The Hermit - Stronghold Crusader 2 AI Lords

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

Overview

"The Hermit has no royal lineage, military background or status but he does have control over and army. His economy relies on religion and his army consists of low level soldiers that he has converted to his cause. His army may not look impressive but he knows to use them effectively. Underestimate him at your peril"

– the Hermit's in-game description

Castles & Defenses

The Hermit constructs a well fortified fortress made up of two squares with the keep placed at their intersection. He prefers thick walls and at least two gatehouses. He raises a staggering fourteen towers along the wall, eight watch towers, four stump towers and two grand towers. The towers, walls and gatehouses are lavishly manned by Arabian archers, some protected by hoardings. All his most important buildings like the stockpile, mercenary camp, mosque, chandlers as well as several houses are located within his enclosure. Only his granary is located outside the castle. Several caged car dogs can be found along the walls. A force of Arabian archers, Arabian swordsmen, slaves and healers can be found atop his keep. The Hermit is quite well protected from fire, as his castles boast a total of six wells.

The Hermit's defences are respectable, but, with some preparation, can be overcome rather easily. The Hermit's greatest flaws are his Arabian archers and the lack of tower engines. While Arabian archers are good at dealing with lightly armoured units, they are a subpar choice against mantlets and or armoured units. As such, archers, mantlets along with catapults or war wolves are more than enough to overcome the Hermit's defenders. Then it's only a matter of storming the castle and slaying the Hermit himself. Since his castle usually hosts only a limited number of melee troops, basically anything unit type can be used for this task. Another way of dealing with the Hermit's defenders is to create a breech and use macemen set to aggressive mode. They will charge in and up the walls, clearing out most Arabian archers rather quickly.

Economy

The Hermit runs a simple economy focused on his mosque. For food he relies entirely on twelve sheep farms. Seven wood camps and three quarries provide him with wood and stone. The heart of his economy is his mosque which a total of twelve chandlers provide with candles. Since both the mosque and chandlers are located within the castle itself, the Hermit is quite resistant to sieges to attempts at starving him out. Religion will continue to provide him with enough happiness to support taxation even if his granary is destoryed.

Raids & Sieges

The Hermit's armies are made up of assassins, slaves, slave drivers, Arabian archers and Arabian swordsmen. In terms of siege weapons, the Hermit deploys mantlets, catapults and war wolves.

The Hermit is something of a cross between the Sultana and Caliph. This is most evident with regard to his harassment behaviour. The Hermit uses two types of harassment groups. One is made up of a total of fifty assassins, while the other is an eighty man strong force of slaves and slave drivers. Both these groups will target any economic building they can find. Assassins might on occasion also attempt to get entry into the castle itself. The Hermit's sieges are by comparison slightly less dangerous. The initial force is usually quite small and made up of slaves, Arabian archers and Arabian swordsmen. A mantlet and a catapult provide initial siege support. Later, as the Hermit's army grow, more siege weapons are added, including the fearsome war wolf. This is when the Hermit starts to become a threat to his opponent's castle. 

When dealing with the Hermit, generally the same rules apply as when fighting the Sultana or Caliph. Aside from ranged units such as archers or crossbowmen, it's recommended to place some melee troops next to your most vulnerable economic structures. These won't only tie up the slaves and assassins, but also spot the later earlier than ranged units atop towers. The Hermit's sieges meanwhile can mostly be repelled rather quickly by sufficient archers or crossbowmen. His catapults and war wolves can cause some damage if deployed in sufficient numbers. Fast melee units for sorties such as conscripts, macemen, Sassanid knights or templar knights on horses are useful here, especially when dealing with the war wolf.