The Caliph - Stronghold Crusader AI Lords

The Caliph is a skirmish opponent in Stronghold Crusader & Stronghold Crusader: Definitive Edition.

Overview

The Caliph is a cruel and vindictive opponent, who only bothers with his own mettle, and nobody else's. Ruling his domain with iron hand, he aspires to be the "skirmish master", sending hordes of slaves to burn his opponents to ash. The Caliph also likes to build unassuming castles armed to the teeth, which have taken many unsuspecting armies in engulfing fire, and he does not hesitate to light up even his own men as a last resort.

Castles & Defenses

The Caliph builds rectangular castles that are riddled with numerous Lookout Towers packed with Arabian bowmen, usually having only one way in to the castle. Rarely a second crenellated wall line is added to provide additional protection against bombardment. The outer perimeter of the castle is spread ample Pitch Ditches, ready to be ignited by the numerous tower archers & Fire Throwers spread along the wall. Fire Ballistae are also deployed around the entrance to provide heavy firepower.

Sieging the Caliph is a notoriously easy task to underestimate, as the pitch ditches can fry an almost endless bunch of armored units, and the Arabian bowmen with their height advantage can prove troublesome to dislodge easily. It lacks defensive tower engines however, so roll out a group of Catapults and fire away! Even with the second wall in play, Lookout Towers are very weak and without them the Caliph's defensive play greatly diminishes. It is recommended to remove all vantage points with a Brazier, or thin out the archers with Fire Ballistae to reduce the possibility of the pitch being set on fire. A slow push of Crossbowmen mixed with Portable Shields can hold back anything the Caliph would have to throw at you.

Economy

The Caliph runs a surprisingly modest economy, relying on negative Fear Factor to offset his low economic output. He predominantly gathers pitch, less so stone and iron. He also grows apples for his populace and hops for Ale production to get some taxes off of his people. This means that the Caliph is slow to ramp up, and heavily depends on the current map whether he can muster his troops relatively quickly or not.

Raids & Sieges

Famously, the Caliph uses hordes of slaves to slip by enemy defenses, lighting up farms and quarries of his unprepared enemies. Slaves usually arrive in groups of up to two dozens. If the Caliph does particularly well, he may roll Fire Ballistae and Catapults towards his enemy to cause building damage from afar. The Caliph does not patrol his buildings, instead he lazily throws a small squad of 6-8 Arabian bowmen and a few Arabian swordsmen to brush off enemy raiders.

The Caliph rarely sieges, but he has the ability to muster a number of units. His assortment of attack squads consist of Horse Archers, Arabian bowmen and Arabian swordsmen, as well as he brings Slaves to dig up enemy moat. He also constructs heavy-duty Fire Ballistae with his Engineers to set outlying buildings on fire and deal with defenders. The Caliph's horse archers tend to rush up to the enemy defenders rather than circling around.

Defenses against the Caliph must not be very extensive, but not very light either due to the presence of Fire Ballistae. Crossbowmen can handle the Arabic units with ease, however it is recommended to keep Archers or Arabian Archers to finish off wounded units, since almost all of the Caliph's attackers take at least two crossbow bolts to kill. Keep a handful of Slingers on an intercepting path of the Caliph's numerous slaves and try to build all of your buildings in the defense of moat and walls, if possible, in order to eliminate the Caliph's offensive power.