Halo Wars: The Great War

This article, Halo Wars: The Great War, written by Samdoo, was voted as the Best Alternative Fiction of 2013 in the Sixth Annual Halo Fanon Wikia Awards.

This fanfiction article, Halo Wars: The Great War, was written by Samdoo. Please do not edit this fiction without the writer's permission.

This article, Halo Wars: The Great War, is currently under active construction.

The author of this article, Halo Wars: The Great War, urges anyone who reads it to provide feedback on the quality of the article. Thank you!

Halo Wars: The Great War
Developer(s):	343 Industries, Creative Assembly
Publisher(s):	Xbox Game Studios
Platform(s):	Xbox One, Windows 10
Release date(s):	TBD
Genre(s):	Real-Time Strategy, First-Person Shooter
Mode(s):	Campaign, Skirmish (Multiplayer, Firefight), Supremacy, Forge, Theater
Rating(s):	Mature (M) for Moderate Violence, Mild Course Language and Themes
Media/distribution	Optical Disc, Download
Website(s):	Halo Official Site - Halo Wars: The Great War
[Source]

"Experience the whole war."

―Official tagline

Halo Wars: The Great War (also dubbed as Halo: The Great War, The Great War, HWTGW, TGW and informally Halo Wars 3) will be the third Real-Time Strategy video game and the eighteenth instalment in the Halo series. It will be developed by 343 Industries and Creative Assembly and will be published by Xbox Game Studios for the Xbox One and Windows.

It is the longest Halo game, designed to flesh out the history and timeline of the Halo Universe. Even though it is a RTS game and does have some narrative connections to Halo Wars and is also referred to by some as Halo Wars 3, it is not a continuation of the Halo Wars storyline. It follows many of the major battles and events of the Human-Covenant War, from the first battle at Harvest to the final battle in 2552 on The Ark.

Like many Halo games before it, The Great War was first officially announced at an E3 two years before the game was released. The game will use an updated and modified version of the engine used in Halo Wars 2, with many elements from the original Halo engine added being crossed over to work with the maps and RTS game style. The Great War is rated "M" for Mature like most Halo games, though unlike the previous Halo RTS games, which was rated "T" for Teen.

Halo Wars: The Great War has many new features than from its predecessors. What many fans found lacking about the original Halo Wars was the fact that the player couldn't use or command units of all the ranks, vehicles, aircraft, ships, soldiers, weapons, factions and characters that had appeared in the Halo Universe, as well as many other possible features. But now in The Great War many of these features have now been implemented. One very notable thing is the new First-Person Mode which allows the player to play as a single unit just like in the original mainstream Halo games. The controls are very similar to Halo Wars', although there are many new features and strategic options as well. More new features are that there are now a broader range of factions, which players will even be able to get the option of using in the game. New game modes such as Forge, Theater and Supremacy have been added. The cinematics aren't animated by using CGI like previous Halo Wars games, but are made with the in-game engine or are presented like the terminals are in the recent Halo games. Although Blur still contributed in animating the game's trailers.

A lot of downloadable content or DLC is planned with content for every category, which will be coming available progressively over time; including expansion packs expanding the stories of the game, as well as starting many new ones.

The game is being hyped up to be more than twice as successful as the previous Halo RTS; Halo Wars 2.

Content Summaries and Campaigns

Halo Wars: The Great War’s goal is to flesh out the timeline of the Human-Covenant War, specifically all it’s major battles. The game will start off at the Battle of Harvest where The Great War began.

It is a Real Time Strategy game like Halo Wars, so it shares many gameplay similarities; players can control armies, giving orders to their units, collect resources so they can produce units and upgrades, construct buildings, garrisons and numerous other structures. The game can be played in single and multiplayer modes and also in online gameplay.

Note: Many events seen from previous Halo games and media will make appearances in The Great War.

Campaigns

The Great War has several campaigns covering many of the foundational and most significant battles during the Human-Covenant War. Each campaign will be set during a certain part of the war, from the first battle on Harvest to the very end of the war at Installation 00. The Human-Covenant War wasn’t the only conflict ongoing at that time as many insurrections still existed and affairs from both wars sometimes collided. Because of this, such wars will also crossover into campaigns of The Great War. A campaign is unlocked either when two campaigns share a related timeline event or once a campaign is completed.

Campaigns are organised firstly by faction, then campaign, missions and finally levels. Missions are similar to Operations from the Halo: Spartan series by Vanguard Games, as they deal with one area of a campaign but are made up of a number of levels. Sometimes a level may only focus on one area of a larger battlefield, which forces may move onto other areas in the next level. Although factions will often move onto a completely new location for a proceeding level.

Campaigns are primarily played with the UNSC and Covenant ministerial factions, although other factions will at times be present and even playable in a number missions. The first campaign is Age of Reclamation and is played with the Ministry of Resolution faction.

Tutorial (Played with both UNSC and Covenant)

Prologue - Contact (February 3, 2525 - October 7, 2525)

Human campaigns

Chapter 1 - The Harvest Campaign (March 1, 2526 - February 4, 2531)

Mission 1: The Battle of Harvest (March 1, 2526)

Unannounced number of levels

Mission 2: Return to Harvest

Unannounced number of levels

Mission 3: Retaking Harvest (various missions)

Unannounced number of levels

Mission 4: Operation: EARTHQUAKE

Unannounced number of levels

Mission 5: Liberation of Harvest

Unannounced number of levels

Chapter 2 - The Cole Protocol (May 1, 2531 - April 18, 2543)

Chapter 3 - Reach (April 4, 2544 - August 30, 2552)

Covenant campaigns

Chapter 1 - Age of Reclamation

Chapter 2 - Luminaries

Chapter 3 - Particular Justice

Controls

The Great War’s controls do resemble the controls from both Halo Wars and Halo Wars 2, although there are a number of changes and improvements, as well as the addition of some new features. A notable improvement is the increased ability to zoom in and out more than from the game's predecessors.

Standard RTS Controls (ground)

Standard Controls
Command	Xbox Button	PC Defaults
Move camera	Left analog	W, A, S, D / Up, Left, Down, Right arrows
Fast camera movement	Left analog click	W (double-tap)
Default camera movement	Left analog click	W (double-tap)
Temporary fast camera movement	Left bumper (hold)	Shift
Rotate camera	Right analog	Alt + move mouse left/right
Zoom camera	Right analog (up/down)	Alt + scroll wheel
Zoom camera alternate	—	Page Down (zoom in), Page Up (zoom out)
Default camera orientation	Right analog click	Home
Select single unit	A (tap)	Left-click
Select all units of the same type	A (double-tap)	Left-click (double-tap)
Paint-selection	A (hold)	Left-click and drag
Deselect/Cancel	B (tap)	Backspace
Delete/Recycle (option to confirm/cancel deletion follows.)	B (hold)	Backspace (hold)
Unit orders (move, attack, etc.)	X (tap)	Right-click
Unit orders (sprint/accelerate.)	X (double-tap)	Right-click (double-tap)
Unit retreat/find cover after orders are complete	X (hold)	Right-click (hold)
Use unit active ability	Y (tap)	R
Automatic use of abilities during combat	Y (double-tap)	R (double-tap)
First-Person mode (exclusive to Leaders.)	Y (hold)	R (hold)
Select local units	Right bumper (tap)	Q
Select all units	Right bumper (double-tap)	E
Select all units separated from main forces	Right bumper (hold)	T
Battle Examination mode	Right & left bumper (hold)	Space
Go to Leader/Hero	—	F
Circle through unit types in current selection	Right trigger	Scroll wheel
Circle between bases	Right trigger (hold) + A	Z
Circle between armies	Right trigger (hold) + B	X
Circle between recent alerts	Right trigger (hold) + X	C
Circle between random units & buildings	Right trigger (hold) + Y	V
Building menu	Left Trigger	1
Reinforcements menu	Left D-Pad	2
Special Forces menu	Right D-Pad	3
Air Support menu	Up D-Pad	4
Leader Command menu	Down D-Pad	5
Set global rally point	Up D-Pad (hold)	Y
Ping location	Down D-Pad (hold)	G
Operations menu	View button	6
Game (Pause) menu	Menu button	Escape
Bring up in-game chat/Send message	—	Enter

Standard RTS Controls (space)

Standard Controls
Command	Xbox Button	PC Defaults
Move camera	Left analog	W, A, S, D / Up, Left, Down, Right arrows
Fast camera movement	Left analog click	W (double-tap)
Default camera movement	Left analog click	W (double-tap)
Temporary fast camera movement	Left bumper (hold)	Shift
Rotate camera	Right analog	Alt + move mouse left/right
Zoom camera	Right analog (up/down)	Alt + scroll wheel
Zoom camera alternate	—	Page Down (zoom in), Page Up (zoom out)
Default camera orientation	Right analog click	Home
Select single unit	A (tap)	Left-click
Select all units of the same type	A (double-tap)	Left-click (double-tap)
Paint-selection	A (hold)	Left-click and drag
Deselect/Cancel	B (tap)	Backspace
Delete/Recycle (option to confirm/cancel deletion follows.)	B (hold)	Backspace (hold)
Unit orders (move, attack, etc.)	X (tap)	Right-click
Unit orders (sprint/accelerate.)	X (double-tap)	Right-click (double-tap)
TBD	X (hold)	Right-click (hold)
Use unit active ability	Y (tap)	R
Automatic use of abilities during combat	Y (double-tap)	R (double-tap)
Select local units	Right bumper (tap)	Q
Select all units	Right bumper (double-tap)	E
Select all units separated from main forces	Right bumper (hold)	T
Battle Examination mode	Right & left bumper (hold)	Space
Circle through unit types in current selection	Right trigger	Scroll wheel
Circle between bases	Right trigger (hold) + A	Z
Circle between armies	Right trigger (hold) + B	X
Circle between recent alerts	Right trigger (hold) + X	C
Circle between random units & buildings	Right trigger (hold) + Y	V
Building menu	Left Trigger	1
TBD	Left D-Pad	2
TBD	Right D-Pad	3
TBD	Up D-Pad	4
TBD	Down D-Pad	5
Set global rally point	Up D-Pad (hold)	Y
Ping location	Down D-Pad (hold)	G
Operations menu	View button	6
Game (Pause) menu	Menu button	Escape
Bring up in-game chat/Send message	—	Enter

First-Person Controls

The controls for the first-person mode are almost identical to that of recent mainstream Halo games, with some minor differences and additions to fit in with the Halo Wars battlefield environment.

First-Person Controls
Command	Xbox Button	PC Defaults
Movement	Left analog	W, A, S, D / Up, Left, Down, Right arrows
Sprint	Left analog click (hold)	Shift
Look/Rotate	Right analog	Move mouse
Use weapon	Right trigger	Left-click
Scope/Zoom	Left trigger / Right analog (click-hold)	Z
Jump	A	Space
Melee attack	B / Right bumper	F
Action/Use	X	E
Active ability	Y / Left bumper	R / Right-click
Order individual units	Left D-Pad	1
Order all units	Right D-Pad	2
Order local units	Up D-Pad	3
Order local units retreat	Down D-Pad	4
Set global rally point	Up D-Pad (hold)	Y
Ping location	Down D-Pad (hold)	G
Operations menu	View button	5
Game (Pause) menu	Menu button	Escape
Bring up in-game chat/Send message	—	Enter
Return to RTS mode	Y (hold)	R (hold)

Note: Abilities of units within this mode may differ depending on the Leader being played as e.g. Ripa 'Moramee can do continuous dual-sword slashes, whereas a Spartan may only be able to do single melee strikes, amongst their other abilities.

Cutscenes

Cutscenes in The Great War are unlike the ones from the previous Halo Wars games. Instead of Blur Studio's CGI animation, cutscenes will be animated with either the in-game engine during missions or created by Sequence, who have notably animated many of the Terminals seen in the Halo games, as well as creating Halo: The Fall of Reach - The animated series.

Sequence provide a much more artistic and earthy form of animation in The Great War than with their previous work in the universe. These cinematics usually narrate over current events in the galaxy, more specifically to that which is relating to the player's current faction or fleet, as they progress through the campaigns.

Note: Blur will still contribute in animating several of the game's trailers.

Battle Examination Mode

The new Battle Examination mode is a function where players can observe current battles from different views following random units as they fight and move around the map. It is very similar to when a player in earlier Halo games dies in a multiplayer game - the camera would follow random players as they fight while the player waits to re-spawn.

Note: This mode acts a little bit like a cinematic.

Heads-Up Display

The HUD also referred to as Camera View is the set of displayed symbols and icons that appear across the screen in gameplay. It helps guide and keep the player aware of their progress. Its set up is almost identical to the one used in previous Halo Wars.

There are many elements that make up the HUD:

Crosshair - The Crosshair (sometimes referred to as cursor) is a small superimposed object like a reticle in the center of the screen, which is part of the camera. It moves along with the camera and is used for selecting. If the player is targeting something, the Crosshair symbol will change color and sometimes changes its shape or presentation.

Each faction has it's own unique crosshair icon, which can vary in color as well as shape.

Visual COM - At the top left corner of the screen a circular shaped communications system will be present; team members, allies (and enemies) will use this to speak and communicate with the player and other team members regarding the current mission or main story plots of a campaign. The communicator also give new objectives.

Objectives - Shown to the right of the Visual COM, the most important and relevant mission objectives will be shown here. A full list of objectives and other information is available when pressing the View Button.

Mini-Map - At the top right corner of the screen the circular Mini-Map is placed. It shows units and occupied sites and structures that are present on the battlefield, the landscape, shape and size of the battlefield is also shown. A compass is also present around the mini-map.

Advancement Data - Just to the left of the mini-map, a box is found with the information of the players population (current and maximum), tech level and resources.

Direction Indicator - An arrow may sometimes appear just above the crosshair which will indicate the direction of a current goal or a guide requested to a specific location on the map.

Unit Selection Icon - If a unit has been selected an icon will be shown at the bottom of the screen representing that specific unit. When the player selects a group of various types of units several more icons will be shown along side each other for each unit type, but where there are several units of the same type selected only one icon for that type will be shown with numbers at the top right corner of that icon representing the amount that is selected.

Timer - Just below the top of the center of the screen will be a timer if the mission requires it, which will normally count down, although can count up depending on the mission.

