City and Boss Levels: Breaking Fortifications
The five city levels in We March as One — 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 — and the breach-and-hold approach that gets you through walled maps.
Every tenth level of We March as One is a city level: 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50. These are the campaign's boss fights, and they are the only levels where the enemy gets to use terrain as well as numbers.
They also have their own achievement — Sacked, for earning a DECISIVE rating on a city level — which tells you the designers consider a clean city clear a distinct skill.
The route to each city is laid out in the campaign walkthrough→; this page is about the walls themselves.
Why city levels break normal habits
Open-field levels reward width and speed. City levels punish both.
- Width is wasted, because buildings and walls split the battlefield into lanes. A wide line is really several small lines that cannot support each other.
- Speed is wasted, because the approach is covered. Marching across open ground toward a wall just means arriving tired, in a narrower formation than you painted.
- Numbers are partially wasted, because only so many units fit through a gate.
The map is telling you to do the opposite of everything the campaign taught: narrow, deep, slow and concentrated.
The breach-and-hold approach
Every city level in the game can be approached with the same four-step plan.
Step 1 — Find the weakest entrance. Walk the camera around the city in fly-through view. There is always one gate, bridge or breach that is closer to the objective and less covered than the others. That is your attack lane.
Step 2 — Paint a column, not a line. Put almost everything into the chosen lane. A narrow column of squares at the front, circles behind, triangles in the middle. Leave a token force in the other lanes only if the enemy can sally out of them.
Step 3 — Lead with the King. Put the crowned circle at the front of the column, in the gateway itself. Ten times health in a doorway is the closest thing the game has to a siege engine, and the aura accelerates everyone behind him through the breach.
Step 4 — Hold the breach once you are through. The moment your column clears the gate, the fight becomes a normal battle on the inside — but only if you keep the gate. If the enemy closes it behind you, your army is split and loses.
Marching a column into a gate is how you get it stuck. Holding just outside the breach forces the defenders to come out to you, where their walls no longer help them. Let them make the mistake.
Level-by-level notes
Level 10 — the first wall
The tutorial for city maps. One main gate, a small garrison, no real second line. A single-column attack through the gate with squares in front will clear it. This is the easiest DECISIVE in the game, which makes it the natural place to unlock Sacked.
Level 20 — the first split map
The city is divided by a river, with two bridges. Enemy forces can move between bridges faster than yours can, so committing to one bridge invites a flank from the other.
The answer is to feint: paint a credible force at the secondary bridge, take the primary one with your main column, and accept that the feint force will die. It buys the time the main column needs.
Level 30 — fortification plus horde
The city has walls and the enemy has numbers. This is the first level where both lessons apply at once: you need a choke to survive the horde and a narrow assault to take the city.
Approach it in order. Hold the choke until the horde's first wave is spent, then push the column through the gate while the enemy is reforming.
Level 40 — the long approach
A large city with a long, covered approach. The difficulty is attrition: your column takes damage from the walls before it reaches the gate.
Squares at the front are essential here. So is accepting a slower clear: a DECISIVE on level 40 is a bonus, not the goal. Getting through with your army intact is the goal.
Level 50 — the finale
The last level combines everything: fortifications, horde numbers and a final defence. There is no new mechanic, only less margin for error.
If you have been crowning a circle and fighting behind choke points all campaign, level 50 is a harder version of a fight you already know. If you have been winning on raw numbers, it is the level that exposes it.
City levels and the achievement list
- Sacked — DECISIVE on any city level. Easiest on level 10.
- Key to the City — win level 10.
- No Turning Back — win level 20.
- Over the Hill — win level 30.
- The Long March — win level 40.
- We March as One — win level 50.
The achievement ladder is essentially the city-level ladder, which is a useful signal: if you can clear the tens, you are progressing on schedule.
City levels are composition checks more than skill checks. If level 30 or 40 keeps failing, the fix is usually more squares and deeper ranks, not a better plan with the same shallow army. Replay an earlier level for gold, buy depth, then return.
Official source: Steam global achievement stats ↗ — Key to the City (level 10) sits around two-thirds of players, while We March as One (level 50) is just under 6%, which maps the campaign's attrition curve.
City checklist
- Have you flown the camera around the whole city before painting?
- Is your entire army in one lane rather than spread across three?
- Is the King at the front of the column, in the breach?
- Are squares leading the approach?
- Are you holding at the gate rather than marching through it into unknown ground?
Sources
- Steam global achievement stats for We March as One ↗
- We March as One on Steam (official store page) ↗
- Steam Community discussions for We March as One ↗
FAQ
Which levels are city levels?
10, 20, 30, 40 and 50. They are the only levels where the enemy uses walls and buildings defensively.
Are city levels harder than horde levels?
They test a different skill. Horde levels test formation depth; city levels test concentration and approach. Most players find city levels harder because width stops helping.
What is the Sacked achievement?
Earn a DECISIVE rating on a city level. Level 10 is the easiest place to get it.
Should I use MARCH on city levels?
Usually not into the gate itself. Holding outside a breach forces the defenders out; marching into a gateway compresses your column and lets them fight you a few units at a time.
Do city levels have timers?
Some do, which is why the approach should be planned before painting rather than discovered during the battle.