PLAYER GUIDE · VERSION 1.0

A text guide to the menus, systems and controls in AfterWar 1.0.

PC + Android17 chapters
Start reading
Reading progress01 / 17

Chapter 01

AfterWar: Grand Strategy

GRAND STRATEGY

  • Lead a country in the world of 2028.
  • Manage, negotiate, plan and fight on a 3D world map.
  • Created in Ukraine by solo developer Dmytro Lumen.

OFFICIAL

  • ! Website: afterwargame.com
  • > Contact: dmytrolumen@gmail.com

FOLLOW AND CONTACT

  • # Discord | Steam | Google Play | YouTube | X
  • # Telegram | Instagram | TikTok - links on afterwargame.com
AfterWar: Grand Strategy
AfterWar: Grand Strategy

Chapter 02

Main menu, LAN and country selection

SINGLE PLAYER

  • # Private local session.
  • Choose a country and start.

HOST

  • ! Start Multiplayer Game.
  • Start a game for other players.
  • Your room appears in the multiplayer list.

JOIN

  • > The multiplayer list updates automatically.
  • Open a room to see host, players and ping.
  • + Press Join, then choose an available country.

PC - ANDROID LAN / VPN

  • + PC and Android can play together on the same version.
  • LAN host picks a free port automatically.

CLAIM A COUNTRY

  • > PC: LMB selects a country.
  • > Android: double-tap the same country.
  • > Complete both taps within 0.6 seconds.
  • ! Press Start <country>.
  • Taken countries are blocked.

MULTIPLAYER LIMITS

  • One player controls one country.
  • X Two players cannot share a country.
  • Steam rooms: friends-only, up to 16.
  • Steam / Discord invites: desktop only.
Main menu, LAN and country selection
Main menu, LAN and country selection

Chapter 03

Country settings and combat report

OPEN YOUR COUNTRY PANEL

  • > Select your country or click your flag.
  • Click its name to rename it in Single Player.
  • Host or Admin can rename a selected country in Multiplayer.

CHANGE COUNTRY COLOR

  • > Enter Red / Green / Blue values from 0 to 255.
  • ! Only your map display changes.
  • Country rules and other players stay unchanged.

CHANGE CAPITAL

  • > Change Capital -> your Region -> confirm.
  • ! Wait 180 game days before changing it again.
  • Water and foreign land cannot be capitals.

GENERAL COMBAT REPORT

  • > Hover / tap the Population indicator.
  • + Available for your country and the selected country.
  • # Losses and damage: month, year and all time.
  • # Fixed icon order: Land Forces, Fleet, Aviation.
  • Top 5 shows who caused losses and who received damage.
  • ! An active-battle tooltip shows only that battle.

SELECTED-WORLD SFX

  • > Sound follows sector, subregion, country, then sector type.
  • + Battles may use military sound instead.
  • Now Playing names it. Adjust SFX volume separately.
Country settings and combat report
Country settings and combat report

Chapter 04

Income, factories and financial default

DAILY BASE INCOME

  • # Population, Stability, government and Factories determine income.
  • The remainder enters your Treasury.

BUDGET AND FACTORIES

  • > Set each budget from 0 to 100%.
  • X Above 100% spends from Treasury.
  • + Fill the Factories bar to build one.
  • Maximum: 50 factories.

POPULATION GROWTH

  • ! Population grows at Stability 40+.
  • At Stability 39 or lower, it shrinks.
  • + Growth is fastest at Stability 100.
  • War and mobilization reduce population.

GREATNESS

  • + Raise population, Stability and factories.
  • + Lower Corruption.
  • Raises budget limits and movement capacity.
  • Water has no territorial control limit.

FINANCIAL DEFAULT

  • X Negative Treasury starts a 180-day warning.
  • ! Bring it back to 0 to pause the timer.
  • X Remaining days do not reset.
  • X At the end of the warning:
  • THE COUNTRY COLLAPSES.
Income, factories and financial default
Income, factories and financial default

Chapter 05

Research, mobilization, fleet and aviation

RESEARCH ORDER

  • ! Countries may start with different military technologies.
  • Funding advances technologies that are still locked.
  • Fixed order: Sea -> Airpower -> Ocean.

LAND FORCES

  • > Fund Land Forces, then press the right button.
  • ! It costs 5 Political Will and creates a land unit.

