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Conqueror 1086 AD
Version/contact info:
Version 1.00: My first stab at a FAQ. Please submit
comments/questions/tips about this via email to
conqueror1086ad~gmail~com. Replace the ~ as appropriate.
Version 1.01-1.02: various edits
Version 2.00: First edit incorporating reader feedback and additions.
Thank you chaoyun2k and Simon-Pierre!
Known deficiencies - I plan on adding sections about:
- impact on Castle structures and raids
- courting Victoria
- army size translated into # of men in a castle raid
- tavern patron bios
Table of Contents:
I. Introduction & Installation
II. Creating Your Character
III. Home screen: the Tactical Room
IV. Village
V. Tournament
VI. Weapons & Armor
VII. Inside a Casgtle
VIII. Courting Walkthroughs
IX. Ending the Game
I. INTRODUCTION & INSTALLATION
This guide was a long time coming. Back in the mid-90’s, I had a modest
amount of money saved from four years of doing odd jobs for neighbors. I
had only ever played computer games that my father had brought home -
mostly compilations of shareware and relatively lousy games. Eventually,
my parents brought me to an electronics store and allowed me to buy a
game of my choosing. How could I not choose Conqueror 1086 AD, with the
giant Knight on the cover and the ultra-realistic graphics on the back?
The game was certainly expensive, priced at $55, but ended up being a
great investment. Having no experience playing any other game at about
the time of its actual release, it was my first chance to play a game at
the cusp of technology. Despite the various flaws of the game, it
provided hours and months and years of entertainment.
Of course, modern computers are far too fast to play this game without
emulation, so here is a brief synopsis of how I got the game to work on
my machine. This is largely a subjective exercise, so do your research
and you will be able to determine what works best for you.
First step was to download the game from one of the various Abandonware
websites out there. Next, you need a DOS emulator to play it. Being a
little rusty with the old command prompts, I chose to use D-Fend
Reloaded, a graphical interface for the DOSbox program. D-Fend Reloaded,
in my opinion, provides a simple interface for adjusting the various
settings available within DOSbox, giving you the best true-to-era
experience possible. The Profile Wizard guides you through setting up
the game to your chosen specifications; tinker with this until you find
the settings which match your interest. I would suggest using one of the
slower settings at first; otherwise, the game speed will go far too fast
to be playable (there is no “pause” button in the game).
Once you have the game installed, it’s time to create your conqueror and
play!
II. CREATING YOUR CHARACTER
Your character is initially measured across five metrics: Strength,
Dexterity, Piety, Stamina, and Honor. Each numerical value corresponds
to a qualitative description as well:
Strength
This attribute determines the health of your character and how much
damage their weapon strikes do in melee. This attribute rises quite
easily though melee battles in castle sieges.
0: Feeble
1-3: Runt
4-7: Weak(ly)
8-11: Average
12-15: Brawny
16-19: Mighty
20: Herculean
Dexterity
Uncertain what this attribute impacts, but it can be raised via
jousting.
0: (not possible)*
1-3: Unskilled
4-7: Clumsy
8-11: Adequate
12-15: Handy
16-19: Skilled
20: Expert
*lowest starting value is 2, and no dilemmas will lower it to 0
Piety
This attribute influences your ability to place a Church or
Monastery in your Village; below a certain level, you won’t be
allowed to. It also has some influence on the women you can court;
some of them don't like an overly pious man. One of the easier
attributes to raise, you can reach Saint quite quickly via
15-shilling donations to various churches.
0: Evil
1-3: Black-Hearted
4-7:Sordid
8-11: Amoral
12-15: Upright
16-19: Righteous
20: Saint
Stamina
Uncertain what this attribute impacts, but it can be raised via
jousting.
0: Exhausted
1-3: Weary
4-7: Dragging
8-11: Average
12-15: Athletic
16-19: Tireless
20: Dynamo
Honor
This attribute influences your ability to court women, and can be
raised by jousting to win the favor of ladies.
0: Blackguard
1-3: Despicable
4-7: Unprincipled
8-11: Decent
12-15: Gallant
16-19: Valiant
20: Chivalrous
You have the option of choosing from six pre-generated characters or
creating your own. Each of the six pre-generated characters have stats
related to their name, as follows:
Chaunce Norman
Strength: ??
Dexterity: ??
Piety: ??
Stamina: ??
Honor: ??
Wealth: ??
Ronald DeMille
Strength: 9
Dexterity: 8
Piety: 8
Stamina: 10
Honor: 10
Wealth: 490s
Hayward Tussle
Strength: 20
Dexterity: 20
Piety: 8
Stamina: 16
Honor: 10
Wealth: 740s
Spencer Goodman
Strength: 18
Dexterity: 16
Piety: 18
Stamina: 19
Honor: 20
Wealth: 1240s
Mordred Knatchbull
Strength: 18
Dexterity: 17
Piety: 0
Stamina: 15
Honor: 0
Wealth: 1240s
Simon Hakluyt
Strength: 7
Dexterity: 4
Piety: 4
Stamina: 7
Honor: 2
Wealth: 240s
Comments: It’s rather obvious how each character was designed, with the
exception of perhaps Chaunce Norman, whose stats are randomly generated.
