WARDOGS Factions: LONESTAR, VALKYRA and MANTICORE

The Three Factions

BULKHEAD’s own descriptions, from the February 2026 FAQ post:

All three are in every match. This is not a two-sided shooter with a third spectator faction — three teams of roughly 33 players each contest the same Control Zone, and the shifting alliances that come from that are a designed part of the mode.

What Faction Actually Changes

As of the beta build, faction affiliation is cosmetic and situational rather than mechanical: everyone accesses the same economy, the same progression tracks and the same vendor. What faction shows up in is presentation — for example, the Supporter Edition’s weapon camos are explicitly branded per faction:

• A-91 rifle camo — VALKYRA branded
• Bushmaster camo — LONESTAR branded
• KH-2002 camo — MANTICORE branded

Those three weapons are also the clearest official hint at the arsenal’s design logic: a Russian bullpup, an American carbine and an Iranian bullpup, one per faction. See the weapons list for what else is confirmed.

Kolchia and PV-1

The setting is Kolchia, a fictional war-torn region in the “derelict industrial mountains of Eastern Europe”. The war is over PV-1, described by BULKHEAD as a rare resource that has fuelled decades of Eurasian conflict. Kolchia contains multiple locations and points of interest rather than a single battlefield, which is how one 256 km² map supports randomised 2×2 km Control Zones.

Two map names appeared in beta footage: Bukurani and the newer Ossetti.

The art direction backs the fiction up — BULKHEAD’s level design devlog describes the team gathering location references firsthand in Georgia, which is the real-world source of the terrain, architecture and vegetation you fight through.

Does Faction Choice Matter for Teams?

You are assigned to one of the three sides for the match. Because every team plays the same systems, the practical consequences are:

• Two enemies, not one. Expect to be shot at from two directions, and expect the leading team to attract both others.
• Third-party everything. A fight you win at 30 points is a fight the third team walks into at 32.
• Colour reading matters. Zone control indicators under your minimap show all three teams’ points and player counts — that is where you read whether you are being ganged up on.

Sources: BULKHEAD’s “TOP QUESTIONS” announcement (Feb 18, 2026), the Supporter Edition announcement (Aug 11, 2026), the Level Design & Performance devlog (Jul 16, 2026), and the Steam store description.