Hi, I could use some help with funding my concept art budget for my game!
Champions of the Ice
Turn-Based Tactical Combat
Setting Primer
Once, long ago, mankind spanned the breadth of the Solar System in a civilization that numbered in the tens of billions.
The American Empire stood as the zenith of our species’ achievements, constructing wonders both on Earth and in the Heavens above with the mineral wealth of the cosmos and the captured energies of Sol itself.
That was before the End War.
This apocalyptic conflict between the Empire and the North Star Alliance- a coalition of Socialist states that had grown resentful of the former’s hegemonic dominance- consumed our offworld colonies and devastated Earth itself.
It killed over 95% of our entire race and permanently cut us off from space travel.
Now the scattered, broken tribes who remain struggle to survive on a now feral and savage homeworld infested with the sins of our past.
The onset of a new Ice Age brought about by the devastation of war and rogue terraforming tech has led to famines, plagues, and further conflict, while monsters now roam the Earth freely.
Some wearing formerly human skin.
The Wendigo Cult- a fanatical, transhumanist sect of the Empire’s former ruling class- has conquered North America and turned the survivors into little more than human cattle.
Having shed their humanity in pursuit of hedonism, depravity, and immortality, the Wendigo present themselves as saviors and protectors of the environment even as they engage in cannibalism and worse.
Now, a Confederacy of ash-washed tribes seeks to cast down these sociopathic parasites and send them screaming back to hell.
If only they could stop siphoning ethanol from their warbirds’ fuel tanks…
Summary
Champions of the Ice is a Turn-Based Tactics videogame being independently developed by me: a tired, overworked, backwoods redneck father of two in Oklahoma with the help of several talented concept artists and a small but dedicated community handing me bricks to build my Autism Cathedral with.
Drawing inspiration from the mechanics of games like XCOM, Phoenix Point, and Sid Meier’s Civilization, players must assemble teams of units to wage war on a four-dimensional, fully destructible Hex Grid to lead their faction to victory by the only metric that matters in this twisted & broken world: Survival.
Take advantage of Cover, Subterfuge, Psychological Warfare, Air Support, and the esoteric realm of Cyberspace to emerge victorious against overwhelming odds, but be aware of your surroundings and manage resources wisely lest you find yourself running low on ammo and cut off from your supply chains.
And don’t forget: there are far worse things than enemy soldiers out here. Try not to draw their attention.
Scope of Work
The initial roster focuses on just two factions in a forgotten corner of the greater world:
The Wendigo Cult and the Ashland Confederacy during the War for the Dawn.
The Wendigo Cult’s forces are individually superior with better technology and gene-forged troops, but Confederacy forces are both inexpensive and tactically flexible as they engage in asymmetrical warfare.
There are three broad Categories to build your teams with: Assault, Stealth, and Support.
Unit Rosters
Each faction will initially receive six units to assemble teams, with two per Category.
(This is subject to expansion over the course of continuing development milestones.)
Assault
Confederate Light Infantry: Militiaman
The poor a**hole who grabbed the gun off his mantle and answered the call to get sh*t done.
Confederate Heavy Infantry: Clanker
An Imperial Construction Bot that gained sapience after centuries of being left to its own devices with nothing better to do but rust. Rebuilt to serve as a walking machine gun nest.
Wendigo Light Infantry: Thrall
The favored Gene-Forged underlings of the Cult, lacking all but the barest semblance to humans. If you drew a person from memory on bath salts and decked it out in tactical bondage gear.
Wendigo Heavy Infantry: Maxotaur
A monstrous creature buried under layers of thick armor and swinging a brutal but highly advanced axe that can manipulate magnetism. Don’t ask about the codpiece.
Stealth
Confederate Commando: Ranger
Sometimes brute force is not enough to carry you to victory. Sometimes you need someone to sneak up from behind the enemy’s position and start slitting throats, setting ambushes, or blowing things up before slipping away as reinforcements arrive.
Confederate Sniper: Pathfinder
She may not be much of a brawler, but when she’s trepanning targets from across the map she doesn’t need to be. When she needs to get a closer look at something and her scope is blocked, she can send her pet to go check it out.
Wendigo Scout: Bloodstalker
Combining qualities of bat & ape, these nimble, vicious predators are bred to hunt down people taking shelter in buildings and tunnels, flushing them out or subduing them for their masters.
Wendigo Assassin: Masquer
The Cult frequently hides its members among human civilians to act as spies and saboteurs. With their claws retracted and their faces obscured by filtration masks, they effortlessly blend into crowds until they are ready to strike.
Support
Confederate Medic: Buffalo Gal
While Maxotaurs were bred for war and entertainment by the Cult, Minotaurs were engineered as a form of literal human cattle. They didn’t appreciate the sentiment and joined the Confederacy against their makers. They’re vegetarians, but it’s not their diet you have to worry about near the barracks.
Confederate Cybermancer: Spiritwalker
One of the few people left who truly understands the power of Cyberspace and the dangers that lurk within it. They’ll need it if they are to triumph over the technological superiority of the Cult.
Wendigo Drone: Biodrone
Lobotomized human abductees of the Cult converted into mindless meat puppets for use as bodyguards, playthings, rations, or- in the unfortunate case of female victims- substitutes for the artificial womb of a Gene Forge, as Wendigo are invariably sterile.
Wendigo Officer: Prodfather
A representative of the true Wendigo race itself, this sadistic aristocrat personally oversees his underlings with a cold heart and an iron fist, spurring them to action and breaking enemies with the calculated application of pain & torture.
NEW: Wendigo Fodder: Grunt
They may be stupid and prone to cowardice, but when adequately motivated and in large enough numbers these pig-men become a dangerous foe.
