Emperor Frederick by Apuya24

Emperor Frederick is perhaps the best alround strategist in the desert. There are few weaknesses in his armour and left alone he will over time become a mighty force.

Nicknames: Emperor Frederick I, Emperor Frederick II, Emperor Frederick III, Emperor Frederick IV, Emperor Frederick V, Emperor Frederick VI, Emperor Frederick VII, Emperor Frederick VIII

Difficulty: Hard

Missile troops built: Archers, Crossbowmen

Melee troops built: Knights, Swordsmen

Siege equipment built: Mangonel, Trebuchet, Catapult

Castle Rating: *****
Frederick's castle is arguably one of the best AI castles in the game. It is large, well defended, and moat-surrounded. He occasionally has trebuchets ready to attack any close enough buildings including siege tents so watch for those. He also has a battery of towers at the tip of his castle manned with mangonels. Try to get troops on top of it when you siege.

Defense Strategy: Just like King Phillip, Frederick will also get knights to destroy buildings pretty early, so get crossbowmen quick. He also sieges very similar to Richard, just with knights coming and going, so crossbowmen and ballistae are effective again here, just also add extra fire ballistae near the base of your walls.

Attack Strategy: Make sure to treb out Frederick's battery of towers, or get crossbowmen on top of them, and just fire on him. However, this is unnecessary, and you can just have troops fill in his moat, and get through his walls. And watch out for Frederick's killing pits, which are scattered around his castle in apparently random places. The pits are roughly marked on the map in green dots, but expect them to be anywhere.