Judging by the posts: not a single post has been created since 2009... It's a pity, the game deserves attention. I’ve been planning for a long time, but I don’t have time: either exams, or training, or whatever, but the situation was saved by a retro competition. As soon as I found out about the competition, I began to make up for lost time.

Since there is already a wonderful review, I decided to try to write about the main elements in the walkthrough.

So, let's start with battle tactics.

Help in passing.

Help in passing.

The first place in prevalence is occupied by the “quick battle” method. The point is to hire assassins and destroy opponents at the very beginning of the game, before they have time to gain a foothold in their castles.

Help in passing.

Help in passing.

In this case, we only need a barn, a mercenary camp where assassins are directly hired, and I also usually build a couple of houses. All! We hire assassins and send them to the enemy’s castle. PLEASE NOTE: if an assassin is discovered, then in fifty cases out of a hundred he stops and stands still (probably thinks that they will stop shooting at him and he will disappear). Therefore, do not spare your mouse and click on the enemy commander.

Help in passing.

Help in passing.

The second most common method is my favorite "evolve and attack" method. Here you need to build, collect taxes, take care of the well-being of your subordinates, and so on and so forth. It takes much more time, but the amount of pleasure received is a certain number of times greater than the speed of the first option.

Help in passing.

Help in passing.

The third method, “neither this nor that,” is used when you get tired of sitting at the computer, are lazy, or have more important things to do. As in the second option, we develop, recruit soldiers, but as soon as the required number of people is recruited, we go on the attack. Fans of the second option create beautiful armies of mounted swordsmen, crossbowmen, etc.

Here we hire any units, the main thing is that they are more efficient and cheaper to hire.

It's the same with buildings. The main thing is that there is food, there are taxes, the production of weapons is established, and there is protection for the first time.

Help in passing.

Help in passing.

Let's move on to the second part: the castle.

Each player sees his castle differently. Personally, I like a certain systematicity in all my buildings.

Help in passing.

Help in passing.

Here, for example: houses and a warehouse have the shape of a regular square, bakeries and breweries are built in two rows and the distance between the rows is one cell. Unfortunately, most players are annoyed by annoying neighbors who are constantly building something on your land. Okay, if they have deposits of stone or iron, they may ask for less, but they are building on already expensive fertile land.

Help in passing.

Help in passing.

For the victory of your state, you need a wise government and a strong army. The wise power is you. Much wiser. But to recruit an army, you need resources and money. Let's start from the end.

There are several ways to replenish your treasury:

First, produce enough resources and sell them. Iron mining is best suited for this, as it is the most expensive raw material. Of course, you can sell weapons, but you will need them yourself.

Secondly, become a beggar and ask for money from your allies. If they are not there, this option disappears.

And finally, tax increases. Since when taxes are raised, people get upset with you and start leaving, you need to give the people a carrot. And, again, several ways:

1) Variety of food, but little fertile land.

2) Build entertainment facilities, but people begin to be lazy and skip work.

3) Develop religion, but cathedrals take up a lot of space, and it will take about five to cover them all.

4) Give the people beer and vodka ale. People don't stop working, it takes as much space as in religion But it's fun to watch drunks staggering around.

Help in passing.

Help in passing.

If you have money, everything else will happen. Raw materials can be bought or mined. You can hire people in a bandit camp, or create weapons, and then a stronger army. Everything is in your hands if you have money.

The third part is occupied by defense.

Since each player has his own idea of ​​the castle and each card is different from one another, I will give a couple of tips and talk about the properties of defensive means.

Let's start with the towers.

1)Watchtower.

Allows you to place your archers/crossbowmen at a higher position and fire over long distances. It can accommodate five people, but there is a log that allows you to fit at least a hundred people into one tower. You divide people into groups of five and send them to the tower one by one. Each group takes its position on the tower. And voila, all units remain in the tower. Why is this happening? Ask the creators, they didn’t foresee the Russian person.

Help in passing.

Help in passing.

2) Turret and Defensive Turret.

I classified them in one section because they are very rarely used. The difference between protective and regular is not significant. Slightly taller, accommodates more people. In the first part of the game, a ballista or catapult could be placed on the Defense Tower. Unfortunately not possible in this version.

3) Square tower.

Together with the round tower, it takes up a lot of space, includes enough space to install a ballista or catapult and a bunch of people without thinking about game bugs. A good margin of safety, but there is no protection from enemy arrows.

It is advisable to build on hills, but due to the space occupied this becomes problematic.

Help in passing.

Help in passing.

4) Round tower.

The same properties as a square tower, but a slightly higher margin of safety, provides little protection from enemy arrows and, in my opinion, is more in keeping with that era.

All types of towers, except for the watchtower, on one screen, if you want to read about everything in detail, then don’t hesitate to come

Everyone knows why walls are built. But most people forget about the battlement. Let me remind you: a battlement can only be built in direct contact with a regular wall and protects your troops located on the walls. Also, most players rely on the strength of their army, this is correct of course, but do not forget about moats with water! It will take some time for any enemy army to fill your ditch with sand, reach the walls, and destroy the walls. During this time, you will have time to group and launch a counterattack. I would like to note that not all units can dig/fill a ditch. A knight in 40 kilos of armor will not work with a shovel.

Help in passing.

Help in passing.

Archers and crossbowmen make up the bulk of the castle's defense. Of course, crossbowmen are more effective, but only archers with a nearby brazier can set fire to oil ditches. The ditches ignite and burn everything that steps into the trap's territory or is hiding in the nearby bushes. You can, of course, make do with wolf pits or kennels. Who has what taste?

P.S. I hope I helped someone with the passage. We leave all criticism and impressions in the comments.

is a well-known castle building simulator, which is also a good strategy game, the action of which takes place in real time. Unlike regular game, Stronghold Crusader Extreme – involves the simultaneous presence of a much larger number of fighters on the screen: up to tens of thousands. In addition to the castles of the main computer opponents, there are also new items - buildings (barracks), which automatically produce more and more soldiers of a certain type: archers, crusaders, Arab swordsmen and others. Moreover, the speed of their “production” accelerates more and more as the game progresses, and if at first there are relatively few of them, and attacks are somehow still managed to be restrained, then after half an hour of playing at medium speed settings, this is simply impossible to do using conventional methods.

How to contain their onslaught?

Naturally, the first thing that comes to mind is to destroy the enemy barracks. But, unfortunately, many of them are far from your castle, and sending a detachment of warriors to destroy them is simply wasteful. There is a good chance that they simply will not reach their goal. In the extreme version of the game there is another innovation - a special scale that fills up over time. After it is filled to a certain level (up to half or three quarters), you can, by pressing the button of your choice next to it, either call a detachment of horsemen onto the battlefield, or shower enemies with arrows, or you can use stone blocks. So, it’s good to destroy enemy barracks remotely - with the help of these very stone blocks. Usually, in order to destroy one barracks, it is necessary to fire two such “charges” at it. But in the finals it is better not to do this right away. At first, it is better to spend energy on producing your own warriors or exchange it for gold - this is also possible.

At the end of the extreme game, you are given a map where the castle is surrounded on almost all sides by mountains. Practically, but not all of them - there are many gaps in the mountain “wall”. These gaps must be closed with stone walls. Immediately, without any delay, but with one condition - it is necessary to leave a small gap on the side that is farthest from the enemy castles and the fire of their “anti-aircraft artillery” - tower mangonels throwing stones. It is most convenient to leave a gap on the right, where there is the narrowest gap between the rocks.

An interesting feature of the game is that if you surround the castle with a dense wall, leaving only one small gap, all the enemy troops will flock to it, and they won’t even think about destroying other sections of the wall.
At this level, there are deposits of stone as a source of natural resources, but building quarries there, at least at the very beginning of the game, is not recommended - enemy mangonels and catapults will immediately open fire on them, and this can lead to breaches in those sections of the wall who are in the rear. An enemy breakthrough through them promises to be fatal.

