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Author |
File Description |
Jack ofallTrades |
Posted on 07/23/03 @ 12:00 AM
File Details |
Map Size: |
400x400 (Large) |
Difficulty: |
Normal |
GILBERT THE RED EARL is my second map submission to Stronghold Heaven.
ABSTRACT:
You will be playing the part of Gilbert the Red Earl (fiery colored hair) in an almost three decades long invasion type scenario. In short, the Welsh sacked and burned Your castle before its completion late last year. You have now returned to finish its construction, but are unexpectedly attacked by some enemy troops still residing in the area. The castle and Your garrison will be put to the test later in the scenario, when a massive Welsh army lay siege to it during a general uprising. Please see the attached ReadMe file for hints and comments. I hope someone could take the time reviewing my scenario, any constructive criticism is welcome.
THE STORY:
This little tale begins in 1271 AD. The lord of Glamorgan, sir Gilbert de Clare (You), has returned to Caerphilly Castle in the South Wales lowlands. He is at the time one of king Henry III's most ambitious men. The construction of Caerphilly was started in 1268 AD by sir Gilbert to secure the area and as a response to the threat by the Welsh prince Llwedlyn ap Gryffydd the last (The Pig). He had previously made peace with king Henry III, but finaly lost his patience late last year sacked and burned the castle before its completion. His own troops were joined by those of his brother Dafydds and Gruffud ap Gwenwynwyn of Powys. However, they failed to stop Caerphillys construction.
Gilbert`s soldiers have gathered in the inner courtyard when they unexpectedly are attacked by some enemy troops still remaining in the castle's proximity. Afterworths, only an intervention by king Henry III stopped the Welsh from preparing for and starting a fullscale war. Sir de Clare was sure to take advantage of the truce that followed. The construction continued over several years and the result was one of mediveal Englands largest castles, a millitary architectural masterpiece, only rivaled in size by Windsor and Dover Castle. The surronding area is periodically raided by numerous bandits during the construction period (The Snake and his men). Caerphilly Castle is huge, covering some 30 acres with it`s 3 artificial islands and impressive lakes, and an early example of a true concentric castle with features like a parallelogram layout, a nowadays leaning south-east tower (with an angle larger than the famous Pisa campantile (belltower)), D-shaped gatehouse towers and a massive dam and outer hornwork.
King Edward I had desimated the Welsh threat by 1283 AD, so the need for Caerphilly Castle was from then on more or less gone. The castle is nevertheless besieged in 1294 - 95 AD by the local Welsh leader Morgan ap Maredudd (The Wolf) as part a larger Welsh uprising initiated by the infamous Madog ap Llwyelyn. Sir Gilbert dies sometime during 1295 AD, at the age of 52, and his wife managed the estate until her death in 1307 AD. There was another minor Welsh siege in 1316 AD. The last military action took place in 1326-27 AD, when queen Isabella besiged her husband Edward II. The castle has been in ruins from the mid 15th century. The remains of a roman fort dating from 75 AD, can be seen near by. |
Author | Comments & Reviews ( All | Comments Only | Reviews Only ) |
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Kingcat (id: kingcat) |
Posted on 07/24/03 @ 12:00 AM
Great Map! I found this map impressive. Felt like playing the first time stronghold.
Playability: 5
This scenario keeps you busy. Never a dull moment.
Although there are no economic goals the defense and construction of the castle gives you no time to waste and the player has to carefully decide how to use the ressources. Although not all defense structures are available the map design allows you to use different strategies.
Balance: 5
Very challenging but not impossible to win.
Creativity: 5
One can see that the designer spent quite some time on this map. For the background, good combination of historical facts with the game.
Map Design: 5
Again impressive. A masterpiece. This map is an
eye-candy. Looks realistic and natural.
Story Instruction: 5
Very good. Gives the player a good introduction and nicely blends with the historical background.
I hope to see more maps like this one...
Kingcat
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brave sir robyn |
Posted on 07/27/03 @ 12:00 AM
Playablity: 5/5 Superb gameplay with no faults whatsoever. The start may give you a hard time, but it is passable. After that it's just classic Stronghold, the objectives may seem simple, but they work with the castle and map design to great effect.
