PD wars! (no monkeys allowed)

[thejeff]

3000 gold is 3-4 forts without temples or labs.
More likely 2 forts that you can actually recruit from.
With the exception of nations that have cheap labs/temples and/or mages that don't need labs.

[Foodstamp]

Originally Posted by Squirrelloid

I routinely buy enough PD to foil Call of the Wind. Generally that will handle arouse hunger too. (Its 5 monkey PD, less for most other nations).

Yup. Nothing more annoying than Call of wind/wild spam.

Sometimes I also buy enough PD to stop random event barbarians if I want to build a fort that turn and cannot get some protection for my scout/indy commander.

[OmikronWarrior]

The key to understanding PD is diversification. At the right level, PD is a great investment. Most nations get between 20 and 30 gold worth of units for every PD point. So, buy 11 points for 66 gold and get at least 220 worth of units. Units that pay no upkeep. Units that can come back to life. Units that can be produced on demand without resources or a fort present. Now, imagine spending that PD money on troops. Congrats, you now have a 14 gold per turn obligation. Every turn. After 20 turns, that is 280 gold, unless they die.

Of course, all the other objections people raised are still in full effect. PD doesn't move, can't attack, Definitely, make sure you have money to buy forts, labs, and temples as needed. However, you never entirely know what is going to happen any given turn. So, diversify your gold investments. Setting aside some gold for PD can have great returns. Also, leaving a few "holes" with 1 or 3 PD is a lot more acceptable if other provinces are covered at the 11+ or 25+ levels.