Player Wiki

01 How Helion Conflict works

Helion Conflict is a real-time strategy game about factories that build ships. Whoever holds a factory gets its production; whoever sends ships captures more factories or smashes enemy garrisons. Everything in this wiki comes from the game code (version 0.13.11) – every number carries its source, and what is not in the code is marked as a derivation.

The core loop

1. 1
   Produce. Every factory you hold adds its class rate to its garrison each second (0.4 to 2.2 ships/s, chapter 2).
2. 2
   Send. Right-click sends a share of the garrison (5–100 % in steps of 5 via mouse wheel, F2–F5 = 25/50/75/100 %) to another factory. Ships fly in a straight line – no pathfinding.
3. 3
   Fight. On arrival, "ten attackers destroy ten defenders": both sides trade 1:1. If the remainder is negative, the factory changes owner; at exactly zero the defender keeps it, empty.
4. 4
   Grow. A captured factory ramps its production up, neighbouring factories reinforce each other (cluster), and the loop starts again – faster.

The boardNumbers show the garrison of each factory

Game modes

Lobby rules – and what the levels mean

Victory condition

Classic / E-Sport

A player is alive while they hold at least one factory or still have ships in flight. The match ends when only one team is alive. Allied ships landing on a partner's factory reinforce it instead of fighting.

Commander

A player is alive only while they hold a main base – factories and fleets do not save you. Lose the last base and your flying fleets vanish at the end of the same tick (collapse rule). A Complex can be upgraded into a second main base for 150 gold: two bases mean two sieges.

Surrender

Whoever surrenders hands their factories to a living ally (no ramp) – or they turn neutral.

Time and movement

The simulation runs at 30 ticks per second, integer and bit-identical on every machine. A fleet has no position in the sense of the rules – only a departure and an arrival tick. Flight time follows a model with three zones:

The consequence: working forward step by step is faster than the direct flight. Home to home on the 32-factory map (372 400 units) takes 23.1 s in one go, but only 14.2 s in six neighbour hops (table in chapter 4). The decay belongs to the formation, not the target: every fleet starts at full speed and slows down the same way, wherever it flies.

The three AI levels

The AI never cheats: it produces, fights and sees like a player. What separates the levels is reaction time, noise and judgement.

02 Factories & buildings

There are eight building classes: five ship factories (Classic and Commander), plus iron factory, gold factory and main base in Commander. Factories are not built but captured – "build time" here means how long a ship takes, how long the capture ramp runs and how long a shield takes to rise. The only build orders in the narrow sense are turrets, resource upgrades and the main-base upgrade (all Commander only).

The five ship factories

Tier 1 · Small

Workshop Werkstatt

Ships/s

0.4 · 1 ship every 2.5 s

Capture ramp = shield ramp

4 s

Shield target (Q)

×1.4

Neutral garrison

generator 8–20 · fixed maps 10–14

Share of neutrals

42 %

Radius (picture)

7 700

Payback

37.0 s (22–52 s)

Slowest to pay back. You take it for presence, as a stepping stone and because 14 ships is what you can afford in minute one.

Tier 2 · Medium · Classic start

Shipyard Werft

Ships/s

1.0 · 1 ship every 1 s

Capture ramp = shield ramp

7 s

Shield target (Q)

×1.6

Neutral garrison

generator 15–32 · fixed maps 20–22

Share of neutrals

30 %

Radius (picture)

9 975

Payback

27.0 s (18.5–35.5 s)

Your home in Classic. Pays for itself after 27 s.

Tier 3 · Large

Factory Fabrik

Ships/s

1.6 · 1 ship every 0.625 s

Capture ramp = shield ramp

9 s

Shield target (Q)

×1.8

Neutral garrison

generator 25–45 · fixed maps 28–35

Share of neutrals

16 %

Radius (picture)

11 550

Payback

26.4 s (20.1–32.6 s)

Fastest payback of all classes at the band middle.

Tier 4 · Industrial

Arsenal Arsenal

Ships/s

2.0 · 1 ship every 0.5 s

Capture ramp = shield ramp

10 s

Shield target (Q)

×2.0

Neutral garrison

generator 35–60 · fixed maps 40–48

Share of neutrals

8 % + 1 guaranteed

Radius (picture)

12 425

Payback

28.8 s (22.5–35.0 s)

One Arsenal is guaranteed on every generated map with at least 8 neutrals.

