Build a realm, move armies across a dangerous map, and choose the battle that decides your next turn.
Turns and orders
At the start of your turn you receive gold, production, refreshed movement, and a report of battles, casualties, cities defended, and cities lost from your previous turn. Give orders, recruit, upgrade settlements, then end the turn. Rotating order moves the first commander to the back; auction order lets commanders bid secretly for the next lead.
Movement
Click an army, then click a destination or shift-click waypoints. The stack spends movement by terrain cost. Roads are cheaper and rivers add cost. Mountains and deep water block ordinary troops. A stack can cross them when it contains a flying, mountaineer, or watercraft/naval unit; one transport unit is enough for the whole stack. The slowest living unit sets the stack's pace, while hero mounts can add movement.
Combat calculation
Attacks require adjacent armies and one movement point. You see a confirmation first, then a battle reveal with unit sprites and casualty changes. Each combat round orders first-strike and ranged units before normal initiative. Hit chance starts at 50% + (attack − defence) × 5%, clamped to 5–95%, then fear and other effects modify it. A hit deals max(1, attack − defence ÷ 2) damage with a small 0.8–1.2 random roll. Armour reduces damage; poison adds damage; siege units gain an attack bonus against city defenders. Walls reduce attackers' hit chance and cities give defenders +2 defence.
Battle reports receive names such as Battle of Dawnspire or The Frost march Clash, based on the city or procedural region where the armies met.
Cities and upgrades
Every owned city contributes gold each turn: base income × size + income bonuses. Unrest halves that city's income. Settlement levels increase size and income. Markets add income; barracks and higher settlement levels unlock elite troops, including transport units. Walls improve defence. Rename cities and buy improvements from the city popup.
Ruins, temples and quests
The map marks temples, ruins, dungeons, caves, enchanted groves, shrines and obelisks with site icons. Move an army with a living hero onto a site and choose Explore site. Guardians must be defeated first. Exploration awards gold and can grant magic items; temples, shrines and obelisks can also give the hero a quest. Quest rewards grant experience or permanent item bonuses that strengthen the hero and the stack they lead.
Temple
Ruin
Dungeon
Cave
Enchanted grove
Mystic shrine
Ancient obelisk
Units and tags
Tags are rules, not just labels. Select one to see its effect.
Select a tag above.
Ranged units act before ordinary initiative in the opening round, letting them damage a target before most return attacks.
First strike units act at the very front of the opening round.
Flying units let their stack cross mountains and water. One living flying unit is enough.
Watercraft units let their stack enter deep water. Boats are shared elite units unlocked by a level 2 settlement or barracks.
Mountaineers let their stack enter mountain tiles.
Siege units gain an attack bonus when attacking a city, helping overcome walls and garrisons.
Armour reduces damage received when the unit is hit.
Poison adds damage to a successful attack.
Fear reduces the hit chance of attackers without fear immunity.
Skirmishers ignore enemy zones of control while moving.
How to read the numbers
HP is staying power; attack improves hit chance and damage; defence reduces enemy hit chance and damage; initiative decides order after opening-round tags; move sets the stack's pace; cost is paid when recruited; upkeep is paid each turn.