Having fenced off with a wall on all sides, it would be nice to put several towers next to our gap, on which to place more archers, and then, as we accumulate finances, replace them with crossbowmen - more stable and strong soldiers. Placing yourself in a narrow gap between rocks and the walls of ditches filled with oil will help you fight the enemy very well. In this case, with a massive attack by the enemy, you can easily burn most of his troops. To do this, you need to place braziers on the towers in advance. Please note that only archers can set fire to oil.

That's it, the defensive minimum has been fulfilled. In the future, try to organize the production of your own food inside the castle - give priority to wheat fields, mills and bakeries, based on the calculation: one wheat field can provide one mill and about 6-8 bakeries with products. But don’t forget about further strengthening your main defensive lines - put up a few more towers, filling them to capacity with crossbowmen and archers. The wall can also be completed in such a way that when the enemy attacks, they fall through a narrow “gate” directly into the open space, which is shot through by your fighters from the towers. Having established defenses, you can move on to destroying enemy barracks with the help of “stone hail”. With their disappearance, the flow of attacking warriors will be cut off all the time, and after the destruction of all the barracks it will almost stop - only sometimes a few mercenaries will depress you with their forays, with whom, however, it is no longer difficult to deal with.

After the destruction of the barracks the game will go in the usual way, the same as in the standard one. Now you just need to save up more gold, equip an army and, one by one, defeat your once formidable neighbors! Today the story about this wonderful toy has come to an end...

in the distance you could see small settlement. Squat houses, meager farming around, poor population. “And this is my fief? Not very impressive...” But the newly-minted lord of such modest lands did not lose heart. He had already noticed a stone deposit nearby, an iron deposit on the other side...

Now we will put things in order here!

Economy Factors of fear and adoration Building defenses Conducting a siege Small tricks

Wellbeing Basics

The first actions in any party are the establishment of an economic base. There are a lot of resources in the game, and choosing the order in which to capture deposits can be difficult. But they are far from equivalent to each other, and there are undisputed leaders in the benefits they bring. First of all, pay attention to stone, iron And fertile lands.

Stone- the most profitable product. If you provide a sufficient number of oxen for delivery (so that the blocks do not lie unused, creating production downtime; usually 2-4 pieces are enough), then each quarry will enrich the treasury by 7 gold per second - that’s how much 1 stone block costs.

Iron- at a cost more expensive than stone, but it is mined much more slowly and goes to the warehouse 1-2 pieces at a time (an ox brings 12 blocks of stone at once).

Fertile lands are most profitable to develop farms with grain. The grain-flour-bread chain is the longest, but at the same time it is the most stable and profitable. The destruction of farms and the inability to harvest crops during a siege will not affect food supplies, since the mills and bakeries are located inside the castle and can operate on grain reserves.

Apple orchards- cheap and quickly produce a harvest, thanks to which a small number of them, built at the beginning, will make it possible to hold out until the first bread is baked.

Dairies- vulnerable to raids, since they work only when there are three cows, they easily catch fire from each other. Production efficiency is low, but they are required for production leather armor and the ability to throw cow carcasses from catapults and trebuchets to the enemy. Is it necessary to build? It depends on whether you need the ability to sow plague clouds on an enemy in the castle. You can also buy armor on the market.

Hop farm- produces hops, which are needed to make ale. Beer houses that consume it - good way increase popularity by 8 (which will allow you to either raise taxes or intimidate people for greater work efficiency). To do this, it is enough to build 1 beer hall for every 30 people. A few farms would be useful, but more are not needed. Hops and ale are cheap goods, you can’t get much from sales, but 1-2 farms are enough to operate beer houses.

Tree Although it is a very important resource, due to its extreme cheapness it is much more profitable to buy it on the market. It makes sense to build lumberjack huts if the forest interferes with the construction of other buildings or if there are practically no resources in the area.

Oil It can be very useful in defense, but it is cheap and its extraction yields little profit.

If there is no stone or iron nearby and the soil is poor, this is the first sign that the battle will be difficult. In this case, you should consider options for making a profit without extracting resources. There are few such production chains. The first is bread. Grain is bought for 23 coins, ground into flour, from which 8 loaves of bread are baked. They can be sold for 32 coins. The profit is small - 9 coins per revolution. But at a minimum, this can save significant money when buying food - 40 units of another type of food would cost 400 coins (versus 115 for bread).

Another option is to buy wood (4 coins per board) and make weapons. Can be made from wood spear(and sell for 10 coins), pike(18 coins), onion(15 coins), crossbow(30 coins). Of course, it is most profitable to produce crossbows.

Fear and Loathing in the Middle Ages

The lord is free to arrange any order and laws in his castle. People consider some lords to be kind and are more willing to go to their castle and fight more fiercely under their banners. True, they work half-heartedly, because they believe that the sovereign will not punish because of such a trifle.

Other gentlemen hold their lands in their fists, and dozens of different amusements are prepared for those who are slacking from work: a noose, a cage, a dungeon, a fire... Human imagination is rich! Even their own troops are afraid of such lords, fearing that they will fall under the hot hand, which does not have the best effect on their morale. But the residents work very diligently.

However, how does a peasant know what your character is? He sees you, sir, only once a year on big holiday. But when he walks along the streets and notices flowers, statues, all sorts of amusements, he will certainly think: “Our master, apparently, is a kind and generous man!” And stop to admire the beauty of the castle. But if he notices a hard worker who thought the same thing and decided instead of his work to rest for an hour in the park and was put in a tight cage for the edification of others, then although he will be horrified, he will work diligently!

Speaking in numbers, awesome buildings give:

1 to popularity;

10% to work efficiency;

5% to troop morale (presumably affects damage).

Cheerful do the opposite:

1 to popularity;

10% to work efficiency;

5% to morale.

Intimidation has some meaning in a developed economy in order to maximize its efficiency. The penalty to popularity is covered by beer or increased rations, the weakness of troops due to low morale is compensated by greater numbers.

But in general, no significant changes occur with the change in domestic policy, and this remains a matter of taste.

Defense

Once the foundation of the economy is built, protection must be taken care of.

This is important: in a game with large starting resources and money, it is justified to build defense before the economy. The amount of money that is lost due to delay is insignificant compared to the initial inventory. The danger of missing a blitzkrieg is much greater.

When building a defense, one should proceed from the task of preserving not only the lord, but also certain objects. But garrisons placed near important points are only half the story. Troops dispersed across distant targets will be individually vulnerable to a massive attack. It is impossible to build a stationary defense sufficient to deter such an attack in any direction (except when playing against computer opponents, whose actions are predictable, but such a defense will not withstand an experienced player). The solution is control of the territory by the army; the garrisons are few in number, but fortifications allow them to hold off superior troops.

While the defenders were busy with archers, the slaves reached the quarry.

This is important: The proposed option is a response to the most difficult version of the battle - playing against a person on a map where the castles are quite far from each other. In other situations everything is much simpler. If castles are nearby, then everything is decided by the speed of development and who built more archers, who was the first to use trebuchets or catapults. In such a situation, the right choice is the most aggressive strategy.

The simplest attack, which costs mere pennies and is therefore possible from the very beginning, is several dozen slaves. Setting fire to a quarry, mine or farms causes a delay in development, sometimes the loss of several buildings. It is often effective to set a barn on fire to interrupt food supplies. Archers or slingers stationed near key structures are a good defense against such attacks.

Note: Arab archers are not identical to European ones. Their shot force is the same, but the Arabs shoot one and a half times more often. Which, however, is compensated by the price: 75 coins versus 42 for a European (12 for hire + 30 for a purchased bow).

