The Chiron Workers is a customizable custom faction I started developing in early August (for AC; I dont have AX). You will see that they are a builder faction for large to huge maps. The intent is that the player [i]must[/i] use Planned Economics, Wealth Values, and Eudaimonic Future. These are the three settings with [b]Industry[/b] plusses, which is the Workers priority. Once a setting is opted in, [i]it must remain so until the game is done,[/i] no matter what happens. The player must plan ahead and rely on other means to deal with the challenges presented by Drones, energy, support, and diplomacy.

The story line is Foreman Bozon Petes separation from Morgan Industries. He is more interested in the satisfaction of knowing a job was done right than in sitting around counting profits. The Chiron Workers can be played with any combination of factions, even if the Political choices may be duplicated.

The customization is in the Politics choice. Each of the four Political settings is represented: Frontier by the basic profile, the other three by a corresponding Impunity. The player must choose before starting which Political setting will be used, and load the appropriate faction. Some nasty negative effects will result from loading one profile but choosing another Political setting.

I included both [u]IMMUNITY, MORALE[/u] and [u]MORALE, 0[/u] because in every test I ran neither alone would prevent all negative Morale effects. IMMUNITY, MORALE appeared to cover [i]only[/i] Social Engineering settings, while MORALE, 0 appeared to cover everything [i]except[/i] Social Engineering settings. I dont know if this is as it [u]should[/u] be, but those were the results I experienced. Regardless, it doesnt hurt anything, and nothing is left out in order to have both.

In the beginning, I tried -2Support. The result was a forced choice between exploration or quick expansion, more work than fun, and barely playable. Changing that to -2Police is by no means less work, but is noticeably more fun, and certainly playable. Exploration and expansion are both possible. In fact, early expansion is required to keep each bases population down to avoid Drones until the various psych facilities are available. Even then, the Drones will keep you on your toes.

The combination of -2Economy -2Industry -2Research will likely prevent you from taking more than two of the earliest Secret Projects, but not to worry; as the game progresses you will have an increasingly better chance at early-to-mid-game Projects, and mid-to-late Projects will be completely up for grabs. [i]This is all intended[/i] so you will have to work for what you get.

See the Datalinks for a brief explanation of the rest of the profile.

I pasted together some pcx files using base graphics from the [b]Finns[/b], a faction file I downloaded too long ago to remember wherefrom and who provided it. For the logo I took the fist from [b]proj13.pcx[/b] (The Ascetic Virtues) and rotated it to the right 45 degrees. The leader images are different for each file, as is the color of the logo. [b]Section[/b] is the Doctor (Explore Green). [b]Party[/b] is the Engineer (Conquer Red). [b]Union[/b] is the Technician (Discover White). [b]Guild[/b] is the Librarian (Build Yellow). As with all faction.pcx files, each is a little over 200kb, so I won't post them (even a zipped file would be too uncomfortably large to post here). The zip attached to the next post is the four text files and this essay (zip is 11kb, unzips to 22kb).

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The basic profile, staying in [i]Frontier[/i] Politics for the entire game, is [b]The Chiron Workers [u]Section[/u][/b]:
#WORKER[b]S[/b]
Chiron Workers [b]Section[/b], The Worker, Workers, M, 1, Bozon Pete, M, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0,
  TECH, Physic, FACILITY, 24, SOCIAL, --ECONOMY, SOCIAL, --POLICE, SOCIAL, --INDUSTRY, SOCIAL, --RESEARCH, IMMUNITY, MORALE, MORALE, 0, TALENT, 7
  Politics, [b]Frontier[/b], INDUSTRY
  Values, Power, nil
  [b]Section, Section,[/b]

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For [i]Police State[/i] Politics, we have [b]The Chiron Workers [u]Party[/u][/b]:
#WORKER[b]P[/b]
Chiron Workers [b]Party[/b], The Worker, Workers, M, 1, Bozon Pete, M, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0,
  TECH, Physic, FACILITY, 24, SOCIAL, --ECONOMY, SOCIAL, --POLICE, SOCIAL, --INDUSTRY, SOCIAL, --RESEARCH, IMMUNITY, MORALE, MORALE, 0, TALENT, 7, [b]IMPUNITY, Police State[/b]
  Politics, [b]Police State[/b], INDUSTRY
  Values, Power, nil
  [b]Party, Party,[/b]

