Gameplay
Rank and File
by The AshForge Team · v1.0.2
⬇ New
11.8 MB
Summary
Rank and File gives your colony a chain of command: promote survivors through a rank ladder, form them into squads, lead them in a fight, and drill them on the parade ground.
Details
Ranks and officers: promote colonists from Corporal to Commander. NCO ranks open as the colony grows; Captain ranks need research and are capped. Officers earn experience, level up and choose perks, and their command aura steadies the colonists around them in a fight.
Squads: form named squads with their own emblem, colours and planted standard, and switch between them with Ctrl+1 to Ctrl+9. The Command Deck shows the selected officer's rank, Command and tactics: Focus Fire, Fall Back, Rally, Suppressing Volley, Set Ambush and Charge. A colonist bar shows each survivor's health, mood, rank and activity.
Combat: drafted colonists seek cover, hold formation around their officer and react to suppression, according to their discipline. Raids can be led by enemy officers, and allied factions award medals.
Drill: a Drill Master runs a full drill on level ground. Everyone salutes, then runs PT (jumping jacks, high knees, squats, lunges, push-ups), boxing in both stances, the manual of arms and a firing line, with the Drill Master coaching from the sideline. Training rifles, made at the Smithing Bench from wood and a little steel, stay on the range and are never carried into a fight.
A field manual and a tutorial explain it all in play. Install it with the Combat Core, which the squad tactics and combat behaviour run on. Replaces Squad Select. Requires the AshForge Mod Loader, installed by the AshForge Hub.
Changelog ▾
v1.0.2October 22, 2026
- FixedMore of the colony you left is freed when you quit to the main menu. The colonist bar's record of each colonist's last shot still held on to it, and with it the whole world, until the next save loaded.
- FixedA map visited on an expedition is let go once the trip is over. Before, each one stayed in memory until you loaded a save or quit.
v1.0.1October 21, 2026
- FixedQuitting to the main menu now frees the colony you left. Before, it stayed in memory until the next one loaded, about 190 MB in our tests.
- FixedKill credit could go missing when Chains of Ash was installed, and a kill that another mod prevents is no longer counted.
- FixedThe mod no longer stops loading after the first launch. It wrote its log file inside its own folder, and the AshForge loader rejects a signed mod whose folder has gained a file, so from the second launch on it did not load. The log now goes to your system's temp folder. Updating through the AshForge Hub repairs an affected install.
v1.0.0October 18, 2026
- AddedRanks from Corporal to Commander, officer experience, perks and a command aura.
- AddedNamed squads with emblems, colours and planted standards; the Command Deck and its tactics; a pawn-only colonist bar.
- AddedCombat behaviour on the Combat Core: cover, formations, suppression and discipline; enemy officers; allied medals.
- AddedThe drill: a salute, PT, boxing, the manual of arms and a firing line, with training rifles made at the Smithing Bench.
- AddedA field manual and an in-game tutorial.