Dumb QUESTIONS

[Arryn]

Originally posted by Cainehill:
Why 6, 11, 21?

Because empirical testing hints that when enemy AIs look at what provinces are strong or weak, a PD value of 11 or 21 gets interpreted as 20 or 30 (respectively), and thus that extra +1 gets rounded up to the next "breakpoint" of 10 when the AI decides if it has enough strength to take on the defenses. I've tested this a bit. I had the AI attacking a province with PD of 20. I reloaded the game, upped the PD to 21, and then ran the turn again and the AI chose somewhere else to attack. Consistently over more than a dozen repetitions of 20 vs. 21, and ditto for 10 vs. 11, etc. Other people have observed similar behavior. Either that's the way the game is coded, or we're having a mass delusion.

[Saxon]

Also, I think you get an extra commander at 11 and 21. Small thing, but sometimes having a second commander can prevent a rout.

[Karacan]

You get one commander at 1, and another at 21. There's no such thing as a commander at 11.

[Arryn]

Originally posted by Karacan:
You get one commander at 1, and another at 21.

You get the second commander at 20, not 21.

[tinkthank]

Atrocities, how did you get nearly 8000 Posts?

Originally posted by Cainehill:

quote:

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Originally posted by Gandalf Parker:
If you own the province you can click on scales, and on taxes, and on defence. Defence gives free troops if you are attacked. Local militia which differs with each nation. It can be very helpful for not losing provinces too much. I tend to use defence numbers like 1, 6, 11, 21

Why 6, 11, 21? I tend to go 2 ( because a scout _might_ get lucky against PD 1 ), 5, or 10, and only very very rarely pay the expense of going to 15 or 20, if I think I'm going to immediately be on the defensive with my army there also.

( For the inexperienced players : A benefit of jacking the PD up in a contested province that also has your army in it : The PD acts as chaff, soaking up a lot of casualties that your army, and quality troops, might otherwise take. And then, as long as you managed to hold the province, the PD regenerates, even if it was _all_ killed. )

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It also might really depend on what nation you are playing and what stage of the game you are in. Sometimes I will invest in higher PD if I have a nation with good PD and have some extra cash but no acute provincial goals and do not wish to purchase additional troops to keep my upkeep down; I like to get troops right before a big battle. Also, higher PD may help if you are getting hit by many Calls of the Wild or similar spells if you play a nation with good PD. PD is upkeep free. PD is also regenerating, which is good if you use a lot of poison or diseasing or other self-damaging AoE spells -- your PD may be crippled beyond belief, but they'll be fresh next turn.
Sometimes PD is truly dangerous, like if you have commanders getting ready to launch a Wrathful Skies attack but before they move, the province is hit with a Call of the Wilds or whatever; if in a province with PD, the PD may actually cause your commanders to rout because you killed your PD with wrathful skies.

[Atrocities]

8000 points? You lost me.

[Arryn]

Originally posted by Atrocities:
8000 points? You lost me.

You misread his question. It's 8000 Posts, not points. And, I presume, you achieved such a lofty number of Posts by being on the Shrapnel forum, which includes many other games besides Dominions (such as SE4), for over 3.5 years.