[Faction Proposal] Islamic Republic of Iran Army

[STORM-Mama]

Lol, imagine that the name of "MEC is Iran? But then I can't see the Iranian hardware ingame or relive the trench warfare of the Iran-Iraq war in MEC vs. Iran-maps?

Main motivation is that MEC and similar alliances is a somewhat stupid concept. A large army and regional military powerhouse like Iran deserves its own playable army, imo.

[Terror_Terror_Terror]

As I posted in the MEC thread I think that the Middle Eastern factions should only be replaced by 3 factions.

United Arab League
A millitary organization based on the League of Arab States
Persian Islamic Alliance
Equipment based on Iran and other Persian nations
Middle Eastern Coalition
Any countries in the middle east that have separate religions or political ideals from the other 2 factions. This will be the generic ME faction.

EDIT: Since I realized that there is only one Persian nation the name for the second MEC replacement should be, Joint Islamic Federation.

No this is silly just make the real armies that exist, the same as is being done for Europe and North America.

[Tannhauser]

No this is silly just make the real armies that exist, the same as is being done for Europe and North America.

But people will whine they're too weak or boring for silly reasons.
AS USUAL ... as usual ..

[Hresvelgr]

As much as I disagree with the seperation of the MEC, I do think Iran is deserving of its own faction, which would basically be a reskinned MEC with a few new assets probably. They'd make a better faction than half the ones already being worked on at least. In the G3-Khaybar issue, I think I might prefer the G3 since it would make Iran more different. The Khaybar seems to be more or less a 5.56 QBZ rifle.

[Terror_Terror_Terror]

But people will whine they're too weak or boring for silly reasons.
AS USUAL ... as usual ..

A lot can be achieved in the map scenario, if you line up an Insurgent team against 8 main battle tanks it isn't gonna be fun for the Insurgent team. If you think about it in a more even handed manor however you can make a realistic scenario that affords each team a decent chance of playing to their strentghs = a fun game for all.

[Psyko]

im making an iranian map, this might fit nicely. but it depends.

[STORM-Mama]

I don't want to see any separation of MEC, absolutely not. I do not support AREMs suggestion with all these new ME-alliances, just think that a large army and important country like Iran deserves to be represented in PR. We are lacking conventional "OpFor"-armies (most of the ones being suggested are militia-style armies with outdated weaponry - Congo and North Korea) and Iran is, imo, an obvious choice.

Also, they use (or rather are planning on using) their own locally produced weaponry, which would add some variety alongside the regular Russian weaponry being used by this kind of factions in games. They will add another dimension to the Middle Eastern theatre in PR - non-NATO conventional armies fighting against each other (Iran will of course not be best friends with the arab MEC). I'm tired over the fact that all the conventional warfare in PR have to involve atleast one NATO army.

Right now I'm not sure whether to go for the Iranian army "here and now"-concept with G3s, T-72s, etc or the "near future"-alternative with their own weapons alongside the ones I already mentioned. This before I start "recruiting" people with more modding-experience than me. The first alternative will, obviously, be easier to complete but the result will be boring compared to the other one.
What do you think?

[Nighthawk]

If this idea gets anywhere, I think we should go with the near future option. Otherwise, any possible Iran vs. MEC maps would get confusing and there wouldn't be much difference between Iran and the MEC apart from skins and voices, and possibly a few vehicles.

[Hresvelgr]

The MEC could be given some of the proposed "UAL" equipment like AUG's. They could even be handed their AK-103s back. I agree with Storm, no dissolution of MEC, just create a new Iran and have MEC be the Arab states.

I think the problem is that too many people are obsessed with BluFor factions, nobody takes OpFor seriously. I mean, no offense if you're from these countries, but we have Canadian, Dutch, Polish, and Norwegian factions all receiving more attention each than any OpFor faction, even China is ignored. More and more people just get to work on their home countries even if they add NOTHING to the game. Canadians are Americans with Leopard tanks, Dutch are practically Canadian clones, Poles are slightly different Russians, Norwegians are a bit more unique but none of these people are even in places or could be in scenarios not already taken.

On the other hand, work on needed Chinese assets like their new car (VN3) and tank (ZTZ-99) is stagnant as far as I can tell. MEC are actually being downgraded, with the new Vodnik cancelled as far as I can tell. In the North Korean thread people actually seriously suggested giving them T-34 tanks and DP and Type 99 machine guns from WW2 simply because one was shown on a propaganda poster and reserve forces use old tanks. Hell, the only OpFor factions people are thinking of making are Iran, North Korea, and the DR of Congo for Christ's sake. For BluFor there is Russia, Norway, France, Japan, South Korea, Germany, the Dutch, Canada, Australia, Poland, the UAL, and probably others I'm forgetting. The Blufor/OpFor disparity is ridiculous.

