Cartel Empire’s rebuilt Territory War system: sealed fights over map nodes, War Doctrine cartel perks, capped allied aid (including Medics), and Control-based annexes.
See also: Territory Wars (legacy overview) · Cartel Perks
¶ Table of contents
- Overview
- Screenshots
- The board & how you fight
- Winning, stalemate & abandonment
- Sealed wars & War Triage
- War Dashboard (HQ)
- War Doctrine cartel perks
- Specials reference
- Alliances & war aid (fighters + medics)
- Rewards
- Capo strategy playbook
- FAQ
¶ 1. Overview
Territory Wars V2 replaces the old wall-slot war with a node theater:
- Four base strongpoints per territory (Plaza, Alley, Checkpoint, Rooftop), each with 3 garrison seats.
- Optional special nodes (Supply Depot, Radio Tower, Bridge Head, …) placed by Capos in the first 12 hours.
- Attackers push a Control meter (target 9,000). Hit it before 72 hours > annex. Timeout > stalemate (no ownership change; participants still paid).
- Wars are sealed: outsiders can’t attack/revive war-roster fighters for that fight; wartime revives go through War Triage.
- Cartels invest in War Doctrine perks (Fortification, Blockade, Alliances, Expedition / Reinforcements / Medics, Quartermaster, Signals, Logistics, Engineers, Sappers).
Declare cost, border/contiguity rules, and daily territory benefits still matter — V2 changes how you fight, not the prize of owning land.
¶ 2. Screenshots
¶ War theater map (nodes)
War Dashboard > Theater for one territory (example: Zambrana). Base nodes Plaza / Alley / Checkpoint / Rooftop plus placed specials (e.g. Supply Depot, Watchtower). Teal = defender-held, orange = attacker-held; pips = seats filled (0–3). Live status and Capo placement tray sit beside the map.*
¶ War Dashboard — Control & live status
Open via Dashboard on an active V2 war. Shows Control 0 / 9,000, held-node counts, your current deploy, and specials currently on the board.
¶ Specials on board & Capo placement tray
Whoever holds a special gets its effect — even if the enemy placed it. Capos place 1 special by default, or 2 if a special-unlocking War Doctrine tree is rank V, in the first 12 hours.
¶ Opposing forces & War Triage
Attack / Hospitalise from the roster without leaving the theater. Capos mark Focus targets (up to 8). Support badges = allied Medics (triage only, still attackable). War Triage lists same-side hospital patients for this war only.
¶ War Doctrine perk tab
Cartel > Perks > War Doctrine. Fortification, Blockade, Alliances, Expedition, Reinforcements, Medics, Quartermaster, Signals, Logistics Corps, Engineers, Sappers.
¶ 3. The board & how you fight
¶ Base nodes
| Node | Role (flavour) |
|---|---|
| Plaza | Central strongpoint |
| Alley | Side approach |
| Checkpoint | Approach choke |
| Rooftop | Overwatch |
- 3 seats per node > 12 hold seats on the base board.
- Each special on the map adds +3 seats (base+2 specials = 18; four distinct specials = 24).
- A node only counts as held if someone is garrisoned on it.
¶ Energy costs
| Action | Energy |
|---|---|
| Deploy / garrison a friendly or unheld node | 5 |
| Assault enemy holder (Attack / Hospitalise into the war) | ~20 |
| Redeploy between nodes | 5 (or 3 while your side holds Rally Yard) |
¶ Assault > flip > Control
- Clear enemy seats with assaults (wins hospitalise the defender and eject them from garrison).
- When a node is empty of enemies, contested assault progress builds toward a flip (normally 2 successful clears; 3 if fortified / Ambush Alley, etc.).
- After a flip, the winner can auto-seat into an open seat if the node is held by their side.
- Control rises from combat for the attacking side (+25 per assault win, +150 per node flip) and from hold ticks (every 60s) while your side holds more manned nodes than the enemy and mustering is active.
¶ Whole cartel can fight
Hold seats are scarce. Assaulting does not require a seat. Large cartels contribute via assaults, flips, rotations, Focus callouts, and triage — not only by camping pins.
¶ 4. Winning, stalemate & abandonment
| Outcome | Condition | Land | Rewards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attacker win (annex) | Control >= 9,000 before 72h | Territory transfers; supply lines may break (see below; Bridge Head can change this) | Personal + crates + annex spoils (if not on 7d CD) |
| Stalemate | 72h expires first | Ownership unchanged | Personal + crates (no annex spoils) |
| Defender “hold” | Attackers never hit Control; war ends without annex | Ownership unchanged | Personal + crates (defender outcome = win if aggressor didn’t annex) |
¶ Supply-line break (after annex)
This is not a combat combo or kill streak. When attackers annex a territory, the loser's remaining owned tiles are checked for contiguity on the Bolivia map:
- If their land is still one connected cluster > nothing else is stripped.
