# WARNO Army General Basics: Campaign, Formations, and Action Points

> A guide to WARNO's Army General campaign mode: formations, action point costs, autoresolve results, terrain, and how a campaign is scored. It is written for players moving from WARNO's tactical battles into the grand campaign for the first time, who need to know what a turn costs before they spend it.

- **Game:** WARNO
- **Category:** Campaign
- **Author:** LongBeam (https://guides-factory.com/about)
- **Difficulty:** Beginner
- **Reading time:** 9 min
- **Published:** 2026-09-08
- **Updated:** 2026-09-08
- **Tags:** Army General, Terrain, Victory Points, action points, autoresolve, campaign map, formations, manual battles
- **Adapted from:** [Army General Campaigns Tutorial 2025: Understanding the Strategic Campaign Map](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4kzhWnP0AM)
- **Canonical URL:** https://guides-factory.com/guides/warno-army-general-basics

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Army General is WARNO's turn-based campaign layer, where damage carries over between fights and nothing you lose comes back. This guide covers what a turn actually buys you: which formations are allowed to start an engagement, what movement and battles cost out of a unit's 12 action points, how autoresolve turns two numbers into a result band, and how a campaign is scored at the end. By the time you finish it you will know when to accept the predicted result and when to load into the tactical map yourself.

## Quick answer

| What | Answer |
| --- | --- |
| Action points per turn | 12 for most units, 5 for artillery |
| Entering a battle | 4 action points |
| Battles per turn | 3 from a full 12 points, 2 from 8 |
| Hex movement cost | 1 to 2 points, depending on terrain |
| Units per battle | 2 combat battalions, 1 auxiliary, 1 artillery, 1 air unit |
| Autoresolve bands | 0.5-1 minor, 1-1.5 major, above 1.5 total victory |
| Autoresolve swing | 0.2 |
| Terrain types | Plain, forest, semi-urban, urban |

## What Army General Mode Is

Army General is WARNO’s grand campaign mode, and the WARNO campaign overview starts with five campaigns in the base game, plus two more campaigns each from Normandy and South Korea. Each campaign covers a limited time scale of a couple of days in the fictional Cold War gone hot WARNO timeline, and each one focuses on one part of the front line. One campaign area is around Hanover and Wolfsburg in West Germany.

You command either the Soviet or NATO side, and both sides can be played in each campaign. Multiplayer supports co-op, 2v2, and 1v1. The mode combines tactical battles with a persistent campaign map, so your strategic job is to move formations into the right positions before battles happen.

Battles can be autoresolved or played manually on a tactical map. Damage taken in those battles persists on the campaign map. Units do not regenerate because the campaign only lasts a couple of days, and reinforcement formations do not replenish their forces between battles. For WARNO Army General basics, treat every lost tank, infantry unit, aircraft, or artillery piece as a permanent campaign loss.

## Formations and Support Roles Explained

| Formation type | What it is for |
| --- | --- |
| **Combat battalions** | WARNO formations explained starts with combat battalions, which include mechanized, motorized, and tank battalions. Only combat units can start engagements, so these are the formations you use to initiate attacks. |
| **Auxiliary and support battalions** | Support or auxiliary battalions include pioneers, helicopters, and security forces. They use an extra slot, cannot start engagements on their own, and can help on defense or in aggressive moves with combat battalions. |
| **Artillery and aircraft** | Artillery can support battles from farther away within its visible support radius. Aircraft can be called into battles across the battlefield, but only once per turn cycle, and a turn cycle means your turn plus the enemy turn. |

## Action Points, Movement Zones, and Terrain

![Map with hexagonal overlay showing tactical zones, troop units, and strategic indications.](https://api.guides-factory.com/media/uploads/2026/09/01-map-hexagonal-overlay.jpg "Hexagonal overlay displays tactical zones, unit positions, and strategic details on the map. Screenshot: SD League")

<ol class="checklist">
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Check action points at the beginning of your turn. Units replenish their points then, and most units start with 12 WARNO action points each turn.</span></label>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Count movement before committing to a battle. Moving through a hex usually costs one or two points depending on terrain, while entering a battle with a formation costs four points.</span></label>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Use the battle cost to plan repeated fights. A stationary formation can enter three battles in one turn, while a formation moved down to eight points can still enter two battles that turn.</span></label>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Keep defensive support in mind before spending points. If a unit attacks and drops to zero points, it cannot help defend other formations during that turn.</span></label>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Read the movement overlay before confirming movement. A unit that stays in the light blue area can still attack, while a unit that moves into the dark blue area has nothing left that turn to attack or defend with.</span></label>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Treat artillery as its own movement case. Artillery gets five points, and those five points let it move a bit farther, but it can only move a short distance and still provide fire support that turn.</span></label>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Check the terrain type by hovering over hexes. The four terrain types are plain, forest, semi-urban, and urban, and holding the hover longer can show additional information without the unit control overlay.</span></label>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Use roads and forests differently. Roads make movement cheaper, while forests make movement harder.</span></label>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Place defenders where the terrain helps them. Forest and urban hexes give a defensive bonus in autoresolve, and being attacked in the right hex can improve how your defense works.</span></label>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Expect tactical maps to follow the terrain pool. Plain maps usually have less cover and more open fields, forest maps have many trees, semi-urban maps include small villages, and urban maps are mostly buildings and city fighting areas.</span></label>
  </li>
</ol>

## Autoresolve, Battle Values, and Manual Battles

![UI showing deployment phase, a battlefield, and Launch Battle button.](https://api.guides-factory.com/media/uploads/2026/09/02-ui-showing-deployment.jpg "The deployment phase interface with the Launch Battle button visible. Screenshot: SD League")

<div class="tipbox alt"><span class="tag">How to choose</span>

**Choose autoresolve or a manual battle**

**Choose autoresolve when the predicted result is already strong.** Units show two numbers for autoresolve, attack value on the left and defense value on the right. A battle can include two combat battalions, one nearby auxiliary battalion, one artillery unit, and one air unit. Autoresolve compares your attack against the enemy defense value, both sides can include aircraft, and units then take losses.

