Changeling Lands



Lore
Aggressive, deceptive, and loyal to their hive, changelings are insectoid pony-like creatures. All changelings possess unique shape-shifting magic. It enables them to shift form, voice, and even size with stunning rapidity and accuracy. They use this ability to fool their victims and drain their love, which is essential for their survival.

Recent pony scholars have discovered that changelings are more insectoid than mammalian due to hatching from eggs as larvae in collective hives. But beyond that - how their hives work, the role of queens in their society, how they acquire love, and how they think are up to the imagination as any travel to their territory will meet an almost certain demise. Fortunately for their neighbors, their militarism and aggression caused them to spend far more time fighting each other than outsiders, allowing Olenia and Equestria to outmatch isolated incursions.

But all of that changed in 982 ALB, when the ambitious Queen Chrysalis of Vesalipolis united the Changeling Hives under one banner, the first time in history for a Queen to do so. And in 1002, she led the hives on a bold mission into the heart of Equestria.

The Siege of Canterlot
In 1002 ALB Queen Chrysalis kidnapped and took the form of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, gaining access to the highest levels of government, and using her status as the fiance of Equestria's Captain of Guard, Shining Armor to drain his love. Only the last-minute discovery by Twilight Sparkle (also Shining Armor's brother) compromised the plan. Despite being discovered, Chrysalis had been able to feast on so much love that she used her overflowing magic to defeat Princess Celestia and prevent the Elements of Harmony from wielding their power, summoning her hive to occupy Canterlot and feast.

What followed was one of the most chaotic battles the ponies of Equestria had ever experienced as the changeling swarm descended upon the ancient city. The vastly outgunned and outnumbered Equestrian Royal Guard units mounted a desperate resistance on the streets. It seemed that all hope was lost.

It was only when the real Cadance, freed by Twilight, turned the love collected on her behalf against Chrysalis, and freed Captain Shining Armor. He was able to quickly repower Canterlot's powerful magical shielding. In one fell swoop, the Changelings were repulsed from the pony capital. This battle was the first true wake-up call for Equestria, and would begin to spark tentative interest in military preparedness and practice. Even the Elements of Harmony were forced to engage in combat to succeed.

The New Hive
This defeat brought Chrysalis to the brink of a breakdown. With this failure, the hives once again fractured and split. But instead of giving up, she nursed this grudge into a relentless drive to take revenge against Equestria. And in 1006, she finally reunited the hives under her banner.

Olenian scouts and seers begin to report strange sightings - changeling hives that had ceased their internal squabbles, instead building and working together. More organised, more numerous border raids led by increasingly professional forces. The changelings had always been an industrial, technological race, but recent weaponry showed unprecedented advances over their southern neighbours. The modern Changeling Military now features the most developed Army and Air Force in the world.

With these tools at her disposal, the Changelings hope to overcome their enemies with ease, so long as they can keep this technological advantage.

Dissenting Voices
Chrysalis' attack on Canterlot cost the changelings heavily. The defeat was quickly followed by dissatisfaction with her standing as leader. A strong Queen brought food and victory to the Hive. Chrysalis had proven herself weak. Acting promptly, Chrysalis moved quickly to purge high ranking dissenters, especially amongst her powerful generals. However, Chrysalis cannot be everywhere, and the whispers continue. One such changeling has begun to spoke beyond a whisper. Thorax, a dissenting drone, has been suggesting a new possibility for this industrial world - why not trade with willing Olenians for love and sign a non-aggression pact with Equestria? This would guarantee both food and safety for the hives.

A Second War
The Queen knows that her young, unified Nation is not yet ready to take on the ponies, though. She must bide her time and focus on further development and expansion before she can truly grasp for revenge.

Luckily, opportunity presents itself with a valid and easy target for conquest. The Kingdom of Olenia to the south is in political turmoil and is militarily weak. In such a crippled state, it would be more than easy to walk in and seize the land for themselves. The deer might just be the first ones to feel the combined might and fury of the Changelings

Soon, the ponies shall tremble, and the Changelings will reign supreme!

Starting Situation
Political - The Changelings start with the most technologically advanced nation on the planet, with established tank, air and naval forces. Their focuses allow for rapid buildup of their already respectable military base, and they have options for war with both the Polar Bear Communities, which provides bonuses to the Changelings for little effort, and  Kingdom of Olenia, which provides more factories and needed resources very early in the game. However, this power will be needed to challenge Equestria, the Changeling's ultimate target. With the largest industrial base in the game but crippling peacetime maluses, Equestria will close the gap as it rearms.

Army - Changelings start with a very strong army that can arguably defeat any force on the planet in a straight fight, and the advanced templates will save a lot of army experience. This includes 6 smaller garrison divisions, 7 infantry divisions, 4 jaegers (light infantry divisions), 5 motorized infantry divisions and 3 light tank divisions, for a total of 190k deployed ponypower, 2.7k motorized and 540 tanks. Apart from the garrison divisions, all forces are fully equipped with standard support (engineers, recon, artillery).

