OpenFront Land Combat

Having more Troops does not guarantee an OpenFront push. Before committing, compare the force actually assigned to the attack, the defender’s Troops per owned tile, target terrain, nearby Defense Post coverage, both players’ territory scale, and any attack already coming back across the same border. Reinforce only while those conditions still justify the cost; otherwise stop, reroute, or counterattack.

This guide covers the v34 land-attack model verified against v0.33.9. The four-read framework turns engine facts into decisions, not a guaranteed outcome predictor.

Why the Larger Army Can Still Stall

The number above a country is not the number fighting on one border. A land attack has its own remaining force. Meanwhile, the defender’s total Troops are spread through a per-owned-tile term, and every captured tile charges the attacker according to the terrain and other modifiers at that location.

That produces several common surprises:

• A large player sends too small a fraction and mistakes national reserves for local force
• A push reaches mountain tiles or Defense Post coverage and suddenly becomes expensive
• A defender launches a reverse attack, canceling the incoming force before either line continues normally
• A successful attack keeps running after its original objective and spends the reserve needed elsewhere
• Territory-scale modifiers help or hurt at the margin, but are treated as if they decide the battle by themselves

The correct question is not “Who has more Troops?” It is “What does the next useful tile cost, and can I still afford the next enemy response?”

OpenFront Land Combat Guide

The Four-Read Combat Framework

Use the same four reads every time you inspect a land border. If one read changes, reassess the attack instead of relying on the decision you made ten seconds ago.

1. Read the Local Force

Look at the Troops remaining in the active attack, not only your country’s total. Then compare that force with the defender’s present army and territorial size. The code charges defender losses per lost tile using defender Troops / defender owned tiles; this is why identical total armies can behave differently when spread across different amounts of land.

Keep a reserve outside the attack for a second front, a betrayal, or a reverse push. The interface lets you choose an attack percentage, but no percentage is universally correct.

2. Read Terrain and Defense Posts

The current terrain constants are Plains mag 80 / speed 16.5, Highland 100 / 20, and Mountain 120 / 25. Higher mag increases attacker losses; higher speed makes territorial advance slower in this formula. Mountain is costlier than Plains before any building is considered.

A defending player’s Defense Post covers target tiles within 30 tiles. Coverage multiplies mag by 5 and speed by 3. The current check stops after finding one qualifying post, so overlapping posts do not stack that combat multiplier.

3. Read the Contact Shape

A wide border can consume force across many possible tiles and expose you to more than one counterattack. A narrow neck concentrates the fight, which makes a correctly placed Defense Post especially valuable. On the other hand, a narrow defended neck may be a reason to stop attacking and open another route.

Inspect where the attack will move next, not only the first tile. A Plains edge followed immediately by mountains or protected territory can make an opening look cheap while the useful objective remains expensive.

4. Read the Clock and the Counter

An active attack is not isolated. A reverse attack across the same player pair first cancels the opposing attack one Troop for one Troop. That can be a deliberate defensive tool, but it consumes real Troops and does not create free damage.

Also watch the time needed for the push to reach its objective. A slow advance gives other players time to attack your reserve, build on the route, or enter through a different border.

Verified Terrain and Post Comparison

Target state	Effective mag	Effective speed	Decision meaning
Plains, no post	80	16.5	Lowest base cost
Mountain, no post	120	25	Higher losses and slower capture
Plains, covered by defender post	400	49.5	Post multiplies route cost more than terrain alone
Mountain, covered by defender post	600	75	Most expensive base pair in this comparison

Defense Post coverage multiplies mag by five and speed by three. Routing around coverage can matter more than sending a slightly larger force into it.

Scenario 1: 200k versus 100k May Start as 40k versus 100k

Assume you have 200,000 total Troops and use the default land-attack amount. The default sends one fifth of current Troops, so the active attack begins near 40,000 while 160,000 remains in reserve.

Now assume the route is covered Plains. Its raw terrain pair changes from 80 / 16.5 to 400 / 49.5. This proves why “my number is twice theirs” is the wrong starting model: only one fifth entered the attack, and the route has a large local modifier.

Decision: Pause and ask whether the objective lies inside the same coverage. If it does, scout another edge, threaten the post from an uncovered approach, or wait until a teammate creates a second pressure point.

Scenario 2: Reverse Attacks Cancel Before They Advance

Assume an enemy has an active 180,000-Troop attack against you. You launch 120,000 back at that same player. Before a normal reverse push develops, the two attacks cancel one for one. Your new attack is removed and the incoming attack falls to 60,000.

If you instead launch 220,000, the incoming 180,000 is removed and your reverse attack continues with 40,000. Terrain, Defense Posts, remaining defender Troops, territory scale, and the route still apply after cancellation.

Decision: Use a reverse attack when neutralizing the incoming force is worth the committed Troops, not because the outgoing line looks like free offense.

When to Reinforce, Stop, Reroute, or Counterattack

Reinforce

Reinforce when the next objective is still valuable, the attack remains on acceptable terrain, Defense Post coverage is absent or intentionally budgeted, and your reserve survives the strongest credible reply.

Stop

Stop when the attack enters expensive terrain without a matching objective, reaches the line you wanted, exposes a second border, or loses the force advantage that justified it.

Reroute

Reroute when a post-protected neck is not itself essential, when the next tiles sharply worsen, or when another border leads to the same objective at lower cost.

Counterattack

Counterattack when one-for-one cancellation meaningfully reduces an incoming threat and leaves a defendable reserve.

Defense: Build Depth

The first Defense Post costs 50,000 Gold. Costs rise as min(250,000, (n + 1) x 50,000), so the sequence is 50k, 100k, 150k, 200k, then 250k for the fifth and every later post. Construction takes 50 ticks.

Place the first post where its 30-tile range covers a route the opponent must actually use. Prefer a short frontier, important structure, or junction over a visually central point with no useful contact.

A Ten-Second Border Checklist

1. How many Troops are in this attack, and how many remain outside it?
2. What terrain lies under the next useful section of the route?
3. Is a defender-owned Defense Post within 30 tiles?
4. Does the border widen, narrow, or expose another player?
5. Is an opposing attack already active between these players?
6. What exact tile, structure, or line makes the push complete?
7. Can the reserve survive the strongest credible response?

If you cannot answer items 2, 3, and 6, do not solve the uncertainty by increasing the slider.

Read MIRV Guide for nuclear escalation, Nations Pressure before fighting a Hard or Impossible Nation border, and Gold Costs for Defense Post pricing.