Defender orders, squad duty and uniforms

Individual orders and squads

Individual defenders use Hold position, Defend rally, Patrol or Train at position. Give squad members their orders in Military. A direct order does not create equipment or change civilian labour settings and Areas. It can send a defender outside their civilian Area. Hunger, thirst, exhaustion, incapacity and treatment can still interrupt duty. A blocked route stays as an order and retries after 4 in-game hours.

Rally, patrol and defended ground

An individual Patrol has two waypoints. A squad Patrol can use two to eight, and Patrol an area makes a loop round the marked corners. Rally and patrol look for raiders near their current waypoint, within 6 tiles after adding horizontal and vertical distance on the same level. Squad Defend an area uses a rectangle with a 2-tile margin instead. Hold and Station move to assigned posts and use those posts as their targeting centre. They can strike an eligible target while still approaching. Weapon reach and line of sight still decide whether a shot can hit.

Draft now, duty hours and Stand down

A squad follows its standing order while drafted or scheduled for duty. Draft now activates it outside the timetable. Release draft returns it to its timetable, so soldiers may remain on duty. Stand down cancels the draft, removes the active member orders and lets civilian routines resume. The squad and its equipment remain. New squads start with the Drill timetable, 08:00 until 12:00, and Stand down. Choose Train or another standing order before expecting scheduled work.

Training in place or at furniture

Individual Train at position and squad training in place gain 1 combat experience every 2 in-game hours, up to 100 experience, combat level 5. A squad practising at a suitable training dummy or archery butt gains 1 each in-game hour up to 140, level 6. A blocked route or a selected enemy can prevent practice. These are calendar rates in both older and newly founded colonies. Visible practice swings and shots do not spend ammunition. An archery butt requires a bow, crossbow or sling. A forged ranged weapon can practise without loaded ammunition, while the older basic sling profile needs shot to count as ranged.

Uniforms need real stored equipment

Uniform choices request actual pieces from storage. Best in store uses the game's equipment score. New weapon requests skip bows, crossbows and slings, but an already worn ranged weapon can remain if it has a higher score. Best bow, crossbow or sling asks for a ranged weapon instead. A chosen equipment type can require a material or allow Any material. No rule stops automatic requests for that slot and does not itself return the piece already worn. Two-handed weapons and requested off-hand equipment can prevent each other from being collected. Members fetch pieces while off duty or assigned to Train. A collection order still needs reachable stock and time to finish.

Retreat and a named target

Attack target pursues the chosen enemy or animal. When it is gone, the squad changes to Station at its first living member at home, or stands down if none remains. Retreat to safety moves to a chosen fallback place, a safe area or camp. It does not strike through the squad order while retreating and remains a Retreat order when it arrives. Stand down is a separate command.