New to the game? Basic training on the title screen (and at the top of the Campaign list) walks you through a first battle.
Your turn. Click one of your units to see where it can go (blue) and what it could hit (red). Click a square to move there, then choose an order: Attack, Capture, Load, Join, Supply, Unload or Wait. Attacking always starts with moving: go to the square you want to attack from, then choose Attack to see the damage you'd do to each target and pick one. Each unit moves once a turn. Right-click or press Esc to step back.
Handy tools. Next unit jumps to a unit that hasn't moved yet. Danger zone shades every square the enemy could hit next turn. To see where any unit can go and what it could hit, press and hold it (phone) or right-click it (computer). On a keyboard: arrow keys move the cursor, Enter selects, Esc steps back, N is next unit, D is danger zone, E ends the turn, + and − zoom.
Building. Click an empty factory, airfield or port you own to deploy a new unit. It can move next turn. Every property you own pays income at the start of your turn.
Capturing. Infantry capture towns, factories, airfields, ports and HQs. Every property has a strength of 10. Each turn infantry capture it, they take off half their own strength, rounded up: a full-strength squad takes it in 2 turns, a battered one takes longer. Moving off restores it.
Combat. Damage depends on the unit, its strength, the commander and the defender's cover. Woods, towns and hills protect. Units that survive a close attack fire back. Artillery, rockets and battleships fire from range but can't move and shoot in the same turn, and can't fire back.
Supply. Planes and ships burn fuel every day and crash or sink when it runs out. Units on your own properties (ground on towns, factories and the HQ; planes on airfields; ships in port) refill free at the start of your turn and repair up to 2 strength, at a tenth of the unit's price per point (1 point if you can only afford that). Half-tracks refill the units next to them. Merging two damaged units adds their fuel and ammo together.
Subs and destroyers. A sub can dive: only subs and destroyers can attack it, in fog it is hidden unless one of your units is right next to it, and it burns 5 fuel a day instead of 1. Surface to save fuel. A destroyer can carry 2 attackers or air transports and launch them anywhere.
Commanders. Fighting fills your power meter. A Power lasts until your next turn; the Super Power costs more and does more. Each use makes the next one dearer.
Winning. Capture the enemy HQ or destroy all their units. With a day limit, whoever holds the most properties at the end wins.