Unlimited catapult ammo:
Click on the "Launch Cow" icon, click on the main screen to select your target area and fire, then immediately hit the "Stop" icon. The cow won`t be launched but the catapult/trebuchet will fire a rock instead, even if you`re out of rocks.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Hex cheat:
Select the start menu, click search for files
or folders, search for Stronghold, it should
find a FOLDER! With Stronghold written on it,
open it then select game info, change every
number to 0 and save it, then everything
should be free!
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Cheat Codes:
In DOS start game with following command:
strong debug
Now you have activated the Cheat-mode, that uses these codes:
· ALT-B ?- changes enemies building by 1.
· ALT-F ?- changes enemies building by 10.
· ALT-C -- Changes the player.
· ALT-K -- Anihilate a hostile fortress.
· ALT-P -- Player moves up a level.
· ALT-Z -- Anihilate hostile troops in a quick way.
· ALT-G -- Anihilate hostile castle.
· ALT-S -- Winds time a year ahead.
· ALT-M -- Do not try this!!
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Stop the bears:
All you have to do is build a wooden
fence around the bear and you have
solved the problem.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
To dispose of archers and xmen on towers and
walls when seiging a castle:
Move your archers to a position just beyond the
enemy's range where the cursor will turn to a
red cone when held over an enemy, but your
archers say "Can't Target Him Sir," when you try
to attack. Then select the 'attack here' option.
As soon as you click to begin the area attack
(which can be targeted anywhere), the ring of
torches appears and the archers respond with
"Arrows Away!", immediately target an enemy on
the wall or tower. The archers will respond with
"Can't Target Him Sir.", but will still send one
volley him anyway. Repeat as necessary. It is
slow and tedious, and you may need to shuffle
your archers around depending on the enemy's
castle layout - and higher ground is always better!
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Ghosts:
Buy some shrines and you will have a ghost of
a decapitated lord. (only 1 ghost per castle).
Note: He is hard to see
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Stronghold Walkthrough by Stumbleine
Version 1.0
Introduction
Stronghold is another historical sim brought to us by the same team that
made the wonderful Caesar series. Firefly have managed to perfectly
blend the tactical and economical factors of the game so that both are
of equal importance. This Walkthrough should elucidate any problems you
might have playing the Economical or the Invasion Campagne. If you have
any questions about this FAQ you can contact me at the email address
below. I hope you enjoy playing the game as much as I did. Now go! Your
Stronghold Awaits!
General Advice
- I have played through all the missions on Normal or Hard ; I can
therefore not vouch that these tactis will work on the Very Hard
difficulty setting and you may find you get absolutely massacred.
- The tradepost is your best friend ever. Build one whenever you have
the resources to do so and don?t forget to use it to equilibirate your
stacks of food, supplies and gold.
- The crossbowmen (xmen) are quite simply the best unit in the game as
they aren?t too expensive to train and can mow down rows of swordsmen,
knights, macemen and halbediers. Place them in strategic positions like
towers and high ground.
- Boiling oil is also a must have for any castle defender. If you use
your mecanics wisely you can stop whole units of men with one simple
cauldron.
- Your Lord is a real wimp and can?t fight very well at all. He?ll kill
off 5 spearmen or so, or maybe 2 or 3 macemen but that?s about it. Make
sure he?s well protected by some bowmen or infantry : you lose him, you
lose the game.
INVASION MISSIONS
Mission 1
Place your Saxon Hall near the group of trees in the middle of the map
then build 4 woodcutter huts (WCH from now on) near the trees and 4
hunter posts near the granary. Fall asleep for 10 minutes then build
another hut to increse production if you want.
Mission 2
Build 4 WCH near the trees, but taking care to keep them inside your
stockade. Build 4 hunting posts near the granary. When you have enough
wood you can finish the stockade. You shouldn?t need to increase the
population but if you decide to do so build some more hunting posts to
accumulate the ammount of food necessary.
Mission 3
The wolves can only cross the river at 2 points so start by blocking
these two points off. As in previous missions build some WCH and hunter
posts.Your next prioirity is to accumulate enough wood to build a
pallisade around you saxon hall big enough to hold a flecher, an armory
and a barracks.You?ll need to kill a few of the Rat?s men who wander
onto the map from the northern side about halfway through the mission.
Once your pallisade is complete build a flecher followed by an armory
and finally a barracks. Two or three archers should be sufficiant to
kill all the Rats men. To kill the wolves simply place a couple of
towers near the river crossing points and tell your archers to fire at
the wolves.
Mission 4
Build your castle to the far south west then build 3 WCH near the
trees. With the remaining wood build some dairy farms. The high ground
offers excellent defense against the rat?s troops and your stronghold is
already partially protected by the rocky terrain. You?ll want to fill in
the gaps in between the rocks to completely protect your settlement,
then build a fletcher/armory/barracks to start training archers. As the
wood production rises you can build more dairy farms and eventually a
peasant hut or two for farmers. With the remaining wood you should build
some towers and distribute your archers to protect your weak points.
Repair your stockade if it gets damaged by the Rat?s attacks. You may
also want to consider adding a second wooden wall infront of the first
for added protection
Mission 5
You?ll need loads of wood for this one ; I?d recommend five WCH in
total : two on the island and three near the trees to the south. Wheat
farming is long to get going to you?ll need 3 or 4 farms on the southern
plaines as soon as you can. Your next priority is to wall off the 3
northern crossing points ( 2 onto your island and one onto the island to
the west) using either gatehouses (ghouses from now on) or a wooden
wall/tower combination so you can defend it with arches. Then get your
fletcher/armory/barracks up and running. When you next get some wood
build a hut, a windmill and a couple of bakers as you should have some
wheat by now. You should then increase baker production accordingly as
the flour will start to pile up. Strengthen the walls around your
crossing points and wall off the northern part of the island with 2 or 3
thick wooden walls depending on wood stocks. Your remaining workforce
should be set to work as fletchers, wheat farmers or bakers : if you
lose too many archres build more fletchers if wheat is low more farms
and if flour stocks are high more bakers. The final attack will be
devestating : you?ll want to make sure the main island is protected even
if you have to sacrifice a few frams to the south.
Mission 6
Hmmmm..... the cowardly scumbag killed all your men! The flames of
vengence must now be burning in your eyes ? don?t worry he won?t survive
for long. Build your keep near the quarry to the south west and some WCH
slightly north near the trees, a few hunting posts for quick food and
some daury farms near the quarry to the south. Next get your stone
production working with some oxen to ferry your stone rapidly to your
stockpile. Then build an armory/barracks and start training those
archers. Finally surround your settlement with a stone wall complete
with a ghouse, and get your archers up there. As you get more stone
expand your walls to the east where there is plenty of fertile land for
more cow farms ansd some wheat fields. Remember wheat takes a longgg
time and needs at least 5 peasents to function (1 farmer, 3 for the
windmill and 1 baker) so only expand into wheat production when you are
sure to have enough resources to do so. As your wood stock grows you can
build some more fletchers. Once you are satisfied with food and weapon
production you can build another quarry and a crenelated wall round your
settlement. Use any stone you have to bolster your defences. The Rat?s
first attack won?t occur for quite some tim, but it?ll be stronger than
anything you?ve faced up until now. Use your archers efficiently to wipe
out invaders attacking your walls and repair when you can. Build 4 or 5
fletchers to churn out those archers and you should send him running.
Mission 7
Pull back the archers on the wooden wall back to the stone defences
asap (you may have to open up the ghouse to let them in) and quickly
mass your own troops onto the stone wall, holding back the spearmen
until you see the enemy ladders coming towards you. Once you?ve pushed
back the first assault build a wooden ghouse to complete the first
stockade and repair where necessary. Food may be a problem : you have
plenty of flour so build more bakers to get some bread. Next another an
other quarry with oxen for stone production, another fletchers or two
and eventually a poleturners workshop and another wheat farm. Place a
token force of archers to defend the wooden pallisade and pull them back
to the stone wall when the enemy gets too close. As soon as you can
you?ll want to build a stone wall behind the wooden one and maybe a
stone ghouse. Once this is completed if you keep training archers the
enemy will find it tough to get close.
Mission 8
This one is tricky but fairly easy if you place your stockade in the
right place : you?ll need to divide your wooden walls into three parts ;
the first on the south eastern side of the valley between the two rocky
outcrops, the second slightly to the north inbetween the swamp and the
high plateau where the enemy arrive and the third in betwwen the swamp
and the large plateau to the west where your castle keep is. If you do
this correctly, using the spacebar to make sure you?ve filled in all the
gaps, you?ll have closed off the valley floor. Once food and archer
construction is underway you can start building a few hop fields and a
quarry to strengthen the wooden pallisade with stone walls. Try to make
good use of the valley floor : it can only hold about 7 farms and you?ll
need 2 or 3 hop fields. Hold back the spearmen as a mobile reserve unit
if the enemy manage to break through a section of your wall. The first
section will be attacked the most frequently, place most of your archers
here.
