Expanding on the Steel Talons [UPDATED!] blog - WhiteDragon25

Okay, as I promised earlier, here is the first of the updated and revised GDI faction arsenals, starting out with the Steel Talons:

Part 1 - Infantry

Rifleman Squad - GDI's standard basic infantry. Retains same capabilities as in-game unit. Design based off of Falchion's design.

Missile Squad - GDI's standard basic anti-tank/anti-air infantry. Retains same capabilities as in-game unit. Design based off of Falchion's design

Combat Engineer - The Steel Talons' improved engineer infantry. Can capture enemy buildings and tech structures, repair friendly structures and repair civilian buildings. Can also detect and remove mines, and Dig In to create Engineering Foxholes. Is better armored and equipped with a powerful revolver capable of killing other engineer-type units.

Spec Ops Team - The Steel Talons' advanced recon infantry. Equipped with submachine guns, camouflage suits, stealth detection kits, artillery target painters, and demolition charges. Meant for surveillance, reconnaissance, and light sabotage. Can stealth when not moving, and also detect enemy stealth units. Can Spot Targets for the Behemoth. Can damage enemy structures with its demo charges. Provides a small range and accuracy boost to nearby Steel Talons walkers. Unit inspired by these artworks by KajiTetsushi on deviantART.

Grenadier Squad - GDI's standard heavy infantry. Equipped with grenade launchers. Can clear garrisoned buildings.

Jumpjet Trooper Squad - The Steel Talons' heavy assault infantry. Equipped with railgun-accelerated grenade launchers and "Aerial Assault Armor" (armor with jetpacks, basically). Flies instead of walks. Excels against medium armor and light infantry. Based off of Golan's JumpJet Infantry design.

Commando "Talon Raptor" - The Steel Talons' most elite soldiers. Armed with a duel-mode railgun rifle (original in-game version for anti-infantry, TWA's version for anti-tank) that can be manually toggled between them. Also equipped with jetpack system based on a mix of Golan's Jump Jet Trooper design and TWA's Jetpack Trooper bonus infantry. Overall commando design based on this Rise of Omnius concept.

Part 2 - Vehicles

Kazuar Scout Walker - The Steel Talons' basic scout unit. Design based on Twisted Insurrection's design. Weaponless (initially). Equipped with two minelayer pods and an advanced sensor suite package. Can lay mines. Can detect stealth. Can be upgraded with Sensor Pods and the Adaptive Weapons System (Details below in Part 7 - Upgrades).

Wolverine Mk. II Walker - The Steel Talons' basic anti-infantry unit. Equipped with two miniguns. Design based on Tiberium Icestorm's design. Can be upgraded with AP Ammo.

Titan Mk. II Walker - The Steel Talons' MBT (so to speak). Uses Golan's updated design. Can crush vehicles and medium tanks. Can be upgraded with Adaptive Armor and Railguns.

Mobile Repair Transport - The Steel Talons' Guardian APC variant. Replaces gun turret with a repair crane & repair drone. Can repair friendly vehicles. Will be using Falchion's Guardian APC design (that is, when he finally gets around to finishing it...).

Harvester - GDI's standard Tiberium Harvester.

MCV - GDI's Mobile Construction Vehicle. Deploys into Construction Yard.

Ratel Munitions Carrier - GDI's universal 8-wheeled explosive ordinance carrier. Armed with a turreted 60mm automatic grenade launcher. Can clear garrisoned buildings. Can be upgraded with Dragon Fire Mortars.

Tempest Hover MRLS - The Steel Talons' unique hover unit. Based on Tiberium Icestorm's design and name taken from Tiberium Essence. Equipped with two 11x missile racks. Can fire at both ground and air targets. Can be upgraded with Advanced Fire Control (taken from Tiberium Essence).

Hellhound Walker - The Steel Talons' dedicated tank destroyer walker. Inspired by the Mechwarrior 4 Mercenaries 'Mech of the same name. Equipped with 4x 30mm autocannons, 2x on each arm. Respectable anti-tank damage, range, and rate-of-fire, but nothing outstanding. Also comes with two empty weapons racks (used for the Adaptive Weapons System upgrade; see details below in Part 7 - Upgrades). Can be upgraded with the Adaptive Weapons system.

Rig/Battlebase - GDI's standard mobile defensive support platform. Rig deploys into a Battlebase, which is equipped with two Guardian Cannons, a SAM turret, a sensor suite, and repair drones. The Steel Talons' Battlebases can be upgraded with Railguns.

Mammoth Tank - GDI's iconic heavy assault tank. Armed with two 150mm tank guns and two 6x 60mm missile launchers. The Steel Talons' Mammoth Tanks can be upgraded with Adaptive Armor and Railguns.

