Totally Accurate Battle Simulator is Landfall's physics battle game, released in full on 1 April 2021 after two years in Early Access. You spend a gold budget on wobblers from 14 factions, place them on a battlefield, and then hand the whole thing over to an active ragdoll simulation that decides the outcome. A Halfling costs 50 gold and a Da Vinci Tank costs 4,000, and the interesting question is almost never which unit is better but which unit is better per gold against the army already sitting on the other side of the field.
These tips go beyond the basics. They're the strategies experienced players use to play more efficiently, the hidden mechanics most people miss, and the optimizations that compound over a full playthrough. If you're just starting, check our beginner's guide first.
Essential Tips
1. Look at the enemy army before you spend a single gold coin
Look at the enemy army before you spend a single gold coin. Every campaign level shows the opposing placement up front, so buying a 900 gold Ballista against twenty cheap infantry wastes the entire budget on the wrong answer.
2. Cost per body beats cost per unit in most levels
Cost per body beats cost per unit in most levels. Twenty 50 gold Halflings surround and drag down a 2,200 gold Mammoth, because the physics lets several ragdolls grapple one large one while it swings at a single target.
3. Ranged units need a line in front of them that can hold for real
Ranged units need a line in front of them that can hold for real. A 250 gold Musketeer that gets reached in the first five seconds contributed nothing, so pair every gold spent on ranged with roughly equal gold in front of it.
4. Spread cheap units laterally instead of stacking them
Spread cheap units laterally instead of stacking them. A 1,000 gold Catapult or Pumpkin Catapult clears a tight block of Halflings in one shot and misses most of a spread line entirely.
5. Height is a real advantage because the physics is real
Height is a real advantage because the physics is real. Units placed above the enemy get free reach on the approach, and ranged units on high ground fire longer before contact.
6. Possess a unit when a level keeps failing and the reason is not visible
Possess a unit when a level keeps failing and the reason is not visible. Steering the front rank for ten seconds usually reveals that the army is losing to terrain or to one specific enemy unit rather than to the composition.
7. Watch the fight at normal speed at least once
Watch the fight at normal speed at least once. The physics simulation resolves differently every run, so a formation that lost by a hair is often correct and simply needs to be replayed rather than rebuilt.
8. Mixed factions are allowed and usually better
Mixed factions are allowed and usually better. There is no bonus for keeping an army pure, so 100 gold Shield Bearers from Ancient in front of 100 gold Dynamite Throwers from Wild West is a legal and strong combination.
9. Knockback units earn their price
Knockback units earn their price. Monks at 250 gold and Brawlers at 220 win fights by putting enemies on the ground, and a wobbler that is falling over is not attacking anything.
10. Use the Unit Creator to test a hunch cheaply
Use the Unit Creator to test a hunch cheaply. Building a wobbler with the exact stat and cost you think is missing, then dropping it into a sandbox fight, answers a composition question faster than replaying a campaign level ten times.
Advanced Strategies
Build Optimization
The difference between an average build and an optimized one is massive. See our builds guide for full breakdowns.
For Tribal (A-Tier):
- Focus on Gold budget placement combinations for maximum output.
- Core gear: Halfling
- Stat priority: Offensive stats first
For Farmer (A-Tier):
- Versatile approach that handles any situation.
- Core gear: Hoplite
- Stat priority: Balanced stats
Mechanic Interactions
Understanding how Totally Accurate Battle Simulator's systems interact is where the real optimization lives. Our combat guide covers this in detail.
Gold budget placement + Active ragdoll physics: Campaign levels hand you a fixed pot of gold and an enemy army that is already placed and visible. Combined with Active ragdoll physics, every wobbler is a physics driven ragdoll that balances, swings and falls over on its own.
Faction unlocks and campaigns + Unit possession: Ten themed factions cover Tribal, Farmer, Medieval, Ancient, Viking, Dynasty, Renaissance, Pirate, Spooky and Wild West, each with seven units. When paired with Unit possession, you can drop into any wobbler on the field and control it directly in first or third person while the rest of the battle continues around you.
