Haegemonia: Legions of Iron

Haegemonia: Legions of Iron, or Hegemonia: Legions of Iron (different spelling in US English due to the root word "h(a)egemony") is a 3D real-time strategy game made by Digital Reality and is similar in many respects to Homeworld and Digital Reality's previous game, Imperium Galactica II. The game series uses many concepts originating from the Master of Orion series.

Basic storyline
Haegemonia takes place in the distant future where humanity has colonized the solar system and tensions are high between the World Government of Earth and colonial Mars. A summit on Earth's moon is planned to ease tensions, but the Martian representative's shuttle is destroyed en-route by a third, currently unknown, party. The two sides blame each other and this one event sparks off the civil war between the colonists and Earth.

The player can side with Captain Jack Garner of Earth to quell the colonial uprising, or join Captain Nilea Cortilliari and the Martian colonists on their campaign for independence.

Once the outcome of the war is decided, be it Earth or Mars, humanity unites under the new Unified Government and forms the Legions of Iron, its vanguard of expansion into the unknown.

As the human race expands outward from Sol, mysteries are solved and new ones are created as they encounter new worlds and alien civilizations.

Spy Missions
Steal money: Takes an amount of credits from an enemy empire, and adds it to yours. The amount of money stolen depends on the level of the spy and the amount of money owned by the targeted empire. (Level needed: 1)

Acquire empire information: Gives you the amount of money owned, the amount of heroes, amount of ships, overall population, etc.(Level needed: 3)

Acquire planet information: Gives you morale and production info for an enemy planet. (Level needed: 1)

Acquire tech tree: Once is complete, if you click on research, then the selected empire, you'll get a list of all their completed research.

Get system military information: Gives you the position of all ships owned by factions in the particular system of the planet where the spy is working.(Level needed: 3)

Steal invention: Gets you a 90-95% complete prototype of whatever the enemy empire is researching. Also reduces some of the RP cost. Not only does it save you time and RP, you also get research that you might not have access to normally. Note: If you don't research a prototype in the mission that you stole it, you lose it. (Level needed: 4)

Sabotage defenses: Destroys planetary guns on the targeted planet. (Level needed: 4)

Sabotage ship: Destroys, or dramatically reduces the health of the targeted unit. Useful against military bases, or other big, slow moving units. If you try and use it on a fast ship, it won't work as well—if at all. (Level needed: 5)

Assassinate: Kills a hero of any given unit. Particularly effective against stations and planets. (Level needed: 7)

Detect enemy spy: Reveals an enemy spy for a few minutes. (Level needed: 3)

Counter-intelligence: Increases the chance of your spies completing their missions, while decreasing the enemy spies mission chances. Also gives you a small chance that an enemy spy will be revealed without you attempting to detect them. (Level needed: 1)

Earth Campaign
The Earth Campaign of Haegemonia is treated more like a basic training campaign. It teaches the players the basic interface of gameplay and then thrusts them into battle. The first Act the player has to escort a research vessel to the sun. As you progress through the missions you learn more about how to play the game, gain new units and the ability to build them. The campaign then enters the "high" point of the Earth-Mars War. During the last part of the act, you have to prepare for the final assault on Mars. On the last mission, the player is thrust into a tough final battle with Mars, regardless of whether the player is ready or not. Winning the battle will always result in the same situation, a unified Solar System and the forming of the Legions of Iron. After this the acts between Earth and Mars are almost exactly the same.

Mars Campaign
The Mars campaign begins with intercepting trade ships which are supplying Earth's installations. Following this mission are some other missions which contain fights on the outer regions of Sol, between colonies of Mars and Earth. And at the end of this episode, you'll have to attack Earth. To do so, you must destroy all units around Earth. These consist of some fighter squads and two (indestructible) battle bases. First off, you'll kill the fighter squads, then HQ comes in play and sends two kamikaze ships at the base stars. These you must protect by putting your forces between the line of fire from the base star's and the kamikaze ships. When that's done, you'll see a nice cinematic and finish the first episode of the Mars campaign!

Technology
Haegemonia has a large amount of high-tech hardware, like deflector shields on ships, energy weapons and such.


