262934.

As far as weapon projectiles go the Pirates utilize most of the above (charged super heated projectiles, machine guns, artillery, guass cannons, and beam weapons). If you destroyed one of their combat machines such as a T1 Light Assault Bot "Scrap Drone" or a T3 Sniper Bot "Bolt-Action" they would explode and pieces of the unit would scramble and twich on the ground, another example would be half their torso walking around for a brief amount of time before finally collapsing. This is where different weapons and ammo types could come in handy to give you an eye popping animated effect. (I mean imagine a disruptive electrically charged blast shocking a machine!)

The Pirate Lord uses the materials necessary to create an all new custom army via gigantic scrapyards long forgotten as trash worlds. A scrap and recycled like design from past machines in the infinite war was all that was left to quickly assemble such a powerful force, which was also pretty much infinite in resources. Later on as his dominance grew against all three factions, he locates scrapped designs of obsolete models from research facilities and such. To give you guys something to think about you gotta think outside the box a little when coming up with a new faction and where they aquire such a design. I mean since its a Pirate Faction, imagine a backwards engineered and upgraded T3 Seraphim quantum artillery weapon. This would be an example of an experimental unit for his team.

Raids of Tyranny: Land Unit Concept Ideas

The Infantry Support Mech
This all new unit class is Tech Lv. 2 and is an armored battle mech capable of increasing Tech Lv. 1 Light Assault Bots combat efficiencies. These machines would be locked and if researched could strengthen Light Assault Bot's targeting systems for better accuracy or use them in special formations designed to better organize Light Assault Bot squadrons in patroling, enemy harrassment and defending. Once these machines are unlocked you can upgrade their own combat feats with training and other bonuses. Consider this mech to be the big brother of the standard Tech Lv.1 Light Assault Bot.

Origins: These mechanized walkers were first seen in the early stages of development in the "Labyrinth Complex", which was a prison facility constructed by the United Earth Federation. They were supposed to be a new "Mech Marine Light Assault Bot", but all the prototypes resulted in failure. The Pirate Lord got his hands on one, once he discovered secret passages to these hidden units. He then created the first Infantry Support Mech utilizing caches of storage supplies and spare parts he found laying around, it was manned by the Pirate Lord himself and was able to command and organize the standard Mech Marine drones with ease. When the Pirate Lord escaped the other factions soon started to design this deadly new variant of infantry support, the UEF especially...
Faction Examples:

Cybran: "Prejudice"
Upgrade Ideas: "Armor Spines" (grants a small armor bonus), "Motor Joint Coolant" (a small increase in speed), Upgradeable Mini Tactical Missile Launcher (gives Prejudice a mini Tactical Missile Rack attached to the outer hip joints)

Pirates: "Scrap Captain"
Upgrade Ideas: "Hardened Scrap" (adds an extra armor bonus), "Laser Sight" (grants a red dot laser for increased accuracy), "Sling Joint" (gives the Scrap Captain the ability to pick up and throw Scrap Drone Light Assault Bots doing good damage against structures and other land units)

Weakness?
It may seem that the Infantry Support Mechs are tough, rest assured they can be easily taken down via Anti-Armor ammunition types and swarms of other assault units and aircraft. They work best with squads of other Light Assault Bots and would be a good unit for rushing early in game.

Tool of War
This would be another Tech Lv. 2 land based unit and utilizes special and strategic abilities on the battlefield to better formulate amphibious technology, base defense, etc. Each Faction would get their own special Tool of War and if upgraded they would in time, become a special attack and defend machine. For a basic and land based unit, these machines come equipped with experimental technology to help increase their combat power in "unique" ways.
Faction Examples:

Illuminate: "Plasma Gladiator"
Upgrade Ideas: "Rigid Sleekness" (small armor increase), "Magnetic Plasma Gauntlet" (gives the Plasma Gladiator a hand held plasma shield to absorb incoming projectiles for a short period of time before overloading.), "Gravity Orb Joints" (small speed bonus)

Pirates: "Grapple Crippler"
Upgrade Ideas: "Enviromental Adaption" (lets the Grapple Crippler traverse across water, magma, acid and other land based hazards), "Grapple Gun" (gives the ability to traverse steep mountainous terrain and canyons, where other units tend to fail), "Experimental Clamp" (increases the efficiency of the grapple gun, and gives the ability to latch to large units such as experimentals, and if in swarms they can hold the unit from walking and or moving!)

