Afterwind, is a game made by two Estonian brothers, Amok and Ivan, who now reside in Finland and Cyprus
The splendid logo of the splendid game
respectively. It is a strategy game simillar to Risk and Civilization (as stated by the devs) that takes elements from both games. The name derives from the Sci-Tech Dictionary: "AFTERWIND (nucleonics) A wind produced by the updraft accompanying the rise of the fireball of a nuclear explosion and directed toward the burst center." As stated by Ivan in the FAQ section of the website, "Since the game is supposed to represent the pre-nuclear conflict, the name seemed appropriate. But mostly we picked it because it sounds cool".
The backstory[]
Taken from the FAQ on afterwind.com:
"The concept of Afterwind should be familiar to those who played Risk or Civilization. You start with a country (or a few countries) and some troops, and slowly build up your empire, crushing your opponents meanwhile. Here's the original back-story, which, unfortunately, was never fully realized in the game:
"Global food crisis and depleeting resources eventually led to a series of conflicts, initiated by the more pro-militaristic governments. Controlling as much territory as possible and using the resources to offset the troubles at home quickly became the most popular kind of politics around the world. The situation escalated even more after nuclear weapons were used in a local conflict in the Middle-East - leading to growing paranoia and the increasing power of the more authoritarian states."
The lobby[]
The lobby is the fun little place you end up in after launching the game. In the main window you can see open gamessimply click on them to join. On top, in the middle, there is your rank progress bar (hover to see how much you have left until the next rank) as well as your earned/available Strategy Points (SP) - these you can use them to buy upgrades. The buttons on the upper right will take you to the Upgrades and Stats/Medals screens.
In the bottom there's chat, Strategy selection and the Create game button.
Your selected Strategy will influence the balance of your game - giving you some advantage in a particular area, while taking away something in return. For example, Tank General will make your Tank units stronger, while weakening your Infantry.
Joining a game[]
If there are open games listed in the Lobby, you can join by simply clicking on them. Games usually have a set number of turns, during which new players can still join (10, by default). On the game icon you can notice the game name, the current week (turn) and the number of players in it.
Clicking on a game will take you in as a 'Spectator' - there you can watch the game without participating, or click the 'Join' button to join as a player. Normally, you would then have to wait until the next turn starts.
NEW If the game is marked as 'NEW', that means it's been created but not started yet. Clicking on it would take you to the game creation screen (without the ability to alter any options). Once the game creator chooses to start the game, you will be taken to it automatically.
STAR If the game is marked with a star, that means you're still an active player in it. Clicking on it will take you back to the game.
Creating a game[]
Once you've clicked 'Create new game', a small window will appear with initial game options. Here you can make your game 'private' (password-locked) or create a team game. Default option is public game without teams.
After you click 'Continue' you'll be taken to the game options screen. On the left side there's a world map - here you can select a playable area for the game (it's marked in red). For games with 6+ players, Whole World option is recommended. Otherwise, select a smaller region for a faster game.
Starting funds: the amount of money each player starts with. Initial countries: the maximum number of countries each player can select at the start. Game duration: if there's no winner by the time the game reaches the set turn, the player with the most SP wins. Allow joining until week: after the set turn, new players cannot join the game anymore.
Chat room[]
The chat room is an easy and fun way to communicate with other players. The only thing that possibly needs explanation here is the channels. You can see the currently available ones in the select box next to the input field - there you can choose the channels you want to receive (use checkboxes). The current selection is the channel your message will go to. The channels are:
- Game (not available in the lobby) - for communicating within the current game
- Lobby - for those hanging out in the lobby
- Global - for chatting across all games
- Private - for sending/receiving private messages (select a player from the appearing box)
- System - for receiving system messages (cannot write into this one, obviously)
- Cln - coalition chat, to talk to fellow clan members who are online
Game interface[]
Amok and Ivan have tried to keep the interface as simple as possible. There are two toolbars, top and bottom, a minimap and some floating menus.
