Invasion Initiative
Initiative rules determine which country may start the next ordinary invasion against a particular opponent. They concern starting a regional battle, not choosing a side or dealing damage in a battle already running.
The key rule: initiative follows the two countries named as attacker and defender in the battle. If your country attacks a Greek-owned region occupied by Croatia, the battle is between your country and Croatia. Its initiative consequences concern Croatia, even though a qualifying capture can advance your declaration against Greece.
Initiative is not a global resource shared across all your wars. It also does not replace the declaration, diplomatic, treasury or deadline requirements for an invasion. For the broader campaign rules, see War Declarations.
At a glance
| Situation | What it means |
|---|---|
| A declaration has just been enacted | If opening initiative is enabled, the declarer has first-battle priority for up to 24 hours. |
| An ordinary battle is already running between two countries | Neither can open another ordinary invasion against the other while that battle is active. |
| Your country loses an ordinary battle | It cannot launch another invasion against that opponent for nine configured round lengths after the completed battle's final round. |
| Your country decisively wins | The opponent receives the loss restriction. Your country may launch another eligible invasion, subject to all other checks. |
| You attack another country | That is a different country pair, with its own battle and loss restrictions. |
| You fight on land occupied by a third country | The current occupier defends the battle. The legal owner's identity remains important for declaration progress and occupation. |
First-battle priority
When opening initiative is enabled, the country that declared war has priority to start the first ordinary battle for up to 24 hours after the declaration is enacted. This does not prevent the other country or its supporters from defending that battle.
The opening restriction ends when the first ordinary battle between those two countries starts, or when the 24-hour period expires. Starting the first battle does not permit a second simultaneous battle between the same pair: the active-battle restriction still applies. After it finishes, the result and any applicable loss delay determine who can launch next.
This opening priority belongs to that country pair. A declaration against Greece does not create one shared 24-hour freeze covering every other country occupying Greek land. An invasion against a third-country occupier is checked against that occupier's pair with the invading country.
Initiative after a battle
After a decisive ordinary battle, the losing country must wait before launching another invasion against the winner. This applies whether the losing country was the attacker or the defender.
Loss delay = 9 × the configured round duration.
For example, if rounds are configured to last 150 minutes, the delay is 1,350 minutes: 22 hours and 30 minutes after the completed battle's final round. This is separate from the opening 24-hour priority; do not assume the two timers are identical.
During that delay, the winner may launch another eligible invasion against the loser. The loser can still defend, fight in existing battles and launch eligible invasions against other countries. When the delay expires, either country may launch the next eligible invasion; there is no permanent initiative token and no automatic territorial change.
The restriction is against the country, not just the region where the loss happened. Losing to Croatia on one region can therefore prevent a new invasion of another region currently held by Croatia.
Exceptions and details
- Individual participation is not national initiative. Fighting as a player in another country's battle does not give your nationality initiative against the opposing country. The named attacking and defending countries determine the pair.
- Revolutions do not grant ordinary war initiative. Revolution battles are excluded from these opening-priority battle checks and loss-delay checks.
- Equal round-win totals block both countries. If the completed battle has the same number of won rounds on each side, both countries receive the launch restriction, even though the battle is awarded to the defender.
- A later win does not erase an earlier unexpired loss. Any qualifying recent loss against that opponent can still block a new invasion.
- Ordinary invasions run through all nine rounds. Taking an unbeatable lead does not end an ordinary invasion early.
Legal owner and current occupier
Temporary occupation separates ownership from control. A region can still belong to Greece while Croatia controls it on the map. Here, "owner" means the country's legal ownership before the temporary occupation, not necessarily the region's original geographic country.
| Question | Which country matters? |
|---|---|
| Who defends an invasion of the region? | Its current holder: Croatia in this example. |
| Against whom are active-battle limits and loss delays checked? | The current holder: your country versus Croatia. |
| Can taking this Greek-owned region advance my war against Greece? | Yes, if your country makes a qualifying capture during its active declaration against Greece and still holds it when victory is checked. |
| Do I need to declare war on Croatia just to contest this Greek-owned region? | A valid war against Greece can authorize the attack. You must still pass the other invasion checks, including any alliance or NAP with Croatia. |
| Does winning give me permission to attack Croatia's own land? | No. That land needs its own applicable war authorization. |
If you have an active declaration against the holder, that declaration governs the battle-launch deadline check. Otherwise, an applicable declaration against the owner can supply it. A complete nine-round battle must fit before the governing deadline.
