The Pig - Stronghold Crusader AI Lords

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

Overview

Duc Truffe, enforcer and brutish warlord under the Wolf's command has a knack at using strength to his advantage. His everlasting desire for gold and brutally torturing his enemies made him infamous among both his enemies and his own populace. The Pig - as his gluttonous face and insatiable appetite earned him the name - knows how to use cheese and leather to his advantage, employing one-sided but at times effective strategies of using brutes in battle.

Castles & Defenses

The Pig's castle is of a practical layout, lacking any design principle apart from surrounding his industrial buildings with a snaking line of low walls. He usually builds one Small Gatehouse and several Square Towers as vantage points, strengthened by unusually thick walls that are disconnected from the main walls. Crossbowmen are stationed in these places, as well as they patrol outer buildings. A few Killing Pits are placed at strategic locations, namely: the stairs leading to the towers, the gate and in certain connecting points around the courtyard. The Keep is seen swarming with a large number of Macemen at all times.

The Pig's castle relies on the penetrating bolts of its garrison, but lacks depth otherwise. Knocking a hole in the wall is easy with a Battering Ram or a Catapult, as well as Assassins have a very easy time scaling the walls. With tower engines absent, the Pig's castle can be approached with siege engines of your choice and it is rather easy to level parts of it relatively fast. Due to the sparse nature of the courtyard, fire is rarely effective here, as the Pig employs well workers to quickly put off any burning buildings. Getting up on a Square Tower with your ranged units and spreading them out is an almost guaranteed way to pick off the Pig's ranged units and thin out the macemen on the Keep over time. Be wary of the Killing Pits!

Economy

The Pig runs a straightforward economy with an emphasis on food production. Dairy Farms are built almost everywhere, which are used for leather armor and cheese in the granary, of which the latter the Pig likes to stockpile. He gathers iron and stone adequately to supply his Blacksmiths and to build his castle, which is also his main source of income. Inside the castle the Pig builds numerous weapons workshops, and he also buys in equipment for his troops. In a few designs, some sort of bad Fear Factor buildings are also on display that have more of a visual purpose, rather than an economic one.

Raids & Sieges

The Pig is a notorious user of the Maceman, using them to conduct raids, sorties and most of all, sieges. Macemen are an expensive troop that can brush off a few arrows and bash his target to oblivion. These seek out vulnerable buildings and even troops with heightened motivation and unrelenting power. As a lesser used troop, Crossbowmen are seen patrolling some buildings and most often these are sent out to pick off enemy raiders from afar. The Pig also constructs up to two Catapults that lob rocks and cattle carcasses alike at buildings.

It's no different to the Pig in the case of sieges, forming an attacking army with a heavy emphasis on Macemen and a sprinkled in squad of Crossbowmen. Macemen tend to rush in very quickly, also to fill in the enemy moat and work on the castle walls, as well as to ransack any outlying buildings. Siege engineers are also brought to the fray, constructing Catapults and Battering Rams to bombard the enemy castle and any vulnerable buildings with heavy firepower. 

To parry the Pig's efforts, make plenty of Crossbowmen, who might not be able to hit every Maceman running about, but they are excellent at thinning out the large squads Duc Truffe may throw at you. Fire Throwers / Ambushers may also be a great asset, raining down fire from towers to roast any pig... adversary busy working on your walls. Tower Ballistae & Mangonels in moderate numbers is advised against hostile Catapults and the troop contentrations. Also keep a number of heavy troops on standby if you happen to have quarries and farmland to protect in the open.