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For [i]Democratic[/i] Politics, we have [b]The Chiron Workers [u]Union[/u][/b]:
#WORKER[b]U[/b]
Chiron Workers [b]Union[/b], The Worker, Workers, M, 1, Bozon Pete, M, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0,
  TECH, Physic, FACILITY, 24, SOCIAL, --ECONOMY, SOCIAL, --POLICE, SOCIAL, --INDUSTRY, SOCIAL, --RESEARCH, IMMUNITY, MORALE, MORALE, 0, TALENT, 7, [b]IMPUNITY, Democratic[/b]
  Politics, [b]Democratic[/b], INDUSTRY
  Values, Power, nil
  [b]Union, Union,[/b]

---

For [i]Fundamentalist[/i] Politics, we have [b]The Chiron Workers [u]Guild[/u][/b]:
#WORKER[b]G[/b]
Chiron Workers [b]Guild[/b], The Worker, Workers, M, 1, Bozon Pete, M, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0,
  TECH, Physic, FACILITY, 24, SOCIAL, --ECONOMY, SOCIAL, --POLICE, SOCIAL, --INDUSTRY, SOCIAL, --RESEARCH, IMMUNITY, MORALE, MORALE, 0, TALENT, 7, [b]IMPUNITY, Fundamentalist[/b]
  Politics, [b]Fundamentalist[/b], INDUSTRY
  Values, Power, nil
  [b]Guild, Guild,[/b]

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The remaining portion of the text is identical except for the You are in contravention of... item and the Datalinks2 reference for the Political Impunity. Youll notice Im not very imaginative with the various statements or base names:

  Iris, Reilly, Rainbow's End
  Foreman, industrious, overbearing, hard-working, lazy,
  Heartless Slave-Driver
  get things done right
  to get things done right
  pushing everyone to exhaustion
  pushing everyone to exhaustion
  push everyone to exhaustion
  pushing everyone to exhaustion
  pushing everyone to exhaustion
  pushing everyone to exhaustion
  bullying, M1
  production schedule, M1
  exhausting work schedule, M1
  bonus, M1
  getting things done right
  the shift supervisors
  The Workers (Section Rules) (Party Line) (Union By-Laws) (Guild Code)

#BASES
Main Office
Project 1
Project 2
Project 3
(etc.)
#END

#WATERBASES
Platform 1
Platform 2
Platform 3
(etc.)
#END

#BLURB
^       Captain said to big old John Henry,
^      That old drill keeps a-coming around.
^Take that steam drill out and start it on that job
^   Let it whop, let it whop that steel on down
^   Let it whop, let it whop that steel on down.
^           -- Traditional, Datalinks --
^
^Red-hot iron, white-hot iron, cold-black iron;
^        an iron taste, and iron smell,
^         and a Babel of iron sounds.
^-- Charles Dickens, Bleak House, Datalinks --

#DATALINKS1
^LEADER: {Bozon Pete}
^BACKGROUND: {Morgan Industries' Lead Foreman on the Unity Project}
^AGENDA: {Build a Strong and Dedicated Community}
^TECH: {Applied Physics} Leverage is everything
^FACILITY: {Housing Complex} Proper homes for families

#DATALINKS2
^-2 ECONOMY: {New monetary system}
^-2 POLICE: {Disputes settled privately}
^-2 INDUSTRY: {Quality workmanship costs}
^-2 RESEARCH: {Thoroughness takes time}
^MORALE Exemption & Immunity: {Dedicated workers}
^TALENT, 7: {Crew Chiefs}
And one of these lines to correspond with the Political Choice (nothing for Frontier):
^Impunity POLICE STATE: {Precise accounting}
^Impunity DEMOCRACY: {Looking out for each other}
^Impunity FUNDAMENTALISM: {Cautious, not stupid}

#FACTIONTRUCE
#xs 440
#caption $CAPTION7
"This Vendetta is wasting my time, $TITLE0 $NAME1.
I have better things to do."

"Of course, $TITLE2 $NAME3. Let's get back to work."
"Run away and hide, $TITLE2 $NAME3! When you come out,
your mud-and-straw factories will be nothing but rubble!"

#FACTIONTREATY
#xs 440
#caption $CAPTION7
"$NAME1, $TITLE0, I believe we can get a lot more done if we combine
our efforts. A Treaty of Friendship would outline the details nicely."

"I agree, $NAME3, $TITLE2, I can already envision the benefits."
"I'm sorry, $NAME3, $TITLE2, but I see no benefit in that."

(If you play AX, I'm sure you can think of something appropriate to say to the Aliens.)