Airforce - Changelings start with 255 Fighter I, 110 Early Fighter, 100 Early Bomber, and two fighter aces, putting them on a solid foundation for expansion.

Navy - Changelings start with 5 capital ships (2BB, 2BC, 1CA), 21 screens (2CL, 19DD) and 19 submarines. They are very advanced in their technology (1007 models for all ship classes aside from Carriers). However, they will still likely struggle against the Equestrian Navy, which starts with a single Carrier already deployed and Naval Bomber I tech researched.

However the true strength of the Changeling Navy comes with their completely unique ship model: the Cruiser Submarine. These submarines have a base maximum range of 7000 kilometers, which can be further increased by adding fuel tanks. With these improvements, the player will be able to attack convoys on the eastern coast of Equus and even near the western coast Griffonia. This can effectively cut Equestria off from the precious aluminium deposits in New Mareland, severely hurting their capability to produce aircraft and support equipment.

Changeling Demilitarization
If changelings are liberated by Equestria, they will enforce demilitarization on the nation. Changelings will become a puppet, with 0 ponypower, the Disarmed Nation law and set to Civilian Economy. Changelings will not be able to change these restrictions unless remilitarized by their overlord.

Changeling Protectorates
All nations on the continent of Equus have cosmetic localization for being a changeling puppet. However, in addition to this, the Changelings can release portions of Equestrian territory as protectorates. Each protectorate receives all changeling territory. The five potential regions are as follows.


 * Manehattan Protectorate
 * Austral Protectorate
 * Appleloosian Protectorate
 * Severyana Protectorate
 * Crystal Protectorate

If the Manehattan Protectorate wasn't formed in two months after Equestria's capitulation, the Equestrian Liberation Front will spawn in Eastern Equestria and declare war on the Changelings. The player will receive the event "Unrest in the East" soon after Equestria's defeat warning about this fact.

When forming the Manehattan Protectorate, an event will be triggered asking if the player wants to play as Manehattan.

A good part of Griffonia also have decisions available to form changeling regional puppets if you are able to conquer them. There are currently seven decisions available.


 * Herzland Protectorate
 * Western Griffonia Protectorate
 * Verenia Protectorate
 * Griffonstone Protectorate
 * Southern Griffonia Protectorate
 * Evi Valley Protectorate
 * Karthin Protectorate

Sombra and Nightmare Moon
Should Sombra emerge in the Crystal Empire he may seek to create a faction with the  Lunar Empire and/or Changelings. He may also propose marriage to Chrysalis, though this has no gameplay benefits other than improved relations between the two countries.

A Sombra-Chrysalis marriage isn't the only crack shipping available to the Changelings either. Can you find the other two?

The Changeling-Griffonian Attache
Two Changeling generals are present in the Griffonian Empire, providing national spirits to both the Griffonian Empire and the Changeling Lands. These attaches can be recalled via decision or will be automatically recalled during the Lead The Armies focus. If they are feeling charitable, the Griffonian Empire may send some gifts with the returning attaches. One attaché, Thranx, has other plans, however...

New Mareland-Sponsored Resistance
After the changelings conquer Equestria, if Commonwealth of New Mareland still exists and remained loyalist, a resistance to the changelings will spring up, leading to attacks on infrastructure, military factories, or civilian factories every so often.

The attacks are impossible to prevent, but by this point, the Changelings should have enough civilian factories to offset the attacks. The attacks will be permanently ended if New Mareland is conquered.

The Great Queen's Tower
Available from the start, The Great Queen's Tower is a set of two decisions focusing on the construction of Queen Chrysalis' tower at the center of Vesalipolis. Completing the construction of the tower gives a positive national spirit, and is a prerequisite to a branch of the Pax Chrysalia focus tree.

The Greater Changelingia
After the Changelings conquer Equestria, two decisions will be unlocked where Queen Chrysalis can proclaim either Greater Changelingia or the Changeling Queendom. Taking these decisions will rename the country to the selected name, and only one of the two can be taken. Both decisions cost 50 PP and reward 150 PP.

Anti-Changeling Insurgency
Immediately after Equestria capitulates and the Changelings annex it, the Changelings will receive the Anti-Changeling Insurgency national spirit. The national spirit has four levels, going from worst to best: Utter Chaos, Widespread, Sporadic, and Contained. By default, Anti-Changeling Insurgency is on the Utter Chaos level, and grants the following:


 * Offensive War Penalty Stability Modifier:
 * Resistance Target:
 * Resistance Decay Speed:
 * Compliance Growth Speed:
 * Garrison Penetration Chance:
 * Damage to Garrisons:
 * Resistance Activity Chance:
 * Maximum Compliance of Equestrian states under Changeling occupation will be capped at.
 * Maximum Compliance of Equestrian states under Changeling occupation will be capped at.

Every time the level of the national spirit increases, all negative stats will weaken by 10%, while the Maximum Compliance stat will increase by 20%. The final Contained level of the national spirit has all negative stats at ±10% and no cap on Maximum Compliance.