Juggernaut Mk. II "Behemoth" Artillery Walker - The Steel Talons' heavy artillery. Armed with 3x 200mm cannons. Unlike the Juggernaut Mk. III, the Behemoth must deploy to fire. Has longer range and faster rate-of-fire than the Mk. III. Can be upgraded with Advanced Fire Control (taken from Tiberium Essence).

(Epic Unit) Mastodon - The Steel Talon's epic heavy assault walker. Based on TWA/Golan's design.

Part 3 - Aircraft

Orca Assault Craft - GDI's standard VTOL combat aircraft. Equipped with minigun and six air-to-ground missiles. Also equipped with a Pulse Scanner that can detect stealthed units for a limited amount of time in a small radius. Can be upgraded with Sensor Pods and Hardpoints.

Hammerhead Gunship - GDI's standard helicopter gunship. Equipped with two 2x machinegun ball turrets. Can transport infantry. Pending a redesign so that it looks less ridiculous (I'll draw up the redesign perhaps... eventually...). Can be upgraded with AP Ammo.

Firehawk Fighter/Bomber - GDI's standard fixed-wing combat aircraft. Can be armed with either four air-to-air missiles or two guided bombs. Can be upgraded with Stratofighter Boosters and Hardpoints.

[NOTE: The Hardpoints upgrade is researched at the Airfield.]

Part 4 - Primary Structures

Power Plant - Provides power. Can be upgraded with Advanced Turbines to provide more power.

Tiberium Refinery - Processes and stores Tiberium. Comes with Harvester.

Barracks - Produces and heals GDI infantry (in this case, the Steel Talons' infantry).

War Factory - Produces and repairs GDI vehicles (in this case, the Steel Talons' vehicles).

Command Post - Provides radar as well as basic Upgrades and Support Powers for GDI (in this case, for the Steel Talons).

Airfield - Produces and repairs GDI aircraft (in this case, the Steel Talons' aircraft).

Repair Bay - The Steel Talon's Replacement for the Armory. Repairs and provides upgrades for Steel Talon's vehicles. Also provides Support Powers.

Tech Center - GDI's advanced upgrade structure. Provides various advanced Upgrades and Support Powers for GDI (in this case, for the Steel Talons).

Space Command Uplink - GDI's advanced tech structure. Provides Orbitally-deployed Support Powers.

Crane - Provides an additional construction queue. Unlike the Construction Yard, cannot build the MAC-V, the Ion Cannon Uplink, and the Surveyor. It also cannot build more Cranes nor the Orbital Deployment Center.

Orbital Deployment Center - Constructs the Mastodon. Based on the Tiberium Essence structure of the same name and function.

Part 5 - Secondary Structures

Watchtower - GDI's basic anti-infantry defense. Can be upgraded with AP Ammo.

Guardian Cannon - GDI's basic anti-vehicle defense. Can be upgraded with Railguns.

AA Battery - GDI's basic anti-air defense.

Pulse Scanner - Support structure that detects stealth in large radius and increase effectiveness and line-of-sight of nearby friendly defenses (specific details pending revision).

MAC-V - Magnetic Accelerator Cannon Mk. V. Replaces Sonic Emitter for the Steel Talons. Based on the Halo Reach gun emplacement.

Wall Hub - GDI's basic passive defense. Place Wall Hub, then extend where you want the wall to be.

Tiberium Silo - Stores excess Tiberium.

Ion Cannon Uplink - GDI's superweapon. Provides the Ion Cannon superweapon.

Surveyor - GDI's ground-control expansion unit. Deploys into Outpost.

Part 6 - Support Powers

Radar Scan - GDI's basic intelligence support power. Scans a large target area, revealing stealth and providing line-of-sight.

Veteran Crew Training - The Steel Talons' basic force-multiplier support power. Gives one veterancy rank to a group of vehicles in a small radius. Taken from Tiberium Essence.

Railgun Accelerator - The Steel Talons' advanced force-multiplier support power. Increases the rate-of-fire of all Railgun-equipped units within affected radius, at the risk of gradual damage from overheating.

GDI Airborne - GDI's basic reinforcement support power. Calls in air transports to deploy 2 veteran Riflemen Squads and 2 veteran Missile Squads at target location.

Black Ops Insertion - The Steel Talons' intermediate reinforcement support power. Calls in air transports to deploy 3 veteran Spec Ops Teams at target location.

Bloodhound Airdrop - GDI's intermediate reinforcement support power. The Steel Talons' version deploys 2 veteran Wolverines and 2 veteran Kazuars at target location.