- If annex splits them into disconnected groups > they lose the smallest disconnected group (game events call this broken supply lines). Wars tied to those lost tiles can end as losses for them too.
Bridge Head (Sappers special) changes that annex fallout:
- Attackers hold it > normal supply-line break, and if the defender still has 3+ separate clusters afterward, they also lose one tile from the next-smallest cluster.
- Defenders hold it > annex still happens, but the supply-line strip is skipped.
- Nobody holds it > normal supply-line break only.
¶ Mustering & abandoned theater
- Hold progress normally needs mustering: both sides need a voluntary deploy within a rolling 30-minute window.
- After the attacker’s first deploy, defenders have 12 hours to put someone on a node.
- If defenders never respond > abandoned theater: attackers get a one-time +2,500 Control bump and can then accumulate hold progress without the enemy. They still must reach 9,000 before 72h — not an instant free annex.
- If defenders later show up, contested rules resume (the bump already earned stays).
¶ Fortification (multi-front defence)
When you are already defending 2+ wars, Capos with the Fortification tree can mark fronts (1 slot at ranks I–II, 2 at III–V):
- Garrisoned defenders get a Defence / Agility / health bump that scales with the tree: +15% at I, then +5% per rank (+20% II, +25% III, +30% IV, +35% V).
- Contested flips need one extra successful assault.
- Reassign has a cooldown; mark clears when the war ends or you drop below two defensive wars.
¶ 5. Sealed wars & War Triage
While you are on a war roster (primary cartel member or invited allied aid):
- Outsiders cannot attack or revive you for that war’s purposes.
- You cannot freely farm the rest of the city as if the war didn’t exist (“too far away”).
- War Triage (on the War Dashboard / War HQ) is the only place same-side wartime revives happen. Town hospital hides war-roster patients from outsiders.
Personal inventory meds still work. Supply Depot (if enemy-held) can cut cartel armory medical for war-roster players while the fight is contested — triage + pocket meds still work.
¶ 6. War Dashboard (HQ)
Path: Cartel > Territory > Dashboard (on an active V2 war), or /Territories/War/:warId/Dashboard.
| Panel | Capo / fighter use |
|---|---|
| Control + clock | See progress / time remaining (72h) |
| Theater map | Deploy, leave node, read node holders |
| Live status | Nodes held, your deploy, Watchtower state |
| Specials | What’s on board + who benefits |
| Place specials | Capo tray (first 12h; 1 special, or 2 at doctrine rank V) |
| Opposing forces | Attack / Hospitalise; Capo Focus (max 8) |
| War Triage | Revive same-side hospital patients |
Focus callouts sort priority targets to the top so the cartel hits the same seats.
¶ 7. War Doctrine cartel perks
All under Cartel > Perks > War Doctrine. These are cartel investments (not member fight-stat passives). How many specials can you place? By default a side can place 1 war special in the first 12 hours of a war. If you rank any special-unlocking tree below to V (Blockade, Quartermaster, Signals, Logistics Corps, Engineers, or Sappers), your cartel can place 2 specials instead. You only need rank V on one of those trees — it is a shared cartel bonus, not one extra slot per tree.
¶ Diplomacy & aid
| Tree | What it does | Ladder / notes |
|---|---|---|
| Alliances | Formal bonds with other cartels | 1-5 ally slots by rank. Required for Expedition / Reinforcements / Medics |
| Expedition | Invite allied fighters onto attacking war rosters | Seats 3 / 6 / 10 (shared across allies for that war) |
| Reinforcements | Same for defending wars | Seats 3 / 6 / 10 (cheaper than Expedition at same rank) |
| Medics | Invite allied support (triage only) | Seats 2 / 4 / 6 — separate pool from fighters. No deploy, no Control, still attackable |
Shared limit: at most 5 contributing allied cartels on a war (fighters + medics combined for that cap).
¶ Defence & logistics doctrine
Effect strength uses the holding side's doctrine level (stolen specials still work at unlock baseline). Rank V on any placeable tree unlocks the shared 2nd placement slot.