Notes: Other pieces of notes and information may also appear on the screen at random times and circumstances. If the player selects an enemy unit its name may be different to what the name would be if the enemy team selected it - e.g. if the Covenant faction selected one of its own units such as a Kig-Yar Sniper when a UNSC team selects it, it would come up as a Jackal Sniper. The HUD/Camera View in the First-Person mode changes with different units but still resembles the ones used in the primary Halo games.

Game Menus

Other than the Main Menu, there are two types of menus used when playing The Great War. These menus are used for producing units, buildings, upgrades and are practically a means of acquiring anything in the game.

Circle Menu

Circle Menu shown with names of each icon.

The Circle Menu acts just like it did in the previous Halo Wars games. When the player selects a building or uses a form of Combat Support, the Circle Menu will appear in the center of the hud. It takes up a decent portion of the screen and is the standard menu used for producing units, upgrades and accessing Combat Support.

The Circle Menu has ten icons: One icon on the top; the Menu Apex. One icon on the bottom; the Menu Base. Four Right icons and four Left icons. The Menu Icons are numbered and abbreviated as:
1. Icon A
2. Icon R1
3. Icon R2
4. Icon R3
5. Icon R4
6. Icon B
7. Icon L1
8. Icon L2
9. Icon L3
10. Icon L4

The Circle Menu is used for five types of menus:

Producer Menu - For Unit Producers the menu will produce and upgrade units. For Economy Producers and Base Components it will upgrade selected structures. For Research Producers it will give global upgrades to numerous game aspects. Command Centers are able to do all these features.

Reinforcements Menu - Sends special battlegroups of infantry and vehicle units directly to the battlefield.

Special Forces Menu - Sends special forces and other unique units directly to the battlefield.

Air Support Menu - Sends air strikes, orbital bombardments, restores unit life and delivers/transports units via dropships or drop-pods.

Leader Command Menu - Deployment of Leaders and Heroes.

For standard structures and Economy Producers 'Icon A' will upgrade the building, but for Unit Producers it will provide universal upgrades for it's unit type. 'Icon B' will either recycle or demolish the building. For Unit Producers the right icons will be used for unit production and the icons on the left will be for unit upgrades. In regards to Special Forces and Reinforcements up to all 10 Menu Icons can be used to deploy units.

When the player selects any of the icons an open box to the right of the Circle Menu will appear with information about the selected subject and in the center of the Circle Menu will display the required population, resources and tech level needed to acquire that feature.

Note: When a structure is recycled players will receive a portion of the structures resources back, but not the same as it's original price.

Construction Menu

The Building Menu uses the Construction Menu.

The Construction Menu acts very similar to the Circle Menu in how it functions, except it’s appearance strongly resembles the Forge menu in the main Halo games. It appears in the lower right side of the screen in a rectangle shape. Players can scroll down numerous categories on various subjects, where they can find the specific items and features that they are looking for to create or place on maps. It is generally used for constructing buildings and structures, as well as changing the environment by landscaping or aquascaping.

The Construction Menu is used for two types of menus:

Building Menu - Provides all building types and some landscaping features.

Forge Menu - Provides all in game features; buildings, units, landscapes, environments, etc.

Note: The player can rotate items by holding “A” and moving the right thumbstick.

First-Person Mode

The First-Person Mode is a new feature to Halo Wars where the player can transfer from the normal birds-eye view and RTS gameplay to a single unit in a first-person view, just like in the original Halo games.

The mode comes available when the player selects a leader and holds in “Y” during a game, then the player will no longer be in the Real-Time Strategy style of gameplay, but now in a first-person view as a single unit. The controls for this mode capture the basic feel of the mainstream Halo games, although certain features and abilities are reduced, but for some additional features are also added.

When the player is in this mode, the rest of their units will follow the last orders they were given and then act defensive; staying in the safest area that they are localized at. While the player is in the first-person mode, the current unit being played as attributes will go up slightly, specifically its movements and accuracy. If the player is an infantry unit they can drive/pilot and sometimes hijack vehicles and other machines.

This mode is exclusive to leaders and heroes, although there are some rare exceptions where other unit types can be played. When the player uses certain leaders or heroes in the first-person mode they can still direct their forces by giving directions via the D-Pad.

The First-Person mode works for infantry, vehicles, aircraft, watercraft and spacecraft, but not for larger units like ships.

Notes: If the player has a squad of several infantry units and has the ability of the first-person mode, they will not play as every unit at once but as the squad leader with the rest of the squad following. Not often but some levels may be played exclusively in this mode.

Difficulty Levels

The Great War has the same difficulty settings as every other Halo game, as well as some new difficulty features:

Easy - Storm through your foes with ease and revel in your unstoppable onslaught. Recommended for players new to the RTS genre.

Normal - Face firm resistance from unrelenting enemies, but a strong strategy should enable you achieve victory. Recommended for players with RTS experience."

Heroic - Stand firm as you'll need to utilize every skill and tactic you've learned to survive. Recommended for players who have mastered Halo Wars."

Legendary - Face insurmountable odds and an overwhelming enemy force. This is what legends are made of.

Mythic - Do you dare? - Unlocked with the Mythic Skull.

Custom Difficulty - This is unlocked with a Skull which is acquired automatically after all the other (in game) Skulls have been collected. The player can change the strengths of their faction, allies and enemies, in various categories. They also can increase or decrease timers.

Library

The Library is a source of (categorized) information for all the units, factions, characters, planets, species and weapons (etc) in the game. Every time the player encounters a unit, character, planet (etc) for the first time, it will be unlocked in the Library. The Library works in a very similar manner to the Library from Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary. Once all the information for the Library is found a Skull will become unlocked.

Timeline

The Timeline is a collection of events that can be progressively unlocked during campaigns. There are three unique Timelines in the game for each race, which are Human for all unified and insurrection factions, Covenant for alien factions and Forerunner for ancient factions. Sometimes they share events, though they may be presented from different perspectives.

There are two methods of constructing different parts of timelines in the game; the first is constructing the historical timeline, which unlock events from the past. Players will be able to collect Black-Boxes, which can generally be found scattered around in different places on each map of the campaigns to build up the historical events in the timeline. The second is the contemporary timeline, which unlock current events ongoing in the galaxy. These are unlocked every time a mission is completed.

Notes: Black-Boxes can also unlock segments of the contemporary timeline; these are usually classified events, such as the abduction on the Spartan-IIIs. The events unlocked from the historical timeline are usually very closely related to the map where the Black-Boxes are found.

Completing each timeline will result in a Skull being unlocked and after all the timelines are finished a fourth timeline is unlocked, which contains the combined events of all three completed timelines.

Note: When expansions for the game are released, the amount of locked events will increase.

Galaxy Map

The Galaxy Map gives a view of the entire galaxy which is used as a system of looking at different locations and information about what is current in the galaxy, like who is occupying the area, what events are going on, etc. The galaxy is divided into sections (territories > systems > sectors > maps) of systems and who is occupying them, the player can select these systems by moving the crosshair over them.

Note: Some special missions may be based outside the galaxy map, such as locations like the Ark.

A birds-eye view of the Galaxy Map with the UNSC's Crosshair moving over the Sol System.

The Galaxy Map appears in two forms: The first is used almost at the start of every mission or level, just before the players fleet begins the mission they will get a mission briefing on what is currently happening on the battlefield. The player can sometimes choose what units they start with depending on their resources. The player can also look at some current battles that his or her faction is involved with in the galaxy. The second is just where the player can look over the galaxy and read information about different locations in the galaxy - party connected to the Library.

Territories

A territory is an area belonging to a faction. They can expand from a single planet within a system to several (or all) systems in the galaxy. If a faction is in a territory that does not belong to them, reinforcements and other resources may be harder to acquire.

When the player selects a system, a light colored outline will appear around it. The color of the outline will differ depending on which faction the system belongs to. Also when the player selects a system, a faint colored mist will appear over other surrounding systems that are part of the same factions territory. But if two or more factions own a planet in a system its outline will calmly flash between both factions team colors.

Note: Players may not be welcome into some systems and could be attacked without warning.

Systems

Systems are sections of space in the galaxy, consisting of several stars, planets, moons and asteroid fields. If the player wants to conquer a system, they will have to claim all valuable or defensible places within the desired system and then it will become part of their factions territory. If the player claims a planet or moon, they will be able to create trading roots, which will provide extra supplies at the start of a battles played in that system.

Planets

Planets and space sectors are each different types of sectors in a system, where battlefield missions can be played. Each planet will have a number of battlefields and locations, ranging in size and environment. Planets are used to perform Land Battles and space sectors are to perform Space Battles. Conquering all major battlefields on a planet or space sector will result in it becoming part of the players territory.

Battlefields

Battlefields are locations on the Map where the player will play battles and missions on. They vary in size, environment and with native flora and fauna. There are two types of battlefields; land fields are located on planets and is the standard battle location type. The player can do Land and Water Battles with this type. Space fields are located in outer space outside a planets orbit or in an asteroid field. It is possible to play battles similar to Land with this type but only if the player infiltrates an enemy ship or space station.

Map Sizes

In The Great War, no map or battlefield is exactly the same size or shape. Depending on how big the map is, certain numbers of players (factions) may be restricted to be able to participate in a mission. There are two reasons for these restrictions;
1. The map could get (unrealistically) over-crowded and difficult to instruct units.
2. Despite the power of modern Xbox and PCs, if there is an extremely large number of A.I. or other moving items on a single map, consoles may struggle to process pieces of the game, which could make the gameplay slow and laggy especially online, it could potentially even make the mission unplayable.

Note: Even though there are restrictions, there can still be a significant number of units and factions on the same map.

To allow the game to play smooth and realistic, there is a system where different types of factions each have a certain number of points (titled Space Points) which controls the number of teams that can play on a map in a single game. A faction's forces are categorized in three sizes, with an additional fourth size for smaller (unplayable) native groups and wildlife:

Size 1 - consists of forces classified as Intersteller. They take up 7 Space Points.

Size 2 - consists of forces classified as Colonial. They take up 5 Space Points.

Size 3 - consists of forces classified as Planetary. They take 3 Space Points.

Size 4 - consists of native and local units classified as Ambient. They take up 1 Space Point.

Notes: If a faction is only engaging in Special Operations or Infiltration missions, then that faction's forces will be able to use 2 less Space Points in all sizes, except Size 1 which will use 4 less Space Points. The maximum amount of teams a game can have possible on a battlefield is 12, even if they're Colonial factions, the only exceptions are for native groups.

Maps are categorized into ten different types of sizes:

• Size 1: Are the smallest size of map, players will have a limit of 6-7 Space Points to use. It's normally used for Special Operations or Infiltration.

• Size 2: Are the second smallest map size, players will have a limit of 9 Space Points to use. It's normally used for Special Operations or Infiltration.

• Size 3: Players have a limit of 12 Space Points to use.

• Size 4: Players have a limit of 14 Space Points to use.

• Size 5: Players have a limit of 18 Space Points to use.

• Size 6: Players have a limit of 24 Space Points to use.

• Size 7: Players have a limit of 32 Space Points to use.

• Size 8: Players have a limit of 38 Space Points to use.

Note: Because of the extreme size of the last two Map Sizes, there are some extra combat restrictions and a slight change of gameplay. These final Map sizes are also not commonly used.

• Size 9: Is the second largest map size, players will have a limit of 50 Space Points to use.

• Size 10: The largest size map in the game, players will have a limit of 60 Space Points to use.

Note: Even though map sizes have are able to use all these Space Points, it doesn't mean that players have to use all of them. The average size game only has about 2-6 teams (not including natives).

Features

A great thing about Halo Wars was the large variety of playable units within the game but what it lacked and hardcore fans wanted, was the ability to command units of all the sentients-ranks, vehicles, air-craft, space ships and factions seen in the Halo universe. In The Great War the player can do just that.

Factions

Faction
Overview
Status
Governmental Authority: Unified Earth Government, Covenant Hegemony, Forerunner Ecumene, Independent (Insurrections, Heresies, Piracies).
Authority Class: Intersteller, Colonial, Planetary, Ambient.
Race(s): Forerunner, Human, Huragok, Jiralhanae, Kig-Yar, Lekgolo, Sangheili, San'Shyuum, Sharquoi, Unggoy, Yanme'e, Yonhet, Artificial.
Forces Size
Space Forces: Collective Fleet, Fleet, Battlegroup, Single Vessel, none.
Planetary Forces: Planetary Government, Community, Single Base, none.
Additional
Maximum Technology Level: 0, 1, 2, 3.
Combat Support: Yes/no.
Adaptable Environments: Land, Water, Space.
Available Battle Types
Land
Land Battles, Underground Battles, Air Battles.
Water
Sea Battles, Underwater Battles, Air Battles.
Space
Space Battles, Fleet Battles.
Operations
Special Operations, Infiltrations.
Notes: _ _ _ _/none.

Factions are the military and colonial organizations or teams playable in The Great War. Unlike previous Halo Wars all factions that are seen in the game are playable in the campaigns and/or multiplayer modes.

Playable Factions

Factions are not organised in the same manner as in previous Halo Wars. Now they will often appear as one branch of a larger group. For instance, the United Nations Space Command is under the authority of the Unified Earth Government, but within the UNSC there a number of different fleets and groups, such as the Third Fleet and Battlegroup Leviathan, which all have their own missions and sets of units, upgrades and Combat Support.

Factions are categorised into three main parts based on their strength and mass: A Governmental Authority is the hierarchy of a faction, within them are lesser affiliated groups, such as colonial governments and military groups. A Faction is a specific (or independent) group usually related to an Authority. Factions appear as either military groups, which consists of fleets, battlegroups, armies, corps and intelligence forces. They also appear as colonial groups, which consist of civilians, law enforcement, scientists and colonial militia. A Force or Occupants are different parts of a faction. Depending on what they are their units, upgrades, Combat Support and roles may vary. When players use a faction in a game, they will use a force as their teams source of playing through the missions they're engaged in.

Note: Independent groups such as insurrections, heresies and piracies don't often fall under an authority and even though there may be a number of similar groups, that doesn't necessarily mean that they are affiliated with each other.

Authorities are:

Authority symbols
Unified Earth Government	Covenant Hegemony	Independent

Factions are:

Factions symbols
Faction	Symbol
UNSC (United Nations Space Command)
Colonial Authority
Insurrection
Ministry of Resolution
Covenant Separatists
Covenant heresies
Kig-Yar pirates
Forerunner Caretakers
Flood

Note: Some of these listed factions only appear in the Halo Wars: The Great War - Conflicts, Halo Wars: The Great War - Halo and Halo Wars Anniversary expansions.

