Forts?? What do you do with them?

[Phil of Loreauville]

Other than using as a block to mountain passes and river crossings, are there any benefits?

[LusitanPlayer]

unleys they are permanent stone forts, i dont know xD

[Duck of Death]

If you are keeping armies in the field, having them in a fort ensures that they cannot rebel.

[intestino]

^this . The sad thing about forts is that they only last 3 turns under siege, the AI never attacks you unless you have very few units. Hope someday this can be modded.

[Saibot42]

When I'm expanding my outermost or most recently obtained town generally has several forts filled up around it, not to block the enemy, but so that I can tailor my army to the next task whether it's sieging, intercepting an infantry heavy army, intercepting a cavalry heavy army, intercepting an army with siege weapons. Also I have chains of forts between recruitment centers and the rest of my settlements, to prevent rebellions in transit.

[LusitanPlayer]

When I'm expanding my outermost or most recently obtained town generally has several forts filled up around it, not to block the enemy, but so that I can tailor my army to the next task whether it's sieging, intercepting an infantry heavy army, intercepting a cavalry heavy army, intercepting an army with siege weapons. Also I have chains of forts between recruitment centers and the rest of my settlements, to prevent rebellions in transit.

sounds like a good idea. As soon as i get my country set up, i'll start some forts between varad, esztergon, belgrade, zagreb, brasov, targoviste and sofia. my main settlements hahaha

[Melooo182]

what to do wid'em?

sorry, I had to.

now for giving a purpose to my post...something that hasn't already been said...
You can use agents to prevent a fort for being dismantled the next turn without troops.

[Saibot42]

Think I'll stick with the levy archers as doormen, agents to me are too valuable and too limited to keep sitting in a fort.

[+Marius+]

You can use agents to prevent a fort for being dismantled the next turn without troops.

Or,
go to;

\Medieval II Total War\mods\SS6.3\data\descr_campaign_db.xml

and change the following line;
<destroy_empty_forts bool="true"/>
to
<destroy_empty_forts bool="false"/>

forts stay buildable as usual but do not get destroyed when left empty thus making them permanent buildable forts.

[Melooo182]

well if we go the modding way, we can make them permanent stone forts with upkeep free garrison slots

the agent card is to be used in case you had to move your troops and had nothing else than a spy or a priest around and didnt want to lose a fort...get them inside and tada the fort will stay

[+Marius+]

But free garrison slots do not work with buildable permanent forts...or have I missed something in the tw tutorial?

Also, is there a way to make the AI value forts as legitimate targets?

So far the AI has only attacked my forts a couple of times, even though I kept small garrisons in them.

[LusitanPlayer]

Wait, stone forts? is that a submod or something? hahaha... it seems to have passed by me unnoticed

[Melooo182]

@marius: well i'm not sure now that you say that, but I think remembering it did work for buildable forts too. You set the upkeep free slots in the descr_strat options at the begining of the file

@lusitan: yeah there are a bunch of them...the resources like models etc were already in the kingdoms campaigns.

[LusitanPlayer]

@marius: well i'm not sure now that you say that, but I think remembering it did work for buildable forts too. You set the upkeep free slots in the descr_strat options at the begining of the file

@lusitan: yeah there are a bunch of them...the resources like models etc were already in the kingdoms campaigns.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...1#post13586340

what 15 seconds of search can give a man <3
haha do you think it might work on my save games with all the submods i have? or even, since i might start a new soon, think it works with your submods?
i am on teh laptop so i cant read the files right now... i'll test it as soon as i can and post it here, so i dont create and revive another thread

[Melooo182]

turning regular wooden forts into permanent stone forts can be savegame compatible, but you won't be able to add the upkeep free slots nor have pre placed forts in map, as that would require modifying the descr_strat which would then need a new campaign to take effect.

[+Marius+]

*Cough* *Cough* My village mod has stone forts and its save compatible *Cough*

[Saibot42]

But free garrison slots do not work with buildable permanent forts...or have I missed something in the tw tutorial?

Also, is there a way to make the AI value forts as legitimate targets?

So far the AI has only attacked my forts a couple of times, even though I kept small garrisons in them.

In most of my games forts end up being the first target in any war. Then the garrisons may be smaller than what you kept(1 unit of levy archers). Even rebels sieged my forts sometimes.

[Strengelicher]

Other than using as a block to mountain passes and river crossings, are there any benefits?

There are a number of benefits, some of which can be considered exploits:

1. As has been said already, forts prevent armies from going rebel, so you can use them to shelter armies which are in danger of rebellion. The first thing which comes to mind are armies without generals travelling around the map (eg to and from recruitment centers). Another possibility are general rebellions or civil war scenarios. If the presence of a general as governor threatens a settlement going rebel, move the general outside and place him in a fort. And, tadaaa... nobody will rebel.

2. As has been said already as well, forts can accomodate agents. This can be used as an exploit in the case of merchants, as you can place a fort over a resource and then shelter a merchant (or even more than one, as I have heard) inside. He will be immune to attacks from other merchants, but still gain money.

3. Forts can confuse the campaign AI and divert enemy attention away from your settlements. If you have taken an enemy settlement and are low on troops, maybe you cannot recruit units in the settlement yet or the like... place a poorly garrisoned fort next to the settlement. Good chance is the enemy army marching for your settlement will waste time attacking the fort. Place multiple forts and you can gain time to build up defences in the settlement. Serious exploit, this, but depending on your difficulty settings you may sometimes need it.

[Geoffrey of Villehardouin]

3. Forts can confuse the campaign AI and divert enemy attention away from your settlements. If you have taken an enemy settlement and are low on troops, maybe you cannot recruit units in the settlement yet or the like... place a poorly garrisoned fort next to the settlement. Good chance is the enemy army marching for your settlement will waste time attacking the fort. Place multiple forts and you can gain time to build up defences in the settlement. Serious exploit, this, but depending on your difficulty settings you may sometimes need it.

Though it is true this is a bit of an exploit, it does actually result in proper sieges, including fighting on the walls, as opposed to in the central plaza. Also, the stone forts are immersive and realistic, more so than towns surrounded by wooden fences and the like - and casualties are not lighter. Still, in some sense, most things about forts are exploits since the AI almost never uses them, at least in Stainless Steel. On the other hand, it would be no fun to play as if you were really as dumb as the AI, especially competing with the machine on very hard.

Also, the AI has its own trick up its sleeve - not with forts but with watchtowers - and it is apparently not hampered by fog-of-war.

[Ethan]

Playing as Fatimids, forts are VERY helpful, mostly for controlling passes and crossings.
My favorite tactic is a line of forts with spears and archers, plus a mobile reserve of HA for the seige. The horse archers quickly arrive at the battle around the same time the gate is battered down.

They're also good for pre-positioning equipment for defense or attack. After taking a settlement, I like to the the seige equipment moving again quickly, but it's vulnerable while the rest of the army is busy. Forts let the seige move forward without needing to wait. And, really, 500g is CHEAP.