 * Humans: their recent entry of interstellar affairs places them last among the list of technological advancement of the three races. However, they should not be underestimated: their proton blasters have the ability to entirely bypass enemy shields, damaging the hull directly. Also, their speed of advancement is very fast, as they were capable of shooting the other fighter with lasers one year, then blowing away enemy fortifications from their entropy-powered battleships on the other.


 * Kariaks: their ships look highly technological, with similar inventions to that of the humans'. Their ion weapons may not be devastating, but very accurate. Their blasters also have the capability to short-circuit the targeted ship's shields, knocking them out for a while and rendering it vulnerable.


 * Darzoks: what the others make with technology, the Darzoks make with power. Their ships are composed of some kind of semi-organic material, capable of regenerating. As for their quantum weapons, they deal great damage, with splash area of effect, but at the cost of projectile speed.

Buildings

 * Production
 * Automated factories: 25% production bonus for the planet. Upkeep: 3
 * Robotic workers: Fully automated factories give 35% production bonus on the planet where they are built. (Darzok and Humans Only). Upkeep: 6
 * Fully automated production: Gives 50% production bonus on the planet (Darzok Only). Upkeep: 12
 * Military
 * Planetary shield: This is the first line of planetary defenses. Protects all other installations on the surface absorbing 20% damage. Upkeep: 5
 * Multiphased planetary shield: Multiphased force-field technology allows for improving the general absorption rate of the shields against all kinds of attacks (50% absorb). Missile type attacks are relatively effective though (30% absorb).  Upkeep: 10
 * Planetary barrier shield: The ultimate planetary shield technology. Very hard to harm it at all (75% absorb), except with missile types (50% absorb) (Darzok and Kariak Only). Upkeep: 20
 * Military college: Allows the training of regular (level 3) units. Upkeep: 8
 * Military academy: The most advanced form of mass military training. Allows the training of seasoned (level 5) units. Upkeep: 15
 * Population
 * Biospheres: Let the population live under dome cities. Improves max. Population by 25% on the planet. Upkeep: 3
 * Hanging gardens: An advanced form of relaxing: 10% population growth, 20% max population, 10% max. Morale. Upkeep: 5
 * Large biospheres: Improves max. Population on the planet by 40% (Kariak Only). Upkeep: 6
 * Genetic surgery station: Genetically modifies the people (+20% population growth, + 40% max. Population, -5% max. Morale) (Human Only). Upkeep: 10
 * Morale
 * Sport center: Improves local morale (+10% morale) Upkeep: 4
 * Recreation center: Allows full relaxation for the planet's inhabitants (+10% morale and +15% max morale bonus) Upkeep: 8
 * Haegemonia retailer center: No comment needed (+30% morale and +25% max morale bonus) (Human and Kariak Only). Upkeep: 16

