II: WAR RULES
STATE OF WAR
You can declare a War at any time by posting a Warclaim in the Warclaim Subforum, which highlights the Tile (the land within an enemy Realm) you’re targeting, and the route your Realm (and any of your allies) are taking to that Tile. A state of War continues until neither side of a War initiates a Warclaim for two weeks.
WARPATHS
The route an army travels from their starting location (a Core Tile within their Realm’s territory) to the enemy Tile being attacked is called a ‘Warpath’.
When posting a Warclaim Post, you must include your Warpath in the same post. Allies joining the War - on either side - must also post their Warpaths as a reply to that post at least 72-hours before the Warclaim is scheduled to happen. Defenders do not need to post a Warpath (their allies do, though). Here’s an example of a Warpath:
Target Tiles
Realms can only attack Tiles that they can reach without passing through another one of the Defender’s Tiles (or other hostile territory). For example, if the Attackers want to conquer Tile A, but Tile B blocks their Warpath to Tile A, then they first need to Warclaim Tile B.
Warpaths Between Warclaims
After the first Warclaim - and while a State of War persists - all participating armies are ‘still on the march’ -- this means they don't reset their Warpath between Warclaims. Therefore, if there is a follow-up Warclaim on a Tile adjacent to where the first Warclaim was, then Warpaths must simply move only one Tile.
THE COST OF WAR
Participant Base Cost
Attackers, their allies, and the Defender’s allies all pay a Base Cost, which is determined based on the type of Wargoal (see below) a given War pursues. These Base Costs are charged per player, per Warclaim, and consist of:
- Pillage Warclaims: 25-mina per player, per Warclaim.
- Raze Warclaims: 40-mina per player, per Warclaim.
- Conquest Warclaims: 50-mina per player, per Warclaim.
- Subjugation Warclaims: 100-mina per player, per Warclaim*.
*Capital Tiles require two Warclaims, but Base Costs are only charged once and are calculated on the numbers at the Warclaim with the larger attendance.
Travel Cost
Attackers, their allies, and the Defender’s allies all incur a Travel Cost of 15-mina per player, per Warclaim, for each Tile their Warpath passes through to the target Tile. This applies on top of the Base Cost, and the target Tile for the Warclaim is not counted towards this.
If Attackers are defeated in a Warclaim and the Defenders do not counterattack, the Attackers do not need to repay Travel Costs to attack the same Tile again while a State of War persists.
RISKS
Joining a War as an Ally
If you involve yourself in a War, you risk reprisal from the main Attacker or Defender -- don’t be surprised if they pivot to Warclaim you!
Interception
Travelling armies need to be on their guard.
If your Warpath passes through the Tile of a third-party Realm without their permission, that Realm can try to ‘Intercept’ your army -- this means you need to fight the intercepting Realm in a Warclaim to pass through their Tile unimpeded. A Realm declares their intention to Intercept by posting on the Warclaim Post within 48-hours after their target posts their Warpath; it doesn’t matter if the intercepting Realm has been uninvolved in the War until that point.
Interception Warclaims are usually 1v1, except where multiple allies are using the same Warpath.
If you win an Interception Warclaim, you can pass through the Tile to your destination. If you lose an Interception Warclaim, you face the following penalties:
- Resubmit a New Warpath: This new Warpath can’t pass through the Tile you were intercepted on; if this is impossible (i.e., you were intercepted at a bottleneck), then you can’t participate in the main Warclaim -- your army can’t reach the battlefield!
- Travel Costs: These costs are recalculated based on the new Warpath, and they’re charged on top of the Travel Costs you incurred before you were intercepted.
-
Intercepting Realm: If the Realm that intercepted you goes on to participate in the main Warclaim by posting a Warpath, then their army is no longer able to intercept you, meaning you can pass by any bottlenecks -- but only after the first Warclaim.
- Conversely, this means if the intercepting Realm doesn’t participate in the main Warclaim, their army is able to attempt to intercept you - and other Realms - indefinitely.
Note that intercepting is a complex system to make Wars dynamic, but to avoid Wars being dragged out, a marching army can only be intercepted once per week.
WARGOALS
When a Realm declares a War, they must do so with an objective called a ‘Wargoal’.
Conquest
‘Conquest’ is where an Attacker seeks to annex a Tile and directly absorb it into their Realm.
Conquest Warclaims have an increased base cost of 50-mina per player, per Warclaim. If you win a Conquest Warclaim, the conquered Tile will have a 7-day Eviction Notice before it is added to the conqueror’s Realm.
Razing
‘Razing’ is where an Attacker seeks to destroy a Tile and drive off settlers without annexing it as part of their own Realm. A razed Tile becomes unclaimed, and any builds on the Tile are destroyed or turned into ruins by Staff; Realms who have one of their Tiles razed can’t repurchase the Tile for a minimum of 4-weeks after the Raze Warclaim.
Raze Warclaims have a base cost of 40-mina per player, per Warclaim. If you win a Raze Warclaim, the razed Tile will have a 7-day Eviction Notice before it becomes unclaimed.