NB : Make sure your walls aren?t too close to the enemy signpost or
you?ll lose it when the enemy first appear!This can be VERY annoying
With food and hop production coming along nicely you can start building
some brewers and getting those barrels of ale rolling out! With
remaining wood build some bakers, more fletchers and a poleturners.
You?ll need quite a few archers for this one.
Mission 9
Time to lay down the rat poison! This mission is quite difficult as you
have to decide if you?re willing to divert stone and men to defending
the quarry. On easy and normal you can probably abandon it. Food
shouldn?t be a problem but you may wan?t to build a few hunters posts.
You?ll need at least 3 fletchers if not more and a poleturner. You also
have plenty of wood so build a wooden wall on the far side of the moat
which a) slow down the invaders and b) be targeted by the catapults
instead of your nice stone walls. The first attack comes very quickly
(after 5 mins or so) and is very tough! You must protect you granary
from catapult fire at all costs or you?ll be in deep trouble. If your
quarry survives long enough you?ll have enough stone for a tower (I
advise the south east corner) or even another stone wall. Remember to
repair damaged walls and to keep the moat dug out. If your WHC are
destroyed build some more inside the main keep. Keep up archer
production and use wood ansd stone to build up your walls : build wooden
walls 5 o 6 blocks thick if you can and you should be able to survive
until the end of the mission
Mission 10
Time is against you on this one so rush the macemen in the keep with
your spearmen and tell your archers to fire at the enemy archers in the
tower, then finish them off with the remaining spearmen. The quarry is
fairly defendable as you can easily surround it with a stone wall an
place archers on the wall and on the cliffs above. You?ll need to send
some archers to deal with the bears roaming near your WCHs to the
northwest. Build another quarry, some more oxen, a couple more wheat
farms, a windmill and a couple more bakers. I usually surround my wheat
with a wooden wall to protect it from wolves and the rabbits to the
west. Stone production is essential here : use it first to build a stone
ghouse at the bottom of the slope leading up to your keep, a stone wall
running from the cliffs to the west to your ghouse, and from your ghouse
to the cliffs to the east (encompassing the two quarries of course!).
Send your archers to kill the wolves and the rabbits. With wood build
bakers to keep up with food consumption. As soon as your defences are in
place start building chapels : the more you have the more people you can
bless. You also need to get your population up so build some dairy
farms, afletchers, a barracks and an armory. Once you?ve filled the top
plateau with farms start building hop farms on the vally floor and
brewers.Keep a close eye on food consumption ; once you have some ale
you can open an inn : the combined religion + ale factors should let you
cut food rations if you need to (and as you near 50+ peasents you
probably will). Once you?ve taken back the castle the Serpent won?t
attack for another 20mins or so which leaves you plenty of time
Mission 11
This one is pretty dificult! I suggest plcing your keep behind the
large rocky area so you can use the river to the west and the cliffs as
natural walls. Place a wall between the river and the cliffs to the
west and between the cliffs and the edge of the map to the east. Build a
couple of dairy farms using the flat land you can find, some WCH, an
armory, a barracks, a tanner, a fletcher and some hunting posts. Start
training archers. Use any excess wood you have to build more fletchers
and some wooden walls. You may want to build you quarry now or wait
until after the first attack when you can defend it better. If you don?t
want to build a quarry, build a tradepost and trade in some food to buy
the stone you need to finish your defences. I thouroughly recommend
building a tradepost at some point during this mission to make up for
lost resources. If you have enough stone you can wall off your quarry,
if not block the passageway in between the two cliffs or the enemy
troops will pour through the gap there. Whatever you decide to do, you
will find it difficult to defend the quarry during the first assault as
the Wolf sends in some swordsmen who are practically invincible against
your archers. Concentrate all your fire on each one individually and try
to get them to chase your spearmen who are pretty much dead meat anyway.
Eventually with a little luck you will push them off and a robed monk
will give you the plans for the crossbow. Your armory should be nicely
stocked with leather vests from the tanner so set all your fletchers to
making crossbows and get them working (you should have 3 or 4 fletchers
by now). Kepp up a steady flow of wood , build another tanner if
necessary and a quarry if you haven?t already done so. The crossbowmen
(xmen from now on, and no corny jokes on the comic superheroes please!)
are tough chaps and even if they take a while to reload their metal
bolts go through just about anything. If you keep up xmen production
further attacks from the Wolf will be shattered by a rain of steel bolts
that mow down macemen, archers and swordsmen with relative ease.
Mission 12
The weakest point of the castle is the western corner. Get some xmen
and archers up into the hills to the west an have them wipe out any
enemy within bow range. Then set up your tunnelers beyond enemy lines
and tell them to dig towards the northern part of the western wall near
the enemy armory. Once the tunnels are nearing the wall send in the
macemen. The combined assault on this section should open up a section
of the wall your men can pour through. Keep up supporting fire from your
xmen and bowmen. Once you?re into the castle grounds split your men into
two groups : the first should wipe out the archers on the walls and
towers and the second should head towards the keep killing everything on
ground level. Once the castle is yours bring in the spearmen and have
them start digging a moat, then send any macemen left alive to help
(they dig fast). Now it?s time to face facts : you?re gonna lose those
dairy farms, hunting posts and probably the quarry. I usually just build
a small wall inbetween the cliffs and the western wall of the castle but
it never lasts long. Instead use the free space inside your walls wisely
: there?s enough space for a couple of dairy farms and a hop or wheat
field as well as a windmill, a couple of bakeries and a fletcher and/or
a tanner for xmen construction. The inn is up and running so get those
taxes up! I generally build a ghouse in the southwestern wall and extend
my battlements in this direction, filling up the space with more fields.
Unless you lost loads of macemen during the first attack you can sell
off the metal at the tradepost for cash.Bread can also make quite a tidy
profit so it?s worth building plenty of wheat farms and bakers for bread
production. Keep the macemen in the keep and the spearmen on the walls
to push off enemy ladders or your xmen will get massacered. 95% of your
defenders should be on the western wall and the others in towers around
the castle. After each enemy attack rebuild the walls and the moat.
There are several other ways to increase the money flow : if you
increase your population your taxes will increase but so will your food
consumption, if your popularity is high you can decrease rations to sell
off extra food or stop them eating a food of a specific type like bread.
Finally you can sell off extra wood and ale if your?re making more ale
than your population drinks. Remember never to lose sight of your
objectives : don?t spend more than you have to on food and men and don?t
bother building any non essential buildings (like a forge).
Mission 13
This mission has an annoying bug that makes the game quit if you
completely wall off your keep! This includes trees and other natural
elements like rocks etc. The key to getting round this bug is to build a
long corridor one block wide in the middle ? the enmy will have to come
at you one at a time and you can pick thelm off from afar.
Start by building a stone wall to the south to portect your dairy farms
and quarry ? remember to surround the quarry or you?ll be attacked via
the forest. I would build a second quarry straight away as you?ll be
needing a fair bit of stone for this mission. Your food stocks should be
alright for the time being so use the wood to build some iron mines,
another fletcher and a couple of tanners. I normally place the entrance
point to the keep with the long corridor to the north near the barracks.
The first 20 mins will be hell as the Pig will atack often and your
defences won?t be 100% complete. Use the xmen and macemen to block andy
weak points. Once you get some extra wood build some hop fields, a
couple more bakeries and some breweries. Then build a forge and start
training macemen. Your gold will be quite low , but the breweries will
give you some ale and you can open an inn and start taxing the peasants.
Keep on training macemen and xmen ? you?ll need about 30 macemen to
attack the Serpent?s keep and defend your catapults, but it?s up to you
how many you want ? there?s no time limit. You can now also build a
mecanics guild. You?ll need 9 mecanincs (catapult plus wooden shield = 3
mecanics) to build 3 catapults and their defences. Keeping your
catapults as far away from the enemy as you can, destroy the middle
tower with the seige engine then bung a few cows across to kill off the
macemen. Then destroy the second tower with the seige engine. At all
times keep your macemen near the catapults to defend against the Pig?s
troops if he tries to attack them. With both of the ballistas out of the
way you can have fun smashing up the rest of his castle for as long as
you want. When you?re ready send in 5 macemen to set off the pit traps
then rush the main keep with the rest of your men.Once you kill the
Serpent you win. If something goes wrong train some more men at your
castle barracks.
Mission 14
This one is pretty easy. The key is to use all men to defend the
southernmost ghouse. Start by strengthening the walls and building a
wooden wall infront of the stone one (protection against rams). Then
build a tradepost so you can buy stone and use remaining wood to put
some pit traps down infron of the ghouse. Train all available troops and
send them down to the bottom ghouse along with all the men defending
your other walls. You should now have enough men to push off the first
assault. Set your fletchers to xbow. When the Pig attacks use the
balista to take out the ram then aim at stopping his men breaking
through the stone wall. Keep your own macemen in reserve. After the
first assault buy enough stone for a second large tower and place it to
the east of the small one. Put a balista in it and build a mecanincs
guild then 2 mecanics to operate the balista. With your defenses
complete you can concentrate on training cossbowmen and planting pit
traps. You can start raising taxes at this point in the mission as it
doesn?t really matter if people start to leave your castle. The Pig
won?t stand a chance.
