Stronghold: Crusader Tricks by Leaveyou
Tricks for Crusader Lords – Part Two
Tricking the AI by Stranding the Troops
How could a wall and some stairs stop 50 macemen? It looks like melee troops never try to destroy your stairs unless they they are facing it from one side. If the stair is faced in the troops’ direction they will prefer to climb the stair instead of destroying it, and when they get on top of the stair there is nothing they can do if there isn’t a stair in the other side of the wall.
This first picture shows how it appears to the approaching melee macemen.
This flattened image shows the space between the wall with the stairs and the wall with the archer.
In this last picture, the macemen have climbed the stairs and can be picked off by waiting crossbowmen.
The only problem is that in a map containing this trick the troops just won’t attack considering that the wall with the stair is invincible, so you have to give them a way in the castle by building another ladder on the other side of the wall and quickly delete it after the troops start attacking.