What it is
The Military is FOXFIRE's default hull and its baseline all-rounder. No speciality by design. The other four hulls are tuned against it. It flies like a classic arcade ship: thrust along the nose, rotate to change where the nose points.
Place in the roster
The Military is the reference hull of the five.
- The Freighter and the Scout share its rotate-and-thrust controls.
- ODEC and the Crescent Moon fly differently.
- Hull health is the baseline here: the Freighter has more and the Scout and the Crescent Moon have less.
How it flies
Default map, with the arrow keys as an alternative to WASD:
- W thrusts along the nose.
- A and D rotate the ship.
- S fires the reverse thruster.
- Space triggers the dash.
Turning only changes where the nose points. It doesn't redirect momentum, so the ship can face one way and travel another.
The 2 assists
Two assists keep the Military forgiving.
- Drag. While W is held, drag switches off. Release W and the ship sheds speed. This hull has more drag than any other in the roster.
- Spin control. Release A and D and the spin brakes to a stop. Turn against a spin and a stronger assist helps cancel it. Turn rate has a ceiling.
Phase Shift
The dash is a committed roll that the game calls Phase Shift.
- Input is locked while it runs.
- Damage is blocked during the roll and for a brief grace period after it.
- The roll follows your current velocity, or the nose if you're not moving.
- The cooldown is short.
The starter gun
Weapons fire on their own. The default starter, the Ballistic Gun, is a turret that covers a full circle and picks a nearby target. That leaves the nose free for flying.
Why the assists are there
The assists are deliberate. We set out the reasoning in Why Nova Drift is the game everyone keeps comparing FOXFIRE to.
The Military hull's WAD-rotation and added damping exist specifically because we played Nova Drift's assists and realised the players who survive the first ten minutes are the ones who get to discover the depth.
the FOXFIRE team
A fresh save has no other hull, so every booth run at Supanova Sydney 2026 started on the Military. Our write-up says players were correcting their first drift by their second try.
Pairs well with
- Self-aiming weapons. The Ballistic Gun covers a full circle on its own, so the nose can point at your exit instead of the enemy.
- First runs. Drag and the spin assists forgive a missed input, and the dash comes back quickly.
- Learning the asteroid field. The ships guide calls the Military the right place to learn what the field wants from you.
Pairs badly with
The ships guide says the Military feeds any weapon and suits any stage. The list below is short.
- Long glides. Drag takes speed off as soon as you release W, so at the same speed a coast carries the Military less far than any other hull.
- Chasing a specialist's edge. The ships guide is plain about the trade: the specialists give up real things to beat the Military at one job.
The 2 ideas it combines
The hull combines two ideas with large audiences behind them: momentum flying and weapons that fire on their own.
- Asteroids (1979) ran on five buttons: rotate left and right, thrust, fire and hyperspace. According to the Strong National Museum of Play, Atari sold more than 70,000 units, its best-selling arcade game.
- Nova Drift, FOXFIRE's closest mechanical peer, holds 96% positive across more than 14,000 Steam reviews in all languages (Steam, as of 1 October 2026).
- Vampire Survivors gives you a character whose weapons attack automatically (Wikipedia) and holds 98% positive across more than 260,000 Steam reviews (Steam, as of 1 October 2026).
Where to look next
- The ships guide puts all five hulls side by side.
- The Ballistic Gun guide covers the starter turret.
- The weapons index lists every revealed weapon, and each weapon page has a hull pairings section.
Questions
What is the Military hull?
It's FOXFIRE's default hull, labelled baseline all-rounder in game. It flies on rotate-and-thrust controls with drag and spin assists, and the other four hulls are tuned against it.
How do you fly the Military?
W thrusts along the nose, A and D rotate the ship, S fires the reverse thruster and Space triggers the dash by default. The arrow keys work as well.
Does turning change the direction the Military travels?
No. Rotation changes where the nose points. Momentum changes when you thrust, reverse or coast.
Do you need to aim?
No. Weapons fire on their own. The default starter, the Ballistic Gun, is a turret that picks a nearby target across a full circle.
Is the Military only for new players?
No. The ships guide calls its evenness its own argument: it feeds any weapon and suits any stage, and the specialists give up real things to beat it at one job.
More from Dispatches
- Why Nova Drift is the game everyone keeps comparing FOXFIRE to: where the two designs share DNA and where they diverge.
- What happens when you hand FOXFIRE to strangers: three days at Supanova Sydney 2026 and the 90+ item improvement list that followed.
- We made the Viridian Storm fair: July build notes on the Stage 2 rework, the Cyrex boss fight, the HUD compass for the storm's eye and the Crescent Moon hull art.