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Stronghold - Crusader
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Guide made by: Richard Wise
"Greetings sire, the desert awaits you."
=============
Latest update
=============
Latest update: 5/9/04
What was added:
Ok I have a new email address. All questions and stuff must now be sent to:
tardogs_faqs@hotmail.com
I will answer them ASAP. tardo316@hotmail.com will no longer answer questions.
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=================
Table of contents
=================
1. Introduction
2. What you can find here
3. Tips
4. Defence tips and hints
5. Attack tips and hints
6. Unit guide
A. European units
1. Archers
2. Crossbowmen
3. Spearmen
4. Pikemen
5. Mace men
6. Swordsmen
7. Knights
8. Tunnelers
9. Ladder men
10. Engineers
11. Black monk
B. Arabian units
1. Arabian bows
2. Slaves
3. Slingers
4. Assassins
5. Horse archers
6. Arabian swordsmen
7. Fire throwers
C. Siege equipment
1. Portable shield
2. Battering ram
3. Siege tower
4. Catapult
5. Trebuchet
6. Fire ballista
D. Castle units
1. Lord
2. Lady
3. Jester
4. Woodcutter
5. Hunter
6. Farmer
7. Peasant
8. Children
9. Mother and baby
10. Stone mason
11. Iron miner
12. Pitch digger
13. Mill boy
14. Baker
15. Brewer
16. Innkeeper
17. Drunkard
18. Fletcher
19. Armourer
20. Blacksmith
21. Poleturner
22. Tanner
23. Priest
24. Healer
25. Market trader
7. Resources
A. Building resources
1. Wheat
2. Flour
3. Hops
4. Ale
5. Stone
6. Iron
7. Wood
8. Pitch
B. Food resources
1. Meat
2. Apples
3. Cheese
4. Bread
8. Food and weapon chains
A. Food chain
B. Weapon chain
9. Who to thank!
10. Bye!
11. Copyrighted!
============
Introduction
============
Hello all and welcome to my general guide for Stronghold: Crusader. Before I
start I'd like to say one thing. This does NOT
have a strategy for the missions, it's a strategic game. Any suggestions,
compliments, complaints, or questions email me at:
tardo316@hotmail.com I have MSN
Or
tardounderdog@yahoo.com
Thanks!
======================
What you can find here
======================
Here you can find a variety of things. You will find just the general stuff
for Crusader If you want your stuff here then
email me. Thanks.
====
Tips
====
In Stronghold: Crusader there is many ways to flourish, or fall. Here are a
few tips on how to flourish and succeed rather than fall.
Pitch is not your friend, in fact it can become a nightmare if set off
accidentally. Make sure you have your troops either on
walls or a good distance away from pitch ditches as it can spread quite
quickly
The "Bring them to their knees" attack failed? Have a second army, a bit
smaller than your attack force and put them on "Code
red". If you hit the enemy to hard than a counter attack will take place.
Believe me, counter attacks can hit you hard if you
are not prepared.
If you see a siege tower moving near your base, get it down immediately. Do
not underestimate these machines. I once let one
go past my outposts and by the time I found it, the enemy had taken the
outer, second outer walls and four courtyards. Make
sure you have an "anti siege machine" group on constant standby.
Forging weapons and armour takes time. Build ten of each weapon building hut.
With the weapons, assign five of each to make
one type of weapon, assign the other five to make the other kind of weapon. I
usually have ten of each weapon being made at
once so every Armoury visit I get a fair bit of weapons
The Arabian troops seem stronger than the European. I myself use MORE
Arabians than Europeans! Use the Arabians if you need
men in a hurry. They cost a fair bit which is the down-side.
Defence tips and hints
1. Most importantly, NEVER have a base without walls. If you don't, than your
base and people are high at risk from archers
and swordsmen. Make this the first defence building you do!
2. Gatehouses can be captured, have a guard constantly on it. I have five
Arab archers with a brazier and five swordsmen. If
assassins got past the arrows, than the swordsmen would smash them off
3. Don't rely on your outposts much. Too much defending can cut the outposts
down. Make sure you keep the outposts powerful constantly.
