The Pig - Stronghold Characters

Duc Truffe is an antagonist in Stronghold.

Overview

The Pig is an ugly, cruel, brutish man and the Wolf's chief enforcer. Despite his rather unintelligent appearance, his military prowess is only second to his master. The Pig is first encountered during The Rat's Last Stand, sending some lower quality troops to help de Puce. He returns to battle during Snake Eyes, sending parties of macemen and archers to help out the besieged Snake. Following the Snake's death, he begins to relentlessly pursue the player's forces across the land. Still, the duke fails to catch and destroy the player and is eventually dealt several painful blows himself. Most notably the Pig's own home castle is sacked during Carving a Path. The tide finally turns once the player allies with the Black Friars and the Pig's army is finally defeated. The Duc Truffe retreats to his castle for a final stand and is slain there during the eighteenth mission End of the Pig.

Castles

During the campaign the Pig's home castle is besieged twice, although its defences are significantly upgraded the second time. Still even in its first itteration the Pig's home is a deadly stronghold and among the hardest sieges in the game. The castle is of rectangular shape, surrounded by cliffs on either side and divided into a main section with smaller frontal section. The front is surrounded by a deep moat. Each of the castle's two gatehouses are protected by two perimeter turrets while a total of seven square towers are found along the sides. These towers are manned by either archers or crossbowmen. Inside groups of macemen and pikemen guard important areas like the keep and the outer gatehouse.

During the second siege of the castle its already impressive defenses have significantly been improved its already impressive defenses. The perimeter turrets are replaced by more square towers while the gatehouses are upgraded to large gatehouses. A round tower has also been added while two of the outer square towers now carry mangonels. The stone keep has been replaced by a fortress. Pitch and killing pits have also been added outside and inside the castle. The inside houses many economic buildings, hovels, a chapel, barracks, armoury and a large amount of torture and execution devices. A large defensive force consisting of archers, crossbowmen, macemen and pikemen can be found defending the Pig's home.

Military 

Militarily, the Duc Truffe is among the strongest opponents in the game. Initially he uses a similar fighting force to the Snake made up of macemen, archers and crossbowmen, albeit in much larger numbers. Unlike the Snake the Pig also uses siege weapons in large numbers, sometime sending up to four battering rams against his enemies at once. This means he will be cracking walls or bringing towers down much more effectively. Later pikemen are also added to augment his already impressive fighting force. As such one should never underestimate the Pig in battle and make all possible preparations to fend him off. Otherwise his blunt but effective army will roll over any opposition on its path.

Stronghold: Definitive Edition - Swine's Bay

Duc Truffe is featured as the captain's antagonist throughout Stronghold: Definitive Edition's DLC campaign The Swine's Bay. Following their escape from Snake Island, the captain and his men track down the location of the Jewel to an area under the control of the Pig. It is revealed that Sir Longarm's niece is being held captive in the castle of one of the Pig's underlings. With the assistance of local rebels, the captain manages to outwit the Pig and defeat his armies, though in the end it's revealed that the Jewel has been moved to a prison within the lands of the Wolf.

The Pig's forces in this campaign are very similar to his armies faced in the main story. Macemen, Crossbowmen and archers still make up the bulk of his troops. Although pikemen still make an appearance during the first mission, they're later replaced by swordsmen within the Pig's invasion armies. Instead pikemen are frequently seen as defensive units, along with spearmen, during sieges. In terms of siege weaponry, laddermen, catapults and portable shields have been added to the Pig's forces.