Sim Campaign: Mission 4 - Outlaws

By Lord_Chris

Mission Objectives:

• Win: Recruit 20 Archers
• Win: No Wolves left on the map
• Lose: Your Lord Dies

This mission starts with you in a new location. Your primary estate is now the one where the ruined Keep was in Chapter 3. You still control and own your original estate, however this has now become a neutral estate in the same way any other estate in the game is used.

Start this mission by placing your Barracks. An unusual starting point for your Castle, but in this mission one of great strategic importance. Even a superficial look at your estate can tell you the best place to build your Barracks is next to the two bridges on the east of your Keep. There is one place where the Barracks can be placed, with the battlements facing east and the rest of your Barracks facing west. Keep moving your mouse until you find the correct spot, because it's of vital strategic importance later on when Outlaws will start attacking you.

Now you have a Barracks placed, it's time to get to work on your economy. Place another Apple Farm two Hunter Posts too. Now it's time to get some industry up and running. Because you still own your old estate, you can place buildings in it. Note that the peasants drawn for these buildings are actually from your old estate, and not your own castle- the same as resources to feed them, and any resources they produce will also go there. But that's fine, because you can transfer goods using a Carter Post to your own estate at any time. So start by placing a Stone Quarry and an Ox Tether on the stone available. Now place the free saw pit in your current estate, just next to the trees.

You will receive some reinforcements shortly, which will arrive from over the eastern bridge in your estate and head to your Stockpile. Place these immediately upon atop your Barracks, because Outlaws will soon be attacking. These few troops will for now keep these invasions at bay, but you will soon need more. At this point, your first shipment of wood should have arrived. Make sure you place a Well, as a fire will soon start, and then use the rest of your wood placing more saw pits. When you get your next shipment of wood, this time start by placing some Apple farms in your old estate. You'll likely find that there are far more peasants than available food, so this will have an effect on popularity unless you act fast. You can also later send shipments of Apples to your own Granary if you wish. Secondly, place a Market in your own estate and purchase ten Stone.

Now, place a Treasury using this and start taxing your peasants. It may be helpful if you align your Treasury alongside your Barracks- doing so will not only delay outlaws coming to attack you, but also provide more wall for your Archers to protect your estate from. Make sure that you have some form of positive popularity coming in too, so if you haven't yet, increase your Granary rations to Extra, which should offset any negative popularity from the taxes. Now place another Hovel and another Well.

By this point, at least some Stone should have been produced by your old estate. If you haven't already, place a Carter Post in that estate, and start transferring Stone into your new estate. This will allow you to build an Armoury, where you can start producing Weapons. Note that the Armoury should be placed next to your Stockpile, not near your protecting wall. This is because it will quickly allow for you to mass produce weapons, with workers having very little distance to travel. Place several Fletcher's Workshops, and by now your estate should be looking something similar to this:



As soon as you get the chance, start purchasing Archers- and not a moment too soon either, because you will probably be running very low on troops now after the constant bombardment. The good news is however, that because of your wise placement of buildings, thw worst should now be over. Keep recruiting Archers, but make sure you have enough gold. Sell some resources in your Stockpile if you don't.

Interestingly, as soon as you reach the 20 Archers you are required to recruit, the Outlaws essentially stop attacking you for a while. This makes it very easy for you to move forward without many issues. Start by placing a Lord's Kitchen, two vegetable farms and a Pig Farm. Place all three of these as close together, and as close to the Keep as possible. If you have the wood, I would strongly recommend restructuring parts of your estate to allow for more buildings later on- this is still a relatively small and compact estate, and you don't want to run out of space in later missions. I restructured my saw pits and placed these buildings around the back of my Stockpile.



Now I'd urge you to (unfortunately) place two Poleturner's Workshops, because you will need to recruit some Spearmen to protect your Archers against the Wolves. There is of course one bonus by recruiting Spearmen, which is that you don't need any Honour. Set your rations to double, and increase your taxes again. Just make sure you have enough food to cover this increase. Once you have about fourty Archers, you're ready to start attacking. Taking some spearmen with you for protection, half your army and take 20 Archers to attack some of the wolves. Start with the ones which are closest to your estate, and take the wolves in one "block" at a time. After each encounter, reform your troops and advance again.



Simply continue all the way up to the end of the estate dispatching each block of Wolves as and when you find them. Once all wolves are gone, the mission will be won. Make sure you save your game before continuing onto the next mission, as the game does not automatically save your progress for you. You can also download a saved game from our downloads section here.