Why not just make your own character to have random stats? The one
difference between this and Sir Chaunce is that his starting gold is
randomized as well, whereas you will always start with 240 shillings.
Also, beware: you may think Spencer Goodman is “easy” mode, which is true
to some extent, but some of the ladies at the joust have personalities
that make them less interested in one with his honor and piety stats. So
not every possibility in the game is open to a single individual
character.
As for choosing to create your own character... if you do, you will see
an initial value for each starting statistic, with the option to “reroll”
as many times as you like. Once you settle on a roll you like, you will
be given a series of six questions. The idea behind this is that your
roll represents you at 12 years of age, and the six questions represent
six dilemmas you face as you age to adulthood. Your decisions will
influence your stats, for better or worse, so be careful! Most responses
check against your current stats, so you’re likely to lose stats if you
opt to fight a bear while you’re a weakling, for example. If you gain
gold or items during this process, you will begin the game with them.
Whether or not you gained gold or items in the dilemmas, and whether you
make your own character or choose a pre-generated one, you will begin the
game with the following items: Knight’s Sword, Fighter’s Dagger, Gambeson
Armor, Tilting Shield, Footman’s Helm. You will also get a base of 240
shillings as a created character.
Thanks to a post on the Abandonia board for Conqueror (thanks Ceridien!),
here is an outline of the options and results for the dilemmas:
lord lying about income:
- option 1 (tell overlord)
not believed: piety +1
believed: piety +1, honor +1
- option 2 (blackmail lord)
piety -1, +20 shillings
- option 3 (say nothing)
no change
lord stealing money at mass:
- option 1 (tell priest)
not believed: piety +1
believed: piety +1
- option 2 (blackmail lord)
piety -1, +20 shillings
- option 3 (say nothing)
no change
delivering message (reading it):
- option 1 (confess)
full success: piety +1
partial success: no change
- option 2 (make up story)
no change
- option 3 (do not deliver message)
no change
lord taking out loan on fief:
- option 1 (tell overlord)
believed: piety +1, honor +1
not believed (partial success), piety +1
- option 2 (bribe overlord)
piety -1, +20 shillings
- option 3 (say nothing)
no change
buying helm:
- option 1 (buy helm)
caught by priest: piety -2
- option 2 (steal helm)
full success not caught: piety -1, +helm
partial success not caught: piety -2, +helm
- option 3 (save for it)
piety +1
finding magical ring:
- option 1 (keep it for yourself)
success: strength +1, piety -2, stamina +1, honor +1
failure: no change
- option 2 (maid)
success: -1 piety, honor +1
- option 3 (church exorcism)
piety +1
dishonest lord:
- option 1 (tell overlord)
piety +1
- option 2 (blackmail lord)
piety -1, +20 shillings
- option 3 (say nothing)
no change
dying swordsman:
- option 1 (return sword)
success: piety +1, stamina +1, honor +1, +dagger
failure: piety +1, stamina -1
- option 2 (take sword)
piety -1, honor -1
- option 3 (leave sword)
no change
forester stealing:
- option 1 (tell the king)
not believed (imprisoned): strength -1, stamina -1
- option 2 (tell the overlord)
not believed: no change
believed: piety +1, honor +1
- option 3 (say nothing)
no change
killing dragon (80s):
- option 1 (kill it)
killed: strength +1, piety +1, honor +1, +sword
partial failure: strength -1, piety+1, stamina-1
full failure: strength -3, piety +1, stamina -2
- option 2 (challenge rival)
can't get near lair: piety -2, honor -1,
accepted: piety -2,
- option 3 (decline invitation)
no change
killing dragon (60s):
- option 1 (tell the truth)
piety -1, honor +1, +60s
- option 2 (bribe)
caught: piety -2, honor -1
not caught: piety -1, +60s
- option 3 (remain silent)
partial success: piety +1
full success: piety +2, +30 shillings
yeoman daughter:
- option 1 (pretend)
piety +2
- option 2 (refuse for honor)
failure: no change
success: piety +2
- option 3 (enjoy)
piety -1
overlord farm:
- option 1 (move marker)
discovered: -1 piety
- option 2 (tell tenants)
failure: piety -1, stamina -1
- option 3 (refuse)
success: piety +1
overlord heresy:
- option 1 (defend)
hanged: piety +1/honor -1
released (partial success): piety +1
released (full success): piety +1, honor+1
- option 2 (testify)
no change
- option 3 (keep quiet)
no change
boar:
- option 1 (attack)
success: killed: strength +1, honor +1
failure: strength -1, stamina -1, honor +1
- option 2 (rope it)
success: dexterity +2, honor +2
failure: no change
- option 3 (run)
no change
bear:
- option 1 (fight)
scare away 1: piety +1
scare away 2: piety +1, honor +1
scare away 3: piety +2
fight (no witness): strength +1, piety +1, stamina, +1, honor +1
