Marauders of Kathos have one favorite past time: Kathonian Football. The game is very similar to American Football, except that it is very bloody and totally insane. Like normal football, the team scoring the most touchdowns wins the game. However, team captains send their full armies to the playing field, making the game a bloody ordeal indeed. Often whole teams end up in the sick bay after the match. The game is also utterly deranged. Instead of a normal ball, the marauders use their enemies’ skulls. Needless to say, one match burns through quite a lot of skulls. Fortunately marauders have a lot of enemies!
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.isotx.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/TouchdownTournament02.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-5576 aligncenter" title="TouchdownTournament02" src="http://www.isotx.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/TouchdownTournament02.jpg" alt="" width="100%" height="100%" /></a></p>

<em>The Touchdown Tournament starts on February 3 and will last for five rounds. Each participant will get a fixed pool of units that can be used during the tournament.</em>

<span style="color: #cccccc;"><strong>The rules</strong></span>
Players from level 6 and up can enter;
Entrance fee is 5 gems;
The tournament starts on February 3

<span style="color: #cccccc;"><strong>Prizes</strong></span>
1st Touchdown Box - with licenced units and if you’re lucky Atelian units
2nd Tournament Triplex
3rd 2x Tournament Crate
4th 100.000 iron
5th 100.000 gold

There are rumors that the bloody battle between the Marauders in Anchorpoint was not an accident. That it was an orchestrated conflict aimed at thinning out the ranks of pirates and thugs. One name is spoken in hushed voices - Charles Gaspard de Rais, Baron de Kathos. But who is this man and what is his involvement?
<a href="http://www.isotx.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/baron_image01_bigger.jpg"><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-5562" style="margin: 10px;" title="baron_image01_bigger" src="http://www.isotx.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/baron_image01_bigger-205x300.jpg" alt="" width="205" height="300" /></a>

Born into the House of de Rais, Gaspard’s life and view on the world was shaped by intrigue, deception and betrayal, for such is the way in which the barons of Kathos deal with one another. Only the strongest and the most devious survive this game of chess, and Gaspard has proven time and again that he is one of the most devious barons to step onto the field.

The other barons are thugs and cowards. They gather armies, they fight battles and they proclaim their intentions in the open. Baron de Rais believes this to be foolish and, frankly, inelegant. He believes that one dagger can easily achieve what a thousand rifles cannot. His weapon is information and information whispered in the right ear could decide the fate of armies. Perhaps the recent incident in Anchorpoint just proves the point, if the rumors are to be trusted.

Through cunning, deception and assassination, Gaspard and the House of de Rais have been elevated to power and riches. They say that the devil’s greatest trick is making people believe he doesn’t exist and Gaspard has made sure he is never in the focus of events. Rumors suggest that his influence extends to seemingly random Marauder raids and, of course, the follow up punitive expeditions taken up by the KTA. No loose ends. As with the Anchorpoint incident, only whispers speak of the baron’s hidden hand.

It is not by chance that Marauders raid the territories of his political enemies. It is also not by chance that KTA punitive expeditions remove troublesome marauders. All of this is happening right under the nose of the Duke of Torun. All these events seem an ordinary part of life in Kathos, but also, all of these apparently unrelated happenings seem to benefit the House of de Rais in one way or another. Whatever the truth might be, what is certain is that the Baron de Rais is a hidden force to be reckoned with. Some of the barons of Kathos barter for the services of marauders. Gaspard, however, barters for the services of both sides of the law, without them ever suspecting it.

“Every sword can be turned aside with a gold coin”
- Charles Gaspard de Reis

As you have seen in our sneak peek for 2013, we’ve got a lot of plans for the coming year. Fulfilling ambitions is hard work and we need all the help we can get. Today we welcome our new 3D artist. I’m sure you are curious to get to know him! Therefore, Sneaky snuck up on him and asked him a few questions. You have to wait for our new games to see Martijn in action ;).

<a href="http://www.isotx.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Martijn.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-5555" title="Martijn" src="http://www.isotx.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Martijn.jpg" alt="" width="100%"/></a>

<span style="color: #cccccc;"><strong><em>Maybe you should start with telling us a little bit about yourself.</em></strong></span>
Hi there,
I am Martijn de Waard. 41 years old and probably first 3D artist who is retiring. I’m from Alkmaar but since August I’m living in Hilversum. I’ve worked for 12 years as a graphic designer for several advertising agencies. Then I started working for Guerrilla Games as an Asset artist. There I’ve worked for 6 years on Killzone 1, 2 and 3.

<span style="color: #cccccc;"><strong><em>What’s it like to work at ISOTX?</em></strong></span>
In one word: IMPECCABLE!

