[headquarters]

imho - h for humble as always - a commander have a choice wether to conduct either type of op - depending on what hi sresources are.

the military commander:

The British Malaya campaign showed that coin ops or anti marauder ops if you want to translate to T2K - is best carried out with comparatively small units of well trained and equipped soldiers that actively encroach on the marauders territory.

But you cannot do these ops with personell that arnt qualified and thus your only options is a fortifing and defending. ( Lets say your troops are farm hands and family men that are needed at home for work as well as being able to guard a location)

Digging in determines a static role. This leaves the mauarder chief with all the terrain around your fortification to play in.

If there was a deadly opponent laying ambushes and tenaciously sniping away at you in the same area you were marauding , a marauder chief couldnt expect to ravage with impunity anymore.

I see noe practical difference between a band of soldiers ambushing a convoy of military supplies and destroyng it and a band of marauders trying to steal it. The end result for the commander is that he must allocate resources for force protection and securing the roads.

the marauder chief:

you have the option of moving from one location to another and pillage as you go - more or less offensive operations. This requires good recon and intel , as your merry band likely will not be happy with you if you lead them on a long march towards a promised village of plenty to plunder, but it turns out already pilfered out. If you dont have these capacities, creating a roadblock and taxing roads or setting up as a local strongman and taxing the community is another option - I liken these more to defensive ops , you have to guard the roads etc .

Again this depends on the available personel. Unfit and untrained marauders will have a hard time conducting demanding raids that involve moving distances and some fighting at the end to secure the loot

undisiplined marauders and unorganized will have a hard time running a fief - the temptations would be many and if everybody is drunk at the same time you get what happened to the Hessians when Wshington crossed the Potomac. (Most killed in their underpants while sleeping it of I hear).

As a marauder I wouldnt go around slaugthering and scorching people en masse though - a few would suffice to demonstrate the consequences of not paying up the demanded tribute. Also, crops and lifestock doesnt raise itself - it would be prudent to leave the village capable of producing a handsome surplus for the next time you swing by..

just my 2 cents