asking about hideout

do we need any hideout each at every town?

You don't have to have hideouts in each and everytown. I only have one hideout. It depends on your situation. If you want to no more about the enemy and you don't want the enemy to know anything about you, build one in each town. If you don't care if they know about you, then just build one. I have only one level 26 hideout and the only time I use it is when we are at war.

I second Ming's post.

The amount of hideouts you build depends on how active your spies are and how paranoid you are about enemy spies. I personally find that having more than one hideout is a waste of space (and even 1 hideout is pushing it)

Keeping one around may come in handy...I had used them to attack chifeochoitrang. I found out the size of his army, when he's online, and all fleet movements, but I didn't execute my attack correctly or as planned...so in the end I lost really badly....

Actually, having one in every town helps to capture enemy spies. I suppose when you reach a certain level, if they want to attack you, then they take a chance. I understand what you are saying though. I have high hideouts in each town. Mahniex will tell you that Celtic fans are paranoid.

I rarely get spied on and even more rarely do I spy on others so my hideout is just in case I decide to spy...which will probably never happen.

I don't spy much, I only have one hideout. I wish the game developers would allow spys to be stationed in towns like regular troops.

Yeah, that would be a much needed modification

I always need a hideout in every city as a rule. During peace time, it's not as big a deal, as many random pillagers will simply look at your ts and gs to see how profitable a target you'll be.

For actual war, however, a strong spy defense is invaluable. If a knowledgeable foe sees you as a worthy opponent in war, they will spy you extensively...finding where you stockpile resources, where your next gr upgrade will likely be, where you have your army/navy, what your usual online times are, and what miracles you might use. It doesn't matter how big or good you are, if your enemy knows where your army is, how big it is, and when you go to bed, a well coordinated attack will cripple your military.

Also, if your friends want to launch an attack from your cities, it's especially good to have a high spy defense. This way they can't keep an eye on the garrison and troop movements constantly, either launching a preemptive strike, timing sea battles to start just in time to cause reinforcements to bounce, or a combination of both...effectively turning your city into a death trap for the whole alliance.

There are definitely advantages and disadvantages (as there are to anything you do in a strategy game), but it all depends on how you want to play the game.