NAVAL BASE

  • > Base: a coastal Sea / Ocean sector.
  • ! It must border your controlled land.
  • Ocean requires Ocean research.

CREATE A FLEET

  • > Complete Sea research and fund Fleet / Sea Forces.
  • + Each full bar creates ships at your naval base.
  • > Change the base from the Fleet row.
  • ! It must border your controlled land.
  • Ocean requires Ocean research.
  • No port building or capital supply is needed.

BUILD AVIATION

  • > 1 Complete Airpower research.
  • > 2 Fund Aviation production.
  • + Each full bar creates 1 aircraft.
  • Aircraft support battles automatically.
  • Aircraft join battles automatically where most useful.

MOBILIZATION

  • ! Button is at the far right
  • of the Land Forces row.
  • Number 5 = Will cost.
  • Mobilized soldiers leave
  • civilian population.
  • Stored Land budget resets.
  • A top message explains why it cannot start.
Research, mobilization, fleet and aviation
Research, mobilization, fleet and aviation

Chapter 06

Trade, unions and peace

CREATE A UNION

  • > 1 Keep an active Trade deal.
  • > 2 Build relations to 70+.
  • > 3 Avoid threats and broken deals.
  • > 4 Common enemies and trust help.
  • ! Trade alone moves relations toward 55.
  • + Send Create / Invite / Join request.

UNION AND TREASURY

  • + Members fight as one coalition.
  • + Defense plans work on allied sectors.
  • + Members cannot attack each other.
  • + Relations become 100; trade is secured.
  • + AI members contribute to the Treasury and use it when needed.
  • > Deposit and Withdraw remain your manual choice.
  • ! If a member leaves, its troops begin returning home.
  • > Host or Admin can rename a selected union.

TRADE: WHAT YOU ACTUALLY EARN

  • # You receive about 1.52% of the partner base income each day.
  • # The partner receives about 1.52% of your base income.
  • ! Example: partner earns 66M base -> you gain 1M / day.
  • > Requires relation 35+ and a connected Trade route.
  • X No path: income and daily relation growth pause.
  • + The agreement stays active and resumes when the path returns.

HOW TO GET PEACE

  • > Select enemy -> Peace -> send request. Cost: 10 Will.
  • + Fatigue, losses, pressure and repeated talks help.
  • X Enemy advantage, grievances and aggression hurt.
  • > For example, create a large encirclement to remove its battlefield advantage, then retry.
  • ! A human opponent must accept voluntarily.
Trade, unions and peace
Trade, unions and peace

Chapter 07

Planning and automatic defense

HOW AUTO-DEFENSE WORKS

  • # Auto-defense creates Defense plans on controlled land frontiers.
  • + It covers land beside countries you are at war with.
  • ! It adapts when the front or control changes.
  • Manual plans are never replaced.

TWO MODES - PRESS THE SHIELD TO CYCLE

  • # Press the shield to switch Disabled / Regions.
  • X Disabled removes automatic plans; manual ones stay.
  • + Regions guards controlled land frontiers.
  • Hover or tap to see the mode and plan count.

CREATE / CANCEL A PLAN

  • > Brush -> size 1-9 -> PC RMB / Android tap.
  • + On land: friendly = Defense; foreign = Attack.
  • # Sea / Ocean: manual Defense only.
  • Water Defense needs matching research and holds fleets there.
  • Water has no Attack, Annex or Decolonization plan. Lakes cannot be planned.
  • ! Planning does not declare war.
  • Double-click / double-tap Cancel to remove all your plans.

ATTACK PLAN ASSIGNMENT

  • > After you draw an Attack plan, wait for free troops to be assigned.
  • The planner may pull surplus troops from quieter Defense plans.
  • ! Watch your defenses: they can become weaker.
Planning and automatic defense
Planning and automatic defense

Chapter 08

Select armies and grouped troops

GROUPED TROOPS

  • # 36K is all troops in the group.
  • ! x4 means four separate groups combined.
  • Status labels show moving, holding or battle.

OPEN A GROUP

  • > Select the group, then select it again.
  • + Choose any separate group.
  • Click empty map space to close it.

RECTANGLE SELECTION

  • > PC: Shift + LMB-drag on empty map.
  • > Android: Select -> drag box; or hold 0.35 s -> drag.
  • # 18 Divisions selected = 18 groups.
  • Moving 16 / Holding 2 shows their orders.
Select armies and grouped troops
Select armies and grouped troops

Chapter 09

Fleets, naval battles and amphibious landings

NEUTRAL WATER

  • # Sea / Ocean are geography, not territory.
  • They have no owner or controller and cannot be captured.
  • There is no colonization, decolonization or water cap.
  • Victory never grants ownership of water.

