Gameplay

     If you are new to Tour of Generals a demonstration video is available to help you better understand the game. Players of Tour of Generals can either join an existing game via the All Games link on the top navigation menu or you can create your own new game to host. Players in Tour of Generals can be active in multiple games at a time which can be managed via the My Games link on the top navigation menu. Once a game is created other members of Tour of Generals may join that game or the game owner may wish to set a game password and invite only their fiends to play in a private session. Once other players have joined a game, selected their starting region, and set their status to Ready the game owner will then launch the game from the game overview screen. Remaining regions on the map that are not selected by a human player will be set to neutral as indicated by grey markers on the game map. Game turns are played simultaneously between all players of the game. Turns are obtained via a countdown timer that appears on the game screens which will count down to each new turn based on the turn frequency setting of that particular game. The game progresses as players engage opponent armies and target to capture regions on the map until a single player has met the game's victory condition and has won dominance of all their opponents in the game. Games can last from a little as a few hours or they may last days or even weeks depending on the turn frequency rate and how long players manage to survive in the game.

Army Units

     Each player controls multiple armies also known as units that are moved around the tactical map to engage with enemy armies and to capture regions. Armies consist of soldiers which are worth one 1% of a strength point each, tanks worth 1 strength point each, and artillery worth 1 strength point each. When two armies engage with one another the ratio of these units is taken into account as a form of paper, rock, scissors formula. In Tour of Generals soldiers have an advantage over artillery, tanks have an advantage over soldiers, and artillery has an advantage over tanks. Therefore if you encounter an army on the tactical map comprised mostly of tanks you would want to equip your army with a strong artillery in order to counter that enemy unit. Armies also have the ability to flank enemy armies and support defending armies. If two attacking armies are within range of a single defending army then the attacker will receive a bonus in battle for having a flanking unit. If a defender has two defending units situated within range of one another and one of those units is attacked the other will provide support in the battle and the defender will receive a combat bonus. Engaging with enemy units may consume one turn, depending on settings.

Managing Armies

     Armies are purchased from the Unit Overview screen. A player may create as many new units up to the game's unit limit setting. The limit setting may range from 5 units up to 15 units. Players manage existing units by moving a unit within movement distance of a controlled region and then accessing the Unit Overview screen and clicking the Manage button. Players may then add soldiers, tanks, and artillery to that unit. If an army is not within movement distance of a controlled region then the player will not be allowed to manage that unit. Similarly, if unit transfers are enabled in the game then a player can transfer soldiers, tanks, and artillery between two units that are both within movement distance of one or more controlled regions via the Transfer button on the Unit Overview screen. In this way players can instantly send equipment from a back region unit across the tactical map to a forward front region unit through the unit transfer screen as long as unit transfers are turned on for that game. Unit transfers consume one turn.

Collecting Funds

     Each region on the map has a monetary value and it is very important to note that not all regions on the game map have the same monetary value. In addition to the monetary value regions often have a bonus associated with them. These bonuses help reduce the cost of soldiers, tanks, artillery, all or none. These bonuses will stack with each new region that you capture that carries a bonus with it up to the maximum bonus reduction of 50% off the purchase cost for each of the three unit types in the game. Players will manually collect funds based on the value of their captured regions and how many turns have passed since that region was captured. From these fund collections players purchase and equip their armies. As your empire grows larger you will begin to lose income from attrition which is a penalty that is deducted from your fund collections due to the difficulties in managing a growing empire. As such, attrition is the game's method of leveling the playing field in order to give smaller players a fighting chance even when an opponent has a much larger empire than theirs.

Unit Movement

     A unit's area of movement is represented by a colored circular indicator around each unit. The color of the circle as well as the unit marker and captured region flags represents the player's color choice that was made before the game launched. To move a unit on the map simply drag and drop a unit icon anywhere within its colored circle and click the Confirm Movement icon. A unit may move anywhere within the colored circle across land or water (it is assumed that the unit boards ships to move across water) and each movement consumes one game turn. To claim a region move your army within movement distance of an unoccupied or undefended enemy region and click that region's flag. If there are no enemy units within range of that region then the claim region option will be available to click and capture that region. If there are enemy units within range of that region you will first have to defeat the enemy unit before you can claim the region. In the same way you can defend your own regions by moving one or more defending units into sentry positions around your regions.

Generals

     Each player's units are commanded by a general who is given a name and their combat experience is kept as long as they remain active in the game. These generals can earn decorations and awards for various achievements made throughout the game and their win-loss record from each battle is retained which goes towards that general's experience bonus during combat. If you have a general with a majority of wins and decorations and a new general with no experience you may want to use your more experienced general to lead on the battle field. Although generals cannot be killed if they are the only soldier remaining in their unit with zero tanks and zero artillery then their unit will be removed from the tactical map view by other players. The owner of that reduced unit will still see it on their tactical map marked by an X icon however that unit will not be able to engage with other enemy units or claim regions until it is first moved within movement distance of a controlled region and is resupplied.

Player Interaction

     Each game has an auto-refreshing chat box that allows players to chat (or taunt) with one another. Additionally, all actions including unit battles, region captures, etc.. in the game are logged in the chat box. Tour of Generals also has a private message system that allows players to communicate privately with one another. To send a message to any other player in Tour of Generals find their player name and click the send message icon beside their name. If you receive a private message from another player a new message indicator icon will appear in the upper left corner of your screen. Players can also create and join clans for clan organization and challenges.
 

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