Factions

22:22 Wardogs has three factions, one per team: Lonestar (blue), Valkyra (red) and Manticore (green), as Bulkhead's Feb 18, 2026 FAQ names them. They fight over war-torn Kolchia and PV-1, "a rare resource fuelling decades of Eurasian conflict." Bulkhead has announced no gameplay differences between them beyond looks and each team's free starter rifle, yet Lonestar has won less often since the betas, which led to Season 2's short-lived Lonestar bonus and a rebuild of the spawns on Bakurani. Up to 100 players split across the three teams in each match of Control Zone. In the clip Bulkhead recalls that about 80% of the players who picked a team in its Discord chose Lonestar.

Quick facts

Sources: Bulkhead's FAQ, Steam store page, Dexerto, GamesRadar+, PCGamesN.

The three factions

Sources: Bulkhead's Feb 18, 2026 FAQ, Bulkhead's pre-order post, Dexerto's starter rifle entries.

Bulkhead's Season 2 notes add that Lonestar is "an established PMC backed by one of the world's leading economies". Each team's free rifle has the same profile: Dexerto lists the A-91, Bushmaster M17S and KH-2002 as $0, 5.56x45mm, semi and burst fire, 700 rounds per minute, with no attachments. The Supporter Edition's three starter camos are faction-branded versions of these rifles; see Price and Supporter Edition. Each team's spawn vehicle is painted its color, red, blue or green (PC Gamer).

Kolchia and PV-1

Wardogs has no story campaign: it is PvP only (PC Gamer). The setting is carried by Bulkhead's FAQ, which places the war in "Kolchia" over PV-1, and by the store, which describes "the derelict industrial mountains of Eastern Europe". The real places Bulkhead's team visited for reference are on Development History, and the maps on Maps.

Where each team starts

30:11 The three headquarters are not spaced evenly around the zone. PC Gamer found in Season 1 that Lonestar usually starts in the southernmost corner of a map, with Manticore and Valkyra in the west and east, and Game Rant says factions usually enter the Control Zone from the west, south and east. Season 2 (Oct 15, 2026) moved and rebuilt all three team spawns on Bakurani, each with purpose-built routes to the zone; how spawning works is on Spawning and Redeploying.

The blue team problem

24:47 Players avoided Lonestar from the betas on. PC Gamer reported servers of 80 or more players sitting for 10 minutes without starting because too few picked blue, and collected the theories: blue pants and patches that stand out in forest, and the southern start. On Sep 17, 2026 Bulkhead CEO Joe Brammer said "it's green team who win most of the time, green and red are fairly even", and that "blue getting destroyed is definitely a problem with mixed reasons" (GamesRadar+).

23:45 Press found map reasons too. PCGamesN traced many Manticore wins on Bakurani to a two-tower defensive setup. Game Rant, checking a community map of Bakurani, found Lonestar actually opens closest to towers 1 and 5, and on Zestafona saw "a noticeable Manticore advantage" (towers are on Hot Zone and Towers). Bulkhead's own conclusion, in its Season 2 preview, was that "sentiment around the blue team is the largest driving factor" in players not wanting to join it. In the clip Bulkhead says its own data on Bakurani showed green winning most, with two towers and bases behind its river.

The Season 2 Lonestar bonus and its removal

27:40 Season 2 launched on Oct 15, 2026 with a "Faction Balance Experiment", billed as Season 2 only, in Bulkhead's notes:

• a Lonestar cash and XP win bonus, plus Lonestar teamplay cash and XP multipliers;
• more desaturated Lonestar uniforms, so they stand out less;
• a 20% vendor discount for any team at least 40 points behind second place;
• the rebuilt Bakurani spawns.

10:20 The bonus, 5% cash and 2.5% XP per PCGamesN, was meant to run about a week. Instead dedicated grinders flocked to blue, which then won "by far the most", and Bulkhead removed the bonus after about a day (Oct 15 to 16). PCGamesN headlined Bulkhead's admission "We f***ed up"; Rock Paper Shotgun reports that Brammer said "We were wrong" in a video on X. Co-founder Howard Philpott said the bonus was "impacting people joining games and starting games" (PC Gamer).

6:35 What stayed: the Bakurani spawn changes, which Brammer said had evened out in testing and should have been relied on instead of the bonus (PCGamesN), the losing-team discount, and the Lonestar-only music tape "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" by Eiffel 65 (Wardog level 29, $25,000 to unlock), which Philpott confirmed stays. Bulkhead had warned that community server hosts exploiting the faction bonus would be punished. The rest of the update is on Season 2.