Tier 5 · Fortress

Complex Komplex

Ships/s

2.2 · 1 ship every 0.455 s

Capture ramp = shield ramp

11 s

Shield target (Q)

×2.2

Neutral garrison

generator 50–85 · fixed maps 55–70

Share of neutrals

4 % + 1 guaranteed

Radius (picture)

12 775

Payback

36.2 s (28.2–44.1 s)

The biggest prize on the map, not the strongest wall. After 36 s it is the best factory you can own – and in Commander the only class that can become a second main base.

What the columns mean

Ships/s

Base rate at NORMAL; standing alone it is still ×0.70 (cluster, chapter 3). Internally an accumulator counts in thousandths: at 30 000 a ship drops, fractions are never lost.

Capture ramp

After a capture in combat, production rises linearly from 0 to 100 % over these seconds. Start factories and hand-overs after surrender do not ramp. The loss is exactly ramp × rate / 2 ships – 0.8 for a Workshop, 12.1 for a Complex.

Shield target

The defence factor Q reaches after the same number of seconds (plus cluster bonus, chapter 4). While the shield is on, the factory keeps building at one third.

Garrison

What a neutral costs to take ("toll"). The generator rolls within the band, fixed maps set the value by hand.

Radius

Picture and click area only – no combat or production effect. The minimum distance between two factories is 48 000 units.

Payback – what a capture really costs Derived · calculated, not in the code

Payback = (garrison + ramp × rate / 2) / rate. The garrison is the band middle of the generator; on fixed maps it is usually lower.

Reading: a Shipyard has earned its price back after 27 s, a Complex after 36 s – after that it is the best factory on the map. The Workshop pays back slowest; you take it for presence, as a stepping stone and because 14 ships is what you can afford in minute one.

Commander buildings

Main base Hauptbasis · MainBase

Production

1.6 ships/s (like a Factory) – even with the shield up; the ⅓ brake never applies here

Ramp

10 s

Shield

×1.5 permanent, no toggle, no production cut

Garrison

Start: 20/40/60 (lobby)

Radius

15 000

Victory building. Protected as long as one of your own iron/gold factories covers it with its range. Exists from the start or by upgrading a Complex (150 gold). Can carry a turret; no instant ships.

Iron factory Eisenfabrik · Iron

Production

0.5 / 0.7 / 0.9 / 1.1 iron/s (level 0–3) – only while linked, otherwise 0

Ramp

8 s

Shield

×1.4 (costs ⅓ of the yield)

Garrison

12–22 · fixed maps 15–18

Radius

9 000

Deposit 400 iron (rich: 800). Every linked iron factory gives every own factory it reaches +25/40/50/60 % production. No turret, no cluster, no instant ships.

Gold factory Goldfabrik · Gold

Production

0.375 / 0.75 / 1.25 / 2.0 gold/s (level 0–3) – flows from mere ownership

Ramp

8 s

Shield

×1.4 (costs ⅓ of the yield)

Garrison

18–30 · fixed maps 20–26

Radius

8 500

Deposit 600 gold (rich: 1 200). Linked: +20/30/40/50 % per linked own gold factory in range (itself included), cap +75 %.

Build orders with build time (Commander only)

Turret level 1

5 gold3 s

2 ships/s damage, range 40 000

Turret level 2

10 gold6 s

4 ships/s, range 60 000 – the old level keeps firing until the new one stands

Turret level 3

20 gold9 s

5 ships/s, range 80 000 – a full turret costs 35 gold and 18 s of building

⛏

Iron/gold upgrade level 1 / 2 / 3

20 / 40 / 80 iron and 10 / 20 / 40 gold2 / 3 / 4 s

Higher rate, longer range (144 000 → 170 000 → 196 000 → 222 000), higher network contribution; the old level keeps delivering until finished

Complex → main base

150 goldinstant (shield ramps up over 10 s)

Production 2.2 → 1.6/s, shield ×1.5 permanent without cut, second victory building

03 Economy & network

The economy has two layers. In every mode the cluster applies: own factories in the neighbourhood reinforce each other. Commander adds two resources – iron (boosts production, pays for upgrades, shield and instant ships) and gold (pays for turrets, satellite, war plan, reinforcement, orbital strike and the main-base upgrade). There is no third resource.

The production chain – in this order

Per tick the simulation computes for every owned factory:

Iron and gold factories run the same chain without cluster and iron network, but with the gold network and deposit depletion at the end.