Weakness?
These units host their own special abilities and some of them come equipped with different amounts of armor and critical components. The Illuminate's Plasma Gladiator would be a good choice for base defense and so tend to have a bit more armor, while the Pirate's Grapple Crippler is good for enviromental flexibility, but because of this their hitpoints are a bit smaller in terms of armor. Aircraft, artillery and different ammunition types would all play a major role at defeating the Tools of War, not to mention swarms of Light Assault Bots and defensive turrets.

Raids of Tyranny: Land Unit Concept Ideas Con't...

The Anti-Armor Assault Tanks
These units are the medium armored assault machines, and their weapons tend to be a slow in terms of firerate, but make it up with a good impact. They start at Tech Lv. 2 but tend to be expensive and more time consuming to produce. When upgraded they become more armored and the durability on the field of battle comes in handy against exremely armored machines and structures.
Faction Examples:

United Earth Federation: "MA-12 Rockhead"
Upgrade Ideas: "Durability Increase" (adds more armor to the Rockhead), "Barrel Coolant Tank" (adds a cooling tank to the rear of the main cannon granting a small increased fire rate), "Advanced Visual Radius" (Rockhead gains an increase in line of sight)

Illuminate: "Obsidian"
Upgrade Ideas: "Charged Plasma Canister" (Obsidian gains a small damage increase), "Gravity Treads" (increased speed and terrain traverse), "Gravity Booster" (gives the ability for the Obsidian Tank to boost away for a small period of time)

Cybran: "Virus"
Description: This new anti-armor tank uses a very special kind of laser that can penetrate very tough metallic exteriors of enemy units. Being witnessed by the Pirate Lord, it seems that the Virus Anti-Armor Assault Tanks are an infused hybrid of the Rhino Heavy Tank and Mantis Medium Assault Bot from the original Supreme Commander.

Pirates: "Treadder Drone"
Description: These treadder drones are usually seen in conjunction with scrap drones to act as a very formidable recon force. It seems that the Pirates backwards engineered, but kept the basic structure of an old obsolete Cybran spider design.


Weakness?
These armored assault tanks are good in groups and all, but their firerate is slow, thus fast attack units can possibly come in handy against them, not to mention gunships and other aircraft, although the armored assault tanks can get a light anti-air turret upgrade to help deal with them to a certain extent.

Utility Vehicles
Utility Vehicles are land units found at Tech Lv. 2 which harness all kinds of defensive abilities including anti-missiles and protective shield generators. They are good for defending "Mass Extractors" and other crucial points of interest from the enemy and are also useful in helping your attack forces from artillery and other high impact projectiles. They can be upgraded to more heavy duty variants, but most do not come equipped with any offensive weaponry.
Faction Examples:

Cybran: "Adaptor ADV"
Upgrade Ideas: "Armor Spines" (increased armor), "Shield Boost" (protective shield's radius becomes bigger, defending more units), "Missile Defense System" (gives the adaptor the ability to destroy incoming tactical missiles, homing rockets, and ballistic missiles from ships and other assault units)

United Earth Federation: "Geodesic PV-7"
Upgrade Ideas: "Tank Tread Increase" (Geodesic gains a small speed increase), "Shield Energy Support" (shield's strength is increased and the recharge time is lowered a bit), "Hover Generator" (Geodesic is granted the amphibious ability)

Weakness?
Utility Vehicles are defensive mobile units and assist hordes of assault units and bases. Aircraft, long range fire power and a whole lot of ammo will take out these support vehicles.

Raids of Tyranny: More Land Unit Concepts

Light Assault Rocket Bots
These guys are Tech Lv. 1 Light Assault Bots outfitted with a useful small yield homing rocket launcher that can be used against armored units and tanks. If aircraft fly low enough such as a gunship these guys can help keep them off your back to a certain extent. They have a slow recharge rate, but in conjunction with squads of Light Assault Bots they make good counter parts. Since they are a Light Assault Bot variant they can also be used in conjunction with the "Infantry Support Mech". Their quick, but cost more and take more time to produce.

