Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath - Nod Subfactions

Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars marked the return of a long-lived and well-liked series that helped put the harvest-construct-conquer gameplay of real-time strategy games on the map. The game was popular and successful, and brought a new focus on the series' storyline, which pitted the "good guy" Global Defense Initiative against the "bad guy" Brotherhood of Nod in a futuristic conflict on Earth over the precious, and highly toxic, alien substance known as Tiberium--all of this right before an alien invasion. The game is set to expand later this year with Kane's Wrath, which will introduce new units and subfactions into an already fast-paced game of build-grow-and-conquer. This time around, we have new intel to share on the subfactions of the Brotherhood of Nod.

Black Hand

The Black Hand was originally founded as a kind of religious police that enforced the teachings of the Brotherhood's charismatic leader, Kane. However, the cult has since grown to become a powerful and influential religious group that, until recently, had operated mostly in secret.

This changed after the second Tiberium War, when Kane disappeared. A high-ranking member of the Black Hand, Anton Slavik, rose to power within the Brotherhood, but jealousy among the fanatical faction led to his assassination at the hands of a Black Hand preacher named Brother Marcion, who, with other members of the faction, were later banished to the Australian outback in the ensuing turmoil. Now, Marcion has returned to the Brotherhood and seeks to gain dominance as the one true representative of the Black Hand, a splintered subfaction whose several small groups claim to be the true followers.

The Black Hand's combat style is aggressive and focused on flame attacks that "purify" its enemies. However, unlike other Nod armies, the Black Hand prefers to not use stealth units because of the faction's religious beliefs, and instead relies mostly on visible human infantry troops and the flamethrowing Purifier combat mech.

Marked of Kane

The Marked of Kane are the result of a highly secret set of experiments that Kane himself authorized. The project, located in the Tiberium wastelands of Central Asia and the Russian Steppes, proceeded in secret for many years in hidden underground bunkers. The objective: to create an army of soldiers that would unquestionably obey every order from Kane without the inconveniences of morals, emotions, or fear.

The development of these cybernetic warriors would have caused great dissension within the Brotherhood, so their development was kept secret, and did not meet with much success, though their development finally neared completion at the end of the second Tiberium War. However, because of the results of that conflict, the Marked were never fully completed or activated--until now.

The Marked subfaction uses both focused Tiberium- and EMP-based attacks, as well as overwhelming brute force in battle. The Marked's basic infantry is nearly as strong as most factions' elite foot soldiers.