Vlad - Stronghold Legends AI Lords

Vlad Tepes is a skirmish opponent in Stronghold Legends.

Overview

Vlad is a ruler carrying a burden of a tortured and despicable past. After his family and political relations with neighbouring empires were sent into turmoil, he built a foothold in his Transylvanian domain, from where he has exerted his control, ruling with iron hand. His particularly cruel ways to punish his opposition, including pulling them into the stake has forever associated him with the Impaler 'nickname'.

Castles & Defenses

Vlad constructs a castle in the shape of a shield, with the Keep featured as part of the surrounding walls. He has two Engine Towers on the northwestern & northeastern corners equipped with a Dragon Harpoon each. Following the walls south are added a Gatehouse and a Lookout Tower each, with Archers spread sporadically on top of them. Patches of Pitch are scattered around the castle, as well as Giant Bats circle around the encampment in low altitudes. Vlad places most of his buildings (except for the Sorcerer's Tower) inside the castle. The southern wall is protected by Fire Drakes and Oil Tippers.

Vlad's castle is well-designed, but suffers from the lack of troops, as Vlad himself prefers relentless attacking. He heavily relies on the patrolling Bats and triggering his Pitch Ditches at the right moment to repel any siege attempts. His castle is badly equipped against bombarding artillery however, so he can be caused great damage from a mass of Catapults, Cats and Trebuchets. After his walls are somewhat chipped, a wave of Laddermen may find ample success at creating a path to Vlad's walls, where his towers are bound to be quickly overwhelmed. While Vlad may be rapid at responding to threats, he does not use strong units in the needed numbers to address them. His summoned Werewolves may also buy only a little time before the Lord falls.

Economy

Vlad uses cheap, but honor-intensive troops in terms of cost, therefore he focuses on a heavily varied Royal Food diet. In other branches he is surprisingly passive, relying on a single Stone Quarry to build his towers and two Pitch Rigs to spread his invisible defenses. Vlad also gains some surplus money from excess Cheese and Meat, as well as he builds three Fletchers to supply his Archer bands.

Vlad keeps a rather modest stockpile of resources, except for Food & Royal Food. He has a small stock of Pitch, a large number of Bows in the Armoury and an assorted selection of weapons; he sells other resources unutilized by him, such as Iron.

Raids & Sieges

Vlad is the epitome of persistence and unrelenting aggression. He favors amping up the pace, using swift, cheap and light units in a steamroll fashion to seize the initiative and maintain it. Vlad recognizes the vulnerability of Walls and thus likes to send hordes of Demons and 2-4 Vampiric Creepers at his enemies, in waves. Both troops can easily scale exposed walls, as well as Demons can cause a ruckus as they fight with fire, which can spread to nearby enemy buildings. Vlad also likes dispatching Archers, Giant Bats and Stake Hurlers to swiftly strike from range. The Black Dragon may also see the light of day in his hands, wreaking havoc among concentrated troop formations or the heart of the enemy economy.

Vlad is also known to frequently conduct sieges. In accordance with his warfare principles, he prefers fast infantry and mobile siege engines. His armies tend to start out small, however they can slowly grow with each attempt. Vlad's groups consist of mostly Archers, supported by Hellhounds and brutish Saxon Warriors. From the Siege Camp he rolls out four Catapults and four Mantlets, as well as a Battering Ram and a Cat. He also sends swarms of 20 Laddermen to invade the enemy walls and gates.

As indicated, Vlad may not have the strongest siege attacks, but he is very quick to assemble them. Still, it's his raids where he excels, so considerable effort must be put into putting together a proper defense. Your castle walls should be fortified with traps and attachments, as Creepers and Demons come in large numbers. A number of ranged troops should also be on the lookout for aerial threats, should Vlad send Bats and Dragons, and keep sturdy grunts near these concentrations, as Vampiric Creepers can convert your Archers and Crossbowmen, given the opportunity to do so. Spread out troops also excel at pushing unwanted ladders off, and be ready to contest the Saxon Warriors just in case some ladders would remain.