Nigel

Dear Lords and Ladies, I want to wish you all a merry Christmas time and a happy 2017. May the fire in the hall of your keep always be warm and your granary always be full. All the best, Nigel

Hi guys, just dropping in to say that I am still with you, even if I have been rather silent recently. I am taking a bit of a break from Stronghold and have re-discovered Mount&Blade Warband. The game is not new (2010, I think) but very fun. I am enjoying the open world aspect of it, roaming the land with my warband with no fixed script and the freedom to go wherever fate takes me :) But that does not mean I have stopped Stronghold. I am sure I will get back to it eventually - I always have. Meanwhile I am still here and enjoy reading your posts.

Ok, I managed to do a second attempt today and it went better - well sort of. I dug in (which is the name of the game :) ) and build some defences and eco. I ran 2 waves of attacks - the first one broke the outer gate and destroyed the barracks. I discovered a hidden path and the second wave brought my knights onto the walls of the inner ring. They ran around it clearing if of archers and catapults. But they were to few and before they even managed to get down into the courtyard, the king's men had cought up with them. The king seems to have a huge reserve of men. I beat off 2 of his attack waves, the last one was fended off with 3 month left on the clock. I launched a desperate all-in attack but it was too late and the time was up before I could get there. It felt much better than the first attempt, only that in this one I did not manage to set foot on the keep. Chris, I will attach both save games and leave it up to you to decide which one you consider getting furthest. A brilliant map in any case. :D Week 42 Nigel.zip

Ahh, nice. I have been waiting for another challange where I can play the game rather than make a map. That's just more my cup of tea. :) But yes, this one is reallly tough. I must admit that I did not take it seriously at first and just used what I had from the start without building up my siege camp. And mind you, that is already a lot of troops and weapons. But it was not near enough to win this mission. Still I managed three attack waves: the first broke the outer gate, the second got me over the inner wall and the third had me set foot onto the enemy keep. But then the King launched his counter attack and defeated me with 32 month left on the clock. I may have a chance to give it a second attempt tomorrow. If I don't, Chris you can consider this as my sporting entry. :D

Sir Charles Lorgin cought up with him on the way and Brother Goodman took the opportunity to tell him what had been spoken in the Royal tent. "This is splendid", the young knight replied. "You are having a king as guest on your land. I am really a little bit envious of you - but only a little bit. I know that it is not only a great honour, but also a great deal of work to be hosting a king and his family. And a great responsibility, too. Far too much for my small forest estate :) Well, if there is anything I can help you with - be it food or additional servants or a good wine from my cellar - do not hestiate to call on me."

Hi gus, sorry for my long silence on this thread (and this site). I was traveling quite a lot over the recent days and rarely had internet connection. But I am back in the saddle now :) Anyway, for this adventure I think we are waiting for some input from Charles of Tours. Brother Goodman has entered the tent of King Alfonso and we are keen to learn what the king will tell him.

A heavy hand landed on Brother Goodman's shoulder. He looked up in surprise, only to see his friend Charles Loring standing above him and handing him a cask of water. "I was at the other side of the garden, when I heared what sounded like battlecries. When I came nearer, I saw some Wolverine Guards running with their tails between their legs. So I thought I would head into the direction where they are running from and would have a good chance finding you there :D " "Here, take this towel, too. You are expected to speak to King Alfonso alone, but you must tell me all about it, when you come back"

Meanwhile, unaware of the events on the far side of the Gardens, Charles Loring took a letter from his pocket and read over it again. It was from his brother, Nigel, who was giving him an account of his recent travels. Although Sir Nigel, beeing the firstbore, had inherited their father's estate, it never kept him home for long and he had gone on Crusade with King Richard. That had not quite gone as planned for him, but after falling out with the King and recieving a tough beating by the King's loyal lords at Upway Castle, the King had pardoned him and allowed him to return home. On the way home, he was now stuck on the island of Sicily, where he got right in the middle of the Dukes fighting over supremacy of the island. But one day, eventually, he would return to his estate in England. Sir Charles put the letter away. "For beeing my older brother, he has quite a talent for getting himself into trouble", he though. He was glad that he now have his own estate, by grace of Duke Christopher, awarded for his services - a small forest estate with lots of deer for the hunting he loved so much. Suddenly he felt like taking a bit of fresh air. He put the letter away and walked out into the Gardens. Everything seemed calm and peaceful ....

