Province Defence?

[Ranger]

Why can't I decrease province defence once set? On a large map you should be able to decrease the defence level for rear areas.

[lch]

Because you already raised them in the province as defense and don't have to pay them anymore after that? Don't expect that they'll give you back their payment when you think that you no longer need them. Also, they want to keep their jobs. They have a wife and kids to feed, you know?

[wailoktam]

I want to know as a newbie whether investment on pd is worthwhile in SP with impossible AI. The ai do like to throw loads of eagles and madmen to you. But at the same time, they build huge armies. So cash is always short. Shall I build more troops or spend a few bucks on PD. And how much PD is sufficient for beating madmen and eagles.

[PvK]

There is no one answer to that - it's up to you to figure the right balance for each situation. Sometimes you can invest in PD and it just gets wiped out; other times (especially if you combine it with a force of troops set up to help it out) it can turn the tide of several battles, causing many enemy losses and sparing your own forces.

Adding to the impossiblility of deciding is the random luck-and-order-scale-influenced chance that the local leader will randomly organize additional PD on top of what you invested in, and since it is an increasing scale, PD 25 +10 is worth far more than PD zero +10.

If there were a simple or an always-right answer, it wouldn't be interesting.

PvK

[Ezco]

One simple answer is. At least in my opinion. Always buy at least 1 point of PD, because that way you exactly how many troops attack your province. And to answer the original post: Taking back your PD would really unbalance the game. This way its much more complicated than just using all your excess money on PD and then taking it back turn later. You have to think about how many times a province will be attacked, how many troops there will likely be, are your PD forces good against certain troops and so on. Endless amount of possibilities is one reason we love this game so much.

[Gandalf Parker]

I tend to have 3 numbers for PD. Newly taken province (some like to put 1, I like to put 6 which can shake off many spell-sent attack groups). Special province such as a site which makes me build a lab so I can recruit sages or mages (I like to put 11 which I think gives an extra commander?). Then there is someplace I built a castle and I like to put 21.

Some special times when I might consider putting a large chunk of one turns gold into massive PD for a province:

a chokepoint that you know the enemy will have to come thru

needing to slow down an incoming army so yours can get there before you lose too much territory

having just taken a province far inside enemy territory and you want to be sure that foothold stays yours long enough to get some local units and hire some mercenarys there

you took a province on the backside of an enemys territory and you want to hold it long enough to get him to move his armies that direction away from your main army approaching his front side

you just took the territory right next door to his castle and you want to gaurantee that you will have a territory for your units to retreat to in the take-lose-take-lose battles trying to hang onto his castle

[Sombre]

PD is, as far as I am concerned, the most powerful tool you can have against the AI. And yes, it works against impossible AI just fine.

You see the AI isn't too bright at waiting to build up forces before it attacks. So if you build up PD in the border provinces (along with your offensive army) a lot of the time the AI will just throw handfuls of troops at them, which is a total waste because PD doesn't take losses unless it loses entirely. I have defeated much much more powerful AI empires by maintaining a border, pumping up PD and moving forward one province at a time then pumping PD into that too. If you lose a province it's never a big problem because then the AI runs straight into the PD you built before. I made a thread about this lemming problem the AI has before.

But doesn't this take a lot of gold? Well no, not really, not with order 3 it doesn't. I regularly drop 30 points into PD - sometimes 40 if it's an obvious checkpoint and I don't want to move forward. Of course the PD for some nations is cack and really isn't worth using but these cases aren't that common.

As for MP - well there you have to put much more thought into it.

[Nick_K]

Isn't it 20 (21?) that gives the second commander?
In SP I like to use lots of PD because it's less hassle - no micro with province defence. PD of 20-30 helps discourage AI attacks on border provinces, and PD of 50+ backed up by an army allows bottlenecks to be defended against large armies with few casualties

[Loren]

PD works wonders against the AI.

I generally put 20 everywhere to keep from losing provinces to spells and almost all random events.

Beyond that, chokepoints are a wonderful place to use it. I've put 125 in a choke point and quite a few troops besides--and an incredible number of AI troops died against that barrier. I was killing over 100 units a turn there for years.

[Gandalf Parker]

I think the 20-something number was for catching sneaking units like scouts, spies and assassins