Zone Infantry Drop Pods - GDI's advanced reinforcement support power. Deploys a Drop Pod from orbit, landing 3 veteran Zone Troopers or Zone Raiders at target location. Choice between Zone Troopers or Zone Raiders can be toggled at the Space Command Uplink; can only be done while the support power is recharging. Idea taken from TWA.

Phoenix Airstrike - GDI's basic offensive support power. Call in 3 AX-13 Phoenix aircraft to bomb a moderate area. The AX-13 is from Tiberium Apocalypse, and is basically GDI-modernized A-10 Warthog. Replaces the original Orca Strike.

Shockwave Bombardment - GDI's advanced offensive support power. Launches a missile that releases a series of cluster bomblets that damages and EMP's enemy units and structures within the target location.

Supersonic Air Attack - GDI's advanced offensive support power. Calls in 3 Supersonic Fighters to annihilate enemy aircraft with a sonic-boom shockwave in target area.

Orbital Strike - GDI's advanced offensive support power. Orbital attack satellites drop cobalt-tungsten rods from orbit at high velocity onto the target location, causing massive damage to whatever was within the area.

Part 7 - Upgrades

Repair Bay Upgrades:

Adaptive Weapons System - Allows Kazuar and Hellhound to absorb infantry weapons. See below for full details.

[NOTE: Currently need two more upgrades to complete the Repair Bay's upgrade roster.]

Command Post Upgrades:

AP Ammo - Increases damage of Watchtower, Wolverine, and Hammerhead.

Dragon Fire Mortars - Gives Ratel Munitions Carrier automatic mortars for light artillery role.

Sensor Pods - Gives Sensor Pods to Orca and Kazuar. Allows them to deploy a sensor pod at a designated location; detects stealth within a moderate radius for a limited time.

Tech Center Upgrades:

Railguns - Gives Titans and Mammoth Tanks a ~50% increase in firepower (numbers up for revision).

Adaptive Armor - Gives Titans and Mammoth Tanks a ~30% increase in armor an hitpoints, and a further ~10% increase and immunity to EMP when system is activated (numbers up for revision).

Advanced Fire Control - Gives the Tempest Hover MRLS and Behemoth an increase in accuracy and rate-of-fire, while reducing splash damage to friendly units.

Stratofighter Boosters - Gives Firehawks the ability to move quickly to any point on the battlefield.

Details on the Adaptive Weapons System Upgrade:

Weapons given to the Kazuar:

> Rifleman Squad - light machine guns x2

> Missile Squad - 4x missile launcher pods x2

> Grenadier Squad - automatic grenade launchers x2

> Spec Ops Team/Sniper Team (if available) - long-range sniper autocannon + 'spotter' sighting pod

> Jumpjet Trooper - railgun rifles x2

> Zone Trooper (if available) - ion accelerator rifles x2

> Zone Raider (if available) - automatic sonic grenade launchers x2 + AA missile launcher pods x2

Weapons Given to the Hellhound:

> Riflemen Squad - a .50-cal 6-barrelled Gatling minigun, with armor-piercing bullets. Good for constant rate-of-fire, but short ranged. Can work as anti-infantry in a pinch, but don't expect accuracy when the weapon's calibrated for anti-tank duty.

> Missile Squad - LOSAT/KEM/CKEM missile rack. Good for volley fire, high damage, and longer range, but moderately long reload time. Useless against infantry, and cannot hit even a low-flying pigeon with any accuracy (you might get a lucky shot on an aircraft though, but don't bet on it).

> Engineer - Auto-Repair Regenerative System. No offensive capability, but allows it to repair damage when idle.

> Grenadier Squad - 40mm automatic grenade launcher. Moderate rate-of-fire with good damage, but most of said damage is explosive-splash type. Moderate range as well. (Not sure to give it anti-infantry damage as well.)

> Spec Ops Team/Sniper Team (if available) - A 20mm sniper-autocannon with advanced sensor suite. A long-ranged sniping weapon, with 3-burst fire-rate. Highly accurate, though not the highest damage. Can work as support against stealth.

> Jumpjet Trooper - A vehicle-mounted version of Golan's GDG-9 railgun-launched grenade rifle. Extreme damage and moderately long range, but long reload & short rate-of-fire as a result.

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And that basically covers all of the updates and revisions I've made to the Steel Talons since last time. I'll continue on next post with the ZOCOM, and finally after that the GDI Peacekeepers (vGDI).

Any thoughts, suggestions, questions, or comments are welcome. Some of the things I referenced here, such as Twisted Insurrection's Kazuar, are all property of their respective owners, and no attempts to use mentioned materials will be made unless permission is given.