Winning Iron Frontier before the first battle

I lost my first dozen Iron Frontier maps by treating it like a rush game. It isn't. The players who win are the ones whose supply lines never break, and that's decided in the opening minutes.

Secure the nearest resource nodes first and connect them with roads before you build a single combat unit. An army you can't supply grinds to a halt at the worst moment, and I learned that watching my front line starve while the enemy rolled over it.

Keep your depots close enough that new units reach the front already reinforced. Overextending your supply just hands the enemy the initiative. It feels slow, but a patient expansion beats an aggressive one almost every time.

Once your economy is stable, the game rewards decisive pushes. Save your boost abilities for the moment you commit, not for defense. That timing is what separated my wins from my losses.

It's a strategy game that thinks a few steps ahead of you. Respect the supply lines and it opens right up.