The decision to make them unplayable in the main campaign may seem strange, but comes from the devotion Gas Powered games has seen among supreme commanders. "We felt that players would be upset if they started Forged Alliance and then were tasked with killing off the faction that they'd grown attached to," explains Jeremy.
The established leaders get plenty of new toys to play with too, with 110 new units especially designed for entertainment rather than balancing (those they release as free downloads). Essentially, these units stress the uniqueness of each faction.
"The new units are designed to really show off the core strengths of each of the factions," Jeremy explains. "Our goal is to make the might of the UEF, sneakiness of Cybran, and the single-minded focus of Aeon come to light." Navies have been singled out for special attention - for example, Shield Boats, more agile battleships and sub-hunters.
Also, fitting terribly well with the game's apocalyptic feel, suicide units who throw themselves away in a blaze of pixel-glory.
It's not all careful expansion, though. Each side also gets a new towering Experimental unit to play with. "Because really," Jeremy laughs, "who doesn't love to show up at any enemy base with something 150 meters tall that then trashes the place?" Who indeed. Rather than compromise its unique vision of the modern RTS game, Forged Alliance looks set to just turn its volume dial another notch to the right.