Mission 15
Pretty tough this one as you have a limited time limit. Send your xmen
to the far rocky outcrop to the east and have them take out the xmen on
the eastern tower. At the same time send some archers to the hilly
gorund to the west and have them kill all rhe xmen on the western tower.
If you place your men correctly you?ll be out of enemy bow range and
won?t lose a single man. Once the xmen are dead take out any other
targets you can without being fired upon and send a group of about 20
spearmen to set off the pitch on the ground near the moat. Pull them
back as soon as the pitch lights and you might be able to save a few.
Then send in your spearmen in groups of 20 or so to fill in the moat.
You have to monitor tem closely all the time or the?ll fill in the wrong
bits. Once you have filled in a small patch of water your tunnelers can
take down the ghouse. The next bit is tricky. I normally send in the
macemen to kill of all the remaining archers from the first wall, get
the battering ram attacking the second ghouse and the ladders againt the
wall into the castle grounds. Use the pause button and the spacebar to
give your orders clearly. Send the maceman up the ladders to kill off
the archers and xmen in the towers around the ghouse then some of your
remaining spearmen towards the keep. They?ll set off the pitch traps and
die. Bring in your archers and xmen (the xmen will have to come in
through the broken wall section ? they can?t climb ladders) and send
them up into the towers to rain fire down onto the defenders. Finally
send in all remaining spearmen and macemen to the keep, then wipe out
the archers in the last tower. You must kill all the enemy troops to win
this one. Don?t panic and make lots of saves in case something goes
wrong.
Mission 16
Pitch is what you?ll need for this one to run smoothly : pitch and
wood. You?ll need to start by getting your food and pitch production
online. Build mostly apple farms (4 or 5) and a dairy farm. Then build a
wooden wall up to the cliffs to the north and across to the cliffs to
the east. Put a stone ghouse in the center and some braziers along the
walls and in the towers. Build an armory . When the Pig first attacks
try to wait until the halbediers are on the pitch before setting it
alight.. When the attack has been pushed back start building some
quarries down to the southeast and protect them with a wooden stockade.
Send some xmen down there asap and put them on some wooden towers. Keep
replacing the pitch infront of the castle and make sure you set it
alight at the right time. Xmen can?t use fire so you?ll need your
archers near the braziers . As time ticks on you?ll have to build more
farms and quarries (you?ll probably need about 15 peasants working at
the quarries and you?ll need food to feed them). It?s up to you to
decide if you want to fortify the wooden walls with stone ones. I
usually keep the wooden walls and trust my xmen, pitch and eventually
monks (!) to hold off the Pig ? this way you can finish the mission a
fair bit earlier. If running low on pitch you can either trade for some
more or build more rigs. I don?t think it?s worth building a church or
an inn here unless food stocks start to get too low.
Mission 17
Finally you can use the boiling oil! Pitch is important so wall off the
rigs to the west of your castle. I normally extend the walls northwards
slightly to fit in some more dairy farms, a couple of WCH and hunter
posts, a few wheat farms, a windmill and a cathedral (or your people
will sulk). You can build some bakeries,tanneries and fletchers against
the walls of the inner keep. You get 10 halbediers (= pikemen) at the
start of the mission and some macemen so I never bother with anymore
infantry. On the otherhand you?ll need plenty of xmen and mecanics.
Build a barracks and a mecanics guild and put some mecanics up on the
wall at strategic points like over the ghouse and in the towers. Put a
balista in the large tower. Your food should be okay cos you start off
with loads of wheat and if you have enough bakers you?ll be able to
feed everyone. If food runs low cut rations, if food is high raise taxes
and don?t forget the +3 pop bonus from religion. Another possibility is
to play with the fear factor to get more resources or happier people.
Use the tradepost to buy and sell resources. Build more rigs if you can.
The Pig will attack in force so keep some stone for repairs. If you have
loads of pitch you can build some pitch traps and train some archers to
set them off. I normally build a second large tower in the southern wall
and put another balista up there. When the Pig attacks use the ballistas
on the rams and the xmen on the macemen and archers. Let the halbediers
reach your walls then tell your mecanics to pour hot oil down onto them
and watch them burn.............
Mission 18
NB If you wait around long enough (no time limit) you can see people
get tortured by the Pig?s men....burnt, decapitated and hanged : very
instructive
This mission is tough. You can use some of the tactics from Mission 15.
Send some archers to the hills to the west and put the men on the rocky
outcrop to the east to kill all the xmen in the 4 towers on the first
wall. You should be able to kill them all without losing any men
yourself. The Pig will send out some macemen to attack your seige
engines so protect them and slaughter him with your men. Once the 4
towers are clear start sending in groups of spearmen to set off the
pitch and fill in the moat as previously (Mission 15). As soon as their
is a large enough space infront of the first ghouse attack it with your
2 tunnellers , followed by the two rams. As soon as the ghouse is down
pull back the rams and send in about 20-30 macemen to set off the pitch
inside the first wall. Some should survive long enough to wipeout the
remaining archers from the first wall. The next bit is tricky. Once the
fires die down send your ram to attack the second ghouse, a seige tower
to the wall left of the ghouse, a seige tower to the right of the
ghouse and get any ladders you have up against the castle walls. Divde
all remaining macemen into two groups (one for each tower) and get them
up onto the walls then have them kill all the archers they can. Procede
to move your macemen round the enemy battlements and towers wiping out
all the other bowmen in the towers. At the same time send in 50 or so
spearmen to set off the pitch in the main castle grounds, and try to get
some of your own xmen and archers up into the enemy towers.Once the
pitch has burnt out charge the main keep with everything you have left
and send his porky butt straight to hell. Note that unlike Mission 15
you don?t have to kill all the baddies to win, but just the Pig himself.
The important thing is to keep tight control over your men using the
spacebar and the pause button. You especially need to do this to stop
your macemen rushing across the castle grounds once they get up onto the
second wall or they?ll set off the pitch and die instead of killing off
the annoying archers on the walls. You also need to keep a close eye on
your diggers when they are filling in the moat ? keep them concentrated
on once specific part to lose a minimum ammount of men. As always save
often.
Mission 19
Quickly wall off your farms at the bottom of the cliffs with a strong
stone wall and 3 large towers. Buy two mangonols and a balista and train
the mecanics to operate them. Train some archers and put them up on the
first wall with some braziers. Buy some pitch from the tradepost and put
some pitch infront of your walls. Build a wooden wall infront of the
pitch ditches. Build a tanner, a fletcher, an armouer and a forge as
close to your stockpile as possible (except for the tanner). Build a
couple of bakeries and a windmill, and send 3 or 4 mecanics with burning
oil up to the first wall in the towers. The Wolf will attack in force
but if you had time to do all of the above you should be able to hold
him off. As soon as the Wolf retreats get all available men out to build
a moat and build a ghouse with a drawbridge so they don?t get stuck out
there. The moat is important cos it will slow down the swordsmen and
make them more vulnerable targets. Use remaining stone to repair the
walls. Use the wood to build fletchers and tanners. Replace damaged
seige engines and put a mangonol on the large tower on the cliff
overlooking your keep and some archers next to the brazier on the wall
near the tower. Train xmen for the walls. Train some swordsmen and send
them up to the roof of the keep to act as a bodyguard for your Lord. If
all else fails 6 or 7 swordsmen will be able to hold off the enemy for
quite a long time. Finally there?s a tactic I usually use which is to
fill the space between your first wall and the cliffs just behind them
with pitch. This means that when the enemy break through the first wall
(and let?s face it they probably will) you can kill off a whole lot of
them before they even reach the second ghouse. When the Wolf finally
attacks start pulling your troops back from the 1st wall when you see
he has filled in the moat and is attacking your walls. Don?t forget to
use your mecanics with the boiling oil before you pull them back! The
second ghouse isn?t really very defendable ? I only leave a few men here
and send most of them back to the third ghouse which is much more
defendable. The Wolf will send in a massive group of swordsmen so wait
until they get onto the ground you?ve covered in pitch and set to fire
to it with your archers. This nice fireworks display should wipe out a
fair number of his troops before they even get to the second ghouse!
Keep training swordsmen and xmen and if the Wolf breaks through the
second ghouse harrass his men all the way up the slope to the third
ghouse. If they ever break through you should by now have plenty of
swordman protecting your Lord and the few enemy that manage to make it
this far will get cut to pieces.
Mission 20
This mission is fun as you have massive stocks of food, weapons, men
and gold! You should start by buying some xmen to strengthen the
defences on your first wall along with some mecanics with boiling oil.
