Armies

- Command Queue

Moving armies on the map

Selecting your army

You can command your field armies in different ways on the map by issuing commands.
To choose a command for your army, you must first ensure that your army is selected on the map.

You can automatically select an army on the map by clicking on the cell where it is located.
You notice that an army is selected by the highlighted bar inside your army panel.

Another way to select your army is clicking on the "select"-icon to the right of your army in the list.
You can also center the view around your army by clicking on the "center on"-icon

If you have multiple armies on the same cell, you can simply select another by clicking on the panel for this army.

Issuing commands

In order to integrate with your army and open up the command menu, simply hold down your left mouse button on a cell on the map and select a command from the list that appears. See picture.

Some commands can only be used in a certain way or at a special occasion. If it is possible to use a command - the icon is colored and have a glow around it, otherwise it is colored gray.

You can at any time close the command menu by clicking in the middle of the circle.

Opening up the command list

Whenever you issue a new command for one of your armies it will be added to the command queue for that army. The command queue is opened from your army panel.

You can remove a particular command by clicking on the red cross next to the command. Movement commands cannot be removed using this method because they are dependant on each other.

You can always remove the last command in the queue either from the command menu or from inside the command queue where you also have the option to remove them all.

See the video below on how to issue commands on the map.

Basic commands

Manual Move

What?

This command allows you to move your army in a straight line from where it is standing.

It is possible to issue this command to distant locations but then the cell must be in a straight line from your last action.

How?

Left-hold-click with your mouse on a cell that you want your army to move to and select the command from the menu.

Auto Move

What?

This command automatically selects the shortest route for the army from the starting point to another cell on the map. Auto move takes hero skills, effects and items into consideration.

For instance, if you have a hero with the skill Mountain Crosser, which allows you to travel faster over mountains, auto-move might choose a way over the mountains instead of the way through a passage.

It is possible to issue this command anywhere on the map.

How?

Left-hold-click your mouse on a cell on the map within the same view as your army and select the command from the menu.

Wait

What?

If you wish to execute a command at a specific time point, the wait command may be useful. It is most commonly used in combination with another command.

How?

Left-click on the spot at which your army is located. A pop-up box will appear, in which you can choose the number for days, hours, minutes and seconds for which you wish your army to wait.

Search Location

What?

Various locations are located on the map. These are obelisks, ruins, mines, shrines and special locations such as dragon obelisks.

In order to visit these locations and take part of their information, you have to execute a search location command, subsequently to your decision of moving your army to the location.

How?

Left-click with your mouse at the same spot as the location and select Search location from the menu.

Remove Last

What?

This command removes the most recently added command in the queue. The command is effective if you wish to regret the placement of a command in the queue.

How?

Left-click with your mouse and select remove last from the list in the menu. This can be repeated until all commands are deleted from the queue. If an army has many commands listed in the queue, the choice “remove all” is particularly recommended.

Dissolve and return home

What?

This command let you dissolve 75% of your units in your army into one of your villages' home armies. Heroes will always disband but can be rehired inside a Hero Sanctuary for a cost.

If you have an item in your army inventory it will be dropped on the field.

How?

Left-hold-click with your mouse on the cell where your army is located, then select the command from the menu.
A window is now opened from where you can choose a village to dissolve to.

Your troops will join the home army, and if under siege - team up inside your Garrison.
If the Garrison is full or if you haven't built one yet, your units will form its own army outside your village.

Recovering commands

What happens when my army is defeated?

If your army has lost a battle and is wounded, it will hide from its enemies and tend to its wounds. After a couple of hours your army will decide to move on and continue earlier placed commands.
You can decide for how long you want a particular army to tend their wounds from your army settings inside your army's tab.

Every time your army is defeated an adverse effect is added to that army. This effect worn out after a couple of hours but if you are defeated again during this time you will be punished even more. Notice that you can only be defeated again if your army has been recovered.

Tending wounds

What?

This is a passive command indicating that you have recently lost a battle and are tending your wounds. Your army cannot be attacked when this command is active. All troops including your hero will be ready again once the preparation time is up.

How?

You cannot interact with this command in any way because it is a passive command.

Advanced commands

Settle new village

What?

