In this siege you play as a barbarian clan on the verge of starvation. You must conqueror the neighbooring clan which made you hungry in the first place! But their defenses are the strongest in the land and your people have no knowledge of siege craft, only brute force will take this fort down.
This simplistic map works quite well and offers a nice change from the standard siege map, in that the author has purposely removed all siege equipment. You have a fairly large force to attack with (and this is an attack-only siege given the story to accompany the map), but whilst initially this may look an easy map to beat, it turned out to be quite tricky. Nice idea, but not really something that keeps you coming back for more.
Balance: 4/5
Good. Quite difficult on hard setting, per the download description page. Spearmen are pretty weak though (I used the default troop units to play this map through) and were cut down in large numbers. I opted to use these for the outer areas of the castle after a few plays through and accepted the losses. The macemen here are the key to progress, their added defensive capabilities are better suited to attacking nearer to the keep. Beware the huge pitch area as you progress in, it can wipe out the majority of your units and can swing the map against victory in a matter of seconds. Good effort here.
Creativity: 3/5
Not bad in terms of creativity and thory, and I liked the story linking in to the lack of siege equipment. It is a promising idea, but needed expanding a bit more. Unfortunately, nothing here that really grabs your attention though.
Map Design: 3/5
There is some good terrain modelling in areas and the idea of multiple 'baileys' so to speak is nice to see. Again though, nothing outstanding here i'm afraid. The map would spring to life with some activity within the fort itself, and as it is there's a keep... and nothing else. Not a bad effort by any means, but needs some more working I feel.
Story/Instructions: 3/5
A simple and quite small story sets the scene for the map that unfolds before you. Again, not a bad story, reads well but really lacks in content and depth. I'd love to see this expanded and added to, in an effort to grab your attention.
IN SUMMARY
There's nothing here that is bad at all, and the map certainly works. I have to recommend more content and designing before the scores could be increased though. Still, keep up the design work, this is a fair map in itself.