[Edi]

I think it's cheesy to do, which is why I've removed most of the castles from the map in the revisions. I'm actually rather surprised that we're using the old map file, since there has already been one revision which did just that and addressed a few other problems as well.

That said, I used the scout tactic on the two indie castles in the Moonshaes (for a while, I've already conquered one and breaking down the gate of the other), but what with litle neighbors, atrocious movement possibilities (even with Vanheim) due to [censored] up neighboring and most provinces being <6000 pop, it's not as if there is going to be any impact on the game. Callidyrr and Corwell are hardly Waterdeep or The City of Shadows (which are both pop 50000), and I'm dead Last in almost all graphs. I can fend Atlantis off if they try anything now, but by the time I get off the islands, everyone else will probably be so far ahead of me that I'll get crushed like a bug despite taking advantage of the exploits on the Moonshaes.

I wouldn't do the City of Shadows exploit, that's just so...cheating. I have some honor in games after all.

Thufir, if you're talking about the Great Rift, I think that had a population of around 15000 or therebouts, so it could be considered cheating. it's not as if the place is overly tough to take over, except you'll need more men than usual to break the gates down (Guardians of Ulm in defense). It's no Hellgate Keep for sure.

Edi