Rules of Engagement
Explore an unknown world, capture cities, build your armed forces and defeat the rival commanders. Frontiers of War is easy to operate; the strategy comes from reconnaissance, geography, production and how you use your forces.
Quick Start — Your First Turn
New commander? You can start playing immediately. Select a unit, move it with the keyboard, put your cities to work and end the turn when you are finished.
- Select a unit. Click or tap one of your units on the tactical map. You can also select units from your Forces list. The unit panel shows its HP, location, status and movement remaining.
- Move the unit. Use the eight-direction keys shown below. Ground units move across land, ships through sea, and aircraft can cross both. Moving into an enemy unit normally attacks it.
- Move through your forces. Click another unit directly or press SPACE to skip the selected unit and jump to another unit that still has movement remaining.
- Capture neutral cities. Move Infantry into a neutral city to take control of it. Other unit types can fight and support your advance, but Infantry captures cities.
- Start production. Open the Cities screen, select an owned city and choose the unit you want it to build. Production advances as turns pass, so getting your cities producing early is important.
- Finish your turn. When you have completed your moves and orders, press END TURN. When every active commander is ready, the next turn begins and movement allowances reset.
Movement Keys
Q/W/E = NW/N/NE · A/D = W/E
Z/X/C = SW/S/SE
Arrow keys also provide cardinal movement and the numeric keypad can be used. S deliberately does nothing.
Essential Commands
1. Creating a Game Working
When you create a new campaign, you choose the basic conditions of the war. These settings are fixed for that game, so choose them with the kind of campaign you want to play in mind.
Number of Commanders
Choose how many commanders can take part in the campaign. The game waits for the required players before the war begins. In a two-player war, capturing the enemy capital ends the game immediately; with three or more commanders, a captured capital eliminates that commander and the war continues.
Map Size
Choose the size of the procedurally generated world. Smaller maps bring commanders into contact sooner and usually produce shorter wars. Larger maps provide more territory to explore, more room to expand and potentially much longer campaigns.
Turn Duration
Choose how long commanders have to complete each turn, from 1 to 72 hours. The default is 24 hours. A turn can still finish early: as soon as every active commander presses END TURN, the next turn begins immediately.
Fog of War
With fog of war enabled, unexplored territory begins hidden and enemy units are visible only when one of your forces can currently observe them. Previously explored terrain remains known but is dimmed when outside current observation.
Commander Colour
Your chosen colour identifies your empire, cities and forces on the battlefield. Each commander in a game must use a different colour so opposing forces remain easy to distinguish. If two commanders choose the same colour, one of them will automatically be assigned a different available colour when the game begins.
Starting the War
Human commanders can join available player slots before the war begins. Two-player campaigns can also be created against the current basic AI Commander. Once the required commander slots are filled and the game starts, no additional commanders can enter that war.
Basic AI Opponent Beta
Two-player campaigns can be played against the first computer-controlled AI Commander. The AI uses the same authoritative movement and combat rules as a human commander rather than receiving automatic captures or combat results.
- The AI automatically starts Infantry production in idle owned cities.
- Its available Infantry use their normal full movement allowance each turn.
- While neutral cities remain, the AI expands toward them and assaults them normally.
- Once neutral expansion is exhausted, its Infantry advance toward enemy-owned cities.
- Enemy units encountered on its route are fought using the normal combat system.
- The AI can capture enemy cities and capitals, eliminate a rival commander and win the campaign.
2. Objective Working
Explore
Every campaign is fought on a procedurally generated world of land, sea, coastlines, islands and cities. With fog of war enabled, much of that world begins unknown.
Expand
Capture neutral cities to increase your territory and production base. More cities mean more places from which to raise armies, aircraft and fleets.
Fight
Use land, air and naval forces together. Movement, reconnaissance, coastlines, city positions and concentration of force all influence the campaign.
Conquer
Protect your own capital while threatening those of your rivals. In Capital Capture games, taking an enemy capital eliminates that commander from the war.
3. Turns Working
- All active commanders can move their forces during the current turn.
- Every unit has its own movement allowance.
- When finished, press END TURN. Your command becomes READY and you cannot make further moves during that turn.
- When every active commander is READY, the next turn begins immediately and movement allowances reset.
- The game creator sets a turn duration of 1–72 hours; the default is 24 hours.
- If the deadline expires, the turn advances on the next game visit or action. Unused movement is lost and a fresh full deadline begins.
