Mandate Order does not turn money into soldiers. It turns working civilians into soldiers, and it only equips them from items that have physically reached the armory. A force raised without checking those two costs can win the fight and leave the city unable to haul water, care for fields, or finish winter fuel.
The rule boundary is the August 14, 2026 Early Access update, with recruitment and invasion changes traced back through the launch notes. The armory became a unique hard gate, recruitment gained explicit priorities, and bandit raids no longer follow the demo’s fixed assumptions. Read the current equipment and invasion panels before trusting an older troop count or attack date.
Define the threat before building the force
Open the invasion settings and current threat notice. The launch version allows the initial invasion time and cycle to vary, so there is no universal “day 28 army.” A bandit demand, beast nest, border force, and kingship invasion create different deadlines and objectives.
Write the mission in one line:
“I need a force that can hold the eastern pass, keep the armory route open, and clear the bandit buildings before the next demand.”
That statement determines how quickly the army must assemble, whether it needs ranged cover, which road must remain open, and when it can disband. “Recruit the maximum” has none of those limits and can drain the same labor that must feed the campaign.
Make the armory truthful before opening recruitment
The launch armory is a unique building. Only equipment stored inside it counts for recruitment. Items still in a weapon workshop, carried by a laborer, or lying in a ground pile are intentionally excluded.
Before pressing Recruit, inspect the armory’s own inventory and compare it with the planned unit:
- the selected weapon category exists in the required quantity;
- the intended armor and shields have arrived, not merely finished production;
- the path from each military workshop to the armory is open;
- the armory is not waiting behind a full workshop output or another carrying priority;
- the rally point can be reached without sending civilians through the enemy approach.
If the territory total and recruitment count disagree, believe the armory count. Follow the missing equipment from the producer to the armory and repair that handoff.
Manufacture a coherent first unit
Wooden clubs are both a basic weapon and an input into more advanced military production. Metal lines then branch into short weapons, long-handled weapons, bows, shields, armor, chariots, and siege components. Do not open all branches just because the recipes are visible.
Choose a battlefield role first:
Shield or short-weapon infantry provides a straightforward body that can hold an enemy in place. Its job is to maintain the line, not chase every target.
Long-handled infantry gives the formation a different reach and attack profile. Use it where the current equipment comparison and terrain support that role rather than assuming it replaces the shield line.
Archers need a protected firing lane and a position that does not force them to move through the front. The August 14 update added lead calculation against moving targets, while other ranged machines still use different mechanics. Keep that date boundary in mind when comparing projectile behavior.
Chariots are expensive, fast shock units that benefit from open ground and sustained movement. Narrow valleys, gates, walls, and dense friendly formations can remove the space needed to build a charge. Do not consume scarce metal and vehicle parts until the map supplies a useful lane.
Build one role to a visible armory reserve, then test it. A mixed pile of half-finished equipment does not become a flexible army; it becomes four stalled production chains.
Choose the recruitment priority that matches the deadline
The current recruitment panel offers two useful priorities.
Fastest Speed favors people nearest the armory. Use it when contact is close and assembly time matters more than which jobs stop.
Minimum Work Impact favors idle people or those whose removal is expected to disrupt less work. Use it when the warning leaves enough time to preserve farms, wells, kitchens, fuel, and critical carrying.
After you confirm the rally point, responding civilians immediately leave their current work. Supplies being carried can remain on the ground. Pause after the order and inspect the city: which inputs were dropped, which buildings lost their only effective group, and which seasonal task has stopped?
Sick, injured, and plague-infected civilians are excluded by default under the launch rules. If the force assembles short, do not repeatedly click Recruit. Check armory equipment, eligible population, travel routes, and the rally icon to find the missing condition.
Do not force-complete a rally you have not inspected
The rally state is a logistics audit. Select it and compare requested soldiers, responders, equipment, and arrival progress. A soldier cannot equip an item that has not reached the armory, and a civilian cannot arrive through a blocked gate or an unsafe path merely because the order exists.
If danger arrives before the full force:
- Decide whether the assembled group can hold the chosen line.
- Use immediate completion only when a smaller coherent unit is more valuable than waiting.
