____________ ___ _____ ___ ___ _ _ ___ _ _ ___ _ ___ / | | \ / __|_ _| _ \/ _ \| \| |/ __| || |/ _ \| | | \ (_) / _|__|__ \ \__ \ | | | / (_) | .` | (_ | __ | (_) | |__| |) | _ / / ____ | \|___/ |_| |_|_\\___/|_|\_|\___|_||_|\___/|____|___/ (_) |----/ /|--||_|----| _____ _ _ _____ _____ ______ _____ |----| ||--|-------|| _ \| | | |/ ____| /\ | __ \| ____| __ \ | | || | || |__) | | | |(____ / \ | | | | |__ | |__) | | || | || _ /| | | |\___ ) / /\ \ | | | | __ | _/ / | | || | || | \ \| |__| |____) / ____ \| |__| | |____| | \ \ \ | || | _ / |_| \_\\____/|_____/_/ \_\_____/|______|_| \_\ \ \ \|__|| | / \ \______/ / \ | | / \ | | / \ | | / \| |/ | | \/ ___ _ _ _ / _ \ ___ _ __ ___ _ __ __ _ | | __ _ _ _ (_) __| | ___ / /_\// _ \| '_ \ / _ \| '__|/ _` || | / _` || | | || | / _` | / _ \ / /_\\| __/| | | || __/| | | (_| || | | (_| || |_| || || (_| || __/ \____/ \___||_| |_| \___||_| \__,_||_| \__, | \__,_||_| \__,_| \___| |___/ 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. ---------- ================= 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!"