The cluster: neighbours within 72 000 units

Every ship factory counts how many own ship factories (main base included, iron/gold not) stand within 72 000 units and multiplies its rate by the ladder:

The cluster redistributes the economy, it does not inflate it: standing alone every factory is below its table value, only from two neighbours on above it. The first neighbour is the biggest jump of the whole ladder (+36 %) – and it lands on both factories at once. On generated maps a factory has 3 neighbours in this radius on average, every home at least one.

Iron and gold (Commander)

Iron

Flows

only from linked iron factories: an own ship factory (or main base) must stand within the level's range – 144 000 / 170 000 / 196 000 / 222 000 units (level 0–3)

Rate

0.5 / 0.7 / 0.9 / 1.1 per second (level 0–3)

Network

+25 / 40 / 50 / 60 % production for every own ship factory it reaches – even after the deposit is empty. Cap per factory: +90 % (four level-0 deposits, or two upgraded ones).

Deposit

400 iron, rich deposit 800. Empty → 25 % residual yield, never zero.

Pays for

Shield activation 10 iron, instant ships 25 iron, iron half of upgrades 20/40/80, exchange 50 → gold.

Gold

Flows

none needed – gold flows from mere ownership

Rate

0.375 / 0.75 / 1.25 / 2.0 per second (level 0–3); one gold drops every 80 / 40 / 24 / 15 ticks

Network

Linked (own ship factory in range) it gets +20 / 30 / 40 / 50 % per linked own gold factory in range, itself included; cap +75 %.

Deposit

600 gold, rich deposit 1 200. Empty → 25 %.

Pays for

Turret 5/10/20, war plan 30, reinforcement 30, satellite 40, orbital strike 80, main-base upgrade 150, gold half of upgrades 10/20/40.

Upgrading resource factories

Derived · calculated, not in the code An upgrade buys speed, not yield – the deposit holds 400 iron or 600 gold on every level; it just runs dry earlier. The iron half of level 1 (20) is back after 100 s at +0.2/s, level 2 after 200 s, level 3 after 400 s – longer than the deposit still flows on level 3 (364 s). Gold pays its gold half back in 27 / 40 / 53 s. The real reason for an iron upgrade is the network contribution (+15 points on every reached factory) and the range, not the rate.

Links: the protection rule of the main base

A main base is unattackable as long as at least one own iron or gold factory covers it with the range of its level – or No Rush is running. Links are never chained through other buildings; neutral or allied deposits do not count; an empty deposit still links. A base without a link is VULNERABLE, whatever else the empire holds. The generator guarantees every start base 2 iron and 1 gold factory within 288 000 units (a rich deposit counts double).

Transfer, exchange and plunder

Transfer (at the main base)

Package of 25 / 50 / 100 iron or gold to a living team member; 20 % is lost on the way (25 → 20, 50 → 40, 100 → 80).

Exchange iron → gold

50 iron buy 25 gold on the first exchange, 2 less on every further one, from the 11th on 5 remain. No cooldown.

Exchange gold → iron

25 gold buy 40 iron at first, 3 less each time, from the 11th on 10 remain. Both directions age the same market (one counter, 10 steps).

Plunder

Whoever captures an enemy iron or gold factory takes 25 % of the previous owner's stock of that resource – at most 50 iron or 40 gold. Hoarders lose the most.

Derived · calculated, not in the code Exchanging forward only, the ten steps yield 25+23+…+7 = 160 gold for 500 iron (two orbital strikes), then 5 per 50. Backward 40+37+…+13 = 265 iron for 250 gold. A round trip (50 iron → 25 gold → 40 iron) loses 10 iron and two market steps: the exchange is a release valve, not an economy.

Orbit: satellite and orbital strike

Spy satellite

40 gold at an own main base: 15 s of full map vision (hidden enemy numbers included). The launch is free again 60 s after the last launch – "fifteen seconds of sight per minute". One budget per player; a second base does not buy a second one.

Orbital strike

80 gold, target is a factory. After 6 s of warning (the marker is visible to everyone) every building and every fleet within a radius of 120 000 loses a third of its ships, at least 75 – friend and foe alike, never a protected main base. It never captures. Cooldown 120 s from impact.

04 Military

There is one unit: the ship. It has no levels, no equipment and no price except the time a factory needs for it. Strength comes from numbers, timing and position – and in Commander from turrets, shields and the war plan.

