“Send your boys to certain death and learn something new!”

Phone & tablet controls

Drag the battlefield to pan; pinch or use +/− to zoom. In Build, move pieces only with the left arrows, then Rotate and Place on the right. In Deploy, use the same buttons or tap to preview and double-tap the same tile to place; drag an MG sector or hold its turn buttons, then confirm.

In Engage, select Artillery, Special arty, Infantry wave, Air support or Raiders on the right, then tap the target on the map. Rings show each available shot and its reload; Army opens your phase information and Modifiers & Upgrades. Online matches use the same rules on desktop, phone and tablet.

Start & rounds

Battle Royale: placement follows HQ elimination order. The top half, rounded down, are winners: top 2 of 4–5, top 4 of 9. Eliminated commanders spectate; the last survivor is the champion. Best-of-three series still count championship victories.

Coastline: random bays and irregular shores surround connected land with forests, fields, farmhouses and a destructible lighthouse. Sea cannot be built on; HQ placement areas stay dry.

Interactive tutorial: launch Interactive tutorial from the main menu for a local 1v1 lesson. Explanations pause the game; Try it lets you place HQ, seal and reinforce trenches to unlock double yield, crew artillery and order infantry. Restart or exit at any time. The 1v1 battlefield is 56×35 tiles.

Choose 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, 4v4 or 3–9-player Battle Royale, then countries and Human/Easy/Medium/Hard commanders. Up to four people share a keyboard; slots 5–9 are AI locally; all nine slots can be human online. Swap alliances above the country cards puts Central Powers in the first player slots. Allies are Britain, France, Russia and USA; Central Powers are Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottomans. Italy may join either side. Teammates start beside one another. Best of 3 tracks victories across battles.

1. All commanders press Ready once. Place your 2×2 HQ inside the marked zone: up to four tiles forward/back or eight sideways. You begin with no enclosure or weapons.
2. Build: 42.5 seconds in round 1, +2 seconds each later round. 8 puzzle pieces initially, +1 each round. The final ordinary piece is a straight three; Ottomans get an extra five-tile L last. Each placement costs one piece, including partial overlaps. Click to place; right click rotates. When everyone spends their piece allowance, Build ends automatically.
3. Deploy: 40 seconds. Every ten controlled tile-equivalents buy one placement of artillery, MG, tower, wire or bunker. All five deployable types are listed in your country panel; the selected one is highlighted. Switch with your second action key or right click. It ends when everyone spends their allowance (or time expires), allowing crews time to reach their posts.
4. Countdown: three seconds to study the battlefield. Engage: 27 seconds in round 1, +2 per round. The first empty battle ends after five seconds if no attacks are possible.
5. Overtime: existing assaults continue; no new infantry orders. Each artillery piece and unlocked CAS gets one last shot/call. The round waits for attackers, shells and aircraft, then one quiet second. Battle reports last five seconds, extended for upgrade choices.

Only HQ capture eliminates an army: eight enemy soldiers must enter its door. Artillery cannot destroy HQ. Eight immortal roof guards defend with base stats regardless of country or enclosure. Losing your perimeter removes recruitment/control bonuses, but does not eliminate you. Victory is shown immediately, then battle losses.

Controls & the sight

Player 1 defaults to mouse + WASD. Open Controls to change keyboard bindings for every local human, camera keys and Player 1 mouse actions. Settings are saved on this device. Online commanders customise Player 1 on their own computer. Below are the defaults.

Mouse: move to aim; left click places/fires, right click rotates/switches/orders infantry, middle click or apostrophe fires special artillery, E calls CAS. With one local human, wheel zooms smoothly from 1× to 4.5× and WASD pans. Zoom/pan are disabled with multiple local humans. Online players use player 1 controls on their own computer.

In a weapon-upgrade popup, your rotate/switch key changes the choice and place/fire confirms; mouse buttons on the cards also work. Choices are permanent for that match. Pause (or Escape/Space) keeps the battlefield visible. Multiplayer pauses and resumes after a three-second countdown. Menu opens Return to the game / Exit to menu and shows the build version; opening it automatically pauses singleplayer only. The match-result screen requires the mouse.