In order to increase the level of the Anti-Changeling Insurgency national spirit, three decisions unlocked alongside the national spirit will have to be taken. These are:


 * Suppress the Resistance
 * Consolidate the Occupation
 * Promote Compliance & Collaboration

All three decisions have five stages, which must be completed before they are unlocked. These stages are represented by points, and all three decisions start with 0/5 points. These points are rewarded through national focuses and events scattered across the Pax Chrysalia focus tree. If the player is not careful in their decision-making, some points will be permanently lost, and the decisions will become impossible to unlock.

The decisions themselves, once unlocked, cost 25 PP and 14 days of -25% PP Gain to complete, and increase the Anti-Changeling Insurgency level by one upon completion.

Love Extraction & Consumption
Once the focus The Liebessammeldienst is complete, the Love extraction and consumption mechanics for the Changeling Lands will be unlocked.

Love, measured in Erots, is primarily acquired through the Changelings special continuous focus, The Love Harvest. The continuous focus steadily grants Erots of love at the cost of increasing resistance strength when it's active. Additional Erots of Love can be gained through the Supplementary Love Acquisition and Supplementary Love Synthesization decisions. Some events and focuses will also grant one-time Love bonuses.

Love can be used for completing national focuses, and for the love consumption decisions that grant temporary bonuses.

However, there is another string attached to this that you must keep a close eye on: The Battalion Cap. If you have more battalions and support companies than your cap allows, then your Love will slowly drain. The further your Love stockpiles dip into the negative, the worse the Love Deficit national spirit becomes, which will apply severe debuffs on your army.

The battalion cap depends on how many states you and your subjects own, and can also be increased later in the focus branch once the average resistance of Equestrian core states goes below 30%. The focuses in the Love extraction branch of the Pax Chrysalia focus tree will also make your Love harvesting methods more efficient as you progress.

Siedlungsplan Expansionism


The focus Prep the Siedlungsplan unlocks decisions that allows the Changelings to colonize states in Northwestern Equestria and Crystal Empire. The prerequiesites for the decisions require the target colony state to have <20% Resistance, ≥40% Compliance, and either the Regional Commissariat or Local Police Force occupation law.

The decisions cost 70 PP and require 70 days to finish. Once complete, the colonized state will gain the "Settler-Colony" state modifier, which grants:


 * Local Non-Core Ponypower:
 * Monthly Population:
 * Resistance Target:
 * Resistance Decay Speed:
 * Damage to Garrisons:
 * Recruitable Population:
 * Daily Compliance Gain:

Jäger-Einsatzgruppe
The focus Jagdkommando Brigades unlocks the ability to deploy Jäger-Einsatzgruppe rapid-response divisions anywhere in the Hegemony. These divisions can be used to suppress resistance or deployed as emergency units.

After the mechanic is unlocked, a button to deploy Jäger-Einsatzgruppe divisions will appear next to the state overlay. The deploy action can be used if the state is owned by either the Changeling Lands, a changeling puppet state, or a member of the Changeling Hegemony. It costs 15 command power and 15 political power to use the deploy action, and doing so will designate the state for a Jagdkommando dispatch and prepare 2 Jagdkommando-Einsatzgruppe divisions for dispatch.

After a state is selected for a Jagdkommando dispatch, another decision will be unlocked in the decision menu to dispatch the Jagdkommando unit to the selected state, which costs 5 political power. The time the dispatch decision takes to complete varies depending on the distance between the selected state and Vesalipolis; on Equus, the decisions take around 1 to 2.5 weeks to complete.

After the dispatch decision completes, 2 Jagdkommando-Einsatzgruppe divisions will spawn in the selected state, and the state's resistance level will decrease by 3%. The Jagdkommando-Einsatzgruppe divisions consist of 6 Jager battalions with Infiltrator, Recon, and Engineer support companies, and are fully equipped, have Seasoned experience, and Elite equipment priority.

The Changeling Lands have a total of 10 Jagdkommando-Einsatzgruppe divisions in reserve; the number decreases when the deploy action is taken, meaning that a total of five states can be designated for dispatch at one time.

Another decision in the decision screen will recall the Jagdkommando-Einsatzgruppe divisions back into reserve; it costs 25 PP and 7 days of -25% Daily Command Power Gain Multipler to take this decision, during which states cannot be selected for Jagdkommando deployment. When this decision completes, all deployed Jagdkommando divisions will despawn, all states designated for a Jagdkommando dispatch will lose their designation status, and the number of Jagdkommando divisions in reserve returns to 10.

One state can only be designated for one dispatch of 2 Jagdkommando divisions at one time.

Gameplay Walkthrough
A playthrough of the Changeling Lands has three main stages: pre-Great War, Great War, and post-Great War.


 * In the Pre-Great War stage, the Changelings build up their military and conquer the Kingdom of Olenia (and optionally the  Polar Bear Communities) in order to prepare for their war with Equestria.
 * In the Great War stage, the Changelings declare war on Equestria, sparking the largest continental war on Equus.
 * In the Post-Great War stage, the Changelings triumph over Equestria, beginning the Pax Chrysalia focus tree and storyline, and can take further war goals to fully subjugate Equus.