Toolbars Top toolbar has you color and rank on the left, with current status text, that helps you understand what's going on. On the right, there's the main menu. Bottom toolbar has chat box on the left. On the right, there is current week (turn), your current balance (+income/week), remaining turn time and action buttons: join game, end turn, start turn and so on.
The current week icon also shows which week of the month it is. You receive reinforcements every first week of a month.
Minimap Minimap is handy to see the big picture, and where in the world you are. If you click somewhere on the minimap, you will move the main map to that area. Under the minimap you will find the zoom in/out buttons, movement and visibility range toggles for your units and full screen toggle (also 'F8').
Menus In Afterwind, we have the following menus: Cities (top toolbar) Finances (top toolbar) Players (top toolbar) Game menu (top toolbar) City (click on a city) Country (click on a country) Move troops (click on your units or 'Move troops' button in a city) Combat (appears in the combat phase) Events (appears in the beginning of a turn) My options (Game menu) My upgrades (Game menu) Game settings (Game menu)
Menus can be dragged to wherever you want them on your screen (the position is remembered) or minimized. Combat menu cannot be closed. Events menu cannot be closed if a Diplomacy action is required (f.e. accept alliance).
Game controls[]
Move the map around: drag with mouse. Zoom in/out: mouse wheel, '+' and '-' buttons (doesn't work in full screen), buttons under the minimap. Hide menus: TAB Full screen: F8 or a button under the minimap. Keyboard doesn't work in full screen (Silverlight security measure), that's why clicking on the chat input box will switch the full screen mode off.
You can move troops by dragging them with a mouse. You can hide the toolbars by clicking the small arrows in the middle. You can minimize game menus and drag them around to another position.
Cities and countries[]
Your empire is formed of countries and cities. Cities bring you income and provide military units - but only if you control the country capital. Controlling all cities in the country will also bring you bonus income (you can see it in the Country info menu or in the Finances menu).
Once you capture the country capital (marked with a star), you start receiving income from all the cities you control and are able to buy units from these cities.
Country selection[]
The first phase of the game is country selection. All players take turns selecting their initial countries - depending on the settings, it can be 1 to 99 countries. You have 30 seconds to choose and buy a country, otherwise the turn passes to another player.
To buy a country, click on one that is still available (and affordable) and press the 'acquire' button. The cost (or 'net worth') of a country depends on its income and the number of available troops.
The first country you select becomes your 'home country' - in some victory conditions, it's important to defend yours and try to occupy your opponent's home country to win. Home countries are marked with player color flags in their capitals.
If you're happy with your selection and wish to start the game, click the 'ready' button. If you reached the maximum initial countries, your status will be set to 'ready' automatically. When all players are ready, the game starts.
Buying troops[]
You can buy units from a city info menu - but only if you control the country's capital.
Above the list of units you can see how many are available at the moment - this number is determined by the city's population. You get reinforcements in the beginning of the game, and then once a month (every 4 turns).
There are 3 types of units: land, naval and air. Naval units, obviously, are only available in ports. To see more information about the unit, hover the mouse over the unit image. To move all units of this kind, click on the image.
Stealth units, like Submarines, Marines and Stealths are invisible to your opponents until they participate in a battle. After that you need to take them to any of your cities to restore their stealth.
All units cost a certain amount of money to purchase, and afterwards you'll have to pay 1/10 of this sum every week for their maintenance.
If you haven't moved the purchased units yet within one turn, you can still sell them back by clicking the '-' button.
On the map, the cities with available units are highlighted with thicker outline.
Moving troops and attacking[]
Drag and drop The easiest way is to drag and drop the troops on the map. However, it will only work in certain situations, like if all units are of the same type (land/naval/air).
Move troops menu To select which units you want to move, click 'move units' button in the city or click the troops on the map. In the appeared menu you'll see 3 tabs for different unit type (each type has to be moved separately!) and sliders for each individual unit. Click on the numbers to the left and to the right of the slider to select all/none or move the slider itself. There's also an option to select all/none units of in the tab, below the sliders. After selecting the units, click the green 'move' button in the lower right.