Great War factions
Force	Faction	Authority
Unannounced number of fleets (The Harvest Campaign)
Unannounced number of fleets (The Cole Protocol)
Unannounced number of fleets (Reach)
Colonial governments
Watt's forces	United Rebel Front	Human Insurrection (Independent)
Rebel forces	Colonial insurgents	Human Insurrection (Independent)
Unannounced number of fleets (Age of Reclamation)
Unannounced number of fleets (Luminaries)
Unannounced number of fleets (Particular Justice)
Threshold forces	Threshold heresy	Covenant Heresy (Independent)
Heretic forces	Untitled heresies	Covenant Heresy (Independent)
Kig-Yar forces	Untitled piracies	Kig-Yar Pirates (Independent)
Spirit of Fire (Spirit of Fire)
Unannounced number of fleets (Halo)
Unannounced number of fleets (Journey's End)
Shield 0459 caretakers	Forerunner Caretakers	Forerunner Ecumene
Installation 04 caretakers	Forerunner Caretakers	Forerunner Ecumene
Installation 05 caretakers	Forerunner Caretakers	Forerunner Ecumene
Installation 00 caretakers	Forerunner Caretakers	Forerunner Ecumene
Shield 0459 outbreak	Flood
Installation 04 outbreak	Flood
Installation 05 outbreak	Flood
Unannounced fleet	Covenant Separatists/Swords of Sangheilios	Covenant Remnant

Authority Classes

Authorities are classified into three categories: Intersteller authorities are the largest and most powerful groups in the game. They are large galactic empires that have numerous colonies that spread across their territories. They also have a larger variety of units and playable Battletypes available for use as well. Colonial authorities are much smaller and are present only on a few planets, usually within a single system, but can even be smaller by only occupying the near regions of a single planet. Planetary authorities are only on either certain locations of a planet or hold possession of the whole colony. They very rarely have any access outside of their planets atmosphere and are usually only small groups about the size of an Intersteller authority's force.

Notes: There is another fourth type, although they are technically not a faction: Ambient will either be an independent civilian group or appear simply as fauna; normally native to the planet being played on. They wont likely be playable at all in campaigns, but they may be playable in Forge Mode.

Force Sizes

Forces are large assemblies of units that players will use during games. They all vary in size and factions will categorize the size of their military by the amount of Space and Planetary units they have access to:

Space Forces - Collective Fleet, Fleet, Battlegroup, Single Vessel, none.

Planetary Forces - Planetary Government, Community, Single Base, none.

Fleets

Fleets are assembled armadas of ships or battlegroups that the faction they belong to uses to defend and attack territories and planets. They are extremely important because they are the main force that provide military units and Combat Support for battle types, and because of this factions are heavily dependent on them. Fleets will also be used in their own battle types called Space Battles, which add new types of missions to the Halo Wars series. In Supremacy mode, they are often used on the Galaxy map, where the player organizes their fleet/fleets to go to certain areas before the player (or opposing side) goes to start different games.

Other information about fleets is that they are lead by Naval Leaders. Each faction has a different number of fleets that vary in size. A "fleet" may not even technically be a true fleet, as it may simply be made up of a single ship.

Notes: There is a type of base, which can carry some of the same features as a fleet, specifically regarding Combat Support, units and upgrades. They are sometime called a Main Base and they will be based on the same planet the player is currently on, but it will likely be far distant from the map where the player is engaging their current forces.

Custom Factions

Custom Factions are where the player can create their own faction. Starting with a small army the player over time will gain points, which they can use to level-up and buy a ship which can eventually lead the player to becoming the master of a massive empire. Custom Factions is not used in any of the campaigns but for multiplayer purposes only. It’s mostly used in the Supremacy gametype. The player can choose which faction they use, it is also possible to merge the units and technology of other factions. The player can organize and edit the units they use placing the unit in specific numbers, giving them certain weapons and choosing their color, but not choosing the units advanced settings like, cost, population and capabilities. Other features the player can give are the ability to change building colors, choose which icons unit and structures are placed and choose their fleet's name.

Note: The more units and powerful weapons the player puts into a squad (when customizing units in a fleet) will raise it's price and population that it costs for the unit to be produced.

Leaders

Faction Leaders
Icon	Name	Information
	Naval/Colonial Leaders	Leader information...
	Field Leaders	Leader information...
	Officers/Ministerial Leaders	Leader information...
	Artificial Intelligence/Premier	Leader information...

Leaders are some of the most important and unique elements in the entire game. Depending on the Leader set up it will determine the units, upgrades and Combat Support available for the player’s current Force. In the other Halo Wars games, players could only have one Leader to account for their whole Force, but in The Great War there is a maximum of using four Leaders during a game per faction. Each of the four possible Leaders have their own contributions and specializations to the players Force. The first is either Naval Leaders which determine and control a Force’s fleets, space units, some special forces units, resources and most Combat Support or Colonial Leaders which only determine a Force’s resources and some Combat Support, but also some ground units. The second are Field Leaders which determine and control a Force’s ground, air and water units including unit upgrades. The third is either Officers or Ministerial Leaders which determine and enable prototype units, most upgrades from Research Producers and Combat Support. The fourth is either Artificial Intelligence or Premier which determine some special units and enable unique upgrades for Economy and Research Producers. Each faction needs at least one Leader to play, specifically Naval, Colonial or Field Leaders.

Note: Only Major Factions can have all 4 Leader types as Minor Factions can only have up to 2.

Heroes

One thing all Leader types can contribute to is Hero units, which are powerful Leaders that can be deployed directly to the battlefield, which are accessed via the Leader Command Menu. They can come in the form of either the highest ranking Leader’s representing the Force or be other standard field commanders. In Space Battles, Heroes will be notable ships or are captained by a significant Leader (they cannot be played as a single unit in the FPS mode). Different Heroes within the Leader Command Menu will be acquirable based on the faction’s tech level. Some are available at Tech Level 0, but others up to Tech level 4. There is a maximum of 4 Hero units available for deployment per game. Their appearance on the battlefield will boost the morale and combat values of all local units in the surrounding vicinity. Many are also able to hop in any ambient or ally vehicle (land, water, air) when the player clicks “Y” once the Crosshair is over a vehicle.

Something very cool and unique about Heroes is the ability to play as a single unit in a First-Person shooter mode.

Notes: Heroes often appear as notable and well known personalities from the games, books, comics and other media, as well as a number of new characters to the Halo Universe.

Units

Units are the forces necessary for playing The Great War. They appear in the form of infantrymen, drones, artificial agents, vehicles and ships; of all types from land based vehicles to air, to water and to space. Different types of units may be acquired by different branches of factions such as it's army, navies, airforce and other special groups.

Each unit can be made up of Infantry: Single or multiple soldiers. Vehicles: One and rarely two land or water machines (including submarines). Aircraft: A single flying machine. Fleet Ships: Very large spaceships. Units will have access to upgrades that improve their abilities on the battlefield. Standard infantry will have up to three upgrades, where vehicles, aircraft and watercraft only have up to two. Special forces and some hero units on the other hand will not have upgrades available.

Entities: Species & Intelligence

There is a large variation of species and entities in The Great War, they could be a living organism or a machine (A.I.), all with their own advantages and disadvantages. Depending on what enemy forces are against them or the environmental conditions of the location they're at, the capabilities of a species or even vehicles and machines can increase or decrease.

There are over ten different species in The Great War, as well as several artificial entities or intelligence that also appear. Organic species are: Human, Huragok, Jiralhanae, Kig-Yar (Ibie'shan, Ruuhtian, T'vaoan), Lekgolo, San'Shyuum, Sangheili, Sharquoi, Unggoy, Yanme'e and Yonhet. Artificial entities are: Artificial Agent, Artificial Intelligence, Drones and Prometheans.

Note: Other creatures, such as a broad range of fauna also appear, though they will not be playable.

Unit Categories

There are different categories of units for battle types and environments, depending on which one the player is using, there will be different types of units: Land Units based on the land consists of infantry, vehicles and aircraft. Water Units based on the water consists of amphibious infantry, watercraft, submarines, ships and aircraft. Space Units based in outer space consists of star-fighters, ships and (some) aircraft. It is also possible for battle types to crossover, with units (especially infantry and vehicles) from other categories, but they are limited in their abilities.

There is a broader range of land units compared to all the other unit types, simply because Land Battles are the main and most common sort of Battle type that players will be engaged in. Sometimes infantry may stumble across unoccupied vehicles, they may belong to any faction or may be belonging to some of the locals. Either way the infantry unit may be able to pilot them without costing additional resources or population.

Note: Military units are (generally) the only types of units a faction can produce, save some agents, scientists and individuals of religious significance.

Civilians, Wildlife and Non-Playable Units

All factions are practically only able to produce military units, with few exceptions. Even though non-military units such as civilians, animals (pets or feral) and other forms of entities can’t really be produced, it isn’t uncommon to find these units on a map, but note they are not often controllable. Civilians are normally located in colonized areas, and to an extent the same also goes for some animals, though they normally appear in non-populated regions.

In some of The Great War’s campaigns the player will take part in missions where they are able to either evacuate, defend or attack non-military units of all sorts.

Civilians can be of any race normally native or colonized to the planet being played on. They appear in many different environments usually on land, but sometimes in sea, air and even in space. Wildlife appear as various animals native to the planet being played on, and are seen in many different environments from land to sea to air.

Buildings and Producers

The primary buildings in The Great War are Producers. They are responsible for providing units, upgrades and resources, making them necessary for playing The Great War. They appear in the forms of buildings or are based at a command ship, which can then be transported into the battlefield.

Building Categories

Buildings have changed a lot since Halo Wars, they are categorized in five groups: Base Components include all command centers, base expansions, landing pads, shield generators, walls and other basic structural components. Unit Producers create all deployable units as well as related upgrades. Economy Producers provide resources, such as Supplies and Power, enabling factions to continue all production features. Research Producers upgrade and allow a means for advancement for a factions units and bases. Lastly Garrisons which can be turrets, cover, sniper towers as well as basic outposts. There is also a sixth miscellaneous type, although it isn't included in the count because they’re ambient; simply being part of the scenery, though they can be converted to do some base functions.

Command Center

Command Centers are the prime building for every base. Units of any category can be produced here, as well as upgraded. The command center is also where factions can advance their tech level, which can be done from Icon A in the Circle Menu. Each upgrade strengthens and adds onto the command center, as well as simultaneously achieving higher tech levels. It is the only Base Component that can be upgraded three times, as Stronghold Level Base Components can only be upgraded once to Fortress Level and Camps only be replaced by either of the other two types. There is a limit of how close command centres can be to each other and also how many command centers can be constructed on a map, depending on it’s size. The limit is usually of about 4-5, but on smaller maps it can be from 1-2. Larger maps can have up to 8.

Unit Producers

Unit Producers are the creators of units and primary unit upgrades. Units are able to be produced from icons on the right side of the Circle Menu (icons R1-R4) with unit upgrades being produced from the left side (icons L1-L4). Global unit upgrades that advance all units of their category are available at the top of the Circle Menu (icon A) with the lower part of the menu destroying/recycling the producer building (icon B). Not every icon on the Circle Menu will be available straight away and will require a higher tech level before players can access them.

Unit Producers come in the form of various buildings, rigs, water-ships or a command ship. There are a variety of Unit Producers for each battle type category:

• Infantry Producers produce infantry and provide their upgrades.
• Vehicle Producers produce ground vehicles and provide their upgrades.
• Aircraft Producers produce aircraft and provide their upgrades. They are often used in both Land and Water Battles.
• Watercraft Producers produce watercraft and provide their upgrades. They appear in the form of docks, rigs and large waterships.
  • Underwater Producers produce submerged units and provide their upgrades. They appear in the form of docks, rigs and large waterships.
• Watership Producers produce large waterships and provide their upgrades. They appear in the form of docks and rigs.
• Spacecraft Producers produce spacecraft and provide their upgrades. They appear as space stations, shipyards (in or out of orbit) and as larger spaceships.
• Spaceship Producers produce ships and provide their upgrades. They appear as space stations, shipyards (in or out of orbit) and as larger spaceships.

Note: Command Centers can also produce units.

Economy Producers

Economy Producers provide resources to acquire units, upgrades, buildings and Combat Support. When an economy structure is upgraded it’s resource production is doubled. There are two types of Economy Producers. Supply Producers provides Supplies, which are the main resources for acquiring units and structures. They are rarely used for upgrades. A standard Supply Producer will produce 2.7 supplies every second. Power Producers generate Power, which is generally used for upgrades, but a number of units may require a small amount of Power to be produced. A standard Power Producer will produce 3 Power every second.

Research Producers

Research Producers provide numerous global upgrades for units, Combat Support and other gameplay components for a faction. There is only one type. Unlike the original Halo Wars games Heroes/Super Units cannot be produced here. Instead Heroes are acquired via the Leader Command Menu and other special units are acquired via the Special Forces Menu.

Garrisons

Garrisons are stationary structures or organized barricades used for defense or simple lookouts. Outposts come in many different forms from very small camps to sniper towers, which improves a unit’s sight. There is also a broad variety of Turrets: Types one & two are small (especially type one) common transportable stationary guns that can be manned by (single) infantry units. Type three are tall turrets, well ranged and usually anti-air. Type Four are large to massive turrets that can take down heavy armored units or spread out ground forces. Turrets can be delivered from command ships and transported or constructed by transport ships. Turrets will either be manned by infantry or automatically function. Manned-Turrets can be placed anywhere but will require an infantry unit to occupy them. Auto-Turrets can be placed anywhere and will attack enemies on sight.

Notes: Note that it is possible for a unit in the turret to die before the gun is actually destroyed, once a turret is found unmanned other units can claim it when a unit is selected and the player presses "Y" on the turret. Turrets may be specified by their shape and size, not their armament type.

Miscellaneous Structures

There are many forms of miscellaneous structures and buildings in The Great War. They can appear in all types of environments and can resemble and represent any form or type of building. Although a lot of structures are simply part of the scenery, some are claimable and can be a good place for cover and hiding, as well as being a means for acquiring extra resources. Landing zones for instance are in a way also like this.

