BW
OperationBrightwater
Command networkField Guide
Field guide Battlefield Terrain & movement

Every tile is a rule

Terrain & movement

Grass is safe, roads are fast and a little dangerous, forests and rocks block you completely, ruins and towns can be garrisoned, and water is a different world.

At a glance

Tile types
Grass, roads, forests, water, rocks, ruins, towns
Blocks movement & shells
Forests, rocks, ruins, and towns
Garrisonable
Only ruins and towns — and only infantry can step in
Roads
Fastest driving, but you take about 8% extra damage from shells on them

Terrain rules

Grass is open ground; roads speed you up but expose you to fire. Forests, rocks, ruins, and towns block shots until infantry garrisons them; water is a separate domain for boats and subs.

Two worlds: land and water

Land units — Maus, Berliets, infantry, drones and the reserve trucks — never drive into water. Water units — I-400s and Sea Shadows — never leave it. The game will even nudge a misplaced spawn back onto the right side. Infantry is the one exception that can step into blocking ruins or towns to garrison.

  • A Maus stuck behind another Maus will eventually try to yield if it actually gains space — the front doesn't jam forever.
  • If you raise a new building, any old move order that would now cross it gets replanned on the spot.

What blocks what

Forests and rocks are hard blocks for land movement and they also stop shells. Ruins and towns are also hard blocks — until infantry garrisons them. Then that one unit gets to shoot out from inside while the tile still blocks everyone else. Shell damage is about 8% higher if you're standing on a road.

TileWhat it does to you
GrassNormal — the baseline
RoadFast driving, a bit more shell pain
ForestBlocks land movement and shells
RockBlocks land movement and shells
RuinBlocks until garrisoned — then it's a bunker for infantry
TownBlocks until garrisoned — then it's a bunker for infantry
WaterOnly water units can go there

The island itself

Every size from Micro to Colossal uses the same hand-placed island, just stretched. Water rings the south and the coasts, a couple of rock clusters and treelines define the lanes, and two roads cross the middle. Four seasonal looks rotate in for flavor, but they never change the rules.

How to use it

Use forests and towns as walls for your truck lane — park a Maus just behind the block so only your turret peeks. Leave roads for fast repositioning, but don't brawl on them against shell-heavy lines. Put infantry into a ruin that watches a depot — they get 40% less shell damage and a small range nudge, perfect for anchoring.