Fire at will
Engages anything that comes into range. The default for combat formations.
RECO.GAMES / MANUAL / 01
Getting started.
From nothing to your first factory. The timings are game time and pass in real time — expect about an hour for the full opening, most of which you do not have to watch.
First steps
- 1
Sign in
There are exactly two ways in: with your access code, or as a new commander who receives a fresh one. The code is the identity — whoever holds it is the player. A name alone is not a sign-in, and a name already taken is refused. The browser remembers the session.
- 2
Choose a faction and a landing site
Click a spot on land, at least 60 km from foreign command centres. You only know where those are if you have scouted them — which is why “suggest a spot” asks the server for a free location.
- 3
Land
A dropship sets down a construction crawler, an extractor, three riflemen, two light tanks and an engineer, then flies on. Landing protection starts now.
- 4
Deploy the crawler
Select the crawler and press D. After 45 seconds the command centre stands. It is the heart of the base: it builds structures and defences, carries 8 km of radar and provides a small base income.
- 5
Build
In the sidebar: power plant first, then refinery, then barracks and vehicle factory. Finished buildings blink “place” and are set with a click on the map — at most 2.5 km from your own buildings, shipyards only on the coast.
- 6
Let the economy run
As soon as the refinery stands, the extractor finds a deposit on its own and drives. Every full load is worth 1,000 credits. After that the real game starts: expand, scout, decide.
What the dropship unloads
Construction crawler
Extractor
2 × Light tank
3 × Rifleman
Engineer
Controls
F1 shows the same overview inside the game. Mouse, keyboard and touch reach the same commands.
Move the map
- Two fingers
- drag in any direction
- Touch the edge
- the map follows
- WASD, arrows
- in any direction
- Drag middle button
- free panning
- Shift + wheel
- left and right
Zoom
- Pinch out
- two fingers apart
- Mouse wheel
- from the world to the base
- Ctrl + wheel
- the same on a trackpad
- + and −
- stepless
- Click the radar
- jump there
- H
- to the base
Selection
- Left click
- select
- Drag
- band select
- Shift
- add to selection
- Double click
- all of your units on screen
- Ctrl+1…9 / 1…9
- store / recall a group
Orders (right click or ⌘ click)
- Ground
- move
- Enemy
- attack
- Deposit
- harvest
- A + click
- attack move
- Shift + right click
- queue a waypoint, up to 16
- S / G
- stop / guard
- D / U / R
- deploy / unload / return
Reconnaissance
- Sight
- identifies fully, reaches briefly
- Aircraft
- are seen 2.6× further
- Radar
- reveals positions, details need sight
- Foreign bases
- only once scouted; the camera is not enough
- Grey bases
- the last state you recorded
- Diamond
- radar contact, not yet identified
Routes and fire discipline
Shift + right click queues up to 16 destinations. A single route drives them once, a guard route repeats them for good. A single guard point is held. “Stop” clears the whole route; drones resume it after recharging. Route and setting are saved.
Three settings for automatic fire
Return fire only
Shoots back only when shot at. Right for scouts and anything that should stay unnoticed.
Hold fire
Never opens fire on its own. A direct attack order still applies — that always stays an explicit decision.
When something will not work
- The building will not go down.
- Build spots lie within 2.5 km of your own buildings, must be on land and clear of other objects. Shipyards need the coast. Foreign territory claims block you — including the ones you have not seen yet.
- Production is crawling.
- A power shortage halves the build rate and switches defences off. A second power plant supplies 100 units of power and is usually cheaper than the damage.
- The extractor is standing still.
- It needs a refinery to deliver to and a deposit in range. Deposits regrow slowly; a second extractor pays for itself sooner than you would think.
- I cannot see the enemy base any more.
- Grey markers are the last state you recorded. It becomes current knowledge again only when your own sensors look.
- I cannot build a second barracks.
- A settlement supports one barracks at first. One more comes with every 100 supported residents and 25 qualified workers, up to four. Factory, airfield and shipyard are capped at two.