You must still have a valid active war against the legal owner to retain someone else's temporarily occupied land. Winning a battle against an occupier alone does not let you keep the owner's region: without that owner war, the region returns to its owner. Permanent annexations are a different situation.
Common questions
Will fighting Croatia over Greek land give or cost me initiative against Croatia?
Yes, if your country and Croatia are the battle's named opponents. The fact that both countries are at war with Greece does not change who fought that battle.
- If your country decisively wins, Croatia receives the loss delay against your country.
- If your country loses, your country receives the loss delay against Croatia.
- That result does not transfer initiative to, or remove initiative against, Greece.
If you and Croatia merely fight Greece in separate battles, those are separate pairs: your country–Greece and Croatia–Greece. If you personally fight in Croatia's battle against Greece, that does not create a battle between your country and Croatia.
Can I fight North Macedonia for one Greek region while also fighting Greece for another?
Yes, provided both invasions independently meet the requirements. The first battle is your country versus North Macedonia, because North Macedonia holds that region. The second is your country versus Greece. They are different pairs and can run at the same time.
You cannot open two ordinary invasions at once against North Macedonia simply because the two target regions legally belong to different countries. The current holder is the same in both.
Can I occupy two Greek regions at the same time?
Yes. The limit concerns simultaneous battles against the same opponent; it is not a limit of one occupied region per owner. You can capture regions in parallel from different holders, or capture several regions from the same holder through successive battles, and hold them together while the relevant war remains active.
Those captures must still qualify for your declaration, and your country must retain them for them to contribute to held progress. Another country's occupation does not count as your capture.
If six Greek regions are held by six different countries, can one occupier take the other five in parallel?
Potentially, yes. If your country holds one region and five different countries hold the other five, those five invasions use five different country pairs. Initiative does not impose one shared battle limit across all six Greek-owned regions.
Every target still needs to be available. An active battle, a loss delay against that particular holder, a protected diplomatic relationship, insufficient funds, a recovery reservation or an approaching declaration deadline can block a launch.
Does that mean Greece can be conquered in two days?
A fast declaration victory can be possible; permanently taking all six regions through one declaration is not. Separate the time needed for battles, the conditions for victory and the permanent prizes.
For example, suppose Greece owned six contestable regions when your declaration was enacted, your country chose two valid goals, and its conquest requirement is six:
- Your country makes its first qualifying capture during that declaration.
- Five different countries hold Greece's other five regions. Your country can immediately launch five eligible invasions, one against each holder.
- Your country wins all five, retains all six qualifying captures and holds both named goals when victory is checked.
If rounds last 150 minutes, an ordinary nine-round battle lasts 22 hours and 30 minutes. One initial battle followed by five parallel battles is therefore approximately 45 hours of battle time from the first invasion's start. If your first qualifying capture is already held, the five remaining parallel battles need one battle length, not another two days.
This is an illustration, not a guaranteed schedule. It assumes successful battles, immediate eligible launches, an active declaration with enough time remaining and no loss of the required territory. Voting and other delays are additional. A region occupied before your declaration does not automatically become a qualifying capture for it.
At victory, only the two named goal regions become permanent prizes. The other temporary occupations are handled by the settlement rules in War Declarations. Having six Greek regions temporarily occupied does not itself mean that all six have been permanently annexed.
Before launching an invasion
Initiative is only one check. You also need:
- An authorized government official: the President, Vice President or Minister of Defense.
- An applicable active war declaration and a valid, contestable target that your country does not already control.
- No alliance or NAP protecting the current holder from your attack.
- No conflicting active battle on that region or between the same pair of countries, and no recovery reservation blocking an ordinary launch.
- Enough country treasury Gold for the invasion.
- Enough time for all nine rounds before the governing declaration's deadline.
- Invasions to be enabled by the server.
Check the current in-game availability and timers. Server settings determine round duration and whether opening initiative is enabled.
See also
- War Declarations — declarations, goals, qualifying captures, occupation and settlement.
Rules reviewed against the game backend on 25 October 2026. Numerical timing examples assume 150-minute rounds; check the current in-game timers and invasion availability.