The Iron Plague

The Iron Plague is the only expansion for Total Annihilation: Kingdoms. It was released in March 2000. It adds a fifth house, Creon, and a campaign of 25 missions with an alternative final mission. It also adds new units for the other sides.

Creon, the House of Machines

The four houses of the base game use magic. Creon uses science and engineering instead. In the story, Creon was founded by Garacaius, the father of the four monarchs, who left Darien long before the war. Its ruler is the Sage, the Creon monarch. Creon has a page of its own.

The game data shows the difference. Only 3 of its 25 units carry personal mana for spells: the Sage, the Chief Engineer and the Neo Dragon. Aramon has 5, counting Elsin. Most Creon units fight with machines: tasers, freezing beams, cannons, mortars, a rapid-fire crossbow and a fire wagon.

Unit Role From the game data
Sage Monarch 15,750 health. Its Mortar reaches 1200, and its Energy Blast does 5000 damage for 900 personal mana.
Mechanic Builder Costs 355 mana, less than Aramon's Mage Builder (443). Armed with a Taser and a Freeze Beam.
Automaton Melee soldier 2905 health for 301 mana. Aramon's Swordsman has 2500 health for 285 mana, but the Swordsman is faster.
Shock Trooper Ranged soldier A Taser that does 752 damage at a range of 400.
Aerial Juggernaut Flying warship 29,810 health, more than any of the four dragons. It has two cannons and anti-air arrows, and no spells.
Prismatic Mirror Defence tower A beam of light with a range of 1478.
Ghost of Garacaius God Costs 360,000 mana. The other houses' gods cost 100,000.

Creon gathers mana like everyone else. Its Mana Refinery and Mana Amplifier do the job of the Lodestone and the Divine Lodestone, with the same income values. See mana and building for how that works.

The Campaign

The Iron Plague campaign continues the story a few weeks after the base game ends. Creon had sold the secret of gunpowder to Aramon. A Taros cult, led by its high priest Heligrin, seizes the gold sent as payment. The incident draws Veruna, Aramon and then all of Darien into war with Creon.

As in the base game, you change sides from mission to mission. Of the 25 missions, you play 8 as Creon, 6 as Aramon, 5 as Veruna, 4 as Taros and 2 as Zhon. The first mission, Blood and Gold, puts you in command of the cult's ship, sinking Verunan transports. Your first Creon mission is Join Us, where a Barnstormer scouts and Mechanics build your forces.

The campaign has two possible endings:

  • In Perilous Balance, mission 25, you play Aramon. The Sage is surrounded, and you must destroy him while keeping the monarchs of Darien alive.
  • In Father's Day, the alternative final mission, you play Creon. The four monarchs attack from every side, and the Sage must survive while you drive them out.

The game files hold two versions of the campaign list. They are the same except for the last entry, which is Perilous Balance in one and Father's Day in the other.

New Units for the Other Houses

The expansion also added units for the other sides. In the game data, no unit can build them. They appear in the campaign missions.

Unit Side Notes
Heligrin Taros The cult's high priest, with three fire spells. He appears in 7 missions, including both final missions.
Cult of Lokken Ship Taros The cult's warship, with 29,000 health and a Fire Ball that reaches 820. You command it in Blood and Gold.
Lokken Taros A second version of the Taros monarch, with no weapons and 5000 personal mana.
Trapdoor Spider Zhon A unit that cannot move and can hide by cloaking. It appears in Alliance.
Sea Serpent Wild creature A sea monster with 16,031 health, found in Nocturnal Horrors.
Mummy Wild creature An undead creature with a 1784-damage punch, found in A Bold and Risky Plan.

How It Was Released

Cavedog announced on 6 January 2000 that it was finishing The Iron Plague. The announcement planned a March release in more than 45 countries. Wikipedia gives the release date as 6 March 2000. It also says that Infogrames published the expansion under the GT Interactive name, after Infogrames took control of GT Interactive.

The expansion came on its own CD and needed Kingdoms to be installed first. Its readme asks for DirectX 7.0a and 170 MB of disk space for a minimum install of both games. The readme describes the game as Kingdoms 3.0. Wikipedia notes that the expansion included the newest patch, which was also free to download. The later 4.0 patch made Creon available in multiplayer games.

Sources differ on the timing of Cavedog's closure. One Wikipedia article places the release shortly before Cavedog's collapse. Another says GT Interactive announced the closure in February 2000. The full timeline is on the history page.

Today, GOG sells Kingdoms and The Iron Plague together. See how to play it today.

Sources