The Modern Day
2026
The only era whose factions are archetypes rather than nations — a petrostate and a cyber state want completely different things from the same board, so the asymmetry here is sharper than in the historical eras. The map is the world you know, which makes the opening decisions feel uncomfortably legible.
The era at a glance
- Period
- 2026
- Factions
- 6
- Board
- The Modern Day — 50 territories
- Regions
- 11
- Players
- 2–8, any mix of people and AI
- Price
- Free. No download, no account required.
Who you can play
Each faction has its own passive strengths and one ability that changes how it fights. They are asymmetric on purpose — the same board plays differently depending on who you take.
- Western Bloc
-
Precision warfare — precision_strike is always active; +1 defense die from advanced body armor.
Satellite eyes, expeditionary logistics, and precision doctrine define a bloc that wins by seeing and striking first.
Ability: Precision Airstrike: once per turn, deal 2 unit losses to any adjacent enemy territory without a full attack exchange.
- Eastern Coalition
-
Armored mass — +2 reinforcements per turn; tanks let you move 2 extra units in fortify.
Centralized command and armored depth give the coalition raw staying power once the battlefield hardens into fronts.
Ability: Armored Push: once per turn, execute two fortify moves instead of one.
- Rogue State
-
Asymmetric tactics — +1 defense die and immune to precision_strike attacker bonus.
Sanctioned, isolated, and unpredictable, the Rogue State survives by turning every invasion into a trap of attrition and ambiguity.
Ability: Insurgency: once per turn, spawn 1 free unit in a border territory that was attacked this turn.
- Emerging Economy
-
Rapid industrialization — earn 2 extra production units per turn from every territory with a production building.
Factories, ports, and swelling cities let the Emerging Power convert growth itself into strategic momentum.
Ability: Economic Boom: once per turn, pay 4 tech points to immediately place 2 units anywhere.
- Petrostate
-
Oil wealth — +3 tech points per turn; can buy an extra reinforcement for every 3 owned resource territories.
Energy rents and patronage networks give the Petrostate immense bursts of leverage so long as the wells stay secure.
Ability: Oil Wealth: once per turn, spend 6 tech points to place 3 extra units on any owned territory.
- Cyber State
-
Digital warfare — once per turn, sabotage an adjacent enemy territory (remove 1 unit before combat).
A state built on code, surveillance, and disruption, it weakens enemies by corrupting the systems that coordinate them.
Ability: Cyber Attack: once per turn, remove 1 unit from an adjacent enemy territory without combat.
Regions and what they pay
- North America
- 0 territories · +5 per turn
- South America
- 0 territories · +4 per turn
- Europe
- 0 territories · +6 per turn
- Russia & CIS
- 0 territories · +7 per turn
- Middle East & North Africa
- 0 territories · +6 per turn
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- 0 territories · +5 per turn
- Asia
- 0 territories · +7 per turn
- Oceania & Pacific
- 0 territories · +2 per turn
- Polar Frontier
- 0 territories · +3 per turn
- Orbital Frontier
- 0 territories · +2 per turn
- Deep Ocean Frontier
- 0 territories · +2 per turn
Play this era
Start a game and pick the era in the lobby, or let a full campaign carry you through the whole arc — a single game can begin with legions and end in orbit. Guest play needs no account.