After this, the first ring of walls around the citadel should be built. If the enemy is far away and the battle is expected to be protracted, then the temptation arises to cover as wide a circle as possible, hiding all important resources behind the walls. But this is not the best move. A stretched perimeter is dangerous due to the dispersion of troops, and therefore, out of 200-300 soldiers of the garrison, no more than 40-60 take part in the defense at a time. This gives the enemy the opportunity to break up your army piece by piece without protecting your buildings. Everything that lies far from the castle must be guarded not only by a garrison, but also by troops.

The first ring of walls to be built will be the main line of defense. It is enough if it consists of two layers of a high wall and two of a jagged wall. It is on it that large towers with ballistae and mangonels (the larger the better), most of the shooters, will be located. The main ring should not be very wide in diameter, but sufficient to accommodate important buildings. These include a barn, an armory, workshops, a number of mills and bakeries (the loss of the entire food production complex is fraught with a deep economic decline). You should not try to place a mercenary post inside the barracks. Their loss will cost only 15 stone or 10 wood, they can be rebuilt very easily, unlike a barn or armory, the loss of which entails the destruction of everything that was stored in them.

This is interesting: After creation, the troops are sent to the barracks, where they line up. But you can assign a rally point for each type of troops independently. To do this, while in the panel for selecting soldiers in the barracks, press the key from 1 to 7 and specify a new rally point. This can be very useful when recruiting during an assault, when every second is precious, and also allows you not to experience any inconvenience from the fact that the barracks are located behind the wall.

Such a castle will withstand more than one siege!

Resources are undoubtedly worth covering, but you can only stretch the perimeter if they lie directly under the walls. Otherwise, you should bring the main ring of walls closer, but put powerful fortifications behind the deposit, without enveloping it, and move forward a small garrison, which will subsequently be part of the outer ring of walls.

The outer ring should be a little closer than the arrow's flight. You don’t need a lot of towers, there will be practically no troops on it - only small detachments to guard the gates in case of small raids. It is better to build the outer ring from two rows of low walls. A high wall will hold out the enemy for a little longer, but will prevent archers from firing at soldiers approaching closely. The main task of the outer wall is to disrupt the formation of enemy troops, make it difficult to maneuver, and gain time to take countermeasures against a specific army. They can try to destroy the outer wall with catapults, taking advantage of the fact that the guns on the towers of the main wall are too far away and they can protect the vehicles from a sortie. In this case, in order not to lose such an advantage in vain, you need to build your vehicles and fire at dense formations of enemy troops.

You can also build another circle of high walls in front of the main line of defense. This measure will help strengthen the defense against catapults and heavy infantry, protecting against a breakthrough. But building more than three rows is inappropriate - the defense is too stretched.

This is the general scheme of organizing the lord's defense. But no less important are the details that can decide the outcome of the battle. When playing against a computer opponent, it is enough to know his attack style and take measures against it, but when fighting against a person, you need to be prepared for any of his steps, think through measures to counter all dangers.

Heavy infantry. At first it will be 20-30 soldiers, then several hundred. First of all, they need to be detained. This is why the completed ring of walls is so important. In addition to the walls, a moat with water works great, which is also very cheap (slaves cost only 5 coins). If this already exists, then such a detachment poses much less danger. You can shoot him even with simple archers, but it would be better to hire crossbowmen. In addition, the moment when a large number of soldiers are in one place must be taken advantage of by using fire, making a ditch with oil in advance, or sending an engineer with a boiler of the same product. If you don’t have time to prepare these means, then Arab flamethrowers are at your service, who will slowly but surely prepare a barbecue from everything they can get their hands on. For example, they are great at dealing with assassins. The fire reaches the killers even while climbing the wall, which, combined with the slowness of the process, ensures a crispy crust on the would-be warriors.

With portable shields on the walls, archers will be virtually invulnerable to arrows.

Siege towers, assassins. Siege towers pose the same danger as assassins - the appearance of the enemy on the walls, and the means of counteraction are the same. The number one remedy is water. Moats reliably keep the enemy away from the walls. An insurmountable obstacle is also the two rows of walls with battlements. Assassins cannot climb over them, and although the towers fold out, they cannot be used to climb onto the walls. However, even if you surround the entire perimeter with a double layer of battlements, you should remember that assassins can still climb right onto the gate (this does not apply to towers). The only way To close this last loophole - add a drawbridge.

Arrows. You need to have at least as many shooters. With normal development this is not a problem. An exception may be an early attack with a large number of archers. To avoid this, it is enough to observe the actions of the enemy and also buy additional bows in a timely manner. Walls and towers will tip the scales in your favor. Another option is fire ballistas. They have an advantage in firepower and survivability. You can also order an engineer to leave a damaged weapon and make a new one. This way they can be “repaired”.

Catapults, trebuchets, fire ballistas, portable shields, battering rams. Ballistas, mangonels on towers, and mobile units of knights or light infantry work best against these devices. Making a sortie to deal with those pesky trebuchets that stand beyond the range of the ballistas is a nice thing to do.

This is important: portable shields can be carried onto walls and towers. This protection makes them virtually invulnerable to arrows.

Conducting a siege

The enemy is still holding out. But he no longer has a chance to win.

First of possible errors- calculation for one victorious assault. With such a calculation, “hit or miss” actions are possible, which is fundamentally wrong. The sure way to victory is to destroy the enemy’s economy, deplete his resources, and ensure superiority war machine, built on a more powerful economy. Therefore, before the assault, it is necessary to take all possible measures to undermine the well-being of the enemy, to carry out sabotage in all possible directions. It is also worth building mining buildings on all available resources. But it makes sense to conduct economic expansion before certain point. The criterion is very simple: when you help out more money than you can spend on soldiers. By expanding your holdings further, you will spend more time on management without receiving any benefit - there is no difference between a reserve of 10 thousand and 100 thousand, you will not be able to convert either one into an army faster than people arrive to you.

Therefore, even if your army was unable to break through to the lord, this does not mean failure. The very fact of a siege has a very adverse effect on the enemy’s economy, and if you don’t rely on one lord and send groups to destroy the infrastructure, then even if the lord survives, it will only be a delay. After all, you have a powerful economy, a stable flow of money, a good castle with a decent army. The enemy only has an army, which is unlikely to exceed the garrison of your castle. The result of the confrontation is obvious - the second assault will be the last. We just need to continue to put pressure, not give the opportunity to rebuild the economy, develop success, consolidate dominance over the map.

So, you feel superior and have already pushed the enemy back to the castle itself. The assault is the most difficult stage of the war. Good fortifications can neutralize even a multiple numerical advantage. And the first thing to do is to carefully examine them. What should you pay attention to? Before answering this question, let's look at the three components of a siege army.

Assault group- a detachment of heavy infantry or mobile and powerful fighters (mace bearers, assassins). His task is to get involved in hand-to-hand combat in favorable conditions and inflict maximum damage, destroying shooters, important buildings and, if possible, the lord.

Archer shootout. Those covered with a shield do not suffer losses.

Arrows- crossbowmen are best suited for this role, due to the accuracy and power of the shot, but any others will do if used correctly. Their task is to distract the shooters on the walls and inflict maximum damage on the enemy army. If you are using non-mounted archers, build portable shields(in the ratio of 1 shield to 2 shooters), which will allow the squad to hold out much longer.

This is important: Do not assign engineers with shields to the same squad as archers - they then stand on the perimeter, leaving the soldiers in the center without protection. It’s better to have shields separately and archers separately - then the two squads are evenly mixed.

Engineers— it is on their shoulders that what others cannot cope with falls on their shoulders. Catapults are generally more effective and easier to use than trebuchets, since they can move and shoot much more often and more accurately. The disadvantage may be the low trajectory, which makes it difficult to reach the tower from behind the wall. But this problem is solved by simply increasing the number of catapults. Two dozen in three salvos demolish a wall 5 cells thick, in two salvos they level a round tower to the ground. Even if there are a couple of ballistas on the walls, they will not have time to destroy all the guns, the towers will be demolished faster. But sometimes (when there are too many towers) it will be too expensive to solve the issue head-on. It is for these purposes that there is a trebuchet with a record firing range. If one ballista reaches it, cover the weapon with a shield. In addition, a ram can be very useful for an assault group, and portable shields can be very useful for riflemen. Fire ballistas are an excellent tool for clearing walls, setting fires, and covering siege weapons from lone saboteurs.

