StrongHold Crusader Mission 14 Land of the Arab

StrongHold Crusader Mission 14 - Land of the Arab

There's a full roster in this mission. It's you and the Pig against Saladin "The Wise", Caliph "The Scorpion" and Sultan Abdul, each starting with 2000 gold. The key to success in this mission is the order in which you attack your enemies. Go for Caliph first, then Saladin, and finally Sultan. My first few tries I left Saladin for last, thinking to attack the smaller enemies first, but by the time I got around to the Saladin he was much too powerful. So here, then, is how I proceeded.

A minimal economy will be necessary, as with three opponents it will take a little while to win. At the start of play I set up the following: the granary, two apple orchards, three woodcutters, an iron mine, a quarry with 2 ox ties, a dairy farm, and the mercenary post. I then bought 3 Arabian archers and 7 Arabian swordsmen. The archers I placed in a perimeter tower (with a brazier) to the north of my keep. I then immediately marched the swordsmen to the Caliph's keep and dispatched him before his forces were built up.

With one opponent down, I next placed the barracks, armory, marketplace, three more quarries and another iron mine. To keep the troops happy I built an inn and bought ale. I then bought 10 pikemen, and started using the proceeds from the stone and iron to build up my army. I also bought an engineer's guild and made several catapults, but I have to say I really don't think they had much effect. Once I had about 20 Arabian swordsmen, and 10 each of pikemen, slingers, and horse archers, I ordered the Pig to attack Saladin. While his troops operated their own catapults, I set my army on the front gate, and Saladin's castle was soon overrun.

After that, it wasn't too difficult to take out the Sultan. I built up another batch of perhaps 20 swordsmen (on top of the surviving troops from the previous battle), and together with the Pig attacked the keep. The Sultan hadn't quite enclosed his keep, so it was easy enough to kill him.

When I attacked in the order set out here, the game was surprisingly short (for having three enemies to destroy)!