Frontier · Skirmish
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Cowboys & Indians
Choose your battlefield · 2 or 3 players

Stake your
claim.

Build your base. Raise your army.
Rule the frontier.

Free vs. computer · No account needed

Choose your faction and difficulty next.

Turn sideways for battle.

The Saloon
More ways to play

Skirmish field guide

Gather resources, expand your base and defeat the enemy under your chosen victory rule.

Touch commands

Tap your unit or building to select it. To select a group, tap Select at the lower left, then drag a box around your troops. Select turns off after one box; tap it again to cancel. Shortcut: hold Select with one thumb while your other finger draws the box.

With troops selected, tap ground to move, an enemy to attack, or a resource to gather. Drag to pan; pinch to zoom. Open Orders for more commands. Menu offers Select army, Commands, Headquarters and Map. Swipe the opened command strip for Area, Add, Attack move, Guard, Stop, Clear, Groups and Chat. Area enables box selection; Add keeps your earlier selection.

Scroll a building's production drawer to build or recruit. Placement, rally, guard and attack-move show a preview: Confirm commits it; Cancel leaves existing orders intact. Deploy appears for your selected headquarters wagon.

Select / issue orders
Click or drag / right-click
Pan the map
Two-finger slide, wheel, right-drag or W A S D
Zoom
Pinch, or Ctrl + wheel
Gather / select army
Right-click a resource / Space
Home headquarters
H returns the camera to your surviving main base.
Control groups 1–9
Command or Ctrl + a number saves selected units. The number alone selects the surviving members. Use Ctrl if your browser reserves Command + number for tabs.
Guard an area
Select troops, press G, then click explored ground. The circle shows their guard area. They engage enemies inside it and return to their posts. Escape or right-click cancels placement.
Attack an enemy
With troops selected, a red target marks visible enemies. Click or right-click to attack.
Human match chat
` / ~ opens chat, Enter sends and Escape closes. Messages require connected human match peers; the AI skirmish has no human opponent.
Attack while moving
Q, then click the map
Set up your match
Play the game opens setup before the battle begins. Choose your map, factions, computer slots and Easy, Medium or Hard, then Start battle. Texas Frontier, Outlaws and Indians are available. During play, Settings → New game opens another setup; Cancel keeps that current battle.
Build and recruit
Click your headquarters, foot-production building or mounted-production building. Each faction's cards show its available units and requirements.
Mining Camps
Build from Headquarters → Buildings inside your base boundary. No Miner is needed to build; recruit Miners separately to gather ore.
Set a rally point
Select a producer, then right-click explored ground. Its new units walk to the flag.
Expand your base
Completed buildings extend where you can build. The mint placement outline shows the combined area; unfinished buildings add no range. Scout new ground before placing.
Sell a building
Select a completed friendly building and choose Sell for the shown 60% refund. Units cannot be sold. Livestock drop-offs refund their structure portion and keep the included collector. Selling your last structure in Buildings Only ends your match.
Building repairs
Select a damaged completed building and choose Repair. Funds pay for restored health as work happens. Stop repairs at any time; work pauses without Funds and ends at full health.
Mounted troops
Use their movement advantage to scout, flank or retreat. Attack-move stops to fight; each unit's card describes its role.
Siege and demolition
Frontier Field Guns and Outlaw Fire Catapults must stop to deploy and need room to fire. Fire Catapults lob flaming jugs with a wide impact blast; recruit them at the Bunkhouse after completing a Raider Stable. Escort artillery against close attackers. Outlaw Dynamiters and the Indians faction's Powder Parties attack structures at short range and need protection.
Expansion wagon
Frontier and Outlaws can recruit Mobile HQ after completing all six building types. Hover over the wagon for expanding arrows and a pulsing Deploy button. Click to deploy on clear ground; if blocked, choose nearby valid ground. The selected wagon also has its deployment card. Indians expand through completed buildings' construction range.
Victory and surrender
Choose Buildings Only or Total Domination in New game. Surrender is in Settings.
Cancel and refund
Use the queue's Cancel button
Battlefield tactics
At 3:00 choose Raiding, Hold Fast or Fire Support. At 7:00 specialize that path. Select eligible troops, then use the single tactic button; it affects up to 12 troops and has a shared cooldown. Sprint prevents firing, Brace requires standing still, and Volley leaves a longer reload. Choices are free and reset each round.
Sound and mute
Settings → Sound options has Mute all sound and separate Master, Effects and Unit voices levels. Your choices are saved. Nearby visible work and combat follow the camera; selecting units plays one short acknowledgment.
Difficulty and fog
Open Settings in the game

The local battle pauses while this guide is open.