GI Joe is a big universe, What other teams exist in your Universe? Are there any other Terrorist groups other than Cobra, perhaps rouge military states?

Steve

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Right now its just the Oktober Guard. I'd like to find some generic terrorists with 25th style or equivalent articulation to make some more enemies.

I've got Cobra as the main baddie. There is the hierarchy of Cobra and the basic troops. Recently Cobra Commander began grouping specialized units together.
-The Immortals. The closest thing to Navy SEALs that Cobra has. Led by Blackout and Guillotine.
-The Plague. Formerly a private military contractor ran by Major Bludd. When Bludd rejoined Cobra he brought them with him.
-A group led by Firefly. (haven't thought of a name yet) Formerly Firefly Inc. Became an independent contractor when Cobra fell in the nineties. Cobra Commander finally convinced him to come back into the fold.
-The Viper Corp. Made up of specialized troops.
-Python Patrol. Specialize in enemy weaponry.

MARS is ran by James McCullen with the military arm, The Iron Grenadiers, commanded by Alexander McCullen who was granted the title of Lord Destro by James.

The Coil is a cult of former Cobra agents who have taken refuge in the desert (think Afghanistan) who eagerly await the return of Serpentor. They worship Serpentor in a religious fashion and attack all others in his name. Overlord leads the cult with Big Boa, Croc Master, Copperhead, Raptor, and Crystal Ball in tow.

The Dreadnoks have split into three groups:
-Buzzer, Ripper, Torch, Gnawgahyde, Monkeywrench, and Zandar took Zartan into hiding when his medical conditions began to worsen. Their main priority now is to protect Zartan while they find a cure for his physical and mental breakdowns.
-Zarana considered this her chance to take over the reign of The Dreadnoks and she now wields the power. Joining her are Road Pig, Zanzibar, Burnout, and several new members. They still work closely with Cobra.
-Zanya refutes Zarana's claim of the Dreadnoks and began her own group taking in many younger, eager members. They are aligned with The Forsaken and fight against Cobra just to undermine Zarana.

The Forsaken are the castoffs. Led by Billy, the group consists of Darklon, Ghost Bear, Tiger Claw, and Coil Crusher. Their goal is to overtake Cobra Island and set up Springfield as a legitimate country.

The Red Ninja Clan is led by Sei Tin. Mercenary Ninjas.

The Red Shadows are a European based enemy.

Overkill leads a group of cyborgs against the world. He fights against Cobra as well as GI Joe. He is looking to take over the world with sentient robots.

Cobra La is located on a small island off of Cobra Island. Dr. Mindbender escaped here when Cobra Commander attempted to kill him for trying to resurrect Serpentor again. Venomous Maximus rescued Mindbender and took him here where they continue to pilfer Cobra Island for equipment. The Island is now populated by many beast-men that are the failed experiments of Mindbender. They consider him their father and protect the him and the island from intruders. (think The Island Of Dr. Moreau)

The Night Creepers are a small mercenary Ninja clan led by Aleph. It was recently discovered that they had operatives in all branches of the military worldwide. Banzai and Dice are members for example.

The Estrala Family is made up of the South American characters. So far I have Mortal, Brutis, Ninja Ku, De Aco, Abutre Negro, and Invasor. They work hand in hand with:

The Headhunters who are drug smugglers.

The Arashikage clan. Storm Shadow has refocused his life on rebuilding his family's clan. He has distanced himself from Cobra and GI Joe but you never know where his allegiances may lie in the future.




I think that's all of them. It's been a while since I played around in that place in my head.

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Well as I said here I use the Joes, Corps, Action Force, & Oktober Guard. On the other side there Cobra, Iron Grenadiers, Dreadknocks, Red Shadows, Darkstorm (from the Fearless Forces line may be used separate from Cobra or as a subdivision) and there are a few others I'm working on but really haven't gotten to far with yet. One is an enemy team for the Oktober Guard ala Cobra or Red Shadows.

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Like AlleyViper, I have Firefly with his own little group of mercenaries, led by Firefly, Munita and Black Out. They use Cobra equipment, but specialize more on sabatage, infiltration and information gathering more than all out attacks.
Firefly selects troops from the ranks of Cobra that he feels have the skills required to get the job done. Each of the chosen troops is proficiant with pistols, rifles, sub machine guns, crew served weapons and anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons. They also need to be qualified to operate Cobra's vehicles, heavy armor, helos and fixed wing aircraft. Some troops specialize in explosives, some in marksmanship (snipers) and others in martial arts.
Most of the time the troops work in small two, four or six man teams, but can also work in platoon sized operations. The troops are more loyal to Firefly and his team than they are to Cobra, but will work with the regular Cobra troops when instructed to do so.