Choosing a team

Pick by who you play with, not by faction: the factions share the same gear apart from the starter rifle, and Bulkhead has announced no faction abilities as of Oct 26, 2026. There is no party system, so friends join the same server and pick the same team (Game Rant), or use Steam's "Join Game" on a friend, which Dexerto says lands you on their server, team and squad if there is room. Squads are "Unlimited!" in size.

44:35 Switching sides mid-match is limited since Season 2: once any team leads by more than 10 points, you cannot switch again for 15 minutes, and a switcher's map stays hidden and the spawn vehicle locked until they first reach the Control Zone. Bulkhead says the rules still let you join a friend's team. More on joining on Servers and Matchmaking.

Frequently asked questions

What are the factions in Wardogs? Wardogs has three: Lonestar (blue), "the heavy-hitters in the Western paramilitary world"; Valkyra (red), which aims to restore the Soviet People's Republic; and Manticore (green), "Tehran's shadow army." Each match puts one team of each on the map.

Which team is blue in Wardogs? Lonestar is the blue team in Wardogs. It has won less often than red and green since the betas, which Bulkhead blames mostly on player sentiment.

Are the Wardogs factions different? Not in gameplay, as of Oct 26, 2026. Each Wardogs faction has its own free starter rifle (Bushmaster M17S, A-91 or KH-2002), with the same stats per Dexerto, and its own color and spawn.

Why does the blue team lose in Wardogs? Bulkhead says "sentiment around the blue team" is the largest factor; players also blamed blue clothing that stands out and Lonestar's southern start. Bulkhead CEO Joe Brammer said green wins most often.

What was the Lonestar bonus in Wardogs Season 2? Season 2 gave Lonestar players 5% more cash and 2.5% more XP, per PCGamesN. Grinders moved to blue, blue began winning most matches, and Bulkhead removed the bonus after about a day, on Oct 15 to 16, 2026.

Can you switch teams in Wardogs? Yes, but since Season 2, once a team leads by more than 10 points you cannot switch again for 15 minutes, and switchers cannot use the spawn vehicle until they reach the Control Zone.

Where is Wardogs set? Wardogs is set in war-torn Kolchia, where the three factions fight over PV-1, "a rare resource fuelling decades of Eurasian conflict," per Bulkhead's FAQ.

Sources

• WARDOGS - TOP QUESTIONS, Bulkhead on Steam, Feb 18, 2026
• PRE-ORDER NOW!, Bulkhead on Steam, Aug 11, 2026
• WARDOGS | Season 02 Preview, Bulkhead on Steam, Oct 9, 2026
• WARDOGS | Season 02 Patch Notes, Bulkhead on Steam, Oct 14, 2026
• WARDOGS on Steam, Steam, read Oct 26, 2026
• A-91, Dexerto, Sep 4, 2026
• Bushmaster M17S, Dexerto, Sep 4, 2026
• How to play Wardogs with friends, Dexerto, read Oct 26, 2026
• Believe the hype for Wardogs, possibly the next great multiplayer FPS, PC Gamer, Aug 11, 2026
• 10 beginner tips to not suck at Wardogs, PC Gamer, Sep 10, 2026
• Wardogs players are actively avoiding one team in particular, PC Gamer, Sep 14, 2026
• 'We f**ked up': 1 day into Wardogs Season 2, the Blue team bribery bonus is being dropped, PC Gamer, Oct 16, 2026
• Wardogs boss admits "we definitely have a balancing issue", GamesRadar+, Sep 18, 2026
• Wardogs' blue team is a laughing stock, and it turns out there are some valid reasons for it, PCGamesN, Oct 10, 2026
• "We f***ed up:" Bulkhead admits Wardogs Season 2 "got a few things wrong", PCGamesN, Oct 16, 2026
• "We were wrong": Wardogs devs end Season 2's team-specific cash and XP bonus experiment after a single, tumultuous day, Rock Paper Shotgun, Oct 16, 2026
• WARDOGS Has a Multiplayer Problem No Balance Patch May Be Able to Fix, Game Rant, Sep 18, 2026
• WARDOGS: Best Recon Sniper Loadout, Game Rant, Sep 12, 2026
• WARDOGS | Press Conference 01 | Road to Season 02, Bulkhead, Oct 9, 2026 (video)
• THE HOTZONE | Ep 1 | "The Wipe", Bulkhead, Oct 24, 2026 (video)