So you line up a siege, hover over a tower… and instead of attacking, your units walk straight into it like they’ve forgotten how combat works.
Yeah — if your cursor keeps showing Move instead of Attack, you’ve hit the Anno 117 attack move bug.
You’re not misclicking. You’re not missing a mechanic. This is a real combat bug in Anno 117: Pax Romana, and a lot of players are running into it during island sieges and land battles.
Let’s break down what’s happening — and more importantly, how to deal with it right now.
If you’ve noticed siege units refusing to fire, legionaries marching directly into towers, or bowmen ignoring obvious targets unless micromanaged, you’re seeing the same issue others are reporting. The bug mainly shows up when issuing attack commands during sieges, where the game prioritizes movement over combat.
Until an official fix arrives, understanding what’s causing this behavior and using a few simple workarounds can save you from losing entire assaults to broken attack commands.
What Is the Anno 117 Attack Move Bug?
In short:
Your units refuse to attack and only move.
Instead of engaging enemies as expected, the game keeps interpreting your commands as movement orders. Even when you clearly intend to attack, the cursor stays locked in move mode, which completely breaks combat flow — especially during sieges.
Common symptoms players report:
- The mouse cursor never switches to the attack icon
- Right-clicking an enemy issues a move command instead
- Siege units walk right up to towers instead of firing from range
- Legionaries and bowmen ignore enemies unless manually micromanaged
- Happens most often during island sieges and large-scale battles
This bug makes combat feel unresponsive and confusing, particularly for players who rely on attack-move commands to manage multiple units at once. If you’re constantly wondering why your army is walking into danger instead of fighting back, you’re likely running into this exact issue.
If this sounds familiar, congrats — you’re not alone. Many players are dealing with the same problem in Anno 117: Pax Romana, and it’s widely considered a genuine combat bug rather than player error.
Quick Fixes – How to Make Units Attack (What Actually Works)
There’s no permanent fix yet, but these workarounds are keeping battles playable and saving a lot of failed sieges.
1. Click the Enemy Directly (Most Reliable Fix)
This sounds obvious, but it’s also where most players get tripped up — where you click matters a lot with this bug.
- Click directly on the enemy unit or building
- Don’t click the ground, walls, roads, or nearby structures
- Avoid dragging attack-move paths toward the target
If you right-click even slightly off the actual enemy hitbox, the game often interprets your input as a movement command instead of an attack order. When that happens, your units will happily walk straight into towers, walls, or enemy formations without fighting back.
Directly clicking the enemy forces the game to recognize a valid combat target rather than a movement point, which bypasses the bug most of the time.
👉 This is currently the most consistent and reliable workaround players are using.
2. Manually Reposition Siege Units
If your siege units won’t fire and keep walking instead, manual positioning can usually fix it.
- Move them a few tiles closer to the target or slightly to the side
- Make sure they clearly enter their firing range
- Once they’ve settled, click the target again directly
What’s happening here is that pathfinding can temporarily override attack logic if the game thinks the unit isn’t in a valid firing position. When that happens, siege units prioritize movement over combat and refuse to shoot. Repositioning them forces the game to recheck range and line-of-sight, which often restores normal attack behavior.
This workaround is especially effective during island sieges where terrain, walls, or elevation can confuse targeting.
3. Re-select Units and Retry the Command
It sounds basic, but this surprisingly fixes the issue more often than you’d expect.
- Deselect the entire army
- Re-select only the units you want to command
- Click the target again, making sure to click directly on it
Sometimes the attack move bug causes the cursor or command state to get “stuck” in movement mode. Re-selecting units forces the game to refresh input context and targeting logic, which can reset the bugged behavior mid-fight.
This is especially useful when mixed unit groups are selected, or when siege and infantry units are combined in the same command group.
4. Check Unit Stance or Behavior (If Available)
If unit stances or behavior modes are available, this is worth checking.
- Switch the unit’s stance to aggressive
- Re-select the unit after changing the stance
- Then try issuing the attack command again
Some players report that the stance UI can desync from actual combat behavior, especially after moving units around or issuing multiple commands quickly. When that happens, units may visually appear ready to fight but still behave as if they’re in a passive or movement-focused mode.
Toggling the stance and re-selecting the unit can force the game to refresh its combat logic, which sometimes restores normal attack behavior during bugged fights.
5. Restart the Game (Temporary Reset)
If none of the quick fixes work, a full game restart can sometimes fix the issue for that session.
Restarting the game can reset:
- Cursor state
- Input handling
- Target priority and command logic
This doesn’t solve the bug permanently, and the issue may return after extended play or multiple battles. However, if you’re about to launch a major siege or don’t want to risk units ignoring attack commands, restarting first can save you a lot of frustration.
Think of this as a temporary reset — not ideal, but useful when you need combat to behave normally again.
Read also: Anno 117 Resin Collector Not Working? Solved
Why This Bug Happens
Based on player reports and common RTS behavior patterns, the issue appears to be tied to several overlapping systems breaking down at the same time.
- The cursor context fails to switch from move → attack
- Pathfinding takes priority over combat commands
- Buildings are incorrectly treated as movement destinations
- Targeting logic breaks during island invasions and sieges
When these systems conflict, the game interprets your input as a navigation order instead of an attack command. Even when you clearly click an enemy, the engine may still prioritize movement, causing units to walk straight into danger instead of engaging.
In other words, the game thinks you want to walk, not fight — even when you clearly don’t.
Is This a Known Issue?
Yes. This is a known and widely reported problem, not an isolated bug affecting a single player or save file.
Multiple players have reported the same symptoms, including:
- Units moving instead of attacking
- Siege weapons refusing to fire at valid targets
- Combat commands failing inconsistently, even when issued correctly
These reports show up most often during island invasions and sieges, where targeting, pathfinding, and cursor behavior all overlap. Because the issue affects different unit types and scenarios, it’s clear this isn’t caused by player error, bad positioning, or misunderstood mechanics.
This isn’t a skill issue or a learning curve problem — it’s a combat targeting bug that can disrupt battles even when you’re doing everything right.
Is There a Permanent Fix Yet?
Right now? No. There isn’t a permanent fix available yet.
Until the issue is patched, the best thing you can do is rely on workarounds that minimize how often the bug triggers:
- Use direct targeting when issuing attack commands
- Avoid loose or imprecise right-clicks near enemies
- Manually position siege units before attacking
- Report the bug with a short video clip or save file whenever possible
The more detailed reports the developers receive — especially ones that clearly show the cursor behavior and unit response — the easier it is for them to reproduce and fix the issue. More reports mean higher visibility, and higher visibility usually leads to a faster patch.
Final Verdict
The Anno 117 attack move bug is real, frustrating, and especially painful during sieges — but the important thing to know is that you’re not doing anything wrong.
This issue affects multiple unit types and combat scenarios, and it can make battles feel broken or unresponsive if you don’t know what’s happening behind the scenes.
Remember:
- ✅ Units moving instead of attacking is a known combat bug
- ✅ Direct-clicking enemies is currently the most reliable workaround
- ❌ There’s no permanent fix yet
Until a patch lands, avoiding attack-move commands and relying on manual targeting and careful positioning will give you the most consistent results in combat.