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Warband Tribes
September 29, 2026 at 12:08 AM
Initial version (2026-09-29)
The Warband Tribes are one of the three playable factions in D.O.R.F. Real-Time Strategic Conflict, alongside the Union of Imperial States and The Collective. The official faction page subtitles them "The barbarians", and the developers often shorten the name to the Warband or the Warbands. The press kit refers to their junkyard jalopy war machines.
As of September 2026 the game is unreleased. This page draws on the official lore, development updates and developer statements, and the faction's design may still change.
The official faction description calls the Warband Tribes the most numerous peoples of the Second World. Vast stretches of land and sea are ruled by isolationist nomads, superstitious cults, seafaring pirates and bloodthirsty motorized warbands.
The civilized border nations have long considered these peoples too technologically backward to be an existential threat, apart from the occasional raid. More recently, authorities have hurried to dismiss rumors of so-called witches, strange creatures and huge armies of twisted machines built from the litter of the old world as hysteria and exaggeration. The description ends on a warning: the tribes have existed for centuries, and if a single warlord ever united them, it could mean the end of their more civilized neighbors.
An official video introducing the Warbands was published on the official YouTube channel on April 5, 2026.
The developers have consistently described the Warband as a faction built on speed and guerilla and stealth tactics. In 2023 they said it would rely on asymmetrical warfare, such as using improvised explosive devices for defense instead of heavy gun emplacements, and moving infantry through underground tunnels or up cliffs to set ambushes. They added that it would be trickier to learn than the other two factions but fully capable in the hands of a skilled player.
The same 2023 answer described many Warband units as glass cannons or speed-focused units that need micromanagement. Because standard RTS unit AI simply moves to range and fires, the developers suggested a toggleable setting that would make certain fast units circle-strafe their targets. Asked in 2024 about nomadic mechanics for the faction, they said they wanted to experiment with some mobile factory and refinery units, while stressing that the Warband is mostly about speed and guerilla tactics. Neither idea had been confirmed as final as of September 2026.
The developers also explained in 2023 that Warband units often appear as targets in demonstration videos simply because many of the newly shown units belonged to the other factions, not because the faction is meant to be weaker.
The Warband is planned to have a very minimal air force. The developers said in 2023 that its air units would be about reconnaissance and deception, and that the faction would handle air defense through ground-to-air weapons or by moving underground. In April 2026 they said the Warband might get a token air scout and transport but would not have a meaningful air force like the other two factions, relying on guerilla tactics instead.
Warband sea units are planned to be more numerous than its air units, but the developers said they should not be expected to match the destroyers and cruisers of the other two factions. The wider naval design is covered on Naval Warfare.
The Warband's named infantry structure is the Hand. In the July 2026 development update introducing the Annex System, the developers gave one Warband example: attaching a Gasoline Tank Annex to the Hand lets it produce Raiders who can throw Molotov cocktails, and replaces a few of the Raiders in each squad with flamethrower infantry. Under this system, flamethrower infantry are an upgrade to basic Raiders rather than a separate unit.
Factory | Annex Attached | Result |
|---|---|---|
The Hand | None | Raider squads (inferred; the update only describes the Gasoline Tank version) |
The Hand | Gasoline Tank | Raiders who throw Molotov cocktails, with some squad members replaced by flamethrower infantry |
The May 2026 development update set out how the Warband moves supplies, in keeping with its stealthy style. Unlike the Empire's surface supply chain, the Warband's is planned to run largely underground.
Element | Planned Role |
|---|---|
Supply tunnels | Supply routes between buildings take the form of underground tunnels that move goods safely, though distance between buildings still affects efficiency. |
Supply vehicles | Move automatically between resource deposits and refineries, with an emphasis on armed escort. |
Fuel supply vehicles | Often carry flame weapons to defend themselves on trips between refineries and oil rigs or sulphur mines. |
Tunnel network | Tunnels connecting two entrances across the map let the Warband move troops unseen and create hidden supply lines between bases and outlying resource outposts. Supply units are meant to choose the underground route when one is available. |
The developers said the planned rethink of Pipelines and Conveyor Lines would mostly affect the Empire and the Warband. Like every faction, the Warband spends Fuel on units, and since the May 2026 rework it does not use Power. See Resources and Logistics for the resource system as a whole.
The developers have named or described the following units in connection with the Warband. The developers say unit statistics are placeholders, so none are listed. Several other named units have no stated faction and are listed on the Units page.
Unit | What the Developers Have Said |
|---|---|
Raiders | Basic infantry squads from the Hand. With a Gasoline Tank Annex they throw Molotov cocktails. |
Flamethrower infantry | An upgrade that replaces some Raiders in a squad when the Hand has a Gasoline Tank Annex. |
Giants | Described in December 2024 in answer to a question about the Warband's giant unit. The idea is that they wield field guns as hand weapons and can pick up and hurl a giant mine like a makeshift artillery piece. |
Giant mine | A separate unit that can be placed as a time bomb or a landmine, or thrown by Giants. |
Giant spikeball | Seen in a trailer and mentioned in a 2023 reply about showing more Warband units. At the time its collision was limited to a single tile, so it needed engine work before it could be shown properly. |
Ghost familiar | Mentioned in the same 2023 reply as a unit that another unit can summon, which the engine could not yet support. |
As of September 2026 the developers had not published the Warband's full roster, tech tree or unit statistics. The underground layer used for tunneling, first described in 2023, had not been confirmed as implemented. The token air scout and transport, mobile factories and refineries, and the circle-strafe setting were all described as possibilities rather than commitments. Features shared by all factions, including Veterancy and building capture, are covered on their own pages.
