Is there a mob ‘fear of bigger town’ issue? When you first start, especially hard mode, the mobs are on top of you, and in your business constantly. No problem with finding them, and rarely with having loot too far out of town.
Fast forward to the large well defended town, with walls and… well doors, not gates. (You could make the doors look like gates, I’m guessing, but I just slap the one door in.) Suddenly only maybe one group, out of seven or more, will even get to the door, and it seems to require two orcs, before they will mill around the door at all. I don’t lock the doors, in hopes that they will come in closer, but no dice.
I only tend to know the groups are out there, at the edge of explored map, when the blacksmiths/carpenter decides the same wood/ore/ingot next to them in chests isn’t good enough, they need the lone ore/ingot, handful of wood, from WAY out there. (What is up with that anyway?) Or the ‘new villager’ spawn code placing them behind or next to the most recent undetected mob group. (Sometimes they spawn in front of the new villager, after, but usually it’s the mobs, then villager.)
So, I guess the villager spawn code is meant to make you frequently fuss with the jumping character list, and constantly put your troops back on the job to send them after these annoyance mobs, before clicking the Daily Update, but then you’re are back to the problem of having loot WAY out there, attracting the blacksmiths and carpenters. Or weaver, etc. Which attracts mob spawns, firing at the crafters, round and round.
Taking the troops back off job right after last mob dies doesn’t usually work. They are tired, and hungry from being out that far, as it is, and are not feeling like hauling anything. Also, you run into the problem of the mobs de-spawning. After you have fought the character list, made sure they got a meal, sent the troops, and halfway there… gone. That’s, in theory, going to be less of an issue after the next update though. The de-spawning bit. Fingers crossed.
So, how to attract the mob groups to your doors? I’ve tried kiting them back, most won’t sustain the kite that far, even with repeat aggro/fight pauses to increase interest, and wander back to their starting area. A ‘goblin sneaking into camp’ is nowhere near camp. Like a good distance away from the outer most wall, on the outside. 
The door isn’t locked!
What kind of thief can’t walk without detection through an unlocked door?!? Ok, so maybe they are not super thieves, and can’t evade the set of orc traps, fine. There is a wall with no traps, turrets, or guards, and the same brand of unlocked door. They never show up there, even though I should be getting hammered at that wall. (You know, the incentive to spend iron on the engineer. 
)
Yes, this is on hard mode, but it’s the Ascendancy so kinda more like medium difficulty. It’s only difficult in the expected way at the start. The later game it’s just more of a hassle, vs we are under attack! The gongs are a great idea, but the camps spawn SO far away that you have to plan when to go. Feed everyone… good, all done eating? Okay, here’s your str, sta and energy buff; go the distance guys! (The str and sta pot is on the off chance it helps them get there without tiring so fast, but I have no idea if that’s really helping.)
Maybe I’m expecting too much on the combat side of things, but I guess the buggy building issues, and not being able to decorate without causing game problems… I just started focusing on the combat. (Decoration probably isn’t an issue if you stick to the 20 hearthlings, and have very carefully diversified resource gathering, I wouldn’t know. I gave up, and went minimalist, with everything remaining in game being the highest net worth possible.)
So… what tricks are available to get the mobs to come to you, once your town has a good military, and decent doors, etc? I’ve not found any posts trying to get them closer, instead the opposite.
I’m off to search if there are any plans to change the combat control mechanics/character list jumping hassle. 