There are seven (usable) types of obtainable structures for occupying (that units can interact with):

• Standard Cover is a place to garrison units, which provides cover reducing the total damage intake. These can be natural or designed for defense.

• Garrisons and Barriers give cover for units on the battlefield, they can be designed for single units or an entire squad. Different types of garrisons may work better for different units like towers for sniper units.

• Turrets obtainable stationary guns.

• Supply Facility provides and produces supplies.

• Power Facility provides and produces power.

• Research Facility located in unique areas for study and can provide special upgrades.

• Unit Facility produces certain units by either converting the structure into something like and Infantry Producer or enabling the production of unique and exclusive units. These are often Forerunner.

Notes: Miscellaneous or ambient structures are not normally able to be built by the average faction, they may have been built by local groups or were created during ancient times. Sometimes these facilities my already be occupied by natives, colonists, rebels or wildlife for shelter or refuge.

Base Components and Construction

Constructing buildings is a key factor in playing The Great War, the player will be able to build structures from the Building Menu where they can create command centers, producers, turrets, outposts, walls, shield generators and other base components. Unlike previous Halo Wars games, players are not restricted to building producers right next to a command center on specific building sites. Now they will be able to construct any buildings wherever they choose, rearranging the positioning and direction they are facing, as long as there is nothing abstracting them. In addition landscaping features and full environment changes are also available. These can vary from clearing trees and land mass, to building trenches or fully converting an area to make preparation for a massive base. To upgrade base components, such as economy structures and turrets, the player will have to select the structure and when the Circle Menu appears the top icon (Icon A) will have the upgrade. Icon B will demolish or recycle the building.

Note: Take into account that depending on the environment that it is possible for buildings to sometimes get damaged or even destroyed by natural causes.

Ground Base Components

Ground-Bases can produce both standard and special units, as well as acting as a great form of defense and refuge. There are three types of ground bases, depending on the location of the base, tech level and resources the player will be able to make stronger ones: Camps are the smallest type of base, the player should need an acceptably fortifiable area with a clear space. No Camp is exactly the same, the player can rearrange the positioning of the Camp facilities and components. These are; LZs, barricades, fences, maned-turrets, tents, marquees, small buildings and a command post. Strongholds are the medium base type, they bring stronger components, the player will need to find a clear space like the Camps, Strongholds are built up of different components but are more fortified and advanced. They are made up of; LZs, barricades, walls, turrets, strong buildings and a command center. Fortress’s are the largest, strongest and most expensive type of base, they can also be an expansion or upgrade of a Stronghold, the player will need to find a large clear space, the components are also larger; LZ platforms, turrets, walls, large/long buildings and a command center.

A UNSC Landing Platform with a Pelican Dropship lifting off from it.

There are various types of base components and structures, such as special unique producers that make very specific units or other things like trenches and land mines.

Note: Ground structures are the main force and focus of buildings and structures in The Great War.

Water Base Components

Water-Bases don’t appear in different sizes as much as Ground Bases do, but in different settings. They produce watercraft on and under water, as well as special infantry troops. There are four types of Water Bases, depending on the location of the base, tech level and resources the player will be able to make stronger ones: Docks are based by the shore of the land and vary in size and shape (depending on what shape the coast is). They are made up of; LZs, docking bays, turrets, strong (dock) buildings and a command center. Rigs are based in the ocean, they vary in size and are made up of; LZs, docking bays, garrisons, turrets, strong components and a command center. Undersea Bases are based under the water and look a little bit like Strongholds and Fortresses (for Ground Bases). The only units they create are submarines and amphibious infantry. They are made up of; LZs, barricades, turrets, strong buildings and a command center. Water-ships are a type of Water-Base, they are very large ships (usually capital ships) and need to have; LZs, docking bays, turrets and a command center.

Note: Infantry and vehicles seen in ground battles can be present on water-bases.

Space Base Components

Like Water-Bases, Space-Bases (or space stations) don’t appear in the same form and sizes as Ground Bases do, but are in different settings, they produce spacecraft, though they do not produce larger ships, as they come through Slipspace. There are four types of Space Bases, depending on the location of the base, tech level and resources the player will be able to make stronger ones: Defense Stations are very large and vary in type, they are very strong and are made up of; LZs, docking bays, cannons, turrets, very strong components and a command center. Production Stations are smaller space stations compared to Defense Stations. Their function is to produce and upgrade space units and other upgrades. They are made up of; LZs, docking bays, light cannons, turrets, strong components and a command post. Spaceships are the most massive of ships in a fleet (usually capital ships), they are and act like a type of Space-Base. They have to be and need to have; LZs, docking bays, cannons, turrets, very strong components and a command center.

Outposts are not bases but are components that are seen around bases or deeper space. They can be small space stations or detector nodes.

Notes: Infantry and vehicles can be present on Space-Bases.

Mobile Base

A Mobile Base is a large unit that has the ability where they can deploy certain units to the battlefield. Units, such as the UNSC's Elephant and the Covenant's Lich and Kraken have this ability.

Modular Base

A Modular Base (or Socket Base) is a large base type for Ground Battles that has a command centre with other smaller add-ons available; turret foundations and building sites to make facilities that produce units, upgrades and advancement materials, making it unnecessary to build other structures around the base.

Facilities are:

• Infantry facility
• Vehicle facility
• Aircraft facility
• Supply facility
• Power facility
• Research facility
• Shield generator
• Cloaking generator
• Sensor tower
• Base turret

These are the exact same type of bases used in the original Halo Wars games, yet now with a number of changes; they now cost significantly more resources to make (unless Spirit of Fire is the players fleet set-up), but they are also is a lot stronger. The base also doesn’t change name when players upgrade them. The facilities on the Modular Bases also look a little different to the standard facilities, though they do resemble them quite strongly. They are not available for all fleets and factions.

Landing Zones

Landing Zones or LZs are the stations that transport aircraft used to deliver units and supplies to the battlefield. There are three different types of LZs: The first is the smallest and is just a clear space about twice to the size of the transporter, it is for transporting units. The second can be a variety of platforms around the same size as the standard LZ though a little bigger, it is for transporting units and resources. The third is a supply pad for resources and is about the same or double the size of the transporter.

Game Concepts

The Great War brings many new concepts from the previous Halo Wars that change how the gameplay works and many old concepts will also return, but may appear slightly different from how they were first presented in Halo Wars. Concepts from other Halo games will also be adapted to work for the RTS genre to make the game feel more like the Halo players are most familiar with.

Unit Attributes

All units have their own unique level of strengths and weaknesses. Unit information and stats are organized in six different categories:

Introductory Information: Unit icon, title, description and class.

Contents: Number of contained personal and their armament or vehicle.

Requirements: Cost and means for the acquisition of unit.

Attributes: Unit strengths and abilities.

Upgrades: Unit levels of advancement.

Variants: Alternate versions of the unit.

Unit List Template
Icon	Name	Description	Class
Infantry
	Unit title	Unit information	Unit role
Contents Requirements Attributes Upgrade 1 Upgrade 2 Upgrade 3 Contains... Number of units and their armament. Supplies: 0-99,999. Power: 0-99,999. Population: 0-100. Tech Level: 0-3. Time: 0s-2m. Accessed: Command Center, Mobile Base, Unit Producer. Menu Icons: A, R1-R4, L1-L4. Vitality - Health: 1-5000. Armor: 1-5000. Energy Shielding: 1-5000. Regeneration - Healing: 0-10 per 1-60 seconds. Repair: 0-10 per 1-60 seconds. Shield Recharge: 0-10 per 1-30 seconds. Physical strengths - Speed: 1-100. Agility/Mobility: 0-10. Climb: 0-10. Sight: 1-10, infinite. Detection: 1-10. Combative strengths - Fire Damage: 0-100. Melee Damage: 0-100. Range: 0-10. Accuracy: 0-10. Conditional strengths - Confidence: 0-10. Morale: 0-10. Adaption: 0-10. Camouflage: 0-10. Environments: Land, Water, Underwater, Air, Space. Upgrade • Effect: Upgrade contents. • Requirements: Upgrade cost. Variants Upgrade • Effect: Upgrade contents. • Requirements: Upgrade cost. Upgrade • Effect: Upgrade contents. • Requirements: Upgrade cost. Variants Upgrade • Effect: Upgrade contents. • Requirements: Upgrade cost. Upgrade • Effect: Upgrade contents. • Requirements: Upgrade cost. Variants Upgrade • Effect: Upgrade contents. • Requirements: Upgrade cost.
Special Forces
Vehicles
Aircraft
Watercraft
Heroes

Unit Contents Structure

Units are available in a number of forms: Infantry on average consist of up to 1-6 sentient personal or artificial entities, although it is possible for some infantry to have up to 12. Vehicles on the other hand can only consist of one, regardless of setting, whether they function in land, air or water. Space units are also generally only available in single forms, although starfighters are often grouped.

Unit Armament

Units are equipped with numerous forms of armament: The Primary Weapon is the main item for inflicting damage at enemies. The Secondary Weapon is either used for special Active Abilities or if primary weapons becomes impeded or disadvantaged, a secondary weapon may be used, which appear as lighter sidearms or melee weapons. Equipment takes on many forms and usages, such as tools for support actions, active/adaptive camouflage, energy shielding, jetpacks and other active ability functions. Armor exclusively to some infantry units, there could be different armor types that could be set depending on the player's fleet.

Active Abilities can appear as a variety of different actions, such as the use of unique weapons, a powerful attack or movement to the activation of equipment of all sorts.

Note: Not every unit in the game focuses on combat and often wont even use any weapons or engage in combat. These units are often support units, but also appear as civilian and ambient.

Unit Acquisition

In order to produce new units on the battlefield, specific requirements need to be met, which will cost players resources and space. There are five main categories for the acquisition of units:

Population: 0-100.

Tech Level: 0-4.

Supplies: 0-infinite.

Power: 0-infinite.

Production Time: 0s-5m.

Notes: Units that require 0 Population are limited to the production of only 1-3 on the battlefield at a time. Units can be produced in facilities such as (or in) buildings, ships or mobile bases (often in the forms of large vehicles).

Unit Health: Hit Points

Unit hit points, generally referred to simply as "Health" are the life source of all units. Each unit will have a number of hit points, which determines it's strength and endurance. When a unit is damaged, their hit point count will decrease and once all hit points are gone the unit will die or be destroyed rendering it unusable. There are three types of hit points; Health, all sentient units have health points, which are the primary hit points in the game. Armor, used by all machines and frequently with infantry units. Energy Shielding isn't available to all units, but for those who have it their strength is greatly increased.

Unit Health and Armor both have a limit of 1-100 hit points, with the possibility of 0-10 points of healing or repairs every 1-60 seconds. Energy Shields differ slightly by having 1-100 hit points, but with 0-10 points of shield regeneration every 1-30 seconds.

Unit Abilities: Skill Points

Unit skill points are a broad range of capabilities that vary with each unit. These capabilities are divided into three categories of strengths: Physical, Combative and Conditional. Dealing with units movement, vision, damage infliction, interactions with other units and the environments they are located. Skill Points are by no means fixed, they can vary with different factions and especially in regards to unit upgrades.

Capabilities are:

Speed: 1-100 - unit's ability travel quickly.

Movement: 0-10 - unit's agility.

Jump: 0-10 - unit's ability get over rough environments and move to places faster.

Sight: 1-10, infinite - distance unit's can see.

Detection: 1-10 - unit's ability to locate hidden or camouflaged units and objects.

Damage: 0-100 - unit's ability to inflict ranged damage on enemies.

Melee Damage: 0-100 - unit's ability to inflict melee damage on enemies.

Range: 0-10 - distance unit's weapons can fire.

Accuracy: 1-10 - likelihood of unit's accuracy and effective usage of weapons.

Confidence: 0-10 - improves unit's will and effectiveness to follow orders and face harder forces on the battlefield.

Morale: 1-10 - confidence boost given to local units.

Adaption: 1-10 - unit's ability to adapt to different environments.

Camouflage: 1-10 - unit's ability and equipment to blend in with the battlefield.

Note: Depending on what type of unit or environment a unit is located at, the effectiveness of that unit's capabilities may vary, decreasing or increasing it's efficiency on the battlefield.

There are two more additional types of abilities, although they are technically not skill points:

Collect Resources: Yes/no.

Environments: Land, water, air, space, earth.

Unit Combat

Counter-Unit Systems

Infantry > Aircraft > Vehicles > Infantry.

The Great Wars uses the same rock, paper, scissors and traffic lights systems from the classic Halo Wars games. Players need to be tactical and use their units appropriately to be effective against their enemies. Generally, infantry will have the upper hand over aircraft, with aircraft over vehicles (this includes watercraft) and with vehicles over infantry. This is not always the case as there are special counter-units such as the Wolverine and Anti-Air Wraith, which are ground vehicles that can do a great deal of damage to air units, though such units tend to be considerably less effective against all other unit types.

The Traffic Lights system was introduced in Halo Wars 2 as a general indicator of units strengths and weaknesses against certain kinds of units, as well as buildings. When a unit is upgraded it’s Traffic Light rating may change. This system doesn’t guarantee a victory, but shows the most likely outcome:

Green: Units are expected to win against units with a green marker over them.

Yellow: Units are expected to receive a great amount of damage against units with a yellow marker over them.

Red: Units are expected to lose against units with a red marker over them.

Gray: Units are ineffective against units with a gray marker over them.

Note: The Great War introduces two new elements that are applicable to the Traffic Lights system: Submerged and Energy Shielding.

Ordnance Points

Originally known as Veterancy Points in Halo Wars, now called Ordnance Points, which have a similar role to the Ordnance Points in Halo Reach and 4, yet they have changed a bit to fit in with the RTS genre. They give bonus advantages to units, increasing their statistics. Units can gain Ordnance Points by defeating enemy units, vehicles, structures or any situations that gives them experience on the battlefield. Units can also acquire Ordnance Points by the age of it's deployment and from standard upgrades. Stronger enemies will give a unit more points and once the unit gains a certain amount of points, that unit will get a free upgrade to it's capabilities and armament, giving it the possibility of extra damage, health, speed or better weaponry and so on.

The Stars, which signify whether a unit has an Ordnance upgrade.

The player will know if units have an Ordnance upgrade by stars that appear above the units health bar when the player selects it and will know when a unit recently acquires one by a light mist which will appear around a unit for a short moment. Each unit has a max of 5 stars, except for leaders and heroes that have a maximum of 5, 10 or 15. If a unit survives a level or mission in the game, it will appear in the next with all it's upgrades still included.