The ship

Combat value

exactly 1 – one attacker destroys one defender.

Build time

1 / factory rate – 2.5 s (Workshop) to 0.455 s (Complex), ×0.70 slower when standing alone.

Price without a factory (Commander)

Reinforcement 30 gold for 10 (3 gold per ship, main base only), instant ships 25 iron for 5 (5 iron per ship, any other factory).

On the board

a small fighter for a small formation, a big one for a big formation – the number stands next to it.

The fleet

• Flies straight, through everything; turret rings on the way shoot at it.
• Arrival decides, never departure: a factory that is protected when the fleet lands makes it fizzle without effect.
• Landing on an own or allied factory = reinforcement.
• Can be redirected (chapter 1) – costs time, never ships.

Small formation · big formation

Flight times Derived · calculated, not in the code

Derived from HaulTicksFor (recomputed exactly, in seconds, departure from standstill):

The same 372 400 units in six hops of 62 067: 14.2 s instead of 23.1 s – the direct flight is 1.63 times slower than stepping-stone hops.

The combat formula

• The defence factor is 1.0 (1000) – unless the shield is up. What does not amount to a whole ship stays as a remainder on the factory for the next attack; after an owner change it is cleared.
• War plan ATTACK (Commander) multiplies the attacking side by 1.15.
• A tie = the defender keeps the factory with 0 ships. To capture, you need garrison + 1.
• On an owner change the factory's shield and turret are lost, production restarts with the ramp from zero, running build orders burn (no refund). An upgrade level (iron/gold) survives the capture.
• Arrivals are resolved per tick in a fixed order (fleet id); two fleets landing in the same tick hit one after the other.

Garrisons

A factory's garrison is both its stock and its defence. Neutral factories start with the toll of their class (chapter 2) and do not grow (default). Home factories start with 20 / 40 / 60 ships. A garrison has no upper limit.

The shield (key Q)

How it works

• Q (or a click on the badge) toggles the shield of an own factory; applies to the whole selection. Main base: always on, not switchable.
• Target: class factor ×1.4 … ×2.2 plus cluster bonus (+0.16 for the first own neighbour …). Example Complex with 3 neighbours: 2.2 + 0.295 = ×2.495.
• Ramp: linear over the ramp seconds of the class (4 / 7 / 9 / 10 / 11 s); switching off takes just as long to come down. The target moves: if a neighbour falls, the wall next to it gets thinner.
• Price: from the tick of the order the factory builds at only ⅓ (Commander additionally 10 iron when switching on; war plan DEFENCE: ½ production, half ramp time).
• Visible to everyone, even while ramping up – nobody runs into a wall they could not see.

When is a shield worth it? Derived · calculated, not in the code

Class	Target	Garrison 20	Garrison 40	Garrison 80
Workshop	×1.4	30 s	60 s	120 s
Shipyard	×1.6	18 s	36 s	72 s
Factory	×1.8	15 s	30 s	60 s
Arsenal	×2.0	15 s	30 s	60 s
Complex	×2.2	16 s	33 s	65 s

Benefit = (factor − 1) × garrison attackers saved; cost = ⅔ × rate per second. The table shows after how many seconds the wall costs more than it protects (target without cluster). If the attack comes within that time the wall paid off; if it stands longer, it cost more than it protected. A neighbour hop takes 2.3 s, the wall 4–11 s: shielding is a bet in advance, not a reaction.

Turrets (Commander)

• Every ship factory and the main base can carry a turret; iron/gold factories cannot. The three levels reach 40 000 / 60 000 / 80 000 units – level 1 covers your own approach funnel, level 3 reaches beyond a neighbour hop.
• Target is the enemy fleet with the smallest id in range – i.e. the oldest; own and allied fleets pass untouched. Damage accumulates in thousandths, a ship drops every 15 / 7.5 / 6 ticks.
• Every kill pays the owner ½ gold: level 1 is paid after 10 kills, the full ladder (35 gold) after 70.
• The old level fires until the new one is finished; a turret on a captured factory is destroyed; on a neutral it rests.
• A turret defends only where it stands – and also shoots fleets that merely pass through its ring. The toll columns are derived: radius ÷ speed × damage; a fleet that has been flying for long (floor, 50 % speed) pays double.

War plan (Commander)

Three stances, chosen at an own main base for 30 gold, then locked for 60 s. Nobody starts with a plan; every plan is a trade, never a bonus.