fight (witnessed): strenght +2, piety +1, stamina +1, honor +5
- option 2 (scare away)
success: piety +1, honor +1
- option 3 (cower)
no change
wolves:
- option 1 (dagger)
success: strength +1, piety +1, honor +2
failure (friend dies): dexterity +1, piety +1
- option 2 (bow)
dexterity +1, piety +1
- option 3 (run away)
no change
old woman selling ale:
- option 1 (report her to overlord)
no change
- option 2 (buy her beer)
failure: no change
success: piety +1, honor +1
- option 3 (blackmail her)
no change
hidden chalice:
- option 1 (keep chalice)
success: piety -2
failure: no change
- option 2 (sell the chalice)
piety -2, +10 shillings
- option 3 (return chalice to your overlord)
piety +1, honor +1
abandoned baby boy:
- option 1 (raise it)
baby dies:
farmers child:
count's child:
- option 2 (leave at church)
no change
- option 3 (leave it behind)
piety -1
lord steals from mass:
- option 1 (tell priest)
believed: piety +1
not believed: piety +1
- option 2 (extort lord)
piety -1, +20 shillings
- option 3 (do nothing)
no change
highway stranded man:
- option 1 (help)
attacked by party: strength +1, piety +1
return to village: piety +1, honor +1
- option 2 (leave him be)
no change
- option 3 (report to town)
no change
fox:
- option 1 (kill them)
dexterity +1
- option 2 (tell warden)
warden dies: no change
warden kills them: no change
- option 3 (leave alone)
piety +1
disguise as maid:
- option 1 (deliver disguised)
caught: no change
not caught: no change
- option 2 (deliver not disguised)
caught: no change
not caught: dexterity +1
- option 2 (turn down offer)
no change
captured lord:
- option 1 (free him)
success: strength +2, dexterity +1, piety +1, +dagger
success (wounded): strength -1, dexterity +1, piety +1
- option 2 (go back to sleep)
piety -1
- option 3 (tell authorities)
no change
poaching:
- option 1 (bribe priest)
piety -1
- option 2 (beg for mercy)
full success: strength +1, piety +1, stamina +1
mediocre success: piety +1, stamina +1
- option 3 (run away)
no change
III. HOME SCREEN: THE TACTICAL ROOM
Castle
This is the screen where you design your castle. Don’t worry if
your medieval castle design skills are a little rusty; there is
unfortunately no impact of your design on gameplay. When your
castle is attacked, you will be warped into it for a melee battle,
and the landscape of it will change depending on the structures
you’ve built in the Castle screen. But the actual placement of them
and design will have no impact.
Most immediately, you can use the Castle screen for a quick
Productivity boost. A Steward will add 10%, while a Beadle and a
Priest will each add 5%. By July 1, you will likely need to build a
Servant Room for them as well, else you will suffer a Productivity
penalty. You can safely wait until June to build this.
Farm
You have four options for planting food in March. All require 5
serfs per tile, so they can be evaluated for profit solely based on
their cost and revenue.
Below is a table showing: per-tile cost, per-tile return (at 50%
Productivity) for non-harvest months, per-tile return for harvest
month, total revenue for one year
Grain - 1 - 2 - 25 - 47
Beans - 1 - 2 - 25 - 47
Vegetables - 1 - 10 - 10 - 120
Fruit - 5 - 5 - 5 - 60
Planting food leads to population growth. But there is in fact no
difference in population growth between a tile of Grains, Beans,
Vegetables, or Fruit. Vegetables have the best return for their
cost, and Beans are needed for keeping Productivity up (you lose 15%
Productivity on July 1 if you don’t have enough Beans, and you need
25% of your food to be Beans in order to avoid this message).
Grains and Fruit supply less revenue than Vegetables, and have no
ancillary effects, so they can be ignored. Ideally then, you should
plan on only planting Beans and Vegetables in a ratio of 1 Beans for
every 3 Vegetables. Livestock, Horses, and a Granary have no impact
on population or Productivity either, so those can be ignored as
well.
How much food do you need to maximize population growth? It appears
that one tile of food per 100 population is needed to maximize
growth. Note that this “per 100 population” refers to the
population as it begins the next month. So if you have 1,200
population on March 31 and would grow to 1,284 on April 1, you’ll
need to have 13 food on April 1 in order to attain that growth.
Having merely 12 food tiles on April 1 will limit your growth.
The formula for population growth is difficult for me to pin down,
so rather than try to come up with an equation, I’ll post some
trials and their results. The column for “%requirements” is the
percentage of the requirement for maximum population growth (in this
case, 14 food and 14 houses), and the “%max” is the percentage of
maximum population growth attained. These results all assume 50%
Productivity.