Pre-Great War
Changelings open by completing the unification of the hives, by taking the Destroy Thoraxian Resistance Focus. This will also result in an audit of the VOPS, severely slowing down any expansion of the Changeling spy agency for half a year. Alternately, the Changelings can pursue a Harmonic Path, triggering a civil war, by taking Thoraxian Betrayal.

War Against Polar Bear Communities
Given the tight time constraints, taking the resource and industry poor Polar Bear Communities is difficult to justify. However, the focuses are fast and can provide helpful bonuses to Changeling industry and resources.

Envoy to Polar Bears will allow Changelings to demand the submission of the Polar Bears as a puppet, along with gifts of gold, resources, or land. Gold will give the Polar Bears a National Spirit that cedes +15% of Polar Bear Military and Civilian factories to the Changeling Lands for 1000 days. Resources will give the Polar Bears a National Spirit that provides +20% Resources to Market, +80% Extra trade to overlord, and -75% target trade cost to the Changeling Lands for 1000 days. 15 Steel production is also added to the Changeling state of Den. Given the weakness of Polar Bear industry, Resources is usually the better option. By contrast, the land is barren and worthless.

Should the Polar Bears refuse, the next focuses will unlock, allowing the Changelings to either directly go to war or start two border wars. Border war is the superior option, producing significantly less world tension and keeping the original bonuses demanded. By winning both border wars the Changelings will cause the Polar Bears to surrender.

War Against Olenia
Taking Kingdom of Olenia is the necessary prelude to the Equestrian invasion. The biggest risk is Equestria intervening on the side of Olenia. This can happen if Olenia chooses harmony and reaches the end of its tree (426 days + time to win the civil war if rushed) or if Equestria uses its tree to start a civil war in Olenia. After the civil war Equestria can guarantee Olenia (364 + time to win the civil war if rushed.)

Changelings can rush Olenia faster than this and so it is recommended to take Olenia early - it's industrial might will be helpful to the Changelings and the Olenian military is no match for the Changeling army.

Olenia can be puppeted or conquered with a focus - puppeting will usually be refused and allows Changelings to go to war with lower world tension. When the war starts a neutral Olenia will typically surrender by event well before capitulation.

Great War
Equestria - the ultimate goal for the changelings. Once the Lead the Armies focus is selected, Equestria will have 100 days notice to prepare for the invasion, during which time they can begin their military focuses.

The Equestrian border is typically fortified and has rivers along much of its length. Blitzkrieg and tank heavy tactics will help achieve breakthroughs.

The first months of the war are crucial and will usually determine the winner. No matter when the changelings attack, Equestria will start getting an advantage if the war drags on - the Changelings are in a battle against time. Thus, to win the war, the player must obtain a significant advantage in the first months of the conflict. This is especially since Equestria also has a significant degree of ponypower and a large industrial base.

However, due to its need to rearm, Equestria's actual army size would be similar, if not smaller, to that of the changelings. One possible strategy is for a changeling player to focus on encircling Equestrian divisions with tanks, motorized/mechanized and infantry, destroying enemy divisions that will deprive Equestria of its ability to hold its frontline, despite its ponypower advantage. Infantry divisions with high soft attack and piercing (created by having magic and standard infantry in a division template) would be essential to that end.

Timing Equestria
Equestria has two major thresholds for waking up its dormant war machine.

Change to Laws - Equestria can change its recruitment and economic laws at 15% World Tension or 15% War Support. This will only partially empower Equestria - it must still remove the Magic of Friendship and gain other benefits via the Emergency War Committee. This only happens if the Changeling player is attacking quite late.

Urgent War Committee will typically be unlocked by one of three ways.


 * The Changelings begin the Lead the Armies focus, which allows them to go to war with Equestria.
 * World Tension reaches >50% / War Support >40%
 * Equestria has a civil war

Given this, the Changeling player should pick an extreme - either an early attack, or late attack. A middle ground has the weaknesses of both and the strengths of neither.

Early Attack - Even without Emergency War Committee, Equestria will increase in power - building more military factories and equipment. Attacking early, with only small delays to take industrial or other powerful focuses, will hit the Equestrian military when it is still small and low tech.

The Changelings can attack as early as 807 days into the game (March 1009) plus however long it takes the player to conquer Olenia. Taking the research slots and hive industrialisation focuses will add 574 days to this time, and quickly grabbing the focuses for 2 civilian factories, 2 military factories and 18 Steel will add 140 days.

An Equestrian friendly Stalliongrad (that is, a Stalliongrad that elects Dark Wing or Vasily), or an Equestrian civil war, is best countered with an early attack.

Late Attack - Equestrian military production will allow the country to strengthen quickly from its early game weakness, but Equestria is hamstrung in the longer term by its low recruitable population and slow military factory production speed. A longer-term outlook on production and war preparation will allow the Changelings to produce a vast, technologically advanced army that greatly outnumbers the Equestrian forces. Should the longer path be chosen the Changelings have to carefully monitor Equestria - once World Tension is >50% or War Support is >40%, Equestria can increase recruitment, improve its economy, and start to close the gap.

