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Report RSS The journey towards 7.0 (Part4)

Join us in the part 4 of the 7.0 roadmap, as we discuss the awaited Steel Patch.

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In the last blog, we discussed the introduction of Farsight's Enclaves as a new Xenos faction in the mod.
Today however, we will go a bit back to the past, a past that needs to return to the light of the present.

The Steel Legion is without doubt one of the oldest race mods, as it was originally released for Winter Assault, and whilst is has aged gracefully it has aged indeed. Those of you with good memories may recall that there has long been promised a 'Steel Patch' for Unification in which we did something about this - the bad news is that this is cancelled, the good news is that it became part of 7.0!

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Unlike the current trend that has Regiments being gutted in the lore and the Tabletop, we believe there is still much life inside the Legion of Steel, which is what we hope to make right in their rework. Definitely more of a evolution than revolution of the original iteration, the attributes that people liked in Steel Legion(like the beloved Rough Riders and of course, Yarrick being alive and well) remain, but reworked, updated and complemented with new additions.
This naturally includes the visuals, where all original models have been remastered to fit in the new age of DOW modding and be finally in line with the rest of their Regimental counterparts, while retaining and respecting their characteristic art style that makes Armageddon(before you ask, tons of bugs squashed and fixes implemented to them long ago already).

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Steel Legion ever since each early days, has two branching paths at the beginning. The Mechanised Armoured Fist and the Armoured Tank Company. Evidently this specialisation system has remained in the rework and more refined, in order to be distinct between the two but (hopefully) equally enjoyable.

The Mechanised Doctrine focuses more on utilising the strengths of Armageddian Infantry as a priority, with vehicles as support.
With new additions to the roster as well as to the research tables, Infantry approaches have become more viable and interesting. Especially with the introduction of more exotic troop options, like for example, the Bulgryns, Ratlings and Ork Hunters, visualizing even further the Legion's fondness of utilizing special auxiliaries, abhuman or not when other Regiments scoff at them. For to be a Legionnaire, what matters only is to live and fight for Armageddon!

This Doctrine in addition makes exclusive use of special vehicles, like the Wyvern Suppression Tank and reworked Salamander tanks as well as Chimeras, which now pick their upgrade packages depending on the doctrine. Lastly, with this doctrine, you will able to field more unique named heroes, like the Missionary Uriah or Canoness Setheno from Helsreach(and Yarrick's mentor) to support the Lord Commissar in his crusade.
Like in real life, combined arms win the day, even against the toughest of foes.

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The Armoured Company on the other hand, as its name suggests, focuses entirely on, well, tanks.
Starting with Sentinels and Chimeras(with their corresponding upgrade packs) to Lemans and Baneblades. All Leman variants are now exclusive to the Armoured Company(only the default variant remains shared) and can be deepstriked from the Airport building at Tier 4. Since they forgo infantry support aside the starting Legionaries and Stormtroopers, the Armoured Company can field more Leman Tanks(4) compared to other Guard Regiments. They can also all support a Commissar riding them(as he now is shared among the two branches), gaining the sight buffs with him inside.

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More Lemans however are not the only thing Armoured gets. No true Armoured Column is not complete without anti-air and anti-infantry support, which the Hydra fills that spot. As the Basilisk has been made an exclusive to the Mechanised Doctrine, Armoured now gets the Manticore MLRS, which works just as you expect.
Additionally, while comparable to Mechanised, this doctrine gets less named heroes, it does compensate with the Tank Ace in his Leman Vanquisher being finally his own hero with his upgrades and abilities. And yet, the equation is not complete without the pinnacle of the Armageddian Tank Forces, a symbol of their pride, Yarrick's very own Baneblade, the Fortress of Arrogance. Replacing Yarrick on foot with an one-off research at Tier 4, it does not share any cap with any other Baneblade. But as expected, you get what you pay for.

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Both Doctrines get access to the newly added Thunderbolt Fighter, something truly missing from the Steel Legion in years as well as to the same Titans and Super Heavy(special vehicle that requires a Critical Point and a considerable amount of resources but independent of relic units-a new type of unit characterisation added in 6.9).

That being the Ryza Pattern Baneblade, complimenting the Stormsword/Stormblade choice. For the Tier 1 Titan, the SL get the mighty Iron Saint, an elite Shadowsword piloted by a veteran crew led by the famous Major Pious Korren. A Shadosword of its reputation, is expected to be capable of matching enemy titans, more so than regular cousins of it. A similar treatment was also given to the Imperial Fists Falchion, which now is independent of the rest of the Fellblades Cap but became their Tier 2 choice.

Now as for the Tier 2 choice for the Steel Legion, that will leave up to you to guess. But we think is obvious now what it is.

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As some final words, no rework would be complete without a revisit to the Voice Overs. If you have been following us over the years, you know that we do pay special attention to the Voice Overs the units in the mod have. And the Steel Legion is no exception. While the original were sufficient for their time, the time finally came to do their character justice. Especially for the newer additions. And this VO project could not have been done without the initiative and work of the famous and beloved VA, Trench Dog(aka Ki McKenzie) and his assembled team of fellow talented actors and contributors-all of whom fully accounted for, for none one's contribution goes unnoticed here.