StartingPop EndingPop Growth Houses Food %requirements %max
1200 1284 7% 14 14 100% 100%
1200 1272 6% 10 10 71% 85%
1200 1272 6% 7 7 50% 85%
1200 1260 5% 6 6 43% 72%
1200 1260 5% 5 5 36% 72%
1200 1248 4% 4 4 29% 57%
1200 1236 3% 3 3 21% 42%
1200 1212 1% 2 2 14% 14%
1200 1212 1% 1 1 7% 14%
1200 1180 -1.7% 0 0 0% -24%
One other factor impacting population growth is Tax rate. The game
defaults to 10% (you can see and adjust this in the Village screen,
which is where you can see your tax revenue coming in from the
various establishments in your town). The default value is quite
appropriate; it is the highest value at which full population growth
is maintained. At 0%, 5%, and 10% you will attain the growth
numbers detailed above. If your tax rate is above 10% - that is,
anywhere between 15% and 100% - you will lose about 7% of what was
expected from the formulas above.
Village
There are three key structures in the Village screen and the rest
serve only to provide a small amount of revenue. A Church and a
Monastery each provide an immediate 15% increase in Productivity.
Houses allow for higher population growth each month, which is
crucial to building more revenue generators and building an army.
You will also get a Productivity penalty on July 1 if your housing
is not sufficient to support your population (1 house per 100
population). The remainder of the town buildings are really just
decoration, providing minimal revenue.
Building one Church, one Monastery, and filling all remaining tiles
with houses, is probably the ideal powergaming strategy here, though
it makes for an ugly village when looking at this screen.
Forest
The Forest is your best source of income on an ongoing basis.
Despite what may be intuitive, Cutting Timber is actually far more
profitable than mining. Below is a table of each tile occupation
available in the Forest, along with it’s cost, revenue, and number
of Months needed to make back your initial investment at 50%
Productivity:
Type Cost Serfs Revenue Months50
Cut Timber 5 5 5 1
Iron Mine 400 10 15 27
Coal Mine 400 10 31 13
Gold Mine 400 10 36 12
Silver Mine 400 10 15 27
As you can see, you earn back your investment on Cutting Timber
after just one month - so every month thereafter is pure profit. I
do not know of any reason to invest in Iron, Coal, or Silver. Gold
Mines should be the only thing placed on available tiles.
The Woodward is a simple 5% boost to your Productivity by hiring
one. Hiring a Prospector does not appear to have any impact on the
revenue of your mines.
War Planning
Here is where you build your armies and send out spies. Spies
simply tell you the size of armies as they leave castles, and cost a
one-time fee of 80 shillings. Moderately useful, but I’d much
rather just put the money towards building armies so big I don’t
care about the size of my opponents’ armies.
Armies have both an upfront cost, and a monthly upkeep cost. Below
is a table of the costs of each army type at 50% Productivity and
100% Productivity:
Type Price50 Price100 Upkeep50 Upkeep100
Swordsmen 28 20 12 8
Halberdiers 23 15 8 5
Knights 32 24 16 10
In field battles, these units follow simple rules: Swordsmen beat
Halberdiers, Halberdiers beat Knights, and Knights beat Swordsmen.
It’s probably ideal to have a good mix of each and hope you can
outmaneuver your opponent and have your Halberdiers fighting their
Knights, etc. For castle siege invasions, you simply need an army
of any size attached to your character. Since Halberdiers are
cheapest, I tend to make an army of 1 Halberdier and connect it with
my character for invasions. Army size will dictate how many
soldiers you get inside for a castle invasion, but the soldiers in
such battles are really not helpful to you unless you’re a weakling
with poor armor and weaponry.
Map
Orders
Both the Map and Orders page show you the same thing they show you
from the primary play screen. Map shows the location of all of the
castles in England, and orders shows you a text description of where
the current tournament is, as well as any orders from your Overlord
or King William.
Overview
Main page
The main page of the Overview is pretty self-explanatory.
Fiefs refers to the number of castles you own, and Villages
refers to the number of villages (not necessarily forts or
castles) therein. In the top right, your attributes are shown,
though for some reason your Dexterity and Stamina is not
listed. Fame is also shown here; this is a metric that starts
at the minimum and rises as you overtake forts and castles.
Political
The Political screen details the individual forts and castles
you control, along with their population. Your initial fort is
listed last, and is the only one with a population that can
actually grow.
Economics
The Economics page shows your current wealth, and how much of
that came from conquest (i.e. bags and chests of gold in forts
you’ve sieged) and from tournaments (via wagers with other
lords over jousts and skirmishes). This page also has a
largely useless pictogram that attempts to show the revenue and
expense coming from each of the Farm, Village, Forest, and
Castle screens. In most games, you’ll see Farm, Village, and
Forest maxed out on the revenue side, and Castle will have a
small amount of expense on the other side.
Personal
The Personal screen will again show your age, wife, and
attributes (this time including Stamina and Dexterity). It
will also show “Lance Experience”, which rises as you joust,
though it seems to be capped at 20. Your “Sword Experience”
rises not only from fort and castle siege, but also skirmish
battles in the Tournament. There is no cap on this number.
Lastly, this screen also shows your possessions. This is
mostly your weaponry and armor that you’d see in battle
screens, but also includes various items you’ve obtained from
the ladies of the tournament (Medallion, etc).
