Community News
Ai Character Articles Complete
Posted on 16th Aug 2026
Greetings Everyone!
In recent days, another article collection of our AI lords has been completed: this time for Stronghold Crusader.
These articles intend to help with the inner workings of the computer characters, when faced in Skirmish games, such as what troops they use, what kinds of castles they attempt to build, and in general how much they go on your nerves with their raids. If a character has had a major change in the Definitive Edition - e.g. Frederick who buys weapons there -, it is also indicated.
With this collection in place, I also recommend checking out our similar article collections for other games:
- Stronghold Crusader 2 AI Lords (from @ Sir Windows )
- Stronghold 2 AI Lords (from @ Lord_Chris )
- Stronghold Legends AI Lords
Until next time, m'lord!
Crusader Definitive Edition - Summer Update Released
Posted on 3rd Aug 2026
Hello Everyone!
The Summer Update (v2.8, 129.1 MB) has landed for SHC:DE, bringing the last set of new content promised by Firefly. As usual, there is a free and a paid part each to it, with the two new lords of The Surgeon and Baibars that are available as part of the DLC.
Please make sure that you update to the latest version in order to access multiplayer via Steam, via the auto-updater!
Refer to the following forum post for the exact details regarding the Summer Update:
Full patch notes:
- New Coat of Arms with the logo of the upcoming "Fool King" game that's going to be released by Firefly
-
Added new maps:
- Skirmish: Lush Crossover, Bypass
- Free Build: River of Life, Coast Life, Insular Hope, Fields and Forges
- Custom Missions: Rockhold, Island Living
- Added insults to Custom Skirmish Lords
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Added a Troop Movement Speed toggle:
- when moving troops, a single-click to the destination will make them move each unit at their normal speed. Double-clicking will make them move at the slowest unit's speed (this is the vanilla Crusader behaviour)
- Fixed placing ballistae at a failed location taking gold away
- Fixed control groups 9 and 0 not working correctly
- Fixed Outposts not functioning correctly in Custom Scenarios that were set to any difficulty other than Normal
- Fixed apple farmers getting stuck on gatehouses
- Peasants getting stuck in the Moat could cause performance issues, so the game will gracefully delete them after some time.
- Various interface fixes
Stronghold 4 Information Megathread
Posted on 16th Jul 2026
Greetings to all!
Firefly Studios started teasing the upcoming SH4 game with bits of information in a Q&A video.
As time goes by, we obtain more and more information that we eventually are going to administer in the on-site wiki. Until then, the SHN staff pleasantly summarises you the points we find most worthy to know about Stronghold 4's lifecycle, release date and other features, in this thread. :-] We ask you however to kindly discuss SH4 in the dedicated forum rather than here.
Thanks to the baseline Unreal Engine 5, datamining has been possible to a great extent. If you are really curious and want no stone unturned, you can read about additional potential features and characters here at your leisure. Be warned, there is no turning back!
Key Points
-
Release and Support
- SH4 will be released in 2027, preceded by a six-month-long early-access period that starts sometime in 2026.
- The price tag for both periods is unknown, but mostly determined by the community.
- Early Access will launch with Skirmish Mode (8 bots), a 10-mission-long Skirmish Trail, a 22-mission-long Story Campaign and Free Build modes.
- During Early Access, the Economic Campaign, the Online Multiplayer (with or without bots at will) and a Co-op Skirmish Trail will be added.
-
Gameplay Features
- Most known features so far have already been unveiled by the first public demo, which we announced a while back here.
- Map sizes will go as large as 1000x1000, starting from 400x400 with increments of 200.
- Weather will have limited effect in the form of random events.
- Unit abilities will return, such as the man-at-arms can throw a recharging spear, or the longbowman can randomly land a critically hitting shot.
- Most buildings will be able to peeked into with a close enough zoom, or by hovering the cursor above the building while a worker operates it.
- Building will be possible in a certain radius around the Keep, rather than anywhere within the borders of the estate.
- Building and troop limits will be set for each player (numbers unknown).
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Story
- The main lore precedes that of SH1 by several years, featuring a bunch of characters well-known from that game.
- The protagonist will be Penryn of Wethel, a shepherd who is forced to climb the ranks. It will not be centered around either The Boy or The Wolf; the Boy is confirmed not to return due to his assumed young age.
- Stronghold 2 characters will not return.
- Most of the story will be narrated through interactive pre-rendered cutscenes.
If you still got questions remaining, don't panic. Hit us up in the SH4 sub-forum to discuss your ideas, or anything you want to clarify.
Until next time, my lord! :-]
Stronghold 4 Demo Released
Posted on 22nd Jun 2026
Ahoy Sirs and Ladies!
A playable demo for Stronghold 4 has been released on Steam (https://store.steampowered.com/app/2153760/Stronghold_4/, 10.53 GB size).
This alpha version gives a glimpse into the story of Penryn of Wethel, situated prior to the events of Stronghold 1. SH4 Alpha allows you to play one economic and one military invasion mission, akin to the classic Stronghold 1 presentation with some inspired mechanics from Stronghold 3.
The demo is scheduled to be up approximately one day long after its release (April 24th 16h GMT+0), The demo is very likely to be available for an unspecified period of time, after which it may become unavailable to play.
Please note that this public demo does not reflect the ready product and as a result, bugs and unfinished features may occur. Refer to the SH4 megathread for more information about potential features, as well as the Stronghold 4 Steam page for system requirements.
Have fun with the demo!
A Brand New Stronghold Reveal Is Coming This Week!
Posted on 2nd Jun 2026
Hello Everyone!
Firefly has announced that they will be revealing a new Stronghold title at the PC Gaming Show this Sunday.
Date and Time:
- Sunday June 7th at 8pm BST / 9pm CEST / 12pm PDT / 3pm EDT
Announcement Video:
Have fun and let's see what'll be shown on Sunday!
Stronghold 4 Information & Features
General Information
Release date: 2026
Steam demo launch: 23 June 2026
Main Features
- 22 mission story campaign set before the events of the original Stronghold
- Skirmish mode featuring 8 AI opponents
- Skirmish trail
- Free-build mode
Gameplay features
- Grid based construction system as seen in Stronghold Crusader 2 and Warlords
- Honour and rank system like in Stronghold 2
- Lord's kitchen and royal foods (honey, grapes, wine and four different types of meat)
- Houses provide honour and can be upgraded for increased output
- Turnips added as a new basic food type for the general population, replacing meat from previous titles
- Cheese reworked into a multi building production chain (dairy farm to produce milk and cheesemaker to turn milk into cheese)
- Daily random events
- Weather types such as rain and snow
- Stronghold & Crusader style inns rather than a Stronghold 2 ale consumption slider
- Three different religious buildings - shrine, chapel and church
- New weapon types such as short bows and war hammers
- Moats, pitch traps and killing pits
- Stone and wooden versions of the barracks
New and returning units
- Armed Peasants, men at arms, macemen, crossbowmen, pikemen, swordsmen and knights return
- Archer split into two unit types - shortbowman and longbowmen
- Shortbowmen shoot faster and can set pitch on fire
- Longbowmen have greater range but slower rate of fire and are unable to set pitch ablaze
- Sergeant unit armed with war hammers (more information to come)
- Battering rams, catapults, tower mounted ballistae and tunnellers return
Story & Characters
- Set before the events of Stronghold
- The player takes on the role of Penryn of Wethel, a shepherd who rises to become a leader during a time of calamity
- Sir Longarm, Duke de Puce (the Rat) and Duke Beauregard (the Snake) confirmed to return
- Lord Woolsack, pig and wolf hinted at as returning