Move

Once you click on Move, you must then click on a target destination. The unit will move to the designated area, ignoring all enemies along the way (even if it is attacked). Move tells a unit to move to the destination that you click on no matter what it runs into. If the enemy starts attacking the unit, it will continue on its course, taking any damage without responding. This command means essentially, "Go there no matter what." This command should be used very carefully -- if you tell a group of units to move to a location, and enemy units ambush them, they will continue towards the destination rather than responding to the attack. This can quickly lead to a massive slaughter of your forces if you are not careful. They will walk by Towers, run straight into and by Creeps, enemy units, or anything else that crosses their path. They will not stop unless they run into some physical barrier such as water, trees and so on, reach their destination, or are given another command.

You should only use this command when you are sure the enemy will not ambush your forces or when you don't care if your forces take any damage from any enemy units they meet along the way. (i.e. if you're trying to retreat your troops or move past enemy defenses to get to their resources.)

Note: right-clicking on an area (not unit or building) also issues the move command.

Stop

If Stop is clicked, the unit stops all action. The Stop command tells a unit to stop where they are as soon as possible, ignoring and canceling whatever previous command they were given. Stop is sometimes useful when you have a group of moving units and want them to halt and open fire immediately. This is only the case with ranged units such as Troll Head Hunters, Demolishers, and Riflemen. For example, if you have a group of Troll Hunters on Move orders, and they encounter an enemy squad, it's faster to issue a Stop command than it is to order them to Attack an area. This comes in handy when your forces are about to run into some serious defenses such as Towers or an ambush that you may not have previously known about -- you don't really want your units to retreat where they will continue to take damage, nor do you want them to continue where they will come under even more fire.

Hold Position

If you click on Hold Position, the unit will not move to engage enemies in its sight range. Even if the unit is being attacked by ranged fire, it will not leave its location to engage the new threat. If the units have a ranged attack, they will attack targets of opportunity without leaving their assigned area. If a unit on Hold Position is attacked and it cannot return fire, it will continue to sit there taking damage until it is destroyed. That's the danger with Hold Position -- a single enemy unit with superior range can pick off your troops one by one.

Hold Position is useful to prevent units from chasing any units, especially air units that will chase any unit that they come across. Sometimes the enemy will send in a bait unit that will fire briefly then run back to cover. If you're not watching, your army might blindly follow that bait unit back into a trap. That is where Hold Position comes in handy. Placing air units on Hold Position will insure they will not go wandering off.

Hold Position vs. Stop

If you don't want your units to chase enemy units that attack them, then select Hold Position. That is the difference between Stop and Hold Position: with the Stop command, your units will engage and chase people attacking them: if they are Holding Position, they will stand there and take the hits unless the enemy units are in range, but they will not follow if the enemy retreats.

Attack and Attack-Move

You must choose a target after clicking on Attack. If you select an enemy unit, your unit will move towards and attack the targeted enemy until it or the enemy dies. If you target a location, your unit will move to that destination, attacking any enemy units along the way. The Attack Command instructs a unit to attack a target which may be friendly or not. The unit will move to and attack the unit or building you clicked on if it is able to. It is up to you to make sure your forces reach their destination. You will find that picking good "waypoints" and careful control will aid you in this task.

If you select Attack and click on an area, rather than a unit, the forces will "Attack-Move" to the area you clicked on, automatically engaging any enemy units or buildings that come into their range on the way to their destination. They will not react to any units that they are unable to attack.

Attack-Move is by far the safest way to move units from one location to another. If you use the Move command instead, your forces might walk through an enemy ambush, and instead of returning fire they will continue on while they are being attacked. This is only desirable in certain instances better explained in the Move command section. Basically, Attack-Move can be considered the same as a "search-and-destroy" order, and is the easiest way to clear out towns and allow your troops to deal with unexpected enemies.

Right-Clicking on an enemy unit is the same as selecting the Attack command and clicking on the unit. If, however, you miss the intended target and click on the ground rather instead, you will end up issuing a Move command.

Try to use Attack-Move (via clicking on the surrounding area) rather than targeting an enemy unit, unless you absolutely intend to kill the targeted unit at any cost. A common problem is when you select a group of units and tell them to attack an enemy unit some distance away. If that enemy unit is killed, all the units that you told to attack it will stop, since they no longer have a target. Since you won't receive any warning that they've lost their target, you might not realize that your reinforcements are still sitting halfway across the battlefield. This problem will not happen if you tell the units to Attack-Move by selecting the ground surrounding the area you want to move to, rather than selecting an enemy unit.

Attack Ground

Siege units can be ordered to attack a specific spot on the ground rather than a unit. This command can be used to attack and destroy trees. Attack Ground allows you to target a specific location rather than a specific unit. This command is an option on Demolishers, Dwarven Mortar Teams, and a few other units. This allows you to set up a field of fire ahead of enemy units while they are moving.

Patrol

When you click on Patrol, you must designate a target location on the map. The unit will then move back and forth between the destination and its current position, attacking any hostile creatures that it detects. Units with active Autocast spells will use them appropriately while on Patrol.

A unit on Patrol will effectively perform an Attack-Move between its location and the point that you tell it to Patrol to. Just like a normal Attack-Move, the unit will automatically engage any enemy troops that it encounters, unless it has no way to attack them (Footman vs. an air unit, for example.)

Once a Patrolling unit encounters an enemy, it will attempt to destroy it, pursuing it if necessary, but it will resume its normal Patrol route once it has dealt with the enemy unless it finds other targets to attack along the way.

Use Patrol with flyers to watch resource spots and make sure the enemy does not build on them. Use Patrol when you want your units to return to their path after battle. Use Patrol to watch small choke points.

Patrol is useful for destroying enemy towns. If units pop out of buildings, your units will stop attacking those buildings and will attack the newly created unit.

You can place workers on patrol with repair on autocast. This will cause them to auto-accquire buildings that need repair and protect a large area of buildings that are frequently under attack.