Emergency buys: reinforcement and instant ships (Commander)

Reinforcement (gold)

30 gold → 10 ships instantly into the main base garrison. 20 s cooldown per player. Deliberately expensive (3 gold per ship): the last line of defence, not a supply line.

Instant ships (iron)

25 iron → 5 ships instantly into the garrison of every selected ship factory except the main base. 20 s cooldown per factory – the empire's distributed reserve.

05 Commander mode

Commander is Classic plus an economy of iron and gold, a main base as victory building and a console at the bottom of the screen through which all purchases run. All factory classes read the same table as in Classic – the mode adds modifiers and three building classes, no different rates.

What differs from Classic

The console – every tile and its price

Derived · calculated, not in the code The mode's price ladder: 5 / 10 / 20 turret – 30 war plan – 30 reinforcement – 40 satellite – 80 orbital strike – 150 main base. With two gold factories on level 0 (0.75 gold/s together) the first turret is affordable after ~7 s of yield, the first war plan after 40 s, the satellite after 53 s, the first orbital strike after ~107 s, the second main base after 200 s – each without any other spending. With a single level-0 deposit everything takes twice as long.

No Rush

The lobby option (Commander only) sets a window of 3 / 5 / 10 / 15 / 20 minutes. While it runs, every owned factory is unattackable – an attack fizzles, the orbital strike does not hit it. Neutrals can still be taken: the window protects the opening, it does not pause the match. A fleet that departs before the window ends and lands after it fights normally – arrival decides.

06 Maps

Generated maps come from a seed – bit-identical on every machine. Fixed maps live in the catalogue, mirrored and with hand-set garrisons.

The generator

Map sizes and distances Derived · calculated, not in the code

2 players, NORMAL speed, direct flight home → home:

On the 32-factory map with 2 players, of 30 neutrals you can expect ~12 Workshops, ~8 Shipyards, ~4–5 Factories, ~3 Arsenals and ~2 Complexes. With 4 players, 28 neutrals remain for four – every factory is contested.

Fixed maps in the catalogue

"(RICH)" versions carry more iron and gold factories on a wider board; the class column lists Workshop · Shipyard · Factory · Arsenal · Complex in that order. Garrisons on fixed maps are lower than the generator's band middle (Shipyard 20–22 instead of 23.5; Complex 55–70 instead of 67.5): captures pay back faster. Tournament maps are point-mirrored – both sides have the same routes. Whoever holds the middle first has the shorter way to everything.

07 Strategy – derived from the numbers

Derived · calculated, not in the code Nothing in this chapter is in the code as such. It is computed from the values of chapters 1–6 – every statement names what it follows from. Where something is estimated instead of computed, it says so. All times are for NORMAL speed and NORMAL production.

The three calculations behind every decision

Opening in Classic: build orders with time marks

Model assumptions (stated openly): home = Shipyard with 40 ships; Workshop (toll 14), Shipyard (24) and Factory (35) each one neighbour hop (60 000 = 69 ticks) away and all within 72 000 of each other; production and ramp integer as in the code; no enemy, no shield. Real maps differ – the order of the results does not.

• The first minute decides the rate. Whoever sends nothing at t = 0 has 166 ships after three minutes; whoever takes two neighbours, 458. Every capture in the neighbourhood pays back in under 40 s – the starting garrison is there to be spent.
• The biggest factory in reach first, if you can afford it. B (Shipyard) beats A (Workshop) by 90 ships after 180 s although it costs 10 ships more: 1.0/s against 0.4/s at almost the same ramp tax.
• Second wave from ~20 s. After the first hop the home at 0.95/s has ~20 ships again every 20 s; F takes the Factory (35) at t = 23 and after 3 minutes has almost four times what the idler has.
• The home may be empty for a moment – but only if no enemy is within flight range. Home to home is 23 s direct flight (32-factory map); a rush with 40 starting ships arrives at t ≈ 23 s at the earliest – whoever has 24+ ships at home by then (0.95/s × 23 s ≈ 22 plus remainder) holds it. On MINI (12 factories, 12 s home to home) an empty home is a risk.
• After the ramp the new factory is the stepping stone: from there the next neighbour is again only 2.3 s away, while the direct flight from home already runs into the decay (from 60 000).