=====================
Attack hints and tips
=====================
1. Never strike with a small army and no archers. Do not even think of
attacking anyone (excluding rat) with just 50
swordsmen. Have at least 100 archers to bombard enemy positions while a
battering ram takes the walls down. Once the wall is
breached, charge your men forward to kill the king!
2. When you attack Wolf or Richard Lion Heart, almost always they respond
with a counter attack. While your forces are off
fighting, they may pull some forces off their base and into yours! Make sure
you have a good number of troops inside your
base, ready to defend your king.
3. NEVER use spearmen as your primary attack. They have no armour and can
fall very easily. Only use these men as defence
men.
4. Distance is no problem with trebuchets. If you plant ten trebuchets a fair
distance away then they can inflict massive
damage upon the enemy walls.
==========
Unit guide
==========
Stronghold: Crusader has heaps of units to help you in your conquest, here's
a
general guide about them and how to train them!
..: European units:..
The European units are slightly better than their Arabian counterparts but
require more to build.
Archers
Briefing: These are your standard long-rang troops. Their lack of armour
makes them one of the quickest units in the game but
in hand-hand-to-hand combat, these are virtually useless. They have a long
firing range and are very effective against units
that don't wear metal armour.
Attack rating: LOW
Defence rating: LOW
Speed: FAST
Weapon: BOW
Armour: N/A
Can the unit climb ladders? YES
Can the unit dig moats? YES
Crossbowmen
Briefing: These units are slow to move and reload and have a shorter range
than archers. They are however very accurate and
their deadly bolts can easily penetrate metal armour.
Attack rating: LOW
Defence rating: MEDIUM
Speed: SLOW
Weapon: CROSSBOW
Armour: LEATHER
Can the unit climb ladders? NO
Can the unit dig moats? NO
Spearmen
Briefing: These are the first melee troops you have access to and the
cheapest to produce. Having no armour makes them
quicker than most troops and they prove useful for pushing ladders off of
walls and digging moats. They are also one of the
few units able to use ladders to scale walls.
Attack rating: MEDIUM
Defence rating: VERY LOW
Speed: AVERAGE
Weapon: SPEAR
Armour: N/A
Can the unit climb ladders? YES
Can the unit dig moats? YES
Pikemen
Briefing: Their heavy pike and metal armour make pikemen slow to move but
also make them the ultimate defensive unit. They
are able to take a lot of damage and are ideal for blocking access to certain
areas of your castle.
Attack rating: MEDIUM
Defence rating: HIGH
Speed: SLOW
Weapon: PIKE
Armour: METAL
Can the unit climb ladders? NO
Can the unit dig moats? YES
Mace men
Briefing: These thuggish brutes are quick and deal out a lot of damage,
making them the ideal assault troops. They are not
heavily armoured and, like spearmen, they can use ladders to scale walls.
Attack rating: HIGH
Defence rating: MEDIUM
Speed: AVERAGE
Weapon: MACE
Armour: LEATHER
Can the unit climb ladders? YES
Can the unit dig moats? YES
Swordsmen
Briefing: These are the elite foot soldiers. Their heavy armour makes them
the slowest unit in the game but once they reach
their targets, they prove devastating. They have both great attack and
defensive capabilities.
Attack rating: VERY HIGH
Defence rating: VERY HIGH
Speed: EXTREMELY SLOW
Weapon: SWORD
Armour: METAL
Can the unit climb ladders? NO
Can the unit dig moats? NO
Knight
Briefing: The ultimate trained soldier, knights are both fast and deadly in
combat. They are also especially useful for
surprise attacks. The knights are useful to destroy siege equipment. Each
knight requires 1 horse from your stables.
Attack rating: VERY HIGH
Defence rating: HIGH
Speed: VERY FAST
Weapon: SWORD
Armour: METAL& HORSE
Can the unit climb ladders? NO
Can the unit dig moats? NO
Tunneler
Briefing: These units can burrow beneath the foundations of enemy walls and
turrets, causing them to collapse. They are
trained (for a cost of gold) at the tunneler's guild.
