How to Play

Step 1 is the game mode. Solo starts a complete battle against the computer. Multiplayer Matchmaking opens asynchronous battles against other registered commanders. Guests receive two free Solo battles; an account is required after those two battles and for all multiplayer play.

Free accounts have unlimited bot battles and random multiplayer, including career progression and saved replays. Direct friend challenges require paid access for both commanders once purchases launch. Pro from Tactical Duo has the same access as Pro; Founder also includes one free Steam key if BATTLEGRID releases on Steam. A Steam release is not confirmed. Existing friend play remains open while purchases are unavailable.

On desktop, use the Sound on/off control at the top of the page to enable subtle tactical effects for commands, launches, strikes and turn changes. Sound starts off, remembers your choice in this browser, and never changes gameplay.

In Solo or multiplayer, choose one of six theaters, then a battle size. Small uses a 40×40 grid and 90 budget points, and Large uses 50×50 and 150 points. The budget is the maximum total cost of the force you deploy; unspent points have no battle value.

Choose the green or red territory. The irregular neutral zone divides the map while keeping both territories nearly equal; it is three cells wide on Small and two on Large. Every unit cell must remain inside your territory, may not overlap another unit, and must use suitable terrain. The opponent’s territory is shaded during deployment.

Every force must contain at least one Command Base, and only one Orbital Recon Satellite Ground Station may be deployed. Select a unit from the Armory, then select cells on the map to place it. Straight units can be horizontal, vertical, or diagonal; use the orientation control or press R to rotate. Select a placed unit to remove it, or use automatic deployment. Engage becomes available when the force is legal.

Small and Large use the standard footprints in the unit reference. Multiple units of one type receive lettered names automatically, such as Command Base A and Command Base B.

Before placing a Carrier Group or Forward Air Base, set its eight-bay jet / missile loadout. A jet uses two bays; a strike missile uses one. The selected mix belongs to that unit for the entire battle, allowing different carriers or air bases in one force to carry different loadouts.

Solo battles alternate between your command phase and the enemy command phase. The turn number and acting side appear above the map and in the Comms log. The force counters show operational units remaining over units deployed, for example 11/11. They do not reveal the enemy’s unit types.

The Operations panel separates Ground platforms from airborne Air units. Select a friendly unit in the Ground list or directly on the map; selecting your own unit never fires on it. The chosen unit receives an orange outline, and its legal range receives a pulsing orange perimeter. Carrier Groups and Forward Air Bases have a Jet / Strike missile selector when both actions remain available.

Each firing platform or airbase may act once during your turn. You may use several different platforms before ending the turn. Radar sweeps and satellite tasking are free actions. Use End turn when finished; the game also advances when no firing or launch action remains. Zoom with the controls or mouse wheel, drag to pan, and toggle Topography to compare terrain classifications with the satellite image. The legend remains outside the grid so it cannot cover playable cells.

Artillery Batteries, Destroyer Wings, and Carrier Group / Forward Air Base long-range missiles are the direct-fire weapons. Each has finite ammunition and a maximum range measured from the nearest cell of the firing unit. A temporary white trajectory follows each shot to its target. A miss marks the cell with an X; a hit marks the whole struck cell and leaves a burning crater. A previously resolved hit or miss cannot be fired on again.

A confirmed shot on an occupied cell always hits; favorable terrain never cancels damage. Every occupied cell of a unit must be hit to destroy that unit. If a unit was deployed on terrain that gives it a placement penalty, a confirmed hit also damages one additional unhit cell of that same unit. Artillery attacks the selected cell and the four cells immediately above, below, left, and right.

A ready SAM Battery intercepts the first missile or aircraft path that crosses within its cells. A direct shot against an unused SAM is also intercepted instead of damaging it. After that interception, the battery is spent and later attacks resolve normally.

Victory is immediate when every hostile unit is destroyed; defeat is immediate when all friendly units are destroyed. If either side can no longer fight because it has no direct-fire ammunition, unlaunched strike-capable jets, or jets still airborne, the theater is scored by the budget cost of units destroyed. Higher destroyed value wins and equal value is a draw. Helicopters do not extend a battle because they cannot strike. A manual forfeit ends the battle as a loss.

Carrier Groups and Forward Air Bases launch jets. Command Bases launch helicopters. Launching uses that base’s action for the turn and consumes one available aircraft. Jets move three cells per turn toward any chosen destination. Helicopters move 1.5 cells per turn, must remain within 13 cells of their Command Base, provide reconnaissance only, and return when they reach their destination.

Each jet and helicopter may change destination twice over its lifetime in a battle, with at most one course change per turn. Open the Air tab, choose Change course, then select a new cell. The dashed route retains both course-change points and the new heading. Changing course is that aircraft’s action for the turn, so a jet cannot make an opportunity strike until the following turn. A redirected helicopter must still remain within 13 cells of its original base.

A jet automatically strikes its destination on arrival. Before arrival, it may instead make one opportunity strike against any highlighted cell within one cell of its rounded map position, including diagonals. Arm Strike in the Air tab or click your jet on the map. Visible enemy jets in that same area receive a green ring: click the enemy jet or its Shoot down button to intercept it. Detected jets outside the area are marked Out of range. Either attack ends the attacking flight. Helicopters never receive this option.

