First Blood | Learning Campaign - Lionheart Stronghold: Crusader II Guide
Last update: 11 May 2016
Win:
- Enemy Lord dies
Lose:
- Time passed: 8 days
- All your units are lost
This mission is your baptism of fire, as you will have to siege an enemy castle. You have to break through the enemy walls and kill their Lord. At your disposal, you will have: Man-at-arms, Conscripts, a couple of Swordsmen, as well as Catapults. You can read about any new unit in the proper section of this guide.
This mission, like the previous one, has quite a short time limit, but the map is very small and there's really no need for you to rush things. This is your first siege (at least from the campaign) so the mission will be fairly simple, as well. Start by grouping up your units - you can do that by selecting a specific group of units and, while holding the CTRL key, press any number from 0 to 9. The selected squad will be assigned to that number - to quickly select it, all you have to do is to press the number again, this time without holding the CTRL key.
Send your Swordsmen ahead, so that they can focus the attention of enemy Archers - given their heavy armor, they will sustain marginal damage. Send your Catapults right behind them - order them to shoot at the tower located to the South from the gate (there should be 2 Arabian Swordsmen standing there). After they've completed the request, order them to besiege the wall until there is a hole in it, through which your units can pass.
As you lack any Archers (or Crossbowmen) in this mission, your Man-at-arms will have to suffice - remember, that they can throw their spears on a short distance, but they can attack enemies even when they have a significant height advantage. While the Catapults are bursting through the walls, send your Swordsmen to deal with their Arabian counterpart, and order your Man-at-arms to go North, along the wall - they will automatically mark their target and start eliminating the Archers. After most of enemy troops are gone, order your Man-at-arms to retreat - there's no need to get them killed, as they can come in handy.
As soon as your Catapults burst through the wall, locate 2 Whirling Dervishes standing near the Well - do not send your Conscripts, or Swordsmen directly to engage them in combat, as they will sustain enormous damage. Instead, use your Man-at-arms - order them to attack one of the dervishes, and as soon as the enemy is down get them back a little bit so that their spears "regenerate". After several seconds do the same with the second foe.
Afterwards, send your Conscripts squad to the Southern wall - they should have no trouble clearing it from enemy Archers. Do the same with your Man-at-arms, but this time send them to the Northern wall, so that they can finish their previous task. The walls should now be cleared and all that's left for you to do is to send all your units to kill the enemy Lord. After several seconds the enemy will bite the dust and the mission will be completed.