That's not true - they are actually the worst fiefs to try and attack since you can't defend them once you take them either. You can't even hold them long enough to respec them.
It actually benefits large clans to have just 1 or 2 strategic fiefs to keep troops in and then use crime to make the others pointless to take.
Totally agree
Like I have said before - 100% crimerate is a very good defence for a village, if someone takes it, they would need to:
1. stay outside or die
2. Buy or sell goods until the crime is down, which could take several days
3. bring silly amount of gold with them to do this
So, taking a fief you cant enter, is good for the defending side, since they can during the first 48 or so hours make an army and attack the indtruder OUTSIDE of the village and then just take the village back - owning and dominating territory is no more important to be able to take and keep villages.
Before you could go behind enemy lines, take a castle and sit on your ass and watch the attackers die on the walls, if you do that now and dont have a secure supplyline in to that castle - the attackers could then just drink tea outside while you die inside because of crime. This is a cool feature though