FLEETS AND NAVAL BATTLES

  • # A fleet is physical ships in the exact water sector.
  • + Peaceful and allied fleets may share a sector.
  • X Hostile fleets automatically start a naval battle.
  • The winner stays; losing hostile ships are destroyed.

AMPHIBIOUS LANDINGS

  • > Land forces may cross water without a fleet or water research.
  • Each entered water sector compares friendly and hostile ships.
  • + Matching or stronger friendly fleets: no crossing losses.
  • X No friendly ships against hostile ships: the force is destroyed.
  • ! Fewer friendly ships means more crossing losses.
  • Survivors land and fight normally.

FLEET MOVEMENT AND PLANS

  • > Fleets move only through Sea / Ocean.
  • ! Each water type requires its research.
  • No port, controlled coast or capital supply is required.
  • + Use movement orders or manual water Defense plans.
  • Water Defense distributes and holds available fleets.

Chapter 10

Orders, troop assignment and speed

LAND ROUTES THROUGH WATER

  • > Land orders can cross Sea / Ocean.
  • Route through water manually with Route.
  • ! Finish on land; a water endpoint stops at the last reachable land.
  • Invalid landing: return or risk destruction when no exit exists.

MOVE + READ LINES

  • > PC: RMB destination | Android: Move -> target.
  • > Android route: Route -> sectors -> Done.
  • # Arrowhead = destination; bright segment = progress.
  • Hover / tap line: amount, route, ETA and progress.
  • ! Manual orders take priority over plans.
  • A top message explains why an order cannot work.
  • Partial orders show how many groups moved.

WHAT CHANGES SPEED

  • + Stability and Greatness speed troops; Corruption slows them.
  • More people in Land Forces also slows travel.
  • 10% = +50% time | 20% = twice as long.
  • Research does not increase land speed.
Orders, troop assignment and speed
Orders, troop assignment and speed

Chapter 11

Country panel and diplomacy map

OPEN DIPLOMACY

  • > Select a country: its panel and relation map open together.

READ THE MAP COLORS

  • + GREEN: positive relations with the selected country.
  • # GRAY: neutral relations near 0.
  • X RED: hostile relations; stronger red means closer to -100.
  • The scale is relative to the country whose panel is open.

RELATION LISTS

  • > Union: union members and partners.
  • > Trade: active trade relationships.
  • > War: current enemies.
  • Select an entry to inspect or act on that country.

ACTION TOOLTIP

  • # Shows the likely answer to your request.
  • Their opinion shows the current relation.
  • At war confirms the required state.
  • ! Will shows available / required Political Will.
Country panel and diplomacy map
Country panel and diplomacy map

Chapter 12

Read the date, calendar and time history

OPEN THE CALENDAR

  • > PC: hover the striped date / time bar.
  • > Android: tap the date / time bar.
  • # Campaign starts on 1 January 2028.
  • Campaign day counts elapsed in-game days.

READ THE MONTH

  • # White outline: today.
  • ! Yellow: Saturday and Sunday.
  • > Blue-gray: days outside the current month.
  • Weekends are calendar markers, not a separate speed control.

MULTIPLAYER TIME HISTORY

  • Pause shows who last paused or resumed.
  • Speed shows who last selected the current speed.

PC TIME CONTROLS

  • Space: pause / resume.
  • 1-5: set game speed.

ANDROID TIME CONTROLS

  • Use the visible pause and speed controls.
  • The top bar always shows live date and time.

WHAT THE EXAMPLE SAYS

  • Sunday, 2 January 2028 | Campaign day 2.
  • Paused by Lumen | speed last set to x4.
Read the date, calendar and time history
Read the date, calendar and time history

Chapter 13

Read a battle before giving orders

OPEN + READ IN ORDER

  • > PC: hover the battle sector; hold Alt for expanded detail.
  • > Android: tap the battle sector.
  • 1. Resolution and forecast.
  • 2. Attackers / Defenders balance.
  • 3. Coalitions, countries, supply and losses.