Trenches, zones & reinforcement

Move the puzzle preview with the mouse or movement keys. Click once (or press Place) to build the whole piece. Right click or your rotate key turns it 90 degrees without spending a piece. Start with 8 pieces; each later round adds one. The final ordinary piece is a straight three; Ottomans receive an extra five-tile L last. Pieces must touch your trench network and seal corners. Partial overlap is allowed: each overlapped cell gains one layer. Two total layers make concrete; four make reinforced concrete. Each placement spends one piece. No isolated controlled islands: zones need a trench connection to HQ. Trench bands may be at most three tiles deep, with open ground between bands. Leave one clear tile from enemy trenches, including corners. HQ's four cells count inside a controlled zone but cannot be built over. Large translucent white arrows mark repair gaps; blue water droplets mark flooded gaps that cannot be built on. The remaining-piece popup follows your cursor after each placement.

At the start of each new round, surviving earth and concrete trench cells recover 1 HP; reinforced concrete recovers 2 HP, capped at maximum health. Destroyed cells must be rebuilt.

Shell casualties inside surviving trenches: each soldier rolls separately. Ordinary/precision artillery: concrete 40% on a direct hit / 10% splash; reinforced concrete 20% / 5%; earth trench splash 15%. Heavy artillery: concrete 60% direct / 20% splash; reinforced concrete 40% / 10%; earth trench splash 30%. Both heavy direct-hit cells use the direct-hit chance. If the trench cell is destroyed, everyone on it dies. Weapon crews keep their separate nest/crew rules.

Zone bonuses: at least half its boundary at concrete or better gives ×2 infantry and ×2 deployment value. At least half specifically reinforced gives ×3 infantry and ×3 deployment value. These multiply the base tile yield before national traits, doctrines and recruitment upgrades. Breaking the enclosure removes the bonuses until it meets the rule again. National recruitment and More recruits apply on top. Connected allies can complete one another's zones; control goes to the nearer HQ. Surviving allies can reuse a defeated ally's trenches.

Deployable weapons & support

Each placement normally costs one deployment point. When you already control at least 10 of the same type, further placements and upgrades cost two points at 10–19 controlled structures, three at 20–29, four at 30–39, and so on (wire remains capped at two points). Artillery, MGs, towers, bunkers and wire have separate counts. An upgraded structure counts once; each wire placement counts as one section, not nine cells. Destroyed or disconnected structures no longer count. The deployment list shows the current price. Stacking three matching weapons on one cell upgrades it: the two-placement marker helps find unfinished upgrades. Artillery needs controlled floor; MGs and towers need connected trench. All three need two crew, with nearby armed soldiers preferred. Crews remain when infantry attack. Empty posts refill from available soldiers, including during Engage. Crewed artillery can fire outside control during battle, but is abandoned if still uncontrolled after Build.

Barbed wire

The fourth deploy option. One placement follows the outside of a connected trench for up to nine cells: the selected cell plus four each way, turning corners. The preview shows the exact footprint. One direct hit or two splash hits destroy each cell. Own and allied wire causes no penalty. Attackers compare faster routes up to two tiles to either side around enemy wire; otherwise they cross at 30% speed, without stacking other terrain penalties. Normal trench-building rules allow you to replace wire in the next Build phase.

Phone & tablet controls

Build: move pieces only with the left-thumb arrows; rotate and place with your right thumb. Drag to pan and pinch to zoom up to 10×.

Deploy: use the buttons, or tap to preview and double-tap the same position to place. Drag an MG firing sector or hold ↶ / ↷ to turn it; confirm with the button or a double-tap. Cancel undoes an unconfirmed sector.

Engage: choose an order in the bottom deck, then tap its target. Army opens your units and Modifiers & Upgrades. Desktop and mobile share the same online rules.

Death milestones & special abilities

Improved aim, Improved bayonets and First aid kits can each be chosen at most five times.

