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A turf war is where two rival gangs fight it out for control of an area. However San Andreas' implementation of gang rivalry is different from GTA2; gangs will only attack the Grove Street Families' turf (hereafter abbreviated GSF like in the game itself); they will not attack each other. And the only gang to attack GSF are the Ballas.
Why start a Turf War?
For every territory controlled, more money is generated at The Johnson House on Grove Street. It also increases CJ's overall Respect rating. However just as it is possible to take territory from the Ballas, so too can they take territory back from GSF, resulting in losing money and respect.
Availability of Turf Wars
Turf Wars can be done at two key times. The first is after completing "Doberman" for Tenpenny. After this every colored territory can be taken over.
After completing "Green Sabre" and leaving Los Santos, CJ cannot get involved in any more turf wars. He also does not have to defend his turf during this time (explained later).
Completing the "Home Coming" mission again unlocks the ability to fight for turf.
Locations that can be fought over
Usually the enemy turf is on the eastern side of Los Santos. Look at the colors on the map; if a territory is green, CJ's gang GSF controls it. If it is colored purple (Ballas) or yellow (Vagos), CJ can choose to attack it. Territories successfully won will turn green, but if captured back by the enemy they will change color once more.
Differing shades of turf color
Some territories are darker than others. The darker it is, the more enemy hoods are living there to defend it (akin to SimCity's zones).
In a darker area it is easier to find the minimum of three gang members to kill in order to spark off a turf war.
However for some reason the darker shade and larger population does not mean it will take a harder battle to win the turf.
Starting a Turf War
Simply kill three (or sometimes four) rival gang members to begin a turf war. However they have to be killed while they are in their own territory (look to see if CJ is in a colored region of the map). Any gang members killed outside this, even if a couple of meters away from their own land, will not count towards starting a turf war.
If a small group of hoods are close to but still outside their turf, CJ can merely attack a couple of times to get them following him, lead them into their territory, and then kill them to spark a turf war.
Or if they are too far away to make it convenient, CJ can go and find another group on their land instead.
"Our 'hood is under attack!" onscreen message
The enemy gangs can randomly decide to capture back a territory; they usually try to capture back a territory GSF took from them, but not always. It is usually adjacent to one they already control, but not always.
There are a few options at this point.
Do Nothing
If an enemy gang attacks and CJ does nothing, the territory is not completely conquered; instead it is simply a "no-man's land" that neither OGF nor the attacking gang owns.
But, as always, attacking three gang members in this limbo territory will start a turf war. This turf war will still have three stages and be the same as any other.
Penalty for Doing Nothing
If CJ dies in a turf war (regardless of who started it) he will die and lose the territory. In the case of a limbo territory, it will be well and truly owned by the squatting gang, and the map shows their color for it. However it can still be attacked and taken over once more, no territory can be permanently owned by a gang in the sense of being unable to be attacked, the exception being the core GSF territory with the The Johnson House and Grove Street at the centre.
Respond to the attack
Simply enough, race off to defend the turf and beat back the enemy. The game gives a generous amount of time for the player to arrive there, as San Andreas is quite a large region.