Use pitch the finish off the ditches infront of the first wall (buy more
if needbe) and cover the area in between the first and second wall with
pitch (where the dog kennels are).Build a wooden wall infront of the
pitch ditches. Train as many knights as you can. These men will have the
honor of sacrificing themselves to protect your walls. Finally get some
seige weapons up into your towers big enough to hold them. As before the
Wolf will attack twice. As soon as his seige engines appear send out
your knights and try to destroy as many as possible before the main bulk
of his army appears. If you are lucky and pull them back at the right
time you might be able to save some of them, but most of them will
probably die. The Wolf will probably break through the first wall so
don?t hesitate to set off the dogs and the pitch if thing are looking
grim. Use your boiling oil to kill his more important troops like the
swordsmen and knights. Try to kill as many tunnellers as you can before
they reach your walls (again you may want to use knights for this, it?s
up to you). If you manage to hold him off, build a quarry for some
stone, replace the pitch ditches and repair the wooden and stone walls.
You might want to consider digging a moat. Go crazy on the xmen and
swordsmen and some knights (you may have to build more stables), raising
taxes if you have to. Put half the swordsmen in between the two towers
near your keep infront of the pitch, and the other half up in the keep
to protect your Lord. The Wolf?s final attack will be devestating.
You?ll need to send some knights or macemen on a suicide mission to
destroy as many seige weapons you can. Don?t forget to keep training
swordsmen and xmen. The Wolf will almost definitly break through your
second wall this time, so when you see he?s starting to do so retreat
from the second wall and everyone back to the third wall defending the
keep. Light the pitch once the Wolf?s men break through your first unit
of spearman and start to climb the slope. If anyone ever gets as far as
the keep the swordsman there should be able to hold them off.
Mission 21
Well this is it the final showdown! I had some difficulty with this
level although some people find it pretty easy. Start by massacring the
maceman and knights the Wolf sends out to attack you then set up archers
to the west and the xmen to the east beyond enemy bow range. Kill all
the archers in the towers, the kennels and any mecanics you can get to.
Next build your stone throwers as close as you can without being fired
upon. Destroy the first three seige engines ( I can?t reach the 4th one
it?s too far away, but if you can take that one out too). If the worst
comes to the worst finish off the towers with the catapults. Bung some
cows to kill off the halbediers and more importantly the mecanics with
the boiling oil. Once all this is done use the same tactic as in
previous missions to fill in a part of the moat with your spearmen. Use
the catapults to take out the ghouse, or the rams if you prefer, but
they?ll probably get too damaged. Send in the remaining spearmen and
retreat as soon as the pitch lights up, then send them back in to wipe
out any remaining archers and mecanics. They will probably all die
during this, but honestly who cares? I sure don?t. You can then set
about destroying the second gatehouse with your maceman and two rams.
Destroy all troops and seige weapons and use your macemen to set off
the pitch. Hopefully some of your macemen will survive. Send your rams
and macemen to attack the third ghouse while at the same time moving in
your swordmen, knights and bowmen. I expect your macemen and rams won?t
last long so finish the job with any catapults you have left and your
knights. The entire area between the third gate and the keep is covered
in pitch so your knights will go down screaming. Ignore their plees for
help and send in your swordsmen to kill off the seige engines in the
towers, then charge them all towards the keep. You?ll lose some to an
annoying mecanic with boiling oil on the keep roof, but at least 15 if
not more will make it into the keep and send the Wolf flying over the
battlements. If all fails another tactic I?ve tried is to fill in the
moat in the southwest corner and use the seigetower to get my men up
onto the walls, or use more cows, or to use the catapults on the second
gate and not the third one ? it?s up to you!
ECONOMIC MISSIONS
Mission 1
Easy and boring. Build lots of dairy farms and lots of hop farms then
go and make a cup of tea and come back 10 minutes later
Mission 2
You?ll need plenty of wood for this one. Start by blocking off the two
crossing points which should keep you safe from bears and wolves. Build
some orchards. After about 5 minutes Robin Hood and his merry men (and a
merry monk) will show up so have them kill off the wolves, bears,
rabbits etc. Build some fletchers and an armory to start making bows.
Extend your stockade outwards and build more farms and a couple of hop
fields. Once you have some hop build a brewery or two and an inn, then
build a tradepost. You can either sell off food or/and raise taxes to
buy iron. Build a couple of forges. After a while build a barracks and
train some archers. Put them on towers or a ghouse to the east. Keep a
close eye on weapon production and raise taxes or build more
fletchers/forges if you need to even if this means your popularity
drops. The earlier you finish, the better your score will be.
Mission 3
Place plenty of wheat fields and hop fields, a windmill and 5 or 6
bakers, some WCH, some breweries and a tradepost. You?ll need two or
three inns to get the maximum popularity bonus. Once there?s no more
space for wheat fields build a quarry and get some stone to build a
church. The ale and religion factors should give your popularity a big
boost and you can then either raise taxes or reduce food supplies. Sell
off excess resources and buil a stockade round your fields and/or train
some archers to kill the rabbits
Mission 4
This one is a tough one! I suggest you start off by building some WCH,
an armory, a barracks, some dairy fields, a quarry and some wheat
fields, an iron mine and some wells in that order. Don?t bother trying
to protect the quarries you don?t have the stone to spare! Next build a
fletcher, a forge and a tanner followed by some bakers and orchards. You
will be plagued with negative events all through this mission so once
you have loads of food you may want to raise rations and give the people
some bribes or numerous fires and bandit attacks will knock down your
popularity and people will start leaving your castle : the worst thing
you want to happen when you have to collect resources. To add insult to
injury you can?t build a tradepost so there?s no way to make up for
lost supplies. When fairs and jesters arrive raise taxes and cut food.
As wood increses build more tanners, forges mines, quarries or farms
depending on which resource you?re the most behind on (I never have
enough stone). DON?T complete your castle until the last minute or the
bandits will attack your quarries. Train as many archers as you can, and
once your tanners have made the required number of leather vests, use
any extras to make xmen.
Mission 5
Easy this one. Build several farms of each type and plenty of WCH cos
the forest is quite far away. Three food types and double rations gives
you a +11 to popularity! If you decide to open an inn you?ll get another
+3 which means you can really kill them will extremly high taxes. Build
some pitch rigs once farming space is used up and sell resources at a
tradepost. I would also suggest building an apothecary for this one as
plagues break out quite frequently.
Stumbleine
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
STRONGHOLD
Hints and Tips, Strategies and Background Info.
=============================================================================
Version: 1.2 A
Last Revision: 24th February 2002
Status: Complete. Will update as neccessary!
By David Kamikaze. Copyrighted material 2002. HANDS OFF THIEVES!!!
=============================================================================
CONTENTS
*REVISION UPDATE*
1. Layin` down da LAW!
2. About Stronghold
3. COMBAT BASED MISSIONS
a. Gathering The Lost
b. Finishing The Fort
c. Eliminating The Wolves
d. The Hidden Lookout
e. Between a Rock and a Hard Place
f. The Rats Proposal
g. Breaking the Siege
h. Dealing with the Devil
i. The Rat`s Last Stand
j. The Snake hunt Begins
k. First Blood
l. The Ransom
m. Snake Eyes
n: The Mountain Pass
o. Carving A Path
p. Fighting Retreat
q. Smokey Bacon
r. End of the Pig
s: Penning in the Wolf
t: Much wailing and Gnashing of Teeth
u: Final Vengeance
(TO BE COMPLETED!!!)
4. ECONOMICS MISSIONS
a. Victory Feast
b. The Long Valley
c. Gathering The Harvest
d. A Deterrant
e. A Castle in the Marsh
5. Tips and Tricks For a Successful Game
a. Food
b. Religion
c. Inns and Getting Drunk
d. Farming
e. Building Armies
f. Words of Warning
6. You dirty Cheats! / Bug Stamping!
7. FAQ
8. Questions NOT to ask me please!
9. Credits and Mutants List
10. Contact Me
11. Blatant self-promotion! What did you expect????
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
********** REVISION UPDATE!************
26/02/2002: Sorted out the cheats, also listed possible bugs that can happen while the
cheat is activated (Not all of them are bad...).
Also added a few more words of warning, and another two questions in the FAQ. Oh, and I
will say this now... if you haven`t asked, or you haven`t permission, do NOT copy and use
this guide on your site please. I will NOT tolerate it.
22/02/2002: OK, might as well do this more for me than anyone else. This strategy guide is
complete and ALMOST foolproof. I`ve added cheats, I have an FAQ and also listed Questions
Not to Ask Me. Can`t say I haven`t worked hard on this (PHEW!).=
Anyway, keep the feedback rolling in. I enjoy it.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
1. LAYIN` DOWN DA LAW!
NO-ONE MAY PUT THIS ON THEIR SITE WITHOUT
MY DUE PERMISSION! Failure to do so will result in me
getting out the chainsaw which I hold so dear and chopping
off hands and fingers!!!
I have had walkthroughs stolen before, but now I am getting nasty!
I used to review games, I was a reporter for a website- I know what I
have to do if anyone steals my work. And my friends a solicitor
(lawyer to americans!). She informs me that if you value the money
you earn, you must not steal other peoples works!