Victorious Army:
80 crossbowmen, 40 mace bearers
and 20 catapults.

What to look for in an enemy castle? First of all, evaluate the capabilities of the assault group. If there is a moat with water dug around the castle, the walls are thick, there are suspicions of traps, and there are a lot of crossbowmen, engineers with boilers and flamethrowers on the walls, then your soldiers will not achieve anything. You need to provide them with a path to the walls, make a breach or destroy the soldiers on the walls. Next, study the possibility of using shooters, namely how many of them the enemy has. If the forces are at least equal, it is worth hiring more soldiers or looking for another option, but do not put your people under the walls. And this other option is the engineering troops. If the fortifications look extremely unfriendly, it is their task to give them a different look. Look for the possibility of using catapults, trebuchets, cover them with shields if necessary. Build fire ballistas that can clear walls while standing further than shooting arrows from a bow. Look for sections of the wall where you can place a siege tower, but be prepared for the fact that this may be a trap - do not send all the soldiers to capture the wall at once, there may be a pit with oil under them.

In addition, combine the activities of all three parts of the army. Destroying catapults when pikemen are breaking through a hole in the wall, assassins are climbing gates, and archers are shelling towers while hiding behind portable shields is extremely difficult, unlike the situation when catapults operate alone. There is nothing more to say about the siege - there are no universal recipes, each castle requires its own approach, its own unique tactics.

Small tricks

There are several techniques, the possibility of which is not obvious, but the benefits in certain situations are significant.

Warehouse relocation. In some missions, it can be advantageous to reduce the distance to resource deposits. This can be done: destroy all warehouse sites and build it where it is convenient for you. But keep in mind that all resources that were stored in the warehouse will be lost.

Locking the enemy computer in a castle. In some cases it makes life a lot easier, especially when there are a lot of enemies. However, it doesn’t work for everyone. This trick works best with Richard, the Caliph, the Sultan, but it happens that others also come across. Its essence is simple - at each exit from the castle, place a sawmill or a tether for oxen. If there are no hand-to-hand fighters or fire ballistas outside, then the enemy will not be able to do anything with this obstacle. Richard, at the cost of half an hour of tormenting the mangonels, sometimes demolishes the barrier. But! The habit of bragging about every success does him a very bad service. As a result, as soon as the jam is destroyed, the player, whose attention was drawn to this fact, puts in a new one!

Five years ago, the lord received a remote village. A lot has changed since then. Under his rule, a powerful and rich city grew in this place, whose army returned victorious more than once. But what one did, another can repeat. Will you try it too?

7.5 from the editor

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23.09.2015

Stronghold: Crusader

• Publisher: Take-Two Interactive
• Publisher in Russia: 1C
• Developer: Firefly Studios
• Website: Other website
• Game engine: -
• Genre: Strategy
• Game mode: Single player, multiplayer
• Distribution: 1 CD

System Requirements:

• Windows 98/ME/2000/XP
• Pentium II 300 MHz
• 4 MB
• compatible with DirectX 7.0 or later
• 850 MB

About the game

Stronghold: Crusader is a wonderful real-time strategy game in which the player was asked to take control of a medieval castle, develop it, increase the population, create an army and build a good defense so that bad enemies could not capture the built fortress.

The time period fell directly on the 9th-13th centuries, and the locations of the massacres were the wastelands of the Sahara, the lands of Arabia, and the Kingdom of Jerusalem. The main warring parties are the European and Arab peoples, whose hatred for each other was strong and unbridled, blood flowed like a river, and there was an endless struggle for land, power and wealth. Based on the real story, we can say that a fraction of the real battles in the game are recreated with accuracy and truthfulness, but in general - almost every map and character is a fantasy of the developers.

It is worth noting that in this strategy we cannot directly control ordinary peasants, we can only build them robots where they will work without our intervention, be it a bakery, an apple orchard, a brewery, and more. But this is not a minus of the game, on the contrary, it’s a plus, since at the height of the game you will have so many workers that it will become almost impossible to choose the person you need there, a real anthill. Thus, we are only allowed to directly control military units.
This game has so many features that it would take a long time to write about them, so just give it a try.

Game Features:

• 4 historical campaigns - a unique chance to try yourself in the role of Richard the Lionheart or the great Sultan Saladin
• "Path of the Crusader" 50 story-related missions
• More than 25 types of warriors
• Built-in editor - ability to create new maps and scenarios
• Multiplayer game local network or online, for up to 8 players.
• Siege and invasion modes have been removed from the game and replaced with scenarios

Game modes

Although there are no more game types, now you can play as much as you want, and all thanks to the new section of the game - multiplayer with bots. Here you can play with eight different bots on any map and under any conditions. You can arrange “meat” on a map with an abundance of resources against a couple of Richards, or you can fight in the desert with three Saladins. And the most interesting option is in alliance with Boar, Richard and, say, Caliph, against Wolf, Saladin, Sultan and Snake on the War of the North and South map.

Another one has appeared new mode- Historical battles. This is a set of interconnected scenarios, arranged in meaning and order into five folders, which briefly describe what happened during the Crusades. This mode indirectly resembles the addition to the first part of the Stronghold Excalibur Pack, namely with realistic events and castles.

Historical campaigns:

• To arms
• Saladin's conquests
• Royal Crusade
• Crusader Wars

"Way of the Crusader" it consists of 50 maps that are not connected to a specific plot, despite the title "50 plot-related missions".

Individual cards This is a classic duel mode against a computer opponent. The game can take place on one of independent cards, as well as maps created by the player. The player can configure the number of computer opponents (from 1 to 7), alliances, as well as the initial conditions of the fight.

Free construction the player is invited to build a village, castle, etc. on the terrain without any restrictions. An event editor called by the F1 key is also available

Map editor This mode allows you to create your own your own map- for multiplayer games, games with computer opponents, free construction and a separate mission.

Economy

Construction of the castle - the bulk of the rifle troops in defense are placed on the towers. They vary in size, price and strength. Throwing weapons can be placed on especially large towers. In addition, the castle has buildings for hiring troops - barracks and a mercenary camp. You can hire additional units from the engineer and sapper guilds.

Resource extraction- they are all stored in warehouses that need to be expanded from time to time. Available in the game: stone, iron, oil and wood.

Agriculture - agriculture necessary in order to feed the city population. Available: apples, meat, cheese, bread and hops. Apples, cheese and meat are produced directly on farms, while bread and ale go through a long production chain. Bread is the most in an efficient way organize food supplies to the castle.

City buildings- they ensure the life of the city. The main buildings in the city are: houses (to provide housing for the population), churches, wells (to extinguish fires) and pharmacies.

Weapon workshops- workshops produce weapons for the army. Different types of troops require their own types of weapons, which are produced in workshops. Most workshops require wood or iron for work, and the leather workshop requires cow hides from dairy farms.

Mods and addons

Addition for Stronghold Crusader. Compared to original game added:

• Additional campaign consisting of 30 missions

The only addon for the game released by the developer. Can be performed as a mod and installed on the standard game Stronghold Crusader of any version. Compared to the original game, version 1.1 added:

• 8 additional computer opponents
• Additional campaign of 30 missions
• Magic
• Endless troops
• New cards

In addition, several fan-made additions and mods have been released for the game.

