Defending an Allied Planet in War for Galaxy: How SAB Works and Why the Refueling Base Is Needed

5 June 2026

In War for Galaxy, attacks often look more impressive than defense: fleets rush towards targets, battle reports show heavy losses, and alliances argue over rankings. But in practice, the outcome of a galactic war is often decided not by the loudest raid but by a timely deployed Defense of an allied planet. When an ally sees an incoming attack, the alliance has just minutes to answer three questions: who can send a fleet in time, is there a Refueling Base on the planet, and are there enough slots for all defenders.

This article is not a general overview of all alliance mechanics but a practical memo on SAB defense. We will explore how the 'Defense' mission works, why the Refueling Base is essential, what happens during battle, and which organizational errors often prevent an alliance from saving a planet.

Why Defending an Allied Planet Decides the War's Outcome

War for Galaxy is not only about personal empire development, fleet building, and resource hunting. Like strong browser strategy games and online strategy games, team coordination is crucial here: one player prepares a planet, another maintains a mobile fleet, a third coordinates arrival times. When all this converges, a lone target turns into a fortified defense node.

The Joint Defense is handled by SAB — the alliance battle system. Within this system, the "Defense" mission allows players of one alliance to temporarily station their fleet in orbit of an allied planet. If an attack comes to this planet, the stationed fleets participate in defense alongside the planet's owner forces.

It's important to immediately clear up a common confusion. SAB defense does not mean transferring ships to another player. In War for Galaxy, you cannot transfer troops to another player in any way. Your fleet remains yours: it simply temporarily performs a defensive mission at ally’s coordinates and then returns home.

Another crucial point: "Defense" is only available between members of the same alliance. You cannot cover a neutral, a random neighbor, or a player from a friendly clan by agreement if they are not in your alliance. And even inside the alliance there is one mandatory condition — there must be a Refueling Base built on the planet being defended. Without it, SAB defense is impossible.

Also, do not confuse defense with joint attacks. Joint attack is a separate SAB mechanic for combined strikes on targets. Defense of an allied planet works differently: fleets do not gather into an attacking squadron but station in orbit around the planet and wait for a possible battle.

How SAB Works: Sending a Fleet on the "Defense" Mission

Sending a fleet for Defense is straightforward, but in real war mistakes happen due to haste. A player sees alarm in chat, chooses wrong coordinates, forgets to check antimatter, or sends a too slow fleet that physically cannot arrive before the fight. That's why it's better to know the procedure in advance.

Select the fleet on your planet — the composition you are ready to put on temporary duty.
Choose the "Defense" mission. This is the defensive SAB mission, not attack, transport, or relocation.
Enter the coordinates of the allied planet to be covered.
Check antimatter consumption and arrival time. The fleet must arrive before the strike or it won’t help.
Inform the alliance of the defense start time so the coordinator knows which slots are already occupied.

The key fuel rule: antimatter is consumed only once — for the flight. Maintaining the fleet in Defense mode does not require fuel. For players accustomed to real time strategy games and space combat games, this is an important logistics detail: you pay for the maneuver, not for each hour on orbit standby.

Upon arrival, the fleet automatically joins the planet's defense for 3 days, i.e., 72 hours. During this time, it participates in battle if an attack occurs. When the period ends, the fleet returns to its home planet.

Defense can be canceled anytime. When canceled, the fleet returns home, but antimatter spent on the flight is not refunded. So, do not send heavy fleets "just in case" without coordination: in space games, the cost of an extra maneuver can be higher than the actual threat.

The practical takeaway is simple: don't send "what's left", but what the situation really needs. Fast fleets are useful to quickly occupy a slot before the enemy arrives. Heavy battle groups are justified if there is time for approach and a major fight is expected. But in any case, first calculate coordinates, antimatter, and the 72-hour timer, then send the fleet.

Why the Refueling Base Is Needed and How It Limits Defense

The Refueling Base is the central structure for SAB defense. It neither shoots, nor appears prominently in battle reports, nor looks like a battle hero, but it determines whether the alliance can place fleets in orbit of your planet at all.

Without the Refueling Base, the "Defense" mission is unavailable even to members of the same alliance. It is not decorative infrastructure or an optional bonus. If the base is not built, allies may be online, have ready fleets and enough antimatter, but technically cannot send defense to you.

Requirement: alliance membership.
Cost: 20,000 titanium and 40,000 silicon.
Consumption: none.
Function: defines the maximum number of fleets allowed to be stationed on the planet in SAB/Defense mode.
Main rule: the Refueling Base level equals the number of slots for allied fleets.

That is, a level 1 Refueling Base grants one slot for an allied defensive fleet, level 2 means two slots, level 3 means three slots, and so forth. This directly affects the planet's defensive potential. An alliance may have ten players ready to help, but if the planet has only one slot, only one fleet will join the defense.

This is where War for Galaxy shows itself as a full-fledged galaxy game and space MMO game: victory goes not to the one who starts thinking during an incoming attack, but to the one who prepared infrastructure beforehand. If a planet is important — holding resources, expensive fleets, critical infrastructure, or located in a conflict zone — the Refueling Base must be built before crisis strikes.

A typical newbie mistake in browser strategy games looks like this: a player joins an alliance confident that "if anything happens — allies will cover," but hasn't built a Refueling Base on the key planet. When the attack occurs, coordinates go into chat, defenders are ready to launch, but the mission is unavailable. As a result, defense fails not because of alliance weakness, but due to one missed building.

For officers, the takeaway is even tougher: the list of key planets must be checked in advance. Each such planet must have a known Refueling Base level and a clear number of slots. On attack day, it's already too late to discover that technically joint defense is impossible.