When which class pays off

Overtake points (band middle, net ships after the capture):

Economy versus military

• Doubling time. A Shipyard alone needs 57 s for 40 ships (0.70/s); with two neighbours 37 s (1.08/s). Every second a garrison sits idle is production the enemy does not have to pay for. Derived from ClusterLadderMilli.
• Taking a factory costs toll; holding it costs nothing. There is no upkeep. The only reason to keep ships at home is an enemy within flight range: reserve = the largest fleet they can send in one hop (the Medium/Hard AI keeps 20 % at the front, 4 % in the rear).
• The direct flight across the map is a gift to the defender. 23 s of warning (32-factory map) are two shield ramps; in six hops you would be there in 14 s and own six factories on the way. Derived from HaulTicksFor.
• Attack before the ramp is through. A freshly captured factory produces almost nothing in its first seconds (linear from 0) and holds only the attacker's remainder as garrison – a counter-offensive within the ramp seconds (4–11 s) hits it at its weakest. Derived from ProdRampSeconds.
• Hidden numbers. With default rules you do not see enemy garrisons. What you always see: shields (with factor), turrets, build sites, strike markers. When attacking, count with the class: a Complex the enemy has held for 60 s has ≥ 100 ships more than at capture (2.2/s × 0.95 × 50 s after the ramp). Estimate from rate and ramp.

Network expansion: priorities

1. Classic – compact instead of wide. The third factory belongs next to the first two (×1.17 on all three), not at the other end. An empire in which every factory has three neighbours produces 67 % more than the same factories scattered (1.17 ÷ 0.70).
2. Commander – the two iron factories in front of the base first. The generator guarantees them within 288 000; linked (144 000 range to the base or an own factory) they deliver 1.0 iron/s together and lift the base's production by +50 % (two level-0 deposits at +25 % each; standing alone 1.6 × 0.70 = 1.12 → 1.68/s). Without a link: 0 iron and no bonus.
3. Gold at once. Gold flows without a link; the middle-weighted gold factory is the prize both sides run for. One level-0 deposit delivers the first turret after 13 s, the first war plan after 80 s.
4. Link = protection. As long as an own iron or gold factory has the main base in range, it is unattackable. The second deposit is the insurance against losing the first – and the enemy who takes the deposits opens the base (the Hard AI evaluates exactly that).
5. Upgrades are speed. Gold level 1 (10 gold + 20 iron) doubles the flow and is paid back after 27 s of gold – almost always right. Iron level 1 costs 100 s of payback for its iron half; it is worth it for the network contribution (+15 points on every reached factory) and the range (170 000), not for the rate. Level 3 empties the iron deposit in 364 s – later than the payback (400 s): iron level 3 only if you need the range.
6. The cap. More than four level-0 iron deposits (or two upgraded ones) on the same factory bring nothing (+90 %); more than ~4 gold factories in the network nothing beyond +75 %. Spread instead of stacking.

Turret placement: what a gun is worth

• A turret defends only where it stands – and everything that flies through its ring. Level 1 (5 gold) takes ~3 ships off an approach at NORMAL, level 3 (35 gold total) ~15; a fleet at the floor (long approach) pays double. Against a 60-ship attack a turret is no protection, against trickle sends of 5–10 ships a wall. Radius ÷ speed × damage.
• On the crossing, not at the target. A ring of 80 000 (level 3) covers more than a neighbour hop: a turret on the factory most enemy routes pass by taxes every one of them – the Hard AI places its first turret exactly like that. A turret on an edge factory nobody approaches is 5–35 gold of scenery.
• It pays for itself. ½ gold per kill: level 1 is paid after 10 kills (about three approaches), the full ladder after 70. Under constant fire a level-3 turret earns 2.5 gold/s – more than a level-3 gold factory.
• Build time is the brake: 3 s against a 2.3 s neighbour hop – a turret as a reaction to a neighbour attack already launched comes too late, against anything from further away in time. Whoever sees the attack buys reinforcement (instant) or shields – not the gun.
• Lost with the factory. A turret is an investment in a factory you intend to hold; on a front factory that changes hands, the gold burns with it.