Unit image in the City menu Clicking the unit image in the city menu will move all units of the kind (all Tanks, all Infantry etc.)
Transports There are two transports in the game: Air Transport and Sea Transport. To load land units into them, go to the Move troops menu, select units from the 'land' tab - now, if you have any transports in the units stack, you will see additional buttons below - 'load to Air Transport' and 'load to Transport'. One Air Transport can carry 5 units, one Sea Transport - 20. Note that loaded units cannot participate in battles when attacked, and will perish if the transport is destroyed.
Attacking To attack, simply move your troops onto your enemy's. You cannot attack your allies - first you need to break the alliance (in the Players menu) - this takes one turn.
Undo You can undo the last movement by hovering the mouse on the movement path and clicking the appeared 'x' button. If the button doesn't appear, then the undo is already impossible.
Movement range All units have certain movement range. You can keep moving your units until it expires, so your movement doesn't have to be straight and can consist of several paths. If units in the group have different ranges, the group's range will be the average of them. You can turn on/off the movement range for all units under the minimap - this can be handy to show you the units that haven't moved yet.
Visibility range Likewise, all units have visibility range (it can also be turned on/off under the minimap). If enemy troops are beyond your visibility range, you won't be able to see their numbers and unit details.
Battles[]
Battle list If any battles occured during the turn, a battle list menu will appear. In it you can see participants and locations of the battles. To play a separate battle, click on it in the list or on the map. To play all battles, click on the 'play' button (it will start from the currently selected battle). To fast-forward through battles, click on the 'fast-forward' button. You can also filter the list with the drop-down select box.
Battle menu This is where the battle is played. You see the participating players and their units, below there are buttons to switch to the next/previous battle or replay the current one.
Who attacks and who defends If you attacked and your opponent didn't, during the battle your units will always be attacking, while your opponent's units defending. If both armies attacked each other, units will take turns attacking and defending. This matters because some units are better at defending (f.e. Infantry), and other at attacking (Tanks).
Units with the best attack in your army will attack first. Units with the best defence will defend first. So, for example, it makes sense to cover your Tanks with some Infantry, in case they are attacked.
Rolls Each attack generates a 'roll', which can be in the range of 1 to the unit's max. attack (f.e. 6 for Tanks). Likewise, defence generates a similar roll. The difference between the two rolls decides how many units are killed. There's also a chance of a 'critical' shot (we call it ARB - after roll bonus), a yellow roll - it's higher than the unit's maximum attack/defence.
Finances[]
Finances play an important part in Afterwind. You need to have enough money to afford purchasing better units, and be able to support them afterwards. All units cost a certain amount to purchase, and a tenth of that amount per week for maintenance.
Income is generated by your cities and countries. The city needs to be on your territory to generate income. Controlling all cities in the country will also bring you bonus income (you can see it in the Country info menu or in the Finances menu).
The difference between your income and expenses is shown in the bottom toolbar, next to the current funds. For more details, look at the Finances menu.
Ending the game and victory conditions[]
Quitting There are several ways to end the game. For example, you can simply close the browser - this way you will still remain in the game for a while, but if you don't re-enter within 10 minutes, you will quit and lose all earned SP. The same happens if you click 'Exit to lobby' in the main menu.
Surrendering If you feel that continuing the resistance is pointless or decided to quit for whatever reason, you can choose 'Surrender' from the main menu - this way you will be able to save half of your earned SP.
Winning Still, the best way to end the game is to win it. You can do it by either eliminating all opponents or by fulfilling the Victory condition. Joint victory / draw is also possible, if all remaining players are in alliance.
Victory conditions Victory conditions can be set in the game setting. Total Annihilation means the game will only end when only one player (or a group of allied players) is left. Capture the homecountry/homecity means that to destroy your opponent it would be enough to capture his homecountry or its capital. Capture selected country means that the player who first takes control of the selected country wins.
Game duration In advanced game settings you can also set game duration (default is 50 turns). If by this time there's no winner, a player with the most SP (earned during the game) wins.