The Emperor - Stronghold Crusader 2 AI Lords

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

Overview

"The Emperor is corrupt and devious. His castles are grand and impressive, designed to intimidate his enemies. He likes to attack from a distance using trebuchets to take out your defences and scouting parties to disrupt your resource chains. Overconfidence is his weakness."

– the Emperor's in-game description

Castles & Defenses

The Emperor's castle is a truly amazing fortress, possibly second only to the castle's of Saladin or the Wolf. The ring shaped castle features four gatehouses, one in each direction, a staggering sixteen watch towers, four medium towers, three tower ballistae and numerous man traps in and around the castle. Each tower is manned by a combination of archers and crossbowmen. A personal bodyguard of pikemen, crossbowmen, archers and conscripts is located atop the keep. Since the emperor is quite fond of assembling troops for harassment, some hundred conscripts can usually be found inside the castle as well. The inside of the castle hosts the stockpile, barracks, armoury, inn, church, weapons industry, wells, houses and chandlers. Some more houses and the granary can be found outside the castle.

Assaulting the Emperor's castle is quite a challenge, as he's prepared for every eventuality. Still, with enough firepower and numbers, even the Emperor can be overwhelmed. While trebuchets are inadvisable against him, catapults, war wolves or a combination of both are a good choice. The Emperor's preference for watch towers is a serious weakness. One or two volleys from catapults can bring the tower down already, similarly tower ballistae can't take a lot of punishment. The medium towers are more sturdy but few in numbers. Using siege weapons, dismantle his defences step by step. Keep in mind to protect your siege weapons, though, as the emperor will send out large groups of conscripts or pikemen in an attempt to destroy them. It's recommended to destroy the barracks as soon as possible. Once the defences have been destroyed, storm the keep with strong units, since the Emperor is likely to be guarded by a strong force of pikemen. 

Economy

The Emperor runs a very impressive economy. Five apple orchards and six dairy farms provide him with food. Five hop farms and six breweries provide his inn with ale. Seven wood camps, two quarries and two iron mines supply the resources his castle and economy require. His weapons industry is made of two fletchers, two artillators, two weapon smiths and four armourers. Six chandlers make candles for his church.

Raids & Sieges

The Emperor's armies are strong and very efficient. They're made up of conscripts, pikemen, crossbowmen and sergeants at arms. Catapults and trebuchets are used to bring down enemy castles, while mantlets provide protection for advancing troops.

The Emperor will begin raiding his enemies very early. For this task, he uses a large force of conscripts, which reaches the size of a hundred men rather quickly. While not very strong or sturdy, the conscripts are cheap and fast. Their sheer numbers allow them to get past many ranged defenders and wreak havoc on outlying economic buildings. When sieging the Emperor sends a modest force of pikemen, crossbowmen, sergeants at arms, along with mantlets, catapults and trebuchets. While he doesn't reach the Pig's numbers of catapults, he still uses a respectable number of them and can cause some damage. His trebuchets are quite powerful and will lay waste to towers and building alike. Backed by his solid economy, the Emperor will rebuild his armies rather quickly to keep up the pressure on his opponents.

The Emperor shouldn't be taken lightly. His conscripts might not seem too impressive, but their sheer numbers and frequency of attacks are a nuisance. Ranged units like crossbowmen are a good choice, but they're unlikely to intercept all conscripts in time. As such, some melee units like men at arms or pikemen are a good choice to tie down and fend off the conscripts. During his sieges the Emperor armoured units only, as such crossbowmen are a good choice. Some archers are recommended to deal with his catapults. Other fast units such as conscripts, macemen or Sassanid knights are also a good choice, especially when dealing with trebuchets.