Special Section: Productivity
Productivity is the most important metric in the screens available
from the Tactical Room. Productivity not only determines how much
revenue you get from your expenditures in Farm, Village, and Forest,
but it also serves as a multiplier for population growth. You begin
with 50% Productivity, but can easily attain 95% by the end of the
first month by doing the following:
Castle: add one Steward, one Beadle, and one Priest.
Village: add houses as needed, and one Monastery
Forest: add one Woodward
For some reason, doing the above steps in a different order often
results in only 90% Productivity.
You will need to take some additional steps to ensure your
productivity does not fall on July 1. You will need to ensure you
have enough housing for your population (1 house per 100
population), will need to have planted enough Beans to keep up soil
productivity, and will need a Servant Room in your Castle. No need
to pay for the servant room in the first month of the game (March);
wait until June so you don’t have to pay for it for extra months.
IV. VILLAGE
Inn/Tavern Patrons
Frederick de Mandeville
Gerrard
Hugh Bigod
Gilbert de Lacy
Ivo
Nellie
Otto
Richard de Lucy
Church
Donations
Donations increase your Piety score. I haven't yet worked out
if higher donations increase it at a faster rate, nor whether
you can just donate to the same church over and over to get all
the way to Saint, but suffice to say it won't take long to
attain this, even from the lowest Piety score, if you're so
inclined.
Blessings
I don't yet know if these actually have any effect on your
success in the joust, in battle, or in managing a fief, but I
doubt that it does.
Moneylender
You have the option to borrow money from the moneylender, which is
due with 50% interest when the harvest arrives (July 1). You can
borrow up to 200 shillings (thus you will owe 300). In general,
this is a very wise investment, since you can put that money to use
and earn far more than the 50% interest off of it. No starting
player can afford all of the investments he would ideally like to
make in the first month (even if you start with a pre-generated
character that has 1240 shillings), so in every game there is a way
to put the 200 shillings to use in the first month in a way that
earns you far more return than the 100 shilling interest you’ll end
up paying in a few months. If you manage to make yourself a
formidable melee fighter by July 1, you don’t need to pay back the
moneylender at all. He’ll send his thug after you, and you’ll fight
him in melee. He’s fairly easy to defeat if you’re well-armed by
this point.
Blacksmith
Here you can buy and sell various weapons and armors usable in
castle sieges. Three weapons (Kingslayer Sword, Bishop's Sword,
Mercenary Sword) are not able to be found in siege castles, so your
only opportunity to acquire them is from a blacksmith. The
remainder of weapons and armor are all either given to you at the
start of the game, or able to be found for free within one (or more)
castles you siege.
V. TOURNAMENT
Stands: Courting
Adela - You cannot romance her. Period.
Jane - Perhaps the easiest to romance. I’m not sure she has
any restrictions at all on who she will initially give
her colors to. Jane has a bit of a scary past - she
speaks of nightmares of fighting all around her.
Hmmm... wonder if these are repressed memories?
Anna Lisa - Daughter of Frederick de Mandeville. Won’t let you wear
her colors initially if you are highly pious and not
famous yet.
Victoria - Daughter of Wendessa. Won’t let you wear her colors if
you’re too pious.
Wendessa - Rich widow without access to her estate. Mother of
Victoria.
Valetta - Older woman with access to the mythical dragon-proof
armor.
Joust
You can joust up to three times per tournament. Before and after
each, be sure to visit a lady to chat and ask for her colors. You
can make a wager with your opponent, which is typically a value
between 20 and 80 shillings. I think the record of the opponent
does influence how hard it is to defeat them, but if you keep your
lance exactly where it begins in the joust, you will win every time
anyways.
Skirmish
You can only skirmish once per tournament, and there’s not much to
be gained from it. You’ll be able to wager against any one of five
opposing lords, and face them in a field battle, each of you having
about 8 soldiers accompanying you. The Skirmish has no effect on
courting ladies, though it does increase your Sword experience and
can earn you a few shillings.
VI. WEAPONS & ARMOR
Weapons
There is no way to truly measure the effectiveness of various
weapons without massive sample sizes of testing. As a shortcut, I
measured the size of each weapon on the Quick Reference Guide
(http://www.sierragamers.com/uploads/24082/the_games/
conqueror_quick_reference.pdf) in millimeters.
