A newbie asks...

[DeadlyShoe]

The percentage of surrounding resources is the admin value of the fort, which is why Fortified Cities on plains can still work, even with drastically low resources.

Forest and mountain forts ofc tend to have very low admin values so they are only worth building if the province has good resources.

I don't really see the point of forging much? The majority of my commanders happily don't have any orders: I don't want them killed for the troop rout, so I'm not going to fight with them. The occasionaly definsive thing, but that's it.

THe basic items you can forge are mediocre, basically; they can help, but only situationally considering their price. However, once you get to Construction 4 or so, a lot of items come available that can drastically improve combat performance or provide big advantages strategically. For example, you can get items that improve a mages magic skills - enabling them to cast tough spells, or forge items otherwise unavailable. You can also get weapons that cause enemy armies to run away, or that cause area damage.

Also, later in the game most nations can summon very tough very mean commanders that only get tougher and meaner with gear. Eventually you reach a point where the vast majority of recruited troops cannot effectively harm such a commander, and even magic spells can bounce off like ping pong balls.