Damn much stuff you give us to deal with, Lord Dredde, working skirmishes, a traditional skirmish map and eco-invasions. Often damn good stuff they are.
Setting the difficulty on normal can express but the average. Some maps I found too easy while others - nrs. 5, 6 and 8 - appeared pleasantly hard to me.
In the working skimishes (minimap) you are given are fairly pre-built settlement with enough troops but few defences. And with lots of gold - this made it impossible for me to loose. Nr. 7 shows an exciting start: An enemy's quarries are near the castle and as an answer of your tearing them down he will soon send no less than two waves of troops. Here appears one yet unexplored possibility of working skirmishes: To throw you into unexpected circumstances you have to cope with.
Careful playtesting is needed of what the AIs need to fit into the landscape. In nr. 2, with all of us in the very desert, the Caliph's castle remained a poor skeleton.
While map nr. 5, the traditional skirmish, turns out to be a real adventure. The northwest keep being placed in the desert, relatively far away from the shores meant a long and tough struggling. A remarkable aspect is that the mountains are mid height only so that siege engines and marksmen can shoot over it!
The invasion scenarios provided me with some good puzzling about what to do when to survive. Best in playability and balance I found nr. 8. What a stunning to and fro with cede and cultivating, defence and re-attack.
Leading my starting forces towards the keep again and again I once incidentally thought: "Ah, this is a typical landscape à la lord Dredde." - and found the tricky spot to launch the attack. Next you have a big oasis in front of you and loose it to huge invasions, happy to have become strong enough to make your stand at the castle. Big applaus for the great combination of units and siege engines! May nobody miss this map(s)!
[Edited on 12/15/08 @ 05:30 AM]
simidorl
Posted on 12/15/08 @ 10:37 AM
great map.
by the way, how long does it take for a map to appear after you submit it? mine isn't up yet and i made it yeasterday.
Lord Dredde (id: lord dredde)
File Author
Posted on 12/15/08 @ 12:14 PM
Hi and thanks to all who have enjoyed these scenarios.
To Peter2008 as always i enjoy reading your comments/feedback,and yes i do add a twist or two-Map 5 i played right to left first with duc truffe as an ally,he took the brunt of the attacks then i switched places and finally played left to right.map8 was very enjoyable as a cede/invasion.expect chapter two after the newyear-i do have a beta map for mission9 on the drawingboard and is very promising-i think you'll enjoy the castle 'blend'!hint one map is called'holy dread'-then after that.....
To simidorl, welcome to stronghold heaven .In response to your query regarding how long it takes for a submission to appear depends on (1) how many maps have been submitted (2) how busy the staff are-bless'em for the great job they do (3)anywhere between 24-48 hrs.