Rush | Units Stronghold: Crusader II Guide

Those units can be used in a rush attack.

A tactic relying on performing a quick, sudden attack, using a small, cheap and very mobile group of units, at the very beginning of the game. You will also need to remember about expanding your castle, as the rush attack may prove to be ineffective and the enemy may want to take revenge. Those conditions should be met in order to employ this tactic:

• If you are starting with a huge amount of gold and/or resources
• If you are starting with only your Lord, with no army at all
• There are no other players who can attack you; you are playing in teams and you are sure that your teammate can protect you.

You should decide if you want to use this tactic depending on the amount of points stated above, which turned out to be true - the less there are, the bigger the chance that a failed rush attack can cost you a whole game.

After the game starts, set your Stockpile and Granary. Construct a Mercenary Post and set your food rations to a maximum (and give a slight bribe, if needed). Now recruit 2 Slave Drivers and several dozens of normal Slaves (from 30 to 50). After you've done it, set your rations to normal levels again and send your army in the direction of your enemy's base.

Before the army reaches the base, build:

• 4-6 Wood Camps
• 3-4 Apple Orchards
• 1 Hovel for 8 Peasants

If you have the required wood:

• 1-2 Stone Quarries + 1-2 Ox Tethers next to each one of them.

Use the stones to build your castle - you can first surround your Lord with a single wall and a small gatehouse, to prevent your enemies from what you are doing - a rush attack.

Your army should now be getting closer to the enemy defenses. If the enemy managed to surround his base with walls, use your Slaves to set fire to his buildings - all you have to do is to ignite it and move on to another one.

If you've received some units at the beginning of the mission, you should have taken them with you - use them to kill enemy Archers, who should be standing on the walls. Get rid of all the resistance - the enemy shouldn't be expecting a rush attack, so there's a chance that he won't be prepared and his army will be scattered. After you've set the enemy buildings on fire, order your troops to attack the walls surrounding the castle. You can also try to destroy the enemy Granary, but it's very hard to do so with fire alone.

Depending on the outcome of your actions, you should:

1. If you managed to burn down his buildings, you've killed all the soldiers and you are surrounding the walls, hire 8-12 Arabian Swordsman. Afterwards, send them to the enemy base - they move slowly, so it will take some time. If you are feeling confident, you can start hiring them the moment your first group arrives at the enemy base, but it's a risky move.
2. If your army was killed, recruit another group (1-2 Slave Drivers + 30-50 Slaves) and send a second attack. Even if it won't defeat your enemy, his economy should be in poor state, giving you a slight edge.

In the meantime, try to finish building your walls, so that you have most of your base surrounded by them, and try to set up bread production - build 2-3 Wheat Farms, a Mill and 3-4 Bakeries. Build additional Bakeries and Wheat Farms if needed. Try to set up higher taxes to get that gold income.

If you managed to burst through the enemy walls and you've gained access to the enemy Lord, send your Arabian Swordsmen to kill him off, which will end the game (or just one of the players). If you couldn't finish him off, you can either continue harassing him with smaller groups of soldiers, supported by siege equipment, or to just slow the pace down and move on to the second strategy in this section.