Command An Army Pre-Round Match Checklist

Most Command An Army losses are pre-round losses. The codes window is still open. Nobody called defend. Cavalry is standing in the spear lane. The point is empty. This checklist is the pause you take in the lobby or in the five seconds before E matters. Run it every round until it is boring.

Pair with how to win and formations. Spend gems first with the gem planner.

The ten checks

1. Codes window closed. Redeemed already. Right-side HUD is for orders now. If you still have unclaimed codes, claim between matches, not on the capture.

2. Stance decided. Default defend unless you have a hook. Say it in chat. Mixed stances in a 12-player server are two 6-player games losing separately.

3. Wall exists. You can see Shieldmen. If not, you queued too early. Buy or you are a spectator with a sword.

4. Spear lane exists. Horses have a place they do not want to be. If you skipped spears, you accepted every Cavalry thumbnail as your future.

5. Facing is outward. Shields look at the approach, not at your own commander. Camera up to confirm. Controls.

6. Point occupancy. Someone — preferably the wall — is standing on the thing the UI is scoring. Pretty ridges do not count.

7. Cavalry is in reserve. Horses are not the front rank. If you have no horses, skip this check without shame. A wall still plays.

8. Circle pieces together (Castle). Spartan, Shieldman, Spearman are actually near each other. A Spartan sightseeing is not a circle.

9. Inventory is clickable. You can select the unit you mean. If the drawer is a pile of mystery summons, you already lost the micro. Summons.

10. Team roles. If two allies already went full horse, you are the wall even if you wanted to be S-tier. Call it.

Attack-only extra checks

Only if you passed “we should attack” on check 2:

• Soak rank exists (cheap shields).
• Hook path is not the spear throat.
• Abort condition named (“if they do not rotate, we stop”).
• Someone still walks onto the point.

If you cannot name the abort, you are not attacking. You are feeding a defense-biased map.

Mobile extra checks

• Landscape.
• Stick thumb not covering the order cluster.
• You can see the whole wall, not just your avatar’s hat.

After a loss, run a shorter list

• Did we empty the point?
• Did horses go first?
• Did we chase Scout Rider?
• Did someone open codes mid-round?

Fix that one thing. Do not rebuild the entire tier list because of one pub.

After a win, do not get cute

If defend printed, defend again. Novelty is how leads die. Save experiments for empty servers. Warlord is 1,000 wins; cute is not a grind plan.

Print this page mentally. Then close it. The checklist is not a third army you command — it is the reason the first two armies face the right way.

Voice lines you can actually type

If chat is available, these are enough:

• “defend, wall on point”
• “spears on the horse lane”
• “horses wait”
• “do not chase rider”

That is the checklist in four messages. You do not need a dissertation. You need the other eleven players to stop opening shops. If nobody answers, you still run the ten checks on your own army. One formed wall in a chaotic pub is still a capture.

On mobile, mute the sticker spam if it covers the E prompts. Stance is check 2. A sticker is not a stance. Landscape, then the ten checks, then the round. The controls page covers the thumbs; this page covers the brain.