<span style="color: #cccccc;"><strong><em>What are your interests in terms of design?</em></strong></span>
Mecha, Dieselpunk, Victorian, doesn’t matter as long as they are female and naked.

<span style="color: #cccccc;"><strong><em>What would you bring to the IG universe?</em></strong></span>
MORE VIOLENCE, GUNS AND EXPLOSIONS!

<span style="color: #cccccc;"><strong><em>What are your favorite games?</em></strong></span>
I’m sorry to admit that I almost never play games. But I’ve played Killzone and Red Dead Redemption. I also play Warhammer. (Damn I’m a nerd after all). But, to compensate that I visit concerts almost twice a month.

The streets of Anchorpoint are covered in blood. I was the lucky bastard who got to investigate the death of the poor sod who got impaled by the spike on the Nameless Soldier’s helmet in the Black Market. Fell from his airship. That is the official statement - “ He slipped and fell, he did!” Not a chance though. The grim tournament that followed the pirate’s death only confirms my gut feeling. This was no ordinary accident.

<a href="http://www.isotx.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Champion2012.jpg"><img src="http://www.isotx.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Champion2012.jpg" alt="" title="Champion2012" width="520" height="282" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-5532" /></a>

A couple of days after this bloody incident the real battle broke lose. It was unlike anything I’ve ever seen in my life. It seems they were fighting for more than the usual pieces of gold. This time, it was personal. This time, it was revenge. The sky pirates sent their tanks though the streets of Anchorpoint, crushing everything in their way. Snipers shooting from places unseen, the bullet didn’t distinguish between commander and a foot soldier – the grave is equally welcoming. Ordinary people were forced into their homes, locking the shutters tight. Some freedom these marauders are fighting for.

When I woke up on the twentieth day, Anchorpoint was eerily silent. I heard a dog bark in the distance. Carefully I opened my front door and on the square was only one man left standing. Dead bodies surrounded him. He looked at me for a moment, then pounded on his chest and raised his gun in the air. “Victory to the freedom fighters of bandits and thugs! Kathos Liberation Army rules these streets now!” as he kicked the dead body of LordZombie’s commander in the gutter. His crew, or at least what was left of it, joined him shortly after that. They paraded through the streets, yelling that Entony was the Marauder Champion of 2012.

I don’t think Anchorpoint will ever be the same. I suppose we’ll just have to get used to the fact that the Nameless Soldier is now tinted with blood.

Stephan Derrick, Private Investigator

<em>Excerpt from his notes
Stephan Derrick was found shot three days later.
</em>

Get ready to rumble! We’ve arranged a tournament for our young, promising captains. Everyone between level 6 and 12 can now sign up for the Rookie Rumble Tournament. Do you want to show the world what you’ve got?

If you want some tips on how to win a tournament you should ask LordZombie or Entony. They are now competing in the final of the League of Masters tournament.

<a href="http://www.isotx.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/rookieRumbleBanner01.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-5527" title="rookieRumbleBanner01" src="http://www.isotx.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/rookieRumbleBanner01.jpg" alt="" width="520" height="282" /></a>

The tournament starts on January 24 and depending on how many people sign up, will be four or five rounds. Each contestant will get a pool of unit to be used during the tournament.

<span style="color: #cccccc;"><strong>The rules</strong></span>
Players of level 6 to 12 can enter;
Entrance fee is 2 gems;
The tournament will start on January 24;
Each player gets a fixed pool of units.

<span style="color: #cccccc;"><strong>Prizes</strong></span>
1st Black Box
2nd Tournament Triplex
3rd 10.000 gold
4th 5000 iron

<span style="color: #cccccc;"><strong>The pool of units</strong></span>
1 Ambulance lvl 2
2 Assault Archos lvl 3
4 Bazooka lvl 4
2 Bethes Canon lvl 2
4 HMGunner lvl 2
4 Militia lvl 4
4 Mounted Bomber lvl 3
1 Propaganda Truck lvl 1
1 Repair Truck lvl 2
2 Savar Tank lvl 3
2 Tank Destroyer lvl 1
4 Trooper lvl 3
2 Wheel of Doom lvl 2

ISOTX celebrates its eighth birthday this week! We need some B-Day Loot (B-Day= D-Day, see what I did there :P), to get the party started. For the next eight days we are offering an exclusive B-Day Loot booster pack on the Black Market in Iron Grip: Marauders.

<a href="http://www.isotx.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/blogpost_8years.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-5491" title="blogpost_8years" src="http://www.isotx.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/blogpost_8years.jpg" alt="" width="520" height="506" /></a>

The loot is a surprise! Each pack contains eight items, among which might be powerful units, gold and iron. What marauder doesn’t like to take a chance?

