[Darryl]

Ok, newbie here. Just wondering how people defend provinces that they've conquered. Do you leave large armies in each province, or leave armies "around" provinces? Or just have one big army? I'm just curious how to get provinces and keep them. Should I expand slower until I can put a huge army in each place I conquer?

I ask because I recently played a game where I figured I'd defend the "outer" provinces and leave the "inner" ones lightly defended. So for example if these are my provinces:

XXX
XOX
XXX

The "X"s are defended pretty well and the "O" is lightly defended. Well of course the "O" province got attacked and taken over, with all the surrounding provinces intact!

Also, how frequently do people put up fortresses? I assume they aren't put next to each other due to the resource allocation, but what are some strategies people use with fortreesses for defensive purposes?

Darryl