Warhounds Mission Types, Objectives, Contracts, and Recon

Quick Answer

A post-launch developer answer describes 15 story missions, 200+ locations for optional play, and nine optional mission types. The developer says those locations begin repeating after the pool is exhausted. Public Steam metadata separately names Recon, Covert, Sweep, Rescue, Antiterror, Subversion, Capture, Escort, Joint Operation, combat missions, and random combat missions.

These sources overlap but are not identical taxonomies: do not add every achievement term together and claim an official total larger than nine. Two named story missions - Distant Smoke and Steel Sails - are confirmed by achievements. Distant Smoke now has a release-version objective walkthrough in the first-session guide; Steel Sails still needs a comparable end-to-end verification pass.

Evidence status

• Released 1.0: The campaign and public achievements are live. Achievement descriptions name Sweep, Antiterror, Subversion, Capture, Escort, Joint Operation, covert, Rescue, reconnaissance, combat-mission, missile, allied-squad, and UAV activities.
• Post-launch developer answer: 15 story missions, 200+ optional locations, nine optional mission types, and repeating locations after the pool is exhausted.
• Patch evidence: Hotfix #4 addressed stuck recon soldiers and mission-transition crashes; Hotfix #5 addressed further missing-city cases; Patch 1.0.1 fixed several mission/save states; Hotfix #6 addressed story-mission visibility, protection payouts, and a Subversion objective; Major Update 1.0.2 lists further mission fixes including Rescue rewards, Joint Operation spawning, city recon, regular/story mission scripts and objects, status saving, and story-mission manual extraction.
• Demo-era: Exact objective steps, reinforcements, timers, rewards, and map order from pre-release builds need 1.0 verification.
• Roadmap: Unreleased mission families are excluded.
• Community observation: Reports of random mission order or specific commander-capture steps are not stated as universal rules.

Campaign and optional mission scope

The August 11 developer answer separates the campaign into two layers:

• 15 story missions;
• 200+ locations for optional passage, used to upgrade gear and characters;
• optional locations divided into nine mission types;
• locations begin repeating after the available pool has been exhausted.

The developer explicitly gave Sweep, zone defense, and character capture as examples, but did not list all nine types in that reply. “200+ locations” is also not the same as 200 handcrafted mission rules or 200 permanently unique encounters. The statement describes a location pool that can repeat.

For the map-progression distinction between finite story missions, optional locations, repetition, and the earlier missing-city fixes, see Map Progression and Optional Missions.

Publicly confirmed activity types

Activity	What the public achievement establishes
Recon	“Behind Enemy Lines” tracks 10 successful recons.
Covert	“On the Sly” tracks 30 covert missions.
Sweep	“Annihilator” tracks completing 30 Sweep missions.
Rescue	“Error Correction” links 10 Rescue missions to failed recon or covert activity.
Antiterror	“Defender of the Oppressed” tracks 10 Antiterror missions.
Subversion	“Saboteur” tracks 10 Subversion missions.
Capture	“Bounty Hunter” tracks 10 Capture missions.
Escort	“Savior” tracks 10 Escort missions.
Joint Operation	“Team Player” tracks 10 Joint Operation missions.
Combat mission	“Big Red Button” and “Puppet Master” both count completed combat missions.
Random combat mission	“Good Start” tracks completing your first random combat mission.

Two further achievement conditions read as ways to complete a mission rather than proven standalone mission types:

• Launching missiles: “Big Red Button” tracks 10 combat missions completed by launching missiles.
• Allied squads: “Puppet Master” tracks 10 combat missions completed with allied squads.

“Eye of God” (10 recons using a UAV) confirms UAVs as a reconnaissance tool, not a separate mission type.

These descriptions confirm that the activities exist. They do not prove identical rules every time the label appears.

