How to Use Attack Move in Sanctuary Shattered Sun

Sanctuary: Shattered Sun can field up to 10,000 units on battlefields stretching 40 km by 40 km. Chris Taylor and the Enhearten Media team designed the game around strategic decisions rather than endless click-per-shot micromanagement. Attack Move is the single most important tool for turning that design philosophy into practical battlefield success. If you have played Supreme Commander or Total Annihilation, the concept will feel familiar — but Sanctuary’s physically simulated projectiles and combined-arms emphasis mean that how you Attack Move matters as much as whether you use it at all.

This guide covers the core command, queueing follow-up orders, mixing unit types in a push, and common mistakes that waste entire armies. Review our controls reference for the exact key binding on your setup, and read how to play the demo if you have not completed the tutorial scenarios yet.

What Attack Move Does

When you issue a standard move order, units walk to a destination and ignore enemies along the way unless attacked. Attack Move tells units to advance toward a point while engaging any valid target they encounter within weapon range. Units stop to fire, then resume marching when threats are cleared.

This distinction matters on the Dyson Sphere surface where enemy patrols hide behind ridges and wreck fields. A plain move order sends tanks blindly into ambush lines; Attack Move lets the same group peel off to destroy turrets and skirmishers before continuing the march.

Basic Usage

1. Select a mixed combat group with left-click drag or control groups.
2. Press the Attack Move key (default A on most layouts — confirm in settings).
3. Click the ground along your intended route, not the enemy base directly.
4. Watch the path: units engage on the way, reducing static defense layers piece by piece.

For your first practice session, take a small tank squad in the demo’s opening scenario and Attack Move across a lightly defended lane. Compare the casualties to a standard move into the same area. The difference teaches why Sanctuary favors combined-arms flows over blob rushes.

Queueing and Waypoints

Hold Shift while issuing Attack Move clicks to queue multiple segments. This is essential for long pushes across the map:

• First waypoint: clear an outer radar picket.
• Second waypoint: pause at a ridge with vision before committing downhill.
• Third waypoint: converge on the enemy extractor cluster.

Queued Attack Move paths let you plan a five-minute offensive while you return to managing flux economy at home. Never queue more waypoints than your group can survive — if mid-path losses leave you without anti-air, the remaining segments will fail.

Combined Arms on Attack Move

Sanctuary simulates every projectile. A column of tanks alone will lose to air harassment and artillery spotters. Layer roles before you Attack Move:

• Front line: durable ground units absorb turret fire.
• Mid line: mobile AA covers the column’s flanks.
• Rear line: artillery or missile platforms fire over the front.

The EDA faction excels at massed Attack Move pushes with cheap units. The Chosen prefer smaller, high-tech squads that Attack Move between cover. The Guard often pair Attack Move with shield generators — read Guard faction tactics before copying pro-level replays.

Attack Move vs. Your Commander

Your King-Piece commander is powerful but irreplaceable. Do not Attack Move your commander into unsecured territory. One flanking raid ends the match instantly, as explained on our King-Piece page. Keep the commander near your base network or behind the main line with escorts.

Common Mistakes

Single-type blobs: Attack Moving fifty of the same unit into a mixed defense wastes Flux and wrecks you could have reclaimed.

Ignoring vision: Attack Move without radar coverage walks into hidden artillery. Build or move scouts ahead.

Overextending without economy: A successful Attack Move still costs replacements. If Flux income cannot sustain losses, pause the push and salvage the battlefield.

Forgetting weather: Frozen straits and storm fronts change pathing. See how to control weather before Attack Moving across terrain that enemies can manipulate.

Practice Progression

Start in the demo’s early scenarios with groups of ten to twenty units. Scale to hundred-unit pushes once you can queue three waypoints without losing formation. When you are ready for mission-specific tactics, our first mission guide shows where Attack Move solves objective bottlenecks.

Large-scale RTS mastery is a habit, not a single key press. Make Attack Move your default advance command, layer combined arms before you click, and let Sanctuary’s scale work for you instead of against you.