An Equestrian hostile Stalliongrad (ie. elects Sinister Serov) is best paired a late attack, depriving Equestria of a powerful ally.

The Border
Unfortunately for the changelings, the border between the Changelings and Equestria is a respectable defensive position, with many rivers and other natural obstacles to cross. The front can be divided into 3 main parts:

The Vanhoover – Acornage Line This is undoubtedly the most protected part of the border. A large river protects all provinces, so even with a significant advantage, the changelings will have to spend a long time breaking through - Often enough time for the Equestrian to reinforce the endangered provinces.

However, this section has one significant weakspot. The province highlighted on the screenshot borders 4 Changeling provinces. By attacking from four directions, the player can achieve 200 combat width and deploy 10 20 width divisions to fight at once. A force of this size, with a good general, full planning bonus and the buff from Force Attack can overwhelm almost any defence.

Note that shortly after the war starts, 5 units of jaegers may appear behind the enemy lines near Vanhoover, able to make a rush for the port or support border attacks, though a competent Equestrian player will anticipate this.

The Central Opening This sector is most promising for the attacker. There is no river, all provinces are plains, avoiding defender terrain advantages, and Equestrian focuses do not give any forts to this area. There is a river two provinces behind the border, but if the player manages to obtain a quick breakthrough, they should be able to cross the river before the Equestrian divisions can reorganize after the initial defeat.

The Changeling – Crystal Border This small sector of the front is protected by a small river. Any attack which comes here will be met with significant resistance from both Equestrian and Crystal units. One of the biggest problems with trying to achieve a breakthrough here is the forest area behind the river. It significantly slows down every possible offensive. Furthermore – eastern Crystal states have very low infrastructure levels, so high division attrition quickly becomes an issue.

On the flipside, the border here is also easy to hold, and the Crystal Empire has fairly low ponypower. Having an army of divisions just apply pressure (cautious execution of attack plan) will pin down Crystal Empire divisions, and free up divisions to sweep through Equestria.

Other Notes
The Commonwealth of New Mareland, should they remain loyalist, will immediately sign a truce with the Changelings when Equestria capitulates, preventing the Changelings from conquering them in the peace deal. After the war, loyalist New Mareland will host the Equestrian government-in-exile, fund resistance on Equus, and form an anti-Changeling faction and eventually declare war on the Changelings to restore Equestria. Loyalist New Mareland's existence is a massive headache on the side of Pax Chrysalia, as such, it is possible for you to take out New Mareland before finishing off Equestria. However, a supremist Wingbardy will also be able to deal with them for you, and the Manehattan Protectorate can eventually get a war goal as well if successful in their plans.

Post-Great War
Following the Great War, the Changelings will have conquered vast swathes of Equestrian territory, and needs to properly manage them and consolidate the occupation. Properly managing the occupation mechanics is quite challenging due to the Anti-Changeling Insurgency national spirit, and it is highly recommended to temporarily pause taking expansion focuses and focus on the Pax Chrysalia focus tree and use its mechanics to improve the status of the occupation. If the occupation is not managed properly, the amount of resistance in Equestria can become a massive drain on the Changelings' manpower and turn the country into a paper tiger.

For starters, every available protectorate should be released to minimize the amount of states the Changelings have to occupy. Military production should temporarily be refocused on producing the equipment for the garrisons over the deployed military, as having low garrison equipment will significantly weaken the occupation. Technology that strengthens garrisons (like infiltrators and military police) should be researched and equipped as soon as possible, before the war concludes even.

One important note is that the states of Everfree Forest and Castle of Two Sisters should always have a high level of occupation law even when the rest of the country had deescalated to more moderate occupation laws, as these two states have a special state modifier that greatly increases resistance on them, which can influence nearby states into having high resistance levels.

As an additional note, deployed units should always avoid the Everfree Forest and Castle of Two Sisters, as their special state modifier greatly increases attrition in them even in peacetime.

Once the occupation has been consolidated to a manageable level, the Changelings can consider taking the additional conquest focuses in their expansion focus tree to conquer all of the Equus continent.

National Focus


The Changeling Lands focus tree consists of seven separate trees:


 * An industry + Olenia/Polar Bear expansion tree, under Thoraxian Betrayal/Destroy Thoraxian Resistance
 * An Army Reorganization tree, under Finalize Reorganization
 * An Army tree, under Vitalise The Heer
 * An Air Force tree, under Reform The Luftwaffe
 * A Navy tree, under Promote Mimic to Hivesadmiral/Promote Lysander to Hivesadmiral
 * An Equestrian conquest expansion tree, under Plan "Alicorn Sunset"
 * The post-Equestrian defeat tree, under Pax Chrysalia

At the start, only the industry + Olenia/Polar Bear conquest tree and the Army Reorganization tree are available. All other trees are locked.


