This, ladies and gentlemen, is Muiderslot. It's one of many castle in my homeland: the Netherlands. This castle was razed after a siege of the Bishop of Utrecht and later rebuild. So if you would like to see a lovely castle and you happen to be in the Netherlands, you must visit it.
Well, as for the map, the soldiers in the keep are heavily outnumbered, but they have a big moat to protect them for a while. As for the attackers, they have the numbers. It's a pretty even map as far as I can tell.
Note: This is the first map I've made, any comments are welcome. Further more, information about the Muiderslot can be found on the castle's website: www.muiderslot.nl
Muiderslot is Ome Arie first siege submit and when this is taken into account he/she has done a fine job at creating a first time siege map. I personally liked this map better than the authors other submit ‘Up Hill Battle’
Playability 3/5 as based on the storyline I played this map as a defensive siege and history was reversed. The reason for that is the map is far to easy to defeat. The AI does a good job of attacking and game play is relatively smooth. The problem with Muiderslot basically comes down to balance issues. I achieved victory on my first attempts at both hard and very hard levels of difficulty. Losses were light at 11% and 7% respectively. Granted I had already defeated the map on hard but a loss rate of only 7% on very hard should never be possible and merely stresses the balance issues.
Balance 3/5 A generous 3, the attacking forces have no ballistic units or siege engines. This creates an ill equipped force for a castle siege. If the troops have been tailored for historical accuracy the author should have noted this. As it stands the attacking force, which is well balanced with regards to melee units, never has a chance due to there shall we say lack of air support. This also kills any replay ability this map has to offer. Once the map has been beaten at very hard there is nothing left to offer. Not a disappointing way to spend a ½ hour though. The bottom line is this map is still enjoyable and offers a decent siege even with the balance issues.
Creativity 3/5 A nice little village and gardens have been added but even here the author could have done more. The village also splits up the attacking macemen who get picked off while they attack the houses. Having reviewed the castle of the week on Muiderslot it appears that Ome Arie only marginally followed the castles true design. As I am a stickler for historical recreations this is in bad form my good fellow. Artistic license can only be taken so far IMO when it comes to this sort of historical recreation. Anything that drastically alters the castles true form should be avoided. With a little more effort you could have found a way to create towers with conical roofs, try this with wall towers and stairs for a starting point! Overall Ome Arie has made a respectable effort in this category.
Map Design 3/5 Animals added to the map die at the beginning and are pointless for a siege map. It appears the trees were added before the streams and thus has left some trees standing in the middle of the water. Lastly I feel some more terrain modulation could have been used. However, Muiderslot is a decent effort overall with more attention being given to small details then in this authors other submit.
Story/Instructions 5/5 Excellent work in this category, Ome Arie has provided a historical intro and a well-written historical storyline. The author has even included links for more information on this castle. A great job, this is how it should be done.
In Short- Muiderslot Castle is a decent effort and not a bad way to spend an hour or so. Keep at it Ome you can only improve on what is already decent work.