The tragedy at Duke Borin's castle has brought Sir William to his senses. His enemies are more powerful than he imagined. A direct confrontation with Prince Lupus might not be the best plan after all. But where else can he turn for help?
(Note: This file is now "download friendly"! Just unzip the file to Program Files/Firefly Studios/Stronghold.)
(If you have trouble, the Official Usurper Walkthroughs can be found in the Utilities section.)
This is Chapter 3 of a ten mission campaign. Set in a fictitious realm, it chronicles the suffering, struggles and battles of those who are loyal to the true king.
IMPORTANT NOTE to anyone thinking they are downloading an Invasion Map: You click on "Invasion" to play it, but it is really a Siege. You can not build anything. In the beginning, you spend money to buy your troops, then you "lay siege" to the enemy stronghold. If you are not playing this as part of the Usurper series but are looking for a real invasion scenario, this is not the map you are looking for.
PLAYABILITY: Invasion Map-only players may find this challenging, but anyone with average Siege Map skills will find this scenario boring. After the brief, unavoidable fight which occurs within moments of play beginning, I lost only 2-3 additional men en route to my first try victory. Easy win with almost non-existent defenses. The defending force needs to be improved to make this scenario fun.
BALANCE: There is no balance. You lose some troops at first, as you try to buy your army, but once you begin the Siege, things are heavily in your favor. How out of balance is it? Well over 60% of the defenders died without ever striking back even one time. Many can simply be avoided as they guard canyons along routes which serve only to misdirect. Even the crossbowmen "guarding" the real route to the Stronghold died without shooting back. The group of macemen and archers near the Keep all died without any lifting a bow or mace in retaliation to my Siege. Increase the defenders! Solo crossbowmen placed here and there provide no credible defense whatsoever.
CREATIVITY: The concept of the Siege is quite good. You must pick your way through a "maze" to find the proper route of attack. The storyline supports the scenario well.
MAP DESIGN: The Map was well designed detail-wise, but I think it failed to make the maze element of the scenario work. It was quite easy to see which path was the best route of travel. This allowed my men to avoid many troops meant to kill my forces as they went down the wrong routes. The resultant lack of attrition served to exacerbate the balance issues already at play. Making the paths to the Castle harder to follow visually might do much to even out the balance and playability issues.
STORY/INSTRUCTIONS: Another excellent story! The plot sets up the scenario well and does so in an entertaining fashion.
Overall, the scenario is a unique, and good, idea within the Usurper series, but it's woeful lack of balance completely undermines the creativeness of it's presentation.
Dianna125
Posted on 04/12/03 @ 12:00 AM
Rating
4.0
Breakdown
Playability
4.0
Balance
3.0
Creativity
4.0
Map Design
5.0
Story/Instructions
4.0
While I found this part easier than some of the rest, I still found it to be engaging and fun. This mission gave the player limited time to complete to goal. If archers are used correctly, this mission can be completed without a hitch. I found the map to be very original and it added a lot to this mission. - Dianna
NAT
Posted on 09/27/03 @ 12:00 AM
Rating
3.2
Breakdown
Playability
3.0
Balance
2.0
Creativity
3.0
Map Design
3.0
Story/Instructions
5.0
A bit of a dissapointment for me and only the very strong storyline saving it from quite a poor score. You build up forces and start your journey through a very ordinary max heaight maze - killing crossbowmen as you go. The map is very easy and lacks the same creativity as the past two. The map design again not up to getting the 4 - just not good enough. The storyline here saves this map from quite major trouble. Overall not to pleased but will play on through the whole series.