At the core I really like the concept. The streamlined RTS thing works for me. The balance between managing borders and your ""domestic"" production flow is engaging.
My main thought is that it really needs some stronger feedback as to the "state" of the game. Especially once the levels get bigger. There's a ton going on and it felt bad getting surprised by a strong enemy tile because it blended in with everything else. Or not noticing one of my tiles got disconnected until it had a lot of units stored that I could have used earlier. Pausing to make decisions felt good, but pausing just to re-scan the board felt tedious.
Some stuff I was wishing for while playing:
- Tile direction arrows having more movement to make the direction even more obvious at a glance
- Tiles with higher numbers standing out more
- A hotkey to clear all current tile connections
- More pronounced arrow "pulses" for combat rolls
I did not see any rare upgrades but even the commons felt relatively impactful which was great.