War Selection: Complete RTS Guide

A guide to War Selection, Glyph Worlds' free-to-play historical RTS. It covers the era-by-era progression, choosing a culture and country, economy basics, modes (and what changed in August–September 2026), unit counters, special attacks and ranked tips.

Researched September 2026 — current as of the "Turning Inertia, Elephants and Bug Fixes" update (19 September 2026). Live games change; check the linked sources if something differs.

Status: War Selection has been in Steam Early Access since 8 October 2019. It's free to play with an in-game store and gets very frequent patches (at least eight update posts between 18 August and 19 September 2026). Steam reviews: Very Positive overall (about 83% of 7,500+), Mostly Positive recently. The store page's Early Access section says the game will leave Early Access once the storyline Campaign is ready, and lists AI opponents, a new Modern age and more naval and elephant units among its plans (it also still mentions a Team Armageddon mode, written before Armageddon was removed).

Quick Start

• Everyone starts in the Stone Age on a random map, often with many players in a single match.
• You advance through 7 historical eras, up to heavy tanks, long-range artillery and combat airships.
• You pick a culture, then a country, as you progress. All 8 cultures and 7 eras are free. 12 unique countries with their own units, buildings and mechanics are sold in the in-game store, and some can be bought with in-game currency.
• Never let workers idle. The announcer reminds you after 10 seconds of inactivity (at most once a minute), and it ignores workers hidden in buildings or transports.
• Try Sandbox first. Every culture's mechanics can be tested there, including natural disasters and enemy forces.
• Choose your mode: Match (free-for-all), Team match, Ranked 1v1 and 2v2, Sandbox, Survival against hordes, and Tug of War. Armageddon was removed on 31 August 2026.
• Solo players can queue for team matches of any size (added 10 September 2026), so you don't need a premade group.
• Use the new battle notifications. Fights outside your camera view now show minimap markers and announcer messages.

Economy Basics

• Workers gather resources and build. A steady worker queue is the number one economic habit.
• Resources: patch notes quote costs in food, wood, stone and metal (there's no gold). Food comes from farms (wheat and rice), hunting meat and fishing boats; ship repairs cost materials and metal worth roughly 40% of the ship's build cost. Different units and buildings use two to four of these, so check each cost tooltip.
• Farms and food upgrades: smithy upgrades such as the Sickle and Steel scythe speed up wheat gathering. Hunted meat left on the ground slowly loses food value, so collect kills promptly.
• Town hall: your main building. Protect it and expand with more economic buildings as the map allows.
• Expand early in free-for-all. With dozens of players, grabbing space and resources before neighbors do decides the mid-game.
• Forests can be destroyed by heavy tanks (their clearing area now matches the hull shape). In Tug of War, forests around spawn points and starting houses are cleared.

Eras and Progression

Phase | What to focus on

Stone Age | Workers, basic gathering, scouting, defending against early raids

Early eras | Pick a culture; infantry, archers and first cavalry; fishing boats on water maps

Middle eras | Pick a country (free culture paths or store countries); siege, elephants for some cultures, gunpowder

Industrial eras | Muskets and rifles, artillery, steamships, early vehicles (armored cars, tankettes, light tanks)

Final era | Heavy tanks, long-range artillery, combat airships, bombers and battleships

Advance at the right time. Aging up too early leaves you undefended. Too late, and a neighbor's gunpowder army rolls you.

Unit Counters and Recent Balance (2026)

These mechanics come from the 2026 patch notes:

Unit / mechanic | What changed | How to use it

Elephants | Frighten enemy cavalry: riders retreat and stop responding to orders for a while (19 Sep 2026); elongated collision | Put elephants in front of cavalry-heavy enemies

Anti-cavalry melee | Melee units that slow cavalry spread attacks better among targets that aren't slowed yet (31 Aug 2026) | Mix them into your lines vs. cavalry

Light tanks | Light tank, Flamethrower tank, FT17, Type FT, Chinese Light tank and Light tank F3000 crush troops while moving | Drive through infantry blobs

Muskets + Wheel lock | Wheel lock now cuts musket reload time by 35% in all firing modes, including anti-air | Research it before musket-heavy fights

Vehicles, elephants, artillery, ships | Turning inertia and acceleration/braking added; vehicles and siege can reverse | Plan positions; don't expect instant pivots

Cavalry / some artillery / light vehicles | Need more clearance to pass through gaps | Watch chokepoints and forests

General counter logic:

• Spearmen and anti-cavalry beat cavalry, cavalry beats archers and artillery crews, and ranged units beat slow infantry.
• Artillery and siege beat buildings and static defenses.
• Armor beats infantry, especially now that light tanks crush troops. Bring anti-armor.
• Air units need anti-air. Muskets can shoot at air targets.