What Happens in Battle: Allied Fleets, Reports, and the Risk of Hitting Yourself

When an attacker arrives at a planet with Defense fleets, the game does not separate defense into "main" and "foreign." All allied fleets placed via SAB participate in the battle on the planet owner's side. For the attacker, this is no longer a simple raid on a lone colony but full-fledged space battles in the spirit of serious space combat games.

An important detail often forgotten even by experienced players is this: if you attack a planet where your own fleet is in Defense, that fleet will fight against you. It won't step aside, cancel the mission automatically, or ignore the fight. While the fleet is in Defense, it defends the planet from attackers — even if the attacker owns the same fleet.

Therefore, before flying to familiar coordinates, check if you've left a defense fleet there. This is especially relevant during active wars when the same planets can be both defense points and potential targets. In strategy games, such coordination errors often cost more than differences in technology.

All defense fleets participate in the battle. If several allied fleets are in orbit, they all enter combat upon attack.
Battle reports are sent to all participants. The planet owner and the owners of the defense fleets see the report.
The attacker doesn't always see the full defense composition. If the attacker's fleet is destroyed in the first round, they only see participant names but not the defense fleet's makeup.

The last point is especially useful for defense play. A strong SAB defense can repel an attack without revealing the enemy the exact fleet configuration if the attacker is destroyed immediately. They will understand who participated but won't get full intel about the defense lineup.

It is also important to understand the link with alliance combat ratings. These are not merely sums of individual players' ratings but are formed through collective alliance battle activity. Scores count when scenarios include SAB or Collective Attack. Personal duels between alliance members, intra-alliance fights, and battles without SAB or Collective Attack don’t count toward alliance rating.

Points are calculated based on opponent losses by resource cost: titanium + silicon + antimatter, then divided by 1000, and a multiplier applied. Rules specify collective scenarios: if an alliance defends a non-alliance player via SAB against a lone attacker, multiplier ×0.5 applies; if an alliance attacks another alliance via Collective Attack or SAB, multiplier ×2 applies. Practically, it means smart team defense affects not only planet survival but also alliance combat reputation.

Defense Checklist: How the Alliance Can Avoid Defense Failure

Most defense failures are not due to lack of ships but small mistakes: players not in the same alliance, no Refueling Base on the planet, slots are occupied, coordinates recorded incorrectly, or confusion between SAB and other movements. To prevent this, use this short checklist.

Before Launch

Check alliance membership. Defender and planet owner must be in the same alliance; otherwise, "Defense" mission isn't available.
Check the Refueling Base. It is mandatory on the target planet. Without it, allied fleets cannot orbit.
Confirm base level. The Refueling Base level dictates how many allied fleets slots exist. At level 2, the third fleet won't fit.
Verify coordinates. A single digit error turns the launch into wasted time and antimatter.
Calculate flight time. The fleet must arrive before the attack. In space games, you often win not with the largest fleet, but the one that arrives on time.

Fuel, Duration, and Cancellation

Remember: antimatter is spent on flight and is not refunded on Defense cancellation. Holding a fleet in orbit requires no additional fuel, but that doesn't mean send everything without a plan. Defense duty lasts 72 hours. For prolonged threats, schedule shifts: who defends now, who replaces later, who stays in reserve.

Don’t Confuse SAB with Relocation and Teleport

SAB defense is not troop transfer to another player. Ordinary players can send "Transport" of resources and "Relocation" of ships within alliance planets and multi-accounts, but not to another player's personal planet.

Teleport also does not replace Defense. It's for instant relocation of your own fleets between your own planets with Teleports built. It doesn't work with other players' fleets, even allies, doesn't send ships to another’s planet, nor is used for attacking or defending another player’s planet.

Teleport rules: must exist at both ends of route, movement takes 5 minutes, no fuel cost, occupies one fleet slot, and can't be canceled once launched. In spaceship games, such mobility is handy, but in SAB context, it's indirect: you can quickly gather your reserve on your planet and then send a fleet on the "Defense" mission from there.

Alliance Organization

Pre-assign defenders for key planets.
Make a list of players ready to keep fleets on Defense.
Note planets with Refueling Bases and their available slots.
Agree on which fleet types players will send: fast interceptors, heavy groups, reserve.
After threats pass, remember to cancel unnecessary Defense so fleets return home and become available again for maneuvers.

For quick browser access, use the War for Galaxy web version. For continuous play on a convenient platform, check the download page.

Conclusion: A Strong Planet Is One the Alliance Is Ready to Defend

SAB defense is a key tool for shared defense within an alliance. It turns a lone planet into a joint resistance point where multiple players can meet an attack as a unified force. But this power only works if preparations are made: the planet owner must be in the alliance, the planet must have a Refueling Base, and its level must provide enough slots for allied fleets.

Remember the main points. Defense is only available between same-alliance members. The Refueling Base is mandatory and determines how many fleets can be stationed. Antimatter is charged once per flight; holding a fleet consumes no fuel, but antimatter is not refunded if you cancel. Battle reports go to all defense participants, so battles can be analyzed based on facts rather than rumors.

War for Galaxy shines with such choices: as in the best space games, browser strategy games, and online strategy games, not only fleet size matters but also infrastructure, discipline, timing, and alliance trust. Check your key planets now: is the Refueling Base built, how many slots does it have, which allies are ready to help, and who coordinates defense.

Ready to strengthen your empire and play as a team? Visit the official Russian War for Galaxy page, open the web version, or choose your platform on the download page. War for Galaxy is also available through VK Play, Google Play, and App Store. Don't wait for the first serious attack: join an alliance, prepare infrastructure, and turn your planets into points that allies can truly defend.