The most important thing to consider when defending is to prepare for the ability to counterattack. This can be done in several ways, such as:

a. Destroy the attacking army as completely as possible, and then counterattack before reinforcements are available.
b. Hold off the enemy until stronger forces are available for a counterattack.
c. Hold off the enemy while a counterattack at another point is initiated

All these methods envision some method of sending your forces towards the enemy. Of particular importance is having some point in your position where the enemy can be attacked easily, or from which an attack can eventually be developed quickly. It is critical to maintain, even at the cost of economy and often by weakening yourself in some area, the ability to attack. In general, attacks are easiest from the center, but even a flank will suffice, provided the attack can be mounted against the enemy before they can properly defend.  This may involve not sending badly needed reinforcements to a point you are defending in the knowledge that the enemy will break through on the hope that your counterattack will do more damage. One consistent thing about all three defenses is the recognition that if you have decided to defend, you must be able to stop the enemy either completely or at least for long enough to get your own attack in, but your defense is built on the capacity to attack, not just the capacity to stop an attack.

The emphasis on counterattack has been discussed in other sections, but is repeated here because defensive planning sometimes forgets the need to plan for some method of counterattack. Some locations are simply too important to allow yourself to lose, particularly points where access to your own territory is limited but the enemy can easily be reached. In the long run, you are not trying to hold ground; you are trying to take ground. Offensive locations with good defensive potential should be defended with greater strength than normal.

The Scorched Earth defense is not to be used lightly. The proper time is when you are unable to buy time because the enemy will simply sweep your companies aside. The only advantage the defender has is that the attacker has to travel to your cities to attack them. This strategy is only useful when you are dealing with the outside of your defensive position. If you are razing your internal position, the enemy will simply move to the next city. A player should try to place outposts in front and keep the enemy some ways away from your heartland.  For this defense to work you must spot the enemy before they get to your city. Your troops must interdict before the militia is engaged or your will be unable to raze the city.  A good enemy will attempt to flank and engage the militia to prevent the city from being razed. This defense works better on the flanks where it takes time for the enemy to divert his attacking forces to some other point in the likely event the enemy decides to attack somewhere more profitable. Finally, this defense is best when facing slow moving companies; cavalry take away much of the distance advantage.

The basic idea is to lengthen the distance between an enemy supply point and your cities. Units far away from supply have a long travel back when routed, and this slows down an attack, particularly if you manage a fighting retreat.  The enemy will have to build outposts or cities or risk his attacking force disintegrating. This takes a bit of time, and can be raided if the enemy is not careful. The additional distance also makes it harder for the enemy to bring up reinforcements to continue the attack.

The scorched earth defense is a series of fighting retreats in which the enemy is not allowed to take your cities before you raze them. The danger here is a raid to your cities, and you might very well take your chances and raze several cities at once. Use the money you get from selling the parts to rebuild or field some companies.

This defense has all the hallmarks of desperation, and should only be used when clear advantage can be gained. In particular, use this when the enemy must attack through this corridor or when his forces will have trouble being used somewhere else and you simply need to keep him from getting your cities.  You must stop the enemy at some point in this defense, so you should be building a force somewhere in the back you intend to send forward. Once you have stopped the enemy, you will need to rebuild in the damaged area, so be prepared to build outposts and reestablish your defense.

A percentage of a player's force needs to be kept as a strategic reserve. Often this will come from new units currently being built by a player that are being assembled into a new cadre for attack. Regardless, it is extremely dangerous to fully commit your entire army to a single attack or defense, and should not be done so unless the team it is necessary.

The reserve has both offensive and defensive uses. The optimal reserve is made up of mobile units such as cavalry that can be sent to the attacked point in a hurry.  If the enemy is acting correctly, you will be attacked even at times when you are attempting to breakthrough to the enemy. Raiding forces are common, and you need a way to deal with them. The strategic reserve is needed for this purpose.

As such, reserve forces, created through the natural growth of military power, or specially allocated for this purpose, are used as a quick reaction force to either force a breakthrough or to protect against attacks. Raiders by nature are attempting to find weak points in your territory and are vulnerable to being routed a great distance away from supply. The strategic reserve is also useful to prevent a critical breakthrough and should be placed so that the forces will not be inadvertently committed into battle by the action of the enemy.

Grenadiers are too slow to act as a useful reserve, and infantry are also slow enough to be problematic. Footmen, bowmen, and cavalry have enough mobility to be useful. They will not last as long as heavier troops, but they slow the enemy down and the damage abilities of bowmen are not to be ignored.

The reserve is in many cases a necessity, albeit one with a certain cost. There is a real desire to maximize attacking power and defending power as much as possible. The absence of a single company used for a reserve might be the difference between holding and not holding, but a team is taking a terrible risk without one. Admittedly, this is a calculated choice, but one that has withstood the test of time in military planning and has a place in Kohan.

Defensive planning must be handled calmly. Defensive planning is often best if handled before the attack, since cries of 'I am going to die, please help' are hard on everybody involved. One mistake many players make is to fail to consider the necessity for defense or offense at the beginning of the game. It is a mistake to go pure econ at the beginning of the game on the vague hope your enemy will decide not to attack you. Even if you are some distance from the enemy, you companies are great help in defensive or offensive operations and useful defensive ability can be added with only a small slowdown in your economic growth.

Once forced on the defense, constantly consider the question of attack, preferably as an entire team. Your defensive efforts are designed to allow some form of attack so be thinking of your offensive capabilities even in the tough moments of defense. You might be able to defend for hours if you never risk an attack, but unless your defensive position is nearly perfect, you will eventually be overwhelmed. Even if not overwhelmed, you will attack, even if sometime far in the future.

Perhaps my greatest concern in this treatise will be an incorrect tendency to focus on defense, and my next treatise on offense will hopefully correct this deficiency. I firmly believe offensive operations are to be preferred over defensive operations, and hope that players will restrict defense to certain theaters and limited time frames. Your goal in defending is to punish the opposing team for attacking, but you will be forced to attack at some point in the game so prepare yourself accordingly.