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I am not a vindictive man. Once you are my prisoner, you shall live. Maybe, you will tend my camels.
— Saladin, when sieging player's castle

Saladin is one of the AI opponents that appears in Stronghold CrusaderStronghold Crusader Extreme and Stronghold Crusader 2.

Background

Saladin was the Sultan of Egypt & Syria who led the Muslim army against the Crusaders. He eventually recaptured Palestine from the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem after his victory in the Battle of Hattin. In the third crusade, he fought against the forces of Christian opposition lead by Richard The Lionheart. The battle ended with a treaty that allowed for entrance of Christianity into Jerusalem, and called for a three year truce.

Appearance

As an Arabian lord, he wears a white turban with a golden crescent symbol at the front. His calm face is adorned by a thick facial hair around his mouth, and surrounded by red scarf with yelow color on the edge that is connected  at the front of his chest by a sunflower-like emblem. Like most other lords, he wears a metal chain armor. He wields a sword.

The Arabian lord unit in the game is modelled on Saladin.

Personality

He is a calm, kind-hearted person that always cares for his people. He tends to refer the player as "my friend", indicating that he is an easy-going person. Despite this, he has a very serious tone of voice unlike the similarly easy-going Emir. In battle, he never underestimates his enemies, nor does he overestimate them. He likes to show off his might with confidence, troops and mild taunts.

Castles and strategies

Saladin is one of the hardest AI characters in Stronghold Crusader. He is able to get rich very quickly and swarms troops with ease. One of his weaknesses is that he takes a medium amount of time to set up his keep and defenses.

Economy

Saladin runs the best (if not the most efficient) economy in the game. He gathers all raw materials with many quarries and mines, spams wheat farms to harvest wheat and build hop farms for ale. His economy is based on heavy bread production, fuelling many bakeries and mills. Unseen at an Arabian lord, Saladin also manufactures swords and metal armour from iron (to sell, not for recruitment). Saladin buys in apples and cheese to provide variety for his peasants. To boost taxing further, he applies positive Fear Factor at the cost of efficiency.

Offense

When attacking, Saladin uses hordes of Arabian units of all types, including slaves and assassins. Some fire ballistae is also used to thin out enemy ranks. Assassins and Arab swordsmen will be busy destroying the walls, but assassins will also head for gatehouses and vulnerable walls. Slaves are mainly used for filling moats. Horse archers are also sent and these can be hard to kill as Saladin sometimes likes to move them from side to side in front of the enemies' walls unlike the other Arabian lords.

Saladin likes to harass from the very beginning with horse archers. They can be very annoying if not prepared adequately. Later in the game, expect to see catapults and fire ballistae slowly rolling forward.

Defense

He builds round towers, upon which he mounts ballistae and mangonels. His keep itself is a square, with most of the key buildings located inside. Occasionally, narrow moats will be around certain parts of the wall. Arabian bowmen will be swarming the walls and towers, fire throwers guarding crucial places and the keep hosting entire armies. Saladin does not use traps but firepower to repel attacks.

Saladin handles provocations with a handful of Arab bowmen and a smaller pack of Arabian swordsmen.

How to deal with

Defense

Saladin has an all-round army constitution that needs a good variety of troops to handle. It is suggested that ballistae/mangonels are used with crossbowmen and archers/Arabian bowmen. Crossbowmen can handle swordsmen and really any troops around, but they need help from bowmen to finish off enemies due to their slow firerate. Mangonels are also useful against groups due to their inaccuracy (they can also pick off scattered assassins even if they are invisible), but ballistae perform better against siege equipment.

Offense

Saladin has a much better defense than other lords. In fact, his troops get almost always a +25% morale boost. His mangonels and ballistae in conjunction can really deal damage on advancing ranks. Two strategies:

  • Mass horse archers: 100-150 upgraded horse archers may take out the outer defenses and any pesky soldiers that may attempt to sally forth. Expect huge casualties from extreme firepower and mangonels (ballistae will not hurt if always on the move) and consider focus firing on mangonels/ballistae. Encircle methodically the castle until you can take out most defenders, then concentrate on the keep and campfire. Always keep gatehouses closed and consider bringing slaves to light up the encampment. Saladin will have most of his troops and peasants killed so he cannot put fires off very well. Do not leave your troops in the flames and move in for the kill once the flames die.
  • Standard siege: This method needs a huge number of fire ballistae, catapults and mantlets. Slowly work your way towards the castle, repelling counterattacks constantly. Soon your catapults may fire at the closest tower(s) without much trouble. Leave towers crumbled so Saladin will not rebuild them. You may bring your fire ballistae closer to kill any remaining troops. Continue pounding the walls and structures you see in the perimeter, taking out the mercenary post, market and granary with a priority. When you reach the keep, have your fire ballistae get in range and fire at will. When little to no troops remain on the keep, rush in melee units ignoring fire from remaining units to dispose of Saladin. Use your mantlets in front of your ballistae whenever you can. Again, upgraded fire ballistae may save you troops.

Quotes

See: Quotes:Saladin.

External Links

Article on Saladin (Wikipedia)

Navigation

Template:Character Navigation

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