- Only one turn advances after an idle period; the game does not race through several unattended turns.
4. Movement Working
Frontiers of War deliberately uses direct, square-by-square movement. Select a unit and move it one square at a time in any of eight directions.
Land
Ground forces move over land and cannot normally enter sea squares.
Sea
Naval units move through sea squares. Ships may enter a friendly coastal city to use it as a port, then leave again into adjacent water.
Air
Aircraft can cross land and sea. Fuel, basing and extended air operations are still being developed.
Occupancy
Units in the field do not normally stack. Friendly units may share a city, including ships using it as a port.
5. Cities & Capitals Working
- Each commander begins with a capital city, prominently marked on the tactical map.
- Neutral cities can be discovered and captured to expand your empire.
- Only Infantry captures cities. Aircraft, ships and other ground units cannot take ownership of a city.
- Infantry moving against a hostile or neutral city assaults its defenders. If successful and no defender remains, the Infantry occupies the city.
- Friendly units may garrison cities. Friendly naval units inside coastal cities are considered in port.
- Capturing an enemy capital triggers the Capital Capture victory rules below.
6. Production Working
Owned cities are military production centres. Choose what a city will build and progress advances as turns pass.
- The Cities screen shows current production and progress.
- Completed ground and air units enter service at the producing city.
- Naval units are produced by coastal cities and launch into an available adjacent sea square.
- If every suitable adjacent sea square is occupied, a completed ship remains ready and attempts to launch on a later turn.
- Newly commissioned units receive names and appear in reports and Armed Forces records.
7. Military Units
Infantry, Armour, Fighters, Destroyers, Transports and Submarines are already playable. Additional classes are being introduced progressively; statistics may change during beta balancing.
| Unit | HP | Moves | Range | Sight | Fuel | Attack | Defence | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Infantry | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | — | 5 | 5 | Active |
| Armour / Tanks | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | — | 8 | 6 | Active |
| Scout Car | 3 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 40 | 4 | 3 | Planned |
| Artillery | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | — | 3 | 2 | Planned |
| Fighter | 1 | 10 | 1 | 6 | 25 | 1 | 1 | Active |
| Bomber | 2 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 30 | 2 | 1 | Planned |
| Destroyer | 3 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 100 | 2 | 1 | Active |
| Submarine | 2 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 120 | 1 | 1 | Active |
| Cruiser | 5 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 150 | 3 | 2 | Planned |
| Battleship | 6 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 180 | 4 | 3 | Planned |
| Carrier | 5 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 200 | 1 | 1 | Planned |
| Transport | 2 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 200 | 0 | 1 | Active |
8. Combat Working
Combat is resolved from the attacking unit’s effective Attack and the defender’s effective Defence. The base values shown in the unit table are modified by experience, concentration of force, terrain, rivers, cities and entrenchment where applicable.
A successful attack normally removes 1 HP from the defender. A failed attack normally removes 1 HP from the attacker.
Concentration of Force
Repeated attacks by different units against the same defender during the same turn increase Attack: first attacker +0%, second +10%, third +20%, fourth and subsequent distinct attackers +30%. The same unit attacking repeatedly does not increase the bonus, and the count resets next turn.
Entrenchment
Infantry can Fortify over three turns for +10%, +20% or +30% Defence. Armour can Fortify once for +10% Defence. Each Fortify action consumes the unit’s remaining movement. Moving, attacking or loading onto a Transport removes all entrenchment.
Terrain & Rivers
Ground defenders receive +20% Defence in Forest and +35% Defence in Mountains. A ground attack across a river suffers -20% Attack while the defender receives +20% Defence. Fighters ignore ground terrain and river modifiers.
Cities
A unit garrisoning a city receives +25% Defence. City defence stacks with applicable terrain, river, experience and entrenchment modifiers, making a prepared city considerably harder to assault.
Armour & Terrain
Armour is strongest in open country: its Attack receives +20% on open land. Armour Attack is reduced to 75% in Forest or Mountains and receives a further 15% penalty when attacking a city.
Experience
Experience improves combat effectiveness for both attack and defence: Green +0%, Trained +5%, Experienced +10%, Veteran +15%, Elite +20%.
- Moving into an enemy-occupied square normally initiates combat.
- A successful attack normally inflicts 1 HP on the defender; a failed attack normally costs the attacker 1 HP.
- A unit reduced to 0 HP is destroyed. Combat and city-capture events generate reports and unit service records.
