1. DEPLOY: Place your reserve troops onto territories you already own. Hold SHIFT to place them all at once.

2. ATTACK: Pick one of your territories, then click a connected enemy to attack! V.A.T.S. will show you the odds.

3. MANEUVER: Once per turn, you can move troops between your own connected territories to reinforce your borders.

BOTTLE CAPS: Taking over land earns you Bottle Caps. Trade in 3 matching Caps (or 1 of each kind) to hire more troops. Wipe out an enemy faction entirely to steal all their Caps!

DIPLOMACY: Offer Caps to rival factions to secure a 3-Round Ceasefire. Allied territories will glow blue. Breaking a truce triggers a permanent Betrayal Tax and an AI Spite Alliance!

FIXED REINFORCEMENTS: Check this box on the start screen if you want Cap trades to ALWAYS give exactly 3 troops.

SCORCHED EARTH: If enabled, find 4 Launch Codes by conquering land. Hold one of the 6 Command Silos (☢) to launch a Nuke! Silos get a massive defense buff each turn they are held (up to 80%). Nukes permanently destroy a Silo and irradiate the surrounding land.

COMMANDER PROTOCOL: If enabled, each faction is led by a Commander (★) with 100 HP. If they die, you lose instantly! Move them 2 spaces per turn, or use a Stimpak (found by conquering land) to heal 20 HP. They regen +2 HP/turn naturally (+4 HP/turn on a Silo when Scorched Earth is enabled).

UI GAUGES: The HP Bar shows how much of the wasteland you control. The AP Bar shows your Action Points, which drain as you run out of moves or troops.

HAZARD - RADSTORMS: Watch the skies! Radstorms give a short warning before wiping out 10-25% of the troops caught in the blast zone.

HAZARD - WILD GHOULS: Unclaimed territories are filled with feral ghouls. They fight back, and they will slowly multiply depending on your difficulty setting.