click · 1–9select any squad, district or site on the map · force cards keep their original 1–9 slots · Esc clears the selection and any armed mode
I · Unit intelintel opens on hover or selection. Hover takes priority; move away to restore the selected subject. Hover a modifier to see its effects. I hides or shows intel. Only friendly squads accept orders
pathsfaint green dots trace where each of your squads is going, with an X at the destination; the hovered squad's path (else the selected one's) is drawn bright, and a red arc with an arrowhead shows what it is attacking
Orders (selected squad)
RMB · Fattack-move — fights on the way; shooting slows infantry to 50 %, armour to 80 %. Artillery never attack-moves: for a battery this is a plain move — it deploys on arrival and picks its own targets
shift-RMB · Mmove — full speed, holds fire on the way
ctrl-RMB · Ccharge an enemy squad — closes without firing, then fights hand to hand (not for guns)
Bbombard a tile (artillery; refused inside the minimum range — the red ring)
Gbuild a landing pad where the squad stands (shock only: dry, open, outside every zone)
Xstop
shift-clickkeeps a targeting mode armed for another order
Deployment
DROP cardplace a beacon: light classes land by pod anywhere legal within ~4 tiles (~1 on pad ground). Overlay: red = under AA fire (allowed, costly), blue = pad ground, green = safe, untinted = no landing. The contextual readout above the force deck explains the landing verdict
LAND cardcall a landing craft onto a free pad or a captured airstrip's runway (blue); orange = busy, red = under AA
unloadingpods assemble on their landing hex. Dropship squads exit onto a nearby empty hex; clear a neighboring hex if the exit is blocked
launch baysone drop or craft call every 8 s (before upgrades) — the roster cards show the countdown; you cannot put the whole force down at once
Rules of thumb
digging inhalted infantry is dug in after 8 s (before upgrades): −40 % damage taken from direct fire — never on roads, pads or in water; shells ignore the trench
artillerydeploys 6 s after halting, re-lays 2.5 s on a new target, fires only when halted; each shell fells forest and levels buildings
terrainforest: slow, light cover, fouls your own fire · water: very slow, fights poorly · built-up: cover · roads and pads: exposed
enemy gunsthe artillery emplacement lays on any squad that stands still, anywhere on the map — 15 s to the first salvo (a red arc round your squad), which misses by up to 5 tiles; later ones don't. Moving one tile resets it. Kill it, or keep moving. Later waves bring mobile guns with escorts: the escorts hold round the gun while it stands off at range — charge the gun to silence it (guns in contact cannot fire), or shell it
wavesthe first relief entry and force composition are visible immediately. Zone and relief clocks start with your first flare. The entry arrow follows the screen edge when it is offscreen; click it to focus. Later columns grow stronger and hunt your sectors first, then your squads
zonesevery zone held pays +8 % damage and +4 % resistance to all your squads (up to 5); a captured airstrip is also a heavy-landing site
flankingtwo squads firing at the same target from at least 80° apart make it take 20% more damage. Direct fire into its rear 120° arc deals another 25% damage and ignores dug-in protection
the battle
the runzone after zone, each harder than the last. A pacified zone scores XP (base, intact buildings, broken defenders, speed) and every level offers up to three cards (Continue if none are eligible): new units, upgrades to one named unit, or doctrines. Survivors return at full strength; a wiped unit is gone for good; a shock unit is granted when none survives. Repelled = the run is over