when should you build a new fortress?

[fungalreason]

Originally Posted by Tifone

3 or 4? will it not hurt the resources of your capitol to build it so near?

I don't think you'll ever reduce the available resources as long as you don't build directly adjacent to the capital, if I understanding it correctly. (I'm assuming it hasn't changed since the manual was written).

Capitals are usually admin 50 / 60. Usually you'd aim to build your cheapest available option for the second fort. These generally have a low admin value (30 or less). If you put the second fort a minimum of 2 spaces away from the capital, then they are only sharing a few bordering provinces. Provinces without forts in them actually have double the available resources that are listed. The resources provided by the admin amount are actually calculated from that "hidden" total. The capital can only draw 50-60% of that amount. As long as the admin value of the capital + the admin of the fort is less than 100, each fort will be drawing the maximum amount of production from the adjacent territories.

[Endoperez]

Originally Posted by fungalreason

I don't think you'll ever reduce the available resources as long as you don't build directly adjacent to the capital, if I understanding it correctly. (I'm assuming it hasn't changed since the manual was written).

Fortresses only draw resources from provinces directly adjacent to them, so if the two forts aren't right next to each other they don't have much effect. Manual explains it in detail.

I did it with MA Ulm, only recruiting Master Smiths and 10-gp heavy infantry in the early turns. On turn 2, I picked a direction that seemed to promise a good place for a fort and moved my starting army AND spy towards that direction. On turn 3, if it looked like I could tackle the independents of the second province (no knights, amazons, Knights of the Chalice etc), I again moved both my starting army and spy in there. On turn 4 the starting spy could usually start building a fort if I didn't recruit a Master Smith.

As I said, it's a bit of a challenge game. I did this with neutral Order and a non-SC pretender. It didn't ALWAYS work, especially if the independents around my capital were tough and restricted where I could expand. I was also so tight on money I couldn't recruit any independents, and had to alchemize few gems perhaps 50% of the time.

Originally Posted by AreaOfEffect

If it is to hold a choke point or defend an important magic site, then some nations are better off putting that 800 to 1200 gold into PD. Other nations, like late-age Man, have horrible PD but are excellent at defending castles.

Doesn't LA Man have one of the best PD forces in the game? I thought they get spear-and-shield infantry and longbows for PD under 20, and heavy infantry with crossbows for PD above 20.

[AreaOfEffect]

Originally Posted by Endoperez

Doesn't LA Man have one of the best PD forces in the game? I thought they get spear-and-shield infantry and longbows for PD under 20, and heavy infantry with crossbows for PD above 20.

No. They do get spear and shield infantry, but they don't get longbowmen for the first 19. Instead they get millitia and slingers. The millitia have a moral of 8 and are as bad as millitia usually are. The slingers are even worse with a moral of 7. The book is slightly incorrect about what you get. It should read as follows:

Commander at def 1: Castellan
Units at def 1+: Spearmen, Millia, Slinger
Commander at def 20: Judge
Units at def 20+: Longbowmen, Tower Guard

Note: The tower guard you get is the version from MA Man, which is an inferior unit as it doesn't have a crossbow and uses a regular shield instead of the kite shield.

So, my point still stands. LA Man has terrible PD. They are better off using a castle instead.