<span style="color: #cccccc;"><strong>In the beginning</strong></span>
Did you know we started out building mods for Command and Conquer Generals? As things turned out, we ended up creating your favourite game: Iron Grip: Marauders. The romantic story of the lone game developer in a basement is true. However, we now enjoy a comfortable office space (with heating!).

The ISOTX dream has always been to combine various styles of war gaming and build innovative games that you like to play. The first Iron Grip-title was a mod for Half-Life. However, our first big release was Iron Grip: Warlord, which many of you have probably played. This strange combination of an FPS and tower defence game (which was very novel at the time) was a big success and inspired us to create Iron Grip: Marauders.

In 2013 we are planning to release at least three new games. The title of our first iOS game has already been revealed; Iron Grip: Sky Corsair. Now, you are asking yourself “What does this mean for me?” Well, it means one thing only – suit up! We are taking you to the clouds to battle, hone your piloting skills, and dominate the skies.
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYqevSPlPoc&amp;feature=youtu.be">Check out the sneak peek of the game!</a>

Modern war history has always been a major inspiration for Iron Grip: Marauders. While we do enjoy dieselpunk machines and steampunk fashion, the way we fight has real life precedents. In a short series we want to share with you the stories of some of the world’s most fearsome marauders.
Do you have some legends of bravery and skill that inspire you? Let us know in a comment or speak to one of the devs in chat.

<em>“The unit must display such gallantry, determination, and esprit de corps in accomplishing its mission under extremely difficult and hazardous conditions as to set it apart and above other units participating in the same campaign.”</em>
- Distinguished Unit Citation awarded to the Marauders

The jungles of Burma are an unforgiving environment and only the strongest and best trained men can survive in these hard conditions. This is where Merrill’s Marauders struck fear in the hearts of their enemies, the Japanese. Undersupplied, far away from home with only their wits, training and discipline to carry them through, these marauders raided military installations in Burma, disrupted supply lines and caused mayhem. They would loot and plunder any weapons and supplies and then disappear into the depths of the jungle, leaving their enemies dead and baffled.

Merrill’s Marauders, named after their commander – Brigadier General Frank D. Merrill, were a United States Army special operations unit that fought in Burma in 1944 part of the Second World War.
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" title="Merrill's Marauders - source Wikipedia" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/55/1944_5307th_Composite_Unit.jpg/800px-1944_5307th_Composite_Unit.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="172" /></p>
Through mobility and surprise, the marauders were able to inflict more casualties than they sustained in every engagement. They harassed supply and communication lines, shot up patrols and assaulted Japanese rear positions. Near Walawbum, a town that HQ believed to be lightly garrisoned, the marauders conducted a magnificent assault killing 400-500 Japanese soldiers. Led by Kachin scouts, the marauders were expert guerilla fighters.

When ambushed, the Japanese were continually surprised by the heavy, accurate volume of fire they received from the Marauders. The combat-experienced officers had carefully integrated light mortar and machine gun fire, and almost every man was armed with a self-loading or automatic weapon which they used with deadly accuracy.

After a bitter five month campaign, the Marauders had advanced 750 miles through some of the harshest terrain in the world, fought in five major engagements (Walawbum, Shaduzup, Inkangahtawng, Nhpum Ga, and Myitkyina) and engaged the skilled and determined Japanese army on thirty-two separate occasions, including two conventional defensive battles with enemy forces for which the force had not been intended nor equipped.

Like true Marauders, they were resourceful, skilled and achieved their goals despite the harshest odds set against them! Do you think you can match Merrill’s Marauders?

LEGO might easily be the most creative toy in the world. Small wonder the little coloured building blocks have inspired a wide range of fan art for lots of movies and games. Iron Grip: Marauders is now among them!
<p style="text-align: left;">Personally, I like that the artist added Cinnamon to the Farlix LEGO figurine. Although I’m not sure why he made Emilia black.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.isotx.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/legoMarauders02.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-5470 aligncenter" title="legoMarauders02" src="http://www.isotx.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/legoMarauders02.jpg" alt="" width="520" height="182" /></a></p>
I would like to use this opportunity to tell you a little more about one of our favourite heroes, Vancer. I think his figurine is the most accurate. An old pirate in the Captain’s Bar once described him like this: "… he’s good at keeping the troops in line, but I’m sure you’ll agree that the nicest thing can be said about him is that he knows how to kill people."

