|
|
Rhuddlan Castle 1382 A.D.
|
Author |
File Description |
UnikUnok |
Posted on 01/06/03 @ 12:00 AM
File Details |
Map Size: |
400x400 (Large) |
Difficulty: |
Hard |
After the forces of Llywelyn the Last withdrew from Rhuddlan Castle, (Castell Rhuddlan in Welsh). The English reoccupied the site and the castle was quickly completed. Work, which at one point required 1800 ditch diggers to reroute the river Clwyd to feed the moat, was completed by 1282. Rhuddlan then became a great administrative center for Northern Wales. in 1284 the Edict of Rhuddlan was past from within its walls. This settlement between the English and Welsh would stand until the Act of Union in 1536. The castles defences remained unbreached when the Welsh rebelled in 1382, Rhuddlan also held against the forces of Owain Glyndwr in 1400. In the year 1644 during the English Civil War, the castle was held for Charles I. Rhuddlan surrendered to Parliamentary forces in 1646 and was heavily slighted afterwards. This map can be either attacked or defended and can be played at any difficulty level. |
Author | Reviews ( All | Comments Only | Reviews Only ) |
---|
Sulis |
Posted on 01/06/03 @ 12:00 AM
Playability: 4/5. This is tough. Very tough. Or another shining example of my weak, pathetic tactics! Either way this map is very playable and has bags of options available to you as an attacker. I really enjoyed this map, playing several times on both attack and defence. Gameplay is generally smooth and the AI works well defending. It suffers a little when it is forced to attack and due to the modelling of the castle, siege equipment attacked areas of wall that would not permit access to the castle. This is a minor flaw and not necessarily a result of bad design. A big map allowing big battles. Good work here.
Balance: 4/5. Very nearly perfect, but for a few minor niggles. As a defender you don't have to work as hard, largely due to the copious amount of pitch used that can easily see off most of not all of the attacks by the AI. This would have been better all round if the pitch was used liberally and in strategic areas. That aside, this was a very well thought out map, with the castle design almost defending itself. I managed to take the castle on normal difficulty, but with extremely heavy losses. I daren't play on hard or very hard! Not as much fun as a defender (see above points) but excellent work and a genuinely hard castle to take. Nice to see a 'sensible' amount of initial funds rather than a treasury full of the stuff.
Creativity: 3/5. Rhuddlan is an intriguing castle to think of. A strange concentric design and well recreated here. One of the better known castles, but a good effort at designing something different.
Map Design: 4/5. The castle layout is an accurate portrayal of the floor plan and the map has a feel of realism in terms of the plan here. Gatehouses are placed correctly and care and attention has gone into producing that to me seems quite well scaled. The surrounding terrain is okay, but cries out for a bit more work here. That said, this map is a really good effort and credit is given for the recreation of the castle.
Story/Instructions: 5/5. This is what a castle recreation should be about. A nice little introduction to the historical side of Rhuddlan, well written and clear. I really enjoy reading about historical castles, even if the intro is short, but this shows effort has gone into work to accompany the map. Well done!
IN SUMMARY: A great siege map that I personally found better on attacking mode. Loads of replayability should ensure plenty of downloads and credit for a credible effort all round. |
Jando |
Posted on 01/18/03 @ 12:00 AM
My comments for this one are similar to those for Carreg Cennen Castle, although I thought this was a better effort all round.
As a defender, I didn't have to move AT ALL! I found that very disappointing. But that's a tribute to the initial design of the castle from 1000 years ago, I suppose.
As an attacker, it was more difficult. But if you looked at the castle's weaknesses and exploited them, you could take it. It was a reasonably tough battle, but again I got it on the first go. Still, I took my time, and I wouldn't like to have had too much more of a challenge, otherwise it just becomes drawn out. I guess I also like scenarios that you can play again and again, and still feel challenged. But that's the holy grail, isn't it?
Again, I love the history surrounding this scenario. UnikUnok has done a really good job there. Let me encourage him to continue!
----------------------------------------
Update: 24 Jan
My review was originally based on playing this on the Normal setting, rather than the designer's recommended hard setting. Having since done so, I've increased the Playability to 4, and the balance to 3. It is much better on this setting, and it took me 3 goes to beat it. A bit more fun this way!
|
HGDL v0.8.2 |
Rating |
---|
3.9 | Breakdown |
---|
Playability | 4.0 | Balance | 3.5 | Creativity | 3.5 | Map Design | 4.0 | Story/Instructions | 4.5 |
Statistics |
Downloads: | 1,247 |
Favorites: [] | 0 |
Size: | 638.63 KB |
Added: | 01/06/03 |
|