• If you press F1 - F10 and Ctrl + F1 - F10, you can hear various insults. They were also provided in the English version.
• Some sounds from the game are also found in Ridley Scott's film Kingdom of Heaven.
• If you log into the game on December 25th and start the game with computer opponents, one of them will wish you a Merry Christmas

Flaws

The developers did not bother to fix the bugs of the previous game and transferred them to this one with the engine. Again, archers break a stone wall with a knife, the shadows of trees fall in all directions like on a football field, all buildings except the main one have only two sides, the troops still march like sausages, and what’s most offensive is a lot of bugs due to the imbalance of the game. After a delay in online play, you can hire non-mental armies, no army can stop a thousand crossbowmen, three hundred catapults will destroy everything in their path, and, the most shocking and most sought-after thing in Stronghold Crusader, an army of a thousand can fit into one point! The latest bug is used by all pseudo-experts, they manage to fit several hundred knights into a line of 15 units, and this horde demolishes everything in its path, and no one can stop them.

1. Lyrical introduction.

For a long time (around the 8th century AD), feudal lords and knights, in addition to the army, relatives and coat of arms, had another source of well-deserved pride: a stone castle, in which they could sit out from the army of a neighboring feudal lord, or go out with a detachment of archers and swordsmen and take your neighbor's castle by storm. This tradition is still alive today in games. Stronghold series. Before you can sharpen crossbows and forge swords, you need to rebuild the citadel, the detinets (a small courtyard, the penultimate line of defense) and the fortress itself.

Building fortresses is a great art, because your fate depends on it (in the game, of course). In addition, it’s nice to know that you have your own super castle that hordes of enemies cannot take. It just so happens that you can attack in a thousand ways, but rebuild the castle in about only a hundred (we don’t count the difference of two or three small towers). Most anti-rushers (traditionally called porcupines), who lovingly surround their castle with a third wall, have found the formula for their castle for a single map and follow it, occasionally adjusting the straight line of the walls or adding a couple of braziers to the pillbox.

2. Non-lyrical introduction. This manual is the fruit of a generalization of both my own experience and meager phrases from Internet forums and homemade translations from German fan sites. The purpose of this manual is to present in an accessible form the processes of building a castle and plans for organizing defense, including some bonuses. Most of the tips are intended for multiplayer and crusades in Crusader, but will be suitable (with a discount on gameplay) for any map where you need to build a castle. We ask professionals not to make a face, since everyone was once a lamer, and this manual is intended to destroy beginners in the game (it’s clear how) and in life (and here we already mean the transition to the next stage of development).

3. Economics. It’s a no-brainer that you can attack without having a strong economy behind you only when

1) Special mission – take the enemy’s castle by storm, or hold out for n time

2) When rushing

3) Nothing to lose

Because in order to accumulate weapons and create a powerful army, you need to have a lot of GOLD!!! And the population as well. This means we need food and popularity.

Economy is primary, war is secondary. It is impossible to build a castle without a strong economic system. So, what do you need to keep in mind when building an economic system?

First. Scientific organization of labor - NOT. All distances (from the grain farm to the warehouse, from the mines to the warehouse, from the warehouse to the forge, from the forge to the armory) should be as short as possible! The shorter the better!

Second. Fires are very dangerous in crowded spaces, and that's the point. Let's say the enemy set fire to the quarries and the mines caught fire. The firefighters (funny thing - they are fireproof) extinguished the quarries, but from the burning mines a spark spread to the quarries, and everything burned again. Fortunately, quarries are difficult to burn. Well, next. We build vats of water against fire; they are twice as expensive, but three times as effective as wells. Let's move on to the causes of the fire. If you are playing a military mission, I will teach you how to keep slaves out of your household. It’s more difficult in economics; there are fires as the game progresses. But - be afraid of wolves, don’t go into the forest.

Third. Food is a very important thing in the household. The only correct food is bread; the rule has no exceptions. Hunters are inaccessible in the crusades, gardens are unproductive, cowsheds, with the correct production of leather armor, produce as much as a fool, hop fields do not provide food. Bread formula: 3:1:8 (farm, mill, bakery), may vary depending on the distances between elements. First, if you feel sorry for the wood, you can build two farms, then complete the third. But I recommend not to be greedy. As Comrade said. Stalin, starting industrialization, “beats the laggards.” Surplus food can be sold, but more on that later.

Fourth.

Popularity and respect. Popularity depends on taxes, ale, churches and carrots or sticks. A wedding, a fair, a plague are episodic events, you shouldn’t count on them.

El is great stuff! One hop farm, two or three breweries, a couple of taverns - and +4, +6 in your pocket! You can also sell ale at the market, receiving normal money and clearing the warehouse.

Churches are also good. Considering that upon construction they give +1 and +2 (this does not count bonuses from priests), and in the cathedral you can hire monks (but what's the use of them? I use them decoratively - the praetorian guard of Lord bp, guards the roof of the castle and the state treasury ), religious buildings are recommended for construction. A bit pricey. However, with our income we can afford it.

Gingerbread and sticks. This is a double-edged sword. If you are a good lord, your troops fight hard, people love you, but work poorly, which means there won’t be much food. But they can reduce their rations or establish downright extortionate taxes (that’s what they’re called), using the money to buy food. If you are a cruel lord, your troops fight worse, but your people work better (but they hate you). Nothing! They bring more food - one and a half rations plus taverns will even out even -5. Double ration - you can still collect taxes from them. Churches are a blast! People work hard at work and also pay high taxes. Another thing is that my conscience gnaws at me to torture and torment my people, to whom I am like a father. Maybe on maps like “The Last Frontier” I will fill all the empty spaces with buttonholes, but... good me!

Here you can also make a feint with your ears. Look, you filled the entire courtyard with hind legs and nooses; the people, in fear, riveted mountains of armor and swords. It's time to go visit your neighbor. We demolish the torture center and erect monuments, shrines and all that. The troops shout "Hurray!" and go into a DECISIVE battle. Porcupines really don’t like to attack, but if they do attack, you can safely expect an “iron kaput” under the walls - a hundred swordsmen. With a lot of gingerbread - +25 attack bonus, 125 knights instead of a hundred - impressive? Or maybe 75 instead of 100, so the executioners have their own problems.

Popularity is the result of all this. Popularity formula: bread, churches and booze. You can safely use your excess popularity - levy terrible taxes or rear up.

Fifth. Extractive industry. The beginning of all beginnings. Stone and ore - defense and attack. There should be two or three oxen for each quarry. At the very beginning of the game, however, you should not build several oxen at the quarry: the stone haulers will take turns carrying stones from the site and the pace of delivery will be slightly different: you will have to wait three times longer, but you will get 36 stones at once. Then the queue will dissipate, but such pulsation is unpleasant to endure. Place the mines skillfully, they should occupy as little of the surface of the ore as possible, then they can be squeezed in more.

It's a shame, but near the quarries you can build a lot of tethers for oxen, but this won't work with the mines - one worker will carry the ingots to the warehouse.

Oil is very necessary for defense, and is expensive on the market. Get it anyway!

There is no point in building a logger very much, otherwise they will cut down all the wood at the roots.

In general, at the beginning of the game you need a LOT of wood and stone to rebuild the castle and farm. Then the need decreases sharply, and the surplus can be sold. At the beginning of the game, I set up 4 sawmills and buy wood for 1000-1200 pounds, since the starting amount of wood can be provided to me by at least 10 sawmills, which will cut everything down to the roots - then there will be nothing left for themselves. Wood is the only slowly renewable resource. You can mine stone and ore for thousands of years.

Sixth. Military industry. Do I need to explain the need?

Follow the NOTES. At equal distances, the production ratio should be approximately the same.

Forge (swords)-armor 5:4

Forge (maces)-leatherworker 5:4

Archer (crossbows) - skinner 1:1

Pikodelnya (peaks)-armor 3:2

Kozhnitsa-dairy plant 1:1

Numbers may vary depending on resource extraction and castle layout. At first, you can build three or four archers, when there are about 50 archers, we transfer all the bows, except one, to crossbows. It is better to build the skins in advance. Excess production can be sold or purchased (otherwise there will be 22 crossbows and 17 leathers - what to do?). Spearmen are not needed - unless you push down ladders, buy a dozen spears at the market or later switch the spear to picnyu.

