Zones
Zones are one of the major parts of a map in Rebel Inc. Each zone contains different terrain, different population composition and more.
Zone information can be found at the Zone Screen.
Intel
To view information about the zone and roll out most initiatives, a zone must have full Intel (intelligence).
To begin combat in the zone, at least partial Intel is required. The more Intel is gathered, the higher the chance of combat starting in a given turn. Without any Intel, combat will never begin.
Insurgents and nearby Insurgent-controlled zones will cause the Intel of the zone to slowly decay (decrease from full). Having a unit stationed in the zone will prevent any Intel Decay that may occur. Otherwise, the Intel gathering capability of this zone must be stronger than the effect of the decay, to not lose Intel on the zone.
Zone types
Zones can either be urban, rural, or remote.
- Urban zones, like cities and towns, usually have a high population and contain either main roads or highways.
- Rural zones, like farmland or scrubland, contain medium levels of population, and can have dirt, main roads, or highways.
- Remote zones usually contain deserts, mountains, or dense forests and have low levels of population. They usually are accessed via dirt roads, but there are some exceptions.
A maximum of 4 initiatives may roll out at the same time in a given Urban or Rural zone. In a Remote zone, only 2 initiatives are allowed. An expert unit ignores this restriction.
Population
There are several population types found in each zone. See the table below for more information. Each population type directly influences the stability of a zone.
| Population type | Description | Effects |
|---|---|---|
| Supporters | People who support your operation |
|
| Neutrals | People who are ambivalent towards your operation | |
| Hostiles | People who are against (hostile) towards your operation |
|
The total amount of population in a zone does not affect the stabilisation speed. Having 100 hostiles in a 1,000 population zone is no different from 1,000 hostiles in a 10,000 population zone.
Insurgent activity
Insurgent activity can impact the stabilisation process, since they destroy built initiatives and convert the existing population to hostiles by decreasing Support Level. When a zone is re-captured multiple times, it becomes increasingly more slower to stabilise.
When a zone is captured N times, the minimum Support Level in the zone is decreased permanently by . The minimum amount of Support Level in a zone doesn't change in any other way - except nearby Stable Zones. Every turn, the Insurgents damage Support Level in the zone by 0,1. So after 10 turns, the zone will have -1 Support Level, and so on. There is no limit to this.
Structures
Several structures can be found or built in each zone. These can be government structures like the HQ or Garrisons or Insurgent-controlled ones like Insurgent Camps.
A Garrison structure will significantly reduce (about 30%) the amount of supporters required to stabilise the zone it is located in.
Security
Zone Security determines how fast the Insurgent can takeover a specified zone. Usually, Security Initiatives provide security to a zone.
The higher the security, the higher the chance of Insurgent actions becoming intercepted (resulting in a failure). The possible results of interception are:
- Failure to move through a zone - the insurgents will stop instead of continuing to move
- Failure to build a camp - the camp will not be constructed and needs to be rebuilt as if it was destroyed
The interception chance starts at 1% and may grow up to 34% (barring Campaign modifiers) as Security Initiatives are rolled out in the zone.
Stability
All zones need to stable in order to win the game. This is usually due to increasing Local Support Level, but finishing the Peace Process can also stabilise a zone.
A stable zone creates a minimum Support Level of in adjacent zones. This minimum can only be decreased by Insurgent Takeovers - not even -99% Concerns, Supporters or Hostiles.
Accessibility
An important aspect of zones is accessibility. Accessibility (a hidden statistic on mobile) determines:
- how fast initiative can roll out
- how fast Intel is gathered
- how fast Global Support is converted into Local Support
- how strong soldiers are in this zone
Accessibility can be increased by building roads. It is determined by zone size, road type, road level, presence of urbanised areas and the type of rough terrain, if applicable. This may result in situations, where Dirt Roads at level 0 are more accessible than Main Roads at level 0.
Terrain
All zones can have different terrain types. There are several terrain types, as seen below:
- Mountain
- Forest
- Scrubland
- Grassland
- Desert
Zone size
Each individual zone has its own size. It determines how quickly the local population is converted to one of the three types of population. Smaller zones are also more accessible, since the population is concentrated in a smaller area, rather than spread out across a vast territory. The amount of supporters required to stabilise the zone increases with zone size.
Roads
Roads are the primary way to access a zone. Roads can be upgraded with the appropriate Road Initiatives.
