The archipelago, and the fight over it.

In uncharted backwaters, lost to the grinding machinations of time, lies an archipelago known as Ironsound. This chain of 62 islands is the theater of an ongoing battle for resources and survival.

The Ironfleet has fought a raging battle for decades against the Cinderfleet over control of the Great Sea and its resources. The two mighty foes have come together in a final showdown for control of a network of islands known as Ironsound.

The year is 1899 and Ironsound is the key to gaining control of the Great Sea. The islands of Ironsound and the resources of the Great Sea are vital for sustained life and civilization. The only question that remains is which version of civilization will survive.

The captain and master of the SS Dreadnought wiped the sweat and steam from his eyes as he strained against the helm of his mighty machine. It was now or never...

Plying its way towards the island of Pyre Shoal, the SS Dreadnought shed rivets and scales of rust as it heaved and crashed its way through the restless waters.

If he could just get close enough to deploy a Tideram and establish a defensive base before the opposing Cinderfleet could cut off his tenuous supply chain...

If the mighty SS Dreadnought can push its offensive front into enemy territory, claiming islands one by one, perhaps she can lay waste to the fierce Cinderfleet and claim the entire archipelago of Ironsound.

Your orders, captain, are to take command of the Ironfleet. Your Command Ship, the SS Dreadnought - a mobile fortress, shipyard, and command center is capable of deploying a small fleet of amphibious and airborne craft to systematically claim each island in Ironsound.

To claim an island, use a Tideram amphibious vehicle to deploy an Ironroot. An Ironroot is a pod programed to construct one of three types of command centers. Each island can support one command center.

Resource Command Center – Pulls resources from the island to supply Factory command centers.

Factory Command Center – Manufactures necessary Ironfleet resources: Fuel, Vehicles, Ammunition, Ironroots, etc.

Defence command center – A heavily armed command center. It will attempt to repulse attacks and protect the island.

Against the Ironfleet stands the Cinderfleet, whose Command Ship is the SS Pyrehulk. The Cinderfleet is equipped with comparable fleet resources. Their only goal is to wipe out the Ironfleet and claim Ironsound.

Ironsound is a chain of 62 islands grouped into seven reaches:

The Emberreach

The Rimeward Skerries

The Gallows Reach

The Rustwash

The Boiler Straits

The Foggrounds

The Signal Line

All islands are not equal. There is a supply network to which an island must be attached in order to send and receive supplies. A Factory command center with no supply line connection cannot manufacture, receive or ship supplies.

Islands claimed by the Ironfleet become “friendly” and while connected to the supply network will autonomously produce and ship materials and supplies to where they are needed.

Resource islands will ship resources to any factory island on the supply network. Factory islands manufacture and ship assests such as Whirlvanes to defence command centers automatically.

Any supplies destined for the Command Ship, the SS Dreadnought, must be shipped to a player specified staging island. Any friendly island can be designated to be the staging island at any time and will receive a stockpile of supplies as long as the staging island remains connected to the supply network.

You can redesignate your staging island at any time and as often as you’d like. Be advised, re-designating a staging island will cause all stockpiled resources to become unavailable at the previous staging island and it takes time for the resources to become available at the newly designated staging island.

To resupply your Command Ship, you must travel to the currently designated staging island and request a Stokebarge. The Stokebarge is an autonomous supply ship which will bring any supplies you’ve ordered and offload them onto the SS Dreadnought via a large docking bay on the stern of the ship.