There is one offensive thing that greatly spoils the game (or vice versa, makes it easier). With a well-established economic system, including maximum production of oil, stone, iron, such trade can be developed on the market that buying weapons will be much faster and easier than riveting them yourself. There should be crossbowmen in any case, but crossbows and bows take an incredibly long time to make - just like leather armor. In some circumstances it will be easier to purchase crossbows from the market.

Unlike crossbows and bows, all piercing and cutting weapons and iron armor are made quite quickly. I recommend this - decide what you will rivet. If there are seven opponents of the Boar class or higher against you, rivet pikemen and swordsmen as much as possible. Then you will hire infantrymen and buy everything on the market. If the enemies are not difficult or you are an advanced rusher (then why are you reading) - build dairy farms, leather workshops, forges for maces.

Seventh. General recommendations: temp. Just like in chess: if you don't make a big move, your opponent does. Guess in whose favor? It is better to spend the starting two thousand on wood (however, leave 500 for the military industry) and build a huge estate from the very beginning of the game. You can buy a stone if you have a lot of rushing opponents - Rat, Snake and the like. Because with an established economy there will be a lot of stone, if you don’t want to make your castle out of square towers, all that remains is to sell it.

Eighth. Money. Taxes are a bad source. It is only enough to hire an army. For anything capital, you need to trade raw materials - iron, stone, oil, wood, flour and grain. Although it is better to pour oil into boilers and ditches, and make wolf pits from wood. If the need for wood decreases, it is better to destroy several loggers and leave a couple. There should be enough for the military industry, and the forests will grow at least a little.

Ninth. This is how I start building a castle. This stone square is Detinets, around which the entire mining industry is located, and inside (although this is not visible from behind the walls) there is a food processing industry. Later I will put a tower in the upper and lower corners, and outside I will build military workshops and surround it with a second wall and a moat. The child itself is a good fortress entry level- when I build towers and ditches for it. This screenshot is an early stage of construction, so that you can clearly imagine the child, I didn’t even have time to build taverns, churches and build a defensive industry. Two minutes passed at 20 speed after starting the game

Detinets was built on the Bloody Plains map, but with 3 opponents. In general, this map is one of my favorites, as there are a lot of resources there. Alas, when there are 7 enemies, you have to be wary of rushing.

So, you already know how to build an economic system. Let's move on to people?

4. Our main wealth is people. If your super castle, which took 2000 stone, is defended by three archers and a lord, then the besiegers will die not from arrows, but from laughter. Good defense is non-contact. This is when only arrows interact with the enemy. You can only engage in hand-to-hand combat with engineers who have come forward.

What kind of people are needed for non-contact defense? Shooters of all kinds.

Archers. They are flimsy and don't attack very well, but they are quick to make and cheap. They can also dig a ditch and set fire to oil - here they are indispensable. And they shoot further and faster, so they are needed too.

Arab archers attack stronger than European archers, but are expensive. They can also set fire to oil.

Crossbowmen are the best marksmen in the game, the choice of a professional. Necessary for defense against any serious enemy. But, unfortunately, they cannot set fire to oil, as a result, archers are also needed.

Horse archers. They cost five coins more than foot soldiers, they can shoot on the move - this is their main defense. In addition, they have a sabre. In defense they are meaningless, except to drive the herd onto a hill if there is no stone for the pillbox (see below).

Slingers. Do you need them?

But alas, sometimes you have to engage in hand-to-hand combat.

Spearmen. They are only suitable for digging a ditch and pushing ladders off walls. You can set up one penny workshop, it will be enough for all your needs. Hand-to-hand combat is contraindicated for them.

Infantrymen. These are tough guys in leather jackets who have earned the nickname rockers (or pirates). They are good at capturing walls and barbicans, as they can climb ladders and move very quickly. In addition, they hit very hard.

Pikemen. It is almost impossible to kill them with bows, and partially with crossbows. Very good for tearing off or digging ditches under a hail of arrows from the walls. In addition, they can take on fiery ditches, so do not be surprised if the enemy sends about seventy pikemen to you and they will dig a ditch for you, despite your opposition. They are not very good at attacking, but they defend well; only swordsmen or knights can break through their ranks. They are recommended for defense and offense, as they move relatively quickly.

Swordsmen. Fear and horror. They are no easier to kill than pikemen, and in hand-to-hand combat they are unsurpassed. If they end up on your walls, they can only be stopped with the help of swordsmen. But they walk very slowly and the mangonel will be able to have a significant impact on them. And if they find themselves in a puddle of oil, few will have time to get out. It is best to attack with them when a landing party of rockers is already on the walls.

Knights. They don't know how to climb walls, but they fight like swordsmen. Good for counterattacks and destroying enemy siege engines. You can also attack a squad of enemy archers running forward.

Monks. They don't make much sense, but they have something. I don’t fight with them, but use them as wedding generals.

Sappers. Easily killed and pointless against ditches. Try to cut it off before it starts digging.

Siege workers. I feel sorry for them, but in war it’s like in war. They are killed just once, but they cost less than slaves. They are good for directing rockers to walls and pillboxes.

Engineers with boilers. This is a terrible weapon. It must be used skillfully. If rockers are running up to the walls of your castle, and all the walls are covered with crossbowmen, hold back the engineers. And if swordsmen are hobbling towards you, you can’t do without oil.

Slaves. A dozen archers will be able to kill them, but if they set fire to something, the consequences will be great. In hand-to-hand combat, only spearmen and archers can be overwhelmed.

Arab swordsmen. Relatively fast, but not that strong. They are good in some ways, but the European ones are cooler. Child of compromise, what to take from him...

Assassins. An irreplaceable thing. They fight great. Good against pillboxes and unmoated walls. A dozen assassins will be able to clear a bridgehead for the rockers already climbing the ladders (they are very fragile). Beware of them!

Flamethrowers. But this is complete bullshit! Of course, they do not run to the boilers and do not consume expensive oil, but they are expensive and light a small area. They are only good in magical corridors and the desire to save money. But there is one situation - see below.

5. It is better to locate the farm so that the enemy does not reach it - in the rear, behind the castle, or surrounded by a low wall. That's it. Now - about the tactics of building defense.

The castle is protected by three elements - earth (stone), water and fire. Let's talk about the element of earth.

One of the important things in the game is dot. What is a pillbox? This is a square or watchtower, standing separately from the castle on the esplanade (a flat, clean area in front of the castle, where enemy infantry are so uncomfortable). The tower is surrounded by one or two rows of walls, a barbican or staircase is added, a brigade of crossbowmen and archers is brought up, the barbican is closed, and the bottom of the staircase is demolished. All! Now this structure can only be taken by assassins (so a ladder is better than a barbican), siege workers or a siege tower. Oil or spearmen help against siege workers, but a siege tower is a disposable thing. The enemy is faced with a dilemma: spend a tower on a damn pillbox or go further under a hail of arrows? The pillbox is shelling the entire space around, but there is no point in taking it, there is no way out of it. Beat him with a battering ram - why? Considering the walls around the pillbox, this will take a very long time, and the crossbowmen will do their dirty work. From a pillbox you can fire at an enemy who comes close to the castle, which is very convenient. Dot is also good for dominating farms located in lowlands. You know, there are maps where some important resource is located only in the center of the map, so pillboxes are useful there so that the enemy does not build his farms or quarries there, or destroy yours. You can build a watchtower with a nickel of archers against slaves - that will be enough. You can't waste your strength.

You may ask, why do you need archers on the pillbox? It’s just that only archers can set fire to oil, and any real feudal lord will surround his castle with puddles of oil. But about them - see further.

