Fort questions....

[Dedas]

Yes, and this strategy takes notice to that. That is why you want to build a chain and not a ring, thus you do not cut more than one province from the capitol.
Obviously, this strategy does not suit every nation, but as Ulm gets 25% extra resources per castle it works very well for them.

Also, they do not have an important capitol only unit. The Lord Guardians should be built eventually, but not spammed as they get minced by some weapons and spells, just as much as other Ulm units, but they cost a lot more gold. Therefore it is better to build 3 pikes instead, getting some numbers. The reason for this is apparent - Ulm is in dire need off big, tough armies as they are limping badly on the spells apartment.