- Cancel and redesign if the missing equipment defines the unit’s role.
- Move the rally only if the new point remains connected to the armory and defense route.
A half-sized shield line can still delay. A ranged group without bows cannot perform its mission.
Draw the formation around contact
Select units directly, through their unit cards, or through control groups. Right-click issues movement or an attack; holding and dragging the right mouse button draws a line formation. Use the line to decide how many soldiers can make contact and what remains protected behind them.
A very deep block can leave many soldiers waiting behind the front. A very wide line can be wrapped or broken by terrain. Draw the front between obstacles, keep archers or machines behind a stable screen, and leave a route for a damaged unit to withdraw without crossing incoming reinforcements.
The target indicators help diagnose a bad engagement. The launch community guide describes white as the selected unit’s current target, yellow as an enemy targeting the selected unit, and red as mutual lock. Use the live line colors to verify who is holding whom. Several smaller units can bind several threats, while one large unit may remain committed to a single target.
Use terrain before expensive equipment
High ground improves the tactical situation for ranged troops, and a Hold order helps prevent them from abandoning that position to chase. Walls create artificial height, but every wall weapon has a range and a blind zone. An archer or long-range engine can be powerful against an approach and ineffective against an enemy directly under the wall.
Build the defense as overlapping jobs:
- a front or obstacle that slows the approach;
- a wall or elevated firing position whose path is accessible to defenders;
- short-range coverage for the wall foot;
- long-range ballista or catapult coverage aimed at the approach rather than the blind zone;
- a gate route that can close without friendly combat units blocking it.
Wooden and rammed-earth walls have different current attachment rules. Check the build preview before planning a mounted weapon. The launch update also tightened same-section formation behavior on walls and added a warning when combat units prevent a gate from closing. Treat those signals as part of the defense, not as UI clutter.
Read a bandit raid as an economic attack
Bandits now make demands and react to refusal. If refused, they target high-value stored resources, damage facilities, and loot along their path. They do not necessarily leave after touching the outer wall, and their demands can grow over time.
Before refusing, identify the valuable target the raid is likely to expose. Move the defensive line to protect its approach, not merely the prettiest city gate. Use the invasion tracking jump to locate the force. If the defense only repels the current attackers while enemy buildings remain, the bandit problem has not been removed at its source.
A clearing expedition needs a different reserve from a gate defense. It must survive the march, find and destroy enemy structures, and return without leaving the settlement open. Delay that expedition if the city cannot maintain food, fuel, farms, and a home guard during the absence.
Disband while the economy can still recover
When the mission ends, select the unit and disband it. Under the launch rules, equipment returns to the armory first, while civilians return to the workforce. Verify both outcomes rather than assuming the transition is instant.
Inspect the jobs that stopped at recruitment. Pick up or redirect supplies left on the ground, restore farm and well assignments, restart paused military recipes only if the reserve target is still unmet, and check morale needs. Keeping every soldier mobilized after a small threat pays an invisible wage in lost production.
Use the failure signal to change one layer
Recruitment shows no equipment: the items are not in the armory, the selected sub-equipment is wrong, or the military chain never completed. Fix inventory before population.
The rally stalls: inspect eligible civilians, route, equipment, and the selected priority. Do not replace the rally with a maximum one-click assembly until the missing condition is known.
The formation arrives in pieces: the route, speed differences, or rally location split it. Regroup outside contact and issue one bounded movement order.
Archers walk into melee: their firing lane, target order, or Hold state is wrong. Restore the screen and elevation before adding more archers.
Chariots fail to knock through: inspect speed, space, terrain, and approach. A narrow gate is not repaired by a second chariot.
The wall falls at its base: long-range defenses may be inside their blind zone. Add an obstacle, infantry screen, or short-range attachment that can cover the actual contact point.
The city starves after victory: too much labor remained mobilized or essential carrying was abandoned. Disband, restore the stopped survival chain, and reduce the next force to the mission it must perform.
The army is ready when its equipment is visible in the armory, its rally cost is visible in the city, its formation has a terrain job, and its disband plan restores the exact workers and supplies taken from the economy.