A special however mention should be given to three people that by now, I think you know already their names.
Our resident Krieger, Tracer for his catalytic role in completing the VO project and lore assistance, the General that has no loose ends, Shepherd and lastly but most importantly, the lovable and always eager to innovative in this Community Staypuft, Fuggles2k.

It goes without saying that the entire team and all its members played a big role in developing but I need to say as Kekoulis myself, that had not been these three fine gentlemen helping and supporting me on the development aspect of the rework, suffice to say we most likely would not have the "Steel Patch" concluded even for 7.0.

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Before we conclude, as per tradition, please enjoy Mr TheLaughingMax's previews of the Steel Legion from the beta. One for each Doctrine.
Please note what you will see is still a Work in Progress and not final.

And with that, we have reached the end of this blog. As you can already tell, the journey is coming to its conclusion, with the next and most likely last blog post be the Renegade Guard at last. While probably expected by many already, it is arguably the biggest rework/remake of a faction we have done so far and are very excited to finally unveil the curtains. Furthermore, you can expect more smaller posts, until the release, containing more snippets from the new factions, including the today's topic, Steel Legion. For Armageddon Stands!

Thank you again for your support and enthusiasm for all this time and we hope you will enjoy fully what is coming. Until then, take care everyone!

-Team Unification

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Post comment Comments
Caldaris94
Caldaris94 - - 220 comments

As it's a remastered version of Steel Legion, would that make it Tempered Steel Legion?

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Kekoulis Author
Kekoulis - - 3,630 comments

Indeed. Tempered in the Forges of Uni. :V

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deathtrooper900
deathtrooper900 - - 780 comments

Alternatively, it could be the Stainless Steel Legion. Since you guys have re-alloyed the original steel Legion with new long-lasting strength.

(Sorry my family works in the steel industry, if you look up how stainless steel is made it is actually pretty funny how good of an analogy that is)

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Kekoulis Author
Kekoulis - - 3,630 comments

You are absolutely correct.

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fuggles2k Creator
fuggles2k - - 976 comments

Certainly galvanized the conversation.

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Guest
Guest - - 693,889 comments

Looks awesome, Will there be new units for some of the other factions?

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Caldaris94
Caldaris94 - - 220 comments

Depends which factions you are on about, but most of the new content will be in the 6 new factions and 2 race overhauls your getting.

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geropaco32
geropaco32 - - 11 comments

What other faction is getting an overhaul?

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Caldaris94
Caldaris94 - - 220 comments

Blood Angels. Dev Blog was posted at Christmas.

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Guest
Guest - - 693,889 comments

Bullgryns, ratlings, a canoness and manticores? This is amazing!!!

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Agalethria
Agalethria - - 163 comments

cool

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Guest
Guest - - 693,889 comments

Thanks for your work! When do you plan to release 7.0?

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Kekoulis Author
Kekoulis - - 3,630 comments

Well, considering that the next dev blog will cover the last faction being added in 7.0, the Renegade Guard, once that is up we can start counting down.

Regardless, all primary work on the factions for 7.0 is complete. We are now at the final stage of Beta Testing.

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witchking321
witchking321 - - 12 comments

Very nice!

Steel Legion is probably my favourite Guard regiment with their Armageddon lore and their mechanized infantry and world war inspired visuals so i was looking forward to the patch or rather 7.0 update now!
Honestly, i was low key worried that their rework has been scrapped despite getting new units since Krieg "replaced" them but i should have known better to doubt you guys
Gotta go on a penance crusade now

By the way, i noticed the Leman Russ got bolters on its sides now
Does it mean it will behave like a regular Leman Russ in 7.0?

From what i understand the SL mod is ancient, even pre-dating the IG from Winter Assault and because of that, the SL units use mechanics and animations from the base DoW1 campaign and its IG placeholders
Like for example the Blood Raven's campaign Leman Russ behaves like an artillery instead of a tank, having abyssal dps on its battle cannon in exchange for a big aoe shoot

I remember someone did tests with the various UNI tanks and uploaded them on your discord and the SL Lemans Russes were the worst performers by far because of the low dps main cannon and no side bolters

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Kekoulis Author
Kekoulis - - 3,630 comments

That is correct.
The SL Lemans all have been updated to the current standards.
If you notice in Max's videos, their sponsors work as intended now.

And no way Krieg would replace their forefathers. They need to learn their place, Ryza style. ;)

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SenisterDenister
SenisterDenister - - 129 comments

Are you guys updating the core infantry models? If you are please leave the old pug-faced stormtroopers there.

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Kekoulis Author
Kekoulis - - 3,630 comments

All infantry models got remastered.
They still resemble the older versions(as they were pretty fine as designs themselves), but with fixed and improved visuals.
The Stormtroopers got a beautification as well, including the faces being better now. ;)

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Blood-iron-Europe
Blood-iron-Europe - - 135 comments

Regarding the new Steel Legion rework, will they get unique dialogue when encountering other factions?

