King Arthur is a character and AI opponent appearing in Stronghold Legends.
Overview[]
"Sworn to return and protect his people in times of need, Arthur is a noble king and a brave warrior. He relies heavily on his 'Knights of the Round Table and his loyal advisor and friend, the wizard Merlin."
Information[]
Arthur is one of the most famous legendary heroes in history. He is the protagonist of an ancient medieval British mythology, acting as the defender and the King of Britain. He had various campaigns against the invading Saxons, he pulled the Excalibur sword out of a mighty stone, which could slice through iron and steel, he found the Holy Grail and fought a deadly battle against the traitor Mordred.
Arthur was a fair and confident ruler of Britain, He summoned his finest knights to the Round Table, who assisted and accompanied him to his journeys. Arthur's family was also notable for their popularity and the fact that most male relatives became members of the Round Table. His wife was Guinevere, who had affairs with Lancelot.
Defense[]
Arthur builds a densely walled, square-shaped castle in the design akin to that of Richard The Lionheart from Crusader. He includes the keep in the enclosure and adds engine towers on each corner, each hosting either a mangonel or a dragon harpoon with archers. There are two gatehouses on the sides which allow seamless traffic through the castle, guarded by pikemen. The more open wall sections are reinforced by rolling logs.
Economy[]
King Arthur's economy is a robust and versatile one, featuring extensive weapons and ale production. He brings in lots of honor from the pantry by producing vegetables, wine and pigs. Two quarries and three iron mines create resources for profit and construction. Arthur manufactures equipment for his army in numerous workshops, and even buys them aggressively to create lots of troops.
Due to the heavy gold investment in his industry, Arthur's economy tends to greatly slow down his recruitment until developed.
Offense[]
Arthur builds armies of expensive troops that are tailored to breach a castle with great efficacy from the Round Table's knights. He brings in a mix of archers and heavy armor: pikemen and swordsmen. He also creates a number of siege equipment to create breaches and dock on walls in the form of numerous catapults, a ram and a siege tower. Cats are also constructed to provide additional defense against ranged units.
Most notably, Arthur is a dedicated user of the Round Table: of powerful units, who have the ability to quickly turn the tides of battle. He brings Gawain, Galahad, Bedivere and Percival alongside his infantry, and sends them in waves after each other. Of the knights, Sir Percival tends to be most liberal with his explosion ability, sending units into oblivion, while Sir Bedivere gets close to the walls and bring down a chunk of them. Rarely, Galahad can be seen healing wounded unit groups.
With his economy set up, Arthur also sends raiding groups. Usually these consist of smaller bands of archers, pikemen or swordsmen, but he can also send in more expensive options. He often summons Merlin alone, targeting wandering peasants with his lightning and also taking out groups of units with Dragon's Breath. Very rarely, he also sends a green dragon over the terrain targeting clumps of units.
Defense[]
Contrary to other lords, Arthur spends a lot of time establishing his economy and even when he is at his fullest, he builds up his army rather slowly. Arthur therefore does not pose much of a threat early on, relegating harassment mostly to a few archers and pikemen that is very easily dealt with.
Eventually, Arthur will have enough funds to send expensive raider units, most notably Merlin and a green dragon. Merlin usually walks up to your castle and starts harassing any unit in his sights, with his ability ready by the time he reaches you (unless Arthur is very close). A neat trick to use against Merlin is to send a melee unit or two to overpower him, as Merlin himself is very weak in melee combat. The dragon can be dealt with by adding dragon harpoons in the path of its flight along with a group of ranged units. Make sure to move out its fire once it connects with your troops.
When Arthur sends his army against you, he tends to be rather menacing. Not only he fields lots of pikemen and swordsmen along with archers, he also brings a lot of Knights of the Round Table and he is quite adept at using them. Arthur does not hesitate to fire off Sir Percival's area blast at the slightest provocation, and he also likes to heal injured troops with Sir Galahad. In general, Arthur usually sets up his siege camp quite close to your fortification, so have plenty of ranged units ready, particularly crossbowmen, who can easily dispose of the knights' mounts, which Arthur does not replace.
Facing the full might of Arthur's siege army, be sure that you spread your troops among multiple groups, minding Percival's area blast. Archers and the massed armor can easily be dealt with by lots of crossbowmen, however the siege engines Arthur brings could be rather numerous, so you may want to prioritize them. Catapults come up to six at a time and they tend to rush forward, usually without their supporting cats. A ram and a siege tower, as well as up to a dozen laddermen will rush up to your walls, so have sporadic troops and maybe close range wall defenses ready to deflect ladders. Sir Bedivere will also arrive to bring down a chunk of your encirclement, easing getting into your castle. Guard this hole with some sturdy units (melee fantasy units or macemen will do) and hold up the intruders long enough for your crossbows to do their work.
Offense[]
Arthur's castle may be one of the costliest to create and no wonder it also takes some time to siege. He has a well-rounded defense area commanded by two mangonels and some missile troops from the four engine towers on the corners. He however lacks the range to deal with ranged artillery, so bring up some snipers to take out the troops on the top of the towers.
Start bringing in fire ballistae, trebuchets or stake hurlers and fire away at a chosen tower (preferably one with a mangonel on top). Usually there will not be many archers to respond, so you will end up picking them off earlier than you. Patrols will come fast to respond to your actions, so move in with the army, while still trying to stay outside the range of the other mangonel. When playing Ice, using 20+ frost giants and polar bears can trivialize the siege by bashing the gates and the towers, while your ranged infantry moves in to provide covering fire. Demolishing the barracks and the armoury can prevent Arthur from reinforcing his defenses. In the end, move in for the kill with some sturdy units.
| Action | Quote | Sound |
|---|---|---|
| Prepares for siege | Today, I march on our enemies, my Lord! | |
| Sends army 1 | Let the bells ring out: this day we march to war! | |
| Sends army 2 | Knights of Arthur, we march to battle! | |
| Launches attack 1 | Let the siege commence! | |
| Launches attack 2 | Let the siege commence. | |
| Summons Merlin | Ah Merlin, my friend, it's good to see you! | |
| Player's buildings are destroyed | Destroy the traitor's buildings! | |
| Close to victory | And so the traitor falls! | |
| Defeats player | Another traitor meets their end. | |
| Player deflects attack | Knights, retreat! This battle is lost. | |
| Player destroys buildings | You may destroy our buildings, but Camelot will live on! | |
| Panicking | The enemy are at Camelot's gates! | |
| Defeated | And so I go... to sleep the endless... sleep. | |
| Requires help | Camelot needs your help, my Lord! | |
| Predicts defeat | Where are my true knights now, in this high time of need? | |
| Kills common enemy | Another of our enemies is vanquished! | |
| Player kills common enemy | You fight well, my Lord! | |
| Falls as ally | Take Excalibur to the lake, my friend, my time on this earth is over. |
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| Stronghold Legends characters | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skirmish | Good | Arthur • Lancelot | Ice | Dietrich • Siegfried | Evil | Vlad • Mordred |
| Campaign | Good | Alfred the Great | Ice | Evil | Beowulf | |