Expansion & Retreat

How factions grow into new systems and how they get pushed out.

Expansion

Trigger

A faction that holds >75% influence in a system for at least one tick will enter pending expansion. Once pending, expansion cannot be stopped.

Timeline

Phase	Duration	Notes
Pending	3 days	Source system chosen on day 1 (shown in station news)
Active	5-10 days	Cannot be stopped. Target is announced.
Cooldown	2 days	Other states (e.g. Boom) can still run during cooldown
Expansion tax	Instant	-15% influence in source system on completion

The Expansion Cube

Expansion targets are found within a cube centered on the source system:

Range	Cube edge	Max diagonal distance
Normal	20 ly	~34 ly (20 × √3)
Extended (after 1 fail)	30 ly	~52 ly (30 × √3)

Most expansions land within 20 ly. Use Inara's "Expansion targets" tab to see candidates.

Rules of Expansion (priority order)

System the faction has never been to, with fewer than 7 factions
System with exactly 7 factions — triggers an invasion war against the lowest non-native faction
System the faction was previously retreated from, with fewer than 7 factions
Expansion fails — next attempt gets extended range (even from a different system)
Second fail — that system is permanently blocked from expansion by any faction

If multiple systems qualify at the same priority, the system with the lowest-influence target tends to be picked. Permit-locked systems (Sol, Shinrarta Dezhra, etc.) generally cannot be expanded into.

Permanent block risk: A third expansion attempt from a system that has failed twice will permanently prevent any faction from ever expanding from that system. Be careful with failed expansions.

Multiple systems above 75%

If two or more systems are above 75%, the game chooses the expansion source on the first day of pending. It reportedly favors the "happiest" system, but in practice the choice appears somewhat random. To control which system you expand from, keep only one system above 75%.

Expansion diplomacy

Before expanding, check if the target system has an active PMF. Search the Squadron hub, Inara, or ask on the ED BGS Discord.
Honor the "first there owns the system" golden rule. You'll be a guest.
If a Commander hasn't logged on in 6+ months and you can't reach squadron leadership, the PMF is likely defunct.

Retreat

Trigger

A faction whose influence drops below 2.5% for one day enters retreat. Once triggered, retreat is locked in.

Timeline

Phase	Duration	Notes
Pending	1 day	Retreat is locked in, cannot be reversed
Active	6 days	-2% influence per tick
Critical day	Day 5 → 6	Only this transition matters for the outcome
Cooldown	1 day

The critical day: On the last day of retreat, if the faction is still below 2.5%, they leave the system. If you've pushed them above 2.5% by day 5 going into day 6, they survive. Push hard from day 4 onwards regardless of which side you're on.

Forcing a retreat

Murder (clean kills) is the most effective method
Violent combat missions against the faction
Smuggling and negative trade
Boost all other factions to steal influence from the target

Preventing a retreat

Drop combat bounties, do profitable trade, drop exploration data
Run trade and combat missions for the faction
Focus effort on day 4-6 — earlier days matter less

Colonization

Colonization lets you create a new system for your faction, but with limitations:

Must be within 15 ly of an existing system you control
Your faction starts at 100% but with no BGS sliders until the first asset is completed
First asset gets incorporated during the weekly server tick, then normal BGS kicks in
You cannot spread other factions to the new system until at least one asset exists
To backfill: other factions must be >75% in a system within 20 ly and in control
You can expand multiple factions in at once if multiple qualifying systems exist nearby
To deny a specific faction: fill the system with 7 factions total

Expansion and retreat mechanics derived from The Complete BGS Guide 2025 v3.0 by Cmdr Purrfect (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).