Quote Originally Posted by Kavhan Isbul
I do not think this is the case. When you have a general with let's say two stars, if he gets the skilled defender, on the strategic map he will appear as a three star general, simply because by sitting in a province he is considered defending it (in case anyone invades or rebellion brakes out). There is no need for an actual defensive battle to take place for him to get his bonus and he will always have three stars when sitting still. Now, if you move him to invade another province, he will appear as a two stars general, simply because he does not get his bonus when attacking. Therefore, you may be misled into thinking he gets a penalty when attacking, but in reality he only loses his defending bonus. Does it make sense?
For your case, on the strategic map, he will appear as a 2 star general.When defending or when there is a rebellion in the province,he will get three stars. When he is attacking, he will only be a 1 star general.