Copyright:
© Copyright 2001 David Kamikaze. It may not be stolen, altered, or used for any type of profit.
It may be reproduced electronically,and printed for PRIVATE, PERSONAL use. It may not be placed
on a CD, printed in a magazine or any type of publication. If you would like to add anything to
this FAQ, please e-mail me, as well as any questions, comments, or corrections, to the address
below. You will be credited!
e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
2. ABOUT STRONGHOLD
I SUCK AT STRATEGY GAMES, I freely admit it. But I was pleasantly surprised with Stronghold,
I went in expecting little and left finding - rather strangely - that I had done a pretty
good job! Theres hope for you all!!!
Another reason is the locations of this game. It all starts off? shock horror! In my hometown!
In the middle ages! WOO-HOO! Not many gamers can boast THAT! I won`t rub it in? but since
Cornwall is SOOOOOOOOOO boring it`s about time someone livened up our "history" a little!
Basically, you build a fortress, appease the peasants and build a successful community.
Sounds easy, but it`s not - even the smallest of changes can damage your popularity.
Your success depends on how popular you are, it can be tweaked and adjusted in many ways:
* You can give or take away food supplies.
* You can increase/decrease taxes (or bribe the peasants!)
* By building a church/chapel/cathedral
* By having enough work for people (wierd!).
It all takes balance. Just sit patiently and you`ll get there.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
3. COMBAT BASED MISSIONS
These missions rely more on strategic combat, or you can pummel enemies into submission!
The choice is up to you, but be wary of fatalities!
:a: GATHERING THE LOST
Oh god, if this could be any easier! Your army is in a bit of a mess, but we`ll
soon have that sorted now, won`t we?
Place your keep near some woodland, drop your granary somewhere closeby and place 3 or 4
woodcutters huts in the woods. Build some hunters posts to keep food supplies up. Then go
away, watch TV or make a cup of tea. Because this will be over fast. If you fail this,
then you might as well uninstall the game and go back to watching the Tellytubbies.
:b: FINISHING THE FORT
OK, you got your fortress. Happy? Well, place some woodcutter huts near trees,
but keep them inside your stockade. Put some hunting posts near the Granary to keep food
supplies high. Should you get the urge to increase your population, compensate with more
hunting posts. Watch the wood flow in, finish off your stockade and win. These are supposed
to be combat missions, aren`t they?
:c: ELIMINATING THE WOLVES
The wolves can cross the river at two points, so swiftly block these points off
so the wolves have no way of killing your population. Don`t worry about killing them? yet.
Theres far bigger fish to fry!
As always, place some woodcutters huts and hunting posts to start supplies rolling in. Then
you`ll want to build a pallisade around your hall big enough to house a fletchers workshop,
an armoury and a barracks. You`ll need to train people into bowmen FAST.
About halfway through this mission, some of RATS men venture in from the north/northeast.
You`ll want to take these guys out FAST! If desperate, or if you`re worried about losing
bowmen, build some towers to house the bowmen? from a good viewpoint they`ll find it hard
to miss anything!
Once Ratty`s men have been toppled you`ll be wanting to get rid of those wolves. Now,
remember where you vlocked the river off? Place some towers nearby. Move your archers
in, and tell them to fire at the wolves. And? err? mission successful!!!
:d: THE HIDDEN LOOKOUT
Now you have more reason to worry - Ratty is a bit miffed that you killed his men
so you gotta be even more prepared. Coz Ratty wants you DEAD!
Build your keep in the far south-west. Place woodcutters huts near the trees, and build
some dairy farms to get some food production going. Your town is already prety much
protected by the hard, rocky terrain, but fill in the gaps with some walls and Ratty`s
men will have a tough time reaching you? when they do, you`ll be ready!
Build a fletchers, armoury and barracks. You`ll want to train archers fast. When the wood
comes in, build a hovel or two, and a few more dairy farms to compensate the new people.
Now build towers near your weak points, and near your walls. Move archers in (At least 2
per tower, I recommend 3). If you need more protection, add an extra set of walls. Repair
after the first wave of attacks, and get more archers into the towers. Repel the second wave
and win the mission. Whew? that was hectic!
HINT: More hovels means more peasants to train, but more food is required to feed them.
Balance out one hovel with one dairy farm. You`ll still have 2 or 3 peasants left over
to train into archers!
:e: BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE
Straight up. You`re gonna need wood. LOTS and LOTS of wood! 5 or 6
Woodcutters hits straight away! Farming is also going to take an age so four
Wheat farms should be placed fast. Coz food is in desperate need.
Now we got this sorted and have some wood coming in, it`s time to bring up the defences.
You should wall off the northen crossing points (3 in total). But walls won`t cut it, you`ll
need to be looking at Gatehouses. Far more durable and also allows freedom of movement.
If you want to wall yourself in with only two escape routes (makes sense), the third
point should be a wall, with a tower, with archers ready to kick butt.
Now we need to be armed and ready. Fletcher/Armoury/Barracks are the next things to build
so we can be ready for anyone who even so much as coughs in the wrong way! You`ll
need a small army of archers so make sure you have at least 5 in every defence point.
If you can handle more... well, go for it. The higher your defence the better, more
archers means more arrows, which means more death and destruction...
Now we have the main things, time for food. You should have some wheat now, so build
a mill and some bakeries. Increase baker production depending on the amount of flour that
is being made. obviously the more food the merrier.
The rest of your workforce should be fletchers, bakers or archers. Trust me, the final
attack is DEVASTATING, so have even tighter defence and maybe an inner wall of defence
as well... it works but it takes a lot more work so if you wanna try it, be prepared to
sacrifice quite a lot of time and energy into collecting wood.
:f: THE RATS PROPOSAL
The rat is offering a deal. But it sounds fishy, given the CS you had. Sure enough, The
Rat will kill your men so be ready!
Build your keep near the quarry in the south-west. A fast, easy, efficient supply of stone.
Then get some woodcutters out to any wood you can find. You know the drill, I won`t bore
you with how to place farms. Now, get some stone walls up, build some fletchers, and get
your forces ready - We`ll soon show that Ratty who`s the top dog here!
The Rat`s attack won`t occur for some time, but it`s not gonna be a pretty picture. Build
Crenelated Walls if you can, preferrably another wall defence, and churn out those archers.
If you have to, nearer the end, destroy the farms and get those people with a Quiver in
hand! Once you`ve defeated the Rat`s men, you can count yourself VERY lucky indeed.
:g: BREAKING THE SIEGE
Pull the men back from the wooden defences into the stone fortress FAST! No-one
is expendable in this mission. Besides, we can rebuild the wooden walls really easily. Get
your men in there too and the first wave of attack will be beaten off really easily.
Food is not a problem in this mission, theres good stocks of flour so build Bakeries to
feed the peasants. Next, we`ll finish that wooden barrier with a gatehouse. For some reason
they go for the gates instead of the walls (an in-game bug?) and the gates are far more
durable!
Now you`ve got to get more archers (The more you have the easier this upcoming battle will
be!), and maybe tighten your security. Another Quarry and more Ox Tethers will increase
stone production to build even tighter defences.
You don`t have a great deal to worry about during the final battle. As long as you have
a good supply of archers, theres no way that you can lose this battle.
:h: DEALING WITH THE DEVIL
The Snake is offering you reinforcements in exchange for casks of Ale. This is
so easy! And he does send a good supply of reinforcements. But leave that for a while...
First problem is to know HOW to build your Stockade. You want to build your keep near the
quarry, fast supplies of stone. Then get the quarries and Oxen going, and some woodcutters.
You want to completely surround yourself by a stone wall. DON`T go too close to the
signpost or you`ll be sorry! But theres plenty of room to build into on the southern plains
so expand that-a-way! Get food supplies next. Then an armoury, barracks and fletchers. As
long as you hold off on the Ale, you`re under no real threat of attack. But the longer you
hold out, the more Ale the Snake will want. But that?s not a problem.
Once you have a healthy army yourself, get the hops farms and breweries working flat out.
As soon as you have produced enough Ale, the Snake will say "Cheers!" and send you your
promised reinforcements!
With a huge army and a good fortress, the final wave of attack will be limp and wimpy.
It`s not really that hard. Just be careful to build a tight fortress first!
:i: THE RATS LAST STAND
The Snake nicked your county! Oh well, who cares? We`re off to get that Rat?
set the Mousetraps!
Now, this sounds so silly? but you`ve managed to steal the Rat`s castle while he was
out! Problem is, it`s pretty weak. So that Fort should be finished first!
Next is a dilemma? the quarry. On easy and/or normal, you can abandon it. But on hard,
you`ll need to defend it. Up to you!
Food shouldn`t be an issue, but place some hunters posts and some farms if you REALLY
have to. You`ll need about 5 fletchers turning out the bows. A good, healthy army of
archers is vital. Build a wall around the moat too. A great defence from catapults!
With a good supply of archers, and a good defensive fort, you`ll win this no problem.
