diff --git a/src/game/engine/src/modules/ai/simple_heuristic_ai.gd b/src/game/engine/src/modules/ai/simple_heuristic_ai.gd
index b13c6dad..ccb6f0f1 100644
--- a/src/game/engine/src/modules/ai/simple_heuristic_ai.gd
+++ b/src/game/engine/src/modules/ai/simple_heuristic_ai.gd
@@ -367,8 +367,25 @@ static func _decide_production(
 	var city: RefCounted = player.cities[city_index]
 	var city_count: int = player.cities.size()
 
+	# Priority 0: Emergency garrison — no military at all means the next
+	# enemy stack wins uncontested before any wall is finished. A single
+	# warrior buys ~10 turns of breathing room at a fraction of walls'
+	# cost (20 vs 70). Only triggers when the player has zero military
+	# units across all cities, which in AoD arena matches is the turn-1
+	# state since starting roster is founder + scout (no combat unit).
+	if military_count == 0:
+		var emergency_unit: String = _pick_buildable_military_unit_id(
+			city, player
+		)
+		if not emergency_unit.is_empty():
+			return _prod_unit(city_index, emergency_unit)
+
 	# Priority 1: Build walls if city has none (defense first)
-	if not city.has_building("walls") and city.can_build("walls", player):
+	var walls_built: bool = city.has_building("walls")
+	var walls_buildable: bool = city.can_build("walls", player)
+	if player.index == 1:
+		print("[AI_DBG] p1 c%d mil=%d fnd=%d walls_built=%s walls_buildable=%s" % [city_index, military_count, founder_count, walls_built, walls_buildable])
+	if not walls_built and walls_buildable:
 		var wdata: Dictionary = DataLoader.get_building("walls")
 		if not wdata.is_empty():
 			return _prod_building(city_index, "walls")