Pirates

Nine pirate factions live in the world. Their strength is random. Any faction can be the strongest, so do not assume the last one on the list is the hardest.

Pirates raid players at random. When they raid you, they carry off some of your troopers, jets, turrets, tanks, agents, and gold. They never take bombers, carriers, or your regions. A single raid takes at most 24,999 of any one thing.

When a pirate raids, the game gives it new regions. So a pirate that just raided someone is fatter and holds more land. If no one fights them, pirates grow.

You can attack a pirate faction to take goods back. A win gives you back about a fifth of what that faction holds — its stolen units, its gold, and some of its regions. It takes several hits to drain a fat faction. A loss costs you a share of the forces you sent.

Tip: military parked in the Trading Market is safe from pirate raids.