Fleet Dispatch

Whoever risks their own troops pays dearly for peace.

Short version: Send ships and troops to your own islands or alliance partners -- they stay, defend alongside, and return when you recall them.

- A fifth mission in the fleet wizard: "Dispatch"

- Stationed troops fight along, with the sender's research bonuses

- Wage per hour while away from home

- Recall any time

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What is Dispatch? #

Dispatch is a fifth mission type alongside attack, trade, spy, and colonization. Instead of doing something hostile, you send ships and troops to one of your own islands or to an alliance member -- they stay stationed there. When that island is later attacked, they fight alongside the host. You can recall them at any time.

Tip: Frequent ship mixes can be saved as templates and applied with one click -- see chapter "Fleet Cockpit".

When do I see the mission? #

The Dispatch mission appears in the fleet wizard like the others. It is only useful when the target is one of your own islands or an alliance member. Otherwise the fleet is rejected at dispatch.

What can a dispatch fleet carry? #

Warships and troops only. No cargo, no spy ship, no colony ship. At least one warship (small or large) is required -- without troop-transport capacity no troops travel.

Loyalty timer #

If you recently joined a new alliance you cannot immediately exchange reinforcements with your new members. A loyalty timer applies (default 24 hours), to both you and the target. During the timer the dispatch is rejected.

What does Dispatch cost? #

While your reinforcement is not on one of your own islands, an hourly wage applies. The wage is a small fraction of the gold cost of the stationed ships and troops.

• Paid from your main island's gold reserve.
• Charged hourly.
• While the reinforcement is on one of your own islands, no wage applies.

If your main island runs out of gold, the reinforcement is automatically recalled -- you don't lose your troops, but they head home. The same happens for several other events (see below).

Recall #

On the "My Reinforcements" page you see every reinforcement you have stationed. One click recalls each one. They travel home in real time -- travel time depends on distance and Sail research as usual.

Once a reinforcement is on its way home, you cannot recall it back -- a homecoming is final.

Defence #

Stationed reinforcements automatically fight alongside the island owner when an attack arrives:

• Sender's research counts. Your spear research protects your spear-throwers, even if the host island has no research.
• Losses are split proportionally. Each party loses in proportion to its strength. No party loses more troops than it brought.
• Combat reports show each party. Attacker, defender, and every stationed garrison owner sees the report with their own losses.

Cap #

A single island can host at most 10 foreign reinforcements at once. If the cap is reached, the next dispatch is automatically recalled with a message indicating capacity was full.

What triggers an automatic recall? #

Your stationed reinforcements automatically come home when:

• you activate the Anchor Mode (vacation)
• you or the host leave the alliance (or are kicked)
• the wage cannot be paid from your main island
• the host island becomes inactive (slumbering or rudderless stage)
• the host island is colonized away (rare but possible)

In every case you receive a system message with the reason.

What Dispatch CANNOT do #

• No cargo -- use trade missions for that.
• No plunder -- your troops help defend, not attack.
• No spying -- spy ships are not allowed.
• No colonization -- a colony ship cannot accompany.

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Strategy #

• Early defence for alliance friends -- Send your troops to a player who is building up. Stationed spear-throwers from a veteran are a massive defensive boost.
• Active reinforcement of your main island -- With multiple islands of your own, you can dispatch troops to your main island without paying a wage.
• Don't overextend -- Troops stationed outside your own islands cost gold continuously. Plan the recall.
• Mind the loyalty timer -- After an alliance change, a 24h timer applies before you may dispatch again.