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Kekoulis Author
Kekoulis - - 3,630 comments

Yup. All new lines.

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Guest
Guest - - 693,889 comments

hype

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Guest
Guest - - 693,889 comments

The Fortress of Arrogance will only be available to the armoured company doctrine?

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Kekoulis Author
Kekoulis - - 3,630 comments

Yup. It is Yarrick's custom tank after all.

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JordanThomas
JordanThomas - - 44 comments

Long live Kekoulis.

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JordanThomas
JordanThomas - - 44 comments

Long live Kekoulis. You never fail to impress.

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stratostravis
stratostravis - - 8 comments

So do we know when V7.0 is coming out?
And if it's not written in stone, may we please have Genestealer Cults next version? I just finished painting my own Tyranids Eating Peoples Faces Party and am super exited to see them in Uni!

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Caldaris94
Caldaris94 - - 220 comments

No known date. When a date is known it will be announced.
For Genestealer Cults there was some representation planned. Either their own faction or part of the Tyranid Swarm (which focuses on the infestation phase of a nid invasion). Will see what the Devs decide.

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Guest
Guest - - 693,889 comments

Guys, lately I found out that there was a mod called "ultramarines" and it included Marneus Calgar as command unit in it. Later the mod got basorbed by Unification, but I have not yet found any notion of it.
Did you used some of the models in vanilla SpaceMarines and cut Calgar out? Or do you, hopefully, have plans for Ulramarines as separate race?

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Caldaris94
Caldaris94 - - 220 comments

It wasn't absorbed by unification as such. From my knowledge it's always been owned by Team Thudmiezer, who renamed to Team Unification not long after Unis release. If you look at the moddb page you can see them listed as the Dev.

As for the plans, it is for a later version. Looking like 8.0.

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Kekoulis Author
Kekoulis - - 3,630 comments

The Ultramarines indeed has always been developed under our team. Not sure why people think "got absorbed".
The Ultramarines are scheduled to be finished after 7.0 due to the scope of the current work. Calgar will be part of it then.

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melexsparta
melexsparta - - 1 comments

Thanks for the reply!

As for "after 7.0".. oh well... No Pedro Kantor (hint - Titanium Wars got this amazing model for ChapterMaster - almost perfect for Kantor! Just replace sword with PowerFist and paint in matching colors... I'm drooling now), no Marneus Calgar...
Only xenos filth and heretic scum... ;( Emperor, give me patience!

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fuggles2k Creator
fuggles2k - - 976 comments

Although he was excellent in the Mandalorian, we have no plans to include the Crimson Fists as one character does not a race mod make.

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Guest
Guest - - 693,889 comments

I would love to see the Renegade Guard! Also I would love to see one day Fabius Bilis as part of the EC faction, great work dude!

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Caldaris94
Caldaris94 - - 220 comments

Renegade Guard is the next Dev Blog.
By Fabius Bilis do you mean Fabius Bile? Because he is already in. Go Lucius path and spawn the Kakophoni Squad. He is a leader in that squad.

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Kekoulis Author
Kekoulis - - 3,630 comments

What Caldaris has said.
Bile is already in as of 5.9 actually.

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Guest
Guest - - 693,889 comments

Will you make forgeworld Mechanicus? With Dominus techpriests, pteraxies, skitarii rangers, "Kastellan" automatons, "Onager" dunecrawlers and other modern admech stuff?

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Caldaris94
Caldaris94 - - 220 comments

Warekit is working on a new mechanicus faction. You can see some screenshots of the models in the Unification Discord.

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Crighton
Crighton - - 153 comments

Can't wait for the new update to drop!

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Guest
Guest - - 693,889 comments

will 7.0 need a clean install or will 6.25 users be able to update their install to 7.0

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fuggles2k Creator
fuggles2k - - 976 comments

Fresh install.

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donczirr1
donczirr1 - - 21 comments

With that being the case - will it be possible to have both for a while - being able to choose 6.9.25 or 7x from Mod Manager to launch ?

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fuggles2k Creator
fuggles2k - - 976 comments

There's obviously an agenda here, but yes it's technically possible.

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donczirr1
donczirr1 - - 21 comments

Just in case there are initial challenges with the new version - no matter how good you are - there are always going to be growing pains. So -just good to have the 6.9.25 as a backup.

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Guest
Guest - - 693,889 comments

what will be the release date of the v7.0?
cant wait!!!!!

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Caldaris94
Caldaris94 - - 220 comments

There is no set date at this time. After the Renegade Guard Blog however the devs may have a better idea of when they can wrap things up.

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Guest
Guest - - 693,889 comments

You could make a list of priority for the additions in the next patches i think that would be pretty cool

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Guest
Guest - - 693,889 comments

Where is the link to discord? I want to follow your future updates

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Caldaris94
Caldaris94 - - 220 comments

Go back to the main moddb page, click the link under homepage.

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Guest
Guest - - 693,889 comments

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