I've also got some Crimson Shadow Guards that I don't use for their intended use. The figures came with a bunch of martial arts weapons that I have no use for, so I hit up Marauder John and equiped them with AK-47s. While still part of Cobra, they are a special operations unit that work independantly of any other part of Cobra, only relying on Cobra's air or naval forces to get them where they're going. They'll stay out how ever long is needed and survive on what ever they can. They still maintain the suit and tie part of the Crimson Guard, but if they're needed to move in the field, there they go. They answer only to Cobra Commander.
(If anyone has any of these guys for sale, I'll buy them in muliples of four, I just need the helmet and back pack with them)

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Cool, nice to see there are others too who gave Firefly his own force. Mine's called Red Terror. I'll be posting pics of my collection within a month, you'll be able to see them then.

And I just use all the fractions like they exist for the ARAH sculpt figs. Exceptions are Lunartix, Eco-Force and Cobra Strike Team (the last one is disbanded, but all members got a new job within the Cobra ranks).

Tim 121RVC

Well, I've recently invested some time and customizing energy into revitalizing the Red Shadows idea, and have pulled together a tidy little faction there with no obvious ties to Cobra.

I'm also working on an updated Cobra La group using the new Neo-Vipers as the base for the Royal Guards. I'm pretty sure they'll be getting a different team/group name, though, becaus,e while the basic character concepts behind it are pretty cool, the name "Cobra La" is still hella lame.

I'm also working on filling out the ranks of the Iron Grenadiers. A couple of Speed Metal figures should make decent Nullifier bases and an as-yet-to-be-determined recipe for Metal Head will get me a lot closer to happy with that faction.

I've been thinking about developing the Black Dragons as a Yakuza-style Asian mafia outfit to square off against my reimagined C.O.P.s, but I want to be careful with it and avoid
stereotypes.

I'm also working on a Vance Wingfield custom to head up a revitalized Strike First organization, as seen in the Marvel run. I know he was shot at the end of that story, but people survive gunshots all the time.

Ultimately I'd like to have a healthy rogues gallery with Cobra as the predominant heavy but enough other threats to keep the Joe team feeling stretched thin, overworked and underfunded...because that seems like what would happen to a group like the Joes in the real world.

In general the other groups in my Universe are either affiliated with or supported by Cobra. This is because Cobra has seemingly unlimited resources to prop up the upstarts and Cobra Commander is so bat "LASER BLAST" crazy that no one wants to get on his bad side lest he nuke them or turn them into snake-monsters or lord knows what.

MARS/The Iron Grenadiers- Probably the largest organization outside of Cobra proper, Destro's got himself quite a little army going. Better trained and equipped than the equivalent Cobra troops, they're some of the most dangerous men on the planet. Basically exactly as they were shown in the Marvel comic, except maybe a bit more strongly allied with Cobra.

Black Dragon- Dating back to the Adventure Team days when they menaced Joe Colton, Black Dragon is still a force to be reckoned with in the modern day. A Japanese group with their fingers in every criminal and terrorist pie. Very much like the Yakuza in real life except more fanciful with armor and lasers and such.

Arashikage Ninja Clan- Not really an enemy to GI Joe, the Arashikage are not exactly friends either. As ninja, they work for anyone and that includes Cobra.

Night Creepers- Just as they appeared in the Marvel series.

Headhunters- After their Headman went to jail, a new Headman (A title, not a codename) stepped in and made the Headhunters even more powerful with a violent gang war. Now the original Headman is out of jail and working with them as well.

IRON Army- Cybernetic Neo-nazis lead by General Blitz Kreiger. They have an uneasy truce with Cobra, but not close ties. However Kreiger was a mentor to Cobra Commander during the formation of Cobra.

SKAR- An Eastern European threat, SKAR is the national army of the state of Mklavia with designs on European domination. They're slowly eating up other small Eastern European states.

Red Shadows- Just as they were in the old Action Force comic. Much nastier than Cobra ever was, and a rival for the title of most insane technology ever used for Terrorism. They have a non-aggression pact with Cobra, but Ironblood still hasn't completely forgiven Cobra Commander for spreading the rumor that the Baron was the man under the silver faceplate a few years ago.

Strike First- A militia group just like in the Marvel comics. Vance survived the shot to the back and still leads the group, just as insane and dangerous as ever. Supported by Cobra.

Guardians Of Paradise- A group of militant middle eastern warriors who despise the infidels of the west. Led by Colonel Shariff, and just like in the Marvel comics. Supported by Cobra.

Kobralah- A secret civilization of snake-men in the Himalayas attempting to control humanity with sleeper agents disguised as Humans. Just like the Cartoon (Except Cobra Commander and Serpentor have nothing to do with them) with a touch of "Crazy Reptile Conspiracy" thrown in.

Lots of freelance mercs running around too. The HISS (Firefly, Blackout, and Munitia) are some of the best.

And I'm sure I'm forgetting somebody. . .

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I don't do much with my joe-verse nowadays beside display them.

At the height of my creative thinking I had a bunch of different groups going around.

I liked to think of the Red Shadows as a more secret fascist organization in Europe. They aren't going to have tanks and planes. The cool german-inspired uniforms are more ceremonial but may be used on the odd and very spectacular attack.

Russia has the Oktober Guard.

China has the Stone Tigers.

The Al-Saladin Brigade are an insurgent group in Iraq that competes against Cobra for power and influence.

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That sounds interesting. Who are the members of that group?

Tim 121RVC