War Footing has a very direct gameplay loop. Each turn advances time as the player watches enemy forces gather and invasion become more likely. The question is never if — it's whether you'll be ready when it comes.
Building your defense
There's no single path to a credible defense. You might field many cheap infantry units, invest heavily in air power, build a core of highly-trained mechanized forces, concentrate on heavy artillery, or mix all of them. The army you build reflects the choices you made under time and budget pressure — and those choices follow you into the campaign.
Command and sectors
Command happens at a high level. Battalions are the primary unit of maneuver; brigades are available for larger commitments; companies have recently been added for finer-grained options when you need them.
Units are assigned to one of three sectors — North, Central, and South — to dig in and hold off the enemy where they cross the border. Deployment decisions matter: units in the field can entrench and improve their position, but they won't be able to train or recover readiness while deployed. Pulling them back costs time you may not have.
Equipment and suppliers
Equipping your units is as important as training them, and it's where most of the strategic depth lives. You start with very little and need to develop relationships with other countries to buy equipment directly, or acquire licenses to produce it yourself.
Stronger relationships unlock more advanced equipment — but advanced equipment is more expensive and slower to produce domestically. Currently, nine countries supply equipment, each with their own distinct lineups:
- United States
- United Kingdom
- France
- Germany
- Russia
- China
- Israel
- Brazil
- Sweden
When the invasion begins
Once tension gets high enough, there is a chance each turn for the enemy to launch their invasion. You won't know exactly when — only that the window is open.
Battles play out sector by sector. The units you deployed there fight for control of territory. Losing ground costs you the game, but attrition is equally dangerous: it's the only mechanism that can force the attacker to halt. A successful defense isn't necessarily one that holds every inch — it's one that makes the cost of advancing too high to sustain.
Filed under: War Footing · dev blog · 25 May 2026