Special Attacks (Reworked 29 August 2026)

• Saboteurs: mark a spot, and the Saboteur walks there, plants the bomb exactly there, then retreats to a safe distance unless you give another order. With several selected, the button shows how many bombs are ready, and the closest ready unit carries it out.
• Paratroopers: drops from the Bomber Ca.3 and Bomber Ca.132 land on the spot you pick. The nearest ready bomber drops first.
• Torpedoes: the Yamato and Bomber G4M show total ready torpedoes across your selection. The Yamato only launches torpedoes on your command.
• Aircraft states: selected aircraft icons show servicing, ready for takeoff, on mission, or returning to the airfield.

Victory: World Wonders

Building a World Wonder starts a victory timer. Since 21 August 2026, an allied World Wonder no longer delays the victory triggered by your own. In team games, coordinate who builds it and defend it with everything you have. When an enemy builds one, it becomes the top target on the map.

Game Modes

Mode | Notes

Match | Free-for-all with many players on random maps

Team match | Teams; solo queue for any size since 10 Sep 2026

Ranked 1v1 / 2v2 | Rated ladder

Sandbox | Test any culture's mechanics; build cities; face disasters and enemies

Survival | Fight hordes (a store-unlockable mode)

Tug of War | Store-unlockable team mode; spawn areas cleared of forest (21 Aug 2026)

Armageddon | Removed from the game on 31 Aug 2026

Store-bought modes and countries can be purchased with real money or in-game currency.

Controls and Settings

• Selection: clicks now account for both the object's ground footprint and its model shape (18 Aug 2026). Elongated units (ships, tanks) are easier to click.
• Stacks view: an option shows selected units on the panel as stacks by type.
• Stop now fully halts a unit, including hull rotation.
• Graphics: the settings window was redesigned with individual quality controls (10 Sep 2026). Realism is the default style for new settings, and the old "Standard" is now called Vivid.
• Chat: automated moderation was added (21 Aug 2026). For now it only issues warnings.
• Winning-team prediction is back.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Idle workers. The announcer tells you. Listen to it.
• Over-teching without an army. Big FFA matches punish greedy age-ups.
• Ignoring naval and air. Many maps reward controlling water and skies.
• Sending cavalry into elephants, which now scares riders away.
• Clumping infantry against light tanks, which crush troops as they drive.
• Leaving a World Wonder undefended or ignoring an enemy's.

Advanced Tips

• Scout constantly in FFA. Knowing who's weak lets you expand safely.
• Combine arms: infantry screen, ranged or artillery behind, cavalry or tanks for flanks.
• Use reverse movement with vehicles and siege to kite without turning your hull around.
• Precision paradrops and sabotage can take out key buildings behind enemy lines.
• Replays: a warning now appears if a replay desyncs from the original match, so trust replays that don't show it.
• Rejoining: multiple fixes improved rejoining matches on slow connections. If you disconnect, try to reconnect instead of abandoning.

FAQ

Is War Selection free? Yes. All 8 cultures and 7 eras are free. The store sells 12 unique countries and special modes, some purchasable with in-game currency.

Is there a single-player campaign? Not yet. The developers plan to leave Early Access once the storyline campaign is ready. Sandbox and Survival work solo.

What happened to Armageddon mode? It was completely removed on 31 August 2026.

Can I play team games without friends? Yes. Since 10 September 2026, solo players can queue for team matches of any size.

How do I counter cavalry? Anti-cavalry melee units (they slow cavalry), and elephants, which frighten riders.

Why do my tanks turn slowly now? Turning inertia, acceleration and braking were added to vehicles, elephants, artillery and ships in August and September 2026.

Sources

• War Selection on Steam
• War Selection Steam news (August–September 2026 patch notes)
• Steam Web API news feed for app 1022450