Raise the walls
Choose a structure and tap a site, or drag to plan a wall. Review the total price and
choose Confirm build or Cancel. Explore lets you pan and pinch while keeping a plan.
Towers and gates can replace wall tiles and join the surrounding masonry. Press
R
to turn a gate.
Command your troops
Click a soldier or drag a selection box. Shift adds to your selection. Right-click the
ground to march, an enemy to attack, or a wall or tower to station troops. Double-tap a
soldier to select matching troops within two tiles. On phones, Select toggles area
selection: drag a box, or tap troops to add and remove them, then choose Done to give
orders. Type chips filter a mixed company; All restores it. Two fingers move or zoom the
map in every mode. Explore protects your selection while you navigate with one finger.
Take the battlements
Infantry enters the gatehouse and reaches its roof internally. A separate wall staircase
also gives access to connected battlements. Every wall tile holds one soldier. Towers
hold two to six. The Keep has eight visible stations and its own internal entrance. Tap
a garrison's troop type to select those soldiers for redeployment. Cavalry and siege
crews remain on the ground. Use “Descend” to leave the battlements.
Keep your people fed
Quarries supply stone, markets bring gold and timber, and date gardens feed the
garrison. Wells heal nearby troops. Build dwellings to house a larger army. Survive ten
waves to secure the oasis.
Engineers and siege crews
Build an engineer workshop, then select it to commission catapults, field ballistas and
engineers. Each mobile engine needs one nearby engineer to move and fire. Free engineers
join uncrewed engines automatically. Company orders keep selected engines with their
crews.
Spare engineers repair safe structures at 1.2 health per second, prioritizing the Keep,
walls, towers and gates. At most two work on one structure. Repairs spend materials and
wages based on its construction cost. Work stops near raiders and for six seconds after
damage. Passive pauses a free engineer's automatic work. Immediate repairs cost three
times as much and also require safety.
Stances: who moves on their own
Guard
(default): when a soldier is struck, or a building within two tiles of it is attacked,
melee troops march out to fight the attacker, then return to their post.
Aggressive
: melee troops also hunt raiders within five tiles.
Passive
: the soldier never moves on its own but still strikes enemies in reach. Archers,
crossbows and siege crews never walk on their own; they fire at anything inside their
range. Troops on walls, towers and the Keep stay at their posts until you order them down.
A company with a purpose
Pikes counter cavalry. Cavalry hunts exposed bowmen. Crossbows pierce armor; maces break
heavy infantry. Longbows trade protection for reach. Keep a mixed army and use the walls
for cover.
Elite infantry uses two supply; European knights use three. Low provisions reduce damage
by 25%. During preparation, faster raid settings scale income, food use and recruitment
together. Combat rates stay fixed, keeping the resource opportunity per raid consistent.