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Raynald De Chatillon-The siege of Kerak
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Author |
File Description |
WarLord_Designs |
Posted on 08/11/05 @ 03:59 AM
File Details |
Map Size: |
400x400 (Large) |
Difficulty: |
Normal |
Minimap:
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Greetings to all: I must say it has been a while since i have played Stronghold Crusader, but I am glad to be map making again, this I am happy to say is my very first crusader map submission.
The map did no take as long as I had expected, a week or so was enough and I am quite pleased with how it has come out. I would like to thank Arthus for playtesting the map and giving me some feedback on what I had to fix, not to mention a few tips on terraining, thanks Arthus .
Heres some history on the character that inspired the map and the castle itself, enjoy!
History:
Raynald was a knight who served in the second crusade and remained in the Holly Land after his defeat. He was the younger son of Henry, Lord of Chatillon a middle ranked noble family of Champagne. In 1147 he embarked on the second crusade to seek his fortune and came under the service of Constance of Antioch. A widow, she married Raynald in secret in 1153.
In 1156, Raynald attacked the island of Cyprus after a some of money promised by the then Byzantine Emperor, Manuel I of Comneneus was not paid. When the Latin Patriarch of Antioch refused to finance this expedition, Raynald had the Patriarch seized, stripped naked, covered in honey, and left to suffer in the burning sun. When the Patriarch was released, he collapsed in exhaustion and agreed to finance Raynald's expedition against Cyprus. Raynald's forces attacked Cyprus, ravaging the island, and raping and pillaging the inhabitants.
The Emperor Manuel I Comnenus raised an army and began a march into Syria. Faced with a much larger and more powerful force, Raynald was forced to grovel, barefoot and shabby, before the emperor's throne for forgiveness. In 1159 Raynald was forced to pay homage to Manuel as punishment for his attack, promising to accept a Greek Patriarch in Antioch. When Manuel came to Antioch later that year to meet with Baldwin III, King of Jerusalem, Raynald was forced to lead Manuel's horse into the city.
In 1160, Raynald was captured by the Muslims during a plundering raid against the Syrian and Armenian peasants of the neighbourhood of Marash. He was confined at Aleppo for the next seventeen years. In 1176 he was ransomed for the extraordinary sum of 120,000 gold dinars, emerging from his long captivity he was more bloodthirsty and ambitious than ever. With the death of his wife in 1163, Raynald married another wealthy widow, Stephanie, the widow of both Humphrey III of Toron and Miles of Plancy, heiress of the lordship of Oultrejordain, including the castles Kerak and Montreal. These fortresses controlled the trade routes between Egypt and Damascus and gave Raynald access to the Red Sea.
The castle itself, located in jordan dates back as early as the iron age, conquered by the romans. The fortification which is located on a cliff, about 3,500 feet above sea-level on the King’s Highway dominates the surrounding landscape. Construction of the Crusader castle began in the 1140s, under Paganus, the butler of King Fulk. The Crusaders called it Crac des Moabites. Because of its position east of the Jordan River, Kerak was able to control Bedouin herders as well as the trade routes from Damascus to Egypt and Mecca. The most notable Crusader architectural feature surviving is the north wall, into which are built immense arched halls on two levels. These were used for living quarters and stables, but also served as a fighting gallery overlooking the castle approach and for shelter against missiles from siege engines. After taking controll of the fortress Raynald became notorious for his wanton cruelty at, often having his enemies and hostages flung from the walls of castle to be dashed to pieces on the rocks below.
The rest of the history can be found in the Zipfile, or in the map room.
Have fun.:)
WL_D,
Alexus.
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Author | Comments ( All | Comments Only | Reviews Only ) |
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BrandonLavoie (id: brandonlavoie) |
Posted on 08/11/05 @ 02:04 PM
Nicely done, im glad to see some good SC maps! I like all of your maps! Hope to see more[Edited on 08/13/05 @ 06:28 PM]
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BrandonLavoie (id: brandonlavoie) |
Posted on 08/11/05 @ 07:00 PM
I Would Of Written a full review but i had to go, And i was always wondering if you could perhaps try to make some LOTR maps for Stronghold Crusader, As Something happened to my original CD and it will now not play!
-Brandonlavoie |
WarLord_Designs
File Author |
Posted on 08/11/05 @ 07:24 PM
Thanks for the review,
I now how it feels, my crusader disk wouldn't work so I had to borrow one from my design partner Arthus,
I don't think we'll be doing any more LOTR maps, i did start Osgaliath but the scale of it all is just too time consuming, we can't find the time to do all that we'd like unfortunately.
I do feel a renewed interest emerging in the game, with NAT creating maps also, I think a few more crusader maps from us are sure to come.
Thanks again for the review, have you any maps, i must admit i havent played or made maps with crusader before, so i woulndt know.
Let me know if you've made any, and we can always give you some tips or reviews if you like.
WL_D,
Alexus.[Edited on 08/11/05 @ 07:26 PM]
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WarLord_Designs
File Author |
Posted on 08/16/05 @ 08:43 AM
Thank you for your generous review,
Im glad to hear that you enjoyed playing my map.
I do try to make the map a challege but one that is still possible for players to win, just have to learn from your first mistakes and then take another approach when sieging so i try to incoperate what i enjoy into the playablitiy of my maps.
Balance is alway an issue with large scale fortresses and i could only image what it would feel like to stand before back during the crusades, i do try to recapture the military innovation that was so abundant in the day.
Once again,
Glad to hear you enjoyed the map and i am very greatful for the review,
Thanks.
WL_D.
Alexus. |
WarLord_Designs
File Author |
Posted on 08/17/05 @ 07:33 PM
clever tactic,
I never thought that that many assasins would be enough, and to get them in without being shot at well that was jsut sneaky, well done.
The main thing is that you enjoyed it which i am pleased to hear, and I guess back then if you had a stategy to save such a vast amount of troops you would be a great asset.:)
Thanks for the review.
WL_D.
Alexus |
WarLord_Designs
File Author |
Posted on 08/21/05 @ 01:45 AM
Thanks for the review stratego,
Thanks for your comments on the map, it does seem like quite a few of people have discovered the advantages of the stategy you have employed.
As long as you had fun experimenting im happy, as you said different approaches have different outcomes, i guess its part of the playability in the map,
thanks again,
WL_D.
Alexus. |
WarLord_Designs
File Author |
Posted on 08/24/05 @ 01:11 AM
Thanks Nat! :)
WL_D
Alexus. |
Dpminatr |
Posted on 11/24/05 @ 11:53 PM
Impossible to take a week or be one of few Crusader maps you made. |
HGDL v0.8.2 |
Rating |
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4.7 | Breakdown |
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Playability | 4.8 | Balance | 3.9 | Creativity | 4.9 | Map Design | 5.0 | Story/Instructions | 5.0 |
Statistics |
Downloads: | 5,452 |
Favorites: [] | 0 |
Size: | 826.26 KB |
Added: | 08/11/05 |
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