Glossary
Glossary of key terms and concepts used throughout Imperium Sine Fine, in plain English. See Abbreviations for acronyms and shorthand instead of full terms.
Alliance
The strongest possible treaty between two empires, carrying mutual defence obligations and shared visibility of each other's assets. Allied empires are automatically drawn into a defensive war if either is attacked, but never automatically follow an ally into a war of aggression. See Treaty Types.
Army Composition Bonus (ACB)
A combat bonus of up to +20% to Melee, Ranged, and Armour Value, earned by keeping an army's troop mix close to the faction's preferred troop type and target percentage. The bonus peaks exactly at the target and tapers off the further the composition drifts from it. See Armies.
Assimilation
The slow process by which a conquered population gradually adopts the identity of the ruling race, converting a small fraction of the group each month. The rate depends on racial resistance, city loyalty, crime, and whether an Inquisition is active. See Assimilation.
Battle Honours
The first layer of Military Tradition — a troop slot earns experience through actual combat use, climbing through Blooded, Veteran, and Elite tiers over the lifetime of an empire, unlocking Equipment Loadout customisation and Troop Traits along the way.
Calm Border
A relation value that rewards two neighbouring empires for staying peaceful despite proximity, climbing steadily for every day that passes without combat between them. Any fighting between the two resets it to zero. See Relation Values.
Combat Readiness (CR)
How effectively an army actually performs in battle, calculated from its Organisation multiplied by its current Equipment Level, then further modified by Grain Supply Percentage. A worn-down, poorly-supplied army fights well below its paper strength even at full organisation. See Armies.
Combat Value (CV)
The ratio between a side's combined offensive stats and the enemy's defensive stats, calculated separately for the physical and morale axes each combat round. A CV above 1.0 means a side is overwhelming the opposing stat; below 1.0 means it's being outmatched. See Combat System.
Crime Rate
A per-race, per-settlement value reflecting how lawless a population is, driven mainly by how much territory a city controls relative to its Province Development Level. High crime reduces resource output, project speed, recruitment, and loyalty. See Crime and Provincial Order.
Diplomatic Request
A pending offer from one empire to another — such as an alliance proposal or peace offer — that the receiving empire can accept, decline, or simply ignore. An ignored request eventually applies a relation penalty against the sender. See Diplomatic Actions.
Empire Spirit
A faction-specific set of passive bonuses and abilities that defines much of what makes each of the 14 factions mechanically distinct, including its Imperial Influence generation rate and any unique projects it can undertake. See any faction page.
Equipment Loadout
The second layer of Military Tradition — once a troop slot reaches Blooded tier, its stats can be redistributed within a fixed point budget, letting a player decide what kind of fighter that troop type becomes. See Equipment Loadouts.
Faction
One of the 14 playable nations in Imperium Sine Fine, each belonging to one of the 8 playable races but representing a distinct culture, history, and set of unique mechanics within it. See Factions.
Fog of War
An optional game setting that hides unexplored territory from the player until it's been physically scouted by an army or revealed by settlement expansion. Only affects the player — AI empires always have full visibility. See Fog of War.
Global Equipment Stock (GES)
The empire-wide reserve that holds resources and manufactured equipment, distributing them to every army and settlement that needs them rather than each holding its own private stockpile. See Global Equipment Stock.
Government Level
A measure of how far an empire's chosen government type has developed, from Level 1 up to a maximum of Level 5, earned through technological progress. Higher levels intensify both a government's strengths and its weaknesses. See Government Levels.
Grain Supply Percentage
How well-fed an army or settlement currently is, based on the Global Equipment Stock's grain reserves relative to total demand. A shortfall reduces Combat Readiness for armies and suppresses birth rates while raising death rates for settlements. See Resources and Armies.
Imperial Court
The seat of an empire's political leadership — the Emperor, Heir, and up to three Advisors — through which several high-stakes actions like Abdication or Overthrow can be carried out. See Imperial Court Actions.
Imperial Influence (IMI)
The currency representing an Imperial Court's political power, generated automatically each cycle and spent on diplomatic actions, Court actions, and sending Generals for training. See Imperial Court Actions.
Ironman Mode
An optional game mode that saves into a single, automatically-managed slot rather than multiple save files, removing the ability to reload a costly decision. See Difficulty Levels.
Military Tradition
The umbrella system through which troops develop a unique fighting identity over an empire's history, built from three layers: Battle Honours, Equipment Loadouts, and Troop Traits. See Military Tradition.
Organisation
A 0–100 value representing an army or garrison's readiness and will to keep fighting, drained by enemy Shock Value pressure during combat and regained by resting, moving, or executing projects. Reaching 0 causes a rout. See Armies.
Outpost
A small, single-purpose structure built on a controlled hex — a Mine, Quarry, Warehouse, and so on — that boosts resource output or storage capacity without ever growing into a full settlement. Unlike settlements, outposts cannot be besieged; they're simply destroyed if an enemy army enters the hex. See Outposts.
Province Development Level (PDL)
A 1–10 scale measuring how built-up a settlement's surrounding province has become, affecting population cap, workshop count, movement speed, and project times. See Province Development.
Rebel Faction
A faction that emerges when a settlement leaves its parent empire, most commonly through a rebellion triggered by sustained low loyalty. A rebel faction starts with its parent empire's technology and a fresh set of starting resources.
Relation Value
A number from −500 to +500 representing how one empire feels about another, built from fixed treaty-status values plus a range of event-driven and background modifiers that rise or fade over time. See Relation Values.
Settlement
A true city — with population, workshops, walls, a garrison, and a Governor — as distinct from the smaller, single-purpose Outposts. See Settlement Types and Founding.
Sprawl Factor
The ratio of a settlement's controlled hexes to its Province Development Level, used to determine how much its crime rate is inflated by expanding faster than it develops. See Crime and Provincial Order.
Strategy (Combat)
The tactical posture an army adopts before battle — Shield Wall, Cavalry Charge, Skirmish, and so on — which sets fixed Shock Value and Resolve multipliers and further modifies Melee, Ranged, and Armour Value depending on the opponent's own chosen strategy. See Combat Strategies.
Support Equipment
One of the four manufactured equipment types, consumed continuously by armies simply through moving, training, or working on projects, and replenished monthly from the Global Equipment Stock. See Production and Equipment.
Terrain Modifier
A general term for the many ways terrain type affects gameplay — resource output, movement cost, defensive bonus in combat, and equipment wear while stationary. See Terrain.
Treaty Status
The formal diplomatic relationship between two empires — War, Neutral, Peace, Peace with Open Borders, or Alliance — determining what each side is permitted to do to the other and where their armies may travel. See Treaty Types.
Troop Trait
The third layer of Military Tradition, unlocked at Veteran and Elite Battle Honours tiers — a chosen ability that gives a troop slot a genuine boost alongside an equally genuine penalty, defining its strategic identity. See Troop Traits.
Victory Condition
One of three possible ways a campaign can be won — Dominator, Head of the Pack, or Lord of the Realms — one or more of which can be enabled when a game is created. See Victory Conditions.
Wanted Garrison
The target size a settlement's garrison automatically tries to reach and maintain, which increases in steps of 50 if the actual garrison ever exceeds it.