There are 3 road types that can be found in a zone. While some zones may have two or more roads, the road type found in the zone screen takes more importance. The road type and level determine the speed at which units traverse from zone to zone.
| Road type | Description | Accesibility |
|---|---|---|
| Dirt | Narrow dirt pathways | Low |
| Main Roads | Wide dirt or concrete roads | Medium |
| Highways | Asphalt roads | High |
Details
The basic accessibility of a zone is 0,2. The following in-zone properties change the basic accessibility:
| Feature | Description | Effect on accessibility |
|---|---|---|
| Major City | Large populated areas that are easy to traverse with straightforward utilisation of existing infrastructure | +60% |
| Minor Town | Moderately populated areas that are easy to traverse with straightforward utilisation of existing infrastructure | +25% |
| Desert | Sandy ground which is less hospitable for both construction and travelling | -25% |
| Forest | Sparsely populated areas that cause difficulties for traversal and transportation of construction materials | -50% |
| Mountain | Sparsely populated areas that are highly demanding on traversal and transportation of construction materials | -75% |
The average zone size of the map must also be divided by the size of the zone and multiplied by the result of adding in-zone properties.
Then, if zone has a paved road, add 0,15 to the final result. If the zone has highways, add an additional 0,15 (for a total of 0,30).
The result is the accessibility of the zone.
If the road is upgraded hovewer, then multiply the average zone size of the map divided by the size of the zone, by the appropriate value for the type of road that has been upgraded:
- Highway - 0,25
- Main Road - 0,15
- Dirt Road - 0,1
Accessibility value is multiply by x1.5 if Experts is present in Zone.
Concerns
Local Concerns are what the local population demands of from the operation. Usually, they require an appropriate civilian initiative to go away. Until then, (positive) Support Level is decreased, up to 99% on Mega Brutal, essentially halting almost all stabilisation in the zone. It is possible for Support Level to become negative due to concerns, as there is not enough Support Level to 'upkeep' the already existing supporters.
Each concern has its own level. The concern level determines how many initiatives are required to fully solve it. The concern level is determined at the start of the game, and applies to every concern of this type (eg. if there is a level 3 education concern, then all education concerns are level 3).
Partially solving concerns has its own benefits - the maximum Support Level damage from a concern is reduced by where N is the number of initiatives rolled out in the zone and L is the level of the concern.
The same effect is applied to all concerns' growth within the region, regardless of the amount of initiatives rolled out in each zone. This can effectively cripple all concerns as long as you quickly purchase the necessary initiatives. This does not apply to new concerns, only ones already present on the map.
Insurgents can be used to your advantage - the population is more afraid of them, demanding soldier protection instead of civilian goods which blocks all concern growth in adjacent zones. This allows for a delayed response to the concern, albeit at a cost of increased Hostility due to Insurgent presence.
The speed of concern growth is somewhat correlated to how often it occurs - which means that if you purchase the necessary initiative(s) before it becomes a problem, fewer zones will be concerned about lack of this initiative, promoting a proactive approach to each maps' individual concerns of the locals, rather than a reactive one. This can backfire, if other concerns in this region also have a high priority of appearance.
In each playthrough, the game secretly chooses the maximum amount of each concern, and all concerns on the map - amounts determined by the total weighting of concerns.
The maximum amount of a singular concern is determined by its' rolled weight - if it's high, then this concern can exist in more zones and is more likely to appear - you can be nearly sure that you will see it at some point on the map. If it's low, then it's unlikely to appear, unless as a replacement of a higher priority concern. The chance of it not appearing at all is not high, but possible. If the amount of zones that the concern can exist in is too low, the concern will not be applicable in this game, no matter how long you wait.
The maximum amount of all concerns differs from map to map, but is usually: the amount of zones one the map-4, and then minus a random value between 0-3. The maximum amount of a singular concern is further reduced, which is determined by the weighting of the concern. A high weight-roll concern will appear in all the possible zones, except a few less than the maximum amount of all concerns. A moderate weight-roll ends up with concerns around half the maximum value, and low values end up in a concern usually within no more than 5 different zones. Very low rolls, as explained before, never show up.
Check the table below for each of the concern's priority: primary concerns are the main concerns of the map (high weighting), secondary concerns usually replace primary concerns or fulfil their role if there isn't enough of them (low weighting), tertiary concerns appear very rarely (very low weighting). Each category of concern appears 5-10 times more frequently than the lower category (If there is a numerical modifier, then it applies when comparing the same category of concern on the same map [eg. 2 secondary concerns], not between maps).
| Map name | Healthcare | Education | Water & Sanitation | Development | Telecom | Electricity | Roads | Security |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saffron Fields | Primary | Primary | Secondary | 0.5x Primary | Tertiary | Tertiary | Secondary | Secondary |
| Mountain Pass | 0.3x Primary | Tertiary | Secondary | Primary | Tertiary | Secondary | Primary | 0.6x Primary |
| Southern Desert | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
| Pistachio Forest | Tertiary | Primary | Tertiary | 0.5x Secondary | Tertiary | Primary | Secondary | Secondary |
| Distant Steppe | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
| Black Caves | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
| Azure Dam | Tertiary | Tertiary | Primary | Tertiary | Secondary | Secondary | Primary | Primary |
| Opium Trail | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
| Golden Sands | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
| Devil's Peak | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |