Alderun

Mission briefing

Alderun blends real-time strategy with hero RPG combat. Choose a hero, learn powerful skills, gather equipment and lead your allies through fantasy battles. Defend castles against waves of enemies, fight arena duels, capture strategic objectives and clash with rival armies. Each map brings different goals and tactical choices. Play solo against the AI or join online battles with friends.

Field manual

Start with the guided practice, or choose New Game, select a map and mode, and pick your hero. Read the map briefing: your goal may be to defend a castle, capture objectives or defeat the enemy team. Defeat enemies to earn experience and gold, learn skills, buy equipment and support your allies. Desktop: left-click to select a hero or unit; drag to select a group. Right-click the battlefield to move, attack or interact. Use the on-screen ability buttons or their displayed keyboard shortcuts. Scroll the mouse wheel to zoom. Hold Space to follow your hero. Press Esc to cancel an action, close a window or open the game menu. Touch: tap to select units and issue orders. Tap an ability, then its target when needed. Drag the battlefield to move the camera and pinch to zoom. Use the on-screen menus for skills, equipment and options. For online play, choose Multiplayer and join or create a battle.

Launch orders: press Launch mission above and the game loads on this page itself — nothing downloads and no form stands between you and the first move. It is designed for a landscape (wide) screen and takes its orders from mouse, keyboard or touch, depending on the mission. It is built wide, for a landscape screen — rotate a phone sideways, or give it a tablet or monitor to stretch out on. If it offers a fullscreen control, use it — a fight this size deserves the whole screen.

Field notes for strategy operations

• Economy first, army second. The player who builds one more resource structure in the opening minutes out-produces the player who built one more soldier — arithmetic is the quietest weapon in strategy.
• Scout before you commit. Every strategy game hides a paper to your rock; two minutes of reconnaissance is cheaper than twenty minutes of building the wrong answer.
• Hold a reserve. Committing everything to the first fight leaves nothing for the second, and there is always a second — usually arriving while you are still rebuilding from the first.

Alderun — questions from the ranks

What does it cost to play Alderun?

Nothing at all. The mission is free from the first order to the last — no sign-up, no download, no paid tier guarding the good levels. The advertising around this page is what keeps the board free.

What sort of mission is Alderun?

Alderun is filed in our Strategy theatre. Like every operation on this board, it is a browser game — read the briefing above for the publisher's own account of what you are deploying into.

Can I run Alderun on a phone or tablet?

Yes. It plays in the browser on phones and tablets exactly as it does on a computer. It is built wide, for a landscape screen — rotate a phone sideways, or give it a tablet or monitor to stretch out on.

Do I have to install anything before playing?

No installation of any kind. Alderun is an HTML5 game: press the launch button and it loads on this page, and closing the tab leaves nothing behind.

After-action

Mission complete, or still pinned down? The full Strategy theatre is one click away — The thinking soldier's shelf: 115 operations where the decisive weapon is a plan made thirty seconds before it is needed. Build first, then hold what you built.