A tree fort sounded great to everyone. They were comfortable to sleep in, and being near the lines would help keep them in the right frame of mind.
Being here in the Capital at night removed the sense of danger and urgency, allowing them to talk about picking targets at random, instead of defending areas of land.
Fighting was fighting, in a way, but the determination to protect could make all the difference when it came down to morale and combat results. If they knew nothing about the area and its inhabitants, they were unlikely to fight as hard as they could.
That sort of casual approach to defence would make the locals fight that much harder when something unexpected happened, and there were too few forces nearby.
As much as they might like to think that they were giving it their all in battle, if they were only showing up to fight and then leaving, they were never going to have that sense of commitment that would drive them to the greatest feats.
