Territory Siege

Territory Siege turns system conquest into a two-phase campaign instead of a single raid. An alliance must Contest a system, wait through a random timer, then win a Takeover fight in a short Vulnerable window before ownership changes hands.

Requires the Territory Siege feature to be enabled. Classic instant conquest still applies when the feature is off. You must also have System Conquering and use FCS (Fleet Coordination System) for system-center assaults. See Alliances → Territorial control.

Why sieges exist

Under instant conquest, one FCS win could flip a Division while defenders were offline, and full permanent capital losses made serious territory wars feel suicidal.

Sieges keep wars meaningful while:

Giving both sides notice before ownership changes
Using a random Contested timer (no defender-picked “Defense Hour”) so alliances cannot permanently timezone-tank each other
Softening hull loss through the Ship Graveyard with phase-specific debris rates

The flow

Neutral or Held Division
        │
        │  FCS Contest win
        ▼
   Contested  ──(random 20–28h)──►  Vulnerable (2h)
        │                                │
        │                                ├─ Contester FCS win → ownership flips
        │                                ├─ Contester loses / blocked → defenders keep it
        │                                └─ Window ends with no Takeover → defenders keep it
        │
        └── Headquarters cannot be sieged

Ownership never changes on Contest — only on a successful Takeover inside the Vulnerable window.

Timers

Phase	Duration	Who chooses it?
Contested	Random 20–28 hours after Contest	Nobody — rolled when Contest succeeds
Vulnerable	Exactly 2 hours	Starts when Contested ends

Attackers may land the Takeover FCS anytime in those 2 hours. You do not need to sit and DPS for two hours — Regna resolves one battle when the fleet arrives.

Contest (Phase 1)

Scout the system center / rival Division center.
Launch a coordinated FCS attack on the system center.
On victory (and if gates pass), the system becomes Contested.

Contest does not:

Transfer controlling ownership
Wipe remaining NPC garrison beyond battle losses
Raze alliance buildings

Gates (high level): active alliance, System Conquering + Territory Siege enabled, not your own system, not an HQ, not NAP/Ally with the holder, under territory hold cap, system not already sieged / not in re-contest cooldown, and your alliance has fewer than 5 open Contests.

Only the alliance that Contested the system may later finish the Takeover.

Vulnerable window (Phase 2)

When Contested ends, the system becomes Vulnerable for 2 hours.

The contester must win another FCS fight at the system center during that window to take ownership.
If they lose, hit a gate failure (e.g. territory cap), or never show up, the siege resolves as defended / expired and the holder keeps the system (with cooldown).

Station Guardians and alliance defenses matter most here — the battle is a snapshot of whoever is stationed (plus garrison and turrets) when the attackers arrive.

Takeover success

On a successful Takeover:

Ownership transfers to the contester (same HQ / Division rules as before).
Center military and resources are cleared as on conquest.
For a PvP take of a held Division: buildings take a level penalty (see below) instead of a full raze when Territory Siege is on.
The usual 2-day grace to build Headquarters / Division Center still applies after a real conquest.
Harvest / survey / pool income returns to normal once the siege is resolved.

Defending

Layer	Role
Station Guardians	Park fleets on the system center before the Vulnerable window; they fight in the Takeover battle and earn harvest security cuts in peacetime
Defense Yard turrets	Cheap regenerating layer; participate in combat and partially auto-repair
Alliance research	Armor / shields / weapons / garrison capacity strengthen defenses

When Contested mail arrives: form Guardians, refresh station durations, and watch the countdown on the galaxy map, system details, Alliance Systems list, and HQ/Division building modal.

Economy while Contested

While a system is Contested or Vulnerable:

That system’s contribution to the alliance daily pool is reduced (×0.5)
Harvest and Survey mission yields from that system are reduced (×0.5)

Contesting hurts the holder’s economy without giving the attacker free ownership.

Ship losses & Ship Graveyard

Winner of each fight is still decided by the normal battle simulation — not by who lost more ships.

Destroyed player hull (attackers and stationed Guardians) uses the Ship Graveyard pipeline with siege debris overrides:

Phase	Debris (gone / salvage field)	Graveyard buyback
Contest	~15%	~85%
Takeover	~30%	~70%

NPC protector ships do not enter the Graveyard. Planetary defenses use normal damage + auto-repair (no Graveyard).

Building penalty

When Territory Siege is on and you successfully Take over a held Division:

Each alliance building on the center loses 3 levels
If the new level is below 4, the building is removed
If your alliance lost this system recently and retakes it within 7 days, the −3 pass is waived (you keep buildings as they currently are)

Neutral first takes have no player buildings to penalize. When Territory Siege is off, rival takeovers still use the older full building wipe.

Limits & cooldowns

Rule	Value
Max open Contests per alliance (Contested + Vulnerable)	5
Re-contest cooldown after fail / expire / cancel	24 hours on that system
Headquarters	Cannot be Contested or Taken
Who can Takeover	Only the Contester

Map & UI signals

Signal	Meaning
Amber / warning system border	Contested
Red / danger system border	Vulnerable
Alliance Systems list flags + countdown	Per-Division siege status
HQ / Division Center building modal	Live countdown + defend hints
Alliance bottom-nav red border + `!`	Alliance system under inbound threat and/or under siege
System details popup	Contested / Vulnerable status with live timer

Long-press the Alliance button to open the Alliance Systems selector.

Diplomacy

You cannot Contest a system held by an alliance you have a NAP or Ally treaty with.
If a protective treaty is formed mid-siege between contester and defender, the open siege is cancelled and the holder keeps the system.

Quick reference

Thing	Value
Contested duration	Random 20–28h
Vulnerable window	2h
Max open Contests	5 per alliance
Failed siege cooldown	24h
Contested income factor	×0.5 (pool + harvest + survey)
Contest debris / Graveyard	~15% / ~85%
Takeover debris / Graveyard	~30% / ~70%
Building penalty	−3 levels; remove if < 4
Previous-owner waiver	7 days