Technology

 * Production
 * Hive mind: Gives 5% production bonus on ALL planets as argue is eliminated almost completely
 * Artificial intelligence: Some basic production functions can be replaced with the help of the AI (+10% production on ALL planets) (Darzok and Humans Only).
 * Robotic implants: 10% production bonus generally (Darzok Only). Upkeep: 5
 * Hybrid implant technology: Learned from biological species, this technology mixes the best of the two alternate ways of evolution (+10% production bonus) (Darzok Only). Upkeep: 10
 * Androids: Androids can replace human workforce (+15% production), but they cause some morale loss (-5% morale and max. morale) on ALL planets (Humans Only)
 * Military:
 * Remote controlled manipulators: Improves the repair capability of bases and supply ships by 20%
 * Automatic repair system: Improves the repair capability of bases and supply ships by 30%
 * Genetically improved reflexes: Improves fire rate of weapons (regardless of any other considerations) by 5% (Human and Kariak Only).
 * Solar deflector: Protects your planets from solar flares.
 * Population
 * Genetic planning: Increases population growth by 10% on ALL planets.
 * Cloning: Increases population growth by 20% on ALL planets (not cumulative with genetic planning).
 * Lengthened lifespan: Using the most advanced medical achievements, this invention allows longer lifecycle (+15% max. population)
 * Genetic engineering: Increases population growth by 40% on ALL planets (Darzok and Kariak Only).
 * Antidote: In case of an epidemic, this antidote helps to eliminate it.
 * Universal antidote: Eliminates all illnesses (+15% max. population, +20% population growth) (Darzok and Humans Only).
 * Morale
 * Unified government: Uniting all the population behind one government allows much more effective work and increases morale (+5% morale and max morale).
 * People's government: Every inhabitant of the world can participate in governing by brain to brain communications. (+5% morale and +5% max. Morale on ALL planets) (Kariak Only).
 * Unification: The perfection of leading a race together (+5% morale and 10% max morale bonus) (Darzok and Kariak Only).
 * Digital Reality: A multinational company providing people with the best video games ever (+5% morale and +10% max. Morale).
 * Virtual reality: A refuge for elderly, sick, or dying people, where they are able to live further (+10% morale and +20% max morale on ALL planets).
 * Economic
 * Cold fusion: The parts of the power stations are much less stressed. Decreases upkeep costs by 10%.
 * Quark energy: A radical new way of gaining energy from any material. Upkeep costs are reduced by 15%.
 * Entropy power: In the universe, energy is abundant in some places and absent in others. This difference makes it possible to gain energy anywhere without any resource materials. Upkeep costs are reduced by 25%.
 * Electronic banking system: The most effective monetary transfer without banknotes or coins (+10% tax income).
 * Civil spaceport: Significantly increasing trade on a planet thus boosting tax rates considerably (+15% tax income).
 * Alien artifacts monopoly: These items are always very well received, thus generating huge income (+25% tax income).
 * Universal diplomacy: Gives traders a bonus to negotiate with alien races (+10% trade bonus) (Human Only).
 * Alien psychology: Gives deeper understanding of the alien races (+15% trade bonus) (Humans Only).
 * Xenopsychology: Detailed mapping and understanding of alien races led to the perfection of communication between them (+25% trade bonus) (Humans Only).
 * Heightened intelligence: More intelligent workforce (inventions cost 5% research points less).
 * Virtual training: Knowledge is uploadable and transferable (the P-R slider can be moved at double speed, 25 percent bonus on research speed and 5% less RP need).
 * Gaia entity: All inhabitants' brains are connected into a mighty Gaia entity (5% less RP need, 25% bonus on research speed and the P-R slider can be moved almost without delay) (Human and Kariak Only).
 * Colonization and Terraforming
 * Basic colonization: Allows the colonization of planets with mild conditions.
 * Advanced colonization: Allows the colonization of planets with harsh conditions.
 * Kariak-adapted colonization: Allows the colonization of planets with the worst imaginable conditions.
 * Terraforming 1: Terraform a planet 1 level.
 * Terraforming 2: Terraforms a planet 2 levels.
 * Terraforming 3: Terraforms a planet 3 levels.
 * Terraforming 4: Terraforms a planet 4 levels (best planet quality).

Features
Haegemonia allows the player to create a multi-system empire. At first, only the planets similar to Earth can be colonized. After advanced terraforming and colonization techniques are researched or stolen from enemies, almost any planet can be colonized and, eventually, terraformed into Gaia-class worlds (gas giants are uninhabitable).

There are several ways of getting money to fund planetary projects and space construction: tax colonies, steal money from enemies with spies, mine resource-rich asteroids, receive tribute from other races/factions, and other ways (e.g. aid from Earth).

Research system is based on research points (RPs) which are allocated at the beginning of each mission. Most of the time, that is the maximum for the mission; however, certain random events may also increase that amount. During the campaign, all researched technologies are transferred from mission to mission, and the player can choose a certain number of ships and heroes to bring along to the next mission.

The espionage system is also different from many other games. Spy ships can be constructed in the same manner as other ships, usually no more than 3 may be present at a time. Certain heroes excel at spying and are best placed in those ships. These ships are invisible on sensors and have no sensors of their own (to prevent unfair use as scouts). Instead, spy ships can be assigned mission to be performed on planets, ships, or stations. The higher the level of the spy ship and/or hero is, the more types of missions they may perform (they gain levels by spying). In some cases, a well-trained spy ship may be worth several battleships. Spies can also be used to detect and stop enemy spies. If a spy ship is detected (e.g. spy mission failure, detected by another spy), it becomes visible for a short time to all ships, allowing it to be attacked. Ship behaviors and spy missions can be set using right-click menus. The same is true for subsystem targeting, although it is limited to hull, engines, and weapons.

Energy weapons are split up into three groups: cannons (fighters only), turrets (anti-fighter, used on turret corvettes and heavy ships), and blasters (only energy weapon for orbital bombardment, used on blaster corvettes and heavy ships). Contrary to popular belief, ships equipped with turrets can bombard planets, just not as effectively. Weaponry also comes in four distinct forms: Planetary takeovers are accomplished by literally bombing a planet into submission, killing millions of people in the process (apparently the designers did not want to add planetary combat to the game, not even a simulated one). If the population is low to begin with, the planet will most likely become uninhabited and free to be colonized. Planetary bombardment, apparently, does not affect the planet's quality and besides, there's no way to affect a planet's quality negatively, unlike the expansion.
 * Proton: orange, ball-shaped projectile, primarily used by human ships. Proton weapons are fairly accurate and fast-hitting. They have the ability to penetrate shields.
 * Ion: blue-white beam, reminiscent of the Ion Cannons from Homeworld. Ion weapons are mainly used on Kariak ships; they are instant-hitting and has a chance to temporarily disable shields.
 * Quantum: grey-purple cloud. These weapons are slow, compared to proton projectiles, however they have high, area-of-effect damage. Used by Darzoks.
 * Missile: the highest damaging weapons. They are very effective against slow targets and are the ultimate planetary bombardment weapons, possessing a very high kill-off. To counter this, they are ineffective against fighters and very vulnerable to ECM: fully-researched, MK-2 ECM systems will cause up to 90% of incoming missiles to veer off-course, though more advanced warheads can resist ECM to some extent.

Technologies like better weapons or better morale on your planets can be researched in the research screen (default: F5). The researches are categorized in 3 levels: basic, advanced and superior. The higher the level, the more you can upgrade (for example: +10% accuracy on basic, +15% acc. on advanced and +10% acc. on superior resulting in a total of +35% acc., ). The upgrades are also categorized in different categories: Ship tech, equipment, quantum weapons (mostly Darzok), proton weapons (mostly human), ion weapons (mostly Kariak), missile weapons (all races), planet tech and sociology & spy.

For good overview of the battle, the game includes the Starmap (default: spacebar). This is a 3d overview that allows you to view the battle from any direction you want, and with clear symbols representing the ships classes. You'll mostly be controlling your empire using this feature.

The latest patch, v1.07 introduces some minor modifications, like graphically showing sensor ranges in the starmap, ability to pause the game with P and redefine nearly every shortcut, as well as the ability to save skirmish matches. Another patch, marked as v2.01, contains a range of tools for modding.

Races
Humans - Legions of Iron

There are four main differences between the Earth and Mars campaigns: the storyline of the first chapter, the result of the Earth-Mars war, the look of certain ships, and your hero (Garner or Cortilliari). Starting with chapter two, the two campaigns unfold virtually identically.

Humans began on Earth. During the age of space exploration, the Solar system was colonized, solving the Earth's overpopulation and resource problems. However, FTL travel was still beyond human science, so the race was confined within the boundaries of the system. After several generations, those living in colonies stopped thinking of themselves as Earthlings and saw the colonies as their home. Tensions arose as the Earth Empire attempted to force their rule on Mars (completely terraformed) and the other colonies. In response, Mars rebelled, and the other colonies joined it. When Mars diplomat's shuttle was ambushed and destroyed on the way to the Lunar summit, each side blamed the other, eventually resulting in a long and bloody war across the entire system. The war ended with the crushing defeat of one of the sides (player's choice which one) and formed the Legions of Iron. Coincidentally, a wormhole was discovered at the edge of the Solar system at the same time. Two more were found shortly after. Thus began the age of interstellar exploration and expansion for the new empire.

