Call of War is a Real-Time Strategy multiplayer online game released by Bytro Labs.
Set in World War Two, players can take control of a number of countries, each adherring to one of four "doctrines" (factions). Each map has different layouts and, with the exception of the Historic World War and its variants, are of equal strength in theory.
Tropes found in Call of War:
- Adam Smith Hates Your Guts: Justified. As the game progresses, human players who declare war on AI will become unpopular with other AI, leading to war or trade embargoes. By the late game, the only deals on the stock market are exorbitant, if not the reduction of AI nations to create supply and demand around, then the unpopularity of them would spike the price.
- The Alliance: Coalitions are the in-game equivalent, allowing players to band together for a victory. Considering that you win with any coalition or yourself, expect Bad Samaritan, Bastard Understudy (if the coalition haven't placated them enough), and Realpolitik.
- Alternate-History Nazi Victory: The premise for the Dawn of the Patriot map. Also a possibility in 1939: Historic World War.
- A.I.-Generated Economy: AI nations make the majority of Stock Market deals, meaning they effectively control the in-game economy; if enough AI choose to embargo a human player they can also cripple their nation's economy. However, the game also has aspects of a Player-Generated Economy in that human players represent most of the demand for these resources.
- Alternate History: The game will usually lead to this, particularly in the balanced scenarios. It is not uncommon for Poland to invade Germany or for South America to take over the entire Southern Hemisphere.
- Awesome, but Impractical: Atom bombs. While they do massive damage to enemy units, buildings, and morale, due to their prohibitive costs, lengthy research time, and the comparativenote vulnerability of nuclear bombers to interceptors and anti-aircraft guns, as well as their limited range, mean that they are rarely used.
- The high-level "Elite Units" are similarly expensive to research and develop, with less utility than the equivalent cost of lower-level units.
- The Big Board: The game is depicted as one of these, being laid on a wooden table and with troop icons representing whole regiments or divisions.
- Boring, but Practical: Fielding a well-balanced army consisting mainly of medium-level units such as infantry, supported by artillery, aircraft, and mechanised forces, with a navy consisting mainly of cruisers and submarines, is generally the best combination of units.
- Capital Offensive: Capturing an enemy's capital boosts morale by 10% while dropping the enemy's, and capturing half the enemy's money. This makes the Capital Offensive a viable strategy.
- The "Capital Rush" event takes this to the extreme. The sole objective is to capture as many enemy capitals as possible.
- Civilians Are Irrelevant: Zigzagged. 100 per cent of the economy goes towards the war effortnote , and the "population" feature only theoretically affects available manpower. However, civilian morale is important, and they will protest being bombed, fighting too many wars, or being handed over to another country. This will affect resource production.
- Command & Conquer Economy: Played straight. No industry, factories, or other buildings will be built without the player's orders. Furthermore units will not be produced without orders.
- Conservation of Ninjutsu: State-based damage efficiency of an army means that, if the army's size exceeds 10 units, only the ten most effective will deal damage. As such, it's not uncommon for a smaller stack or group of much smaller stacks to defeat a much large "doom stack" due to their higher SBDE. However, stacking units does increase total health and reduce damage distribution per individual unit (which maintains a greater damage efficiency as damage output is affected by the 10 effective unit's health) and units can delegate other damage output for ergonomic utility, but also carries a risk of being nuked.
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: The game mechanics try to avert this. It takes three days to rejoin after leaving a coalition, making people think twice before betraying their teammates. On the other hand, betraying a coalition for the other coalition can use this mechanic as a great trust commitment for the betrayer to it's new overlord.
- Divided States of America: The America: Homefront map has North America divided into 50 playable regions, most of them US States.
- Easy Logistics: Downplayed but still present. Units can take days to reach the front line, are affected by terrain and infrastructure, and take a while to embark and disembark ships. However, resources are transported immediately to where they are needed; armies do not require lorries to move fuel, food, or ammunition to the front line, and resource producing provinces do not require ships or trains to move their products to the unit factories.
- Nevertheless, maintaining and defending supply lines between core provinces and the front line is an important part of the game. Because core provinces tend to be the most industrialised, so most units are produced away from the front lines. See also Easy Communication below.
- Easy Communication: All armies must be directly controlled by the player, and will not even return fire if being bombarded. Communication is instant, is obeyed completely, and is never misunderstood. Also, the distance between command HQ and the front line is irrelevant.
- The Empire: What every player aspires to be. Or subvert this trope by joining a game and then leave for no reason, and in very rare cases, some are more tributary and passive.