Unit Selecting & Targeting

All units will have a ring around them marked on the ground when the player moves the Crosshair over them for 2-3 seconds and for some units within that ring certain parts of the unit will be highlighted, this is because every single unit is individual even if they are already part of a squad. For instance, if there is an infantry unit (with more than one soldier) each highlighted part will represent a single soldier and the same for aircraft and other units, but for some larger single units like tanks, transport ships and other vehicles; specific parts of the vehicle (which can include infantry being transported) will be highlighted instead of separate units (like wheels, wings and cannons). When the players units attack and damage one of those parts it will be weaker in the categories that part was used in - the player can do this when they moves the Crosshair over one of these highlighted bits and clicks “X” the players units will attack that specific part of the unit.

Resources and Advancement

There is a broad range upgrades and technological advancements available in The Great War, which are the key to strengthening and developing a faction in every regard. To acquire these advancements factions need resources.

Resources

There are two forms of resources that a faction will need to produce units, upgrades, build structures and access Combat Support:

Supplies are the main resources for producing units and buildings. It is rarely ever used in research for upgrades.

Power is the main resources for upgrading units and buildings. As much as it is mainly used for research, some units do require a small amount of power to be produced, especially special forces units.

Technology Levels

Technology Levels or Tech Levels are the stages of advancement for a faction, every tech level unlocked more upgrades, units, structures as well of number of other features will become available. Tech Level 0 is the initial level, which can then be raised three times. Factions can reach higher tech levels by upgrading their command centers.

Population

Population is a major feature that controls the amount of units the player, enemy and allied teams are able to deploy in a game. Every time a faction acquires new units the amount of population room is filled up. Different units will take up smaller or larger amounts of population, depending on it's size and strength. The population limit has raised greatly since the originally Halo Wars and the player can further raise the Population limit by getting specific upgrades from a Research Producer.

Note: From a canon perspective population limits are there because factions or fleets cant always spare legions of units straight to one area of the battlefield or war. For in game purposes, if there is too many objects or AI on the battlefield the game runs less efficiently with increasing lag and even the inability to play the game.

Upgrades

Upgrades are the source of advancement for units, structures, garrisons, combat support and practically everything available for production in the game. Upgrading a unit or structure could advance its offensive or defensive strengths, as well as its exploratory and interactive abilities. There are two different types of upgrades for a unit or structure: The general place for upgrading units will be the same Unit Producers where the player would acquire the unit that is being upgraded. The unit will be on the right of the Cycle Menu and the upgrade will be on the left. For structures the player will have to click on the structure and upgrade it there. The second system of upgrades will be from Research Producers, where the player can acquire unique upgrades that can advance a faction’s units, structures and combats support in a variety of manners, as well as upgrading a factions abilities all round.

Operations Menu

The Operations Menu brings up a library of various individual screens, which the player can switch through by using the bumpers:

• • Screen 1 - Shows objectives.
  • Screen 2 - Shows an enlarged map of the battlefield and Ally Support options.
  • Screen 3 - Shows information on relevant subjects, stats, trading resources and the ability of choosing allegiances.
  • Screen 4 - Shows timelines and skulls.

Combat Support & Leader Bonuses

Combat Support acts with the same function as the Leaders Powers in the previous Halo Wars games. The majority of Combat Support is provided by the player's fleet, generally from their capital ship, but can come from a variety of other sources. There are three categories of Combat Support, each has its own Menu with room for up to 8-10 different support actions. Many different types of support are available in gameplay. The variety of Combat Support range from air strikes and attacks to enemies from ships and aircraft, transport and healing for the player's forces and allies and special forces reinforcements.

Air Support

Air Support is a special way of bringing aid to the battlefield. Provided from the fleet or other distant base, it comes in two forms: The first being an offensive form of support where special attacks coming from the fleet or aircraft sending air strikes and raids, strategic bombing, special bombs or blasts of energy to the surface attacking ground forces. The second type is where the fleet provides healing and repair for all friendly units, as well as providing several forms of transport.

Note: Air Support is available at the Air Support Menu.

• Missile Barrages are sent in by aircraft or ships shooting a spread out and mass barrage attack.

• Orbital Bombardment a scattered array of blast fire from a ship or fleet decimating the earth.

• Orbital Blasts are single yet massive power strikes or blasts that hit targets with high damage.

• Special Attacks sends unique types of bombs and strikes, such as cryogenic and electromagnetic bombs.

• Transport sends units to different locations on or out of the battlefield. Depending on how many units are being transported more resources will be required and bigger or more numerous transport ships will be sent.

Note: Players may only have a limited amount of transport ships available and if they get destroyed, it's possible all air transport will become unavailable for a time.

• Healing restores health by healing and repairing units in a set location, also applicable to allied factions.

• Drop-Pods are a way of deploying infantry units to the battlefield without having to wait for any production time.

Notes: Using drop-pods is dangerous because they may get destroy entering the atmosphere of a planet. Only units from the Special Forces Menu and Leader Command Menu can use drop-pods, most notably Helljumpers.

Reinforcements and Special Forces Deployment

Producers are not the only means of deploying units to the battlefield. Players will be able to call in new units (in bulk) directly from the fleet via the Reinforcements Menu when they are unable to use standard Unit Producers or require backup asap. Units from the Reinforcements Menu will cost double the resources to what they would if they were produced via standard means, although they produce much faster and can send multiple units all at once. There is a limit of eight unit options of any standard infantry, vehicle or aircraft, such options will vary depending on the player’s leaders and fleet, but are generally pretty standard.

Unique units, such as special forces and prototypes that are not available from standard producers can also be deployed by this means. Acquired through the Special Forces Menu, these units are more advanced and specialized than standard units. They come primarily in the form of infantry, but also vehicles, aircraft, watercraft and spacecraft.

Units directly from the fleet or other places of command (normally far distant from the map) are primarily delivered by dropships, but occasionally drop-pods, which have no production time that are also used for special units like ODSTs.

Notes: Players cannot upgrade units with either of these menus. Special Forces particularly do not have any upgrades at all, although they are frequently more capable and stronger than their fully upgraded counterparts.

Ally Support

This type of Combat Support isn’t provided by the players capital ship, but is used when the player needs extra forces when attacking an enemy to defeat them, the player can ask for the assistance of an ally. Also unlike other Combat Support it is not activated by clicking the D-Pad but on one of the screens when clicking the View Button. If there are numerous enemies on the battlefield and the player has no allies, and those enemies are adversaries of each other. The player can sometimes ally themselves with an enemy in order to defeat the common one. There is a risk in making new allies in such a manner as they may take advantage of the player by attacking them after the battle or if they deny the player's request to become allies they may attack the player's base while their attacking their other enemy.

Note: Sometimes allies my demand resources for help.

Leader Command Menu

In Halo Wars Skirmish mode there were three leaders for each faction for the player to choose from. Each Leader would have unique units and Leader Powers/Spirit of Fire abilities, but the player could never have more than one Leader and it's specialties at the same time in a game. But now in The Great War these abilities are spread out from up to four Leaders that are all usable at once.

The Leader Command Menu is where players can access Leader/Hero units. There is a maximum of eight Hero type options per faction. Generally, when the player starts a mission they will have one Leader available to begin with, but as they evolve tech levels more will become available to purchase.

Planets and Environments

There is a broad range of environments and biome in The Great War, from familiar and common ones that we see around us every day to unique environments to the Halo universe. Each planet will have its own unique environments, natural and some unnatural that will effect the way the map looks and plays. The general types of environments are grasslands, wetlands, forests, deserts, oceans and glasslands. Depending on what sort of environments there are, different units may react differently in them, by increasing or decreasing their strengths and capabilities.

Landscape

Many types of landscapes make appearances that change the terrain of planets and maps: Fields (Flat surfaces), Hills, Mountains, Valleys, Cliffs, Other flat surfaces, etc.

Land Environments

The different types of ground surfaces that appear on land:

Surfaces: Natural

Dirts (browns, red, etc), Mud, Grasses (green, red, etc), Dry Grasses, Leaves, Salt, Sands, Snow, Ice, Stones, Rocky (pebbles, small rocks, etc), Lava (solid), Other surfaces, etc.

Surfaces: Unnatural

Glassland, Glassland (recent/burning), Hard Light, Flood Growths (surface), Covenant Metals, Forerunner Metals, Other Metals and Artificial Surfaces, etc.

Natural & Unnatural Objects

Objects: Natural & Unnatural Trees, Bushes and Ferns, Mosses, Crystals, Rocks, Buildings and Structures, etc.

Water & Liquid Environments

The different types of conditions that appear on water:

Water Types (which will include the underwater environment variant)

Oceans, Rivers, Lakes, Dams, Streams, Ponds.

Liquids: Natural

Fresh Water, Salt Water, Polluted Water, Oils, Lava, etc.

Air Types

The different types of conditions in Air: Fresh, Polluted, Toxic, Methane, Gases, etc.

Weather

The weather in The Great War plays a big part in how units look and act in different environments. The weather can even change the environment in some parts, which will change the way units cope within them. For example if the player has units on a dirt track and it starts to rain, the dirt could become mud. Or if the wind picks up the dust could decrease units vision.

List of types of weather:

Temperature: Heat/Chill, etc.

Units level light: Light Fog, Light Rain, Wind, etc.

Units level heavy: Heavy Fog, Heavy Rain, Heavy Wind, etc.

Above: Clouds, Storms, Lightning, etc.

Environmental effects on units

Depending on what sort of surfaces that are present on a map, certain units will respond differently, depending on how thick/deep or thin/shallow the ground is. The section "Low" is for when units sink slightly into the ground, but will normally do the same effect and the section "Short". The section "Even" is when the ground doesn't interfere with the units movement. The section "Short" is when the ground interferes slightly with the walk of the unit walking/driving past. The section "Long" is when the ground (or what's on it) is long enough to cover a significant part of the unit moving through it:

• Low: Mud, Sand, Snow, Leaves, Stream Water.

• Even: Dirt, Thin Grass, Thin Leaves, Salt, Ice, Glassland, Hard Light, Metals, Artificial Surface.

• Short: Short Grass, Rocky, Lava (solid), Flood Growths.

• Long: Long Grass, Canes, Thick Snow, Shallow Water.

Some surfaces will have more effects and can even be deadly to units:

• Dangerous: Tornados, Quick Sand, Thin Ice, Cold Water, Hot Water, Fire, Lava, Acid, Mines, Other Explosives, etc.

• Vision: Fog, Rain, Dust Storms, Smoke.

Space Environments and Conditions

The environment in space are very different to any others; there is no gravity, weather, land or water and the conditions are extremely few, making less to explain. There are a few types of space objects, etc.

Skulls

Skull model in The Great War

Skulls add and tamper with features in certain aspects of the game, making the game either more challenging, easier, more humorous, as well as enabling players to unlock unique bonus content. There are twenty Skulls in the standard edition of the game of four different skull variants:

Deathly Skulls Make the gameplay more challenging, disabling players abilities or strengthening the enemy.

Noble Skulls Make the gameplay easier by providing more resources for players and giving them additional strength, as well as weakening the enemy.

Party Skulls Don't make the game harder or easier, but change the presentation and expression of things by making them more fun, such as adding new animations and colors/skins.

Plus Skulls Unique and very different to the other skulls, they don't effect gameplay but unlock new features in the menu and other subjects.

Skulls don't have to be collected in The Great War, there are five that don't need to be unlocked which the player can use at any time, but all other Skulls must be unlocked. A Skull is unlocked after every campaign completed and one is also unlocked for completing a match in Supremacy for the first time, another is unlocked for playing online for the first time etc. Skulls don't just make the gameplay different they also unlock new features like custom difficulties.

Note: The main Skulls come with the standard edition of the game, all Skulls that come with expansion packs don't count into unlocking the extra features.

Gameplay Types & Multiplayer

Battle Types

Battle Types or Mission Types are battle environment variants that will use different types of forces for different locations. The Battle Type differences are defined by environment, location, units (land, water and space) and unit producers.

Ground Battles

Ground Battles are missions located on the surface of a planet. The military forces used for these Battle Types are Infantry, Vehicles and Aircraft. There are two types of Ground Battles:

Land Battles based on the surface of a planet, they are the most common location for all Battle Types with the largest variety of units, as they were the most common in-atmosphere environment fought in during the Human-Covenant War.

Underground Battles based under the surface of a planet, environments are more risky and unpredictable in this Battle Type as maps are darker and there is a potential of cave-ins. This Battle Type also brings in new unit types such as drilling machines.

Water Battles

Water Battles, like Land Battles are based on a planet, but on the water instead of land. Water Battles bring many new unit types to the Halo universe, such as water-ships, jet skies and submarines. There are two types of Water Battles:

Sea Battles aren’t always based in the ocean, but can also be based in any expanse of water environment such as dams, rivers, etc. Ships from Sea Battles can attack air and land units.

Underwater Battles will be the first form of gameplay based underwater in Halo.

Note: If the player starts a mission in Water Battles with a water base they will automatically start at Tech Level 1.

Air Battles

Air Battles (or Air Combat) is unlike other Battle Types, as it's frequently and more commonly seen aligned with other Battle Types, such as Ground and Water Battles. Although there is still Air Battles where there is just air units facing each other in the sky. This type can merge with Space Battles.

Space Battles

Located out in deep space or outside the atmosphere of a planet. Space Battles use units from standard aircraft to massive supercarriers. There are two types of Space Battles:

Fleet Battles are the largest scale battles in The Great War, the player can use entire fleets and battle others.

Space Battles are a smaller scale version of Fleet Battles, less chaotic and some of the largest units may be the smallest seen in Fleet Battles.

Note: If the player starts a mission in Space Battles with a space base they will automatically start at Tech Level 1.

Operations

Operations are very different in comparison to the other Battle Types. They are played with only a small number of units, usually special forces and normally rely on the initial forces the player starts with at the beginning of a mission, with few yet rarely appearing reinforcements. They are more of a battle variant than another Battle Type, as they can happen within almost any sort of Battle Type setting or environment. There are two type of Operations:

Special Operations usually consist of a lot of traveling and are more similar to the campaign levels and Spartan-Ops from the original Halo games.

Infiltrations are very similar to Special Operations except they are based inside a structure (ships, buildings etc), making Combat Support unavailable for this type. Infiltrations will often appear in offensive/defensive situations.

