In this 39th mission you are facing three opponents, Richard I (Lionheart), Richard II (Lionheart) and the Wolf (Duke Volpe); each of them has got plenty of gold (40000!)
Starting conditions for player: 3000 gold – high amount of start resources (Deathmatch) but a low number of military units.
You’ll be in a hard position to use those green oasis areas undisturbed on the riverbanks right from the beginning. For that reason, you should exclusively practise the purchase of food on your market place. Keep in mind to buy various foodstuffs getting a high bonus of popularity. Concentrate on producing iron with five iron mines (or more), placed on the northern and eastern map’s borders. Likewise, 4-5 quarries placed on the same areas will help getting additional goods for sale. In selling iron and stone, you will continuously replenish your treasury chambers with gold, necessary for the purchase of food, leather arms, and crossbows in this first phase.
Your building order (from the scratch): 5 stockpile elements, 1 granary, 3-4 woodcutters, 1 market, 4 huts, 1 mercenary post (later barracks), and buy wood now and then. Inns (buy hops!) and churches will raise your popularity, too. Wall in your settlement as fast as possible and erect, at least five square towers controlling the southwestern areas of the plateau, and there’s no need to buy stones, because of a rapidly following stone supply. Staff your towers with three mangonels and two ballistas. The mangonels should target on the enemies’ favourite ways of deployment (sustained fire!).Your ballistas take care of the advancing hostile siege machines.
At the beginning, it’s advisable to recruit about 20 Arabian archers ordering them evenly up on top of your towers with braziers. I also used pitch ditches and war dogs in front of my castle, a quite effective defensive strategy against the numerous approaching pikemen and swordsmen. By the way, knights waiting outside the castle are always very helpful destroying hostile siege equipment.
Later on you must recruit crossbowmen and a garrison of about 60 crossbowmen (finally I had 200!) should be sufficient to repel all the assaults by your three opponents who will repeatedly attack in several waves assisted by trebuchets, catapults and battering rams. Thanks to your well-running iron and stone production you’ll be in good shape to set up a flourishing little town with different workshops, inns and churches.
After having the defence under control, you should tackle Richard I (the southern neighbour). Use trebuchets for your siege operation aiming at Richard’s towers, then take his castle by storm with numerous crossbowmen (protected by shields!) and about 20 swordsmen. As soon as Richard has fallen, you’ll be able to start an independent food supply by placing wheat farms, apple orchards and dairy farms on the conquered fertile southern lowlands. Apply the same tactics against the second Richard by using crossbowmen, swordsmen, and trebuchets (maybe a few fire ballistas, too) and eliminate those dangerous ballistas on the towers keeping your trebuchets at a distance. Your last opponent, the Wolf, possesses such a massive castle, which he’s able to repair or to extend. You won’t be successful by applying siege methods exclusively. I used two siege towers in this case, but first I ordered nearly 60 horse archers to surround the castle by weakening the hostile garrisons on the walls and towers. Then in two waves I sent about 60 crossbowmen, 50 swordsmen and 30 macemen (alternatively assassins) up on my siege towers standing at the Wolf’s front walls. From there it was easy and more efficient putting out of action those defensive forces and weapons placed at the backside of the Wolf’s fortifications. It will be a hard fight, but your persistence will pay off at any case…
Guide by Stratego. Information source: https://stronghold.heavengames.com/downloads/showfile.php?fileid=2046