Unit Creator and Workshop scaling: The game ships with creators for units, maps, factions, campaigns and battles. Custom wobblers get their own weapons, stats and gold cost, and Steam Workshop carries other people's armies, so the roster is not limited to the 100 plus units Landfall shipped.
Equipment Efficiency
| Equipment | Best Use Case | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Halfling | Swarm armies, and padding out any formation that has gold left over. | The cheapest unit in the game at 50 gold, from the Farmer faction. |
| Hoplite | Anchoring a formation so ranged units at the back get their firing time. | An Ancient melee unit at 180 gold with a shield and spear. |
| Musketeer | Mid budget ranged support against the 650 gold Knight and similarly expensive melee. | A Renaissance ranged unit at 250 gold. |
| Ballista | Levels where the enemy has paid for one titan instead of many bodies. | An Ancient siege unit at 900 gold that fires a heavy bolt down a flat line. |
| Da Vinci Tank | Open maps against melee-only armies, and for possession when a level needs manual steering. | The most expensive standard unit at 4,000 gold, from the Renaissance faction. |
Location Efficiency
The Introduction (First campaign, low budgets): The tutorial campaign, teaching placement, budget spending and the basics of what the physics does to a formation. Levels here are generous enough that almost any sensible army clears them.
The Adventure (Second campaign, mid budgets): Mixed faction levels with light strategic pressure. Budgets loosen up and the enemy armies start combining melee walls with ranged backlines, which is where reading the enemy layout first starts to pay.
The Challenge (Late campaign, deliberately under-budgeted): The hard campaign, where your budget sits below the enemy's total army value on purpose. Cheap units and formation shape do the work here, since simply buying the strongest wobbler cannot cover the gap.
Simulation (Mid to late campaign): Campaign levels built on simulation maps with environmental hazards, so terrain kills units the enemy never had to pay for. Placement matters more here than composition.
Legacy (Unlock campaign, requires the full Legacy faction): An unlockable campaign gated behind owning all 16 Legacy units, from Peasant and Boxer through Thor, Tank and Super Peasant. It is a nostalgia pass over the Early Access roster rather than a difficulty spike.
Mistakes Even Veterans Make
- Spending the whole budget on one 4,000 gold Da Vinci Tank against an army with Ballistas.
- Placing archers and Musketeers with no melee line in front of them.
- Stacking cheap units in a tight block where one catapult shot clears them.
- Rebuilding an army after a loss that was actually within physics variance.
- Keeping an army to a single faction when mixing costs nothing.
Pro Quick Tips
- Look at the enemy army before you spend a single gold coin. Every campaign level shows the opposing placement up front, so buying a 900 gold Ballista against twenty cheap infantry wastes the entire budget on the wrong answer.
- Cost per body beats cost per unit in most levels. Twenty 50 gold Halflings surround and drag down a 2,200 gold Mammoth, because the physics lets several ragdolls grapple one large one while it swings at a single target.
- Ranged units need a line in front of them that can hold for real. A 250 gold Musketeer that gets reached in the first five seconds contributed nothing, so pair every gold spent on ranged with roughly equal gold in front of it.
- Start with Farmer, switch to Tribal when ready
- Invest in Halfling above everything else
- Clear areas in order: The Introduction → The Adventure → The Challenge → Simulation → Legacy. See our maps guide
- Gold budget placement + Active ragdoll physics together are stronger than either alone
More Totally Accurate Battle Simulator Guides
- Totally Accurate Battle Simulator Totally Accurate Battle Simulator Overview
- Totally Accurate Battle Simulator Best Builds
- Totally Accurate Battle Simulator Tier List
- Totally Accurate Battle Simulator Walkthrough
- Totally Accurate Battle Simulator Beginner's Guide
- Totally Accurate Battle Simulator Weapons Guide
- Totally Accurate Battle Simulator Combat Guide
- Totally Accurate Battle Simulator Boss Guide
- Totally Accurate Battle Simulator Maps & Locations
- Totally Accurate Battle Simulator Crafting Guide
- Totally Accurate Battle Simulator Classes & Characters
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