| Tree | Unlocks / effect |
|---|---|
| Fortification | When defending 2+ wars: fortify 1 front at ranks I-II, 2 at III-V; on-node Def/Agi/HP +15% to +35% (+5% per rank) (see Fortification under section 4) |
| Blockade | I Supply Depot; II Depot lock lingers 5m when the node empties; III Fuel Dump; IV Depot+Fuel linger 10m; V 2nd slot |
| Quartermaster | I Field Clinic (-30% triage energy fixed, +7.5% success); II-V success +3%/rank (to +19.5%); III Safehouse (hosp x0.80 to x0.70 by V); V 2nd slot |
| Signals | I Radio +25/-25; II +27/-27; III Watchtower; IV-V Radio +30/-30; V 2nd slot |
| Logistics Corps | Rally Yard: redeploy 3>2>2>1>1 energy; deploy stays 5 until III (4), V (3); V 2nd slot |
| Engineers | I Sandbag +10%; II-III +15%; III Ambush Alley (+1 flip assault); IV +20%; V +25% + 2nd slot |
| Sappers | Bridge Head assault rep +10/+12/+15/+18/+20%; annex supply-line rules unchanged; V 2nd slot |
¶ Approximate unlock costs (rep)
| Tree | I | II | III | IV | V |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fortification | 15k | 24k | 38.4k | 61.4k | 98.2k |
| Blockade | 36k | 57.6k | 92.2k | 147.5k | 236k |
| Alliances | 10k | 16k | 25.6k | 41k | 65.6k |
| Expedition | 20k | 35k | 55k | — | — |
| Reinforcements | 14k | 25k | 40k | — | — |
| Medics | 12k | 22k | 36k | — | — |
| Quartermaster | 24k | 38.4k | 61.4k | 98.3k | 157.3k |
| Signals | 24k | 38.4k | 61.4k | 98.3k | 157.3k |
| Logistics Corps | 20k | 32k | 51.2k | 81.9k | 131.1k |
| Engineers | 28k | 44.8k | 71.7k | 114.7k | 183.5k |
| Sappers | 32k | 51.2k | 81.9k | 131.1k | 209.7k |
¶ 8. Specials reference
Placement rules (all specials):
- Capos /
manageTerritoriesplace during the first 12 hours. - Up to 1 special per side by default, or 2 if any special-unlocking War Doctrine tree is rank V.
- Holder gets the effect — steal enemy toys.
- Same special type from both sides merges to one node (first placer spends a slot).
- Mid-war perk unlocks apply to future wars only.
| Special | Doctrine | While held |
|---|---|---|
| Supply Depot | Blockade I+ | Enemy war-roster armory medical locked while contested; Blockade II+ lingers when the node becomes empty (5m / 10m at IV+). Enemy capture+hold does not linger — they get the live lock instead |
| Fuel Dump | Blockade III+ | Same for armory drugs / alcohol; linger 10m at Blockade IV+ when emptied |
| Field Clinic | Quartermaster I+ | Same-side triage: -30% energy (fixed), success +7.5% to +19.5% (+3%/rank) |
| Safehouse | Quartermaster III+ | War hospitalizations 20% to 30% shorter (III to V) |
| Radio Tower | Signals I+ | Hold-tick bias +25/-25 to +30/-30 by Signals rank (caps at IV) |
| Watchtower | Signals III+ | Live reveal of enemy deployments |
| Rally Yard | Logistics | Redeploy 3 to 1 energy and cheaper deploy at higher Logistics ranks |
| Sandbag Line | Engineers I+ | +10% to +25% defence on adjacent base nodes by Engineers rank |
| Ambush Alley | Engineers III+ | Enemy needs +1 assault to flip this node |
| Bridge Head | Sappers | +10% to +20% war-assault rep by Sappers rank; on annex changes supply-line break (see Supply-line break under section 4) |
¶ 9. Alliances & war aid (fighters + medics)
- Rank Alliances and form formal ties (invite / accept).
- Rank Expedition (attack), Reinforcements (defend), and/or Medics.
- Capos invite specific allies onto this war’s roster (seat-capped).
- Invitees accept; seats are personal for the rest of the war (alliance break ejects without reseating).
| Role | Can deploy / hold? | Can assault? | Triage? | Land / annex spoils? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Member | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes (primary cartel) |
| Expedition / Reinforcements | Yes | Yes | Yes | No (merc rewards only) |
| Medic (Support) | No | Yes (town PvP / hospitalise) | Yes | No |
Medics who land >=3 successful War Triage revives count as meaningful contributors for personal rewards. Hospitalising enemy Support slows their revive line without giving them Control.
¶ 10. Rewards
Paid at war end for V2 wars. Showing up matters on win, loss, or stalemate.
¶ Meaningful contributor
At least one of: >=1 assault win, >=1 flip credit, >=30 minutes garrison, or >=3 successful War Triage revives.
¶ Personal
- Reputation from a side pot (win 8,000 / stalemate 5,000 / loss 4,000), 1.25x if underdog. That pot is split among meaningful contributors on your side based on how much you did in the war — assault wins, node flips (worth more than assaults), minutes garrisoned on a hold seat, and successful War Triage revives. No one can take more than 25% of the pot; anything over that cap is discarded, not redistributed.
- Inventory: Cocaine + Anejo or Repose (same quantity; win leans 4-5, loss 3-4; underdog bumps qty).
¶ Cartel crate (primary attacker & defender cartels only)
- Cartel rep: win 4,000 / stalemate 2,000 / loss 1,500 (×1.25 underdog).
