Movement & distances
Every dispatch takes some time to arrive: it depends on the distance and on your slowest troop.
Why is my attack taking so long?
Two things matter: the distance to the target and the slowest troop in your army. A Titan or a Royal Mage drags everyone down; Cavalry races ahead. Duration now follows the distance, with no minimum and no cap. You then tune it with the speed slider (10% → 100%) to go faster (more wheat 🌾) or slower (cheaper), and speed up your troops for good with the propulsion researches.
How distance is calculated
Every position on the map reads as [Kingdom : County : Fief]. Distance depends on the level at which you move, from the heaviest to the lightest:
- 🌍Changing Kingdom is very expensive: 20,000 points per kingdom of difference, with no cap.
- 🗺️Changing County (same kingdom) costs 2,700 + 95 per county of difference.
- 📍Changing Fief (a neighbor within the same county) costs 1,000 + 5 per position.
- 🎯Targeting the same fief (a village right next to yours) costs only 5 points.
Simple takeaway: targeting a neighbor in your own county is fast, whereas attacking another kingdom is always very long — and there's no longer a cap that "pulls" everything back to 6 h.
How travel time is calculated
- 📏We start from the distance calculated above.
- 🐌We look at the speed of the slowest troop sent: that's what sets the pace for the whole group.
- 🎚️The speed slider (10% → 100%) scales the result: at 100% the trip is shortest, at 10% it's longest but the least wheat-hungry.
- ⚡Embercraft is a fast universe (×2): durations and fuel are halved compared to the base formula.
- ⏱️The faster the troop (and the more developed your propulsions), the shorter the trip. There is no longer a minimum or a cap.
- ↩️The return trip lasts as long as the outbound one (recalculated on the survivors).
The rules to know
Troop speeds
From fastest to slowest (the higher the number, the faster the troop):
The fuel: wheat 🌾
Every fleet movement burns wheat: attack, reinforcement (Defend), transport, colonization, recycling, the Host and incursions. Without enough wheat at the origin, the dispatch is refused.
- 📏The bill rises with distance and the number of heavy units sent.
- 🎚️The slider weighs heavily: 100% costs about 4× the base fuel, 10% about 3.3× less. Going slower means saving wheat.
- ↩️For missions that return, the round-trip wheat is taken at launch. It is never refunded on recall.
- 🕵️Only spying is exempt: it consumes no wheat.
Propulsion researches 🚀
At the Academy, three researches permanently speed up your troops (they act on time, not on wheat cost). They replace the old "March" talent, which has been removed.
Effective speed is base × (1 + bonus × level): a Guard with Paved Roads 13 goes from 12,500 to 28,750. New players start at level 0, so they're slow — leveling these researches is what really shortens trips.
Frequently asked questions
How do I make my army arrive faster?
Don't bring a slow unit: the group's speed is that of the slowest troop, and a single Titan or Royal Mage slows down the whole army. Push the slider toward 100% to go faster (at the cost of more wheat). And over the long run, level the Academy's propulsion researches — they replaced the old "March" talent.
Is there still a minimum or a cap on duration?
No. The old bounds (15-minute minimum, 6-hour maximum) have been removed. A close neighbor arrives very quickly, while targeting the far side of the map can take many hours: duration now follows distance, the slider and your propulsions entirely.
Does spying follow the same rule?
No. A spy always arrives in 60 seconds, no matter the distance, and it consumes no wheat. PvE incursions, however, are real fleet movements: duration depends on distance and they cost wheat, just like an attack.
Does resource transport move as fast as my troops?
Transport requires Caravans (for cargo capacity) and follows the same travel formula: distance, slider and wheat. The Caravan moves at 15,000, so a convoy stays fast. Transport is open to any player, and the fleet leaves loaded, delivers, then returns.
Can I send my troops to defend another player?
Yes. You can send troops to defend any player for a guard duration of your choice (1, 2, 4, 8, 16 or 32 h). During the stay they bolster their defense: if the target is attacked, defenses merge and losses are split pro rata. When the guard ends, the survivors return home. The round trip costs wheat.