 * The Army, Air Force, and Navy Trees are unlocked when the Army Reorganization tree is completed.
 * The Equestrian conquest tree is unlocked when Olenia has capitulated to the Changelings, or if Equestria goes to war with the Changelings before the that.
 * The Pax Chrysalia tree is unlocked when Equestria has capitulated.

Industry + Olenia/Polar Bear Conquest Tree
The first tree begins with consolidating the hives under Chrysalis' leadership, leading into the industry tree which contains both research slots, as well as war goals and subsequent investment into Olenia and the Polar Bears. Dealing with Olenia is required to unlock the war goal tree.

Army Reorganization Tree
The Army Reorganization tree gradually weakens and eventually replaces the Reorganization in the Armed Forces national spirit with a positive national spirit. The final choice between Changeling School of War and Griffon School of War grants the replaced national spirit different bonuses; the Changeling school focuses on offensive bonuses, while the Griffon school focuses on defensive bonuses.

Army/Navy/Air Force Trees
The military trees can not be started until the Army Reorganization tree is finished and either the Changeling or Griffon School of War is chosen. Each tree focuses on bonuses to its respective section, giving equipment, research bonuses and national spirits.

Equestria Conquest Tree
The war goal tree mainly focuses on the inevitable war with Equestria. Lead the Armies is the central focus of this tree: it takes 100 days to complete, cannot be cancelled manually, and when it completes, Changelings Lands will automatically declare war on Equestria. If Equestria collapsed into Civil War, then the focus will have the Changelings declare war on all Civil War participants and secessionists in addition to Equestria.

Many focuses like Death or Dishonor can only be taken once the war begins, and give wartime spirits which can aid a player's advance.

Once at war with Equestria, the Infiltrate Equestria focus can be used to send spies into Equestria. This will unlock an espionage operation which, if successful, will give Equestria a negative National Spirit. This cannot be removed quickly by the Equestrian player without very large expenditures of PP (150 for a 1.5 year removal time, 300 for a 200 day time, 500 for a 150 day time).

Whilst the idea is active, Changelings can also take Spies in High Places, which gives the Changelings another espionage operation. If the operation is successful, the Changelings will gain the National Spirit Spy Network, granting (Daily PP Gain +0.15, Research Speed +5.00%, Own operative detection chance offest: -0.25%).

After Equestria, there are also secondary war goals on Stalliongrad and  Nova Griffonia which can be taken at any time, and later ones on the Penguins and Yaks which are only available after Equestria has capitulated.

Pax Chrysalia Focus Tree
While the Equestrian armies may have been felled by the Changeling war machine, the struggles of the Heer are not over yet. For even as celebrations ring back in the hives, the civilian populace continues to rebel against their occupiers, and the Harmonic Resistance is an ever-present thorn in the regime. Queen Chrysalis has proclaimed the Pax Chrysalia, but the changelings who guard their newfound territories know that the true war is anything but over.

Once Equestria has capitulated and you own all its former territories, the Changeling Lands shift into its second phase of gameplay. This part is drastically different from the first, focusing less on warfare and more on consolidation and suppression. There is no nation to send your armies into here: correct decision making and preparation is key.

The focus tree can be roughly split into six areas:


 * Love harvesting (The Liebessammeldienst)
 * Industrial expansion (Minions for the Queen)
 * Resistance suppression (Rule of the High Tower)
 * Occupation consolidation (Triumph of the Hives)
 * The Coronation (Jewel in the Crown)
 * The situation in the Everfree Forest (Subjugate the Everfree)

A smart idea is to not focus on one or two of these branches alone, and instead do strategic focuses that you need at that moment. The player's main goal in this focus tree is to collect points to unlock the Occupation Consolidation decisions and weaken the Anti-Changeling Insurgency national spirit, and collect a variety of other national spirits and mechanics that can make the occupation easier.

Love Harvesting
This section of the focus tree focuses on the Love Harvest and Consumption mechanics (detailed above). Focuses in this focus tree branch grant extra Erots of love, and improve the efficiency of Love extraction and consumption.

Industrial Expansion
The industrial part of the Pax Chrysalia tree is rather small, and despite what most would assume it isn't centered around more factories in the hives. Instead, this branch of the tree increases the amount of industry that the hives can use from their conquered Equestrian territory, including a new occupation law that gives more resources at the cost of increased garrisons, as well as state modifiers and national spirits that increase production.

Resistance Suppression
As the title indicates, this branch is focused on suppressing the Harmonic Resistance across Equestria. A substantial amount of points needed to deal with the insurgency can be located in these focuses, which also give increases to compliance, decreases to resistance, and national spirits relating to both. Multiple hidden technologies are also researched in these focuses which provide bonuses to suppression.

Occupation Consolidation
Though some of the effects of this branch will most likely be unable to be taken advantage of immediately after you complete them, they provide very important and substantial buffs for when you are able to use them. These include dynamic modifiers based off of compliance in Equestria, military research bonuses and a national spirit which can help lower the resistance problem as long as you have the extra garrisons to afford it.