Note: In some Operation missions units are only playable in the First-Person Mode.

Battle Type Crossovers

Battle Types can often crossover with each other, allowing different types of forces and environments to intertwine on the battlefield.

List of what Battle Types can crossover with each other:

• Land Battles - Can crossover with Underground, Sea and Air Battles and partly with Underwater and Space Battles.

• Underground Battles - Can crossover with Land Battles and partly Underwater Battles.

• Sea Battles or Water Battles - Can crossover with Land, Underwater and Air Battles and partly with Space Battles

• Underwater Battles - Can crossover with Sea Battles and partly with Land, Underground and Air Battles.

• Air Battles - Can crossover with Land, Sea and Space Battles and partly Underwater Battles.

• Fleet Battles - Can crossover with Space Battles.

• Space Battles - Can crossover with Fleet and Air Battles and partly with Land and Sea Battles.

• Special Operations - Can crossover with all Battles and Operations except Fleet Battles.

• Infiltrations - Can crossover with all Battles and Operations except Fleet and Underground Battles.

Game Modes

The Great War has a significant variety of game modes. The majority of modes have been based off previous Halo games, which have been adapted for the real-time strategy style of gameplay.

Campaigns

Unlike other Halo games, The Great War has numerous campaigns, meaning it has the largest story mode out of any game in the entire series. The game is based during the years of the Human-Covenant War and plays out many of it's major battles and campaigns, from the first battle at Harvest to the end of the war on The Ark. Also unlike the previous Halo Wars, players will be able to play as several factions rather than just the UNSC. A campaign is defined by the era, faction and fleet being played. In some missions players can use factions that aren't of the specific campaign; this is just for standalone missions to broaden the story from other directions, as well as improving the context of the current campaign. Every campaigns isn't available all at once, players will have to start off with the earlier ones based from 2525 to 2526 and build their way up from there, unlocking new missions and campaigns as they go.

Because of the massive length of the game the developers made the decision to separate it into three parts: The standard game comes with a tutorial and six major campaigns from the war; three for the UNSC and three for the Covenant. It starts off at the very beginning of the war and finishes off at the Fall of Reach. The first two expansion packs of the game make up the rest of The Great War. The first expansion, The Great War - Conflicts deals with various standalone battles and missions based across the galaxy during the the Human-Covenant war. The second, The Great War - Halo continues off just after the Fall of Reach onward to the discovery of Halo, right to the end of the war at the Ark. It pretty much covers all the major battles during the same time as the original Halo trilogy.

Campaigns for the initial release of The Great War:

• Tutorial/Prologue - Contact
  

UNSC campaigns

• The Harvest Campaign
• The Cole Protocol
• Reach
  

Covenant campaigns

• Age of Reclamation
• Luminaries
• Particular Justice

Supremacy

Supremacy is a new online gametype to Halo. Players from around the world will face each other in galaxy-wide conflict making allegiances and conquering different worlds in the Halo universe. Even though the planets and forces do exist in Halo lore, Supremacy itself is non-canon.

Supremacy will start on a randomly generated map on one of the Outer Colony worlds facing other undeveloped factions. Players start with the option of using either Human or Covenant factions with minimal strengths and only a single light warship. There will be no allies during the first game and by winning that match they conquer the battlefield and can use the map and customize it to suit their desires. The losing teams will have to start again on another map. Default factions are Colonial governments, UNSC and Covenant.

The ultimate goal of players in Supremacy is to develop and expand their forces and allegiances to the point where they possess massive fleets and have stations and allies on planets around the whole galaxy. Players can become allied with other players and furthermore by joining their fleets together, which can lead creating their own empire.

As a faction develops they are able to customize their forces as they see fit and depending on what decisions they make, they can even separate from the mainstream UNSC and Covenant factions and become Independent. Independent factions can go from Covenant heresies to human insurrections or pirates, but can even combine human and certain alien forces.

Supremacy runs on a credits (cR) system, which enable players to upgrade and develop their factions to increase size, strength and allow the ability to customize their forces. New factions only start with 10,000 credits to build their initial force and for winning a match gain 1000 credits with additional bonus credits in regards to how strong their forces were at the end of the match. Credits can be used and are needed in order to buy fuel that allow players to move to new systems and planets, as well as unlocking new units, weapons, buildings, upgrades and other gameplay features. Alongside the credit system, is a system of tokens that allow factions to buy and unlock new ships to add to their fleet. The player will start with 5 tokens to buy their first ship and by winning a match gain 1 new token. This system is added as there is a massive contrast from the price of units and weapons in comparison to starships, e.g. as the average weapon costs 1000-3000 cR and a ship can cost millions.

Notes: Even though many of the maps are randomly generated every map that is seen in the campaigns and multiplayer is playable in Supremacy. Once a faction acquires a capital ship or carrier they can engage in fleet battles. Supremacy credits can also be earned via the standard multiplayer system, but the reward per match is only 100 cR. In the purchase of expansions new default factions will become available, such as the Flood.

cR and Token Purchases
Halo Wars: The Great War uses micro transactions like many contemporary video games, which can be used to buy credits and tokens for Supremacy.

1000 cR $2.99

3000 cR $7.99

5000 cR $12.99

7000 cR $16.99

10000 cR $24.99

50000 cR $114.99

1 token $2.99

3 tokens $7.99

5 tokens $12.99

7 tokens $16.99

10 tokens $24.99

50 tokens $114.99

Shown in US dollar.

Skirmish

Skirmish Mode returns to Halo Wars in The Great War. Skirmish is played primarily for multiplayer (or just player vs AI) when two or more opposing teams face each other with a limited and normally equal amount of resources. Maps for Skirmishes can range from exclusive Skirmish maps to ones seen in campaigns and even randomly generated ones. In previous Halo Wars games there was a maximum of six players/teams in a Skirmish; 1vs1, 2vs2 and 3vs3, (with allies on both sides for the player and enemy). But now that can be doubled to twelve with any number of teams facing each other; 1vs1, 1vs11, 6vs6, 1vs1vs1, 4vs4vs4 and 1vs1vs1vs2, etc.

Forge

Forge mode is now available for the first time in a Halo RTS for The Great War. It shares many similar concepts to the Forge from the mainline Halo games, but is far more vast regarding it's features. Not only can the player construct bases and place down units but can change entire environments and landscapes from the bottom up. The player is able to create anything that is seen in the game, using and editing (canonical) maps already made that appear in the Galaxy Map or starting from scratch with a blank canvas or maps uniquely themed. Players will be able to create unique maps, designs for multiplayer and make a personally designed campaign. They can do such things as lifting the landscape, add oceans and forests, create barren deserts and glasslands. Build up their base by placing down units, buildings, structures and a broad range of unique objects. Add and upgrade factions, change team colors, change the weather, gravity and atmosphere. Player can also make missions exclusively for the First-Person Mode with the RTS mode disabled. The ability to create cutscenes and cinematics with the in-game engine is also available.

Players can upload their maps and campaigns that they’ve created for others to download and enjoy. If the player wants to download a Forge creation, they will have to go to the "Download Files" section and then go to the section that is called "Forge Uploads" and within that there will be seven categories of which they can download from, titled:

Download Map

Download Faction

Download Units and Structures

Download Gametype

Download Campaign

Download/Stream Machinema

Download Wallpaper

Theater

Theater is exactly like Theater from the other Halo games, yet with some additional features. When the player finishes a mission, their gameplay will be saved into a library of twenty or their most recently played games. In Theater mode, players will be able to revisit their gameplay in an entirely new manner, where they can view recorded footage in a variety of different manners and perspectives. Such as from the standard top down view from traditional gameplay, or from first or third person perspective of any unit. They will also have the ability to independently explore any part of the map from all angles. When players are in this mode they will be able to pause, fast-forward and rewind footage, as well as record it and take screenshots.

Theater Live

Theater Live is a new online feature where players can watch live games in Theater mode. Player can have the option to watch these games by either entering an open match or if they're a participating faction in a game of multiple teams and theirs is defeated, they can get the option of exiting the game or enter Theater (or Battle Examination mode).

Theater Live is also compatible with Twitch.tv.

Multi & Co-Operative Play

Multiplayer in The Great War is very similar to previous Halo Wars games, it is played primarily through Skirmish mode, though it is also used in Supremacy, Forge and Theater. If non-A.I. players want to play with each other, they will have to do it through system link or online via Xbox Live and the same goes for Co-Operative Play.

Matchmaking

Note: If on Xbox Matchmaking it will require an Xbox Live Gold Membership.

Matchmaking is just like previous Halo games, it is an online multiplayer system allowing players or teams to get matched with multiple games being played through Skirmish or Supremacy game modes, like the matchmaking from Halo Wars players are put together by their skill level and rank which are increased when a player gets experience and high scores in gameplay. When a player reaches a certain score they are awarded a new rank.

Note: If there is an even game going on online and a player drops out during it, there is an option available for one of their allied factions to inherit their deployed forces and technology to make sure a game suddenly doesn't shift in an unfair direction.

Skirmish Gametypes

Each team can be commanded by a player or AI. The Galaxy Map provides all the multiplayer maps in the game, which also appear in the campaigns, though some are unique to Skirmish mode and the other gametypes. Goals are to destroy the enemy, collect specific items, create armies or survive till the end of a timer, and so on. There are various Skirmishes modes, many carried on from previous Halo Wars or based off old multiplayer gametypes from classic Halo games. Custom Games is also available, the player can do so by editing existing gametypes.

Gametypes are:

Deathmatch

• Deathmatch: Involves players developing their base by growing their forces and advancing their buildings and other faction components. The goal of Deathmatch is to destory all enemy bases. Players have no allies for the gametype, it's every team for themselves. All units, structures, Combat Support and population will need to be upgraded manually if the player wants to give their side maximum strength.

Starting resources: 600 Supplies. 400 Power. Tech Level 0.

• Team Deathmatch: Exactly the same as Standard Deathmatch, but now each side have ally factions. There will usually only be two sides but there can be more.

Starting resources: 600 Supplies. 400 Power. Tech Level 0.

• Ultimate Deathmatch: Similar to the classic Halo Wars Deathmatch, players start with high resources, maximum tech level, as well as a leader. All players units, structures, Combat Support and leaders are fully upgraded. Although population starts low.

Starting resources: 15000 Supplies. 8000 Power. Tech Level 3.

Note: There can be standard and team variants of Ultimate Deathmatch.

Domination

• Domination: Involves players battling to capture and control strategic locations for dominance of the map. Domination Points are spread out across the map of which after they are under their control players will start receiving score points. Players are additionally able to build outposts over and fortify Domination Points to better defend them. Once they reach the maximum score their team wins.

Starting resources: 600 Supplies. 400 Power. Tech Level 0.

Note: Sometimes Domination Points may be occupied by independent local factions.

• Total Domination: Starting off with relatively high resources, players must expand their territory by controlling certain points and building outposts over them. After an outpost is built players can strengthen it by constructing a base around it. After a team has claimed a high percentage of the map a 5-10 minute timer activates and if enemy teams are not able to regain control and stop the count down by the end of the timer victory is awarded to the team with the largest territory.

Starting resources: 1800 Supplies. 1200 Power. Tech Level 0.

• Ultimate Domination: Is a fast-paced, timed version of Domination similar to Total Domination, but players have extremely high resources and all gameplay components are fully upgraded. They need to construct as many bases as possible in specific areas before the timer ends and the team with the most bases by this point wins.

Starting resources: 99,999 Supplies. 99,999 Power. Tech Level 3.

Note: Ultimate Domination acts much like the gamemode Strongholds from Halo Wars 2.

Extraction

• Extraction: Involves teams battling to capture Relics that located in random places across the map. Only one Relic will appear at a time and players need send units to acquire and hold it for a set amount of time without the enemy team destroying the carrier. Teams able to hold the Relic until the timer ends gain a point, but if they are destroyed the Relic is lost and players will have to wait for the next one to be located. Once a team has successfully been able to acquire 3 Relics they win.

Starting resources: 600 Supplies. 400 Power. Tech Level 0.

• Ultimate Extraction: Much like standard Extraction, except there are numerous Relics scattered across the map. Once a team has collected a Relic they will have to bring it to one of their bases. Unlike standard Extraction enemies can kill units carrying Relics and then bring them back to their own base. The goal is to acquire as many Relics as possible by the end of a set timer and the team with the most Relics win.

Starting resources: 600 Supplies. 400 Power. Tech Level 0.

Note: Extraction is the renaming of the gametype from the original Halo Wars "Keepaway", which was the adaption of "Capture the Flag" from the classic Halo games.

Juggernaut

• Juggernaut: Involves one Juggernaut team versing all other player, who have to work together to defeat the Juggernaut team. Players start with low resources and are limited to one base, besides small defensible camps, which they can still construct. The Juggernaut team starts with high resources and all gameplay components fully upgraded.

Starting resources: 500 Supplies. 300 Power. Tech Level 0.

Starting resources (Juggernaut): 6000 Supplies. 4000 Power. Tech Level 3.

Notes: Initial resources for teams may vary depending on how many factions are involved. The Juggernaut gametype is restricted to a minimum of three teams.

• Ninjanaut: Set up like standard Juggernaut except that everything in the Juggernaut team is cloaked with active camouflage and all their units move 2X faster, although the Juggernaut team has considerably less resources, and all standard players have no mini-map.

Starting resources: 500 Supplies. 300 Power. Tech Level 0.

Starting resources (Juggernaut): 3500 Supplies. 2000 Power. Tech Level 3.

• Ultranaut: Set up like standard Juggernaut except that the Juggernaut team has considerably less resources and all Juggernaut units have higher health, damage, speed and all have overshields.

Starting resources: 500 Supplies. 300 Power. Tech Level 0.

Starting resources (Juggernaut): 3000 Supplies. 1500 Power. Tech Level 3.

Tug of War

• Tug of War: Involves players striving to produce the strongest army. Players must fight to reduce their enemies forces, while success is also determined by the players standing army, building and resource level by the end of the game. All gameplay components have a numerical value, which is measured by a bar at the top of the screen with an indicator that is pulled towards the side with the strongest army. The team that is able to get the indicator to reach their end of the bar wins.

Starting resources: 600 Supplies. 400 Power. Tech Level 0.