Most of the war was fought with Fighters and Corvettes using primitive plasma weapons. Close to the end, Proton and Missile weapons slowly replaced Plasma as the main tools of destruction. First Cruiser prototypes were also built, however their slow speed and low maneuverability made them the prime targets for waves of Fighters.

Kariak Empire

The Kariak are the first alien race humanity officially encountered. Unfortunately, the encounter ended in disaster, as several Kariak ships exited an unexplored wormhole in a newly-colonized system and attacked a defenseless transport, starting the Human-Kariak war. "Kariak" is most likely not the race's actual name, as the name was a random designation because the Kariak language remained unknown until the end of the war. Physically, they are humanoids with stone-like features and great physical strength, compared to humans. The Kariaks' native climate is Desert. It is only later discovered that the unprovoked attack on the transport happened out of fear, not malice. Apparently, long ago, the Kariak were attacked by a hostile alien race whose ships looked similar to that of the Legions of Iron.

The Kariak tend to rely more on their Cruisers than Fighers or Corvettes for combat. Their weapons of choice are Ion-based, allowing them to hit their target nearly instantaneously.

Darzok Empire

The Darzok suddenly appeared at the close of the Human-Kariak war, claiming to be on a mission of peace and exploration (they managed to decipher English fairly quickly). It wasn't long, however, before the situation changed. Apparently, the Darzok military took over their government once the humans and the Kariak were discovered, claiming them to be a threat. The Darzok then launched a powerful attack at both the Legions of Iron and the Kariak Empire. The first strike would have been crippling, had one of the former Darzok officials not warned the Legions of Iron of the impending attack. Still the Darzok pushed on, forcing a split within the Kariak Empire, where a rogue general attempted to aid his race's enemies in exchange for the promise of regency of the Kariak. Recent intelligence suggests that the Darzok may, in fact, be acting on behalf of some other, unknown force. Physically, the Darzok are four-armed giants (about 10 feet tall) with slight insectoid features.

The Darzok are a very warlike people, even more than Humans. Their elegant warships are much heavier than their Human and Kariak counterparts, and their hulls of organic material have superb regeneration capabilities. They try to complement their Heavy Cruisers and Battleships with Fighters and Corvettes in order to create a nearly unbeatable attack force. There are also rumors of massive supply ships being developed to support the Darzok armada on their campaign of destruction, allowing their ships to be repaired in flight. Darzok military technology far surpasses that of the Legions or the Kariak. Their Quantum weapons can turn most warships to stardust with just a few shots, and their wormhole blocking technology allows them to control the interstellar routes.

Solon

Very little information is available on this ancient race. According to the message left in one of the Solon bases in the Eden system, they were a powerful race whose influence spread through the whole galaxy. Then, an unknown force appeared and turned the civilizations under Solon tutelage against them, one by one. Severely outnumbered, the Solon fled to an unknown location. The bases themselves are armed with extremely powerful weapons that can reduce incoming ships to nothing in a matter of seconds. These defenses further indicate that the Solon were trying to protect themselves from something else. Those who can penetrate the defenses without destroying the base will be able to use the technological gifts left behind by the Solon. When the Kariak first discovered the base in the Eden system, they attempted to take over it by force, which ended in a disaster. After the incident, the system became taboo, but the colonization of the system by the humans presented the opportunity to share their technological expertise; this ultimately resulted in the creation of a device that scrambled the base's IFF recognition system, allowing human ships to pass off as friendlies. The Solon in the aforementioned message looks similar to the stereotypical "Grey" aliens.

Kor'a'chak, a.k.a. "The Unseen Ones"

Very little information is known. The reason the Kariak originally attacked the humans was because they mistook the humans for this ancient race. All that is known is that the Kor'a'chak once warred with the Kariak, with the latter nearly becoming extinct as a result. When the Darzok were defeated, a human exploration team found an ancient derelict at the outskirts of the Ob system; boarding it, they found a hologram which warned them: even though they defeated the Darzok, "nothing can withstand the wrath of the Unseen Ones; be prepared, mortal, you will be our slaves very soon!".

The fact that the Solon were defeated by technologically inferior races motivated by an unknown foe and that the Unseen Ones used the Darzoks to attack the humans hints that maybe the Kor'a'chak were the ones behind the fall of the Solon Empire; however, until a sequel comes out, this cannot be confirmed.