Arguably the most important focuses here are Regional Commissariats and Prep the Siedlungsplan.


 * Regional Commissariats unlocks a new occupation law of the same name, which can be used when the average resistance for an occupied country is <30%, and the average compliance is >30%. When implemented, the occupation law grants:
 * Local Resources:
 * Local Factories:
 * Resistance Target:
 * Resistance Decay Speed:
 * Damage to Garrisons:
 * Required Garrisons:
 * Daily Compliance Gain:
 * Prep the Siedlungsplan unlocks the Siedlungsplan Expansionism decisions (detailed above). These decisions allow the colonized states to rapidly become free of resistance and grant access to much more of the state's ponypower.

The Coronation
While not technically locked behind the other branches, the Coronation is usually the branch done last as to start it you need Equestria to be on the Regional Commissariat occupation law. The focuses within entirely focus on the state of Canterlot in preparation for Chrysalis' coronation as Empress Regnant of Canterlot and Equestria, and provide quite a few state modifiers to the capital of former Equestria. Should everything go well, the failure and humiliation of 1002 will finally be avenged, and the Pax Chrysalia will usher in a new age for the Changeling race for the next thousand years!

Everfree Forest
About one and a half years into the Pax Chrysalia, the event "Retreat from the Everfree" will be triggered. Monster and partisan attacks originating from the Everfree Forest rises sharply, and the Heer garrissoning the area is forced to retreat. This spawns a nation named Everfree Forest on the states of Everfree Forest and Castle of the Two Sisters. Everfree Forest is a Detached Country, meaning that the Changelings cannot interact with it diplomatically. The focus tree Subjugate the Everfree will be unlocked, and the descriptions of focuses in this branch will be unredacted.

If Subjugate the Everfree is not taken, the event "The Everfree in Anarchy" will be triggered approximately two months later. If the focus is taken, then the event will be triggered when the focus is progressing (meaning that it happens sooner). Either way, the Everfree Forest reveals its true form: Zecora's Resistance. It will gain a dozen divisions and declare war on the Changelings.

Under the leadership of witch doctor Zecora, magic-using partisans engage in hit-and-run tactics against Changeling troops, monsters run wild across the forest, and the forest itself expands at an exponential rate, rolling over everything in its path and turning its interior into an infinitely dense jungle of death. The Changelings estimate that they have under two months to contain the Everfree Forest before the Heer completely loses control over central Equestria.


 * War with the Everfree

The Everfree Forest is not a nation that the player can just send tanks or infantry in to capitulate. The Everfree Forest's inherent terrain trait already puts enormous maluses on divisions inside the forest, but under Zecora, the Everfree Forest gains a new state trait: The Everfree Forest Rampant, an enormous malus that grants:


 * Air Mission Efficiency:
 * Air Accidents Chance:
 * Division Speed:
 * Division Attack:
 * Division Defense:
 * Division Attrition:
 * Organisation Regain:
 * Chance to Get Sick:

In practise, sending any division into the forest causes them to instantly lose all organization and die when any of Zecora's divisions touches them. Zecora's divisions are also unaffected by the maluses put on by the magically-empowered Everfree Forest, since Zecora has the national spirit Everfree Resistance, which grants:


 * Division Organization:
 * Reconnaissance:
 * Division Recovery Rate:
 * Surrender Limit:
 * War Support:
 * Division Attack:
 * Division Defense:
 * all from the Everfree Forest.
 * all from the Everfree Forest.

In addition, Zecora also receives the +25% Division Defense on core territory bonus from the Everfree Forest terrain trait.

Additionally, the rapid growth of the forest is represented with a special game mechanic: after the war starts, once every day, a number of provinces (tiles) next to the states controlled by the Everfree Forest will immediately come under control of the forest, and these provinces will also gain the Everfree Forest terrain trait (though not The Everfree Forest Rampant state trait). It is highly recommended to station divisions on every tile next to the Everfree Forest before the war begins to surround and cut off their expansion.


 * Containing the Everfree

In order to contain the growth of the Everfree so the Changelings can even have a chance to root out Zecora's resistance, the Changelings plans to use every military asset and advanced technology they have to crush the magical menace.

The containment of the Everfree Forest is tracked with a Mission named Taming the Forest. The mission lasts 60 days, and if failed, the Everfree Forest will overrun the Changeling forces and force them to withdraw. If it is successfully executed, the Changelings will stop the Everfree Forest's growth, giving them a chance to move in and root out the partisans.

Completing Taming the Forest requires the following prerequisites:


 * The Changelings must have full control of Canterlot
 * The focuses Fall Grün, Fall Gelb, and Fall Rot must be completed.
 * Either the decision Operation Durchbruch or Operation Fernauf (which are revealed alongside Taming the Forest) must be completed.
 * No aspect of the Changelings' strategy must be compromised; when the Fall Grün, Fall Gelb, and Fall Rot focuses are completed, each one will trigger an event with two choices, and each of these three events has one choice that will compromise the strategy and make Taming the Forest impossible.