Game Expansions

Several digital expansions are planned for The Great War, which will expand on the stories and events of the Great War, even giving highlight on other conflicts during and leading up to the same period of the Human-Covenant War. The first expansion will be released four months after the game's initial release and from there every other expansion will be released every six-twelve months after the previous release. With each expansion new factions, campaigns, units, characters and maps can be introduced, as well as many other features. Often new gametypes will be released at the same time as the expansions as a promotion. Additionally three new Skulls will come with each digital expansion.

There are five DLC expansions planned for The Great War:

The Great War - Conflicts expansion

The first expansion for The Great War, released four months after the official game's release. It adds various stand alone missions to The Great War for UNSC, Covenant, Colonial, Insurrection, Kig-Yar Pirate and the new Covenant Heretics factions. The expansion takes players to locations all over the galaxy, where they can engage in all kinds of conflicts. There is also a greater number of space battles and special operations in this expansion.

The Great War - Halo expansion

The second expansion for The Great War, released six months after the Conflicts expansion. It adds two new main campaigns, as well as three other smaller campaigns related to several new factions. The new factions being; Forerunner Caretakers, the Flood, Threshold heresy; a new Covenant Heresy and Covenant Separatists.

Campaigns take off straight after the final campaigns in The Great War, they are:

Chapter 4 - Halo (September 19, 2552 - December 11, 2552 (UNSC campaign))

Chapter 4 - Journey's End (September 19, 2552 - December 11, 2552 (Covenant campaign))

100,000 Years (September 20, 2552 - December 11, 2552 (Caretakers campaign))

Awakening (September 20, 2552 - December 11, 2552 (Flood missions))

Truth (November 03, 2552 - December 11, 2552 (Separatist campaign))

Halo Wars Anniversary expansion

The third expansion for The Great War, released almost a year after the last expansion. It is a complete remake of the original Halo Wars. Unlike other anniversary editions of Halo games, Halo Wars: Anniversary isn't being released exactly ten years after the game first came out and wont use the same system of switching from old graphics to new. The game and cutscenes has been fully remade with The Great War's engine and system of gameplay. Blur will not be returning in the recreation of the game's cutscenes. It contains the original campaign, plus four new levels for the Covenant faction and another one for the Forerunner Caretakers.

The campaigns are titled:

Spirit of Fire (February 04 - February 25 / March 11 2531 (UNSC campaign))

Fleet of the Ancients (Covenant campaign)

Broken Stronghold (February 25, 2531 (Caretakers mission))

Note: The story of Halo Wars picks off almost instantly after the first UNSC and Covenant campaigns in The Great War.

Homeworlds expansion

The fourth expansion for The Great War, released a year after the previous expansion. It adds two new campaigns based before the time of the first contact and the Human-Covenant war. It introduces earlier versions of the UNSC and Covenant factions. The first campaign is about insurrections in the UEG Outer Colony worlds where the UNSC try to repel the insurrections growth with their new commando troops. The second campaign is about an uprising spreading through the Covenant in the twenty-third Age of Doubt, where a Sangheili is sent with his fleet to seek out the heresy's strongholds and points of influences on various Covenant worlds.

The campaigns are titled:

Orion (UNSC campaign)

Age of Doubt (Covenant campaign)

Note: The Age of Doubt is the first campaign in Halo media where all the Covenant's primary worlds make appearances, except for the original San'Shyuum homeworld Janjur Qom, which had allegedly been destroyed in a supernova.

Development

The development for the game is still in the early stages, the concepts are there, but production for the game hasn’t begun yet. Not even the engine, concept art or organized teams are even ready, though the planning of the game is almost 100% complete. What progress has been made on the game so far is it’s title, most of the gameplay concepts, that it will be a real-time strategy game with some additional action in a first-person shooter mode. Ideas for campaign stories, units, gametypes and cinematic style are also underway. The game probably wont fully start production until after 2020.

Creator's Note: The following content is actually the development of the game as seen from my perspective and experience. See Creator's Notes for further information.

The idea for the game actually came from one of Halo’s many fans. The fan originally had his first idea’s just from playing the original Halo Wars when it first came out back in 2009. When he played it he would imagine how the game could be better. A couple of months after that he started imagining what a sequel would be like, over time his ideas kept getting bigger and bigger. Every time he would finish planning something another idea, even better would come along and he would have to re-think it. Eventually he couldn’t keep up with his ideas, so he decided to write them down on his computer. Time went on and there were many different directions to what the game could be and soon after many months he knew his ideas were to vast just for a sequel to Halo Wars, it had to be a game about the entire Human-Covenant War, where the player could use every vehicle, air-craft, space-craft, ship, weapon, equipment and technology in the Halo universe as well as play as every faction, species, faction and sentient.

Three to four years later the fan finally wrote down as much as what was in his head as he possibly could, forcing himself not to think of new things and write down new ideas, because new and better ideas came all the time and there are an infinite amount of possibilities and direction the game could go. He decided he would create a Wikia account and upload what he had created to Halo Fanon so others could see what he had made.

Marketing Promotions

Beta

Six months prior to the game's release a beta version will come available for a short time, which will include the first sample of what the game is going to be like. It can only be played via Xbox Live and includes two single Skirmish maps with standard Deathmatch and Extraction as the only available gametypes.

Demo

There will be a demo version available for The Great War, which will be released for Xbox One the week before the game is set to come out. It won't be released for the computer version of the game until the same day as the full PC version becomes released. It will come with the game's Tutorial and the first level of each of the first UNSC and Covenant campaigns, as well as Deathmatch and Extraction for Skirmish mode with limited maps. All other features won't be included with the demo, though their absence will be obvious.

Note: Game progress can be carried over from the demo to the full version as so the player wont need to replay everything if they don't want to.

Trailers

The Great War has nine promotional trailers for the main game, four of which are about the making of The Great War and several others will also be released in time for the game's digital expansions.

Teaser Trailer

The first trailer for The Great War debuted at an E3 two years before the release of the game; much like previous Halo games before it.

It shows a wide view of the burning remains of a small city through the eyes of a human soldier. He slowly moves forward and then looks up to see appearing out of the dust and clouds a giant Covenant warship approaching. It starts to glass what remains of the planet, then suddenly a barrage of missiles from a UNSC fleet flies in hitting the Covenant ship, which then begins to slowly descend towards the ground crashing with burning marks in it's hull. The soldier then looks back and fourth as several UNSC and Covenant starfighters then fly towards each other for engagement. There's an explosion, the screen goes dark and at the end of the trailer the title appears: Halo Wars: The Great War.

The Great War Official Trailer

This trailer shows both human and alien warriors engaging in various battles on numerous worlds across the galaxy.

Scenes from different battles shift from one to another in a synchronized manner as the movements of forces will be shown doing similar actions to the troops from one battlefield to the next. Each scene will lead to another showing many different aspects of the Human-Covenant War. The video shows many different warriors and machines fighting on planets and also in space. It ends with a clear view of the UNSC and Covenant fighting each other over a huge valley, a massive battle in space is also visible above. Finally a Spartan with an assault rifle is seen watching over from the top of the valley; assumed to be the Master Chief John-117.

Gameplay Trailer (1)

This trailer shows and introduces the planets/maps and playable factions that will appear in The Great War.

Making of The Great War

The Making of the Great War is a short documentary series of four behind-the-scenes trailers revealing specific information about the game and it's development, as well as introducing a number of the individuals involved in the creation of The Great War.

First Look

The first of four trailers about the making of Halo Wars: The Great War.

The trailer reveals the first shots of in-game footage for The Great War, as well as introducing some of the people and teams creating the game; viewers will learn about the roles and goals of the employees of 343 Industries and Creative Assembly and get a first glimpse of the gameplay and game engine.

Building Worlds

The second of four trailers about the making of Halo Wars: The Great War.

The trailer reveals many of the environments and planets that are going to be present in The Great War. The developers describe their efforts and some techniques they use in their work, as well as revealing some of the names of systems and planets and what territories they are part of.

Sounds of the War

The third of four trailers about the making of Halo Wars: The Great War.

It introduces all the composers involved in the game and viewers will get a first listen to the soundtrack and music that will be present in the game.

Stories of the Halo universe

The fourth and final of four trailers about the making of Halo Wars: The Great War.

Many of the concepts of the stories that will be present in the game will be discussed, as well as references to previous Halo stories based around the same time as the game.

It also reveals all the different Game modes and shows some multi-player footage.

Live-Action Trailer - Battle Ready

The live-action trailer shows UNSC marines and other soldiers, as well as many different Covenant warriors preparing for battle; armor being equipped, weapons being checked, vehicles and aircrafts being bordered are also seen. At the end of the trailer an UNSC and a Covenant fleet engage each other, they send troopers to the surface while spacefighters fly towards each other. It ends when the camera zooms out to a expanding view of a portion of the galaxy where flashing lights spark from different planets leaving the implication that such battles are happening all over the galaxy.

Gameplay Trailer (2)

The second gameplay trailer for The Great War introduces all the main gameplay features of The Great War, such as many of the different unit types, buildings and combat support.

Expansion Trailers

There will be a number of trailers for each digital expansion for the game. The first two expansions will only have gameplay trailers where the latter two will have full CGI announcement trailers.

Minor Transgression - Live-Action Web Series

Minor Transgression is an upcoming live-action web series in promotion for Halo Wars: The Great War. It consists of five episodes, ranging from 3-5 minutes in length and retells the story of humanity’s first encounter with the Covenant. This story was originally told between portions of chapters 3-8 in the novel Halo: Contact Harvest by Joseph Staten. The series will start just over two months before the game is released, with episodes coming out every week for five weeks.

Pre-order Bonuses

For those who pre-order Halo Wars: The Great War, they will be given download codes for an exclusive skull and the Supremacy foundations pack, which includes 2000 credits and 1 token.

Game Editions

Features	Standard	Limited Edition	Saga Edition
Image of contents
Game disc & manual	Yes	Yes	No
Game download version	Yes	No	Yes
14 day Xbox Live Gold trial	Yes	Yes	No
UNSC themed SteelBook®	No	Yes	No
War Journals	No	Yes	No
Spartan Files	No	Yes	No
Covenant military logs	No	Yes	No
Emblem patches	No	Yes	No
Game expansions	No	Yes (1)	Yes (4)
Supremacy credits	No	Yes (5,000)	Yes (10,000)
Supremacy tokens	No	Yes (3)	Yes (8)

Initially there will be two editions of Halo Wars: The Great War, for both Xbox One and PC; the Standard and the Limited Edition, with the Saga Edition being released once all The Great War's digital expansions have finally come out; several years after the game's initial release.

Xbox Play Anywhere will be available for digital purchases of The Great War, so players will be able to play the game on both platforms without having to buy the game twice.

Standard Edition

The Standard Edition of the game includes the game case, game disc and manual and retails at $59.99 USD. It is also available digitally via download through the Xbox Games Store or on Windows Store and Steam for PC gamers.

Limited Edition

The Limited Edition of the game is packaged quite similar to Halo 5: Guardians Limited Edition, retailing at $99.99 USD. It includes War Journals: a collection of records, journal entries, letters, conversations and other writings by various humans during the Human-Covenant war. Spartan Files: a graphic ONI record and list of the 150 original SPARTAN-II candidates and of the current statuses of the 75 conscripts as of 2553. Covenant military logs: a graphic ONI record of the Covenant military forces and equipment encountered by the UNSC during the Human-Covenant War. Patches: two emblem patches, one for the UNSC and one for the Covenant. Codes for the Halo Wars: The Great War - Conflicts expansion. Instant access to the Skirmish gametype "Ultimate Extraction", 5,000 Supremacy credits, 3 Supremacy tokens and a 14 day Xbox Live Gold Trial. All packaged in a uniquely-designed UNSC themed SteelBook®.

Saga Edition

The Halo Wars: The Great War Saga Edition will be a late edition of the game, being released years after it first comes out, but not too soon after the Homeworlds expansion does. It retails at $119.99 USD. The Saga Edition will only be available digitally and will contain new cover art, Halo Wars: The Great War game, all four of The Great War's expansions, 10,000 Supremacy credits and 7 Supremacy tokens.

Official Strategy Guide

The Official Game Guide for Halo Wars: The Great War.

The Halo Wars: The Great War Official Game Guide will be released on the same day as the game, and will also be one of the largest game guides PRIMA’s ever released for a Halo game. It will be full of gameplay tactics, hints, tricks, walkthroughs, map guides, information on all factions and their weapons, units, structures, data on bonuses & unlockables and much more...

Art Books

The Art of Halo Wars: The Great War

The Art of Halo Wars: The Great War will be a hardcover book, which is a collection of all the artwork and renders made for Halo Wars: The Great War, as well as the first expansion and includes commentaries on practically every page. It will be released the same day as the game.

The Art of Halo Wars: The Great War II

The Art of Halo Wars: The Great War II is just like the first volume, except it will include a collection of all concept art and renders of the last three of the game's expansions. It's release will be several years after the first volume, around the same time as the Saga Edition of the game.

Halo: Wargames

Halo: Wargames logo.

Both of Spartan Games Halo wargaming tabletop series Halo: Ground Command and Halo: Fleet Battles are being relaunched by Games Workshop amongst the hype of the new Halo Wars game. Under the broader umbrella term of Halo: Wargames, they will both have improved and updated methods of gameplay, as well as character models. Gameplay is still very similar to how the games originally played, although they do resemble Halo Wars: The Great War's style. One notable difference though is that Commanders and Heroes no longer get their own models. This decision was made as it would be affordable for players as having the models never actually contributed to the overall gameplay.

In a sense, both the new Halo: Ground Command and Fleet Battles are the physical version of Halo Wars: The Great War, as they're both set for commanding numerous forces over small to large-scale battles. In addition, many of the game's scenarios will also have connections to the campaign missions in Halo Wars: The Great War, including it's expansions. In time every unit in the video game is planned to eventually be available for the two tabletops.

Notes: Older models and scenarios from previous versions of the tabletops can be reused in the newer versions of the games. Players will be able to recreate battles and missions from The Great War.

Soundtracks and Composers

Halo Wars: The Great War has the largest soundtrack of any other Halo game before it. Numerous composers have contributed to the music of The Great War, all of which have done music for the Halo series in the past. Gordy Haab, Kazuma Jinnouchi and Tom Salta are the primary composers of the game, with Halo's original composer Martin O'Donnell providing two new tracks for the game.