Confirmed deaths earn choices at 50, 100, 200, 300, 400… for most countries; 75, 150, 300, 450, 600… for Austria-Hungary; 100, 200, 400, 600, 800… for Russia; 44, 88, 176, 264, 352… for Italy. Italy may join either alliance. A gold flash announces the milestone. Choose during the battle report; unanswered choices resolve automatically when its extended timer ends. Wounded survivors do not count as confirmed deaths.

Improved aim

+7.5 percentage points to rifle accuracy per choice, before country and cover modifiers. Does not improve MG accuracy.

Improved bayonets

+10 percentage points to bayonet duel win chance. Opposing training cancels out.

More recruits

Recruit yield ×1.05 per choice; two choices give ×1.05×1.05. Fractions accumulate across your territory and rounds. Extra men join the end of the recruitment queue.

First aid kits

+15 percentage points to the wounded-survival roll: 10% → 25% → 40%… up to 85% after five upgrades. Applies to otherwise lethal rifle/MG and bayonet hits, not explosions or executions. Russian infantry training takes effect only once a soldier carries a rifle.

Field Medics · 3 levels

Unlock at 100 / 300 / 500 deaths, adjusted by country and doctrine: maintain 2 / 5 / 8 medics, replenished at Engage. Unarmed medics move at 80% speed, treat awake wounded for 2 seconds, then seek another patient; healed soldiers must reach a controlled trench before joining waves.

Add MG to HQ · once

Available with the first death upgrade. Adds an immortal standard MG over the HQ door and two extra immortal crew. The eight original rifle guards make room and keep defending. Fires in all directions with base MG stats, independently of the field-MG doctrine.

Late reserves · once

Unlocked at 100 deaths (Austria-Hungary: 150; Russia: 200; Italy: 88), and stays available until chosen. Holds back 20% of each round's recruits, including recruitment bonuses, instead of spawning them during Build. Every fifth recruit is deferred; fractions carry over. With 7 seconds left in Engage they emerge from HQ and join the remaining unused assault waves. They do not attack automatically. If all four waves were used, one final wave is restored, sending all available soldiers except weapon crews. Reserves are kept off the battlefield until arrival, so early shelling cannot kill them. Earned reserves still arrive if territory was lost, unless their army was eliminated. Late reserves II: after purchasing I, unlocks at 500 deaths (Austria-Hungary 750, Russia 1,000, Italy 440). Increases the delayed share to 40%, with the same final-wave restoration. Both tiers announce arrival at your sight.

WW1 CAS · once

Unlocked at 300 deaths (Austria: 450; Russia: 600; Italy: 264). Call with E / 3 / 9 / Num +. An invulnerable biplane enters behind HQ and flies straight over your target at half artillery projectile speed over the same distance. It reveals a 3-tile radius; aircraft-only full vision lingers 2 seconds.

Its bomb has a normal artillery explosion and damage footprint: direct landing cell and half-damage splash. Scatter is 20% aimed, 40% adjacent, 40% outer ring for all countries. Reload: 25 seconds. The small icon below your sight shows readiness. One last call is allowed in Overtime.

HQ MG, CAS and Late reserves show coloured UNLOCKED cards, disappear after purchase and cannot be taken twice. Small boxes beside casualty counters show your own and allied selections, including stack counts. Opponents' choices stay hidden. On a shared local screen these boxes use player 1's perspective.

Houses need at least half their remaining soldier capacity for capture, flag, bonus vision and tier-2 yield: red count means under-staffed, green means active. Farmland has one house per player plus one; Desert has an adobe house per three players, rounded up. Woodland has none.

Trench Raiders

Trench Raiders are a one-time death perk at twice your national death threshold (normally 200). Q sends five from HQ once per Engage, without a deployment building. Armored Trench Raiders unlock at three times the threshold (normally 300) and require the first perk. Hidden raiders acquire enemies within 3 tiles and open with one hand grenade per sortie: one tile takes a standard artillery direct hit. Grenade throws remain concealed. Their first pistol shot also resolves before they are revealed, unless detected within one tile or by a tower. After firing, raiders remain visible for five seconds; fighting refreshes that time. Detected raiders acquire enemies within 5 tiles. Pistols have 5-tile range and 80% base accuracy, three pistol rounds total (one opening shot per target), then knives (80% against ordinary infantry). Trench edges and hostile wire reduce their speed by 50%.

