All stories need a setting, and all characters a purpose. We enjoy playing games and a big part of the reason is the incredible worlds we are immersed in, the fantastic stories that unfold in front of us as we play.

To imagine epic space battles across galaxies, arduous skirmishes among the ruins of vast cities, massive confrontations with armies spreading far and wide across plains, as far as the eye can see. That is the magic of the games we love, games that, like CSW, have a lot to offer beyond impecable mechanics.

After all, what is a good game without a rich background?

Colonial Space Wars takes place around the year 4700 AD. Space colonization has taken humanity to the neighboring star systems Alpha Centauri, Syrio, Procyon and Altair. This expansion took almost two millennia, throughout which humanity was united under the implacable rule of the Union of Terra.

The Union is a complex bureaucratic organism which was created in the 29th century with the objective of balancing out the Corporations, the true rulers of humankind.

For over 500 years humanity thrived under the banner of the Union of Terra. However, just as with any other empire of history, this “golden age” found its end. Following a decadent period conducive to the two Colonial Space Wars, the Union saw its domain fractured into four factions that fight to this day for control over the human-inhabited universe: The Union of Terra, The Centauri Brotherhood, Heimdall Industries, and The Ascaryan Infestation.

UNION OF TERRA

Symbol of Power, Treason and Ambition

Heir to The Union of old and bearer of its name, the present day Union of Terra now controls only the Solar and Altair systems in addition to a few ancient space fortresses of the Armada in Alpha Centauri.

Being the first great power, Terra suffered the gravest losses during the Colonial Wars and over the course of the Ascaryan Infestation. In its diminished state and hobbled by the eternal corporate feuds that plague its home planet, the Union´s war machine is still a much- feared adversary. No one doubts that in a not too distant future, the Brigades of Terra will come back to reclaim what was stolen from them.

Read detailed descriptions of the units available for The Union of Terra in the New Horizons game box web. The Flesh and Steel campaign is releasing many new units to choose from.

CENTAURI BROTHERHOOD

Courage and Perseverance as their Banner

Almost exclusively relegated to the Alpha Centauri system, the Brotherhood is the most modest of the three human factions. Even so, it has the most promising future, since its worlds are almost completely isolated from the Ascaryan threat in the rest of the Galactic plane.

The Centauri society bordered on extinction during the 2nd Colonial war, but the providential arrival of an alien race known as “The Ancients” radically changed its destiny. The Centauri worshiped these visitors as living gods and, in turn, The Ancients shared with the Centauri the secrets of their technology and forged with them an alliance that allowed them to reclaim almost the entire system in the space of only a few decades of campaigns.

The revival of the Centauri warrior caste has shaken the Union to its foundations, for they know that the Centauri won’t stop until the entire Universe is remolded to mirror the purity of their values.

Read detailed descriptions of the units available for The Centauri Brotherhood in the New Horizons game box web. The Flesh and Steel campaign is releasing many new units to choose from.

HEIMDALL INDUSTRIES

The Efficiency of the Cyber Evolution

The machine worlds populating Syrio and Procyon are owned by a megacorporation called Heimdal Industries, once one of the most powerful of the old Union.

The refusal of the “human law” imposed by Terra in 3819 AC became a schism that transcended the mere political plane, to become a spiritual debate over the communion of the human being with technology.

Presently, the servants of Heimdall are seen with distrust by all other factions because, up to some degree, they have all surrendered their humanity in order to survive in their intricate metal worlds.

In spite of the general aversion to deal with Heimdall, the services of Cyber-mercenaries and other specialists of this faction are highly priced in the black market across the Galaxy.

Read detailed descriptions of the units available for the Heimdall Industries in the New Horizons game box web. The Flesh and Steel campaign is releasing many new units to choose from.

ASCARYAN INFESTATION

The faceless Enemy

“The plague”, “agents of disorder” or “world bane” are just a few of the names used to refer to the organisms belonging to the Ascaryan race.

Even though the Ascarids are not an organized threat, they belong to a complicated alien ecosystem expanded across whole systems, and ever growing. The nature of the Ascaryan infestation is so vile, that its sole existence seriously compromises all other known life.

Since its focal point was identified in the Tau Ceti system, preventing its propagation has been the main concern of the human race. For over 1000 years now, a tight knot of ships and probes constantly patrols the borders of the Solar System, Syrius and Procyon.

In the meantime, hidden in the vastness of space, an evil too horrible to be forgotten awaits its opportunity.

Read detailed descriptions of the units available for the Ascaryan Infestation in the New Horizons game box web. The Flesh and Steel campaign is releasing many new units to choose from.

From ruthless Terran Corporations to Idealistic Centauri Brotherhood clans, the vast universe of this game only confirms our best suspicions: there is much more to CSW than meets the eye. And there is much more to come, because their current Indiegogo campaign to release Flesh and Steel -an expansion that will bring over 150 new units to this stunning universe- has almost reached its goal in less than 5 days.