The White Flag

Stopping a battle

A battle ends when one side has nobody left on the field — destroyed, or broken and gone. The white flag is the third way out: a player who can see it is lost may end it himself.

It is one flag with two meanings. For an attacker it says "I am calling off the siege"; for a defender it says "I am giving up the city".

Two sides, two decisions

When the attacker raises it

The siege lifts and your army comes home empty-handed. A battle you did not win yields no plunder: spoils follow victory, not time spent in front of a wall.

The army cannot simply turn round where it stands. It breaks contact, gathers what is left of itself and forms a column — the army screen shows this as Regrouping, with the countdown on it. When that ends, it walks home the way it came, at the speed it was promised. If the army is on another island it boards ship after regrouping — the army screen shows Boarding — and only then sets sail (War Harbour).

Upkeep does not get cheaper at once either: while the army regroups and while it marches home it is away from the city and keeps paying campaign upkeep, so it has to get home first (Army Upkeep).

When the defender raises it

The gates open and your troops live. They are neither destroyed nor broken; they stop fighting and stay in the city.

The besieger gets what it came for: if the attack was a raid, the plunder is taken there and then and the army goes home. If it was an occupation, no plunder is taken: the army stays in the city and the occupation begins. Your troops still live, but cannot be used while it lasts (Occupation). The battle ends even with the wall standing — there is nothing to be gained by breaking down the gate of a city that has already yielded.

Who may raise it

More than one besieger

If three players are besieging one city and one raises the flag, only that player’s army leaves. The other two press on.

On the defending side the flag belongs to the city. Only its owner may give it up, and when they do the whole defence — their own garrison and any allied troops in it — stops fighting.

When it takes effect

Nothing happens on the click. It is a standing order, and the battle acts on it at its next round: a round already being resolved is not rewound by a button.

In exchange, the round you raise it on is not fought — you lose nobody to it. The screen says the white flag is up while you wait; pressing it again is the same decision, not a second one.

When both sides raise it at once

Whichever flag was raised first is honoured first. If the attacker raised theirs first and no other besieger is left on the field, the battle ends as a siege called off and no plunder is taken; the defender’s flag does not hand over the city merely because it landed on the same round — nobody is attacking them any more. If the defender raised theirs first, the city has yielded and the attacker’s later flag changes nothing. If both were raised at the very same instant, the attacker’s decision goes first.

What the white flag is not

It is not a way to withdraw for ammunition. A formation that has run dry stays on the field and shoots again if resupply reaches it; there is no "go home for arrows" order and this is not one.

It is not a rout, not a recall and not an occupation. Recalling an army on the road is a separate order, and it works on an army that has not yet joined a battle.