Raiders prioritise nearby weapon crews. If no crew target remains within five tiles, they prioritise planting their charge on a nearby deployment before hunting other infantry. Each charge deals 2 HP on its tile after two seconds, with half-damage splash on two neighbouring tiles. Trench Armor grants 70% bullet deflection against rifles, pistols, MGs and tower shots; it does not stop explosions or melee. Ordinary soldiers detect raiders within 1 tile; base/sniper towers within 6 and recon towers within 9.

Soldiers wounded by rifle or MG fire inside their own controlled territory can recover in place when they wake during the next round's Engage countdown. First Aid Kits increase their chance of surviving as wounded.

Hammered Bonus (Battle Royale)

After each Engage/Overtime, the surviving commander with the highest destruction score earns Hammered Bonus. Destroyed earth trench cells score 1; concrete/reinforced cells 2. Destroyed artillery, MGs, towers and bunkers score 3 each, or 5 when upgraded. A ruined bunker counts once, not per cell. Tanks, wire, lost control and mere damage do not score. The highest score must be at least three times the lowest score among surviving commanders; otherwise nobody receives the bonus. A lowest score of zero allows any positive highest score. No destruction means no award; qualifying ties are randomly resolved. All commanders see the winner in the report, but only their own score. The winner gets extra random puzzle pieces after the normal Build pieces next round: +1 in round 2, +2 in round 3, up to +6. A central Build announcement marks the award.

Formats & spectating

Asymmetric Versus formats place the first listed number of players on one team and the remainder on the opposing coalition (up to nine armies). 1 vs 2 through 1 vs 8: player 1 fights a coalition of all remaining players, regardless of country. Battle Royale starting sectors are randomly assigned each match. Eliminated Battle Royale commanders become spectators with full battlefield vision; survivors keep their own fog of war.

Deployment cost tiers

Artillery, MGs, towers and bunkers each have their own controlled-building count. Placements and upgrades cost 1 point below 10, 2 at 10–19, 3 at 20–29, 4 at 30–39, and so on. Upgraded buildings count once; standard, Heavy and Precision artillery share one count. Wire retains its previous maximum 2-point cost.

Bunkers

Deploy a 2×2 bunker inside your controlled zone for one deployment, with at least one clear tile to HQ. A bunker cannot cover another bunker’s front staircase, and its own entrance must stay clear. Infantry must go around the bunker and enter through its front stairs. The four tiles keep their yield. After gun, MG and tower crews are assigned, up to 12 spare infantry shelter inside, including during Engage and Overtime. They cannot fire from inside. When enemies come within 5 tiles of the bunker or HQ, the garrison sorties to defend, then returns. Normal assault waves can use the garrison. The first upgrade choice applies to all your upgraded bunkers for the match. Stack three placements: Super-structure holds 16 with 6 HP per tile; Underground levels holds 32 with 3 HP per tile. Standard bunkers have 2 HP per tile. All bunkers take half damage from ordinary and precision artillery; heavy artillery deals full damage. Each surviving bunker cell recovers 2 HP at the start of each new round, capped at its maximum. Ruined bunkers do not recover. Losing any cell ruins the whole bunker and kills a random 30–100% of its occupants (rounded up); survivors escape. Rebuild on the same four tiles. Dormant wounded cannot be executed until they wake in the following round.

Battlefield audio: enable Sound in the top menu. Rifles, machine guns, assault whistles, artillery, explosions and tank engines have distinct sounds. Dense fire is mixed with volume limits; hidden enemy activity is not audible unless a shot reaches your visible area.

Tanks: Mark IV Female, Saint-Chamond & A7V

Each direct-hit cell independently has a 35% chance to disable the weapon on that hull section and a 15% chance to break a track. Nose hits on Saint-Chamond roll separately for its cannon and front MG. Splash cannot disable components. Broken weapons stop firing and smoke; a broken track immobilises the tank but its remaining weapons still fire. At round end the crew abandons and burns an immobilised tank, then retreats home. Component damage does not replace hull damage.

Every 10 controlled reinforced-yield tiles earn one tank during each Build phase. Tanks appear one clear tile beyond the foremost connected trench facing their assigned enemy HQ, even when earned by rear zones. Friendly barbed wire is allowed underneath. If the front is obstructed, the earned tank waits for space. A smoke puff and NEW TANK notice mark each arrival. Available infantry walk aboard until the full model-specific crew is present before the tank can move or fire. Existing weapon crews keep their posts. Each earned tank randomly becomes a Mark IV Female, Saint-Chamond or A7V, with equal chances. Mark IV and Saint-Chamond need eight crew; A7V needs eighteen.

Mark IV Female is about 2.5 × 1.5 tiles and move at 1.4 tiles/second on open ground (30% slower than infantry). Trenches, craters and trees reduce tank speed by 30% to 0.98 tiles/second; penalties do not stack. Trees fall forward beneath the tracks, then disappear. Tanks pivot on the spot before driving straight, with hull bounce and a raised nose over obstacles. Running engines emit smoke; each track leaves dirt marks and can carry blood from bodies it runs over. They join waves 1–4 in turn, with a fifth tank joining wave 1 again. Idle tanks face different enemy HQs by distance. Five independent MGs have 10 rounds, a one-second burst, 2.5-second reload, 4-tile range and 25% base accuracy per shot. Two guns on each side have 90° arcs; the nose gun covers 180°.

Infantry weapons cannot damage the hull. Mark IV has 5 HP and Saint-Chamond has 4 HP: precision direct hits deal 1.5, ordinary direct hits 1 and heavy 2; ordinary/precision splash deals 0.5 and heavy splash 1. A blast overlapping several hull cells deals only its strongest hit. Friendly infantry try to move aside; anyone beneath the tracks is killed. Running over a wounded soldier permanently kills them, with the same kill and loss accounting as a wounded execution; they cannot recover again. Houses, bunkers and water block tanks. Each tile travelled has a 2.5% engine-failure chance. The tank stops, with fire confined to the rear engine compartment; the crew stays aboard and keeps firing throughout Engage and Overtime. After Overtime ends, all surviving crew abandon the disabled tank and retreat home. Combat destruction rolls a separate 60% death chance for each crew member; survivors continue attacking.

Saint-Chamond is 3 × 1.5 tiles, with the same movement, terrain penalties and engine-failure rules. It has four tank MGs with 25% base accuracy per shot: front and rear cover 90° each, and each side covers 180°. Its nose cannon fires only within ±15° and 6 tiles, using ordinary artillery explosion damage, a 5-second reload and a low, straight shell travelling at 40 tiles/second (0.15 seconds at maximum range). Both tank nose cannons roll 50% for the aimed position, 30% for one of the eight adjacent cells, and 20% for one of the sixteen cells two tiles away. Both miss rings include short, long and lateral shots. Scatter is clipped at map edges. The fast, straight shell strikes the first solid building in its actual path; blast damage is unchanged. It never turns to chase firing targets. During an assault, tanks may stop to fire at enemies within a weapon’s range and arc for a randomly chosen 3–5 seconds. They resume driving when that timer expires, even if enemies remain. Each assault allows only 3 or 4 stops, and the tank must drive at least two tiles between them. Tanks cannot overlap, including while pivoting. Assault waves spread into lanes with a tank-width gap where space allows; trailing vehicles sidestep around blockers or wait if no safe route exists. They converge within 5 tiles of enemy HQ or near the ordered destination. Both tanks drive toward the actual order destination, pivoting in place only to follow their route or avoid impassable obstacles; on arrival they turn toward an enemy HQ.

A7V: the same 3 × 1.5 tile footprint as Saint-Chamond, with taller armour and 4 HP. It needs 18 crew, moves at 60% of infantry speed (1.2 tiles/second, 0.84 on slowing terrain), and has a 2% engine-failure chance per tile. Its nose cannon has range 5, ±45° aim and a 3-second reload, with the same fast shell and damage as Saint-Chamond. There is no front MG. Six MGs—left front, left rear, right front, right rear, rear left and rear right—each cover ±45° around their side/rear direction, with 25% base accuracy per shot, range 4, 10 rounds and a 2.5-second reload. Direct hits use the same 35% component-damage and 15% track-damage rules; a nose hit can disable the cannon only. Other tank movement, crew, wave and abandonment rules apply.

Cannon tanks prioritise enemy cannon tanks in range with a clear line of fire. During an assault they stop and pivot to aim, using the existing 3–5-second stops, limit of 3–4 stops per assault and two tiles of driving between stops. They retain their assault destination. Broken tracks or engines prevent turning; disabled cannons cannot duel. Mark IV Female does not trigger cannon duels.

Tanks crush MG nests and artillery they drive over, including friendly weapons. Tanks cannot capture HQ. They halt with roughly one tile between the hull and enemy HQ and their assault is complete: they no longer prolong Overtime. At round end their crew escapes, then the tank explodes and fades away without leaving a blocking wreck. When the battle ends, tanks that were sent forward suffer engine failure and their crews retreat home during Build; returning crews never prolong Overtime. Idle tanks remain. During Build, abandoned tanks inside enemy territory or within one tile of enemy trenches fade away, leaving harmless soot instead of blocking wrecks. Combat-destroyed tanks smoke or burn until the battle ends, then become two-cell blocking wrecks with 2 HP. Shells can clear the wreck, leaving harmless metal debris.

Tunnel Rats

Entrances have 2.5 HP. Place again on an existing entrance for 4 deployment points to unlock Rolling Explosions and choose the target country again. At 0%, direct-hit blasts advance from halfway along the tunnel every 0.2 seconds; the last quarter adds alternating left/right splash cells, then the normal large blast finishes the sequence. The next dig begins at 100% and twice the initial speed.

Deploy a one-cell digging entrance inside your controlled ground for 4 points. After placing the entrance, choose an enemy flag in the popup. Click a flag directly, or right click to cycle and left click to confirm: at most two active entrances may target each enemy. The entrance has 2.5 HP. Shells can destroy it. Losing the entrance also kills its underground team.

The secret route and destination lock at the first Engage phase: 1–10 cells inside the nearest enemy zone, never closer than four cells to HQ, with a random sideways detour of up to 10 cells. Later construction does not change the destination. Only the owner sees percent remaining above the entrance; nobody sees the underground position. Digging moves at 20% infantry speed during Engage and the first 10 seconds of Overtime, then waits for the next Engage. A detonation hits a 3×3 cluster directly as heavy artillery and 12 surrounding cells with splash. Enemy tunnels within 7.5 tiles stop digging and trigger a three-second collision countdown for both owners, then detonate at their current positions. Tower or infantry visibility is not required for this warning. After each explosion, a new team starts from the same entrance at 40% infantry speed for every subsequent run. No infantry crew is required.

Capture houses

Infantry within three tiles can enter a house through either door. Capture, flag, bonus vision and yield require at least half the remaining capacity; each surviving tile shelters two soldiers with concrete cover. Destroyed sections reduce capacity and the required garrison. Garrisons stay in the building and do not join assault waves.

Up to three defenders shoot from each side’s window with normal defensive rifle stats. Enemies assault the doors and fight inside. Each destroyed tile removes its share of the garrison, capacity and yield; an empty building becomes neutral.

Occupied houses provide double tile yield for recruits at the next Build and deployment at the next Deploy, with normal national and doctrine modifiers. Houses reveal 12 tiles; lighthouses hold two soldiers, shoot in all directions and reveal 18 tiles.

Infantry, wounds & movement

Each controlled tile produces one base recruit during Build. Men emerge from HQ and move into their zone; each trench cell holds three. Defensive rifle shots: 40% base chance, range 5, every 2 seconds. An attacker gets one 25% shot at range 4. Country bonuses and target cover modify those chances. Rear zones can reinforce a more exposed HQ zone. Cut-off soldiers still defend, but retreat to friendly controlled territory during Build. Once ordered to assault, they continue even if their origin is lost.