While all this happened, Sir Loring still sat on the table by the window, enjoying the drinks with the other lords. He wondered why his friend Goodman had been called away so urgently. But surely in time he would be told about it. Slightly shifting the sheathed sword, that he wore at his side ever since Duke Christopher had given it to him as reward of his services, he made himself comfortable in his chair and waited.

Nice videos, Tokamaps :) I have only gotten familiar with the Warhammer lore recently, as CA brought out their new title Warhammer: Total War. But it is a nice idea to make a video in that realm with Stronghold 2. I love how you have made the Griffon blazon for the shields of the Imperial troops.

I am on FireFly's email newsletter and recived a note saying that players, who already own the game, get a free upgrade to the Steam version :)

A long evening it was yesterday: all of the final battles in this tournament have been fought. Igi and kurnaz did their matches first, fighting for counties 7 and 11. Both played very well, sending horse archer armies to ride out against each other. It was igi who managed to win both battles - but not without Kurnaz' men touching a torch to Igi's caslte buildings on each occasion. The last battle of the tournament was Monk's invasion of county 9. His Arabian archers were ready to march out as soon as the peace time was over. Igi's lord defended bravely and single-handedly in front of his castle. Here you can see him in the midst of the attacking force. He actually managed to return to the castle alive from that encounter - that was very spectacular. :D But he was overcome in the end and the Purple team take their well deserved victory. So with that, the tournament can be concluded: The Purple Team with Mr. Monk and Tat4ba are clearly the winners. They have been the strongest team in the contest and deserve to take the 1st place. The Blue Team with Igi.tanas and Dodorus have managed to secure the 2nd place in this tournament. That was a tough race and stood on a knife's edge right to the end. Orange and Dark Red have the same number of counties now. But having followed the battles it is clear that Kurnaz and Kiki, seasoned veterans as they are, are the stronger team. Still I applaud Strahi and Kita, both of them relatively new players, for seeing it through to the end. Keeping out of trouble was their strategy for survival. Congratulations to all of you. It was well played :)

Ok the attacks are in: Monk (Purple) is attacking county 9. Igi (Blue) is attacking county 11. Kurnaz (Dark Red) is attacking county 7 from county 10. Strahi and Kita (Orange) do not attack, and thereby secure their suvival. :) So we have 3 battles to fight. Also, it turns out that time is getting really tight and therefor this will have to be the last round of the tournament. It will end on the Wednesday battle hour. Last chance to do battles is to meet on Steam at 20:00 UCT. Make sure you are there and don't miss your chance.

Greetings Mylords, I returned from the weekend today and see that the battles have been fought. This is how the new situation looks: Quite a lot of battles have happened in this tournament. But the fact that we are running into the holiday season is now making it more difficult to keep up the pace. After talking to several players, I realize that we will have to bring the contest to a conclusion soon - otherwise we run the risk of getting to a stand still as simply too many players (myself included) will be away. It has become clear to me, that this has to be the last week of the tournament. Between now and Thursday evening, we can probably play another 2 or 3 rounds and I will make the judgement call after the last battle on Thursday - and hey, if the Purple team go on like this, they may even reach the 60% of counties by then. :) I am in touch with the players on Steam. For those of you who are watching the tournament here on the forum, I will also keep updating the maps, but please bear with me, if I may not always be able to show the attacks with arrows on the map. I will do my best to keep you up to date, nevertheless. Good Luck to everyone for the final week of this contest.

Yes, Tokamap, it is really be interesting to see how it develops :) And EaglePrince, that map, The Great Falls, is a player made map by Power Plug (aka Kyle-KR). The map actually won the first prize in a mapmaking contest organized by FireFly. And now the attacks for this round are here: Quite a lot of action in the middle of the island :) Please go ahead and make your battles - GL and HF.

With that, round 5 is now over and round 6 begins: The Purple team are now clearly in the lead with 6 counties. Blue and Dark Red both have 4 counties and it will be interesting to see who can secure the second place. Orange is clinging on to their 2 counties in the West. We will see if they will manage to hold out until the end.