- Combat modifiers are multiplicative where several apply. For example, a city garrison can benefit from the city bonus as well as terrain, river, experience and entrenchment.
- Destroyers can attack adjacent ships and bombard adjacent land targets without moving onto land, and receive an anti-submarine attack advantage.
- Submarines get the first attack when most enemy units move into them; Destroyers are the exception.
- Bombardment can damage defenders but cannot capture a city. Infantry must take it.
9. Repair & Ports Testing
- A damaged unit must be inside a friendly city to receive city repair.
- Naval units may enter a friendly coastal city and are then considered in port.
- Each city repairs a maximum of one damaged unit per turn.
- The damaged unit needing the least repair is repaired first; ties are resolved consistently by unit order.
- The selected unit regains 1 HP per turn, up to its maximum.
- Ships in port and ground forces garrisoned in the city share the same repair capacity.
10. Fog of War & Reconnaissance Working
- Fog of war is optional.
- Unexplored territory is hidden.
- Previously explored terrain remains known but appears dimly outside current observation.
- Enemy forces are shown only when currently visible.
- Different unit classes have different Sight values, making reconnaissance important.
11. Victory & Defeat Working
Two Commanders
Capture the enemy capital and the war ends immediately. The attacking commander wins.
Three to Six Commanders
Capturing a capital eliminates that commander, but the wider war continues. The last active commander wins.
- When a commander is eliminated, their remaining units are removed.
- Their other cities become neutral.
- The conqueror retains the captured capital.
- Eliminated commanders can no longer move units, produce forces or end turns.
12. Controls
Eight-Direction Movement
Q = NW W = N E = NE
A = W D = E
Z = SW X = S C = SE
Alternatives
Arrow keys provide cardinal movement and the numeric keypad can also be used. S deliberately does nothing.
Unit Commands
SPACE = skip the selected unit and move to another unit with movement remaining.
F = Fortify eligible Infantry or Armour.
H = send a selected Fighter towards the nearest friendly city.
Select a unit on the map or from your Forces list. The tactical display shows its position, HP, movement remaining, location and status. Zoom and Fit controls help manage the battlefield.
13. Coming Next Development
Version 1 provides the complete playable core war game. During the open beta, new units, interface improvements, AI behaviour and deeper strategic systems will be added and balanced through play-testing.
Naval Warfare
With Transports, Destroyers and Submarines operational, future naval work expands the fleet with Cruisers, Battleships and Carriers and develops deeper submarine detection, fleet and island-warfare behaviour.
Full Unit Roster
Scout Cars, Artillery, Bombers, Cruisers, Battleships and Carriers may follow with distinct battlefield roles.
Large-Map Orders
As armies grow, route orders, survey/autopilot and group or escort movement are candidates to reduce repetitive unit handling while preserving square-by-square tactical movement.
Deeper Strategy
Further development may deepen experience, terrain and entrenchment while adding systems such as morale, fatigue, supply, population, factories, research, resources, radar and diplomacy.
Smarter AI
The basic AI will later assess city safety and military threats, build Fighters when air superiority is threatened, and prefer nearby land expansion before investing in Transports and naval forces for island campaigns.
Future Development & Ideas Backlog Ideas
This is the design notebook for systems that could deepen Frontiers of War after the core game is complete. These are deliberately recorded here so good ideas are not lost. Version 1 is already fully playable; beta testing will help decide which additions genuinely improve it.
Population & Cities
Cities could have populations that affect production, food consumption, research and military recruitment. Larger cities would be strategically more valuable and population could rise or fall according to conditions.
Factories & Production Capacity
Factories could increase a city's build capacity and shorten construction times. A city's total production capacity could also determine how many military units it can support while still building efficiently.
Territory, Food & Siege
Every land square could belong to an empire. Territory surrounding a city would provide food; losing productive territory or surrounding a city could reduce its food supply, eventually shrinking its population and weakening production.
Supply & Unit Support
Units could remain permanently associated with the city that raised them and consume part of that city's production capacity as ongoing support. If support exceeds capacity, forces would suffer supply penalties rather than simply disappearing.
Training & Experience
Combat experience is already active from Green through Trained, Experienced, Veteran and Elite. Future development may expand how units train outside combat or add further service-history effects.
Morale & Fatigue
Morale could change independently of experience, with states ranging from shattered or routed through ordinary morale to brave or impetuous. Fatigue would be a separate short-term effect caused by sustained movement and combat.
