Rim War Guide

Rim War is a comprehensive overhaul of map Settlement objects in Rim World. The mod adds dynamism to any world map with moving caravans that travel the map for each faction searching for combat and colonization. Taken from their steam workshop page:"Armies (warbands and scouting parties), settlers, and caravans for all factions can now be seen on the world map and will have practical purposes, destinations, and associated events. Existing events such as raids, trader caravans and more are all generated by AI action and represented as an icon on the map. The more combat power a settlement has, the more difficult raids or wealthy caravans a faction settlement can generate."

Your Rim War Vassal
Torann, author of Rim War, was kind enough to include a host of options for controlling the actions of your Empire Faction when playing with both mods together. Though Empire contains military management features to defend against automatically generated combat threats and to attack hostile faction bases, Rim War adds a new layer of map based combat that players can also participate in. These systems are separate, and it is recommended to learn how to manage the Empire Faction's Military first before tackling Rim War combat dynamics as well.

Rim War allows the player to command their vassal, the Empire Faction, to create caravans like Traders, Scouts, and Warbands (excluding Settlers) just like NPCs do in a fashion very similar to allying with a faction through the Rim War menu and requesting military actions, but without the relationship point cost. Doing so enables the player to make use of the Combat Points generated by Rim War settlements and caravans so that they can do battle with enemies and trade with allies.

Combat Points
Every Settlement and Caravan generated by Rim War has a 'Combat Points' value. Settlements increase this number over time naturally, but combat points can be generated by other means as well. Sending a trade caravan to an ally and having it return safely significantly increases Combat Points. Sending a player controlled trade caravan or drop pod to any settlement, vassal or otherwise, produces the option to 'Donate Items for Combat Strength'. Vassal settlements can send warbands or scouts to other settlements to 'reinforce' the receiving settlement, which can be helpful when the receiving settlement may be attacked soon.

Note that vassal settlements have a maximum combat points cap of 10,000. Non-vassal factions can break above this limit, making them difficult to combat without support from multiple settlements' military forces combined.

Caravan Types
There are several types of caravans that an allied or vassal settlement can create. Only non-vassal factions can create settlers. With the exception of settlers, all caravans will attempt to return to their home settlement once they've completed their mission at their designated target. Upon return, the points paid to produce the caravan are returned to the settlement.

Trader
Trade caravans help to generate Combat Points more quickly than a settlement's natural increase over time. Caravans sent to friendly settlements increase the trade value of the settlement they visit and their home settlement (when they return). Sending a caravan to one of your own settlements or your player colony increase trade value by a small amount of points--25-75 points. Trade caravans that visit the settlement of an ally generate much more, approximately 20% of the value paid to produce the trade caravan.

Trade caravans are vulnerable while traveling. Enemy warbands and scouts can intercept and destroy them, and other trade caravans of any faction may attempt to trade with other trade caravans, potentially 'swindling' them and reducing their Combat Points.

Scout
Scouts are military caravans that will engage other units, like a Warband. However, they move faster across the map and are ideal for closing the gap between other caravans. They can be used to catch up to enemy caravans that would otherwise elude a warband.

Warband
Warbands are the primary military caravan type used to deal with hostile forces. Warband generation strength, like all caravans, is based on the strength of the settlement creating the caravan. A large portion of Combat Points from the settlement will be paid resulting in a caravan with a Combat Point value equal to double the cost paid. Warbands that are successful against their military target have a chance of returning to a nearby settlement and refunding their cost when they arrive. Warbands sent to friendly settlements will act as reinforcements instead of aggressors.

Warbands can be launched by Drop Pod if the correct technology is unlocked, effectively replacing the need for Scouts.

Settler
Settlers are caravans unique to NPC factions, meaning the vassal faction cannot create new settlements by spawning Settlers. A settler is typically a very small number of Combat Points easily overrun by Scouts and Warbands. A watchful eye on the world map can help reveal when enemies are expanding and, with the right application of force, destroy their settlements before they can be founded.

Settlement Defense
Defending settlements of the Empire from hostile invaders is even more challenging when using Rim War. Currently, Rim War warbands that attack a settlement do so strictly using Rim War Combat Points-- the Military Level of a settlement, its assigned Squads, and Military Efficiency play no part in resolving conflicts in Rim War.

Failed Defense
Failing to fend off an invading warband results in penalties to the settlement, but unlike non-Empire settlements that are often destroyed by failing settlement defense, an Empire settlement suffers the normal penalties that it would if it had lost combat to an Empire Settlement Defense event. Typically, a settlement will lose happiness, prosperity, and loyalty, and gain unrest. Buildings and settlement levels may also be lost, though some of this can be mitigated by taking the 'Resilient' trait.