Stronghold Crusader

 

Game Trailer:


Game Story:

Campaigns

Stronghold Crusader features several real-time strategy campaign strings. These document the First, Second and Third Crusade, as well as conflicts within the individual Crusader states. Each campaign comprises several battles, such as Nicaea, Heraclea, siege of Antioch, Krak des Chevaliers and the Siege of Jerusalem. The game also features the Crusader Trail, a series of 50 linked missions against various opponents. Stronghold Warchest adds one more Crusader Trail, consisting of 30 linked missions.

Game play

The gameplay is similar to the original Stronghold, the major difference being that the game is set in the Middle East. As a consequence, farms can only be built on oasis grass, which leads to rivalry among players for limited farmland and resources. The game adds new AI opponents (the number depending on the version of the game) and several new Arabian units purchasable from a mercenary post. The colour of the player's units have also been changed from blue to red in order to match the colours of the Knights Templar.

Characters

The game contains several different characters, available to be selected as allies and enemies. The opponents from the original game make a return, as well as new Arabian lords and crusaders being available.

• The Rat (Duc de Puce): The Rat was raised as an only child in lands belonging to the de Puce family. The duke showed his mother favour ensuring that she never paid taxes and always had enough to get by. One day a messenger came by and it was revealed that his father was the same Duc de Puce whom his mother had once worked for as a serving wench. Due to an unfortunate accident the entire de Puce family had been lost at sea whilst returning from holiday leaving the Rat as next in line to inherit the title of Duke. As an attacking opponent,the Rat is the weakest opponent, attacking only with poorly armoured spearmen with no siege weapons and only a few archers. Defensively, the Rat is the second easiest castle to besiege after the Sultan's castle. The Rat's economy tends to be relatively stable and reliable, certainly more so than the non-farming Sultan.

• The Snake (Duc Beauregard): The Snake was once governor of some of the richest provinces in the homeland where he made an extremely fruitful living from underdeclaring the taxes he collected but, when the king found out, he had him posted here to the 'new colonies'. During one of his first military encounters, he went up against the Lord’s father losing an eye to him in combat. On that day the Snake swore he would not rest until the decapitated heads of your entire family were lined up on spikes outside his keep. The Snake's attacking forces are easy to kill off if a castle has adequate missile troops but the archers can prove a nuisance in the large numbers which are deployed by him. The slave raids outside of the main attacks, can like the Caliph's destroy some opponents buildings, although the Snake doesn't deploy as many slaves as the Caliph. Defensively, the Snake has a moat around his castle and lots of archers on his towers but no ballistae or mangonels so has an average defensive capability.

• The Pig (Duc Truffe): When the Pig was born it is rumoured he looked so hideous that his parents abandoned him in the street. Whatever the case, it is known that he was taken in by a group of traveling bandits who raided small towns and villages throughout the homeland. Whilst growing up with this small army of rogues he was vastly underfed; however, after developing a crude but effective understanding of basic military tactics and being nominated as their leader, the Pig made sure that he had first call on the best foods after each raid and has overeaten ever since. He is quite tough, and won't go down without a fight. As an attacking force, the Pig's macemen are very fast, and can manage to cause some damage to the walls and destroy several out-buildings of even the most well defended opponent. Defensively, there are large numbers of crossbowmen but no siege weapons and only one layer of low walls around the fortress. His macemen swarm if the wall is breached and can easily surround and kill attacking opponents' overeager men.

• The Wolf (Duc Volpe): The Wolf's past is shrouded in mystery and what is known of his history is mainly patched together from stories and unreliable rumours alone. This aside, it is believed that both his parents died from natural causes in close succession shortly after his eighteenth birthday. Both attacking and defending the Wolf is capable with flammable pitch around his fortress, mangonels, fire ballistae and crossbowmen defending his fortress and increasingly large numbers of swordsmen and pikemen in attack.

• Richard the Lionheart: The Lionheart has a reasonable grasp of the region's economy for a soldier, but it is in the field of battle where he is in his element. Brave and fearless, his ability to siege a castle is second to none. However defensively, despite having mangonels , archers and ballistae the Lionheart is vulnerable to fire because of the thin walls and not always enough archers on the towers to repel slave and fire ballista attacks. Enemies of the Lionheart do have to be aware of the presence of boiling oil at his fortress.

• Saladin: More than any other Lord, Saladin dominates the desert economy. He will be in no great rush to lead his forces out into the field, but when he strikes, it will be from a position of power. Good defensively, perhaps not as good as the Wolf, but in attack his horse archers can easily neutralise the threat from a defending opponents manned towers. However, unless there is a large force deployed towards the end of the game there will usually not be enough swordsmen and assassins to trouble a well defended enemy.

• The Caliph: Cruel and vindictive, the Caliph is skilled at bringing misery to both his own people and to yours. If he can get his tyrannical act together, his underhand methods of fighting will prove a constant thorn in your side. Periodic slave raids and lots of horse archers in his (relatively rare) attacks, the Caliph is likely to start a few fires at least in his opponents' buildings. Defensively, despite having no ballistae or mangonels on towers, enemies still have to be careful of burning pitch, flamethrowers and boiling oil.

• The Sultan: The Sultan is more...say...a poet, than a warrior, preferring feasting to the humdrum matters of running his own castle. In short not the sharpest sword in the desert. His people love him, however, and his soldiers will fight well to defend him. The worst opponent defensively, with his slingers being easily attacked by archers and with no ballistae or mangonels on his walls. However with large forces attacking, rare as that is with the Sultan, there can be large numbers of swordsmen that may prove a threat to opponents that do not train crossbowmen. The Sultan has a shaky economy because he does not grow food, takes a long time to build his castle and relies heavily on stone once all the trees have been felled as the main source of income.

The following characters only appear in Stronghold Warchest (though the first three are downloadable from the main site)

• Philip II of France: King Phillip seeks glory and prestige from his desert adventure. His reckless insistence on the use of his knights as his main fighting force is more often than not, his undoing.

• Emperor Frederick: Emperor Frederick is perhaps the best all-round strategist in the desert. There are few weaknesses in his armour and left alone he will over time become a mighty force.

• The Sheriff: The Sheriff is the cruelest lord in the land and easily the most underhand. He will use Arab or Crusader alike, along with every dirty castle defense he can lay his hands on, to further his own self-interest.

• The Nizar: The Nizar may catch his enemies by surprise if caught unprepared for his swift and silent tactics. His island like castles are only effective on low ground and can be tricky to attack.

• The Wazir: The Wazir is a mean spirited leader with a fiery temper. His persistent use of horse archers make him an annoyance, although his siege technique leaves a lot to be desired.

• The Emir: The Emir is a kind hearted and easy going Arabian leader. A good all rounder who manages his economy effectively as well as his attack tactics...which he does...in force!

• The Abbot: The Abbot considers himself entrusted with the defense of his faith. His vindictive monks will continually amass in vast numbers to pull down the walls of their enemies.

• The Marshal (Sir Longarm from the original Stronghold): This retired fighter tends to play things a little more cautiously than he once did. The sight of his knights sallying forth from his castle is still a warning to anyone however.

 Processor: 300 MHz or faster
Operating System: 32-bit
RAM: 64 MB or more
video Card: 4 MB or more video memory 

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