- Enemy Mine: Frequently happens as in most other real-time strategy games. Normally after occupying one of the previous enemies.
- Faction Calculus:
- Fragile Speedster: Several Pan-Asian units, particularly armoured vehicles, are this, since the Pan-Asian doctrine emphasises speed and surprise over health.
- Motorised infantry and low-level light armour tends to be this; higher-level armoured cars and light tanks transition to Lightning Bruiser after lvl.3 or so.
- Gang Up on the Human: If a human player becomes unpopular enough, AI will gang up on him. AI will rarely declare war on other AI.
- Geo Effects: The Terrain Bonus is this. The five types of terrain — plains, hills, mountains, forests, and cities — all offer advantages to different types of units. Certain terrain — particularly mountains — also slows units down. Naval warfare also covers this, with destroyers being possible to attack land units, albeit said units have to be on the edge of the coast.
- Hidden Army Reveal: Stealth units are invisible until uncovered by scout units or engaged in combat, leading to this trope.
- Home Field Advantage: Armies have a +15% hitpoint advantage when in their own core provinces.
- Invaded States of America / Day of the Jackboot: The premise of the Dawn of the Patriot map is an Alternate-History Axis Victory a la The Man in the High Castle, featuring three factions; a Japanese puppet state on the Pacific coast, a Nazi puppet state on the Atlantic seaboard, and an American Remnant in the mid-west.
- Loot Boxes: The "Parachute Drop" is a fairly low-stakes version, giving the player either resources, or access to blueprints for high-level units (these must otherwise be paid for by large quantities of gold).
- Morale Mechanic: Every province has a morale score, decreasing depending on, among other things, distance from the capitol. Fighting multiple wars or conquering lots of provinces will usually do bad things through the "expansion penalty" to challenge accomplished players.. This can be improved with propaganda boxes.
- Mysterious Antarctica: The Dominion: Antarctica map.
- No Swastikas: The game is developed in Germany, and not only do Axis units lack swastikas, but Germany is known either as the "German Empire" or simply "Germany", and has the WWI-era tricolour with or without an iron cross, or the current flag.
- Nuke 'em: Atom bombs are eventually unlocked by all players, and deal massive damage to units, buildings, and province morale. However, their cost and vulnerability make them Awesome, but Impractical.
- Quality vs. Quantity: At one end of the scale, the Axis doctrine ("power") boasts units with high hitpoints and damage. However, they are expensive to make and losing one will cost you. On the other end of the scale, the Comintern doctrine features cheaper, but less effective units that are best deployed en masse. Somewhere in the middle of the scale, the Allied doctrine ("optimisation") has reduced production time, but outside of SP artillery, Tactical Bombers, Mech Infantry and Tank Destroyers, most units are penalized by late research or lack any buffs to compensate a -10% in speed.
- "Risk"-Style Map: Combined with a network of point-to-point roads. Players can toggle between a map displaying the relations of countries, or maps showing them by colour.
- Scratch Damage: Aircraft convoys will deal thisnote . Low-level transport ships deal somewhat more damage but less than most other units.
- Space-Filling Empire: Often averted; a number of small AI nations exist generally to be invaded by players. Often these will be ignored if players have more important things to do. Or maintain AI relations and markets.
- Stupid Jetpack Hitler: The Dominion: Antarctica map features Nazi secret bases armed with scores of secret weapons (up to and including nuclear rockets) based in the middle of Mysterious Antarctica. It's up to a Multinational Team from 40 countries to capture them.
- Unblockable Attack: Rockets cannot be intercepted in mid-air, or defended against. Some also ignore fortifications. However, they cannot be steered in flight and can easily be avoided by moving units.
- Weapon of X-Slaying: Several:
- Anti-Air: Anti-air, self-propelled anti-air, cruisers, and interceptors are optimised to deal damage against aerial units.
- Anti Armour: Artillery, anti-tank guns, tank destroyers, and attack bombers deal the most damage against heavy armour. Tanks and commandoes are best against light armour and aren't too shabby against heavy armour. AA artillery, while mostly against air, can substitute AT artillery against heavy tanks if given reinforcement (especially the Axis Doctrine).
- Anti-Infantry: Most units from the "infantry" tech branch, as well as armoured cars, tactical bombers, and rocket artillery.
- Anti-Structure: Strategic bombers, rocket-bombs, and atomic weapons.
- Anti-submarine: Destroyers and naval bombers.
- We Have Reserves: The basis for the fighting style of the Comintern Doctrine ("quantity"). Unit production and upkeep costs are reduced, but so are hitpoints and damage, making a Zerg Rush the best tactic.
