Sandbox game, how to stop soldiers from stealing supplies?!

[Meynolt]

So I know in the campaign at some point you can stop these arses from stealing your supplies. But now I noticed them thrashing the place in Sandbox mode as well... can I do anything about that? I literally have to keep restarting because I can't pay for the theft/damages they've caused early in my game like that!

[Wantoomany]

Fence in your back area with the pallet. That will ensure thieves do not have easy access to supplies in that area, and it denies them access to your back door and storeroom. It forces guests and thieves to use your main entrance.

Hire thugs and dogs. Both will chase away theives. For a full on soldier rush, you won't be able to stop them all but every little bit helps. Locking doors to your kitchen or store room will also slow them down. The longer you can keep them running around the more time your thugs and dogs have to take care of them.

If its really a problem, just limit your inventory. While its easier to just stock up hundreds of any one item, it also means you have more to lose. Keeping a smaller inventory also means you need less storage space. Sure you have to order items more frequently. But they can't steal what you do not have. Baiting theives with worthless items also helps. They tend look for quantity over value. So if your main inventory is fairly trim. But you have a ton of water, compost, or firewood, the soldiers will often steal that stuff instead. Its always fun watching them haul away a large pile of compost.

[sbhink805]

My inn only has one entrance and the back area is fenced off. I have like 3 or 4 thugs and they seem to stop the soldiers just fine. Also, I generally only see one soldier take stuff, if any, then some will stay the night or eat and drink.

[Meynolt]

So dogs would help too? I'll try that. I do have everything bottlenecked into 1 door to get to my supplies (supply area is right through the kitchen but that entire area along with the storage area can be closed off by locking 1 door. I'll give it a go when I see those soldiers again!

[grapplehoeker]

All of the above, but also:
Do some adventures... Many of the adventures have a reward item which moves the war front line. This reduces the chance of a soldier raid.
If you have played the campaign, you'll remember that one of the tactics to prevent the soldier shenanigans was to shift the battlefront east or west. This Adventure reward item works the same way. It isn't permanent, but it will limit this annoyance.

And it is a minor annoyance really, since they don't steal much in any case and I ignore them. I'm not going to muck around with locking doors or shifting furniture for the sake of a few herbs or whatever. My Thugs will get them or they won't... it doesn't really matter.

Another fun way to deal with them if you're bored, is to use the new Hand Tool.
Use it to move the soldiers wherever you like and just clicking on them to get the '?' icons usually breaks their pathing and they revert to being ordinary customers ;)

[bolero3232]

Is hiring security worth the shrink you may have? Security seems to cost more than what you lose... in my experience.

[HEAVY FIRST RATE]

I also had this problem a lot! Fencing did not really work for me, keeping 3-4 dogs helped quite a bit plus I usually have at least 4 active thugs who are checked for full time patrol and watch, and, as soon as I see soldiers heading toward areas they don't need to be, I click on them and mark them as "needing to be watched". This alerts your thugs to watch specific persons and between the dogs and the alerted thugs, the soldiers either change their minds about stealing or get chased by the dogs or punched out by the thugs. When your place gets bum rushed by a large group of soldiers, pause the game and tag everyone of them to be watched! I do not turn the tag off afterwards, since the visible tag will alert you to that person whenever he shows up at your inn as a civilian or soldier in the future, Also, since he is tagged, the thugs are immediately on him when they are tasked to watch, they tend to not engage in stealing in the future. The dogs also seem to be aware that someone is tagged for watching and immediately set up barking at them so the criminal knows he is found out and it confuses them and they usually abort their plan to steal. Often the dogs barking will also bring a thug who will punch the person out if they have stolen something and are trying to carry it away, and one of your druges will then recover the stolen items from the ground where it is dropped by the criminal.

Personally, hired thugs are entirely worth the money and I usually hire 3-8 depending upon how big my inn is. I usually do not pay the big dollars for the bouncers but rather hire the cheaper thugs early and every one I can get so I can weed out the drunks and get them leveled up before the trouble starts in the game, and, in sandbox, soldiers often will start stealing from you in the very beginning before you even get your inn up and the supplies picked up and stored. They will steal anything from the wood you are stockpiling in the shed to the supplies you start with stacked beside the road and later on the stuff that is delivered to your pallet and stored in your outdoor root cellar as well as enter your store room and loot items from there. I even had a bunch of soldiers steal my mugs and plates in one game, there was a war going on and I could not find a place to buy replacements for a considerable length of time. I hire thugs even before I start building the inn most times.

Also, when laying out your inn, do not have doors for the storeroom to the outside of the building, but rather make access from the the kitchen, barroom or, preferably, a central hallway because these are areas the thugs will patrol regularly and thus if a criminal steals from your storeroom, he will have to carry his items right thru the area where the thugs patrol to get out of the building. Watch tag any soldier or thief you see prowling around where they should not be and tag thieves as soon as you detect them on the property anywhere! Thugs may cost a little money but it is intensely satisfying to see them punch out those trying to relieve you of your goods and really funny to watch a pack of dogs harass someone thinking about stealing stuff outside.

[sbhink805]

Wow. I never thought the "Watch" icon was for the thugs to watch that person. I assumed it was for me to be able to watch them.

[HEAVY FIRST RATE]

Another item of note that is kinda a little bit of a cheat; the finger in the upper right corner of your screen, that was put in during one of the later updates that allows you to click on a person who is stuck somewhere and move him anywhere you want can be used when you get overwhelmed or even for your entertainment when soldiers pick up something and attempt to walk away with it. You simply activate the finger then click on the would be thief and transport him to a point where one or more of your thugs is standing watch or on patrol. Works even better if you tag him with the watch symbol before you move him! Remember that your thugs do not patrol the storeroom and will usually only enter it while performing a carry task or fetching candles or fat to fix your lighting, or they detect a watch tagged character actually engaged in removing goods. The trick is also good if the thief manages to get out of the inn with the goods and starts down the road before or not spotted by your thugs, just pick him up before he gets off screen and set him down next to an on duty thug. Soldiers who steal items outside from your pallet, woodshed, or dugout sometimes get away because they are outside the building, don't try to cut through the building, or all your thugs are occupied and don't see him in time. Use the cheat, watch tag the guy if he isn't already, pick him up and introduce him to your nearest indoor on watch thug! The action is hilarious and you will save your goods. All the extra action helps level up your thugs also.

[grapplehoeker]

Originally posted by HEAVY FIRST RATE:

Another item of note...

See post 4...

Originally posted by grapplehoeker:

Another fun way to deal with them if you're bored, is to use the new Hand Tool.
Use it to move the soldiers wherever you like and just clicking on them to get the '?' icons usually breaks their pathing and they revert to being ordinary customers ;)

o.O

[HEAVY FIRST RATE]

My post about using the "finger tool" is not a duplication of your post Mr. grapplehoeker, as it has been my experience in this game that if a soldier already has lifted some of your goods and you finger and move him, he does not put down the goods he is already carrying although he may or may not become confused about his previous path of making off with your goods. Once they pick up your goods I have never seen one drop the goods unless chased by a couple of dogs who cut off his egress or run into the fist of one of your thugs. If you finger and move a soldier who is running to your storehouse or some outside area with the intention to steal goods, his path does get confused for a moment, but, his intention may or may not be influenced to become a regular customer, although, if he has not already chosen to steal and has the goods in his hands, how would you know you influenced anything except his previous choice of pathing? Just saying if that was your intention to point out a duplicate post in your post 11!