This command is used on an empty village spot in order to settle a new village. However, to use the command you must follow the criteria needed for taking over a new village.

How?

When you have gained the number of “Settlers” and civilization points needed for taking over a new village, left-click on an empty village spot and select the Settle command from the list.

Use item

What?

Your army may gain certain items that can be used to perform specific actions. If such an item is inside your hero or army inventory, this command allows you to use that item.

How?

1. Left-click and select “Use item” from the menu.
2. A pop-up box will appear, in which you can select the item that you want to use.
3. When you have selected an item, click on the button marked “Use item”. This is enough for using some items, whereas others require additional commands. For instance, when using the item “Scroll of town portal” you have to select a village to which you want to teleport your army, as an additional command.

Plunder

What?

This command is performed to plunder other players villages. In order to use the command, you must be hostile to the certain player owning the village.

How?

On the map, left-click on the village that you wish to plunder. Your army must actively be moved to the certain spot in order to use the command. When your army has reached the spot, the attack against the village will begin. If an army from the village is present at the moment, a battle will naturally occur.

What happens if the plunder is successful?

If you win the battle you can plunder the village from resources. These resources are added directly to your resource bar, so be sure to have enough room for storage.

The number of resources that you can plunder depends on the carry limit of your army. The amount of resources that can be carried by your army is increased with increased carry limits of your units.

As a consequence of a successful plunder, your army will be affected by a negative effect, which makes it unable to plunder the same village again during a certain time period.

Normally it takes 12 hours before you can plunder the same village again but can be decreased by putting skill points in Fast Sieger.

Demolish (not available in Ancient Race scenario)

What?

This command is only available in certain scenarios and is used to completely demolish a village of another player. In order to use the command, you must be hostile to the certain player owning the village.

Complete demolition of a village is a time consuming process, which requires that the demolish command is used repeatedly and that you don't leave the spot. Buildings in the village will be tore down for each successful demolish attack, if your army withholds a Catapult unit.

Most likely, the attacked player will send home all armies to defend the village. If the demolition however turns out successful, you surely have gained a revengeful enemy in the game.

How?

On the map, left-click on the village that you wish to demolish. You army must actively be moved to the certain spot in order to use the command. When your army has reached the spot, the attack against the village will begin. If an army from the village is present at the moment, a battle will naturally occur.

If you win the battle, you also succeed to perform a demolish attack. However, the player does NOT lose the village.

Instead, the village is affected by an “Unhappiness” effect which decreases the happiness of the village. When it reaches 0% the village is lost by the player.

If you chose to remove your armies from the spot, the “Unhappiness” effect will rapidly be reduced, and the happiness of the village will start ticking upwards.

Also, your armies will be affected by the “Act of honor” effect, which makes them unable to attack the same village again during a certain time period (usually 24 hours).

The amount of unhappiness affecting the attacked village population is depending on a certain building in the village, and its level. This building is called Garrison, and is crucial to be able to withstand a demolish attack from another player.

Note that players cannot lose villages located in the starting area Green Fields. If the happiness decreases to 0% in a players’ starting village, only the main building will remain, exactly resembling the start of the game.

To defend your village against a Demolish attack

First and foremost, do not panic if you are under attack by another player. It usually takes a long time to demolish a village, and in order to be truly effective the attacking player requires many heroes and lots of armies.

However, it is of highest importance to build a Garrison as soon as possible.
Already at the first level, this building enables a gathering point for your fully trained units while your village is under siege.

When you consider that enough units to defeat the enemy are trained, you may release these units to the home army and start a battle.

Positively, your train speed is increased when under siege. However, your buildings are at risk to decrease in level for each demolish attack performed by your enemy.

By looking at the list of effects for a village, you will immediately notice if that village is under a demolish attack. If the “Unhappiness” effect is present in the list, this means that the enemy tries to demolish your village. This should be considered a warning, and make you intake highest possible preparedness.

You should as soon as possible send home all armies to be able to defeat the enemy.
Make sure to cooperate with your home army if you simultaneously are attacking with a field army. In order to make these armies cooperate, your home army must be battling. Therefore, move them out from the Garrison so that the field army can reach the spot.