King Halfdan the Brave stood on top of his keep and inhaled deeply the fresh air. He had finally bested his old enemy, Askald the Snake. With the man hanged and his lands taken, it was now safe to journey southwards. He oversaw the town from his high vantage point and felt proud of what he and his people had accomplished. He had beaten a well trained and armed adversary with fewer troops and means, and this had impressed even some of the other kings. However, there was one man who had not needed to see Halfdan victorious to place his trust in him. This man was King Asgard Silverbeard and he had given his daughter Ingemar, even though the Snake was still very much alive. A few years later, Ingemar had given birth to Halfdan’s son and they had named him Harald. King Halfdan the Brave loved his son very much, but he was not the kind of man to sit still. The recent victory and the spread of his wealth and fame had only wetted his appetite for more.
The thaw had come and gone, and it would soon be summer, one hundred and sixty men boarded three longboats in the fjord. The ships were now ready to set sail, as each had been packed with supplies and arms. Last to step aboard one of the bigger longboats was King Halfdan the Brave, the man who knew no fear…
Read the conclusion to the story about Halfdan and his men in the zip file. In case you haven't played part one yet I recommend doing that first. You can find it here:
http://stronghold.heavengames.com/downloads/showfile.php?fileid=2897
This map has a dual scenario. The way this works is simple; at the start of the map choose your victory condition and start playing accordingly. This is all further explained in the zip file as well, so be sure to read that before you start playing. The scripting will work sub-optimal at easy difficulty level so try to avoid using it.
Allright, I hope you'll find this a worthy successor to part I and have a good time. :)
[UPDATES]
1: I uploaded an updated zipfile after 4 downloads, the updated file includes epilogues for both of the scenarios/stories.
2: After 24 downloads I have uploaded an updated version of the map. The only change is that you now have an extra month. This was done to lessen the time pressure on the cede event. (Although you will benefit from it in the wood scenario too.)
3: After 47 Dl's I have updated it again to make sure the fires will never occur in the cede sceanrio.(deleted the '300 woodplanks aquired' condition that would trigger the fires)
If you are having trouble finishing the cede in time; I posted some spoiler-ish advice on the second page of comments here.
Thanks Jasper, for yet another fantastic review! I'm pleasantly surprised that you liked this one better than the first. :)
The Big T: lol, that's not a good way to start the rest of the scenario, if I were you I'd start over. If you run into trouble again, make sure to check the hints I provided both here(2nd page) and in the readme.
[Edited on 02/21/06 @ 03:26 PM]
Lord Ako File Author
Posted on 02/21/06 @ 05:03 PM
"Really awesome. I had a blast playing this map." -Thanks, that's what it's all about, really. I'm glad you had so much fun, and thanks for the review Lord Karpathea.