Planet classes
These list contains the type and characteristics of known planets. Notice that the quality is based on human standards.
 * Gas giant: these planets don't support any kind of surface, making them totally inhospitable. They nearly always come at Huge size. They are mostly decorations, with multiple moons.
 * Barren: extremely unfriendly to humans, requires the highest level of colonization technology. Kariak seem to like this; they can achieve a max. population of six billion on Mercury (Small-sized Barren-class).
 * Acidic: the atmosphere contains a high concentration of corrosive substances, like Venus.
 * Rocky: like the Moon.
 * Volcanic: host to extreme amounts of seismic activity. Io is classified in this group, for example.
 * Plains: most of the planet is covered with steppes.
 * Forest: this is obvious.
 * Swamp: most of the planet is watery.
 * Arctic: the climate is chilling, rendering the whole planet encased in ice, like Europa.
 * Ocean: all or most of the surface is water. This might not seem much, but the largest member of this class, NW4, has a population of 6,000,000,000 and is large enough to support two moons.
 * Terran: Earth-like features and climate. Surprisingly, it is inhospitable for the Darzoks!
 * Gaia: much like Terran-on-steroids. A large Gaia-class planet (like Eden IV) can support horrifying numbers of humans.

Trivia

 * Occasionally, during the Human-Kariak war, Kariak governors or captains will offer their services to the player, just like their human counterparts. This might go against the storyline which states that Kariak's language is not known to Humans but nothing is said about Kariaks knowing human language.
 * The game's time scale is extremely farfetched, as planetary population increases from several millions to billions in a matter of mere minutes. This would seem to indicate that decades, if not centuries, have passed. However, heroes remain unaged.
 * There is a Space Monster that look like a jellyfish. It has however a very powerful attack, if the player manages to destroy it, it´s said that it will be analizated but you never hear about it.

Expansion
Due to the success of the game, Digital Reality produced an add-on package, The Solon Heritage, which added a few new features, such as a proper skirmish mode, and modding tools. After the destruction of the Armada, a mysterious artifact of Solon origin was discovered, leading to technological advancements and intense military buildup. It was not that well received, however, due to the lack of a new campaign in favor of refining and rebalancing gameplay. Because of contract issues (mainly of Wanadoo being sold), The Solon Heritage was not published in the US. However, the Solon Heritage can now be obtained via a digital download from Good Old Games (www.gog.com), which has the Gold Edition of Haegemonia available for purchase.

Several changes compared to the original game:
 * New gamemodes: Informant, where one side mainly has spies, while the other military units; Mess-up, where the wormholes move around randomly; Drill, where the only source of income is mining.
 * New ships for all races: diplomatic ships which ferry RPs, money, research, etc. and residential bases which generate additional income. In addition, all races can build Solon ships which has superior firepower, armor, accuracy and firing range, offset by their insanely high upkeep (for example, a cruiser-class Solon Leech costs as much as five Cruisers) and unique vulnerability: destroying the communication center required for building these ships results in all Solon units owned by that player detonating.
 * New race-specific units:
 * Human: dropships wreak major havoc on planets and self-destructing satellites surprising the enemy.
 * Kariak: disintegrator satellites weaken enemy ships while virus ships convert/destroy them.
 * Darzok: kamikaze ships and special satellites whose detection range span through an entire system.
 * Heavily modified units: weaponry of non-fighter military ships have been standardized (corvettes have a single blaster, cruisers have 2 turrets and a blaster while battleships have 3 blasters and one turret), with the result of fighters being more effective (they are smaller and more numerous per group(11)).
 * New spy missions like epidemic, radar sabotage, ecological disaster (reverse terraforming), etc.
 * Over 70 new inventions with several old ones modified. Research can now be done from a nine-item list where each invention is done after the previous one finishes with no manual input required.
 * Deployable ships can be moved and redeployed at will. The Starmap can be rotated. New planetary defense structures are available.
 * Improved AI: trade ships no longer visit enemies' planets because they are no longer ignored by military units. AI players are unpredictable, using every unit to gain the upper hand.