:j: THE SNAKE HUNT BEGINS
STRATEGY: We are going to steal another castle! Wheeeeee! Fun! This time it`s under
construction and owned by the Snake? well, about time he was shown a lesson!
This is such an easy mission. Storm the castle, finish it. You need food, fletchers,
barracks and armoury. Again, a good army of archers will ensure invincibility.
The most tricky part is achieving the Blessed status. Getting a good populous is easy,
but to achieve blessed, you should have 3 chapels. That does mean you`ll need a quarry.
And money, so hops farms/brewery/inn will boost your popularity so you can sneak in
some underhanded mean taxes.
Another new feature in this mission is the chance to place good or bad town items. I
would always recommend good? as it boosts your popularity you can tax even more! But
if you like that kind of thing, scaring your people will make them more efficient.
:k: FIRST BLOOD
OK, we have four waves of attack in this mission. Two from the Snake, two from the
Wolf.
I won`t bore you too much since this is another really easy mission. Build your fort in
between the rivers to the south, and then build walls. There is a huge cliff in the middle of
this area, use it to your advantage! The quarry is close by too, as is a huge supply of iron
ore on top of that rocky cliff.
Get your fletcher working fast, you`ll need an army quickly. The Snakes first wave is weak
but you`ll want to defend yourself. Then the wolf will come? but before that, a hooded stranger
will hand you designs for crossbow men. Goody! Only we also need tanners to get leather armour.
Not a problem.
Basically, for the next two battles, grow your army, keep food high, and keep people happy with
whatever means at your disposal. A disappointingly easy encounter with a tough foe.
:l: THE RANSOM
The King is being held to ransom. That can`t be good? seems we`ve got the job of raising the
money. Fortunately, this is an easy siege and raise money mission.
This isn`t as hard as it looks. Use tunners on the west side of the castle to topple those walls,
then storm the castle and be done with it. The you need to raise cash, which means placing LOTS
of farms is a very good idea. You can sell extra produce off. This is disappointingly simple
and if you fail this you need to replay the past 5 missions and relearn everything. Theres already
some farms, a quarry, an inn and some other stuff up and running. Start taxing straight away.
Just do note, DON`T BUILD THINGS YOU DON`T NEED! This saves lots of money. And can help achieve
your goal faster. Everything is pretty much placed for you, if you want to add happy things then
tax more.
:m: SNAKE EYES
Yay! We`re gonna kill da Snake! About fraggin` time too!
Some claim theres a bug which crashes the game if you finish your fort here. But I have NOT ever
experienced that problem. So don`t panic.
You`ll also find the Pig will send some troops in to attack you, but these are so laughably easy
to beat it`s insulting. Some archers in a tower to the west will sort these people out. This does
NOT mean this is an easy mission? be ready to experience HELL!
With the minor interruptions, you`ll be wanting to build a serious army of about 30 Crossbow Men
and 30 Macemen. This of course means we`re gonna be having SERIOUS population problems. Make sure
that theres no crowding, and at least one farm of each type per household. I had a populous of well
over 100, it`s a LOT of work.
Build 3 Blacksmiths, 3 fletchers, 6 tanners. Quarry and woodcutters at full speed, an iron mine is
also essential. You might think this is a LOT of work. But since theres NO time limit, don`t rush
things. Engineers are useful but not essential.
The invasion is fairly straight forward. Move archers into a fairly good range, then get them to
clear the way for your macemen to hack the walls. Then go all-out and invade the main stronghold.
The more men you have, the easier you`ll find this. Snakey dies, you win again, yippee?
:n: THE MOUNTAIN PASS
*Yawn* Whats this? Oh dear, looks like another easy mission. Oh well. After the last mission this
is quite relaxing.
The trick here is to defend the south west gate heavily. Crossbow Men. Wooden wall, and the new Killing
Pits work amazingly well. Just keep the gate defended, and keep the town running smoothly using the usual
rules. Taxes are not necessary unless you wanna buy weapons to speed up the army you need.
:o: CARVING A PATH
There is a time limit here but don`t panic. We`re gonna invade Piggies castle. But this Little Piggy
isn`t home?
The Archers and Crossbow Men are your most valuable asset, take care of them. Send them to the rock
mound to the west (can`t miss it!) and have them take out the archers defending the forts. Then move
them carefully to take out every other archer defending the first castle wall. Retreat them after
this is done.
Then send your Macemen to fill in the moat, have them hack away at the gatehouse, and then invade.
Have the macemen kill everyone holding a weapon. Once the fort is clean, you`ve won.
If you send the macemen without cleaning off the Archers you`re gonna get slaughtered! That taken
into account, it`s not extremely difficult? but you can cut it close to the time limit!
:p: FIGHTING RETREAT
The monks want some protection. After everything they`ve given us, I think we owe them one. They`re
gonna impart another useful weapon? pitch ditches! Burn baby, burn! Now we have that, how can we say no?
Basically you want to protect your quarry. The Pig will attack with frightening regularity, so be
ready to replace lost men FAST! Place at least 7 apple orchards. And a hops farm/brewery/inn. Tax so
you can buy crossbows and armour. There are enough pitch ditches built already.
Do note the Monks are U-S-E-L-E-S-S. They are weak, pathetic and die after a couple of hits. Don`t use
them unless it`s a last-ditch resort on the Hard mode!
Keep the pigs men at bay, use as little stone as possible. Once you hit your stone amount, you win
again. No stopping us now, heh?
:q: SMOKEY BACON
*sniff* I smell ? fear. Piggy is getting desperate and he`s gonna attack the monastery. But of course,
we`re here, so he isn`t gonna get a warm reception.
First up, build a Cathedral. Or the people will moan and whine. Now build up defences, build farms to the
NORTH to prevent them being trashed. Quarry stone, get crossbows being made, get armour being made, and
train up the crossbow men.
The Pig`s attacks are far more brutal, and his last attack is beyond brutal. So make sure the walls are
strong (I built 4 layers, 2 normal 2 crenelated. Almost impossible to penetrate.) and are heavily laden
with Crossbowmen or normal Archers if you wanna be cheap. The more men you have, the easier it is to hold
off the pigs attack. Should they break your defence, make sure they have some Macemen there to welcome
them with open arms!
If they hit your Fort, make sure monks are there. But hopefully, with a lot of luck, you`ll keep them
outside the walls.
:r: THE END OF THE PIG
Get the frying pan ready - we`re gonna have bacon butties before the day is out!
This is one TOUGH mutha! It`s the same as "Carving a Path", but with more defense and pitch traps! Ooh
bummer. Your archers are invaluable. Save often, and try NOT to lose them!
However you won`t need your siege equipment. Get your archers to the outcrop and pick off 1/2 of the
archers on the walls. Once they are gone, move them THE LONG WAY AROUND to the mound beside the siege
equipment. Take out the rest of the archers. carefully inch them up to take out some of the archers
on the second wall, if you get fired at retreat and try again. Then move all the way around to the
far west, to the rocky terrain. Take out the second half of the defence. Hopefully you`ll not have lost
too many archers, you`ll need them. Once the first two walls of defense are clean, retreat your archers.
Get your pikemen to fill in a channel and hack the wall. You need them also as a distraction, because
we`re gonna sneak in the archers to the south-east tower. From here, you can take out the round tower
archers and other archers lying around.
Now send in some more Pikemen and take out Gatehouse No. 2 - And take out the Pikemen and other nasties
hiding behind that wall. The final push, gather all your Macemen together and CHARGE! This final push
should consist of at least 100-120 macemen. it will be devastating, and wipe out anything left. There
are three loose archers but ignore them and go for Piggy. Kick his butt, and end mission. Now, who wanted
the gammon steaks?
:s: PENNING IN THE WOLF
Wolfie is all alone? aww. The last tyrant left. But the Wolf is an entirely new foe, he might have small
groupos but we`re talking knights and horsemen. Also he likes to use disease to knock out your civilians?
be warned. These last few missions will be tough.
This is a simple defend mission, done right it will be a walk in the park. First, you want to wall off your
farms in the valley. Use the cliffs to an advantage, and buid some Round Towers, armed with Ballistas.
Train up some engineers to use these weapons?
Next line the cliffs with crossbow men. You won`t need tons, but a good amount will certainly make the Wolf`s
attacks worthless. This is about all you will need in the army?
With this defence sorted, you can now focus on keeping everyone happy. Farming is good, keep food high. Try
not to place Good Things, you want a strong workforce.
The Wolf`s final attack is as limp as a wet cloth. The Ballistas will knock out any heavily armoured targets,
anything else can be sorted with a simple flurry of crossbow bolts.
:t: MUCH WAILING AND GNASHING OF TEETH
And they aren`t joking! Be warned, this mission can be seriously hazardous to your keyboard/mouse/wall.
But it`s fun, you have a good stronghold to start with, although as always your army is quite small. You
are gonna need knights, crossbowmen and some ballistas ready to repel everything.
The town routine is always the same, basically this mission is about how you deal with attacking the wolf`s
forces. And done right, it`s not a particularly daunting challenge.
