A field manual for FrontWars
Glossary: the client's own words
The client's own words, in the order a new player meets them. Where the game defines a term, the definition below is the game's, quoted, not ours.
- TESTEDevery term on this page was found in the client, 2026-11-03
- IN-GAMEthe definitions are the Instructions screen's Game UI, Build menu and Player icons tabs
- OFFICIAL ONLYstore blurbs add no terms we use here
- NEEDS CHECKwhether a Nation behaves differently from a Bot in ways the manual does not say
The control panel
| Term | The client's definition |
|---|---|
| Pop | "The amount of units you have, your max population, and the rate at which you gain them." |
| Gold | "The amount of gold you have and the rate at which you gain it." |
| Troops | "Troops fight and defend from damage." |
| Workers | "Workers generate gold." |
| Attack ratio | "The amount of troops that will be used when you attack… The effect doesn't go beyond ratios of 2:1." |
Who you are fighting
The player info overlay names three kinds: Human, Nation (the client's own gloss: smart bot) and Bot. A Nation also carries an attitude towards you, from Hostile to Friendly, which a plain Bot does not.
This is the distinction behind the NATIONS slider in a private lobby: it counts the smart bots, while BOTS counts the plain ones. Both are printed separately because they behave differently, and the client never explains how.
Diplomacy has its own vocabulary
| Term | What the client says |
|---|---|
| Ally | "Allies can't attack each other." |
| Traitor | Marked for 30 seconds after you betray and attack an ally, with "a 50% defense debuff" |
| Stopped trading / Embargo | "no gold exchange via trade ships", lasting 5 minutes or until both sides click Start trading |
| Donate | One-off transfers of troops or gold to a teammate, from the radial menu |
| Target mark | A mark placed on a player "for all allies, used to coordinate attacks" |
Buildings, in the client's phrasing
City "increases your max population" and is "useful when you can't expand your territory". Defense Post "increases defenses around nearby borders, which show a checkered pattern". Port "can only be built near water" and "automatically sends trade ships". Factory "automatically builds railroads" and its trains pay per building visited. Warship "patrols in an area, capturing enemy trade ships". SAM Launcher "can intercept enemy missiles in its 100 pixel range". MIRV "splits up into smaller bombs" and "only damages the player that you first clicked on".
Things the glossary cannot fix
Two words are used in two senses each and the client never reconciles them. Population is both the troop ceiling and the unit count on the same line of the HUD. Troops appears both as a stock and as the thing an attack ratio commits. When a guide tells you to "grow population", it can mean either, and the city page on this site is the place where we measured which one a city moves.
Last checked against the client: 2026-11-03 · client v42.5