A lot of Travian players get into a serious dilemma, after creating some troops already: “should i keep them in the village? Should I make sure they get home for seconds and they are then out again?”

We have 2 situations we need to think about and both of them require a different approach.

1. First weeks in the server, you are being raided for resources only.

Even if you are a top player, there are still people who’d like to try their armies in your village. Some are in for some more “fun” while others are just too noobs to realized what they are putting themselves into by attacking a very aggressive player.

Regardless of the reason they attack your army (most offensive soldiers, since you are raiding now) should be OUT. Your troops are the most valuable asset you have now. Each soldier can carry resources and each is used to raid anyone near you or even in 2-3 hours distance radius.

By leaving the troops in the village you risk to have them killed. Most of the time Travian doesn’t help defenders, so, even with a good defence bonus and many troops, you will most likely lose soldiers. And this COSTS you more than it’s worth it.

This is why I like to leave no one in the village. I send my troops over night in a distance small village and they are back home when I know I can enter the server. Even if I would get raided in the night and lose some resources, my troops can make up for the loss, not to mention hit the attacker so hard he’ll quit playing.

2. You need to defend, catapult attacks are on you.

Things change once the catapults are sent to attack you. In this case, sending your troops outside is not a good idea anymore. You will need defence troops (make sure you have also upgraded them in the armory for better results).

So, if you are still new on the server and working on getting bigger, plus you didn’t step on any toes just yet, protect your troops and don’t let them be killed in the village. Protect your resources too, but if you lost some, you can always raid and recover.