All the battles for this round are over. The Purple team was successful in thier conquest of county 4. Their Empire now stretches along the southern coast. The battle at the border between county 3 and 7 was fought yesterday evening. It was played as a 1v1 between igi and kurnaz and I was able to join this match and watch it in co-op mode. Strahi was also watching in co-op and several other players were watching Steam streams of the game - quite an event. :D The match was played on the beautiful, prize winning map The Great Falls (by Power Plug). This is a screenshot just at the end of the peacetime. Both players set out immediately with mercenary armies after the pt was over. Igi had recruited horse archers, which are fast and mobile, while kurnaz had chosen arabian archers, which have a longer range. Soon a game of cat and mouse began. Both players moved their troops with skill, fighting for positions and estates. But slowly Igi's horse archers seemed to get the upper hand and eventually he was able to bring catapults close to Kurnaz' wall. The first ones were still taken out by a macemen charge, but on the second try he managed to breach the wall. Kurnaz still held out in his castle for the whole of the 30 minutes game time. It was day 33 when Igi defeated his lord. But Igi wins by beeing Greatest Lord on day 30. I know that the Greatest Lord score can sometimes be a bit inaccurate, but in this match Igi has been Greatest Lord for most of the match and on day 30 the difference was quite big. So there is no question about it and Kurnaz immediately congratulated igi on his victory. One more thing happened in this battle. At one point, Kurnaz launched a carefully prepared counter attack with assassins and macemen. They almost suceeded to kill Igi's lord. During his defence, Igi made use of the "Tower Bug". This trick is somewhat controversial in the MP community. While some players consider it an exploit (I know that Skur and Korsar hate it), other players consider it a valid tactic. I talked to both players about it after the match and Kurnaz does not mind. But I am still asking Igi - and everyone else, too - if they want to use this trick, ask your opponent about it before the match. If they don't think it is ok, don't use is. But if they agree, I have no problem with it and we don't have to prohibit it. SicilyRound6_01.bmp

Hi guys, this thread is to organize a Capture the Flag (Colloseum) multiplayer event for this weekend. The map will be Tokamap's map from this thread. I am suggesting Saturday at 14:00 GMT, but I am open to change it to a different time or to Sunday, if that is better. Players: EaglePrice Nigel Hopefully we can get a few more.

Great ! :D I will open a new thread, so that we don't derail this thread with lots of posts about making time arrangements. Hopefully Tokamaps and some other players can join, too.

Glad you were able to try this in multiplayer. As it happens, I will have some time to play on this weekend. So if you guys are interested, we could have a go at it on Saturday afternoon or on Sunday.

And the troops move out. The Purple Empire is moving West and attacking county 4. Kurnaz and Kiki are also moving West, but they are getting counter-attacked by Igi and Dodorus. This clash of arms will be decided in one battle at The Great Falls. This could be a turning point for the Blue team in their bid for the second place. The Orange team have again decided not to attack this round. Strahi and Kita are waiting and certainly watching the developments of the bigger kingdoms. Best of luck for your battles. I will continue and initiate the next round as soon as you guys tell me the outcomes.

Hi Monstertomete, first of all: wellcome to the Stronghold Nation :) Can you post a link to the video you made? I would love to see how this is done.

All the battles for round 4 have now been fought and this is how the map looks now: The Black team with Rakso and Letonetma has been eliminated from the tournament. As Rakso was on vacation, Letonetma bravely stood up against Kurnaz in a 1v1 battle. Kurnaz prevailed, but the Black team go out with a fight :) GG to Rakso and Letonetma who staying for up to 4 rounds in a tough corner. In the West, the Blue defeated Orange. Igi and Dodorus now have a somewhat "patchy" kingdom. But they are good fighters and they are surely still in the race. And I also want to announce another change. Several players have asked me, if we could speed up the tournament and move to 2 rounds per week. Well, at first I was sceptical, but after some thinking I believe it may be possible. So here is what I would like to do: Form this round onwards, we will abandon the rigid schedule of 1 week per round. Instead, players can play the battles as soon as a new round starts and I will end the round as soon as the last battle has been fought. We have only 4 teams left and all of them are very active. And even though I will be afk for a few days in August (please bear with me during those days) this may perhaps allow us to play 2 or 3 rounds in 1 week. With that round 5 is now open. Please let me know where you want to attack next.

I tried it today in single player. Landscape looks great :) But with the file in the attachment I found that I could not move my troops without placing my stockpile. And I could not place my stockpile as there was no room in the estate. When I edited the map and placed a stockpile next to the keep in the map editor, it all worked as intended. So maybe I missed something, or you may want to add stockpiles next to all the keeps on the map. But yea, other than that it is a cood idea and I would love to give it a go in MP.

Whow: you made it by 1221. Cool :)