Combat

*Combat* is an essential part of **Stronghold Kingdoms™**, and is the only way to defeat enemies and remove AI threats.

# Attacking

*Troops* are required to attack an AI enemy or another player, and are created in the *barracks screen* of your village. Each troop usually requires gold, a weapon and a free peasant. In all cases, barring *armed peasants*, before new troop types may be created, research is required. See Units and the research, Command.

To attack a target:

1. On the *world map*, select one of your villages by clicking on the yellow shield above it.

2. Next, click on the target you wish to attack.

3. A dialogue box will appear to the right of the screen, offering several options - select *attack*.

4. Choose which troops to attack with from the right-hand panel, and place them anywhere outside the white line of the castle.

5. Hold the left mouse button and drag to select groups of troops which are already placed. Right clicking will place these troops in a new area. By selecting catapults which are placed, you can direct their fire at a specific target.

Alternatively, you can load a saved attack formations. In order to save an attack formation, select *manage formations* on the left hand side after placing your troops and then select *save formation*. In order to load a saved formation, select *deploy formation*.

6. Once you are happy with your layout, click *launch attack*.

Various attack options will now be presented to you, depending on your research and your rank:

All attacks against human players cost honour - the amount is dependent upon the other player's rank; the higher your rank and the lower the rank of the player you are attacking, the higher the honour cost to you. You may go into negative honour (lose more honour points than you actually have) after an attack; however, you will not be able to attack again until you're back into positive honour.

### Attack Screen

Outgoing Attacks by clicking on the different columns in the top bar. These will allow you to sort the order in which the attacks are displayed by arrival time ,target village,source village and a specific type of unit.

You can also arrange incoming attacks by source village, target village and arrival time.

### Attack Targets Window

The Attack Targets button  on the World Map Screen,above the Map Filtering button, will open The Attack Targets Window.

The Attack Targets Window opens a screen which displays the 30 recent locations attacked on one side and the targets you have marked as favourite on the other.
In order to mark a target as a favourite you will have to tick the star in the upper right corner before you send your attack. You can also mark places you have scouted as a favourite by ticking the star on the right side of the scouting screen.

# Defence

Creating a well-defended castle is the key to **Stronghold Kingdoms™**. A weak castle may eventually be attacked, which could result in a lost village if the attack is a *raze* or *capture*. Successful AI attacks generally result in a loss of honour, plus goods and buildings if a *pillage* or *ransack* command is used.

Initially, upgrading the *keep* by researching Castellation will help to kill or weaken enemy units. Enemies need to reach the keep in order to *raze* the castle, therefore, defending the keep is absolutely vital. Researching *Fortification* allows access to wooden walls, stone walls and eventually, towers - all of which help to defend the castle. A well-constructed castle with stone walls and well-placed towers can withstand most attacks.

Researching Defences allows *guard houses* to be built in the castle, which in turn increase the castle's capacity for defensive troops. Researching *Defences* further will make guard houses more resistant to attacks.

**TIP:** Only human enemies can *capture* or *raze* a castle.

**TIP:** The castle cannot be completely enclosed without a gatehouse.

**TIP:** Do not underestimate the usage of pikemen in defending your castle. Putting them on aggressive outside the direct keep will increase your defences by a lot.