Why am I fighting?Some people declared war on a member of our confederation. It would be dishonourable not to fight.
I'm not involved in the political meta-game that happens here in the forums. I don't know what the subtext behind the declaration was. I tried reading about it to figure it out and soon realized how pointless that was.
After pages and pages of junior-level spin what I can say for certain - the only thing anyone can say for certain - is what the diplomacy tab tells me. And it tells me that members of our confederation were declared upon, and our confederation responded. We are the defenders in the most literal, provable, concrete way measurable. Everything else is spin, fluff, conjecture, and grand standing.
I'm not saying that alliance X wasn't "too hostile" or alliance Y wasn't "planning this all along." Until war targets started appearing I didn't know about any of that fluff. I'd imagine that the vast majority of people didn't - except those in positions to care about such things. All I am saying is that the final and most definitive escalation of it all - the war declaration - seems to be something my confederates are responding too - not initiating.
The problem with declaring war is that when you do all other options are off the table. The declaration indicates that you are no longer willing to explore/endure/suffer/accept other courses of action. You play your final card and your opponent has no choice but to engage you in the arena of war.
One of the things I like about Illy is the definitive-ness of the "War Declaration." Unlike RL there is a definitive start to the war, and a definitive war initiator. There aren't "peace keeping missions" or "limited air stikes" or the like. You are at war or you are not. You declared the war or you didn't. Delving into reasons as to whether your were justified in declaring is all subjective fluff - and everyone can have a different and equally valid concept of whether it is justified.
At the end of the day my confederates have been declared upon, and thus my Dwarves will defend them until all of our aggressive enemies are smited... smote... smitten... ... ... killed.

With Respect. See you all on the field of battle,
Edited by WeeAshley - 06 Nov 2013 at 21:02