Spend Coin on Walls Before Troops

Let us begin with the number everyone has repeated incorrectly, more troops do not equal a safer keep. I expected a larger host to solve weakness; instead, with my host under strength, I keep the gates shut, and coin tied up in troops buys no answer when the walls remain the cheaper certainty.

Build the walls first, then fill the barracks, and count upkeep as part of the purchase, not as a pleasant surprise delivered later. I learned this while weighing whether to abandon KRONK; patience cost me pride, but abandoning the alliance would have cost the whole ledger. Vodka was cheaper.