2.7.10: Co-op Last Stand, Mounted Commanders & Cannons You Can Fire

Hi everyone,

March Out! 2.7.10 is now in the latest game and Steam Playtest builds. You can defend the same castle with your friends, ride alongside your army, and step up to a field cannon to aim and fire it yourself.

A lot of this update grew out of your playtests and suggestions. There are new ways to fight, more control over your army, and some important repairs to the things that were getting in the way of a good battle.

Defend one castle together in Co-op Last Stand

Co-op Last Stand puts everyone on the same side of the walls. Two to four players defend one shared castle against ten escalating waves of raiders, with preparation time and breaks between waves to recover and get ready for the next attack.

You keep your own gold and your own army. Castle upgrades, repairs and defensive preparations help the whole team. That leaves room for one player to lead troops outside the gate while another holds the defenses or works a cannon.

How to play: Choose Co-op Last Stand in the multiplayer war council, invite up to three friends, ready up and select Begin Last Stand. This mode uses the Classic battlefield. It is a separate cooperative challenge and does not affect competitive ratings or campaign progression.

Take the cannon controls

The field cannon is no longer something you can only watch your crew operate. Walk up to an owned mobile cannon and press E to take over. Aim with the camera, fire with left mouse , and press E again to hand it back.

Your commander replaces the gunner while the loader stays at work. In co-op, you can also operate an allied cannon. The gun stops moving while you use it, and normal reload times, range and a limited forward firing arc still apply. You and the cannon remain vulnerable, so choosing where to set up matters.

Close-up of the commander-operated cannon and its loader, using the current in-game models.

Ride out with your soldiers

Mounted commanders are now available. At Tech 2, visit the command hall and buy a mount for 150 gold . Press M on open ground to mount or dismount, and use Shift to gallop.

Mounted movement is 1.5 times normal speed, making it easier to move between the frontline and your defenses. Your health and damage stay the same. Dismount before climbing the walls, operating siege weapons or carrying the shared banner.

A closer look at the mounted commander, saddle and seated riding pose.

Prepare the defenses before the attack arrives

The command hall now has a Preparations menu with two limited purchases:

• Gate bracing: Adds 15% to maximum wall capacity. Costs 160, 320 or 480 gold depending on your era.
• Repair stores: Gives you one repair deployment restoring up to 20% of maximum wall capacity. Costs 120, 240 or 360 gold. Use Deploy Repairs when you need it.

Repairs take 16 seconds in quiet conditions and work much more slowly under attack. Each preparation can be purchased once per battle or siege, and repair stores cannot bring back a destroyed gate. Spending on bracing also means spending less on troops, so this should be a decision rather than an automatic purchase.

A fully upgraded castle should still need a defender

Automatic Tech 3 explosive turrets were doing too much of the work against attacking armies. Their direct damage is now 35% lower, and their splash damage has been reduced further. Strong walls and working turrets still matter, but they should leave more room for your soldiers and your own decisions to decide the defense.

Player-operated wall weapons and mobile cannons keep their existing damage.

A new siege to beat each week

The main menu now includes a Weekly Siege Challenge : a fixed single-player battle with ten minutes to capture the designated enemy castle.

You begin with 32 soldiers and 900 gold, with a fixed cap of 72 troops per side on the Classic battlefield. Everyone attempting that week's scenario faces the same starting conditions. It rotates every Monday at 00:00 UTC and records your local personal best.

Weekly attempts stay separate from your campaign saves and career records. Runs are completed in one sitting; they cannot be saved midway.

Make the kingdom look like yours

Open Customize kingdom from the main menu to choose heraldry, commander appearance and wardrobe options. Pick cloth and trim colors, select a crest, try palette presets and save three named looks . Use Save House to equip your chosen appearance.

Your unlocked collections and weapons remain part of the wardrobe, so you can put together a recognizable look for your commander and kingdom without changing combat stats.

More weight and clearer motion in combat

Melee attacks now have more distinct preparation, contact, follow-through and recovery, with more body movement and better planted poses. Bows, crossbows and muskets also have clearer draw, handling and reload motions.

Current game model showing the updated wind-up, contact and follow-through.

Campaign commanders get the additional army orders too

Both Classic and Villages & Farms campaigns now support:

• B: Attack.
• F: Follow the commander.
• H: Hold nearby eligible troops within 14 metres.
• J: Release nearby held troops.
• T: Retreat, including stationed squads.

Held squads stay stationed while the rest of your army follows or attacks. That gives you a way to leave a group defending an approach without making every soldier stand still.

Warmer nights and a shared multiplayer sky

Natural torches and lanterns now cast a warmer yellow light. The optional Day/night and Weather experiments remain separate main-menu toggles, with rain, thunder and night lighting available to try.

Multiplayer now shares the host's accepted atmosphere settings and match clock, addressing the problem where one player could see rain while another saw clear weather.

Other important fixes

• Troops switching from Follow back to Attack near the enemy castle now advance from their current position instead of heading back toward stale waypoints or a tower they already passed.
• Nearby neutral tower capture selection no longer pulls back soldiers that have already advanced beyond it.
• Improved corpse settling on terrain, scenery and existing piles of bodies, including handling after larger explosion launches.

Give the new battles a try

Please make sure everyone in your multiplayer group has updated before joining the same lobby. In the Playtest, all collections and commander weapons remain available for testing.

I'd love to hear how your Last Stand goes, whether the castle defenses feel fairer, and what you think of riding and operating the cannon. If something goes wrong, the game mode, player count and whether you were hosting are especially helpful details to include in the Steam discussions.

Thank you for helping me keep improving this game.

Mason Solo developer, Polygon Interactive Studios