Named missions confirmed by achievements

Mission	Related achievement	Walkthrough status
Distant Smoke	“Welcome to Africa” — Complete mission: Distant Smoke	Release-version walkthrough; current-patch live retest still pending
Steel Sails	“Snatch” — Complete mission: Steel Sails	Needs live-game verification

The achievements confirm these missions exist in the retail build. The linked Distant Smoke walkthrough records the release-version objective changes and completion transition without treating one run’s enemy positions as universal. It does not turn the release-version walkthrough into a Major Update 1.0.2 hands-on retest; the walkthrough remains bound to its recorded release-version footage.

Post-launch mission fixes through Major Update 1.0.2

Patch 1.0.1 lists several mission-facing fixes:

• rescuing a VIP could incorrectly result in mission failure if all soldiers died;
• squad rotation between double missions could produce errors;
• certain statuses could fail to persist across save/load cycles;
• specific mission scripts and mission objects had edge cases;
• incorrect soldier portraits could appear in random events;
• Julia could trigger an incorrect mission voice line.

The VIP entry confirms one failure-state fix, not the stun, bind, carry, or extraction procedure. Likewise, the broad script/object fixes do not identify every affected mission. Keep those as live-test questions until a current objective panel and repeatable sequence are captured.

Hotfix #6 adds three directly relevant mission fixes:

• story missions could occasionally fail to appear;
• a protected objective could complete without paying out;
• an explosive objective in Subversion missions could be accidentally destroyed.

These are developer-listed fixes for named failure cases. They do not define the normal payout amount, the full story-mission unlock sequence, or every rule governing Subversion objectives.

Major Update 1.0.2 adds another mission-facing set:

• Rescue mission rewards not being issued;
• Joint Operation mission spawning;
• specific city recon bugs;
• script, object, and grid-cell errors on regular and story missions;
• status-saving bugs during save/load;
• incorrect Julia mission voice lines;
• manual extraction being allowed on story missions, which the release note says is now disabled.

These are still developer-listed fixes. In particular, “manual extraction disabled on story missions” does not mean a scripted story objective can never involve extraction; it means the separate manual extraction path identified by the developer is no longer allowed there.

Prepare by objective, not by enemy count

Use the objective panel and briefing to identify failure conditions before deployment.

• Sweep and Antiterror: prepare for sustained control, but preserve resources for later contacts.
• Capture and Escort: protect routes and control space; raw damage may be secondary.
• Joint Operation: understand the ally’s role without assuming the AI will repair a weak composition.
• Recon and covert work: information and campaign effects can be more important than a fight.
• Rescue: expect the state to follow a prior failure, but verify the exact retail objective.

Warhounds advertises typical mission lengths of roughly 25–40 minutes. Treat that as store guidance, not a timer or guarantee.

Evaluate contracts as campaign decisions

The base manages finances, logistics, treatment, and downtime. A contract should therefore be evaluated on more than its visible reward:

1. Can a suitable squad deploy now?
2. Does the objective expose a roster weakness?
3. Will recovery costs erase the likely benefit?
4. Does the contract improve a faction relationship, intelligence position, or future choice?
5. Is a lower-risk operation better while key operatives recover?

The “Top Manager” achievement refers to landing all contracts, but this page does not infer the count or unlock conditions.

Keep a mission record for future guides

A reliable walkthrough needs a retail-build record containing the mission name, objective text, difficulty, map variation, squad limit, failure conditions, optional goals, rewards, and patch date. One video or one campaign is not enough to claim a universal sequence.

For the complete public achievement list, see Warhounds achievements.

Frequently asked questions

Are all mission types listed here?

No. This is a conservative list supported by the live store and public achievement descriptions, not a complete internal game database.

How many story missions and optional locations are there?

A developer described 15 story missions and 200+ optional locations divided into nine mission types. The locations begin repeating after the available pool is exhausted. This is a developer scope description, not a datamined mission database.

Are missions always 25–40 minutes?

No. That is the publisher’s typical estimate. Difficulty, map, objective, and player pace can change the duration.

Does a failed recon always create a Rescue mission?

The “Error Correction” achievement links Rescue missions to failed reconnaissance or covert operations, but the exact trigger and availability rules need live verification.