<a href="http://www.isotx.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/IGM_VancerLego01_forFacebook.jpg"><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-5472" title="IGM_VancerLego01_forFacebook" src="http://www.isotx.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/IGM_VancerLego01_forFacebook.jpg" alt="" width="226" height="226" /></a>

I must say that this LEGO version of Vancer looks a lot more harmless than the real one. He’s almost as ugly as Farlix, but a lot meaner. To say that he knows how to kill people, like the greybeard at the bar said, is an understatement. Sitting snugly in his tank, he leads his bands of marauders to strike where he can get the most money, and he is ruthless on the battlefield. While Farlix has some sort of morals, Vancer is just in it for the cash. Did you know that has a lucky cat in the cabin of his tank? Before he engages in a battle he says a little prayer for luck and riches. Maybe that’s the secret to his success.

You can see the whole Iron Grip: Marauder LEGO collection <a href="http://browse.deviantart.com/?q=iron+grip%3A+marauders+lego#/d4nqkxi">here</a>

<em>The ranks of the marauders in Kathos are growing. I fully support any youngster who wishes to pursue a career as a thieving, good for nothing sky pirate. While the sky pirate code dictates “He who falls behind shall stay behind”, I can’t let these new captains go off without some tips to avoid rookie mistakes.
When you’re stuck between a rock and a hard place, think about good old Farlix and give me some thanks for teaching you these live lessons.</em>

<a href="http://www.isotx.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Farlix01.png"><img src="http://www.isotx.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Farlix01-195x300.png" alt="" title="Farlix01" width="195" height="300" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-5436" /></a>

1. We’ve mentioned this before, but it’s always worth noting again: it’s important to take note of and understand the damage and armor types of your units. Bullet damage is highly effective against infantry and quite good against support vehicles, but ineffective against tanks, while armor piercing damage is good against almost any vehicle, but utterly useless against infantry.

2. Don’t forget that infantry lose firepower as they lose squad members, so a Bazooka squad with only one man left will be far less effective than a full three man squad. Healing units like the Ambulance will restore squad members as they heal the squad – so make sure to heal squads before attacking with them where possible!

3. When scouting, move your units in steps rather than up to their max movement. Units won’t automatically stop when encountering hostile units, so if you use your full movement you could find yourself in the midst of a lot of angry enemies!

4. Pay careful attention to how many AP you are using to move your units, and make sure you don’t use so many AP on movement that you can’t fire. This is especially important for units which only need 3AP to fire – you can move them 2AP every turn, but if you move even one AP more, you’ll be halving the firepower of the unit for that turn. Sometimes you can’t help this of course, but in general it’s best to try and get units to fire as much as possible each turn.

5. It’s important to be careful about line of sight (LOS) around hills. Units on top of hills can see down easily, but units at the bottom of a hill will only be able to see the top of any slopes at most. If they aren’t right at the base of the slope, they may only be able to see part way up the slope. As long as you pay attention to when your units do and don’t have LOS around hills, you should be able to quickly get a good feel for it.

6. Remember that different types of boosting vehicles never stack their effects – e.g. just because a Command Wheel of Doom and a Propaganda Truck are different types of damage boosting vehicle, it doesn’t mean that their damage boosts will stack together.

7. Different heroes not only have different deployment caps, but they also require different amounts of deployment themselves. For instance, Emilia only costs 40 deployment, while Vancer costs 80. Make sure to take this into account when choosing which heroes to take – Vancer might have more overall deployment, but he will also use up more of it himself.

Still not done marauding? <a href="http://forums.isotx.com/forumdisplay.php?4-Guides">Check out the guides on our forum as well!</a>

Happy New Year, may your marauding be prosperous in 2013! To celebrate the New Year we’ve got Bomb Trucks for sale on the Black Market. You can get four Bomb Trucks for only three Gems! The offer stands until the end of January 1st!

<a href="http://www.isotx.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/happyNewBombtruck.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-5428" title="happyNewBombtruck" src="http://www.isotx.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/happyNewBombtruck.jpg" alt="" width="520" height="520" /></a>

Be careful with your new Bomb Trucks though. <a href="http://www.isotx.com/?p=4961"><span style="color: #ff9900;">As we have written before</span></a>, the Bomb Truck is a double edged sword in your army. While proper use of these volatile units can let you control your adversary’s movement, indirect fire at your Bomb Truck can wipe out part of your army pretty fast.

Are you ready for some explosive fun? Wish your fellow captains a happy New Year by destroy their force with your arsenal of Bomb Trucks. Share your war stories and tactics <a href="http://forums.isotx.com/showthread.php?5878-Explosive-fun-say-it-with-a-Bomb-Truck&p=39583#post39583">here</a>. The funniest and most clever anecdotes will be featured on this blog!