Feint! How to put a lot of people on a tower? Take, for example, a guard (5 people maximum). We select 5 crossbowmen and send them upstairs. While they are wandering towards the tower, we select the next 5 crossbowmen, go up again, etc.

Now - about the castle. Each porcupine has its own idea of ​​what an impregnable castle should be like. What I will say is that the defense must be STEP, and if the enemy has broken through one line of defense, he must immediately stop in front of the other.

The enemy has destroyed the barbican and is breaking into the courtyard? No problem. The nearest staircase should be as far away as possible, and the path to it is blocked by oil and wolf pits. By the way, the stairs should be near the barracks in order to quickly send freshly formed troops to the walls. Has the enemy climbed the walls? Swordsmen to battle! Kill the aliens! There should be no contact between the citadel and the walls: then the enemy will inevitably go down into the courtyard, and there should be oil there! It’s not a bad option when the child is built from high walls, and the rest of the castle from low ones, then it becomes very difficult for the enemy to get through. True, a low wall is easy to break.

About walls: it’s normal to build two walls, then crenellations. Excellent - three walls, then cogs. Outside, you can build low walls “every other” to prevent the enemy from approaching siege towers, and you can also build a pillbox. But in such shelters it is easier for enemy infantry and assassins to hide - it is necessary to shoot them from a pillbox. If the enemy is slow, the assassins can climb onto sections of the low wall and stay there. There's no turning back, guys. Just keep in mind that a cunning enemy can demolish these bumps and only then adjust the draft.

About the towers: the corner towers should protrude two or three squares in order to fire at the enemy who comes close to the wall. Barbican and barbican towers are the same.

It is better to place crowds of archers and crossbowmen on the corner towers, and ballistae on the barbac and wall towers. At the barbican - cock a squad of crossbowmen. It is better to place spearmen and engineers with oil on the walls. Wherever there are archers, there should be braziers. Burning arrows put psychological pressure on the opponent (if he is a person), in addition, he may think that if there are braziers there, it means there is oil too, and postpone the attack.

Cars: ballistas are more needed than mangonels. Mangonelli in large quantities good against clumsy but valuable knights. But it’s impossible to install all the towers with mangonels - ballistas are more necessary. Two or three, preferably four, ballistas are the choice of a professional. Enemy trebuchets and catapults are covered with shields, so the solution is a few arrows flying from different sides. A win-win option is a ballista on a pillbox. Only a superpro will crush a pillbox (he knows how dangerous such a thing is) - exclusively with a trebuchet, but this will take a lot of time. The walls have been dealt with.

How to resist enemy siege engines? You can build a lot of ballistae, or you can prevent the engineers from building them. Often the AI ​​sends engineers ahead of the army, where kennels can be built on their way - not even a scrap of clothing will be left of the engineers. You can also fire at engineers from a pillbox or meet them with a squad of horsemen.

A ditch and ledges on the wall help against siege towers, and ballistas and fire help against rams (well, and a ditch, of course). Against catapults - ballistas, against trebuchets - ballistas or other trebuchets. This is where the ballista comes in handy! She fires at the enemy until he drives his cars to the castle.

Trebuchet is a scary thing. And who would expose a trebuchet to fire from a pillbox? The enemy will build further away, but then it may not reach the castle.

That's sorted out, now there are two remaining elements. If your castle is on a plain, it needs to be surrounded by a moat. It is better to make a moat on all sides of the castle, and it is recommended to dig with pikemen and archers under the cover of crossbowmen on the walls. If a brigade of slaves comes running to you, the crossbowmen will nail them to the ground in the blink of an eye, you can’t stop digging. The same goes for small squads. And if the enemy notices that you are now strengthening your defenses with a ditch and decides to attack right now, it is better to immediately take everyone out of the ditches and drive them to the walls.

If your castle is on a hill, that's great! Your archers shoot harder and farther, and the enemy climbs the hillsides so slowly that few will reach the base of the walls. It is good to place pillboxes on distant hills. But on a hill you cannot use a moat. This is where fire comes into play. Oil ditches will help the enemy go into oblivion. Only rich feudal lords can do continuous filling, although this is Arabia, there is a lot of oil here. Porcupines place oil cells in a checkerboard pattern, then with the same oil consumption they can flood twice the area. It is not advisable to make large fields; it is best to apply ribbons along the edges of the ditches (this is on the plain) and against the barbican and towers. Small rectangles create a more flexible defense. The enemy can send ten pikemen to you, the oil will catch fire under their feet and burn out. The enemy will think that all the oil has burned out... and then you will set fire to another oil field.

You can also do a sneaky trick: place another wall parallel to the wall - a low one, in which there will be one narrow gap. The enemy will not destroy this wall, unless he breaks through a new passage. Well, it’s not for me to explain to you that oil needs to be spilled right behind the passage, since the enemy can only come from there. You also need to oil the edges to thwart plans to bypass the obstacle. Also, the enemy may get the idea to hide a squad of swordsmen behind a wall from your arrows. Poor things... In eight hundred years, archaeologists will be digging up smoked armor, because there was oil behind the wall.

There is another aspect of oil: oil in pots. A terrifying thing. Three engineers for the barbican, two for each tower, and your defense has greatly strengthened! I affectionately call these engineers “butterheads” or “Kipelovites.” A bucket of boiling water brings death to almost any approaching enemy, and the area over which the oil is spilled significantly exceeds the area covered by flamethrowers. Make sure that the engineers can get to the oil boiler as quickly as possible, this is very important. It’s better to make their defense passive (three units approach the wall and start lighting =).

Wolf pits are good to make in narrow passages and passages. In the narrow spaces, the enemy runs in a huddle - there are up to ten people per cell - and ends up in a pit. The enemy's fury exceeds all limits.

If you are playing against AI, then the so-called magic corridor - a long passage in the walls - helps very well. When I was in school, high school students stood in a narrow corridor and pushed all the small animals passing there at each other. The game has something similar: there are wolf pits in the passage, on the walls there are boletus or flamethrowers, well, and a bunch of crossbow archers. The fact is that then the enemy will not break through the walls, but will trample straight to the castle - this corridor should lead to the courtyard and to the castle. Some people may also not be able to bear the temptation and will lead their troops into the passage. Keep in mind that this must be a really difficult corridor. A better labyrinth is the longer the better.

6. Defense tactics.

To skillfully defend yourself, you need to imagine how the enemy attacks. The enemy can attack in two formations.

The first formation is sausage. People are stretched out in a long column. Very bad formation. As a rule, it occurs when troops come running from afar or make their way through a gap in the wall. In such a formation, sabotage detachments of slaves resort. It is easy to shoot such a formation, but it is very difficult to attack it.

The second formation is a deployed front, an infantry chain. It appears after regrouping and does not last long, turning into a sausage during large transitions. This formation is very dangerous in battle, and here's why. If in a sausage only the beginning (5-6 people) enters the battle, then in a deployed front significantly more units enter the battle. Of course, a competent lord will place as many obstacles as possible in the enemy’s path to facilitate the formation of a sausage - a cheerful corridor, a wall in front of the castle. But the best thing is to dig two ditches. What do we see? The fact that attacking through a narrow bridge between the ditches is mortally dangerous. It is necessary to fill the front ditch and only then go, which is also a fire hazard. If the AI ​​is coming at you, don't worry, it will go straight through the isthmus of fire. A person will guess about the trap, but in order to dig a ditch under a hurricane of arrows (there should be a LOT of crossbowmen on the walls), when there is such a convenient passage nearby, you need to have a cold heart and reinforced nerves.