Below is a table of each weapon name, the length of bar on the Quick
Reference Guide (including the name itself), and the Buy price of
the weapon. Sell price of a weapon or armor is always 75% of the
Buy price:
Name mm. Buy Price
Kingslayer Sword 182 4000
Mercenary's Sword 174 2800
Bishop's Sword 171 3200
Thruster's Sword 143 1500
Armor-Ripping Sword 144 850
Defender's Sword 130 900
Knight's Sword 129 700
Irish Sword 131 500
Battle Sword 122 500
Danish Sword 113 450
General Sword 99 300
Heavy Crossbow 143 ---
Light Crossbow 130 ---
Spiked Mace 138 90
Flanged Mace 103 100
Battle Axe 122 300
Horseman's Axe 97 210
Saxon Axe 82 120
Basic Axe 81 122
War Hammer 101 100
Hammer 85 130
Stiletto Dagger 68 34
Thruster's Dagger 61 44
Fighter's Dagger 60 ---
Decorative Dagger 34 100
Armor
For armor, we have an additional metric available, which is the size
of the armor bar in skirmish and castle siege screens. I have
measured this in terms of pixels in the game window. The chart
below has each armor name, the length of the bar in the quick
reference guide (including the name itself), the number of pixels
it adds to your armor bar, and the Buy price:
Name mm. Pixels Buy Price
Full Plate 104 35 5000
Half Plate 89 30 3000
Quarter Plate 77 25 1600
Chain Hauberk 60 20 1800
Chain Tunic 46 15 1200
Leather 33 10 800
Gambeson* 25 5 400
Heraldic Shield 48 10 600
Norman Shield 40 10 200
Decorative Shield 35 5 300
Saxon Shield 28 5 120
Tilting Shield 24 -- 50
Great War Helm 45 15 300
War Helm 39 10 180
Norman Helm 33 5 120
Footman's Helm 29 -- 60
*Gambeson provides protection even with another armor equipped
For the most part with armor pieces, it looks like one pixel in the
armor bar equates to 3 millimeters on the reference guide. For
shields and helms, it doesn’t hold up as much. I’m inclined to
think that the armor bar in the game is most representative of the
actual algorithmic benefit of each armor piece, so I’d advise
evaluating the items by that number.
VII. Inside a Castle
If you choose to siege a castle in first-person, you will be immediately
transported inside of it with some number of support men whom you can
direct. You will always have at least one man accompanying you, but
more can appear if you have a very large army with you when you Attack.
The Radar Map is very helpful in this mode, showing you the layout of the
floor and potentially alerting you to treasures hiding behind secret
walls. To enter a secret room, simply press the space bar in front of
the wall as you would if it were a normal door.
Vases and barrels can have food in them. This replaces your health,
which you will almost always need during the course of a siege.
You can generally tell after a few sieges where the Champion of the
castle is. I try to avoid him until all other enemies are vanquished,
as killing them helps gain Strength and combat experience.
There are sometimes small bags of gold in these castles, but more gold
is gained by finding weapons and armor in the castle and selling it to a
blacksmith afterwards. Because you can only have one of any given item
at a time, it is wise to sell off all weapons and armor you don't need.
Though because all weapons have a chance to break when you use them, you
may want to keep a backup weapon just in case.
Two weapons can only be found in castles, never in blacksmith shops.
These are the Light Crossbow and the Heavy Crossbow. You can also only
find crossbow bolts in various castles. These weapons are most useful if
your character is early in their campaign and is relatively weak in
combat. The crossbows allow you to damage enemies from a distance, and
are especially useful for taking down Champions without suffering damage
yourself.
The most important thing to ensure in a castle attack is that your men
don't perish. If they do, you can still complete that castle attack, but
upon exit you will not have an army accompanying you any longer. So you
cannot move onto the next castle attack, but rather must create a new
army to join with you, which can take as much as a month depending on
your location.
Because it only requires a minimal army (1 halberdier), provides quite a
bit of gold via selling items, and very quickly becomes a walk in the
park as your character gains strength and skill, I tend to prefer castle
Attack as the primary way for which I grow in Conqueror.
VIII. COURTING WALKTHROUGHS
In the tables below, a "Win" is when you ask for the lady's colors, win a
joust with them, and return to her. A "Visit" is when you click on a
lady to speak with her and she has new text for you.
Note that you *can* attempt to romance multiple ladies at the same time.
In fact, this may be the only way to defeat the dragon, as multiple
dragon-fighting items come from multiple women.
Adela - You cannot romance her. Period.
Jane - I’m not sure she has any restrictions at all on who
she will initially give her colors to.
Win: medallion
Win: decorative dagger
Visit: hear a story about her feeling of dread upon seeing
Hugh Bigod. She mentions something about him having a
“special” lance.
Win: Defender’s Sword.
Win: Hammer.
Win: a nondescript Lance.
Visit Hugh Bigod in the Inn. He tries to get you away from
Jane by telling you Valetta has an interest in you.
You can push back and argue that he’s just trying to
get you off of the trail of his dragon-slaying lance.
If you say this, he’ll offer you a deal: get him a
proclamation and he’ll give you the lance in return.
Visit: Declare your love for her on your next meeting.
Win: Ask some questions about Hugh, the Pastons, etc., then
leave.
Visit: Joan, her nanny, will interrupt, and tell you the
truth about Hugh and give you the proclamation.
Visit: Agree to marry her, and Hugh will jump in and offer
you the dragon-slaying lance in exchange for you
breaking things off with Jane and giving him the
proclamation.
Anna Lisa - Won’t let you wear her colors initially if you are
highly pious and not famous yet.
