The north holds Taipei and the coast down to Miaoli. The south holds Tainan, Kaohsiung and the far south. Between them lies the middle of the island, around Taichung, the Changhua plain and Hualien on the east coast. Down the centre runs a wall of mountains you can cross in only a few places.
At a glance#
- 43 provinces: 17 plains, 10 forest, 10 mountain and 6 urban.
- 16 cities, 4 of them capitals: Taipei and Taoyuan in the north, Tainan and Kaohsiung in the south.
- Modes: 1v1 and 2v2.
- Rivers: the Da'an, Dadu, Zhuoshui, Beigang, Bazhang, Zengwen and Gaoping run along 14 province borders, all of them across the western plain and its foothills.
The sides#
Each 2v2 player gets a lane with a front of their own. One lane runs down the western plain. The other runs through the foothills, with a road down the east coast.
| Side | Home cities (capitals in bold) | Starting units |
|---|---|---|
| North: Taoyuan to Miaoli | Hsinchu, Miaoli, Taoyuan | 9 infantry, 3 armor, 1 artillery, 1 plane |
| North: Taipei, Keelung and Yilan | Keelung, Taipei, Yilan | 11 infantry, 3 armor, 1 artillery, 1 plane |
| South: Chiayi and Tainan | Chiayi, Tainan, Xinying | 9 infantry, 3 armor, 1 artillery, 1 plane |
| South: Kaohsiung and the east coast | Kaohsiung, Pingtung, Taitung | 11 infantry, 3 armor, 1 artillery, 1 plane |
In a 1v1, each side holds both of its lanes.
| Side | Home cities (capitals in bold) | Starting units |
|---|---|---|
| North | Hsinchu, Keelung, Miaoli, Taipei, Taoyuan, Yilan | 20 infantry, 6 armor, 2 artillery, 2 planes |
| South | Chiayi, Kaohsiung, Pingtung, Tainan, Taitung, Xinying | 20 infantry, 6 armor, 2 artillery, 2 planes |
The neutral middle#
Four cities start neutral: Taichung (5 infantry), Changhua (5 infantry), Douliu (5 infantry), Hualien (5 infantry).
- Changhua is the real fight: both sides reach it on the western plain, and neither side takes it reliably.
- Taichung is usually taken last, once the plain around it has been cleared.
- Douliu sits next to both southern lanes. In our bot test games the south almost always takes it on turn two.
- Hualien is reached from the north down the Suhua coast, and from the south up the Rift Valley. The north usually gets there first.
Terrain and rivers#
- The Central Mountain Range is a near-wall. Taroko, Puli and Yushan are the crossings, and with the east coast they are the only ways around. They're mountain provinces, so any stack that enters one stops there for the turn.
- The western plain is a ladder of rivers. Every step south from Miaoli to Kaohsiung crosses one: the Da'an, the Dadu, the Zhuoshui, the Beigang, the Bazhang, the Zengwen and the Gaoping. A defender behind a river is harder to dislodge.
- The capitals are urban. Taipei, Taoyuan, Tainan and Kaohsiung all defend at +50%, and armor attacks into them at ×0.5.
How it plays#
Games are quicker than on the bigger maps, often thirty to thirty-five turns. The first few turns are a race for the middle. After that, the plain becomes a slugging match across the rivers, while smaller stacks probe through the mountains and down the east coast.
The two lanes of a side meet only in a few places, especially in the south. Players on the same team have to plan together, or one lane wins its front while the other loses.
Tips#
- Don't fight across every river. Look for the crossing without one: the stretch of border with no river line on it is where your attack keeps its full strength.
- Watch the east coast. A stack that comes down the Suhua coast or up the Rift Valley lands behind the main front.
- Planes fly over the mountains. A strike reaches 3 provinces from its city, whatever the ground in between, so a plane in Taichung or Hualien covers both sides of the range.
- In the south, take Douliu, then turn north together. Douliu is the one place both southern lanes touch.
About the map#
Provinces are groups of townships, not counties, so a lane can cut a county in two. The offshore islands (Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and the small islands) aren't on the map, since the game has no navy. The sides are game blocs, not real factions.