Additionally music from all of Halo's previous soundtracks will be used throughout Halo Wars: The Great War and it's expansions. Forty new tracks, as well as fifteen re-recorded tracks make use in The Great War. Plus around another 80 more tracks from previous soundtracks. Some notable re-recorded tracks are the Halo Main Theme and Siege of Madrigal.

The first volume will be released one week before the release of the actual game and the second volume will be released four months after it.

Halo Wars: The Great War's soundtracks (including expansions) will be divided into four volumes:

Halo Wars: The Great War Original Soundtrack Volume 1.

Halo Wars: The Great War Original Soundtrack Volume 1 - New and re-recorded tracks composed by Gordy Haab and Tom Salta.

Halo Wars: The Great War Original Soundtrack Volume 2 - New and re-recorded tracks composed by Kazuma Jinnouchi and Martin O'Donnell.

Halo Wars: The Great War Original Soundtrack Volume 2.

Halo Wars: The Great War Original Soundtrack Remixes - Remixes originally composed by Martin O'Donnell, Kazuma Jinnouchi, Gordy Haab and Tom Salta. Remixers are yet to be announced.

Halo Wars: The Great War Original Soundtrack Volume 3 - New and re-recorded tracks composed by Gordy Haab and Tom Salta. Released years after Halo Wars: The Great War with new tracks from the final digital expansions.

Composers list:

• Gordy Haab
• Kazuma Jinnouchi
• Martin O'Donnell
• Michael Salvatori (reused tracks only)
• Nathan Lanier (reused tracks only)
• Neil Davidge (reused tracks only)
• Stephen Rippy (reused tracks only)
• Tom Salta

Cut Content

There was quite a number of things cut from The Great War that didn't make it into final game, relating to various subjects. These ideas were either raised and didn't make it into the development stage or had started development and later decided that they no longer fitted in with the game or were decided that they were not necessary.

Gallery

The front cover of Halo Wars: The Great War's case.

The back of Halo Wars: The Great War's case.

The case of Halo Wars: The Great War open.

The artwork of Halo Wars: The Great War.

The official logo for Halo Wars: The Great War.

Halo Wars: The Great War logo.

Wallpaper for the UNSC fleet.

Wallpaper for the Covenant fleet.

Wallpaper for Halo Wars: The Great War.

Halo Wars: The Great War wallpaper UNSC Base #1.

Halo Wars: The Great War wallpaper UNSC Base #2.

Harvest Battle wallpaper.

Trivia

It is the second Halo game by Creative Assembly.

Even though it is a RTS game and does have story connections to Halo Wars and is referred to by some as Halo Wars 3, it is not a continuation of the original Halo Wars storyline. Although the first two campaigns of The Great War eventually lead up to where Halo Wars kicks off from.

Many of the events in other Halo media do make appearances or are mentioned, including the discovery of the first Halo, which is seen in the second expansion.

The Great War reuses a lot of the audio, models and animations from previous Halo games. Not only does this reduce the price for these features, but also enables more resources to be used to improve and expand other aspects of the game. This also creates a great sense of familiarity for fans of Halo games past.

This game is the first to name every single Spartan-II that survived augmentation.

The mining facility cut from Halo Wars that appears in The Great War.

The Covenant Mining Facility cut from the original Halo Wars appears in The Great War, in fact much of the cut contact from Halo Wars and even some of the cut content from other Halo games and media appear in The Great War; with a modern and updated twist.

It will possibly be the last Halo game on the Xbox One or the first on the console proceeding it.

Halo Wars: The Great War is the longest title of any previous Halo game.

In previous Halo Wars games, Pelicans and dropships were only usable for transport and that's mainly what they're also used for in The Great War as well, but for certain factions players can control and use specialised dropship units for combat.

Depending on how development is going or how late it takes other Halo games to be released the game may get pushed forward to being released on the next 4th generation Xbox instead of Xbox One.

Related Pages

• Halo Wars series

Game editions

• Halo Wars: The Great War
• Halo Wars: The Great War Limited Edition
• Halo Wars: The Great War Saga Edition

Expansion packs

• Halo Wars: The Great War - Conflicts expansion
• Halo Wars: The Great War - Halo expansion
• Halo Wars Anniversary expansion
• Halo Wars: Homeworlds expansion

Factions from The Great War

• UNSC
• Insurrection
• Covenant Empire
• Covenant Heretics
• Covenant Separatists
• Kig-Yar Pirates
• Forerunner Caretakers
• Flood

References and Sources

Creator's Note: These are all the references and sources that I recall having had some influence on this page. What I may have forgotten would still be very closely related to these pages, though as this is fan-fiction it probably doesn’t matter that much. The main reason I have R&S is that I wanted this article to look as realistic as it could. This page also has the references and sources from my other pages, which are connected to TGW. All the R&S that are here or not should be related to mainly to do with the creations and (other) stuff of Bungie, 343 Industries and Microsoft Studios. ~ Samdoo

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matter
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environment_(biophysical)
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmosphere_of_Earth
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid
5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid
6. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas
7. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_(physics)
8. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo_(series)
9. http://www.halopedia.org/
10. http://www.halopedia.org/Halo_wars
11. http://www.halopedia.org/UNSC
12. http://www.halopedia.org/United_Rebel_Front
13. http://www.halopedia.org/Covenant_Empire
14. http://www.halopedia.org/Covenant_separatists
15. http://www.halopedia.org/Flood
16. http://www.halopedia.org/Sangheili
17. http://www.halopedia.org/San_%27Shyuum
18. http://www.halopedia.org/Jiralhanae
19. http://www.halopedia.org/Huragok
20. http://www.halopedia.org/Lekgolo
21. http://www.halopedia.org/Mgalekgolo
22. http://www.halopedia.org/Yanme%27e
23. http://www.halopedia.org/Kig-Yar
24. http://www.halopedia.org/Skirmisher
25. http://www.halopedia.org/Unggoy
26. http://www.halopedia.org/Halo_4
27. http://www.halopedia.org/Matchmaking
28. http://www.halopedia.org/Multiplayer
29. http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/Hall_(Covenant)
30. http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/Barracks
31. http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/Fort_Deen
32. http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/UNSC_Reactor
33. http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/Station
34. http://www.halopedia.org/Human_covenant_war
35. http://www.halopedia.org/Timeline
36. http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/UNSC_Airpad
37. http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/UNSC_Vehicle_Depot
38. http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/Field_Armory
39. http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/UNSC_Supply_Pad
40. http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/Base_Turret
41. http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/Covenant_citadel
42. http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/Covenant_temple
43. http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/Covenant_Warehouse
44. http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/Factory_(Covenant)
45. http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/Summit_(Covenant)
46. http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/Shield_Generator_(Covenant)
47. http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/Heavy_Plasma_Turret
48. http://www.halopedia.org/Halo:_Combat_Evolved
49. http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/Halo_6
50. http://www.halopedia.org/Halo_Contact_Harvest
51. http://www.halopedia.org/Halo:_The_Fall_of_Reach
52. http://www.halopedia.org/Halo:_The_Flood
53. http://www.halopedia.org/Halo:_Ghosts_of_Onyx
54. http://www.halopedia.org/Halo:_The_Cole_Protocol
55. http://www.halopedia.org/Halo:_Evolutions_-_Essential_Tales_of_the_Halo_Universe
56. http://www.halopedia.org/Halo_3
57. http://www.halopedia.org/Halo_2
58. http://www.halopedia.org/Halo:_Reach
59. http://www.halopedia.org/Halo:_Combat_Evolved_Anniversary
60. http://www.halopedia.org/Halo_3:_ODST
61. http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/Sol_System
62. http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/Milky_Way_galaxy
63. http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/UNSC_Marine_Corps
64. http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/Colonial_Militia
65. http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/UNSC_Special_Forces
66. http://www.halopedia.org/Office_of_Naval_Intelligence
67. http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/UNSC_Marine_Corps_Dress_Uniform
68. http://www.halopedia.org/Preston_J._Cole
69. http://www.halopedia.org/Halo_Wars:_Genesis
70. http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/Open_Frame_92?Extra-Vehicular_Activity
71. http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/Halo:_Spartan_Assault
72. http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/Ages_of_Doubt
73. http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/Halo_Wars:_Official_Strategy_Guide
74. http://www.halopedia.org/Insurrection
75. http://www.halopedia.org/Sbaolekgolo
76. http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page
77. http://www.halowaypoint.com/de-ch/community/detail/04050c03-fc6a-44c8-8b77-468802ae62c9/stephen-loftus-halo-skala
78. http://www.halowaypoint.com/de-ch
79. http://www.halopedia.org/United_Nations_Space_Command
80. http://www.halopedia.org/Halo:_Initiation
81. http://www.halopedia.org/Making_Halo_4
82. http://www.halopedia.org/Covenant_military
83. http://www.halopedia.org/Bestiarum
84. http://www.halopedia.org/Technological_Achievement_Tiers
85. http://www.halopedia.org/Unified_Earth_Government
86. http://www.halopedia.org/Covenant_fringe
87. http://www.halopedia.org/Easy
88. http://www.halopedia.org/Normal
89. http://www.halopedia.org/Heroic
90. http://www.halopedia.org/Legendary
91. http://www.halopedia.org/Mythic_(difficulty)
92. https://www.primagames.com/games/halo-wars-2/guides/halo-wars-2-eguide
93. https://www.halopedia.org/Halo_Wars_2
94. https://www.halopedia.org/Leader
95. Other closely related subjects and pages within these websites (etc)

Creator's Note: None of the images I’ve upload (obviously) aren’t of the actual game, so I’ve had to hunt through many photos that I think capture the essence of what the game would be like. ~ Samdoo

Names of used images:

1. Main-Forerunner.png
2. Halo_4_Reclaimer_Symbol_Render.png
3. 343-industries-logo.jpg
4. RatedM.JPG
5. rated-m.gif
6. 830px-Ffg-127.png
7. 830px-The_charge_redux_by_phoenix_06-d2ybf3c.jpg
8. 830px-Prophet_Councillors.jpg
9. Master_Chief_with_MARK_V_helmet_in_Reach.jpg
10. SPARTAN-II_Symbol.jpg
11. UNSC_Spartan_Emblem.png
12. 800px-Red_Team.jpg
13. Halo1_-_Covenant_Symbol.png
14. UNSC_Symbol.png
15. 830px-HaloReach_-_CorvetteOverview.png
16. 2011-04-19-microsoft-game-studios.jpg
17. Harvest_glassed.sized.jpg
18. Kholo.png
19. reachfontfinal1
20. Halo-Logo.png
21. 20120619025020!Overview_-_Covenant_Assault_Carrier.png
22. 81tNFd1TCAL._SL1500_.jpg
23. Reach_10028538_Medium.jpg
24. 62276985033365133520897.png
25. 830px-Reach_10501931_Full.jpg
26. Halowars_combat.jpg
27. logo.png
28. MicrosoftStudiosLogo-Black.png
29. CA_logo_red_black_square.png
30. havokLogo.png
31. 1318478623-00.jpg
32. 1321756989-00.jpg
33. 830px-HALO_Reach_Wallpaper065.jpg
34. level-overpaints-2-1-UNSC-base.jpg
35. Harvest_glassed.sized.jpg
36. Carrier_ss_680-filtered.tiff
37. 500px-CovCruiser 1.png
38. HReach-ArdentPrayerCorvette.png
39. 830px-CCS_Glassing_Reach.jpg
40. 800-480-109055-filtered.jpeg
41. Xbox-One-Logo-Wallpaper-HD-Dekstop-Games.psd
42. halo-4-forge-logo-555x312.jpg
43. Halo_4_Spartan_Ops_Symbol_Render.png
44. 830px-Halo-Reach-Covenant-Files-3-Nightfall-2-Sangheili-Elite-Ranger.jpg
45. hwconcept9
46. Rebelfist.png
47. flood-2.png
48. UNSC_Logo
49. images.png
50. HR_CCS-class_BC_TurnRef.png
51. 1ghostFULL3.png
52. Dirt.png
53. DirtEdge_Blu_5.png
54. mist_png_stock_by_freeridingsoul-d42aaok.png
55. Smoke 1.png
56. smoke_or_mist_png_by_dbszabo1-d53bqr6.png
57. water-fog.png
58. 10_me3_rubble_pieces_for_xps_by_just_jasper-d690l60.png
59. Longsword_AAO5.jpg
60. rubble.png
61. 0_sun.png
62. explosion_by_dbszabo1-d3hmssu.png
63. explosion-1
64. images-1.jpg
65. misc_cloud_smoke_element_png_by_dbszabo1-d54yf70.png
66. Red Laser
67. UNSC_Attack.jpg
68. sand_wind_png_by_ashrafcrew-d61w9ga.png
69. Dust.png
70. 300px-H4-CovenantCRSLightCruiser.png
71. clouds.png
72. cloud6.png
73. Clouds_2_by_eliskan_stock.png
74. Cliff_model_02_Thumbnail_02.png1c97217e-1829-4773-a30d-670b341bb0a3Large.png
75. cliff4.png5ef5f1db-9d89-49ce-8750-ee1e276f340fLarge.png
76. cliff3.png0effcbf9-4b4a-4fa1-b1ca-eb47844cb4dfLarge.png
77. cliff4.png5ef5f1db-9d89-49ce-8750-ee1e276f340fLarge.png
78. Halo_Character_Spartan_Render_03.png
79. Xbox_One_Controller.png
80. e053fea0-f791-485c-a961-8559ee710d78.png
81. 062-tick-and-cross-icon-Vector.jpg
82. 50-1-1403758236.jpg
83. 8a65c1_c69a433a681d4dff9ad6b44f71fea209.png_srz_523_282_85_22_0.50_1.20_0
84. 84770f_5621db7e18c3f310b6d9ae389adeaaa7.png_srz_250_278_85_22_0.50_1.20_0.00_png_srz
85. battlefield_4_backcover_large_HEHuCsN8psRfTzo.jpg
86. Xbox ONE Halo The Master Chief Collection Back Cover.jpg
87. Halo-The-Master-Chief-Collection.jpg
88. HTMCC_BoxArt.png
89. 640px-Officer_O9_insignia.svg.png
90. ALLSKULLS
91. forerunner-square-542x542-745ab6f3a99a4f73991cd9b252dddad8.png
92. UNSC_Army_variations.png
93. maxresdefault.jpg
94. HaloReach_-_Falcon.png