Win: 5 shillings
Win: 10 shillings
Visit: you can simply listen to her rumors a bunch of times
and recite a bit of poetry to her. Then leave and
return to her and she’ll ask you to marry her. Agree
to do so, and she’ll tell you to ask her father’s
permission first. Go to the Inn and speak with
Frederick. He’ll tell you you’re too poor to marry
her, and will tell you the location of the dragon’s
lair (north Wales) so you can plunder the cave while
the dragon is gone (like he does) and earn enough to
marry Anna Lisa. Of course, no matter when you stop
by, the dragon is there...
Victoria - Won’t let you wear her colors if you’re too pious.
Win: nothing
Win: nothing
Win: Thruster's Dagger
Win: nothing
Win: Saxon Axe
Visit: Simon Le Grey is being quite...forward and possessive
towards Victoria and you have the option of defending
her honor in a duel, which you have to do to continue.
Visit: Poetry. (for the first time she will allow you to
court her)
Win: Dragon Stone
Visit: nothing
Visit: Victoria will ask if you wish to marry her.
If you don't do so at the next visit Victoria will grow
impatient and you must ask her to marry you to
continue. She will introduce Gilbert the Lacy, from
whom you need permission to get Victoria's dowry of
500,000 shillings. Of course, Gilbert will refuse to
let a penny go into dowry, if you want to marry
Victoria you have to accept that she's penniless.
Then after the vows, some Nigel come into play and
tells the story that it's really Victoria that killed
Hugh Miller and he's paid to keep her secret, but he
wants more and blackmails you. You have the option of
declining, confronting Victoria and paying him. I
confronted her and she admits the truth, she did it
because she didn't want to marry Simon Le Grey.
Then we get a few other options besides refusing to
pay and agreeing to pay him : we can threaten his life
if he says a word and also end your relationship with
Victoria. The latter option doesn't do anything, I
went with threatening Nigel. Then you have one last
chance of paying him, I didn't and so far nothing came
of it.
Wendessa -
Win: nothing
Visit: she will introduce you to Gilbert de Lacy, the
executor of her estate. Awkward.
Win: nothing
Win: Dragon Stone (non-functional item, but it is believed
that it helps - and may be required - to slay the
dragon)
Win: Knight’s Sword.
Visit: she tells you she made a bet with Gilbert and wants
you to win the next joust for a special prize.
Win: the Shield of St. George (special anti-dragon
shield... again, may be helpful, may be required, or
may be useless, towards killing the dragon)
Win: nothing
Visit: she tells you of her first marriage and gives you a
note from Gilbert. If you tell her you’re not scared
of him, she’ll ask you to marry her. If you agree to
marry her, Gilbert steps in and tells you that he’s
had a bit of an executor-with-benefits relationship
with her for a little while now, and reminds you that
you won’t get her money unless he approves of you. To
win his approval, he asks for the “Orchid of Wessex”
which is located in Okehampton (you must siege the
castle in first-person to find it). Alternatively,
you can blackmail him with the note Wendessa gave you.
Valetta -
Win: nothing
Win: nothing
Win: nothing
Win: nothing
Win: nothing
Visit: You can successfully marry her if you like. You can
also ask her about the dragon, and insist that you’re
going to challenge it. If you do, she’ll give you a
book to bring to the priest in the town of Ely in
Cambridgeshire (just north of Cambridge castle).
Giving the priest the book will net you the special
Dragon Slaying Armor (again, may be either required,
helpful, or useless, in killing the dragon).
IX. ENDING THE GAME
As mentioned when you begin, there are two paths the game pushes you
towards: slaying the dragon and usurping the crown. Since the game ends
when you accomplish either of these, you can’t do both. Note the game
will also end in March 1096 when you turn 30 years old.
Path of the Dragon
Courting ladies at the Tournaments, and chatter in the Inn, will
help you learn what you need to know to slay the dragon. It is
believed, but not confirmed, that you need the following things to
slay the dragon:
- high strength
- dragon-slaying armor
- Shield of St. George
- dragon stone
- dragon slaying lance
- knowledge of where the dragon resides
Strength is needed to wear the dragon-slaying armor (legend has it
that its last wearer perished due to insufficient strength - it’s
one heavy set of armor). You can obtain the armor by courting
Valetta and telling her you insist on attempting to slay the dragon.
You will obtain the dragon stone and the Shield of St. George by
courting either Victoria or her mother Wendessa. The dragon slaying
lance is obtainable through romance with Jane and the murderer of
her parents, Hugh Bigod. Finally, you can figure out where the
dragon resides by simply exploring the map, or by romancing Anna
Lisa and asking her father Frederick for permission to marry her.
Once all items and attributes are obtained, make your way to the
dragon’s lair. Upon entering it, you will cut to a first-person
joust scene. Simply lance the dragon in the eye as you approach to
attain victory.
Path of the Crown
In order to usurp the crown from William, you need to capture
London. All other villages and fiefs are technically not required,
though they do help you build population and thus army size to take
on William.
