Ok, that makes sense. Are they just there to penalize you for not spreading out (i.e. make it easier for other factions to take out a big group)? I imagine it would be pretty easy to avoid them altogether by capping your warriors in each clearing at 4?
it is, yeah, but in particular, you are incentivised to guard the bell tower quite heavily, and if someone were to come in when you only have 4 guys, it could be quite easy for then to wipe it, even with The Bell Tolls, so they need to balance stacking vs spreading out. Also, their most flexible guild, bailiffs, also place shanties as a penalty