As the incident with Gideon and Noah shows, this tower gave a view of Lamanite lands. Therefore, Limhi was warned about the approach of this army which was no doubt large and which evidently made no attempt at a stealthy approach. In Mesoamerican warfare, a significant tactic was intimidating the enemy by a show of numbers and impressive regalia, and there is no reason to see these pre-encounter maneuvers as different.
Unlike Noah, who was on the tower by coincidence, Limhi was there because the recent hostilities between the two city-states and his resultant wariness about another attack. When he saw this one developing, he promptly launched an ambush to regain the tactical advantage. This maneuver suggests that he had significantly fewer fighting men than the Lamanite king. Verse 11 confirms that Limhi’s army was “not half so numerous as the Lamanites.” He was thus skillfully evening the odds.