The detailed prerequisites and effects of the focuses and decisions mentioned in Taming the Forest are as follows:

Focuses:
 * Fall Grün: The Changelings will mass deploy carnivorous moss spores as a defoliant to eat up the forest. Requires the technology Magical Munitions from the Changeling racial tech tree to either be researched or being researched.
 * In the event triggered by this focus, industrialist Finicus Vesali informs Generalmajor Jachs that the strain of moss spores currently used by the Heer is a weaker strain, and Finicus has a stronger strain.
 * Choosing to stick to the original strain will compromise the strategy, while choosing to switch to the better strain will not.
 * Fall Gelb: The Changelings will detonate a nuclear weapon in the Everfree Forest. Requires the technology Atomic Research from the electronics tech tree to either be researched or being researched.
 * In the event triggered by this focus, Queen Chrysalis makes an order to shift the target of the nuclear weapon away from their original target, the Castle of the Two Sisters, so the castle can be preserved.
 * Choosing to change the target will compromise the strategy, while choosing to strike the original target will not.
 * Fall Rot: The Changelings will begin an enormous firebombing campaign to burn up the forest. Requires at least 400 fighters, 400 strategic bombers and 800 tactical bombers in deployment.
 * In the event triggered by this focus, Finicus makes a request to Jachs to scale back the firebombing campaign to preserve parts of the forest for future scientific study. Jachs rebuffs him by saying that the Heer's only goal is to stop the forest by any means necessary.
 * Choosing to side with Finicus and scaling back the firebombing campaign will compromise the strategy, while choosing to side with Jachs and not scale back the campaign it will not.

Decisions:


 * Operation Durchbruch: The Changelings will launch an armored spearhead with armored trains and tanks. Requires the focus The Panzerzugkorps to have been completed. Costs 30 Command Power, 25 PP, and 14 days to complete.
 * Operation Fernauf: The Changelings will launch a special scouting operation with elite special forces regiments. Requires the focus Jagdkommando Brigades to have been completed. Costs 30 Command Power, 25 PP, and 14 days to complete.


 * Defeating the Everfree

When Taming the Forest is completed, the forest will fail to hold up against the relentless Changeling assault and stop its spread, losing its ability to spread every day and the The Everfree Forest Rampant state trait. However, the war isn't over yet, and Zecora's partisans will make their last stand, spawning a large amount of divisions for the country.

In order to finally achieve victory over the partisans, however, the Changelings must occupy every single tile of both the Everfree and the Castle of the Two Sisters at once. Both states will constantly come back under control of the resistance, so garrisoning the whole state is the only way to maintain 100% occupation. Once that is done, Zecora's Resistance will capitulate and be automatically annexed back into the Changeling Lands. It will also give one Resistance Suppression point.

If Taming the Forest is not completed after 60 days, Zecora's resistance will automatically annex Ponyville, Summerdale, Froggy Bottom Bogg, and Ambling Rock Ridge, sign a white peace with the Changelings, and return to being Everfree Forest. Since the Everfree Forest is a detached nation, the Changelings will no longer be able to interact with it and attempt to defeat it again.
 * Defeated by the Everfree

Pax Chrysalia Storyline
Almost all the focuses in the Pax Chrysalia tree give events or event chains describing the Equestrian society under Changeling occupation. Most of the events focus on the five members of the Canterlot Commissariat: Canterlot's Governor Generalmajor Jachs, Generaloberstabsarzt Marsilio, Jachs' second-in-command Oberstleutnant Alcippe, industrialist Finicus Vesali, and Canterlot Guard Kommandant Second Wind.

Throughout a Pax Chrysalia playthrough, the player and the members of the Canterlot Commissariat will be forced to make decisions. The consequences of these decisions initially appear to be merely different mechanical benefits, but look closer, and a greater story unravels itself as consequences collide and create visible changes. The coronation of Queen Chrysalis will be a culimination of the player's decisions, but it is far from the true end of the story of Jachs and his compatriots.

The future of both the Changelings and the Ponies under Pax Chrysalia can be forever changed, should events align...

Of the many decisions that the player can make throughout Pax Chrysalia, some are particularly noteworthy.


 * Laying the groundwork for future Equestrian-Changeling scientific cooperation may prove useful.
 * Sometimes being light on the ponies has its own benefits, even if Chrysalis disagrees.
 * The caves under Canterlot hide many secrets, including some that many prefer to stay hidden.
 * While the Cornucopia Society is mysterious and seemingly nothing more than a drug den, special insights can sometimes come from unexpected places.
 * Second Wind is a key player to the future of the Pax Chrysalia: keeping him alive is a necessity.

There will be a choice. While it is your to make, some choices are less real then they appear. Some doors only open when others close, and the Everfree may be the key to unlocking a new path...

Alternate Path - The Thorax Path
Taking the Thoraxian Betrayal focus will begin a civil war in the Changeling lands. The Harmonic leader Thorax has a new and different harmonic focus tree, aimed at aggressive promotion of harmony in Equestria and beyond.

Military Leaders
Army Commanders Naval Commanders