Attack rating: MEDIUM
Defence rating: VERY LOW
Speed: FAST
Weapon: PICK AXE
Armour: N/A
Can the unit climb ladders? NO
Can the unit dig moats? NO
Ladder men
Briefing: If you can't bring down a wall, then you can go over them with
ladder men! They are cheap to produce and quick but
are vulnerable so they need to be deployed quickly.
Attack rating: N/A
Defence rating: VERY LOW
Speed: FAST
Weapon: N/A
Armour: N/A
Can the unit climb ladders? NO
Can the unit dig moats? NO
Engineer
Briefing: These are perhaps the most versatile and useful unit in the game.
They are required to build and man all of your
siege equipment in and out of the castle. They also can build moats. You can
train these from the engineer's guild.
Attack rating: N/A
Defence rating: VERY LOW
Speed: AVERAGE
Weapon: N/A
Armour: N/A
Can the unit climb ladders? NO
Can the unit dig moats? YES
Black monk
Briefing: These are mysterious units to say the least. They are slow and
cumbersome and fight with a quarterstaff. These can
be trained in the cathedral.
Attack rating: MEDIUM
Defence rating: MEDIUM
Speed: SLOW
Weapon: STAFF
Armour: N/A
Can the unit climb ladders? NO
Can the unit dig moats? NO
Arabian units
These mercenaries can be found at the mercenary post. They don't require
weapons to train but cost a lot more gold.
Arabian bows
Briefing: These units are similar to their European counterparts and are
relatively cheap to hire.
Attack rating: LOW
Defence rating: LOW
Speed: FAST
Weapon: BOW
Armour: N/A
Can the unit climb ladders? NO
Can the unit dig moats? NO
Slaves
Briefing: These are the cheapest units in the game. They are armed with a
flaming torch and if they get through your defences
they can reduce your castle to a smouldering heap of rubble.
Attack rating: EXTREMELY LOW
Defence rating: EXTREMELY LOW
Speed: FAST
Weapon: TORCH
Armour: N/A
Can the unit climb ladders? NO
Can the unit dig moats? YES
Slingers
Briefing: These units fire small rocks at their attackers and deal out some
hefty damage but they only have a short range.
Attack rating: LOW
Defence rating: VERY LOW
Speed: FAST
Weapon: SLING
Armour: N/A
Can the unit climb ladders? NO
Can the unit dig moats? NO
Assassins
Briefing: These useful units can use a grappling hook to climb up enemy walls
and are especially useful for capturing enemy
gatehouses.
Attack rating: MEDIUM
Defence rating: AVERAGE
Speed: AVERAGE
Weapon: SCIMITAR
Armour: N/A
Can the unit climb ladders? NO
Can the unit dig moats? NO
Horse archers
Briefing: These fast moving mounted archers are a major thorn in the
European's side. Their ability to fire while on the move
allows them to run circles around the opposition.
Attack rating: LOW
Defence rating: AVERAGE
Speed: VERY FAST
Weapon: BOW
Armour: HORSE
Can the unit climb ladders? NO
Can the unit dig moats? NO
Arabian swordsmen
Briefing: Not as well armoured as their European counterparts but are a
little quicker.
Attack rating: HIGH
Defence rating: HIGH
Speed: VERY SLOW
Weapon: SCIMITAR
Armour: METAL
Can the unit climb ladders? NO
Can the unit dig moats? NO
Fire throwers
Briefing: These throw fiery grenades of Greek fire at the enemy and are
devastating to both building and troops.
Attack rating: HIGH
Defence rating: LOW
Speed: VERY SLOW
Weapon: GREEK FIRE
Armour: N/A
Can the unit climb ladders? NO
Can the unit dig moats? NO
Siege equipment
Siege equipment can be either devastating or useless. The portable shields
are hard to use but can prove useful. Others like
the trebuchets can be DEVASTATING. Here's a bit about them.
Portable shield
Briefing: These are good for protecting your infantry from volleys of arrows
and bolts but are very weak against infantry
attacks. Each shield requires 1 siege engineer to man it before it becomes
operational.
Battering ram
Briefing: Battering rams are slow but can take a lot of damage and prove a
superior weapon for bringing down gatehouses. They
are also effective against castle walls and towers when they manage to reach
them. Each battering ram requires 4 siege
engineers to man before they become operational.