There are two ways to take over villages and fiefs: one is a castle
siege in which you and some men enter the castle and attempt to kill
all inside it, including the lord. The other is via field battle
with a large army. Since most field battles involves some losses,
you’ll constantly be needing to replenish your army. On the other
hand, a well-equipped character can siege a castle and kill everyone
inside without suffering any losses. Additionally, most villages
and fiefs have various weapons and armor in side, which can be sold
to the blacksmith for a substantial profit, or used to make future
sieges easier.
However, before we get to castle sieges, it’s generally a good idea
to make sure your home fief is operating smoothly. It will be your
biggest source of income over the course of the game.
Start off by pressing V for “Village”. Visit the moneylender and
borrow 200 shillings. Exit the village and press H for “Home” to
visit the Tactical Room. Click on the Castle and add a Steward,
Beadle, and Priest, for a quick jump to 70% Productivity.
Click on Village next, and add houses (I’d recommend 20 or so) and a
Monastery. Now click on the Forest and add a Woodward. You should
now be at 95% productivity.
Now go to the army screen and create an army of 1 Halberdier. You
only need one unit in an army in order to siege a castle, so we
choose Halberdier because it’s the cheapest.
Finally, go to the Farm screen and add as much food as you can.
You’ll want to add only Beans and Vegetables, in a precise 1:3
ratio, for optimal Productivity and Revenue.
Exit out of the tactical room and look at the map. Right click on
Army 1 to join your Knight with them.
The white dots on the map are villages that can be captured, while
the dots with flags are fiefs. Fiefs generally have standing armies
that will come out and put you in a field battle if you get too
close. Given that you only have 1 Halberdier, you will lose this
and your game will be over. So let’s start by attacking a village.
You can choose any village you like, but once you attack a village,
its lord will begin sending armies to siege your home village at
regular intervals.
Move your Knight and Army 1 together to the chosen village, and
press A for “Attack” when you get there. After a brief loading
screen, you’ll be in the castle or fort. You will have 1 soldier
with you (representing your Halberdier unit in your army). Try to
keep him alive, because if he dies you’ll simply be a Knight on the
world map, unable to siege more villages. You’ll have to create
another army unit and meet up with your Knight. So, while
protecting your soldier, go about exploring the castle/fort. Unless
your strength attribute is pitiful, you shouldn’t have much trouble
taking down enemies, taking the occasional damage and healing via
food and ale that you find.
The champion of the castle will be easily identifiable by his armor
and the plume in his helmet. I find the best way to fight these
guys is by hit-and-fade tactics. Even with the worst stats, you
can run up to them, take a swing with your sword, and move directly
backward before they can swing back at you. Do this enough and
eventually you will kill the champion and the village will be yours.
With this new village comes additional population, which can be used
immediately. First go to the blacksmith in the village and sell any
items you acquired that you don’t need. Then go to your Tactical
Room of your Home and, if it’s still March, add more Beans and
Vegetables to your Farm (most likely, serfs are the limiting factor
that made you stop before, not shillings).
Now repeat as desired with the next closest village. It’s best to
chart out a path on the roads, for two reasons. One, it takes less
time. And two, you’ll pass through other un-attackable villages on
the way. You can stop in them and make a donation if you want to
raise your piety, and also check for a few of the high-end weapons
that you’ll never find in a castle siege: Mercenary Sword, Bishop’s
Sword, and Kingslayer Sword.
As you continue to overtake villages, your strength will slowly grow
(as will your Sword Experience in your Overview screen; I have no
idea if this actually impacts any algorithms). After March 31, you
won’t be able to plant any more crops, so your best bet is to use
your new serfs to Cut Timber in the Forest. This is the next most
profitable way to spend your resources.
Eventually, you will want to attack and take over a Fief. These
have an extra defense in that as you approach with an army, they
will send out an army to meet you. 98 times out of 100, they will
intercept you before you can reach the Fief to siege it, so plan on
a Field Battle. This means that if it’s just your Knight and 1
Halberdier, it’s likely game over. You have three options then.
One is to bring at least one additional army and try to use
that first to lure their army out; you can then sneak in with
your Knight+Halberdier and siege. If you win the siege, all of
their armies are removed from the field when you exit, so your
decoy army is safe.
Two, if you have built up a nice population by this time, you
can put together a sizable army and put your Knight with that.
Then feel free to meet their army in the field before laying
siege, win the battle, and go on to siege the fief.
Finally, you can use the save+reload strategy. Armies tend to
appear on one side of a fief consistently; if you approach from
the other side, you should get the chance to use the Attack
command to siege it before you’re intercepted or a field battle.
Ultimately, you will be the only lord left in England, with all
villages and fiefs claimed except London. Build up the largest army
you can, and then simply follow the same strategy you used to
capture the other fiefs: lure out the King’s armies so you can jump
in for a siege, beat the king’s armies in field battle and siege at
your leisure, or try to find a corner of London you can siege before
the King’s armies get to you (very unlikely with London).
Inside the siege of London, you will find a massive castle to siege,
along with the most enemies you’ve ever faced in a siege. William
will be in a throne room by himself, and at this point should not
pose much of a threat to your fully-armored, high-strength knight.
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