Entrenchment & Defence
Entrenchment is now active. Infantry can progressively fortify to three levels for +10%, +20% or +30% Defence; Armour can fortify once for +10%. Moving, attacking or loading onto a Transport removes entrenchment.
City Repair & Port Facilities
Cities can act as repair centres, with limited repair capacity creating choices about which damaged formations are restored first. Ports could later add refuelling, resupply and specialist naval support beyond the basic repair system.
Terrain Effects
Forest, Mountain, river and Armour terrain combat modifiers are already active. Future terrain work may add further movement, observation and specialist battlefield effects.
Rivers, Bridges & River Crossings
River-crossing combat penalties are already active. Future work may expand rivers with bridge rules, movement effects and more explicit strategic crossing points.
Encirclement & Concentrated Attacks
Concentration of force is already active, rewarding successive attacks by different units against the same defender. Future development may add explicit encirclement, morale or supply penalties for surrounded forces.
Artillery & Spotting
Artillery would attack at range rather than moving into the defender's square. Targets could be engaged when visible to the artillery itself or spotted by another friendly formation, making reconnaissance and combined arms important.
Strategic Bombing
Bombers could attack cities, factories and production capacity rather than merely fighting units. Damage to industry would reduce what a city can produce or support without magically destroying distant formations already in the field.
Naval Specialisation
Destroyers could gain submarine detection and anti-submarine advantages, while submarines would be dangerous to most surface ships. Cruisers and battleships would provide ranged naval fire and shore bombardment.
Carriers & Amphibious Warfare
Carriers would operate aircraft away from friendly land bases. Transports would carry ground formations across the sea, allowing amphibious invasions and making control of sea lanes strategically important.
Aircraft Range, Fuel & Basing
Aircraft could have operational fuel limits requiring them to return to a friendly city or carrier. This would make airfield locations, carriers and forward bases strategically important and prevent aircraft from scouting indefinitely far from support.
Named Formations & Service Records
Land formations can use numbered divisional names while individual warships could receive unique names. Units should be renameable, retain their home city and accumulate a permanent combat record even after destruction.
Research & Technology
Cities could devote part of their economic capacity to research. Technology might improve weapons, radar, production, logistics, aircraft, naval capability or other systems without turning the game into a technology-management simulator.
Resources
Strategic resources could make particular regions worth fighting over and feed into production, fuel or advanced weapons. The system should remain abstract enough that it adds strategic choices without becoming bookkeeping.
Radar & Coastal Defence
Radar could extend detection of aircraft and ships, while coastal defences could make important ports and invasion beaches harder to attack directly.
Diplomacy & Alliances
Larger multiplayer games could support alliances, ceasefires, diplomatic agreements and betrayal. Temporary cooperation could become as important as military strength without replacing the central conquest game.
Trade, Aid & Sanctions
Players could trade resources or production, send aid to allies, impose sanctions or economically support another empire. These systems could provide ways to influence a war without immediately committing military units.
Espionage & Covert Action
Espionage could reveal enemy information, investigate military strength, sabotage production or support hostile activity inside another empire. Intelligence should create uncertainty rather than provide perfect information.
Leaders & Command
Commanders or notable leaders could provide limited bonuses to formations, cities or theatres. Any leader system should add personality and strategic choices without becoming a separate role-playing game.
Blockades
Naval control around ports could interfere with trade, supply or city output, giving fleets a strategic purpose beyond simply destroying enemy ships.
Nuclear Weapons
A very late-game possibility: expensive strategic weapons with major military, economic and diplomatic consequences. If ever included, they should be rare and consequential rather than routine battlefield ammunition.
Automated Orders & Survey Mode
Large wars will eventually involve too many units to move every formation manually. Units could receive multi-turn destination orders, patrol or survey instructions and other simple standing orders while retaining direct square-by-square control when required.
Routes & Reinforcement Movement
Repeated journeys could be automated: newly produced aircraft could follow established routes towards the front, while other units could receive waypoints or multi-turn movement orders instead of requiring the commander to repeat the same moves every turn.
Fleet Groups & Escorts
Ships could be grouped so escorts automatically accompany a lead vessel or transport. This would make large naval operations manageable without forcing the commander to move every ship individually while preserving the importance of fleet composition.
Directional Unit Graphics
Simple high-contrast unit symbols can show the direction of travel. Eight directional variants would make aircraft, vehicles and ships easier to identify at map scale while giving the battlefield more visual information without clutter.