Siege tower
Briefing: When in position, these gigantic mobile constructs will give all of
your troop's quick access to the top of enemy
walls. To use a siege tower, select it and then select an enemy wall. Once it
is close enough, the tower will dock and a
gangplank will drop onto the wall. Once the gangplank is in place, units will
be able to climb up through the siege tower and
onto enemy walls. Each siege towers requires 4 siege engineers to man before
they become operational.
Catapult
Briefing: These siege machines allow you to demolish enemy structures from a
distance. Catapults are fairly mobile, fairly
accurate, have a medium range and do a medium amount of damage. They fire a
low trajectory so they are good for precision
attacks to take out enemy structures. Catapults can also fire diseased cattle
into an enemy castle to spread the plague. To
do this, select the fire cow button from the catapult menu, then select a
target. Each catapult requires 2 siege engineers to
man before they become operational.
Trebuchet
Briefing: Trebuchets are awesome siege machines for knocking down castle
structures. They are huge machines and once built,
stay in a fixed position. They lack the accuracy of catapults but have a very
long range and do a large amount of damage when
they hit enemy structures. Trebuchets fire with a high arc so they are ideal
for firing over castle walls. You can also fire
cattle into enemy castles as well. Each Trebuchet requires 3 siege engineers
before they become operational.
Fire ballista
Briefing: The Arabian fire ballista is similar to the European fixed
ballista, but is mobile. They are exceptionally accurate
and superb against enemy units, taking many of them out in a single shot. The
flaming javelins they fire can also be
devastating to the enemy's buildings but do no damage against defensive
structures.
============
Castle units
============
In Stronghold: Crusader, there are a number of units that your cannot control
that appear at your castle. Here's a bit aobut
each of them. Oh, you can move the lord in a single skirmish.
Lord
His lordship is the most important character in the game. He is an absolutely
deadly fighter as well as the master of all the
surveys. Should he fall in combat the game will be lost.
Lady
Although she has the good of the castle at heart, she can come across as a
little bossy. She used to live in a luxurious
manor house with her father adn now complains about the conditions she is
forced to live in.
Jester
The jester runs around your castle teasing people while doing acrobatics.
Woodcutters
They cut down trees and enjoy showing off their bulging muscles to passers by.
Hunter
These kill deer for food, taking meat to your granary. They are rough folks
and have a strong appreciation for fine ale.
Farmers
These lowly citizens tend to your various crops grown on the farmland around
the oasis. They enjoy grumbling about their poor
treatment and have a dislike for town folk.
Peasants
They spend their days sitting around the fire and hope to be given work.
Children
These little scamps run around causing mischief all day.
Mother and baby
These appear when a hovel is placed. They will be seen running to their hovel
when enemies appear at the castle.
Stone mason
They work in the quarry cutting and carving stone.
Iron miner
They work long hours underground, smeltering and delivering iron.
Pitch digger
These people extract pitch from the surrounding mashland. Working in this
environment has an effect on their sense of smell
and have a hygene problem.
Mill boys
These lads rush wheat to your mill, hastily grind it up and then quickly
deliver the flour.
Baker
He bakes bread for your people. The baker comes across as a happy gentlemen
and is the centre of much castle gossip.
Brewer
She brews ale for your inns. The brewer has a problem focusing and walking
straight.
Innkeeper
He distributes ale among your workers.
Drunkard
These wobbly individuals only stop walking around to drink some more ale.
Fletcher
He crafts bows and crossbows for your troops.
Armourer
He crafts metal for your soldiers and is a military veteran with a tale for
the children
Blacksmith
He forges swords and maces for your troops. He is usually a quiet and
reserved gentleman.
Poleturner
He turns spears and pikes for your troops. He is in fact the wisest character
in the game.
Tanner
She is a strong willed women and has no problem making leather armour for
your troops.
Priest
They spread joy by carrying out blessings and weddings. Due to their strict
order, priests are not allowed a sense of humour.
Healer
He clears up any clouds of disease, which float around your castle. He
sometimes disappears for days on end.
Market trader
He will arrive when a market place is built. The trader is a quick talker and
is always ready to negotiate the fairest and
best deal for himself.