Well, the enemy has dug a ditch (I understand that few will even reach the ditch, but a professional should always be prepared) and will begin to force their way inside. The remedy is indicated above against siege towers; triple walls and ballistas on towers and pillboxes help against catapults. The trebuchet is usually surrounded by a lot of shields, but in order to reach the barbican, it must be located within range of the pillbox. Try to kill the engineers before they enter the tent - the trebuchet is static and building it miles away and then rolling it up will not work. Rams... It will be very difficult to break through a wall with battering rams, but the barbicans and towers need to be protected. Of course, the enemy can try to demolish the barbican manually, but there is something against him. But not every enemy will dare to lose a hundred swordsmen - what to attack with then? Assassins are dangerous things. It's a shame that you can't cut the rope they're climbing on. The solution is crossbowmen. Siege workers are destroyed even by archers. You also need to keep spearmen on the walls to push away the ladders. But let’s say the enemy broke through the wall.

There should be swordsmen or pikemen on the walls! With good defense, only spearmen (are you afraid of them?), infantrymen (but this is more difficult, they run and fight well), archers (the enemy is oligophrenic - sends archers into hand-to-hand combat) and assassins will climb the wall. Pikemen will be able to hold back the first onslaught while the breakthrough site is bombarded with your arrows, and your swordsmen in hand-to-hand combat can only be defeated if there is a huge number of attackers. This is where narrow walls come in handy: not many enemies will get through. But narrow walls are easier to break through...

Moreover, at the junction of the walls (for example, the detinets with external ones) you need to install a low wall (and no battlements, because units can easily get through it), and only then a high one, otherwise the enemy will be able to break through the walls inside, into the detinets, bypassing the courtyard, which is unacceptable! The enemy must be forced to go down inside - maybe he won’t go up any further. That's what it means - stepped defense!

The yard should be flooded with oil, and the walls of the detinets should be strewn with crossbowmen. Then the enemy finds himself in a stone bag with a flaming bottom. Of course, the entire infrastructure and industry will burn, but if you survive, then everything will be rebuilt quickly. And if you do not survive, then all this will automatically collapse at the moment of your death.

Of course, your people should not be in the courtyard: they should all be on the walls and barbicans.

So, the enemy is in the burning courtyard and he needs to attack the barbican again. If he just broke through - not against the walls, then that’s good, he’s being hit from above from all sides. He will be able to break into the detinets only by breaking through the wall. The besiegers will not survive for a minute, it is difficult to move a tower or ram inside (although this option must be provided for), and the assassins will be killed at close range. The enemy can wait until everything burns out, including the cauldron with oil (it can be placed in the child, but then it will take a very long time to get to it) and rush to the walls. This is where flamethrowers come in handy! They are of little use, they are expensive, but at such moments, independence from a boiler with oil is very valuable. This is truly a precious egg for Christ’s day. If you see that the enemy is about to break through the defense of the child, immediately retreat to the castle! Swordsmen, oilmen and flamethrowers - up, if there is room - crossbowmen too. But they can sit somewhere on the walls. Usually the enemy is already pissing with boiling water (it’s no joke - he killed so many people) and rushes straight towards the breakthrough, bypassing the walls. Rocker infantry can be blocked on walls by pikemen. They will hold them off while their crossbows fire arrows at the attackers.

You can only enter the castle from one side. Pour in the oil! Throw Greek fire! Don't give up! NO PASARAN!!!

THE ENEMY WILL NOT PASS!!!

7. Human factor.

It also happens: a porcupine builds terrifying barriers and pillboxes in front of the castle, and an opponent with jokes runs around from the side and climbs into the castle from the rear, where only five archers are hanging out in the watchtower. Surround the castle with a moat on all sides! Anti-tower fortifications, if you want to save money or not have to worry about it, can only be built in front and on the side in the direction that is dangerous for the tower, but the moat should go around the castle. If there is no ditch (you are on a hill), be prepared for the enemy to attack from the side. Archers and crossbowmen should be on all sides, blocking approaches from the flanks with strips of oil. Keep your melee fighters on the walls: when the courtyards are on fire, there should only be an enemy there. The walls can be defended for a long time, since a deployed front on the walls is unlikely. In general, if an AI is fighting against you, it will most likely launch a frontal attack. And be afraid of man from everywhere. Don't consider yourself smarter than everyone else, even if you are a guru. It is always better to assume that the enemy will hit the weakest point of the castle - this is how it is usually done. You can make a bait: a barbican in front of the castle, and not in the backyard, like Saladin. Most players will try to capture the barbican and will not run around the castle (the problem of attacking from the rear is solved), although few will break through the barbican - read the instructions for building sausages. Using the above feint, you can build a watchtower behind the castle and drive 30 crossbowmen onto it. Believe me, it will be very unpleasant for the enemy to make a mistake in the number of defenders of one direction or another.

Psychological pressure. To attack, you need composure; without it, an angry enemy (human, not AI) can go straight into the magic corridor. How to enrage an enemy? One of the most simple ways: near each group of archers place a barbecue, also known as a brazier. Burning arrows look very nice. If the enemy's armies are not visible due to smoky arrows, then the enemy can easily lose his composure. A smart enemy may not lose, he knows that only the arrows of archers burn, therefore, there is no need to be afraid for pikemen or swordsmen.

You can build a trebuchet in the castle and shoot cows at enemy units. Usually, while the enemy is digging a ditch, the rest stand under a hail of arrows. Remember, the enemy does not have two monitors (unless he is an AI or does not have an expensive “vic” - a Matrox Parelia video card with output for three monitors), therefore, while people are digging in the ditch and the enemy is looking there, “an elite squad of swordsmen for the final assault "can become noticeably brightened by the emanations of a cow carcass. The same is true for you, so watch your rear. There may be squads of assassins there.

You can also build a small courtyard next to the pillbox and place a trebuchet in it, that’s really cool. The trebuchet can only be destroyed by attacking the pillbox; the walls will protect it from all arrows. Maybe horse archers can take half the life out of a trebuchet, but you have someone at the pillbox itself, right? A trebuchet located in a pillbox, even if it doesn’t reach the enemy’s castle (if it does, it’s just a New Year’s gift), will be able to throw a couple of cows at suitable enemy troops. You know, infantrymen and archers run ahead of the entire army, and swordsmen walk like a slow sausage, so while the enemy is maneuvering and rebuilding troops, don’t get lost. Dots usually have a hard time in any case, so you have to die with music, as the punk said when he was captured by rappers.

If your pillbox SERIOUSLY angered the enemy, be prepared for a trebuchet to suddenly appear somewhere near the enemy castle and open hurricane fire on the pillbox. Typically, such trebuchets are designed as anti-particles and are reliably protected by shields. This means that your own own weapon: It’s unpleasant to see your dear pillbox under artillery fire, and the anti-pillbox trebuchet can only be destroyed with a trebuchet. A duel between two trebuchets... Asia, savages, but there is no other choice. The anti-abdominal foray you make can end extremely unexpectedly - go up a few pages and read the instructions for the pillbox (well said, right?).

Once, when I fought on the “Bloody Plains,” the closest to me was Saladin’s castle, which erects mangonels on its towers. So these mangonels opened fire on my towers! Destroying a mangonel tower is very difficult, but sitting at the computer and seeing some scoundrel killing my people and knocking 10 life out of the towers was very difficult. Yes, I erected three trebuchets and swept away the hated tower from the face of the earth (it took an incredibly long time to destroy the mangonel from the ballista), but Saladin built more and more towers and mangonels. AI does not give in to provocations, and a person will sooner or later start to get nervous.

8. Organize exercises with a computer on the maps “Union of Plains Blades”, “Last Frontier”, etc. The seven Richard Lionhearts as opponents will help you hone your skills and swords. For educational purposes, it’s good to join a team with the Wolf, Richard, and Saladin - watch and remember how they make their castles. In addition to the fact that this will be useful to you when storming their castles, you can use some of the details when building your own fortress. The wolf builds terrifying castles - the abundance of engineering defenses is amazing. Richard's fortresses are strong in men, while Saladin's are cramped and impenetrable. Boar and Caliph (they are approximately equal in power) build good castles, you can also learn from them.

Unfortunately, I am not strong in attack. Therefore, I will be very glad if someone writes a similar attack guide.