The wolf will send two attack forces? be ready!
Your biggest worry is tunnelers. yes, the wolf now has them, and if you let them get too active your good
defences will be decimated. Solutions? Knights. Send out knights to take out tunnelers and siege equipment,
ballistas to take out enemy knights and horsemen, and crossbow men to rain a hail of death from above.
The wolf`s first attack is quite extreme? his second attack is almost lethal, no matter how careful or
well defended you are. Make sure you have a ridiculouly large army, to do this you want to get money
and make people happy. The best way to do this is extra/double rations and an inn running at full capacity.
My main advice is to keep repairing broken walls between waves of attack, keep ballistas firing, keep
crossbowmen raining their own unique brand of fun from the skies, keep your knights ready to disrupt the
waves of attack. Sadly, your forces here are expendable, they have to be, so be ready to replace all
lost troops fast.
:u: FINAL VENGEANCE
This is it. By the end of this, you`ll be wearing a wolfskin coat and smoking a good cuban cigar!
There is no time limit, so take your time. The Wolf`s castle is ridiculously well defended. But like
the pig`s castle, the wolf has a weakness?
The weakness is the small bit of land to the west of his castle. Take out the first wall of defence
with crossbowmen and archers, be ready to withdraw them all to a safe distance quickly. Pitch ditches
are a problem here, so try to stay behind them.
Once the wolf`s first line of defence has gone, that small piece of land should be used to take out a
series of crossbowmen and ballistas. This isn`t easy, also be ready to withdraw your projectile-wielding
force at a seconds notice.
Now we have this out of the way, lets get pikemen to take down the first wall. War Dogs are your ally
here? they`ll take out any force you forgot to destroy. When they come to get you, take `em out.
Second thing is - get the remainder of your projectile force into a tower on the first wall, again a
good diversion is to send in a small group of macemen or pikemen, then while the force is busy dealing
with them, slip your projectile team up and into a tower.
From this tower, clear Wall No.2, and take out anything behind it. Remember your space bar will flatten
features so you can clearly see what you`re dealing with.
With wall No. 2 clear? take out the gatehouse. Theres a small group of the Wolf`s force here, beat them up
and cause ANOTHER distraction, to get your force into a tower on Wall No.2. Take out the small force on the
Defence Gate, and destroy that gatehouse. Theres ANOTHER group of Pikemen here, take them out.
Now before we get onto killing the wolf, theres two major hurdles. One, his keep is heavily defended with
crossbowmen. Bummer. And second problem is the small force of archers, right beside a brazier. DOUBLE
bummer. To charge is total suicide.
From a safe distance, try to take out the crossbowmen. Get your archers into the third wall tower. You will
lose 2/3rds - 3/4 of your force here. But you need to take out the brazier archers. Once you`re sort of
safe in the tower? get rid of those Brazier archers. With those out of the way? you should still have a
healthy group of macemen and knights. And now we charge.
Charge, ignore anything that?s left and go for the wolf. Focus your archers on the Wolf, get your force in
there and finish the game. Once the wolf falls? sit back, enjoy the ending, and be happy! You just finished
Stronghold!!!
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4. ECONOMIC MISSIONS
The aim of these missions is to see how good you are under pressure. Everything that
could go wrong, will. Theres no denying that some of these missions are laughably easy,
but hit Mission 4 and you`ll be crying for mercy...
:a: VICTORY FEAST
STRATEGY: Basically you gotta build up supplies. This isn`t hard at all. Build some
dairy farms, then some hops farms, and a brewery. Then go and do something more
important for 15 minutes. It really is that easy!
:b: THE LONG VALLEY
STRATEGY: Don`t be fooled!!! The wolves pose a big threat here, so stay on the
bottom half of the valley. Block the river crossing points off to be rid of wolves and
bears, then all you gotta worry about is a few bandits.
You`ll be wanting LOTS of wood for this mission, so you know what to do. Lots and lots.
If in doubt, build a hovel and they`ll start working. Because the bandits tend to
destroy things, you`ll need stocks of wood for repair jobs, and to rebuild farms.
So how do you defend yourself? A few minutes into the mission, some thieves from
the woods (Who look like Robin Hood and his Merry Men!) come and pay a visit,
deciding to fight for you. Place them in your fort and have them shoot at anything
which so much as sneezes in the wrong way! Oh, and the monk is pretty much useless,
he dies quickly. Forget about him.
Buiuld some hops farms, a brewery and an inn, you`ll be wanting the inn coz you need
more cash, so we`re gonna be TAX HIKING!!! Build a fletchers, an armoury and a
barracks to train more archers. You`ll need them. Bandits are frequent and VERY
annoying. If you got a strong army behind you, bandits will have a hard job getting
anywhere. Be warned, bandits tend to go for the granary, so have some decoys ready
for them to destroy!
When you got the cash, build an ironmongers and buy some iron. This means building
a tradepost. The price of iron is EXTORSIONATE!!! Buy as much as you need. Then
get ready for defending, and wait for the fletchers to build enough bows and
the blacksmiths to build enough swords, patience, it`s not gonna happen instantly.
:c: GATHERING THE HARVEST
STRATEGY: Oh my GOD!!! Is this pathetically easy or what? You can almost plop everything
down instantly. Be warned, the rabbits are EVIL! But stay away from them and they`ll stay
away from you. Build wheat farms, a mill, bakeries, woodcutters huts near trees,
hops farms, breweries and 2 or 3 inns. This should give popularity a swift kick up the
backside for you to hike taxes. And almost sit back and wait for the money and food
to roll on in!
:d: A DETERRANT
STRATEGY: This is severely tough. You`ll run out of food fast, so a couple of apple farms
and dairy farms will start you off. You`ll also need large stocks of iron and stone, so
a quarry and a mine. And some woodcutters huts in the woods, bandits are gonna be more
worried about destroying your fortress to worry about a pathetic woodcutter or two.
Use the valley to the southwest to build farms to supply wheat, apples and hops. If you
somehow forgot or ran out of wood, Ox Tethers should now be built to carry the stone
back to your stockpile. Now you need tanners, blacksmiths (remember to alter them to
produce maces!) and mills/bakeries. Now just wait to stockpile bread, stone, maces and
leather armour.
When this is achieved, build your fortress. Build a stone wall around your fortress,
linking all the towers and gatehouses. NEVER DO THIS UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE, OR RAIDERS
WILL LOVE YOUR FORTRESS TOO MUCH!!! Deter bandits and wolves. You might want to get some
extra macemen to guard your quarry, because the more stone you got the more the bandits
will go for the quarry.
This mission is all about fast production, so get to work VERY fast. Hike taxes when the
fair comes to town. But money should be the least of your worries, just keep food high
and keep turning out the goods.
:e: A CASTLE IN THE MARSH
STRATEGY: Straight forward this one. Build serveral of each farm, and lots of woodcutters
huts as the forests are very far away. You want lots of each type of food. Three types gives
you +7 to popularity, double rations +4... basically, do this and the people will grovel
at your feet. Open an inn for yet another +3 boost to popularity... of course, now we can
go on a Tax Hike! Wheee! Fun!
Once farming space is non-existant, and people are ridiculously happy, get some pitch rigs
up and running! Sell it all at a tradepost.
The one thing to worry about is that plague is quite an issue, so it`s time to use an
apothecary for healing. Other than that, thats all there is to this, and you`ve finished
the economics campaigns! HOORAY!!!
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5. Tips and Tricks For a Successful Game
:a: Food
If you don`t have food, no-ones gonna like you, so the best advice is to keep up the stocks
of food. Multiple farms will get the food rolling in, if you need to make bread have a mill
and SEVERAL bakeries, apples and meat last the longest. If you have a variety of food at your
disposal, then your popularity will go up a few points! If you have no food, popularity drops
by 8 points, so keep food supplies high.
:b: Religion
To me the most USELESS thing in this game as it doesn`t boost popularity by much, and when it
does it`s not for long! It`s up to you, but take my advice and really don`t bother. Theres far
better ways to get people to like you! (Place Shrines instead tho... cheap and a constant boost
to popularity!).
c. Inns and Getting Drunk
Inns are a great boost to popularity (2 inns at full power = +8 to popularity!). This is great
for stealth taxes, as no-one will complain. However, drunks will be 100% useless, and you WILL
get the odd person who will do nothing but get well and truly smashed. This of course diminishes
the supply of peasants at your command. But it`s not usually a cause for concern!
d. Farming
Farming is a long process, so don`t expect results instantly. Here are the farms at your command.
DAIRY
Cows make cheese. A regular supply too!
THINGS TO WATCH OUT FOR:
The Tanners will nick cows to make leather armour.
Cows can sometimes get BSE (A strange malady indeed...)
ORCHARD
A lot of apples. Reasonably fast supply.
THINGS TO WATCH OUT FOR:
Sometimes apples will stop growing. The people will suspect witchcraft!
WHEAT
Wheat turns into flour, flour turns into bread!
