Reconnaissance in Frontkrieg: Fog of War, Spies & Reading the Enemy

In Frontkrieg, the player who sees the map first usually wins — not the one with the biggest army. Intelligence works on three layers: the fog of war (what you can see on the map), espionage agents (reaching behind enemy lines), and the newspaper (a public chronicle of the world). This guide is for players who know the basics and want to read an opponent's plans before the first blow lands. Short answer: keep a high-vision unit on the front (a balloon spots enemies at 400 units), drop a recon agent on a key enemy province for 20,000 money, and read the newspaper every day — its 7 event types reveal more than you'd expect. Below are the exact numbers and the logic behind each tool. Frontkrieg is free and never pay-to-win.

Key takeaways

• Fog of war has 3 levels: unseen, detected (a blip) and identified (nation, type, count).
• Your best "eyes" on the front are the balloon (vision 400) and the fighter (200).
• Espionage comes in 4 agent types; the minimum stake is 20,000 money, and it is never refunded.
• The base success chance for a mission is about 85% when the enemy has no counter-intelligence.
• Counter-intelligence of 40,000+ exposes a caught spy's nation in the newspaper.

Fog of War: Three Levels of Visibility

The Frontkrieg map is hidden by fog of war by default. Your units light up the space around them in a radius, and every point on the map holds one of three states. Level 0 is unseen — you have no idea what is happening there. Level 1 is detection: you see that something is moving (a blip), but not its nation, type or count. Level 2 is identification: full information about the enemy stack (nation, unit type and numbers).

The identify radius equals a unit's vision stat, while the plain detect radius is wider — it is multiplied by a factor of 1.8. So a balloon identifies enemies at 400 units but "senses" movement out to 720 (400 × 1.8). That is why one cheap airborne spotter is worth more than an army moving blind.

Vision radius by unit type

• Balloon — 400 (the undisputed king of aerial scouting).
• Fighter — 200, bomber — 150.
• Battleship — 185, light cruiser — 170, submarine — 120 (naval recon).
• Armored car — 140, cavalry — 130.
• Tank — 100, artillery — 95, infantry — 90.

The lesson is simple: infantry sees only 90, so never rely on it for scouting. Push aircraft and cavalry forward on land, and cruisers and submarines at sea.

What stays hidden even in sight

Even when a province is inside your vision, the enemy can hide something. A fortress of level 3 or higher conceals its garrison size: you see the province is fortified, but not how many troops sit inside. That matters before a storm — attacking a fortress blind often ends in a rout.

Espionage Agents: 4 Types of Operations

When visual recon is not enough, espionage takes over. You pick an enemy province, assign an agent and invest money (minimum 20,000). The stake is deducted immediately and never refunded — win or lose. A mission resolves on the daily tick (once per in-game day), so plan ahead.

• Intel — a snapshot of the target province: garrison, armies, buildings, morale, population, plus the enemy nation's resource stockpile, income and score. This is your main tool for reading an opponent.
• Military sabotage — drops the province's strongest building by one level (or, if there are no buildings, cancels a production queue).
• Economic sabotage — steals money (up to 2× your stake, but never more than 25% of the target's treasury and never more than 10,000 at once) and also destroys part of the largest resource stockpile.
• Counter-intelligence — passive defense for your own province. This agent never "fires" and never disappears: it stands permanently and raises the catch risk for enemy spies.

What are your odds

Success depends on your stake relative to the enemy counter-intelligence in the same province. At a stake of 20,000 with no enemy defense, the chance is roughly 85%. The ceiling is 97% and the floor is 5%: even a tiny stake sometimes slips through, and the richest operation sometimes fails. One key detail: a successful intel agent does not disappear — it keeps working every day and feeds you fresh data until it is caught.

Counter-Intelligence and the Newspaper

Defense mirrors offense. Place counter-intelligence agents in your capital and border provinces — where the enemy is most likely to look. When a province's total counter-intelligence reaches 40,000, a caught spy reveals its nation in the newspaper; with weaker defense, the report only mentions a "suspected espionage attempt" with no name attached.

The newspaper is an underrated source of free intelligence. It records 7 event types: war declarations, province captures, battles, ranking updates, system messages (including exposed spies), player-written articles, and nation eliminations. Read it every morning: who is fighting whom, who is expanding fast, and where battles just raged — all of it hints at where the next threat will come from.

Example: Recon Before an Offensive

Say you are preparing to storm an enemy capital. The temptation is to throw the whole army at it, but an experienced player gathers data first. Push a fighter forward (vision 200): it identifies which stacks guard the approaches and whether enemy reinforcements are inbound. If a level-3 fortress blocks you, the garrison size is hidden — and that is when a 20,000 intel agent earns its keep, returning the exact defender roster the next day. In parallel, economic sabotage can strip up to 10,000 money from the enemy and wreck their oil stock so they cannot finish their defenses. And the newspaper may reveal that your neighbor is bogged down in a war of their own — perhaps the moment to strike is right now. Three tools together turn a risky blind assault into a calculated move with a predictable outcome.

Reconnaissance Checklist

1. Keep a high-vision unit (balloon or fighter) on every active front.
2. Before an offensive, drop an intel agent on the target province and wait for the report.
3. Place counter-intelligence in your capital and 1–2 border provinces.
4. Re-read the newspaper daily — it is a free data feed.
5. Never storm a level-3+ fortress blind: scout the garrison first.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the fog of war in Frontkrieg?

Fog of war is a hidden-map system: everything outside your units' vision radius is invisible. There are 3 levels — unseen, detected (a blip with no detail), and identified (nation, type and count). Vision radius depends on the unit type.

What types of spies are there?

Four: intel (a province and nation snapshot), military sabotage (minus one building level), economic sabotage (stealing money and destroying resources), and counter-intelligence (passive defense against enemy agents).

How much does reconnaissance cost?

The minimum stake is 20,000 money, and it is never refunded regardless of the result. At a 20,000 stake with no enemy counter-intelligence, the success chance is about 85%, up to a maximum of 97%.

How do I protect against enemy spies?

Place counter-intelligence agents in important provinces. When their total value in a province reaches 40,000, a caught spy reveals its nation in the newspaper, so you know exactly who is hunting you.

Conclusion

Reconnaissance in Frontkrieg is three layers of information working together: the fog of war shows movement on the map, spies peek behind the front line, and the newspaper compiles a public chronicle of the world. A player who combines all three almost always beats an opponent moving blind. Start small — push a balloon forward and drop a single intel agent — and the difference shows within the first day. Frontkrieg is free, browser-based and never pay-to-win. Ready to try it? Jump into a new match or read more guides on our blog.

Source: Fog of war — Wikipedia.