The Pig - Stronghold Crusader 2 AI Lords

The Pig is a skirmish opponent in Stronghold Crusader 2 (available as part of the The Princess & The Pig DLC)

Overview

"The Pig is not the smartest lord. He favors brute force over tactical cunning. He uses a limited variety of troops, relying on crossbowmen and macemen to charge in and take down any armored units as fast as possible. The Pig also likes to throw diseased cows into your castle, softening up defensive troops before sending his attackers in."

– the Pig's in-game description

Castles & Defenses

The Pig constructs quite well-designed and protected square castles. Unlike his late father, the younger Pig prefers very thick walls and encases his grand or medium towers entirely with them. Furthermore, his castle is protected by a pair of tower mangonels, while traps are placed closer to the gatehouse. The interior of the castle houses the stockpile, an inn and much of the Pig's ale or weapons production. Crossbowman are stationed atop the towers, gatehouse and along the wall. Further, crossbowmen and macemen can be found in large numbers inside the castle itself and atop the keep.

Besieging the Pig isn't an easy feat. His crossbowmen will make short work of any attacker and are especially deadly to light units. The Pig's biggest weakness are the rather limited numbers of defenders in total. Ironically, the Pig's preferred tactic of swarming his enemy with troops works really well against the Pig itself. Groups of over forty men at arms or archers will pose a serious challenge to him, as his crossbowmen simply won't be able to fire quickly enough to deal with everyone. Manlets are also a good choice, as are massed catapults. Once the ranged defenders have been dealt with, only the matter of dealing with the lord and whatever troops are inside the castle itself, remains. These are most likely going to be hordes of macemen and some more crossbowmen. Swordsmen, Arabian swordsmen or pikemen supported by ranged units are a good choice here. The melee troops will tie down his macemen while your ranged units deal with them. 

Economy

The Pig's economy is pretty simple but efficient. Eight dairy farms produce all the food he needs, while four hop farms provide his six breweries to make ale. Five wood camps, two iron mines and four quarries provide the Pig with whatever resources he needs. The Pig boasts a respectable industry of four artilators, four forges and three armourers. 

Raids & Sieges

The Pig's armies are about as complex as his economy, being made up of macemen, crossbowmen and catapults only.

The Pig is an aggressive lord and will begin harassing his enemies with macemen as soon as possible. The macemen raids continue to grow and in later stages come close to the raid groups of the Rat or Princess. Though deadly and dangerous to any outlying building, these raids aren't the Pig's most dangerous ones. Eventually, very large groups of crossbowmen will join the fight. These will usually head towards an opponent's castle, shoot anything along the way, and attempt to shoot the castle's defenders themselves. Another feature of the Pig is that he will send out his raiders consistently and sometimes even simultaneously with his siege armies. His siege armies are also made up of massed macemen and crossbowmen.  Up to a staggering twelve catapults are also constructed before the siege to level anything in the Pig's way. These shouldn't be underestimated, as a single volley from so many catapults can destroy a medium tower. Although his in-game description states that he loves hurling diseased cows at his opponent, he doesn't actually use trebuchets, which are the only unit capable of doing so in SHC2.

Crossbowmen and archers are a good choice against the Pig. Fortunately, macemen are very vulnerable to ranged attacks and can therefore be dealt with quickly. His crossbowmen can usually be taken out quickly enough by ranged units atop towers. Still, one should be prepared to take some casualties, as the large number of his shooters mean some will usually get in range to shoot one way or another. Pitch traps can be useful in this situation, as crossbowmen are rather slow and will take great damage from the flames. His catapults are best dealt with by fast units of your own such as slaves, macemen or Sassanid knights.