DORF Reworks RTS Infantry With Menace-Inspired Suppression and Squad Reinforcements

DORF’s latest update takes aim at a familiar weakness in classic real-time strategy: infantry can become nearly disposable once machine guns and explosives enter the fight. The indie team is building a suppression system that should let those weapons pin squads down while giving other forces time to advance. The update also details automatic squad reinforcements, new Empire units and a branching vehicle upgrade system.

DORFteam has drawn a clear line to the older Command and Conquer approach, where infantry hit by certain weapons drop prone. The developer says that mechanic offers some defensive benefit and slows troops under fire, but it has felt underdeveloped since the 1995 original. In practice, machine guns and artillery can still tear through infantry so quickly that the stance offers little chance to respond.

The proposed alternative takes inspiration from Menace, Overhype Studios’ turn-based tactics game. In Menace, some weapons build a suppression meter; when it fills, the targeted troops are forced down. DORFteam is adapting that idea for real-time combat, applying suppression across an entire squad rather than handling each soldier separately.

Suppressed squads will crawl and shoot less accurately, while gaining better protection from most weapons. That tradeoff is meant to preserve machine guns as useful counters without making them so lethal that infantry stop being worth deploying. The design also gives a pinned squad a chance to survive while friendly units close in.

That’s the important distinction in the plan: suppression should interrupt an advance, not simply erase the unit making it. DORFteam hopes this will keep infantry in the fight even when facing their natural counters. Whether the balance works will depend on how readily squads can recover and how much time players have to exploit the opening, details the update doesn’t settle yet.

Recruit resources keep squads in the fight

The update also shows a system for restoring squad members lost in combat. Players will spend recruit resources to replace casualties, while nearby buildings that store recruits will replenish squads automatically. This makes infantry strength depend partly on local support and positioning, as well as on the units sent into battle.

The current demonstration exposes two problems the team is still working through. With enough nearby recruits, squads can become effectively impossible to kill; in the footage, they also appear to retreat endlessly. DORFteam says it plans to limit the range of recruit buildings and give them relatively small storage capacities, so reinforcement support has clearer boundaries.

Squad movement is set to get another layer of organization through squad leaders and followers, including section leaders. The team says it studied a document from Relic about how the system works in the Company of Heroes games. The goal is to give groups a clearer structure as they move, addressing the backwards movement shown in the current build.

New units add choices to the Empire roster

Empire rifle squads can gain a Machine Gunner. The unit can fire while moving, but becomes more accurate when deployed, giving players a choice between keeping up an advance and setting up a stronger defensive position. DORFteam describes it as additional offensive firepower that is better suited to holding ground.

An annex for the infantry academy lets players replace that Machine Gunner with a Mortar. It attacks from much farther away, but cannot fire while undeployed or target aircraft. The Chemical Gas Sprayer, an upgrade for Empire Grenadiers, brings another specialized role: its corrosive effect is intended to counter light vehicles, while toxic gas helps drive defenders out of fortified positions.

The vehicle roster is growing alongside the infantry. The Empire’s Medium Tank carries a 75mm cannon, plus machine guns in both its turret and hull. Its more significant role may be as a starting point for factory-annex upgrades, which can turn it into a Tank Destroyer or Assault Gun.

Annexes will shape vehicle progression more broadly. A Halftrack can branch into a Cruise Missile Launcher or a chemical gas thrower that suppresses infantry and weakens vehicles. Heavy Tanks are planned to receive versions focused on stronger firepower or anti-air capabilities, along with one carrying a large chemical projector. That projector creates a close-range blast reaction for attacking buildings and vehicles.

The update’s oddest addition is the Ironworm, a fast light tank designed to ram enemy vehicles. It combines Empire and Warband technology: players must start as the Empire and capture a Warband vehicle factory to build one. Flamethrowers and an autocannon round out its loadout, making it a close-range attacker with a distinct route to acquisition.

DORFteam says its next update is planned to expand the map editor tools, introduce an early skirmish mode and add more units. There’s no fixed release date. The Kickstarter page lists 2028 as the target, which the developer calls a cautious estimate; the team hopes to release in 2027 if development goes well.

For now, the most consequential question is whether squad-wide suppression and limited reinforcements can make infantry feel durable without stripping machine guns and artillery of their purpose. The latest update sets out the intended balance and several ways DORF’s units can evolve. Players can follow development and wishlist the game on Steam.

Related reading: RTS games on PC, DORF, strategy games, Menace, DORF’s Kickstarter funding and its earlier infantry designs. The developer’s update is also available through Steam.