**Check the result bands before accepting.** A result between 0.5 and 1 is a minor victory, between 1 and 1.5 is a major victory, and above 1.5 is a total victory. A result below 0.5 is a draw, and negative results become defeats. The random swing is 0.2, so a predicted major victory can shift to a minor victory or total victory, but not all the way to a draw.

**Use modifiers before trusting the number.** A crossed-out infantry section means the formation has no infantry left, and if no supporting infantry is nearby it takes a minus 0.5 penalty. Losing all leader units gives a similar minus 0.5 penalty. Air security gives plus 0.5 when you call in an air unit and the enemy cannot bring one. If you have heavy tanks and the enemy does not, you get a 0.5 advantage, with examples including T-64s, Challengers, Leopard 2s, and Abrams.

**Fight manually when the map or matchup favors your control.** The WARNO Army General guide approach is to fight battles where you are at a disadvantage or in an even battle, while accepting autoresolve when the projected result is already a major victory. Before a manual battle, you can display the map, and the defender usually gets a plus three zone and reaches a plus two zone faster.

**Set up manual battles before loading in.** In single-player, choose whether to take all units yourself or give some to the AI. You can move units around on the bottom of the screen, assign the AI specific units such as headquarters elements, and decide how many starting points and points per minute the AI gets. In 2v2, the AI slot is replaced by your teammate, and two-player teams can move units and points around before clicking tactical battle.

</div>

## Victory Conditions, Losses, and Campaign Scoring

![Game interface showing battle preparation and tactical planning.](https://api.guides-factory.com/media/uploads/2026/09/03-game-interface-showing.jpg "The Battle Plan interface displays attacker and defender strengths along with combat details. Screenshot: SD League")

<div class="tipbox"><span class="tag">Takeaway</span>

WARNO victory conditions are campaign-specific: objectives give victory points, flagged positions give plus one point for each turn held, and in the Hanover example, holding Hanover at the end gives 20 points. Destroyed enemy formations also score points, with NATO receiving one point for each PACT formation destroyed and PACT receiving two points for each NATO formation destroyed. Losses persist, formations become combat inefficient at 33% strength, a formation disappears when two thirds of it is destroyed, and eight fatigue prevents a unit from defending itself without nearby support. Final scoring rewards meeting objectives, holding point locations, and destroying enemy formations.

</div>

<p class="note">Accurate as of 1 May 2025, the upload date of the most recent WARNO video this guide draws on. Balance patches move unit costs, ranges and menu options, so check anything decisive in your own game.</p>

## In this series

- [WARNO Battle Goals, Morale, Squad Cohesion, and EW Plane Uses](/guides/warno-battle-goals-morale-and-squad-cohesion)
- [WARNO keybinds and controls](/guides/warno-keybinds-and-controls)
- [WARNO Interface Settings and HUD Customization](/guides/warno-interface-and-hud-settings)
- [WARNO Gameplay Settings to Adjust First](/guides/warno-gameplay-settings)
- [WARNO Micro Control Tips for Faster Unit Management](/guides/warno-micro-control-tips)
- [WARNO Favorable Map Side: How Side Choice Can Matter](/guides/warno-favorable-map-side)
- [WARNO Deck Copying Tips and Adjustment Guide](/guides/warno-deck-copying-and-adjustment)
- [WARNO Infantry Basics: Strengths, Weaknesses, and Terrain Use](/guides/warno-infantry-basics)
- [WARNO Infantry Tactics for Towns and Urban Fighting](/guides/warno-infantry-town-tactics)
- [WARNO Infantry Forest Tactics for Ambushes and Defense](/guides/warno-infantry-forest-tactics)
- [WARNO Infantry Choke Points: Holding and Breaking Bottlenecks](/guides/warno-infantry-choke-points)
- [WARNO Deck Archetypes: Division Styles and Play Patterns](/guides/warno-deck-archetypes)

## Sources

- [Army General Campaigns Tutorial 2025: Understanding the Strategic Campaign Map](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4kzhWnP0AM), SD League

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## FAQ

### How many action points does a unit get in Army General?

Most units start each turn with 12 action points, replenished at the beginning of your turn, while artillery gets five. Moving through a hex costs one or two points depending on terrain and entering a battle costs four, so a stationary formation can enter three battles in one turn.

### Should I autoresolve or fight the battle manually?

Accept autoresolve when the projected result is already a major victory, and fight manually where you are at a disadvantage or in an even battle. The random swing is only 0.2, so a predicted major victory can move to a minor or total victory but not down to a draw.

### Do damaged formations recover between battles?

No. Damage taken persists on the campaign map, units do not regenerate because the campaign only lasts a couple of days, and reinforcement formations do not replenish their forces between battles. A formation becomes combat inefficient at 33% strength and disappears once two thirds of it is destroyed.

### How is an Army General campaign scored?

Objectives give victory points and flagged positions give one point for each turn you hold them, with the Hanover example awarding 20 points for holding Hanover at the end. Destroyed enemy formations also score: NATO gets one point per PACT formation destroyed, PACT gets two points per NATO formation destroyed.