War is fought between states, not single houses. It grows out of fighting: every attack, spy operation or hex across two states makes the victim's state more hostile. Once a state is hostile enough, the other state's leader may declare war. There are two kinds. A general war is between states of different realms. An intra-realm war is between states of the same realm.
The hostility meter
Each state keeps a meter for every other state: how hostile it feels toward that state. Actions by the other state's houses against its houses raise it:
| Action | Points |
|---|---|
| A successful attack | 3 |
| An attack that is driven off | 1.5 |
| A spy operation, caught or not | 0.25 |
| A divination or hex, landed or not | 0.25 |
Every 24 ticks the meter falls by 20% or 3 points, whichever is more. It stops at 180 points.
These are base points. Each kind of attack scales them: see the Meter column on Attacks. Each spy operation scales the spy points too (the Meter points column on Operations), and an uncovered False Flag counts double. Divinations and hexes scale them as well: a hex counts several times more than a divination.
You can't attack or spy on houses in your own state, or on a state you have a ceasefire with.
Relations
The meter sets the relation:
| Relation | Meter | Your gains when you attack them |
|---|---|---|
| Normal | below 15 | normal |
| Unfriendly | 15 or more | +4% land |
| Hostile | 30 or more | +10% land |
The bonus goes to the attacker, and it reads the target's meter: how hostile the target's state feels toward the attacker's state. That meter rises when the attacker's state attacks, spies on or hexes the target's state. So a state that keeps attacking another gains more land from each new attack on it. At war, the war bonus replaces this one.
Only the two states can see the meters between them (on your home page and at /relations). Wars and ceasefires are public.
Declaring war
Only a state's leader can declare war, and only when all of these hold:
- Neither state is already at war, and there's no ceasefire between them.
- Their total land is 85% to 117.64% of yours.
- At least 3 different houses have attacked across the two states, either way.
- They are Hostile toward you, and you are at least Unfriendly toward them.
When both states are Hostile toward each other, only the one with the lower meter may declare. When both meters reach 60, either side may. When both reach 180, war starts on its own at the next tick, whatever the sizes.
At war
- A war lasts at least 48 ticks.
- Attacks between the two states take 50% more land and earn 50% more renown. Torch, Sack and Massacre take a bigger share (see Attacks).
- Neither state's houses can buy or sell in the Hall of Deeds.
- Exploring slows. A state at war gains explorable acres at 12.5% of the usual rate, and exploring costs 400% of the usual gold and soldiers. A war's land comes from fighting.
- Third parties gain little. Striking a house whose state is at war with another state yields only 25% of the usual land, spoils and renown. Robots leave such states alone.
- A state fights one war at a time.
Ending a war
After the minimum length, either leader can end it:
- Withdraw. Your state concedes and the other state wins.
- Offer peace. When both leaders have offered, the war ends in peace. Offering again takes the offer back.
At the end of the age. A war still running when the age ends is settled before scoring. Each side's land growth since the war began is measured as a share of its land then. If one side grew at least 3 points more, it wins, as if the other had withdrawn. Otherwise the war ends in peace.
Every war ends with a 96-tick ceasefire that can't be broken. The meters between the two states start again from nothing.
Outcomes
| Result | War points | Renown for every house in the state |
|---|---|---|
| Win | 2 | 100 |
| Peace | 1 | 30 |
| Loss | 0 | 0 |
The winner also takes spoils, depending on the kind of war:
- General war. For 168 ticks, 20% of the loser's material output goes to the winner's treasury as tribute.
- Intra-realm war. The winner takes 3% of the realm's output share from the loser. A share never falls below 7%, so a state near the floor gives up less.
Example. Two states in realm 4 each hold a 14.3% share. The first wins an intra-realm war, so its share rises by 3 points and the loser's falls by 3.
Recovery after a war
A beaten state gets help to rebuild. For 72 ticks after losing a war, every house in it has −25% gold cost of construction, −25% time to build, and its peasants regrow 50% faster.
A war that ends in peace gives both sides 50% of that. The winner of a war gets none. Recovery doesn't shield a state from attack: only the ceasefire after the war does that, and only against the state it fought.
The peace dividend
A state that stays out of war for 168 ticks earns the peace dividend: every house in it has +3% gold earned from peasants each tick, +5% books scientists write each tick. The count starts at the beginning of the age, or when the state's last war ended. The dividend stops the moment the state is at war again, whether it declared or was declared on.
Peace is not a hiding place. The hostility meter still works, so a peaceful state can still be attacked, and it still gains extra land from a state that has been attacking it.
Ceasefires
Leaders can also agree a ceasefire without a war. One leader proposes a length of 24 to 504 ticks. The other accepts by proposing the same length; a different length is a counter-proposal.
A ceasefire blocks attacks and spying between the two states, and clears the meters between them. Either leader may break an agreed ceasefire once 24 ticks have passed. The ceasefire after a war can't be broken.