Those are all the units. Finally!
=========
Resources
=========
There are many resources for you to gather in crusader, here's just a bit
about them all.
Building resources
There are a number of resources you need to build your econemy and base in
stronghold: Crusader, here's a bit about them all.
Wheat
This grows on your wheat farms and is the start of the most productive food
chain in the game. Wheat is required to make
flour and can only be build on an oasis.
Flour
This is produced at the mill and requires heat. Flour is required to bake
bread.
Hops
These grow on your hop farms. If you want to brew ale, you will first need to
grow hops, which can only be placed on an
oasis.
Ale
This is produced at the brewery and requires a supply of hops. When ale is
finally distributed at your inns, you will gain a bonus to your popularity!
Stone
Stone is cut from the quarry and delivered by oxens. Stone is required to
build most of your castle defensive structures.
Iron
The mines, which extract this, must be placed on the redish colour rocks
found on top of hills. You will need iron to forge
swords, maces and metal armour.
Wood
This is the basic of resources and is required to build most buildings. Wood
is also used to make bows, crossbows, spears,
and pikes.
Pitch
You fill find this bubbling up through marshes. Once you have placed a pitch
rig on some oil in the marsh, pitch diggers will
extract pitch. Pitch is used for boiling oil and pitch ditches.
Food resources
No castle will flourish with no food! There are 4 types of food you can get
for your castle. Here they are!
Meat
Hunters will gather this for you when a hunters hut is placed. This is quick
to get working and can generate quite a bit of
food. However, overhunting can make meat an unreliable food source.
Apples
These are grown in your orchards, which must be placed on an oasis. These are
quick to get working but require a large area
of land for each orchard. Apple production proves to be more reliable than
meat and much more productive than cheese.
Cheese
This is produced in your dairy farms that must be placed on an oasis. Dairy
farming is slow to get going. Only three cows
have been raised in your dairy farm . Once up and running, dairy farming is
little more effective than hunting.
Bread
This is made in the bakery and requires a supply of wheat. The food chain
leading up to bread requires more time and
resources but when your wheat farms, mills and bakeries are all in place, it
proves the most efficent food source in the
game.
Food and weapon chains
It requires a food chain to get food for your castle. It requires a weapons
chain to get weapons for your castle. Here's how
the chains work.
Food chain
The food chain is the most complex chain out of the two.
HUNTERS HUT-- MEAT-- GRANARY
DAIRY FARM-- CHEESE-- GRANARY
ORCHARD-- APPLES-- GRANARY
WHEAT FARM-- WHEAT-- MILL-- FLOUR-- BAKERY-- BREAD-- GRANARY
HOPS FARM-- HOPS-- BREWERY-- ALE-- INN
Weapons chain
The weapons chain is a fiarly simple chain.
DAIRY FARM-- COW-- TANNER-- LEATHER ARMOUR-- ARMOURY
IRON MINE== IRON-- BLACKSMITH-- MACE-- ARMOURY
IRON MINE== IRON-- BLACKSMITH-- SWORD-- ARMOURY
IRON MINE== IRON-- BLACKSMITH-- METAL ARMOUR- ARMOURY
WOODCUTTER'S HUT-- WOOD- FLETCHER-- BOW-- ARMOURY
WOODCUTTER'S HUT-- WOOD- FLETCHER-- CROSSBOW-- ARMOURY
WOODCUTTER'S HUT-- WOOD- POLETURNER-- SPEAR-- ARMOURY
WOODCUTTER'S HUT-- WOOD- POLETURNER-- PIKE-- ARMOURY
=============
Who to thank!
=============
I'd like to thank the following people:
CjayC, for posting the FAQ on gameFAQS.
YuGiOhFm2002 for the Stronghold: Crusader logo.
RaistlinMagius for recommending the ASCII generator (email me for the
address, it seriously rocks)
and you for reading it!
Bye
Bye!Peace out! hope you enjoyed the guide!
signed,
tardounderdog
(Richard Wise)
..: Copyrighted!:..
This document is fully protected by law. No one can use it without my
permission!
Guide end
"Swordsmen! Attack!"
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