THINGS TO WATCH OUT FOR:
Wheat crops often whither away into nothing. Not much you can do.
Bunny-wabbits eat wheat supplies. Get armies to kill them.
(NOTE: Although killing rabbits in this game is fun, under NO circumstances should you attempt
this in real life. One, it`s cruel. Secondly, they don`t make that squeaky toy noise. And lastly,
you`ll have animal rights groups on your back!)
HOPS
Hops turn into booze! Hop-hop-HOORAY! (I couldn`t resist it, sorry!)
THINGS TO WATCH OUT FOR:
Hop Weevil? EVIL WEEVIL! Again, not much you can do...
:e: Building Armies
The most important thing to do, in case of raiders or enemy troops. Crossbow Men and Macemen are
your best friends, engineers are useful but never essential.
There are many types of soldier but really you`ll only ever need either crossbow men or macemen.
They are your greatest asset, Macemen are fantastic for invading, Crossbow Men are fantastic for
your defence. Don`t worry about anything else unless the mission requires it.
f. Words of Warning
* Walls are great temporary defence, but not a good permanant defence.
* River crosspoints are easy to block off. Do so if you have to!
* If you have to build farms across a river, place many to have a constant supply
of goods!
* Wood supplies don`t last forever.
* If you cheat, expect to turn up a bug or two!
* Armies are not expendable.
* Space is limited. Use it wisely?
* Use Good Things and Bad Things wisely...
* You can fight, but if you die it`s all over!
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6. YOU DIRTY CHEATS!!! / BUG STAMPING!
OK, OK, you wanna cheat. You DESPERATELY wanna cheat. K, heres how! (WARNING! Cheat Mode can
surface some really odd bugs! Listed a bit more below!)
In the Main Menu, hold down ALT, SHIFT and the A key. Now start a mission and do the following,
if I find any more cheats I will let you know!
ALT & X = 100% Popularity and 1000 gold (Handy!)
ALT + K = Buildings are FREE! (Again, useful!)
ALT + C = Unlock all missions
ALT + D = Debug Mode (See the game without pretty graphics!)
There are however some side effects. I have run into a few and some others have mailed me with odd
bugs as well. I have been verifying these with Stronghold players so even if I haven`t experienced
them, they`re all pretty accurate.
BUG NO. 1 - SPEEDY TIME LAPSE
This can seriously, seriously suck for timed missions. I thought it was a cheat but it seems like
it is most likely to be a rather odd bug. Of course, it`s OK for free build and economic (Faster
taxes and more money), but when you`re playing "Carving A Path", this can be suckier than a
mosquito! And as annoying too!
BUG NO. 2 - DROP DEAD?
This has made me laugh heartlly. I watched troops get close to my castle, then they... died. Obviously
my fortress was too beautiful to bear! It`s so funny to watch them just collapse into a heap for
absolutely no apparent reason at all! Made me laugh, a lot.
BUG NO. 3 - THE MERRY MEN RETURN!
I thought this was a bit odd, but Qwijibo2001 sent this in. It confused him and boy does it confuse me.
The Merry Men turned up in the middle of "The Snake Hunt Begins". Can anyone else verify this?
BUG NO. 4 - SKYS THE LIMIT
This really strange bug seemed to restrict my building of Granaries, Armouries and Mills. I know theres
a buildings limit of approx. 1000, but this was more drastic.
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7. FAQ
It had to come...
Q: Is it worth laying good things, it makes everyone lazy.
A: This is a good question, a topic for debate really. Personally, I use Good Things as a LAST RESORT,
if I need to get money fast. On the same foot, I wouldn`t use Bad Things, unless it`s totally needed.
This is all personal preference? feel free to do what you want :¬)
Q: Why are you so hell bent on Crossbow Men? You get cheap thrills from them?
A: That?s a personal question heh heh. But the more crossbowmen you have, the better your chances of
survival. It`s a great, cheap force which will deter and defeat almost everything! It`s fantastic.
Q: How do I activate this Debug for cheating?
A: For the final time, and this is to the 68 mails i`ve had, THERE IS NO DEBUG! It`s for an earlier game
(1997?) called Stronghold. It`s not applicable to Stronghold 2001. But there are now cheats? found a bit
by accident (DOH!)
Q: What happens if you achieve maximum happiness, I never got that far!
A: Everyone will act like they are on a permenant trip. But everyone will be amazingly lazy.
Q: Have you ever played the earlier edition of Stronghold?
A: No. I haven`t.
Q. I`m seeing dead people. What do I do?
A. Either (a) You should come down from Venus, or (b) you`ve spotted Ghosts. Yep, you can even be haunted
in this game. It doesn`t affect anything, just the ghost wanders around. Priests tend to do excorcisms
on them, but they are harmless and they do nothing.
Q. I`m addicted to that rabbit noise! HELP ME!
A. I don`t usually answer stupid questions, but I thought this would happen eventually! May I recommend a
squeaky toy? Or perhaps therapy? Laughter therapy is good. That is, we all laugh at you :D!!!
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8. QUESTIONS NOT TO ASK ME
* PLEASE DO NOT ask for cheats. The current ones are now listed!
* PLEASE DO NOT ask why you are losing popularity. READ THE GUIDE!
* NO PERSONAL QUESTIONS, FLAMES OR POINTLESS SPAMMY MAILS.
* PLEASE DO NOT ask for freebies. I don`t do them.
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9. CREDITS AND MUTANTS LIST
CREDITS:
DANIEL & CHRISTOPHER REED!
Coz they`re my brothers and I love them. They inspire me.
HR GIGAS
For those smutty Street Fighter pics which keep me awake laughing!!!
SANJEET SIRAH
Another buddie, but we`ve been pals for ages now. He`s cool!
EWOUD VAN HEEREBEEK
Yet another buddie- thanks for making me waste so much time chatting to ya!
LAUNA WILLIAMS (Juggernaught)
My cousin. Peace!
DANNY KOBALE
My friend and webhost- cheers pal!
YOU
For reading this guide.
ME
Coz I wrote it and deserve credit. Oh, bite me.
MUTANTS:
YOWZER42
Viruses are BAD! You nasty person. Your ISP knows BTW.
FINALFALLACY21
I have better things to do than read daily rantings and flames.
DARKSTAR
Racism might be freedom of speech but I have the right not to hear it thankyou.
PISTOLA
Don`t keep complaining that I keep outsmart you. I usually do that to everyone.
WYSIWYG2001
I have family who died in NY. Your ICQ convo about how cool it was has been posted
everywhere, with your IP address. You deserve to be hacked.
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10. CONTACT ME!
OK, Stalkers do not read this section coz if you persue me I will have to resort to
nasty things like trojans to get rid of you... don`t waste my time.
OK, my e-mail address is This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - I have rules about mailing me to
help me filter the ton of mail I get daily!:-
*No flames. All flames get directed either to my deleted items folder or they
are posted in my forums for people to take the mickey out of!
*Don`t say, "Sorry to waste your time but" or something similar to it. You are
not wasting my time. I enjoy getting your mail and I enjoy replying. It`s fun!
If you need the help, I am always more than willing to give it.
*Please for gods sake don`t abuse me. If I do not reply to your mail you either
flamed me and got ignored or it`s been answered in the FAQ in this walkthrough!
Phrases like "You b*****d you never replied to me!" are generally put in my
forums and they are pointed and laughed at!
*Do not use my address to sign up to anything- you won`t believe how many times
people have done that and it pisses me off to a point I can`t describe. I will
report you to wherever you used my e-mail address and you will be removed!
*Finally, do NOT ever ever EVER use my address to spam my inbox with useless junk
I won`t ever read. One, stealing e-mail addys like that is an offence! And two,
I get 100 mails a day and I don`t need any more!!
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11. BLATANT SELF PROMOTION! WHAT DID YOU EXPECT?????
Yes people, it`s me. Spamming my butt off.
My website is located at http://www.kamisoft.com
I have a pretty large database of games engines, so if you have ever considered making a
game, then this is as good a place as any to start! I also archive my Sprite Art here,
and my FAQs, as well as some CG art. Which is nice?
My forums are located at http://www.kamisoft.com/ksf/index.php
Really I don`t bite. And if you appreciate that I don`t have oodles and oodles of inbox
space, then you can post your questions here. I`ll answer them directly then. Plus it`s
a nice place to chill and hang out?
As for sites I am heavily involved with?
Utter Class Games, located at http://pub80.ezboard.com/butterclassgamesforumv1 , is a
great gaming site. Currently the main site is down (It got haX0red!) but their ezBoard
is active? and I`ve helped them with design work and graphics.
And The Goblins Head Tavern, http://uk.geocities.com/thegoblinshead/ , is a great Role
Play community. I write quests, and I thoroughly enjoy hosting them too. So if it`s
your scene, see ya there soon I hope?
That?s it from Spamathon 2002. I`d like to thank all my fans, my publishers, the adoring
public, my brothers, my goldfish, my guinea pig, my PS2? blah? blah? blah?