Pillaging
‘Pillaging’ is where an Attacker seeks to plunder the treasures of an enemy for themselves. Only Core Tiles can be pillaged.
Pillage Warclaims have a base cost of 25-mina per player, per Warclaim. If you win a Pillage Warclaim, you gain the following:
- 20% of the Enemy Treasury: You steal a flat ⅕ of the defeated Realm’s Treasury as of the date that the War was declared (not the Warclaim). Realm’s won’t be allowed to unreasonably lower their Treasury in advance of the Warclaim, and Moderation will always check Treasury payments around a Pillage Warclaim.
- 20% Tile Resources: Your Tile resources are buffed based on the resources of the Tile you have Pillaged -- i.e., if you Pillage a Tile with 10 Netherite Nodes, 2 Netherite Nodes can be added to one of your Netherite mines. This buff is temporary, lasting for 3-months, and it can be stacked if you Pillage multiple Realms. Pillaging does not remove Nodes from defeated Realms.
Subjugation
‘Subjugation’ is where an Attacker tries to forcibly vassalize an enemy Realm. Subjugation Warclaims can only be done on Capital Tiles, and only after all Tiles surrounding the Capital are held by you or your allies. Uniquely, Subjugation Warclaims consist of two Warclaims -- first, Attackers must win a Field Battle in order to Siege the Defender’s city. If the Attackers are defeated in the Siege, then they must once again win a Field Battle in order to progress.
Subjugation Warclaims have a Base Cost of 100-mina per player, per Warclaim (while Capital Tiles require two Warclaims, the Base Cost is only charged once).
If you win a Subjugation Warclaim, the defeated Realm is forcibly made your vassal -- for a period of 1-month, you can’t remove citizens or leaders from the subjugated Realm. After this 1-month period, you can either keep the subjugated Realm as a vassal with their own Realm Status or incorporate them into your own Realm (meaning the subjugated Realm will lose their Realm Status and all associated privileges, and instead become your direct territory).
During the 1-month period, the subjugated Realm can’t rebel or revolt against you. After the 1-month subjugation period, the conquering realm may have the PRO of the subjugated Realm / vassal changed without risk of rebellion or revolution. This must be requested within 1 week of the end of subjugation.
TIDE OF WAR
When an Attacker wins a Warclaim and achieves their Wargoal, they can continue the War by posting a follow-up Warclaim within 48-hours of their victory with another target, Warpath, and Wargoal. Remember that armies are ‘stationed’ around the Tile where the last Warclaim took place, so Warpaths don’t need to restart in their territory.
When a Defender wins a Warclaim, they seize the initiative and can post a counterattack Warclaim within 48-hours of their victory. Alternatively, Defenders can choose to gain a 1-week cooldown from being Warclaimed, after which the initiative reverts back to the Attacker.
The only exception to this is in the case of Capital Tiles. In order to triumph over a Realm’s Capital, an Attack needs to win two Warclaims; one of these will be a Field Battle, and the other a Siege of the city itself. In the same way that the Attacker must win both Warclaims consecutively to succeed, the Defenders must win both before counterattacking.
TILE TYPES
Uncored Tiles
An ‘Uncored Tile’ is a Tile that a Realm has not upgraded to a Core Tile and does not have any vassals, forts, or major builds on it. An Uncored Tile can be Conquered, Razed, and Pillaged by winning one Field Battle on it.
Cored Tiles
A ‘Cored Tile’ is a Tile that a Realm has upgraded and likely contains vassals, forts, or major builds. When a Warclaim occurs on a Cored Tile, the Defenders can choose whether they want to fight the invaders in a Field Battle or a Siege. If there are multiple fortifications on a Cored Tile, the Defenders can also choose which one to fight a Siege from.
Capital Tiles
A ‘Capital Tile’ is the heart of a Realm and its final frontier, and a Capital Tile can only be targeted by Pillage or Subjugation Warclaims.
There are two unique mechanics for Capital Tiles:
- Surrounding a Capital: In order to launch a Subjugation Warclaim on a Capital Tile, all Tiles surrounding the Capital need to be conquered by you or an ally (or unclaimed).
- Two Warclaims: Capital Tiles require two Warclaims to Subjugate -- a Field Battle and a Siege, and an Attacker needs to win both consecutively to succeed in their Wargoal. If an Attacker wins the Field Battle but loses the subsequent Siege, then the War reverts back to the Field Battle stage again.
Upgrading Tiles During War
You can’t upgrade/Core an Uncored Tile during a State of War, even if the Tile you want to upgrade is not the target of a Warclaim. You also can’t purchase any new Tiles during a State of War.
This is true for Attackers, Defenders, and their allies. This is because the course of War could shift to any of their territories depending on how the War unfolds.
ELIGIBILITY
In order to participate in Warclaims, every player needs to meet the following requirements:
- You need at least 20-hours of playtime in the last 30-days.
- You need to be a member of a participating Realm for at least 14-days before a Warclaim.
- You need to have reasonable roleplay activity; in order to prevent ‘shadows rallies’, PvP alts, or off-server recruits, players who may meet the above requirements but have little-to-no roleplay activity can still be barred from participating.
