The Snake - Stronghold Crusader AI Lords

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

Overview

Duc Beauregard is an opportunistic lord, who is poised to take revenge on the Boy after he lost one eye in a duel. Preferring to hoard as much gold as possible, the Snake does not hesitate to forge alliances for his own good, only to collapse them shortly thereafter. The Snake's greed prompts him to use only the cheapest troops at his disposal, often to his undoing, even though he has some grasp as to how to run a war industry.

Castles & Defenses

The Snake usually builds simple castles with an abundance of workshops inside. He surrounds his Keep with a combination of snaking Walls and thick patches of Moat, sometimes jointly built and quickly dug by Spearmen. Along the walls Small Gatehouses and Perimeter Turrets are constructed, which house plenty of Archers and a smaller number of Slingers. A few Wells are built to handle fires. The Snake's interior is seen swarming by a myriad of colorful troops, forming the bulk of his defence, as they form up and venture out to harass enemies. Most importantly, Archers patrol the Snake's buildings and also handle small raids in conjunction with Spearmen.

Since the Snake does not use traps and his castles provide a large surface area to break into, besieging his castle is trivial. His concentration of Archers can easily be overwhelmed by a large number of ranged troops, as can the light troops he may send out. The Snake's walls can be easily docked by Siege Towers, or scaled by Assassins, who can then dismantle the weak defenses and eventually capture the inside Gatehouse. Beware of the high number of Spearmen that may rush out aggressively at your troops, who can finish off your raiders, should they be weakened by the Snake's Archers. Setting the castle on fire may not be worth it, even though the buildings are densely packed, because the well workers are immune to fire and they have good building coverage inside.

Economy

The Snake runs a limited industry that can supply the abundance of his cheap units. He relies on mass producing Spears and Bows from less than a dozen workshops, which he sells for profit and stockpiles in large numbers to recruit his units in the dozens. The Snake also gathers Wood and Stone from two quarries, while he supplies his Granary from Apples from Apple Orchards, occasionally buying additional Cheese.

Raids & Sieges

The Snake is focused on making the life of his enemies as miserable as he can. While building up a little defense force early on, he is then quick to recruit lots of Slaves, backed by Slingers to charge down enemy workers and buildings alike. The Slaves like to rush at exposed farms, quarries and mines, while the Slingers tend to run back and forth, eventually closing the gap and annoying the life out of the enemy gatherers and oxen waiting at Tethers. Albeit the Snake's Slaves are usually able to get one or two buildings on fire, another group is quickly assembled in their place and they continue streaming down, eventually slipping through and lighting up densely packed mines or quarries. If the Snake has a lot of gold, he will eventually construct one Catapult and attempt to bombard buildings from afar.

The aggressiveness of the Snake means that he attacks with very high frequency. His ragtag armies are quick to assemble, while also marching in high numbers, added as a diversion in between regular raids. The Snake brings swarms of very light European and Arabian troops to the fray: Spearmen make up the humble core of the army, usually doing busywork on the enemy's walls and filling in the Moat, while both European and Arabian archers are brought to provide covering fire. Laddermen and two siege Engineers constructing one Catapult are a common feature, as they charge the enemy walls and pummel them with stone, respectively. Laddermen are usually great at drawing ranged forces' fire, while the rest of the formation gets into position and starts firing at will. 

The Snake's greatest asset is perhaps his tendency to attack early, catching unsuspecting players with surprise. By far he is one of the fastest attackers, and his units arrive very fast to the scene, backed up by his fiery Slaves. Spending some of your starting stocks for troops and weapon production, as well as setting up a tower or two in the Snake's general direction is a sound way to protect yourself against his raids. Crossbowmen on towers are an universal medicine to the Snake's efforts, since their leather armor absorbs quite a few projectiles, and high miss chance also provides them great longevity. Due to the sheer number of troops however, (Arabian) Archers are also recommended to stop even the last raider from passing by, who are also great at finishing off gravely wounded troops. A cloud of arrows literally stops the Snake's armies dead in their tracks, as well as a Ballista or two may prove useful at disposing annoying Catapults wandering too close to your property.