Balance: 5/5 On normal level I found this a fantastically challenging yet winnable map. The invasions seem to turn up at just the right(wrong?) times and their troop build-up contains the right units to test your defences. The attacks seem to increase at the same rate as you build your economy, which really pushes you to get on with things, great touch.
Creativity: 5/5 Everything about this maps works well. The earlier attacks are very troublesome without being overly threatening. The signpost placement in conjunction with the gatehouses spreads the attackers out around the map and gives a great feeling of 'siege'. Nearly all the attacks had me running archers around the walls to keep up with the attackers as they surrounded my castle, filling the moat.
Map Design: 5/5 This is a wonderful map, very well detailed and extremely pleasing to look at. The castle itself is a brilliant piece of work, its demolished enough to make you want to rebuild it as it should be. There's also plenty of room to maintain food supplies and weapon production from inside the walls. Other resources though are outside and vulnerable, very realistic.
Story/Instructions: 5/5 A great background for the map, informative and well written. Good work.
I don't give this 5 score lightly, this map is a true masterpiece. There aren't too many downloads that get a permanent place in the map files, but this is one of them, I cannot fault this map in any way. The author deserves full credit for this work, very well done! :)
An excellent map, I strongly recommend you play this.
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Jitz |
Posted on 08/01/03 @ 12:00 AM
This is an awesome map. The blend of map elements and story is the best you'll find on this site. And the castle (once restored) allows for plenty of protected stores and manufacturing. I would have given this a perfect score, but I can't beat it...on easy... but I probably just suck!
Great Job, must have took a long time! |
NAT |
Posted on 08/07/03 @ 12:00 AM
A brilliant map all round, but I was indecisive aout giving it the big 5.0. Then I realised I could find no fault big enough to let this fantastic invasion slip. The map is very playable and immendiatly got my atention when fending off attacks from both sides. Very well balanced, I found this map quite difficult and could not survive the first attacks on anything more than normal. Very creative to ue the idea of the ruined castle of Carephilly. It is pretty good resemblance to the castle and the ruined touch ads that special something. The scenary around the castle I would rate 4 but the stunning castle brings it up to five. Very good clear background, history and story - jolly good work. One tip from us is to include pictures in th zip folder and have a picture of the map on the site, so to make people see what the map is vaguely like before downloading it. Overall This map made its way up to the 5.0 and it is thoroughly deserved - a great map! |
jasendorf |
Posted on 08/26/03 @ 12:00 AM
This is an excellent map. If you follow the intro hint, youo'll be fine. You be fine, that is, until the last invasion. Don't let the easy wins of all the early battles lull you into a sense of false security. If you haven't prepared, as I wasn't the first time I played this scenario, you'll get murderized real quick. Hats off for an excellent, well-designed map. |
Arclan Cirel |
Posted on 08/26/03 @ 12:00 AM
Simply incredible castle that is quite enjoyable restoring. I have yet to beat the final invasion. But what an amazing ride ! Outstanding work ! |
Kenji |
Posted on 11/11/03 @ 12:00 AM
So cool!! |
Kenji |
Posted on 11/11/03 @ 12:00 AM
so cool |
ratvet |
Posted on 10/22/04 @ 12:00 AM
If the game AI was a little better, this map would score even more - I really enjoyed playing this, and will now try again without "cheating" by blocking one of the gates! |
Blue Ghost |
Posted on 10/18/18 @ 04:39 AM
Wow, after a couple of years of half heartedly trying it on and off, I finally won this map. Incredible design. I found that building far outside the castle and conserving your pitch for when you really needed it was key to winning this extremely difficult, yet very playable, map. |
HGDL v0.8.2 |
Rating |
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4.8 | Breakdown |
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Playability | 5.0 | Balance | 4.5 | Creativity | 4.9 | Map Design | 5.0 | Story/Instructions | 4.8 |
Statistics |
Downloads: | 6,331 |
Favorites: [] | 1 |
Size: | 826.60 KB |
Added: | 07/23/03 |
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