The infantry action sends one of four waves, about 25% each, starting with the soldiers farthest from the enemy. Weapon crews stay behind. Enemies meeting in open ground close for melee; basic bayonet odds are 50/50. Armed weapon crews have 20% lower duel chance. An unarmed soldier has 20% against a bayonet, or 50% against another unarmed soldier. Attackers enter trenches rather than blowing holes in them, then continue toward enemy HQs.

Lethal rifle/MG and bayonet hits may instead wound (base 10%). Wounded soldiers appear dead until the next round's countdown, then begin crawling at 25% or limping at 40% normal speed, without weapons. They recover upon reaching their controlled territory or touching an owned trench cell directly adjoining an active controlled zone. Projecting trench branches do not heal. After 15 seconds of Overtime, a small Request END OT vote button becomes available. The vote appears only after someone requests it; opening the vote does not count as a yes. All surviving human commanders must then vote END OT to end immediately; AI does not vote. The round report follows. Overtime ends after at most 80 seconds plus 5 seconds per starting player, including AI and later-eliminated commanders (90 seconds in 1v1, 125 in 9-player Battle Royale), followed by the round report and next Build phase. Once all surviving players have spent their artillery shots, Overtime runs at 2× speed, including its timer. Immobilised tank crews never prolong Overtime. Remaining assaults stop and airborne shells are cleared at the limit. During Overtime they only move while ordinary troops are still moving, and never extend the round themselves. Attackers may finish nearby wounded if not threatened by enemy fire; armed executions take about 1 second, unarmed ones 3. An executed wounded soldier cannot recover again.

Base movement is 2 tiles/second; trench interiors grant +10%. Crossing an earth trench edge is at 30% speed; attacking across concrete applies another ×0.8, reinforced another ×0.8. Craters are 30% slower. Bodies add 2.5% slowdown each, capped at 50%. During the first half of an ordered assault, soldiers compare water detours up to seven tiles to either side; other movement compares actual travel time up to two tiles to either side of their heading, including water, craters, bodies, wire and trench edges. A sidestep is taken only if faster; equal or slower alternatives keep the straight route. Blood stays on the ground, darkening over ten rounds. Building over bodies partly buries them.

Defending multiple fronts

Against several hostile HQs, available trench defenders are divided evenly between them: approximately 50% each against two enemies, or 33% each against three. Soldiers prefer trench positions facing their assigned enemy. Defeated HQs are removed from the distribution. Weapon crews, bunkers and manual attack orders retain their existing priority.

Recent field orders

Field Medics: traits unlock at adjusted 100 / 300 / 500 deaths and maintain 2 / 5 / 8 medics. They leave during countdown, heal awake wounded in two seconds and send them home; defensive weapons ignore medics, but attackers and shells do not.

Allied bases: join sealed HQ trench networks to deploy on allied ground. Ctrl + click sends a defensive ping; Alt + click sends an attack ping to allies.

Overtime: an attacking infantryman stuck without movement for ten seconds dies when Overtime ends. Crews and soldiers actively fighting are exempt.

Find match (beta): log in for ranked or friendly 1v1 and three-player Battle Royale. Each ladder has three placements; friendly results never change MMR. Pick a country within 60 seconds, then place HQ within 60 seconds or forfeit.

Battlefields & obstacles

Woodlands: dense groves across the battlefield, with five tree designs in varied sizes. Trenches can clear trees. Desert: sand, palms and randomly placed oases: one per two players, rounded down. Each oasis contains 2–5 connected water tiles with palms around it, away from HQ placement areas. Oasis water cannot be built on; soldiers can swim through it using the normal water rules. Both contain one or two large permanent rock formations: soldiers cannot walk through them or fire rifles/MGs through them. Shells arc over obstacles; rocks cannot be destroyed or built on.

Countryside: fields, hedges (20% slower to cross), fences (30% slower) and five French stone-house designs. Houses block movement and direct fire. Each house tile is independently destructible by artillery; four direct hits or eight splash hits destroy it. Destroyed cells open paths and firing lanes.