Origins: Each faction neglected Light Assault Bots, due to their weak armor and guns, but when the idea of a new class utilizing homing rockets came out, things changed. They were useful in destroying structures and such and they were almost as fast as the other Light Assault Bots.
Faction Examples:

Cybran: "Storm Walker"
Upgrade Ideas: "Nano Morph" (gives the ability of the Storm Walker to morph into the Prejudice Infantry Support Mech, limit two Storm Walkers per Prejudice), "Electric Capsule" (rockets are outfitted with a small electric damage increase)

United Earth Federation:"Staunch Defender"
Upgrade Ideas: "Targeting Antenae" (Staunch Defender's small yield homing rockets become a bit more accurate), "Air Targeting Scope" (gives the ability to attack low flying aircraft to a certain extent)

Illuminate: "Zippton"
Upgrade Ideas: "Light Shield" (Zippton gets a light personal shield node), "Plasma Charge" (small yield homing plasma projectiles gain a damage increase with a splash damage effect)

Pirates: "Vex Drone"
Upgrade Ideas: "Corrosive Rocket" (an acidic tipped rocket is available which does good damage against all kinds of units, if used no wreckage of the destroyed unit will be available to reclaim for mass, Vex Drones only get one corrosive rocket per drone and must be manually built and used against the opponent), "Propellant Cache" (gives the Vex Drone an extra tank of propellant for it's rockets granting a small range increase)

Verdict?
These Light Assault Variants are slow firing machines just like the Tech Lv. 2 "Anti-Armor Assault Tanks". Since they all utilize homing projectiles of the rocket class, "Anti-missile Utility Vehicles" can intercept them unless dealing with swarms of course. Using them with small squads of other "Light Assault Bots" is the best strategy, especially if they are in close proximity to an "Infantry Support Mech". Also be aware of lasers and other energy particle beam weapons and turrets.

Armored Assault Machines
Tech Lv. 3 Armored Assault Machines are the slowest, and most costly/time consuming land units (besides experimentals) that are outfitted with a very powerful arramnent. They are usually the center piece for invading the enemy base, due to the fact of their heavy duty anti-structure weapons. These Armored Assault Machines tend to be heavily guarded via an escort force and are an extreme threat.
Faction Examples:

United Earth Federation: "Percival MK-3"
Upgrade Ideas: "Rail Coolant" (recharge rate of Percival's rail gun is gains a small decrease bonus), "Extra Support Clamps" (a small increased stability and accuracy bonus)

Illuminate: "Thistle Attack Mech"
Upgrade Ideas: "Dual Impact Cannons" (gives the Thistle Attack Mech an extra Impact Cannon), "Aquatic Sleekness" (Thistle Attack Mech is granted the amphibious upgrade)

Cybran: "Dominator"
Upgrade Ideas: "Laser Capacitors" (increased fire rate of main laser weapons), "Insectoid Limb Increase" (two more legs are given to the Dominator granting a small speed increase)

Pirates: "Nightmare"
Upgrade Ideas: "Acid Tank Storage" (maint turret of the Nightmare Assault Tank is granted a swap in projectiles utilizing both guass technology and charged acidic rounds. The acidic rounds have a limited capacity and must be manually built afterwards), "Scrap Pods" (Nightmare Assault Tank is given three garrison pods for either three Light Assault Bots and/or Vex Drones)

Verdict?
Air support is a must no matter the cost in a scenario like this, and heavy artillery would come in handy as well against these machines. Because of their massive size, they are slow and can be taken out by faster machines and anti-armor ammunition types including heavy impact shots. Since they are costly and take awhile to be constructed (unless assisted by engineers) destroying them before they get built is an option.

Raids of Tyranny: Another chunk of Land Unit concepts...

High-end Energy Walkers
The successor to the Seige Assault Bots, these High-end Energy Walkers are another Tech Lv. 3 robot compromising of high energy cost projectiles which do good damage to other assault units and structures. Their fire rate is much quicker the the Armored Assault Machines, but at a price the amount of armor compared to their other counterpart is much lower. This means they are much quicker to build as well, compared to the other Armored Assault Machines especially if they are being asissted via engineers.

