Frontkrieg First Campaign: Tutorial and x2 Welcome Bonus
The First Campaign in Frontkrieg is a built-in tutorial that runs on the real game map and ends with a welcome bonus: doubled starting resources and troops in your first live match, plus two artillery batteries in your capital. The campaign has five acts, each requiring literally one mouse gesture, so it takes a few minutes to finish. You can skip it at any point, but skipping also removes the bonus. Roughly 37% of registered players have already completed the campaign and claimed the doubled start.
This guide is for anyone who has just created a free account and is deciding whether to spend a few minutes on the tutorial or head straight to the lobby and face live opponents. Below is a breakdown of every act, the exact numbers behind the welcome bonus, and what to do the moment the final screen appears.
How the First Campaign differs from a standard tutorial
Most browser strategy games hand newcomers a simplified diagram: an abstract board, three buttons and labelled arrows. When that tutorial ends, the player lands in the real interface and effectively starts learning from scratch.
Frontkrieg took a different route. The tutorial scene uses the same map of Europe, the same province renderer and the same city command panel as a live match. You are not learning on a mock-up, you are learning inside the interface you will play in tomorrow.
The training theatre is a compact cluster of six neighbouring provinces from the real map: Kyiv (your capital), Lviv, neutral Poltava, hostile Kharkiv and Katerynoslav, and Donetsk, the enemy capital. The opposing force is led by General Kerner, and he behaves exactly like the AI nations in a real match: he leans on the weakest seam of your border.
One more design choice: the campaign explains almost nothing in prose. A pulsing ring highlights the army or button you need, and the advisor's hint fits on a single line. The goal is for you to remember the gesture, not to read a manual.
The five acts and what each one teaches
A counter in the top corner tracks progress as "Campaign: 1/5". Acts run strictly in order and you cannot fail them: do the wrong thing and the scene simply waits for the right one.
Act 1. Take a neutral province
Poltava sits ungarrisoned between your lands and the enemy. Drag your army from Kyiv onto Poltava and the province is yours. This is the core gesture of the whole game: armies are dragged from point to point rather than clicked, and that is exactly how you will move dozens of stacks in a live match.
Act 2. Build barracks and raise a second army
The advisor asks you to open the city panel and queue barracks in Kyiv. The moment the building completes, a second army appears. The lesson is blunt: armies come out of your economy, not out of thin air, and the build queue matters as much as manoeuvre. The full build order is covered in the guide on what to build first.
Act 3. Artillery stops the enemy at the border
General Kerner pushes out of Kharkiv towards Poltava. Here the campaign shows for the first time that units are not interchangeable: the artillery stationed in Poltava strikes the enemy army at range without entering melee. That is the counter system in miniature, explained in detail in unit types and counters.
Act 4. Switch to the offensive
The enemy push is broken and the advisor wants you to exploit it by taking Kharkiv. The act demonstrates the difference between defending your own ground and attacking someone else's, where a province first passes into your occupation.
Act 5. Storm or ultimatum
The finale offers a choice. Donetsk, the enemy capital, can be stormed outright, or you can send an ultimatum and force a surrender without a final battle. Both endings count as a victory, but the second one is the first hint that half the matches in Frontkrieg are won through negotiation rather than firepower. How that works between live players is covered in the diplomacy and alliances guide.
The welcome bonus: what exactly gets doubled
The reward is not paid out inside the tutorial. It lands in your first live match instead. The exact figures:
- Starting resource stockpile is multiplied by 2. Twice the money, grain, lumber, iron and oil for your opening day.
- Starting garrisons are multiplied by 2. Instead of 3 infantry per city you get 6.
- Every player starts with 8 provinces, so the multiplier turns 24 infantry into 48.
- Plus 2 artillery batteries in the capital. A normal start gives you exactly 0, meaning early artillery has to be produced from scratch.
- The bonus is granted once per account, and only in your first real game.
- One condition: the campaign has to be completed, not skipped.
A doubled start does not win the match for you. The map holds around 4,800 provinces, up to 500 live players and up to 70 AI nations, and victory requires 60% of all provinces. What the bonus does cover is the first 48 hours, which is exactly where new players usually fall behind economically.
Should you skip the tutorial
The "Skip, I am an experienced strategist" button is available from the very first screen, and it is a fair option for anyone who has played similar real-time strategy titles. The logic is simple:
- Skipping makes sense if you already know how army dragging, build queues and ranged combat work, and you want to join a match that started today.
- Everyone else should play it through. A few minutes of tutorial costs far less than a doubled start you will never be offered again, because the bonus is one-time only.
The classic early mistakes the campaign has no time to show are collected separately in beginner mistakes to avoid.
What the campaign deliberately leaves out
The tutorial is intentionally limited to five basic gestures so it does not turn into a lecture. Four systems sit outside it, and you will meet all of them on day two of a real match:
- Province morale. Captured territory pays less tax and can revolt until loyalty recovers.
- The resource market. Oil, grain and iron can be bought from other players for cash, not only mined.
- Reconnaissance and fog of war. In a live match you cannot see enemy armies outside your sight radius, which changes the entire planning loop.
- Coalitions. Act five shows a one-on-one ultimatum, whereas real games mean negotiating with several neighbours at once.
None of these matter in your first few hours, so the campaign is right to defer them. The complete baseline is gathered in the Frontkrieg beginner guide.
What to do the moment the campaign ends
The "Go to the real game" button leads into the lobby. From there, four things are worth remembering:
- A new match starts every day, so there is nothing to wait weeks for.
- You can join an ongoing game during its first 7 in-game days, meaning a day of delay is not fatal.
- One in-game day lasts 24 real hours and the world recalculates every minute, so you do not have to sit in the browser.
- Pick your nation deliberately: starting position matters more than raw size. The trade-offs are laid out in which nation to pick.
The opening 48 hours decide a great deal, and they have their own step-by-step plan: the first 24 hours.
The historical setting behind all of this is summarised in the Wikipedia article on World War I.
Frequently asked questions
Is the First Campaign mandatory?
No, the tutorial is optional and a skip button is available at every step. However, the welcome bonus (doubled resources and troops plus 2 artillery) is only granted for a full completion, and it cannot be claimed later.
How long does the tutorial campaign take?
Five acts, each requiring a single action: drag an army, build barracks, fire artillery, attack, and choose an ending. Most players finish the scene in a few minutes, with no timers and no waiting.
Can I replay the campaign and claim the bonus twice?
No. The bonus is tied to your account and granted exactly once, in your first live match. Replaying the tutorial will not double it.
What languages is the tutorial available in?
The campaign, like the rest of the game, runs in four languages: English, Ukrainian, Russian and Arabic. The language is switched in settings and applies to the interface, the advisor hints and the blog.
Takeaway
The First Campaign in Frontkrieg does two jobs at once: in five short acts it shows you the real interface on the real map, and it hands you a welcome bonus that doubles starting resources and garrisons and adds 2 artillery batteries to your capital. Skipping is allowed, but there is no second chance at the doubled start.
If your free account is already set up, the next step is simple: finish the tutorial and join the lobby for the match starting today.