200 pwr garrison surrenders to 20 pwr cavalry after 1 turn siege - WAD?

[John Sedgwick]

In an FIW PBEM, 9 units (~200 pwr) fully supplied in Fort Duquesne surrendered after a 30 day siege to a single cavalry unit (~20 pwr). I would've put a force outside the fort to swat this fly, but I didn't think it was a threat, and I was afraid my opponent might have a larger force on the way and didn't want to risk getting swatted in turn.

Judging from the manual, it seems he must've gotten lucky with siege roll and I must've gotten unlucky with mine, so that the siege resolution value was higher than the average discipline of my garrison, which consisted mostly of coureurs, braves and a few elements of colonial infantry under a leader with the fort defender trait. So my question is not so much, is this "working as designed" but rather, is this "working as desired"? I had mistakenly believed that the relative strengths of defending and besieging forces would come into play somehow, but it appears this is irrelevant, so now I am paranoid about any single unit siege of forts without supply wagons. It certainly doesn't inspire any confidence in the reputation of French military prowess =P

[Durk]

I guess I always thought a large force besieged by a smaller force which surrendered simply represented some of the historical instances when a commander panicked. You make a good point, but to me, it is up to the larger force to chase away the nuisance force.

[John Sedgwick]

Thanks for the reply, Durk. I chalked it up to panicky commanders as well, in my own personal narrative of the war... "You will become one with the Britain. Lower your shields and surrender your ships. Resistance is futile" - something like that. I wasn't going to post on the forums until my opponent suggested it - I suppose it was a bit of a hollow victory for him - I think he was looking forward to using his artillery on Duquesne and the surrender took us completely by surprise.

As a side note, can anyone tell me if the Delawares will rejoin my cause at any point after retaking the Forks? I'm guessing it's a one time thing, which is really the greater loss in my opinion - I used their fast moving leaders to take the region the very next turn, but they promptly allied with the Limeys upon retaking the smouldering ruins of Fort Duquesne for France =(

[Turbo823]

I suspect supply or lack there of may have played a part. Was there a supply unit present?

[Durk]

Didn't notice your post until today's update. I suspect it might be in the distant past. If not, Delawares just give you the one chance; otherwise, their shift in loyalty is total.

Thanks for the reply, Durk. I chalked it up to panicky commanders as well, in my own personal narrative of the war... "You will become one with the Britain. Lower your shields and surrender your ships. Resistance is futile" - something like that. I wasn't going to post on the forums until my opponent suggested it - I suppose it was a bit of a hollow victory for him - I think he was looking forward to using his artillery on Duquesne and the surrender took us completely by surprise.

As a side note, can anyone tell me if the Delawares will rejoin my cause at any point after retaking the Forks? I'm guessing it's a one time thing, which is really the greater loss in my opinion - I used their fast moving leaders to take the region the very next turn, but they promptly allied with the Limeys upon retaking the smouldering ruins of Fort Duquesne for France =(