Cybran: "Loyalist"
Upgrade Ideas: "Jump Jets" (Loyalists can jump from one point to another, afterwards the jets must cool down and recharge before they are used again), "3-Round Energy Burst" (a new arramnent is made available to the Loyalist for extra fire power)

Illuminate: "Harvog"
Upgrade Ideas: "Harbinger Class Charge Burst" (Harvog utilizes the original Harbinger Seige Assault Bot's main arramnent for more fire power), "Engineer Arm" (Harvog can repair and reclaim matter and units, although slowly)

United Earth Federation: "Titan"
Upgrade Ideas: "Personal Shield" (Titan gains a personal shield), "Advanced Motorized Joints" (Titan's speed and maneuverability is increased substantially)

Pirates: "Bolt-Action"
The Pirate Lord sacrificed the idea of having a multi arramnent walker like the other core factions. Instead he designed a deadly new sniper bot which rivaled the original Illuminate's Sprite Stalker and the Seraphim's version as well. This new walker is expensive and its build time is near the "Nightmare Acidic Guass Tank's" build time it comes equipped with a high end energy charged shell, and the look seems to be a variant of the "Grapple Crippler" although more menacing in appearence. It is extremely quick, and shoots really far at a flat trajectory, because of this the Pirate Sniper Bot must remain idle to shoot.

Upgrade Ideas: "Gravity Boots" (Bolt-Action is outfitted with gravity boots which help the machine reach new heights for a deadly vantage point or for rapid movement. Boots must recharge afterwards), "Red Dot Sight" (Like the "Scrap Captain", Bolt-Action's rifle is outfitted with an accuracy bonus)

Light Assault Bots
In Supreme Commander 3: Raids of Tyranny the Light Assault Bots have been repurposed. Their roles on the battlefield would have much more meaning then before and might just save you in time. Every Faction gets these guys and are now the backbone of your squadrons. New unit formations would assist you in better flexibility on the field of battle, for example you could issue 5 Light Assault Bots to guard your Infantry Support Mech and they would stay in very close proximity to their commanding officer (sort of like Grunts and Elites in Halo). The new "Morph Formation" would be taking any number of Light Assault Bots and merging them together in tight formations for better organization in patroling and assaulting, each formation would have different styles such as a triangle if you had 3 of them. Of course you don't have to do this and you could spread them out for more ground cover. Oh, yeah limit 10 Light Assault Bots per Infantry Support Mech, this also includes the Rocket variant...
Faction Examples:

Illuminate: "Flare"
Description: Utilizing sonic pulse weapons Flares have now been retrofitted to meet the Illuminate Commander's needs and now serves as a useful tool in terms of squad formations and early assaults.

Cybran: "Hunter"
Description: These little machines use lasers as their arramnent of choice and use the 3-round burst attack which do good at hit and run attacks.

United Earth Federation: "Mech-Marine"
Description: Traversing hilly terrain with ease, the Mech-Marines are fitted with dual machine guns that inflict minor damage, but if in swarms are deadly to contend with.

Pirates: "Scrap Drone"
Description: These recycled mutant machines are menacing in appearence and are the standardized warrior who serve the Pirate Lord. They are armed what appears to be a semi-automatic guass accelerant rifle which is held and supported by two hands.

Raids of Tyranny:Complete Land Unit Class List?

Tech Lv. 1
Recon Unit
Light Assault Bot
Light Assault Rocket Bot
Standard Anti-air Vehicle
Evolvable Artillery Tank
Mine Laying Vehicle
Tech Lv.1 Engineer

Tech Lv. 2
Anti-Armor Assault Tank
Utility Vehicle
Tool of War
Tactical Missile Truck
The Infantry Support Mech
Tech Lv.2 Engineer

Tech Lv. 3
Armored Assault Machine
High-end Energy Walker
Counter Intelligence Vehicle
Tech Lv. 3 Engineer

Tech Lv. 4
Prototypes (small and deadly)
Experimentals (massive and menacing)

Synopsis
Took a bit of thinking, but every class of unit is strategically placed in each category and all carry their own strengths and weaknesses. Only fate will decide the end of a franchise?...

That's a lot of text you have there...

Ya, Especially for a game that will probably never happen.

Good reading material though.