Fort Retreat Survival --> call for discussion

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cleveland said:
By the current rules of the game, I can set my entire besieged army to "retreat" and suffer zero casualties when my fort is finally stormed.

Sure, if you want to take the chance that nothing's teleporting into/attacking the provinces around your fort.

Try it for yourself: create a 1000-strong army of undead (mindless, thereby reducing the time till the fort is reduced), stash them in a fort, and siege it. When the walls are breached, retreat your entire army. EVERY single troop will survive.

If you're not being attacked by flyers, Soul Slayers, etc. etc., and if you've got somewhere to retreat to.

This should unsettle every member of this community: in a game were every strategy has a cost, there is essentially no risk to defending a threatened fortress. When an enemy army approaches your fort, the ONLY intelligent thing to do is to stay put.

You're army is not very effective if it's not doing anything. What about the poor peasants being ravaged in the countryside?

If the province is captured, teleport in a few supply items, sit back, and collect your gems while your defenders delay your opponent's advance. When they eventually manage to break through the walls, retreat your entire army, and fight another day.

If there's still somewhere to retreat to. You may have been better off consolidating your forces earlier.

Thus, from the offensive perspective, fort sieging & storming is a fool's errand, as your opponent risks nothing, while you pay the opportunity cost to siege.

Well, sieges are supposed to be tough. I believe somewhere someone said "the worst policy of all is to besiege walled cities" or something along those lines.

But, if the defender is instead forced to consider the annihilation of his fort defenders...well, I'll say that some very interesting strategic situations will arise, and that's what we paid for, right?

Annihilation of his fort defenders can happen when there is no avenue of retreat. And your army didn't even get to fight, so they are missing out on all the fun, poor guys.