[STORM-Mama]

Can Russia be considered "BluFor"? There are plans for Germany vs. Russia maps so they will probably be fighting NATO.

Anyway, I completely agree with you! With this many NATO factions and so few non-NATO there won't be many enemies for them poor westerners to choose from. And the MEC and Chinese (and especially the taliban) will have a hard time fighting all these Europeans and North Americans... More conventional and modern non-NATO armies are needed! Iran would be an awesome choice for so many reasons, I've listed some of them in my previous post

Now, thanks to the Iran Military Forums we have the advisors and reference material needed to get this going. What is needed is modders. I'm trying my best to learn the basics right now, but it will probably take some time before I can get badass tank models ingame ^^

[Nighthawk]

I'm currently thinking about working on a Khaybar KH2002 3D model. Finding good reference pictures is hard, maybe you could ask for some on the Iran Military Forums.
Also, I think you should ask about the standard issue camouflage of the Iranian army. I've seen many different types in photos.

[Hresvelgr]

Okay, so I just looked at lists of various dictatorships and nations somewhat hostile to us on wikipedia: Myanmar, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Cuba, Belarus, Venezuela, Kyrgyzstan, Libya, Syria, and I think that's all I can remember.

Of those only Venezuela and Myanmar are suitable for PR. All the African nations have basically the same old Russian equipment and FN FAL rifles for Sudan and Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe also has L85s but AK-47s are standard issue. Cuba is definitely not a good idea. Belarus is a Soviet clone currently in the process of turning into a Russia clone. Venezuela has some unique equipment and a military large enough to be interesting, could have some South American jungle warfare maps for the USA. Myanmar is more interesting though, with locally produced Galils and Uzis, old Russian tanks, and modern Ukrainian APCs.

The current OpFor list would be:

Ingame:
MEC
China
Taliban
Chechnya
Iraqi Insurgents

Proposed/Development:
Democratic Republic of Congo
North Korea
Iran

[Nighthawk]

I think you should make a new thread for other OPFOR discussion, this is the Iran thread.

[STORM-Mama]

The standard issue camoflauge is the US woodland (probably most common camo in the world?) but photos from recent wargame exercises shows this one:




Looks like the Desert Battle Dress Uniform, but these are pictures of IRGC troops, which apparently is some kind of elite unit. Havn't really worked out the structure of their Armed Forces, few pictures and little info on regular army soldiers. Mostly either IRGC (elite troops) and Basij (militia).


Some KH2000 pics:







What kind of pictures/info do you need before you can start modelling it? Problem is that the Iranians are not so keen on releasing info on their own weaponry. I can't count on getting pictures of equipment from guys serving in their Army, for example. Don't ask me why, that's just how it is.

Btw, nice to see that someone is willing to contribute to this project.

[Nighthawk]

Not keen on releasing pics of their own weaponry? They sure like their military parades. The photos available already should be sufficient.

[STORM-Mama]

Yes, but photos from wargames (the ones that are really interesting) and equipment that havn't been issued in large quantities yet (like the Khaybar and Zulfiqar) is harder to find than those with guys marching down the street with their G3s.

You can't get the full picture of an army by just watching military parades. You act differently and use different gear on the battleifeld.

[Hresvelgr]

You could probably get Iran released pretty quickly if you contact the DEVs. Just have to use T-72s and G3 rifles as placeholders until you finish the Zulfiqar and Khaybar. Do that and it'll mostly be a reskinning job if I ain't mistaken. Cobras would replace Mi-28s obviously, but not sure about APCs.

[Tannhauser]

You could probably get Iran released pretty quickly if you contact the DEVs. Just have to use T-72s and G3 rifles as placeholders until you finish the Zulfiqar and Khaybar. Do that and it'll mostly be a reskinning job if I ain't mistaken. Cobras would replace Mi-28s obviously, but not sure about APCs.

Voices.

[Hresvelgr]

Ah. Forgot about those. I'm not a modder, sorry.

[STORM-Mama]

Not a big fan of rushing things into game, actually... If this ever get somewhere (which I really hope) I would prefer seeing a real quality faction with its own weaponry rather than a rushed one consisting mainly of reskinned vehicles and weapons that are already ingame, etc.

Voices is not such a big problem. I've spoken to a Farsi-speaking friend and he and his brother are willing to lend their voices if this project ever get going for real. They're not so keen on shouting into a mic unless I can guarantee that it won't be for nothing, the boring ********. ^^