Birthright - Castles

[ispa]

The fortification action is not free (my mistake), but it is still a
realm action which means, several castles can be constructed at the same time
as part of a single action. Most of the games in which I have played, each of
the lands try to create as many trade routes as possible (both naval and land
based). Every province can manage at least 1 trade route, and some can manage
3. In addition, a coastal province rated 4+ can support more routes. If a
guild holding is established in another land, for example a 10/0 like the
Imperial City, assuming the route is available (the city does not already have
3 routes), a route could be made -- someone is not limited to just the lands
they control. These lands have lots of GB's to finance things like castles and
armies etc...
I am not sure how your games go, but in mine, players strive to become
rich. The rulebook says a large army is 15 to 20 units but militant regimes
can increase this number a little bit. Aerenwe and Diemed (both bringing in
40+ GB's in trade), have armies that number more than this (30 archers for
Aerenwe and 40 units for Diemed). However, they do not have much cash left
over. If a problem were to occur, they have no reserve...

JMJ.



James Ray wrote:

> Hmmm...Im no brilliant strategist, but those levees still cost GBs to
> maintain. After a castle has been neutralized by an inordinately large
> force, cant they just leave? Go to the next province, say? With your
> impressed peasants manning the castle walls, your treasuries coffers are
> going grow lighter and lighter. And the maintenance on all those
> Castles....even at a mere 1 or 2 rating, you're gonna need some deep
> pockets to afford the castles, the levees, *and* your regular army. Wow -
> what if those invaders decide to pillage the provinces as they advance?
> ----------
>
> > Ummmn. . .just one note about the below: the Build Action (free) isn't
> used
> > to create Fortifications (including Castles). The Fortify Action (which
> is
> > not free), is.
> >
> > > remainder of the army to reach my capital. This is a good defensive
> > > strategy, especially considering the build action is free. Upgrade
> both
> > > the castle levels and the province levels of border provinces as soon
> as
> > > possible.
> > >
> > > Just something to think on.
> > >
> > >
> > > JMJ.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
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[Memnoch]

- -----Original Message-----
From: Harding Nick MMUk
To: 'birthright@MPGN.COM'
Date: Wednesday, April 15, 1998 5:54 PM
Subject: RE: [BIRTHRIGHT] - Birthright - Castles


>I've got a question about the fortify action. The Rulebook states that
>all the rest of the holdings in a province fortified are also fortified
>if a castle is "built".
>
>So if a 4th level province of a priest regent is fortified over a number
>of turns t build a 4th level castle( the priest controls all the law and
>all the temples as holdings) does this create level 4 law fortified
>holding and a level 4 fortified temple holding?


No, it merely creates a level 4 Castle. Althought all holdings owned by the
regent are fortified. See below for these effects.

>A neighbour now invades this province, ( the rule book states that all
>fortified holdings must be besieged or assaulted to neutralise them).
>Does that invader have to use 12units plus a number of units equal to
>guards in the castle for 1 year or can he use 4+ units for 3years! Its
>just that this situation has just come up and I haven't yet made a
>ruling on it yet.


Correct. All holdings are considered fortified, yes. However, when a
Castle is built, the owning regents holdings are all inside the same
fortification. They are not considered to be fortified individually
(although this can be done). So, as far as seige warfare goes, the neighbor
only has to occupy the province with 4 units (the level of the castle) plus
a number of units equal to its garrison (no more than 4 additional units) to
neutralize the castle. With the castle fully besieged (if it did not have
an additional garrison), it would take 1 year to fully reduce the castle to
0. Once the castle has been reduced to a rating of 0, the beseiging units
are now free to destroy the holdings that reside within the castle.
Note that if the Castle is fully garrisoned with 4 additional units, it
is considered a level 8 castle and this would take 8 attacking units to
beseige. However, even though it has an *effective* rating of 8, it is
still *only* a level 4 castle and it still only takes 1 year to reduce to a
level of 0, allowing the occupying units to attack the now (relatively)
defenseless garrison and the holdings themselves. For Further Information
check out Page 65 under Castles in the paragraph labeled "Seige". It gives
a good example on how to work this.

>Of course if the invader wanted to capture the province he would only
>need to neutralize the castle, if he wanted to rule effectively he would
>need to get rid of the fortified law ( 2 years)

See above for the manner in which to work this. A castle does NOT count as
a number of foritifications x the number of holdings the regent owns. It is
still only 1 castle. They do not need to be besieged individually.
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>>'unsubscribe birthright' as the body of the message.
>

[ispa]

Actually, a small detail: holdings are fortified only up to the level of the
castle. If the regent owned 6 levels of law in a province, a castle 5 would
only protect the first 5 levels of law (only ??). A good benefit of the castle
nonetheless.

JMJ.

Memnoch wrote:

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Harding Nick MMUk
> To: 'birthright@MPGN.COM'
> Date: Wednesday, April 15, 1998 5:54 PM
> Subject: RE: [BIRTHRIGHT] - Birthright - Castles
>
> >I've got a question about the fortify action. The Rulebook states that
> >all the rest of the holdings in a province fortified are also fortified
> >if a castle is "built".
> >
> >So if a 4th level province of a priest regent is fortified over a number
> >of turns t build a 4th level castle( the priest controls all the law and
> >all the temples as holdings) does this create level 4 law fortified
> >holding and a level 4 fortified temple holding?
>
> No, it merely creates a level 4 Castle. Althought all holdings owned by the
> regent are fortified. See below for these effects.
>
> >A neighbour now invades this province, ( the rule book states that all
> >fortified holdings must be besieged or assaulted to neutralise them).
> >Does that invader have to use 12units plus a number of units equal to
> >guards in the castle for 1 year or can he use 4+ units for 3years! Its
> >just that this situation has just come up and I haven't yet made a
> >ruling on it yet.
>
> Correct. All holdings are considered fortified, yes. However, when a
> Castle is built, the owning regents holdings are all inside the same
> fortification. They are not considered to be fortified individually
> (although this can be done). So, as far as seige warfare goes, the neighbor
> only has to occupy the province with 4 units (the level of the castle) plus
> a number of units equal to its garrison (no more than 4 additional units) to
> neutralize the castle. With the castle fully besieged (if it did not have
> an additional garrison), it would take 1 year to fully reduce the castle to
> 0. Once the castle has been reduced to a rating of 0, the beseiging units
> are now free to destroy the holdings that reside within the castle.
> Note that if the Castle is fully garrisoned with 4 additional units, it
> is considered a level 8 castle and this would take 8 attacking units to
> beseige. However, even though it has an *effective* rating of 8, it is
> still *only* a level 4 castle and it still only takes 1 year to reduce to a
> level of 0, allowing the occupying units to attack the now (relatively)
> defenseless garrison and the holdings themselves. For Further Information
> check out Page 65 under Castles in the paragraph labeled "Seige". It gives
> a good example on how to work this.
>
> >Of course if the invader wanted to capture the province he would only
> >need to neutralize the castle, if he wanted to rule effectively he would
> >need to get rid of the fortified law ( 2 years)
>
> See above for the manner in which to work this. A castle does NOT count as
> a number of foritifications x the number of holdings the regent owns. It is
> still only 1 castle. They do not need to be besieged individually.
> >************************************************** *************************
> >> >'unsubscribe birthright' as the body of the message.
> >
>
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> >