Frontier Accord

Goal

Capture every country on the world map. The last surviving player who controls the whole map wins and receives the victory reward screen and fanfare.

Lobby Setup

• The Main Lobby is the front desk. It shows active games, the shared leaderboard, and the Game Instructions button.
• Create Game creates a separate game lobby from the main lobby. The main lobby keeps the shared leaderboard and lists all created games.
• Game Name names the created lobby so other players can find it.
• Private Game requires a password before players or spectators can enter the lobby or view the running game.
• Enter opens an existing game from the main lobby. Private games ask for the password before you can enter.
• The game creator is the manager. In the game lobby, the manager ticks which connected people are players; unticked people are viewers.
• The manager can change game options, load saves, choose who plays, and start the campaign. Other connected people wait as players or viewers.
• The game lobby has a 60 minute gathering timer so players have time to join before the manager starts.
• Name sets the first local player's name inside a game lobby.
• Add Player adds another human player controlled from the same browser. Added players can be renamed or deleted before the game starts.
• Computer Players sets AI opponents. At least two total players are required, so one human player forces at least one AI.
• Computer Skill sets AI difficulty: Easy uses simple attacks, Medium tries to finish continents, Hard moves armies around its empire, and Hardest also blocks opponents from completing continents.
• Demo Mode starts a zero-human campaign where every player is controlled by the computer and connected browsers watch as spectators.
• Neutral Armies controls the random army count placed on unowned countries at game start.
• Start Armies controls how many armies each player receives in their first country.
• Country Cap is the maximum armies allowed in any single country.
• Start Gap spreads starting countries apart by route distance when the map allows it.
• Capture Move controls how many armies automatically move into a country after a successful capture.
• Load Saved Game loads a downloaded save file back into the lobby. Missing human players can be resumed as computer players.
• Start Campaign begins the game using the current lobby setup.
• Anyone entering after a campaign has started joins as a viewer. Viewers see the map and full game log, but do not receive game controls or game chat.

Leaderboard

• The lobby leaderboard records winning campaigns on this host and ranks them by Accord Score.
• Click a leaderboard entry with a replay to watch the recorded game. Older wins from before replay recording may not have playback available.
• Replay controls let you pause, rewind, fast-forward, slow down, speed up, scrub through the match, and close back to the main lobby.
• Accord Score rewards harder AI, more opponents, human opponents, captures, player eliminations, completed continents, armies defeated, and the largest captured army stack.
• Accord Score subtracts for turns taken, battle time, and armies lost, so a fast Easy win will not automatically outrank a hard-fought Hardest victory.
• Demo Mode games are not ranked, so computer-only showcases will not fill the human leaderboard.

Map Controls

• Click a country to select it. The whole country is clickable, and very small countries have a larger invisible click area.
• French Guiana is a separate South American country; it does not create an attack route directly into France.
• Use the mouse wheel to zoom. Drag the map or use arrow keys to pan while zoomed in.
• On mobile, drag the map with your finger to move around.
• The right-hand country list shows every country grouped by continent.

Turn Flow

• When your turn begins, new armies are added to your reserve. You can spend them now or stockpile them for later.
• Your draft increases by 1 for every 2 countries you own. If you own an entire continent, you gain another 1 draft for every 4 countries in that continent.
• The top bar shows Reserve, Countries, Round, Country Cap, turn Clock, total Battle time, and the active Turn player.
• The turn clock counts down. If a human player runs out of time, their turn ends automatically.
• Pause freezes battles, AI turns, the turn clock, and the battle clock until a human player resumes.

Action Buttons

• Deploy sets the normal selection mode for choosing your countries and reinforcing them.
• Attack sets attack mode. Select one of your countries, then click a neighboring enemy or neutral country to attack.
• Fortify sets movement mode. Select one of your countries, then click a neighboring country you own to move armies.
• Route March moves armies over a longer owned route. Select the source country, press Route March, then click an owned destination connected through your own countries.
• Reinforce opens a dialog asking how many reserve armies to place in the selected country.
• Stop Battle stops your current battle after the current clash resolves.
• Save Game downloads the current game to your browser so it can be loaded later.
• Surrender removes you from the game and turns your countries neutral.
• End Turn passes play to the next living player.

Battle Rules

• Each clash removes 1 army from either the attacker or defender.
• The base chance is 50/50. Country ideology changes the odds: favorable persuasion makes capture easier, hostile persuasion makes it harder.
• A battle stops automatically if the attacking country reaches 1 army, because at least 1 army must remain behind.
• When the defender reaches 0 armies, the country is captured and the Capture Move amount moves in if possible.
• Battle flashes and sounds mark each hit. The Sound checkbox in the top bar turns battle audio and the victory tune on or off.

Moving Armies

• Fortify moves armies only between neighboring countries you own. It does not reduce your turn clock.
• Route March can move armies across multiple connected countries you own, as long as every country in the route belongs to you.
• Route March asks how many armies to move, obeys the Country Cap at the destination, and always leaves at least 1 army behind in the source country.
• Route March reduces your remaining turn time by 10 seconds for each country crossing in the route. If that uses the last of your clock, your turn ends after the move.

Shortcuts And Panels

• While in Attack mode, right-click a neighboring country you own to open the fortify dialog quickly.
• The right-hand panel changes to the active local player's color when it is their turn.
• The move log records recent turns and battles. The chat box lets connected players talk during the lobby or game.
• Lobby returns everyone to a fresh lobby and ends the current game.