Iron Legion

The Iron Legion was the powerful army of the ancient Empire of Old Xylvania, they are one of the playable factions in Battalion Wars 2.

History

Background

This is the very first Battlestation ever, invented by the Iron Legion during the Lightning Wars

Old Xylvania was a horrible desert of dust, ashes and lava. This land was ruled by a megalomaniac Emperor, Lord Ferrok, ancestor of Kaiser Vlad. Old Xylvania is based on European fables of demons and vampires.

The Legion was the first to invent the all-conquering Battlestation, which gave them a huge advantage in the Lightning Wars due to its incredible power and deadly force. However the Battlestation "Project", as said in the Unit Dossier, was not completed until the near-end of the conflict, around the same time the Solar Empire launched their assault on Old Xylvania.

The Iron Legion has a huge arsenal of nerocite-powered weaponry at its disposal (Nerocite is a substance extracted from rocks and similar to petroleum of the real world) and many weapons of the BW universe are inspired by the powerful prototypes invented in Old Xylvania by the Legion blacksmiths.

The bat-design of the Legion Fighter (and possibly the Legion Bomber) is said to have been created by a Violet Baron, who was an ace in dogfighting.

The Lighting Wars (BWii Prologue) 

The origins of the Legion are unknown. However, the Legionnaires appear to be all mutants "infected" with Ghosgene gas (the exact same substance that Xylvania supplies their Acid-Gas Troopers). They seem to live like slaves, doing nothing during their entire life but fighting for Lord Ferrok or gathering resources for their massive army.

In order to save the world, the Solar Empire invented a Staff, which connected to a satellite weapon that would use the energy of the sun to destroy the Legion. When Lord Ferrok held a speech to what remained of his army on his great Iron Tower, a small group of Solar Empire soldiers infiltrated the area and the Tower itself. Deploying the Staff, they destroyed the Iron Tower, the forces gathered there and the area surrounding it. Without a leader nor an army, Old Xylvania's empire crumbled.

This also marked the eventual rise of the Western Frontier and Tundran Territories, as they were the only two nations with an powerful enough military left in the world. The rest of the nations were left heavily damaged, including the Solar Empire and Anglo Isles.

Despite the Solar Empire's victory over the Iron Legion, the surviving Xylvanians managed to gather the remains of the Legion and bury them. The modern Xylvanians built a great monument in the center of the destroyed land (which was named the Crater of the Sun by the Solar Empire), called the Cenotaph, a monstrous stone slab that marked the burial spot. It is later revealed that this Cenotaph was really some unknown Xylvanian machine, which is able to bring the Legion back to life. For this, a special key is needed, disguised as a sword, the sword of which each Kaiser receives when the power is passed down to him.

Battalion Wars

In order to use the Iron Legion against the Alliance, Countess Ingrid stole the Sword of Lord Ferrok from Kaiser Vlad, who was against using the Legion since he knew that unlike his ancestor, he would be unable to control them. Ingrid eventually loses her mind and is controlled (or at least thinks to be controlled) by the "hive mind" of the Iron Legion. The Legion seeks to enslave all living things, including their descendants in new Xylvania. This was unlike Ferrok's original reign, in which he only wanted to rule the world, not destroy it like Ingrid intended, However, a Western Frontier battalion, alongside Solar Empire air support managed to destroy the Cenotaph, bringing an end to the Legion, and saving Xylvania (and the world) from complete destruction. 

Country Representation

Old Xylvania was a horrible desert of dust, ashes and lava. This land was ruled by a megalomaniac Emperor, Lord Ferrok, ancestor of Kaiser Vlad. Old Xylvania is based on European fables of demons and vampires.

Non-Humanity

Much like its successor Xylvania, the people of the Iron Legion do not appear fully Human, in fact, to a much greater extent than the Xylvanians. This is likely due to the fact that they live in a polluted, poisoned country, and they mine deadly Nerocite all the time (See unit dossier). They have green (and later, blue) skin, red eyes, and pointed ears.

Weaponry

The Iron Legion managed to overrun most of the world as they destroyed entire cities and nations. Even the Anglo Isles' empire, spanning multiple islands and colonies, was destroyed piece by piece until their territory was reduced down to their homeland and surrounding islands, unseating them as a world power which was not to recover until 200 years latter. 

Of particular note are the vehicles, which seem to utilize gigantic steam engines to move and/or fly. Even some of the infantry weapons make a whistling sound like a boiling kettle. 

Only the Solar Empire was strong enough to stand against the Legion after the fall of the Anglo Isles. Their super-advanced technology saved them on many occasions. But it was still no match for the sheer power of the primitive but monstrous legions of evil.

Unit Dossier

Trivia

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  Battalion Wars 2 Unit Dossier - Iron Legion

  

  The Iron Legion is the only nation that doesn't appear to have a navy. This causes them to have the smallest arsenal in the entire game which, despite its alarming power, there navy was destroyed by the Anglo Isles navy but at the cost of the commanding Anglo Admiral's life. 
• The Iron Legion is the only nation that does not have a clear real world equivalent, but it does share some similarities with Germany during WWI and WWII. For example, Germany and Prussia (which, historically is often part of Germany or allied with Germany) have been commonly called the Iron Kingdom, especially during WWI.
• The Iron Legion is the only Faction that is not named after its Nation: Xylvania, possibly meaning that the Iron Legion was Lord Ferrok's personal Army.
• Due to the durability of Xylvanian/Legion citizens, they are able to live for a long time, an example being Kaiser Vlad's near-century-old age. This could possibly mean that Lord Ferrok is Kasier Vlad's grandfather or great-grandfather.
• Because the Iron Legion war machines were powered by Nerocite (the main fuel their descendants the modern Xylvania Army uses as well), every Iron Legion vehicular unit had some type of furnace usually mounted in the rear, expelling large amounts of smoke exhaust behind them.
• The Iron Legion Campaign is the only campaign in both games that allow the player to utilize their every type of unit without assistance from multiplayer matches online.
• Since the Iron Legion has no Naval Units or Transport units, it's a mystery on how they traveled to the other continents and islands of the world during the Lightning Wars.
• The Iron Legion's troops use extremely medieval weaponry. For example: the Flame Veteran and it's Lightning/Fire mixture, and the Bazooka Veteran with Cannon balls. How these weapons could overpower the Solar Empire's superior technology is still yet to be known.