- Armory by contested-quality tier:
| Tier | Quality | Small Medical Kit | Cocaine | Anejo or Repose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small | < 500 | 20 | 3 | 3 |
| Medium | 500–1199 | 40 | 6 | 6 |
| Large | >= 1200 | 60 | 9 | 9 |
Allied home cartels do not receive the crate — only invited players’ personal payouts.
¶ Annex spoils (attacker win, not on 7-day cooldown)
- Extra cartel rep +2,000 ( +3,000 underdog).
- Armory: Small Medical Kit 20 / Coke 10 / drink 10 (underdog 30 / 15 / 15).
- War Spoils Perk picker (24h): Capo chooses a territory benefit; surge 1d L6 (2×L5) > 1.75× > 1.5× > 1.25× > settle L5 (underdog gets 2 days at Peak).
- Then 7-day spoils cooldown for that cartel.
Underdog: your side had fewer rostered fighters than the enemy and the war lasted >=12h > +25% personal/crate pots and stronger annex extras.
¶ 11. Capo strategy playbook
¶ Before the war
- Map plan — Know which tiles you must take/hold for contiguity and which benefit icons you want.
- Doctrine loadout — You only place 1–2 specials. Examples:
- vs medical-heavy cartels > Supply Depot
- tempo / Control race > Radio Tower
- rotation-heavy roster > Rally Yard
- annex + assault rep > Bridge Head
- multi-front defence > Fortification + Ambush Alley / Sandbag
- Allied bench — Rank Alliances + Expedition/Reinf/Medics before you need them. Pre-agree which ally players will accept seats.
- Defence formations — Pre-assign who seeds Plaza / Alley / Checkpoint / Rooftop so declare doesn’t leave empty seats.
¶ Opening 12 hours (placement window)
- Place specials early enough that you can also contest holding them — an unheld Depot does nothing.
- Don’t over-expand specials if you can’t crew the extra seats; every special is +3 seats the enemy can also take.
- Mark Focus on the enemy’s best holders and their Support medics if triage is carrying them.
¶ Mid-war tempo
- Assault first, park later — Clear seats, then deploy to flip / hold.
- Use Focus so the cartel isn’t splitting assaults across three nodes.
- Rotate hospitalised fighters through War Triage; assign Medics if your revive skill is thin.
- Steal enemy specials when under-garrisoned — Watchtower intel and Depot denial swing wars.
- If you’re the underdog on roster count, stay active >=12h so underdog payout multipliers apply.
¶ Multi-front / defence
- At 2+ defensive wars, Fortify the front you refuse to lose; accept that flips are slower for the enemy there.
- Reinforcements are cheaper than Expedition — use them to stabilise a second front without emptying your attack budget.
- Abandoned-theater pressure: if you get declared while AFK, get someone on a node within 12h of their first deploy or they start racing Control without you.
¶ Annex & spoils
- Hold Bridge Head on attack if you want broken supply lines to strip more disconnected defender land; on defence, hold it so annex does not strip extra tiles.
- After annex, pick War Spoils within 24h; respect the 7-day spoils cooldown when planning tile-swap farms (personal rewards and the cartel crate still pay).
¶ What not to do
- Don’t treat Alliances as “whole ally cartel joins” — seats are tiny and personal.
- Don’t invite Medics expecting them to hold nodes — they can’t deploy.
- Don’t leave specials unheld after placing them.
- Don’t ignore Support badges — killing medics is tempo.
¶ 12. FAQ
Is this my cartel + all allies vs them + all theirs?
No. Aid is invite-only and seat-capped (fighters 3/6/10, medics 2/4/6). Everyone else stays outside the bubble.
Can our whole cartel fight if there are only 12 seats?
Yes. Seats are for holding. Assaults, flips, triage, and Focus scale with roster size. Specials can raise hold seats to 18–24.
Where do I revive?
War Triage on the War Dashboard. Town hospital won’t list war-roster patients for outsiders.
Do I still burn medical items?
Yes, against people in your war. Depot only blocks armory medical for war-roster players while contested.
Can Cartel C hospitalise us to help Cartel A’s war?
Not in a way that feeds that war — sealed roster rules stop third-party interference.
What if nobody is online when they declare?
Formations seed the board. Hold doesn’t race ahead immediately. Respond within 12h of their first deploy or abandoned theater begins.
Can I opt out of my cartel’s war?
No — full members are rostered so the seal works.
Where do Capos set doctrine / formations / Focus?
Doctrine: Cartel Perks > War Doctrine. Formations: Territory / War HQ. Focus: War Dashboard > Opposing forces.
Balance numbers match Territory War V2 v1 constants (72h wars, Medics 2/4/6, Small Medical Kit crate tiers 20/40/60, Control target 9,000).