<div align="center"><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: impact;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 24pt;"><strong><span class="bbc_u">-  GM UPDATE #5!  -</span></strong></span></span></div><br/><hr/><hr/><br/><div style="text-align: justify;">    Alright, here is the update as promised about the troops (several people have had questions about them, so I wanted to get some more details to you all since I won't be able to post for Apocalypse until tomorrow).<br/><br/>     Apocalypse's troops are ALL superhumans, none of them are your traditional "grunt soldiers". Every single member of his army has superhuman powers and abilities and they all fight accordingly. A great number of them are vastly inexperienced with their abilities - and are inexperienced fighting as a team - but that does not make them total pushovers against our player characters. While a player character (who is very experienced with their powers and fighting as a unit) may easily be able to take on an individual of Apocalypse's army, they will have to be at their best to beat several of them at once. <br/><br/>     To counter-act their inexperience with their powers and with their teammates - Apocalypse has them running around in groups of four to eight members. There is at least one experienced and well known villain per every set of four groups. What that means is that for a decently sized target (like taking down a police building in a big city) their would be about 16 individuals (or four groups), with an experienced superhuman villain leading them. Any big-target type of fight scenes will be plot specific and GM directed. You are allowed to have intermittent skirmishes with enemy NPCs provided they are a single small group of about four new-mutants. PM me if you'd like to add in a known villain as their "team-leader" as I there are some important villains that I DON'T want killed off.<br/><br/>     As for their equipment and technology... every individual of Apocalypse's forces has their own advanced mechanical exo-suit (think Iron-man - but with far fewer capabilities). They have "jump jets" that can help them contend with flying opponents - but this is not sustained flight. The exo-suits enhance their speed, strength, and durability minimally as sort of a compensation for them until they learn their powers fully. Any experienced villains or superhumans (ones that weren't recently added via the judgement serum), probably won't have an exo-suit (unless it seems logical that they would employ one to support their power/ability set).<br/><br/>     They DO have retrofitted aircraft and other means of transportation that they have "commandeered" from local military installations around the world. Pretty much any form of present-day military vehicle we use - they have the potential to utilize. Apocalypse, however, DOES favor his troops using their own bodies and personal powers and abilities. Although he does value the benefit of technology (and uses some advanced ones himself)... he sees them more as a tool for reaching the ultimate goal of his army - which is total superhuman might with very little technological aid. (As once they are combat-hardened and experienced - it would likely only slow them down).<br/><br/>     Another important note about Apocalypse's army is that they are ALL under a sort of "delusion" that is applied in conjunction with the successful serum. It influences them to be loyal and commited to Apocalypse's cause. Almost like a mind control (sort of like when Loki used Hawkeye against the Avengers in the recent movie)... but think of it more as a chemical/telepathic thing, rather than magic (which is what Loki used). While extremely rare... this "mind control" CAN be thwarted if a soldier is captured and taken to the resistance to be "cured". While the cure will NOT turn a person back into a regular human, it WILL cleanse their system of the mind-controlling chemical. <br/><br/>     Any "BIG PLAN" ideas for player-character/enemy-NPC battles need to be PMed to me for approval before being posted. You may freely go ahead and post what you want with small skirmishes that don't have notable characters; but save any plot-changing ideas to be passed by me. Don't let this requirement dissuade you from actively trying to drive or guide the plot - as it would be very difficult to try and make everything happen myself. You all are writing this thing the same as myself - it's just that I will need to guide and balance as we go. Hence the need to PM me anything pivotal. <br/><br/>     Apocalypse's army is VERY unconventional - due to it's makeup of an amalgamation of different superhumans with various powers and abilities. This should keep every fight scene fresh and give you plenty of options to create dynamic scenes that are interesting and unique. Hopefully this little inside look on things give you enough of an idea to proceed. I'll give a much more detailed description and a good example-like view of these forces when I do Apocalypse's post in the very near future.<br/><br/>     If you have any other questions about the army, send them to me via PM and I will try to address them within the post for Apocalypse. <br/><br/>Thanks everyone! Looking forward to your use of this new, unique enemy!<br/></div>