Quick defend and resume

[vanz]

How to quickly call all soldiers for a battle when under attack, and then reassign them when the defense is successful? As far as I see, bot can do this easily when I always lose because my soldiers are always parted. 

[Deicide4u]

Maybe wrong thread because this is not really a discussion?

Anyway, in the Hotkeys options there is an unassigned key for "Call to Arms". Assign this key to Backlash or some other convenient key. 

When under attack, select all your soldiers (but not women) and use this hotkey. The sword icon will show up. Right click to a place where you want all selected units to attack move after dropping off resources. Ring a bell from civic center to make your women garrison. 

After the attack, send all soldiers to chop wood, then immediately assign some of them to stone or metal, if needed.

Don't forget to send the women back to work by clicking the gray bell on the civic center. 

Edited July 17, 2025 by Deicide4u

[Atrik]

24 minutes ago, Deicide4u said:

After the attack, send all soldiers to chop wood, then immediately assign some of them to stone or metal, if needed.

"Back to Work" => 'Y' by default

[Deicide4u]

@Atrik

I didn't know it works after Call to Arms, thanks. 

[happygamer]

Thanks for the tip, Deicide4u! I didn’t realize the “Call to Arms” could be hotkeyed either, assigning it now. That sword icon showing up is a good visual cue. One thing I’ve noticed: sometimes after issuing the command, some units still lag a bit before dropping off resources. Do you all wait a second or two before the attack-move, or just go right away?

Also, thanks @Atrik for the ‘Y’ key reminder, super useful for a quick transition back to economy. These little workflow improvements really add up mid-game.

[Deicide4u]

20 minutes ago, happygamer said:

Do you all wait a second or two before the attack-move, or just go right away?

Attack move command is issued automatically for the selected units after they drop off resources, at the point where you right-clicked while holding the Call to Arms hotkey. 

[Gurken Khan]

4 hours ago, Atrik said:

"Back to Work" => 'Y' by default

As a note to our international noobs: that depends on the keyboard layout; I never changed anything and it is 'Z' for me. Hotkeys can be reviewed and changed from the menu.

[Player of 0AD]

8 hours ago, vanz said:

How to quickly call all soldiers for a battle when under attack, and then reassign them when the defense is successful? As far as I see, bot can do this easily when I always lose because my soldiers are always parted. 

Install the mod "autociv".

1. Use the autociv hotkey for "select all soldiers"
2. Use the "call to arms move" as described in this thread.

3. After a win, do the "back to work move" as described in this thread

[vanz]

9 hours ago, Player of 0AD said:

Install the mod "autociv".
 

Wait, so it is a mod? 

[real_tabasco_sauce]

@vanz the hotkey to select all units is in autociv, but call to arms and back to work are both available without any mod.

so you can just bind the call to arms hotkey and not worry about the mod.