Player guide
Docs
How the current development build works, and which parts are still planned for version 1.0. Each page says which of the two it is.
Start hereStarting a local match
Getting started
- Reading order feedback
What an accepted order means, and why its result can still be a rejection.
- Starting a local match
Choose a match, give your first orders and check what happened.
- How battles work
The ideas behind planned warfare: few rules, many interactions.
Controls and accessibility
- Selection and orders
Keep direct orders, queued work and movement feedback distinct.
- Worker and production automation
Choose ongoing work, understand its recurring cost and take control again.
- Garrison and release units
Shelter eligible units while preserving their population and carried resources.
- Army groups and subgroups
Split a large army by unit class without losing its control group.
- Reading a battle
Unit cards and battle callouts explain what is happening without formulas.
Economy, buildings and units
- Gathering and spending
Resources become spendable after deposit, and paid work has consequences.
- Development rules reference
Culture costs, age research and Realm objectives in the current development build. The numbers are provisional.
Warfare and terrain
- Formations and special commands
Three universal formations, plus one special command for each culture group.
- Morale and routing
Armies can break and run before they die, and recover if they reach safety.
- Flanks and surrounding
Why direction and numbers matter more than raw damage.
- Terrain
Six kinds of ground, each with an effect you can see.
- Roads, rivers and bridges
Build roads that anyone can use or dismantle, and cross rivers at fords and bridges.
- Pillaging and loot
Raid, steal, escape and bank: take wealth instead of only killing workers.
Ages and cultures
- Advancing your age
Research at a Town Hall unlocks later construction and production.
- Choosing a culture
Compare the four culture groups, their special units and their actual prices.
- The four ages
From founding a settlement to a high medieval civilization, c. 700 to 1350.
- Culture groups and subcultures
Four culture groups decide how you fight; sixteen subcultures show who you are.
- Doctrines
Three either-or choices decide what kind of civilization you become in a match.
Diplomacy and trade
- Agreements and payments
Know which rights a signed agreement grants and what ending it changes.
- Caravan trade
Earn on a completed round trip and understand why access can interrupt it.
- The Envoy House
Build a network of informants to learn what your rivals are doing.
Realm, towns, coalitions and victory
- Towns, coalitions and victory
Read public ownership, protect sovereignty and keep a Dominion majority.
- Great Works and Prestige
A public late-game monument that changes strategy and can win the match.
Playing with friends and recovery
- Reconnecting and continuing a match
Separate a temporary disconnect from an explicit new-host continuation.
- Co-op operations
Two to four players fight together against the AI using the ordinary game rules.
- Lobbies, parties, clans and handicaps
Find co-op games, stay together, join a clan and balance mixed-skill groups.
Saves, replays and chronicle
- Saves and replays
Restore a local match or inspect its recorded history.
- Replay timeline and combat laboratory
Scrub through a finished match, and test armies against each other.
Troubleshooting and glossary
- Troubleshooting orders and matches
Find the difference between an unaffordable action, blocked work and missing information.