Steal An Army features a dedicated base defense combat system where your stolen military units battle incoming zombie waves entering through an interdimensional portal. You can initiate combat directly at your base by clicking to fight manually or toggling auto-fight, while equipped troops shoot automatically. Outside your base, players can also use equipped melee weapons to strike convoy bosses and compete with rival players for crates.
Base Defense: Manual Fight vs. Auto-Fight
Combat at your base tests your squad against successive waves of attacking zombies. Player gameplay demonstrates two core operational modes to engage enemy waves:
- Manual Fight: You click the fight option to trigger the current wave. Combat proceeds as your troops shoot at incoming enemies, and you can press the stop button at any moment to halt the battle.
- Auto-Fight: Toggling auto-fight allows your base to fight incoming waves continuously without requiring manual inputs after each victory.
Defeating enemy waves grants rewards such as cash and passive speed boosts. If your army struggles against high-level enemies, you can press stop to withdraw your forces, build a higher-tier unit lineup from crates, and resume the battle when your squad is stronger.
How Troops Deploy and Attack
You do not need to manually aim your military vehicles or gunners during base defense. Once you unbox and equip units from your inventory, they automatically position themselves on your base platform to engage approaching zombies.
| Unit Type Observed | Combat Role and Equipment | Acquisition Source |
|---|---|---|
| Foot Soldiers | Ranged small-arms or explosive grenade launcher attacks | Base crates (Common, Rare, Legendary) |
| Armed Vehicles | Ground fire support, including armored cars and heavy tanks | Field crates and higher-tier zones |
| Aerial Units | Elevated air strikes via armed helicopters, drones, and fighter jets | Rare crates and speed-gated zones |
| Specialized Support | Unique units including robot dogs, divers, and submarines | Thematic zones (Navy, Arctic, Alien/UFO) |
Pressing the equip best button automatically loads your highest-tier units onto the field. Units with higher rarities deliver significantly higher damage and cash generation per second, speeding up wave clears.
Wave Progression and Boss Battles
Zombie waves scale upward in difficulty the longer your defense continues. Gameplay observations show the following milestone patterns during combat runs:
- Early Waves (Waves 1–14): Standard zombies approach base ramps in small packs, manageable with basic soldiers and early light vehicles.
- Wave 15 to 20: Armored yellow army zombies begin mixing into regular spawns. At Wave 20, a massive boss zombie appears that requires concentrated explosive and vehicle firepower to defeat before it breaches base defenses.
- Extended Waves (Wave 26 to Wave 97+): Massive Titan zombies and high-health boss variants swarm your perimeter. If a boss manages to break past your frontline units, your squad can be overwhelmed and knocked out, requiring you to pause and regroup.
Field Combat: Military Convoys and Melee Weapons
Combat is not limited to your home base. Active open-world combat events occur across the map where players fight using handheld melee weapons:
- Military Convoy Bosses: Armored convoy vehicles periodically appear on the map with active health counters (such as 150 health). Players attack the convoy directly with handheld weapons while dodging returned gunfire. Successfully destroying the convoy drops valuable rewards, including gems, speed boosts, and temporary power-ups like double damage or double cash.
- Melee Weapon Upgrades: When running through zones, players carry melee gear such as bats, clubs, spiked clubs, tridents, propellers, and axes. Progressing through the index changes your weapon appearance and provides tools to hit targets or fend off competitors trying to snatch crates.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you shoot handguns alongside your troops during base defense?
Player gameplay shows that base defense attacks are carried out automatically by your deployed army units, such as soldiers, tanks, and fighter jets. While players carry handheld melee weapons like bats and clubs in the field, they do not manually shoot guns alongside base troops.
What happens if your troops lose a wave?
If incoming zombies or Titan bosses overpower your troops, your army cannot advance further along the wave track. Players can press the stop button to exit the fight immediately, unbox rarer troops using speed-farmed crates, equip their best units, and re-engage the wave.
Does Steal An Army feature a rebirth multiplier for combat earnings?
As observed in player testing, Steal An Army does not feature a traditional rebirth stat multiplier system. Income and combat scaling depend directly on unboxing higher-tier crates, leveling up treadmills, and advancing through speed-gated map zones.