Aircraft can be shot down when their current flight leg crosses an unused SAM Battery. On High Frontier, red-hatched peak cells are impassable: launches and course changes whose straight leg crosses a peak are refused, and an aircraft forced into a peak is lost. Your own complete routes remain visible and pulse with directional arrows. Enemy aircraft appear only while inside a surviving Radar Station’s detection range, and their destination and route always remain hidden.

Only jets, helicopters, Radar Stations, and the Orbital Recon Satellite Ground Station reveal hidden cells. Other units provide no map intelligence. Aircraft reveal a one-cell radius all along each flight leg; ridges block those sensors. A potentially occupied cell seen by aircraft reconnaissance displays a large yellow question mark without revealing the unit’s identity. Striking the cell resolves the uncertainty.

Each surviving Radar Station grants one free sweep per battle. Select Radar sweep, then a covered cell. The sweep reveals a 3×3 area centered there, but ridge cells remain hidden. Radar range is 45% of the map width, rounded to the nearest cell: 18 cells on Small and 23 on Large. The same range determines when an enemy jet or helicopter marker becomes visible.

A living Orbital Recon Satellite Ground Station may be tasked every third player turn. Select Task satellite and then any enemy cell to reveal everything within a three-cell radius. The action is free and orbital observation is not blocked by ridges. Enemy satellite passes favor deep positions in your territory, preventing forces far behind the front from remaining permanently concealed.

The topographical grid is aligned to the visible satellite map and stays consistent across all battle sizes. Naval forces deploy only in Deep water or on the Coastal shelf. Ground forces cannot deploy in Deep water. Coastal shelves allow both naval and ground deployment.

Advantage, Neutral, Penalty, and Unsuitable labels appear while positioning a unit. A penalty does not prevent placement, but an enemy hit there damages one extra cell of the same unit. Advantages improve positioning information only; they do not absorb confirmed hits or increase weapon damage.

Strategic Coastline mixes harbors, ridges, and inland lanes. Island Chain emphasizes open water and volcanic islands. High Frontier uses Himalayan ranges, deep valleys, a plateau, two glacial lakes, and impassable air peaks. Desert Front uses wadis, escarpments, settlements, and no navigable deep water. Arctic Fjords keeps the full navy in connected deep-water channels. Jungle River limits naval deployment to Patrol Craft in its river and tributaries.

Multiplayer requires a registered account and is asynchronous; both commanders do not need to be online together. Choose a theater, size, and ranked or unranked status. Play anyone joins an open request with matching settings or creates one. You may instead invite a specific commander by callsign or email, or leave the queue and start a Solo bot battle immediately.

After matching, deploy a force within the chosen budget, manually or with Auto deploy, then lock deployment. The battle begins after both commanders lock in. Multiplayer uses the same combat mechanics as Solo, including two course changes per aircraft, jets, helicopters, radar, satellites, weather and long-range missiles. Carrier Groups and Forward Air Bases both cost 14 points and share the eight-bay adjustable jet / missile loadout, jet capacity and missile range. Each platform may launch or fire once per turn; use your available platforms, then End turn. Check the battle list later for your opponent’s response.

Each commander has 24 hours to complete a multiplayer turn. Missing the deadline causes an automatic forfeit. You may also forfeit manually. Match-start and turn email notifications can be disabled from the profile when notifications are available.

Ranked play is optional. Joining a ranked career starts the season with 500 ranked budget points. After a ranked battle, you gain the budget value you destroyed and lose the value destroyed from your force. A commander whose ranked budget reaches zero cannot enter another ranked match until the next season. Ranked wins, losses, draws, points won, and points lost appear on the profile separately from the normal career record.

Registration creates a private Player Profile under a unique, appropriate callsign. Completed battles update career totals including matches, wins, losses, draws, shots, hits, accuracy, units destroyed and lost, and budget points destroyed. Registered commanders also appear on the public leaderboard, which can be filtered by theater, battle size, and rank family and sorted by experience, battles, victories, units destroyed, budget points destroyed, or accuracy.

Solo battle experience is calculated as 20 XP plus the budget points destroyed, with a 25 XP victory bonus or 10 XP draw bonus. Fully Random Solo immediately starts a battle with a random theater, weather (clear, mild or severe), size, side, forces and legal placements for both commanders. Its entire XP reward is increased by 30%, rounded up, whether you win, draw or lose. Guest limits still apply, and an account is required to bank XP. The 42-rank path begins at Recruit and ends at Field Marshal at 10,275 XP. The profile shows the complete insignia track and progress to the next rank. A promotion notification and animation appear after the battle that crosses a rank threshold. The profile also tracks over 80 achievements across Solo and multiplayer; each one earned awards a one-time 50 XP bonus and is announced on the after-battle panel.

A completed Solo battle always updates its result and career totals. Detailed turns, Comms log, and replay are not retained automatically. At the result screen, choose Save Battle Log & Replay to keep them privately on the profile, or skip to discard them. Saved replays play the battle back quickly and include playback controls, a timeline, and the recorded Comms log.

Costs and unit footprints are unchanged by battle size. Artillery Batteries, Carrier Groups, Forward Air Bases, and Destroyer Wings have direct-fire ammunition and range. Carrier Group and Forward Air Base missile ammunition depends on the selected jet / missile loadout.