NAVAL BATTLE

  • # Participant: Our side / Enemy.
  • # Outside observer: coalition shares.
  • Fleet and Aviation are shown separately.
  • ! No attacker / defender roles, control or supply.
  • Casualties here belong only to this active battle.
  • > Country totals: hover / tap Population.

1 RESOLUTION

  • # Our side 11% = 11 / 100 resolution progress for you.
  • + Our victory | 2d 17h = current forecast and ETA.
  • ! Forecast changes with leadership and supply.
  • No active push = resolution is not moving.

2 SIDE BALANCE

  • # Attackers 51% / Defenders 49% = share of committed forces.
  • ! This is not victory chance and not capture progress.
  • Flags identify every country participating on that side.
  • A near 50 / 50 fight can still have stored progress for one side.

3 COALITIONS

  • # Coalition name groups allies fighting together.
  • 13 385 = current coalition forces in this battle.
  • X -97 = accumulated combat casualties.
  • Controls sector = the coalition currently defending control.

4 COUNTRY ROWS

  • # 51% / 49% beside a country = current battle leadership share.
  • + Supplied = connected to military supply from the capital.
  • Army / fleet and aviation icons show current forces by type.
  • Casualties show accumulated losses by type.
Read a battle before giving orders
Read a battle before giving orders

Chapter 14

Reduce losses and resolve battles

RESOLUTION

  • Leading attacker coalition above 50 advances; controller coalition above 50 reverses.
  • Attackers resolve control at +100; controller defense wins at -100.

AIR SUPERIORITY

  • At least 1.25x enemy air: own land / sea losses x0.5.
  • Enemy at least 1.25x your air: own land / sea losses x3.
  • Air / 3 adds effective leadership; air losses are unaffected.

LAND CONTROLLER ADVANTAGE

  • In a Region, the current controller inflicts x3 losses on non-controller land and air forces.
  • Sea / Ocean has no controller, so this never applies to naval battles.

LAND BATTLES

  • Restore supply, secure an escape Region, keep control and maintain air superiority.
  • Cut enemy supply, block escape Regions and isolate the defender.

NAVAL BATTLES

  • Supply, encirclement, isolation and controller modifiers do not apply.
  • A smaller fleet takes ratio-based extra fleet losses, capped at x3.

Chapter 15

Interface palette, saves and audio

SAVE LOCATIONS

  • Windows: %USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\AfterWar\Saves
  • Android: Android/data/<package-id>/files/Saves
  • Windows screenshots: %USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\AfterWar\Screenshots
  • Android screenshots: Android/data/<package-id>/files/Screenshots
  • Save extension: .awsave

CROSS-PLATFORM SAVES

  • PC and Android saves work on compatible builds and worlds.
  • Move the .awsave file yourself. Each player may save locally.
  • Only single-player or the host can load; host load updates clients.

AUDIO

  • # Master | Music | Sounds | SFX are separate channels.
  • Selected country / subregion / sector ambience uses SFX.

INTERFACE COLOR THEMES

  • ! Themes change the interface color palette.
  • Panels, buttons and highlights are recolored.
  • They do not change country ownership colors.
  • Lighting changes the map presentation.

LANGUAGE + CHAT

  • + Search any of 191 interface languages.
  • > Type a message and press Enter.
  • Start with / to enter a command.
  • Page 17 lists player commands.

PLAYERS AND EXIT

  • Players shows HOST, ADMIN and YOU,
  • country, name and ping.
  • Only Host can grant or remove ADMIN.
  • > Exit to menu disconnects.
  • X Exit game closes AfterWar.
Interface palette, saves and audio
Interface palette, saves and audio

Chapter 16

Complete controls

PC CONTROLS

MAP AND SELECTION

  • Use WASD or the arrow keys to move the camera.
  • Hold Shift to move the camera twice as fast.
  • Hold the left mouse button and drag to pan the map. Use the mouse wheel to zoom.
  • Before starting the game, left-click a country to select it.
  • Left-click a sector or troop marker to select it.
  • Click a selected troop group again to see its separate units.
  • Hold Shift and drag with the left mouse button from an empty part of the map to select troops with a box.
  • Hold Alt to show an expanded tooltip.

TROOPS AND PLANS

  • Select troops, then right-click a destination to send them there.
  • Press H to stop the selected troops.
  • Right-click a plan to assign the selected troops.
  • Double-click a Defense plan to assign selected troops to its linked plan.
  • Select Brush, then right-click a sector to create a plan. Keys 1-9 change the brush width.
  • Select Cancel, then right-click a sector to remove its plan.
  • Double-click Cancel within 0.6 seconds to remove all your plans.
  • Land routes may cross Sea/Ocean. If you end one on water, troops stop at the last reachable land sector.
  • Select Cancel, then right-click your own Region twice to begin land decolonization.

