The Wazir - Stronghold Crusader AI Lords

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

Overview

The Wazir is a headstrong and ambitious vizier, or leader of his loyal desert forces. Tolerating no rivals' presence but only his own, the Wazir relies on spreading his influence in the oasis and uses bread as fuel for both his people and his endless stream of horse archers. His aggressiveness makes him a persistent opponent, but he has gaps in both his castle plans, and his sieges.

Castles & Defenses

The Wazir builds sprawling fortresses that have crenellated walls and large gates outlined in a star-like shape. Each protruding corner possesses a Round Tower in its peak, joined by two Lookout Towers, which are sparsely manned with Arabian Bowmen and Fire Throwers, respectively. The inside is usually densely packed with industrial buildings, as are the close perimeters between corners. These pockets host usually a few civilian buildings, which are bordered by invisible Pitch Ditches and sometimes Moat. Fire Ballistae are placed evenly on the outside of the castle. Horse Archers are seen swarming all nooks and crannies of the enclosure, often patrolling between buildings, or charging man by man at close attackers. Eventually, Engineers with boiling oil may scale the gates and towers.

Sieging the Wazir's castle may prove less challenging than normal, as it contains less man than desired on the outer edges, falling easily even to a moderate-sized army. The long wall sections attract Siege Towers to dock, while the pitch traps with the Moat can be traversed around by your troops. With the Wazir's gates closed and his walls scaled, his sluggish Arabian Swordsmen and grounded Horse Archers may have trouble reaching your overwhelming number of ranged units. Defending Fire Ballistae may prove troublesome to destroy, but since the Wazir adds no defense equipment to his Round Towers, they won't last long to concentrated fire. Light up the Wazir's interior to greatly weaken and even fry some of the Arabian armor that may congregate around the Lord, then finish the Wazir off, when the flames have died down!

Economy

Bread is the name of the game for the Wazir, as he builds an abundance of Wheat Farms and about two dozen bakeries inside and outside of his castle. He also gathers lots of pitch and wood, as well as he builds up to 3 Stone Quarries and a lone Iron Mine. The Wazir also surrounds his castle with Bad Things, boosting his worker productivity at the expense of some combat morale. He does not tap into other aspects of popularity, relying on the sheer production of bread and later on selling stone, once his castle is complete.

Raids & Sieges

The Wazir is fond of Horse Archers. With his economy in full swing, he loves hiring these expensive raiders and patrol them between his buildings and occasionally send them out at random targets, before recalling towards the keep. These groups can eventually grow very large, as large as thirty to forty troops. Horse Archers in general may prove very annoying to deal with, as they are fast, can fire on the move with impunity, and they take quite a few arrows to kill. Left unchecked, the Wazir's raids can shut down a portion of a weakly defended economy. Between raids, the Wazir also constructs Fire Ballistae and steadily moves them on the perimeter of the enemy, attacking troops and buildings alike.

While the Wazir may prove troublesome with his raids, his sieges also hinge on his use of Horse Archers, which he uses very clumsy. Arabian Swordsmen and Fire Throwers accompany his large group of Horse Archers, arriving quite slowly to the scene. Engineers are also sent to construct siege engines, namely Fire Ballistae and Trebuchets to make short work of enemy ranged defenders and towers alike. The Wazir usually sends his Horse Archers forward as a distraction to the enemy, buying limited time for his slower troops to arrive, and start working on buildings and walls. After the horsemen and fire throwers are gone, the Arabian armor may pose limited threat to the attack target.

Usually the Wazir's large raid groups are what make him a factor in any given game. Horse Archers in general are best countered by Crossbowmen, who not only can take quite a punishment on top of towers, but they also invalidate any troop the Wazir may throw at your fortresses. His Fire Throwers are usually picked off before they could do any damage, and the Horse Archers are usually ineffectively shooting just by standing around their initial attack point. The Wazir's siege engines may prove to be an annoyance with their long-range capabilities - particularly the Fire Ballistae -, so either have a field army on standby to dispose of the Engineers, or construct massive towers with Tower Ballistae on top to quickly eliminate the wooden contraptions. Once the Horse Archer streams are contained, the Wazir will prove to be less effective than most other lords in the game.