War
Two ways to strike. Both cost Watches, both send your chosen forces on the march, both resolve instantly and publicly — war is never secret. Your attack is the summed attack of the force you commit; the defender resists with the summed defense of everything at home, times their walls. Both sides then roll the fortunes of war — a swing of up to ±10%. No battle is certain.
Raid — 2 Watches
- Win: steal 10% of their Grain and Coin on hand, seize 2% of their Acres (arriving Fallow). They lose 8% of home forces; you lose 4% of the raiding party.
- Lose: you lose 10% of the party, they lose 3%. Nothing is stolen. The Fold saw you try.
- The survivors are home in 4 hours.
Siege — 3 Watches
- Defense counts at 1.5× — walls matter when the attacker means to stay.
- Win: seize 10% of their Acres — 15% if Riders are at least a quarter of your force — plus 5% of their Grain and Coin. They lose 12% of home forces; you lose 8%.
- Lose: you lose 15%, they lose 5%. Failed sieges are expensive on purpose.
- The survivors are home in 12 hours.
Wards and Enginery
Each Ward Acre adds +0.5% defense, capped at +50% (100 Acres). Each Enginery in the attacking force suppresses 5 Ward Acres for that battle — enough engines flatten the walls entirely.
The protections
- The Truce of First Days: no raids, sieges, or hostile Whispers during the first fifth of the season. Build, plant, scheme. The knives come out on schedule, and everyone knows the schedule.
- Punching down: striking a Warden below a quarter of your Standing yields no spoils — casualties still apply. Farming the broken is a waste of Watches by design.
- The Last Hide: no Steading drops below 100 Acres and 200 Folk. Beaten Wardens are out of the fight, never out of the game — a season is long, and comebacks are the best stories.