INTERFACE AND TIME

  • Press Space to pause or resume the game.
  • Use the visible pause and speed controls to control the flow of time.
  • Hold Tab to show the player list.
  • Press Esc to close the current window or open Settings.
  • Press the backquote key or the quote key to open the console.
  • Click the country flag in the selected sector panel to open that country's panel.
  • Click your country flag in the upper-left corner of the main interface to open the console.
  • Hover over the date and time to view the calendar.

ANDROID CONTROLS

MAP AND SELECTION

  • On Android with a keyboard and mouse, use PC controls; touch remains available.
  • Drag with one finger to pan the map.
  • Pinch with two fingers to zoom in or out.
  • Double-tap the same country within 0.6 seconds to select it. Then press Start <country>.
  • Tap a sector or troop marker to select it.
  • Tap a selected troop group again to see its separate units.
  • Press Select, drag a box around the troops, then release. The troops inside are selected and the mode turns off.
  • Alternatively, hold an empty part of the map for about 0.35 seconds, then drag a selection box.
  • Tap a battle sector or the date and time to view details.

TROOPS AND PLANS

  • Select troops, press Move, then tap the destination.
  • Press Hold to stop the selected troops.
  • Select troops and press Route. Tap route sectors in order; Undo removes the last point, Done issues the order and Cancel discards it.
  • Tap a plan to assign the selected troops.
  • Double-tap a Defense plan to assign selected troops to its linked plan.
  • Select Brush, then tap a sector to create a plan. The Size control changes the brush width.
  • Select Cancel, then tap a sector to remove its plan.
  • Double-tap Cancel within 0.6 seconds to remove all your plans.
  • Land routes may cross Sea/Ocean. If you end one on water, troops stop at the last reachable land sector.
  • Select Cancel, then double-tap your own Region to begin land decolonization.

INTERFACE AND TIME

  • Use the on-screen pause and speed controls to control the flow of time.
  • Tap the country flag in the selected sector panel to open that country's panel.
  • Tap your country flag in the upper-left corner of the main interface to open the console.
  • Tap the date and time to open the calendar.

Chapter 17

Console reference

OPEN AND USE

  • PC: Backquote / quote key | Android or PC: click the upper-left player flag | Enter: run | Tab: autocomplete | Up / Down: history
  • Use /help for exact syntax. Quote country names with spaces. Cheat commands change the game; Multiplayer authority can limit them.

SESSION + INFO

  • /help [command]
  • /commands
  • /whoami
  • /country_info ["country"]
  • /country "country"
  • /spectator
  • /exit
  • DISPLAY
  • /screenshot [1080|1440|4K|8K|16K]
  • /interface [on|off]
  • /interface_time [on|off]
  • /render_scale "0.3..2"

COUNTRY + ECONOMY

  • /volya "amount" ["country"]
  • /research [list|all|r_airpower|
  • r_oceans|r_seas] ["country"]
  • /money [add|set] "amount" ["country"]
  • /population [add|set] "amount"
  • /defolt_time [set|add] [hours|days]
  • /stability "percent" ["country"]
  • /corruption "percent" ["country"]
  • /army [add|set] [land|naval|air|all]

MAP + DIPLOMACY

  • /annex all ["country"]
  • /annex_sector "sector_id" ["country"]
  • /annex_subregion "id_or_name" ["country"]
  • /annex_country "source" ["target"]
  • /annex_tool [on|off] ["country"]
  • /declare_war "aggressor" "target"
  • /peace "country_a" "country_b"
  • /relation ["source"] "target" "value"
  • /wars ["country"]
  • /union "country_a" "country_b" "name"
  • /alliance ... alias of /union
  • /peacefull [on|off] ["country"]
  • /peaceful ... alias

HOST ADMINISTRATION

  • /admin "player nickname"
  • /unadmin "player nickname"
  • Only Host can grant or remove ADMIN.
  • Admins can use authorized country
  • and union controls.
  • RELEASE
  • Developer diagnostic commands are
  • unavailable in Release.
  • /annex_tool changes new Attack
  • plans into Annex plans.