Last verified: 12 July 2026. This explains the currently published pre-alpha design; rules and balance may change.
Match objective
WARDOGS uses one large-scale mode inspired by King of the Hill:
- Up to 100 players are divided across three teams.
- The teams fight over one randomized 2 x 2 km Control Zone inside a much larger map.
- Every 30 seconds, the team with the most players in the Control Zone receives one point.
- The first team to 100 points wins.
Official material describes the surrounding map as 256 km². Moving the Control Zone between matches is intended to change useful routes, positions and fortification sites so that the same map can play differently.
The Hot Zone
The Hot Zone is a smaller moving area within the Control Zone. While inside it:
- A player counts as two players for the team's zone presence.
- Eligible actions award double cash.
- Concentrating players can swing the score but creates a high-risk combat focus.
A May 2026 development video also showed players capturing towers and obtaining a code that can call the Hot Zone to a tower. That is useful pre-alpha context, but the exact tower flow has not yet been published as a final rule.
The three teams
- LONESTAR - the Western paramilitary heavy hitters.
- VALKYRA - fighting to restore the Soviet People's Republic.
- MANTICORE - the Kingdom of Persia and Tehran's shadow army.
The team choice is part of the fictional conflict in Kolchia. Official sources have not yet documented final faction-specific bonuses, equipment restrictions or a complete faction lore guide.
Joining a match and team balance
BULKHEAD says WARDOGS uses a server browser, not skill-based matchmaking. Public comments also say server administrators can select a capacity below the maximum, such as 80 or 81 players. Because players can join and leave during a long session, the three team counts will naturally move rather than remain mathematically equal at all times.
Winning the match is not the only personal measure of success. A player on the losing team can still make a strong cash profit by helping teammates and choosing investments well.
Squads and spawning
Official explanations currently state:
- Squads have no fixed size limit.
- Squad members gain additional coordination UI and squad voice tools.
- Vehicles can be squad-locked.
- Proximity voice chat supports communication with nearby players and interaction with enemies.
- There is no squad-spawn system in the announced design; after death, players must travel back to their squad or the objective.
This makes transport, safe insertion and logistics valuable rather than merely cosmetic.
A player-driven battlefield
WARDOGS does not assign a mandatory class composition. One player may buy medical equipment, another can transport teammates, another can build a forward base, and another can invest in anti-vehicle weapons. Their combined decisions shape the battle:
- Builders can change routes and fortify positions.
- Destruction can remove cover or open paths.
- Pilots and drivers can return players and supplies to the zone.
- Infantry can fight directly for the Hot Zone.
- Recon players can spot, snipe and help control approaches.
- Logistics and support players can profit when the players they help succeed.
This is why BULKHEAD calls it a 100% player-driven sandbox: vehicles, bases, supply movement and most battlefield events result from player purchases and actions rather than a scripted sequence.
Mode origin
WARDOGS is not a standalone port of Arma 3 King of the Hill. BULKHEAD worked with original King of the Hill creators Sa-Matra and Roid Rage, but describes WARDOGS as an evolution: faster second-to-second combat, broader role tools, a reactive world, construction, destruction and a larger account progression layer.