Shield: the bet in advance

• The wall stands after 4–11 s, the neighbour arrives in 2.3 s – against an attack already launched Q no longer helps, against the expected one it does. A fleet from further away (≥ 120 000 = 4.9 s) is visible; the Shipyard's ramp (7 s) just misses, the Workshop's (4 s) makes it.
• The shield only pays if the attack comes within the break-even seconds (chapter 4): Shipyard with 40 ships 36 s, Complex with 80 ships 65 s. After that the wall costs more than it protects – switch it off again as soon as the danger has passed (the way down is free; in Commander only switching on costs 10 iron).
• Stronger inside than outside: a border factory has enemies on one side and therefore the fewest own neighbours – its shield target is lower than that of a factory in the core. The front holds with garrison, the core with walls.
• The feint: whoever sees a visible shield ramping up can redirect their fleet – the wall then cost ⅓ of production and repelled nothing. Conversely: a wall on the factory the enemy does not approach is pure loss.

Typical match phases with time marks

32-factory map, 2 players, NORMAL (Commander marks in brackets, with two level-0 gold deposits from the start).

The time marks are expectations from rates and prices, not measurements – no match runs exactly like this.

Commander: special rules that turn games

• The base falls through the deposits. Not the main base's garrison is its protection but the link. Whoever takes the iron and gold factories in range makes the base vulnerable; you protect your own base by holding two deposits, not one.
• The strike hits friend and foe. 120 000 radius are two neighbour hops; the 6 s warning let every attentive fleet escape (4.6 s crossing at NORMAL) – the strike hits garrisons, not fleets. Target: the wall you would otherwise need 200 ships to break (⅓, at least 75).
• Hoarding is a target. Plunder takes 25 % (max. 50 iron / 40 gold) when you lose a resource factory. Whoever saves for the strike should be able to hold their gold factories.
• Reinforcement is the last card. 30 gold for 10 ships are one orbital strike less every 2.7 purchases. It buys time at the base – and without a base everything is lost.
• The exchange is a one-off. 160 gold for 500 iron over the whole match – two strikes or five reinforcements, then floor rate. Plan it as a release valve, not as income.

Against the AI

• Easy thinks every 3.7 s, sees 60 % of the map and keeps 45–55 % in reserve: it expands slowly (up to 4 min) and attacks hesitantly. Expanding fast is enough.
• Medium has Hard's hands (0.6 s, 5 orders per step, 4 % rear reserve) and most of its judgement. It keeps its opening until 10 factories or 2 min – until then no occupied factory is a target: two minutes of free expansion, then it comes with relief maths and abort logic.
• Hard ends the opening as soon as you are 2 factories ahead of it, evaluates turret rings on the route (it takes the turret carrier first), counts in possible relief from neighbouring factories (edge factories without neighbours are its preferred targets), lands coordinated waves together and stages supply forward. In Commander it places turrets at crossings, upgrades them and strikes from orbit ahead of its own wave.

Counters from the rules: neighbours with relief (it avoids factories next to big own neighbours), turrets where its routes cross, and shields it sees before launching its wave – it sizes the wave by the wall's target value.

08 Appendix

Glossary

Factory

Any building on the map; the five ship factories are Workshop, Shipyard, Factory, Arsenal, Complex (German: Werkstatt, Werft, Fabrik, Arsenal, Komplex).

Garrison

The ships on a factory – stock and defence at once.

Toll

The neutral garrison a capture costs.

Capture ramp

Linear ramp-up of production after a capture in combat (4–11 s per class).

Payback

Seconds until a captured factory has earned back its toll and ramp loss.

Cluster

Own ship factories within 72 000 units; they lift production and shield target.

Linked

An iron/gold factory with an own ship factory within its level's range.

Link

An own iron/gold factory whose range covers the main base; protects the base.

Deposit

The finite stock of a resource factory (400 iron / 600 gold; rich: double). Empty → 25 % residual.

Shield

Defence factor above 1.0, chosen with Q, paid with ⅔ of production.

Haul

The flight-time model: full up to 60 000, decay up to 180 000, then 50 %.

Redirect

A flying fleet gets a new target; costs the arc, never ships.

Tick

One simulation step, 30 per second.

No Rush

Commander window in which no occupied factory can be attacked.

War plan

One of the three stances ATTACK / DEFENCE / ECONOMY – always a trade.

Data sources: every value and its constant

All paths relative to Source/HelionSim/ unless stated otherwise. Tools/CheckWiki.py reads these constants from the code and checks that every value appears in this wiki.

Version

Project version

0.13.11 (Config/DefaultGame.ini · ProjectVersion)

Code state

origin/main 3694889

Wiki updated

Sep 21, 2026

Not measured

All time marks and build-order numbers in chapter 7 are calculations from the constants, not measurements in a running game.

09 System requirements

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