This is a pretty good little siege map from one of our newer designers. The castle is relatively small but well defended. I played this on hard as the author suggested, both attacking and defending. As a defender the map really excels and really enjoyed the frantic running around, whilst trying to protect some of my archers in order to light the pitch ditches. As an attacker it was slightly easier but still a good scrap. Nice work.
Balance: 3/5
I initially had a few problems with this map and seemed to suffer high losses for no apparent reason. As both attacker and defender the map plays well and whilst I found it a little tricky and a decent enough challenge, the more experienced player may find this a fairly run of the mill siege scenario. Balance here between the two methods of gameplay is still good though. One aspect I liked about this was the liberal use of pitch ditches that, once lit, seemed to do a good job of weakening or even killing some of the invasions I had to face as a defender. One small point I would offer would be to tread carefully when you place caged war dogs. As soon as the invading engineers had placed their siege tents, I locked the gatehouse and released the dogs. They attacked the engineers/catapults and severely limited the damage they would have caused otherwise.
Creativity: 3/5
A standard siege map. Nothing shines through as being radically different but what is presented is fine. A good, solid siege. Nice to see something that can be played as an attacker or a defender (assuming this is the intention? If not, it works for me!)
Map Design: 3/5
Again, a fair effort here with the emphasis clearly on tactics rather than something aesthetically spectacular. Some degree of terrain modelling and a basic castle, but it does the job. I'd personally have used a smaller map size for this, as there is a lot of unused terrain.
Story/Instructions: 2/5
Not a great deal here, i'm afraid. With only a few lines to introduce you to the story, it seems only fair to rate for what is here. Try adding some theme or some thoughts on what you want to achieve with the map... sell it to the downloader, intice them with some wild notion!
IN SUMMARY: Not a bad effort and ended up being a pretty good little siege. Good work, tedman, hope to see more from you!