In Survival, shell hits create dry craters but never new water. In Versus and Battle Royale, exposed ground becomes water after 10 direct hits, 20 splash hits or an equivalent mix; HQs and their two-tile safety ring never flood. Natural water remains in every mode. Each Field Engineer can build at most three crossings during their lifetime. Engineers build permanent plank crossings over water and enemy wire, and one-way ladders into enemy trenches; construction takes one second and crossings allow 90% movement speed until destroyed by shellfire. Water cannot be built on. Soldiers seek a short dry route, otherwise swim at 20% speed and cannot shoot or bayonet. Half of lethal swimming rifle casualties sink permanently; the others wash ashore and get the usual wound roll. Dry craters merge visually once both adjoining cells have received at least five splash-equivalent hits.

Obstacle Specialists

Unlock at 400 deaths, then tier II at 800. Austria-Hungary: 600/1200; Russia: 800/1600; Italy: 352/704. Each choice reduces remaining terrain penalties by 30%; two choices reduce them by 51%, combined multiplicatively with Bulgaria’s national trait. Clear-ground speed is unchanged. Tier II requires tier I.

Online pause

Any player can request Pause or Resume. Everyone sees a three-second Pausing / Unpausing countdown before the change. While paused, battle simulation and gameplay orders stop. Opening How to play alone does not pause other players. Lagging players catch up while the shared battle is frozen; desynchronised players receive a verified replay with a retry. After three separate recovery incidents, other active human players may start a 30-second vote to remove that commander; a majority of those present when the vote starts is required.

Fog of war & reconnaissance

Towers share the health of their supporting trench: 1.5 HP on earth, 2.5 on concrete, 4.5 on reinforced concrete. Tower weapon upgrades do not increase health.

Exactly one local human enables fog. Two or more on the same computer share a visible map. Online vision follows your own army and allies. Unknown ground is hidden; explored ground keeps the last observed terrain and structures, never remembered infantry. Own trenches remain dimly visible beyond current sight. Scouting is how you learn what your opponent has built.

Vision radii: HQ 10; infantry 6; standard/belt-fed MG 7; water-cooled MG 8; standard/Snipers tower 12, Recon Tower 18; CAS 3. Normal vision lingers three seconds after the last observer leaves; aircraft-only vision lingers two. Overlapping normal vision keeps its longer grace. Artillery impacts in fog reveal confirmed destruction/death animations briefly, without exploring the surroundings. Casualty totals remain visible. Use scouts or CAS to guide artillery.

Kill medals & captured HQs

Confirmed enemy soldier kills award cosmetic skull medals at 50, 100, 200, 300 kills and every further 100. Friendly fire and wounded survivors award none. Medals cycle bronze, silver and gold; from medal four they gain a bronze wreath, then silver from seven, then gold from ten. Further cycles add a numbered distinction. Medals grant no gameplay bonuses. Everyone sees the medals under each country flag and a brief highlight when earned; your HQ displays country-coloured wall banners. Battle reports list medals and total deaths and kills for the match.

The commander whose infantry takes the final HQ flag step inherits that enemy’s remaining trenches, preserving their armour. They yield nothing until linked to the captor’s network. The captured HQ footprint becomes clear ground for construction.

Online matches & series

In team Versus, seal both HQs and connect their trench networks to deploy in allied territory. Shared HQ zones split by nearest HQ; breaking the link removes shared deployment access. Ctrl + left click places a defensive shield ping; Alt + left click places an offensive bayonet ping. Your allies see your flag beside the marker.

Several independent lobbies can run at once. Browse lobbies or create a new room and share its code/link. The host can kick another player before the match starts. Create a room, share its code/link, choose countries and press Ready. The host starts the battle. The server and every browser must run the same release. Unexpected disconnections automatically pause the match; leaving to the menu keeps it running. Reconnect from the main-menu button within 30 unpaused seconds or forfeit your army, leaving neutral trenches that the first connecting builder can claim. Allies follow country alliances; use equal numbers on both sides in team games. Online games continue while a player reads this guide.

Best of 3 ends when a side has two wins, or after three battles. Tied Battle Royale leaders can share the result. The next battle keeps seats and the series score, while its battlefield and in-match upgrades start fresh.