El Cid 1: “Brother Against Brother”

Article written by CanOfSpam
Published on 12-25-2013; updated on 07-05-2016
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Plan of Attack

  • Locate All Available Assets
  • Fully Upgrade
  • Lay Waste To The Countryside
  • Bring King Alfonso’s Army To Battle
  • Undermine The Monastery Garden

Relevant Civilization Bonuses

  • Blacksmith upgrades don’t cost gold

Enemy Opposition

King Alfonso’s Army (Blue) awaits you to the west in a fortified town, well-defended with narrow streets. Their gold mines and farms are both outside the walls, the former along the river to the north east, the latter across the river to the southwest and defended by towers.

There are two gates, both heavily fortified with towers and well garrisoned. The western gate is defended by pikemen, the streets choked with densely packed scorpions and mangonels that would make it horrific to assault. The southern gate is defended by long swordsmen, conquistadors and monks.

Assets

After the tournament, King Sancho places an army of knights, conquistadors, pikemen, long swordsmen and archers under your command, as well as some villagers. Begin marching your army to the southwest, but have El Cid and the villagers ride north and the suburbs will offer him housing to increase your population limit.

Next have him ride across the bridge to the Serfs and they’ll join him after some grumbling, researching Double-Bit Axe at the lumber camp. Set them to woodcutting.

In the western corner of the map there’s a monastery deep in the forest. While your army encamps itself on the bridge near the western corner of the map, have El Cid brave the towers and blaze the forest path that will win him their allegiance, and house their four relics in the monastery. Build a town centre in the northern corner of the map by the snow-covered southern bank with access to shore fishing. At the earliest opportunity construct a market and blacksmith, then buy food if necessary to reach the Castle Age. The relics will meet all your gold needs, so your villagers should focus on shore fishing and woodcutting. Build a second or even third blacksmith to fully upgrade your units as quickly as possible.

One of greatest advantages to playing as the Spanish is that blacksmith upgrades don’t cost gold, so by the Castle Age they often feature greater pierce armour and deal more damage than their opponents. As your opponents are also Spanish, you can afford to do no less. The differences in your casualties rates should you assault immediately in the Feudal Age is almost astonishing.

Siege Preliminaries

As you prepare to lay siege to the town, an obvious measure is to cut off King Alfonso’s Army’s food supply. Have your army cross the westernmost bridge to link up with El Cid and the monks and attack the towers with long swordsmen. Between your monks and fully upgraded armour they have little to fear if your army is well-led, so keep your pikemen and archers on the defensive slightly ahead of them with El Cid and his knights and conquistadors in the vanguard laying waste to the farms north of the towers.

Have your long swordsmen storm each tower in turn, but the greater danger lies in the western gate as pikemen stream out ahead of the town’s siege weapons, so pull your knights back behind your own pikes and archers. As the enemy pikemen are broken, have the vanguard charge again to stem the tide of scorpions that would devastate your infantry, never slacking with the long swordsmen as they storm each tower in turn.

As the last tower falls, move your long swordsmen torch the mills while your knights burn the fields. With that task done, march your infantry back towards the bridge while El Cid and the vanguard cover the withdrawal. Once across, march your entire army towards your town centre in the north to seize the enemy gold mine.

Without food the town will have a difficult time replenishing its garrison to launch sorties or for the street-to-street fighting that may come.

Bring Them To Battle

Back at your town centre, your villagers will have accrued a massive surplus of resources. Build a dock and transport to function as a sort of pontoon bridge to effect a river crossing in preparation for your army’s arrival, as well as an archery range where you should produce a handful of skirmishers to harass the enemy gold miners. Prepare two siege workshops and set them to building rams and perhaps one mangonel, but keep them on the opposite bank.

When El Cid and the army arrive, send the skirmishers across first. They’ll quickly prove their worth and title as they counter the conquistadors that will be the first to engage them, while your own vanguard will smash the long swordsmen. Despite the element of danger, keep El Cid to the front of the line with the skirmishers, as the most dangerous of the defenders are the monks that can quickly convert one of your powerful knights or conquistadors.

With the battle for the gold mine done, transport your long swordsmen across in the rams to sack the outworks north of the city, then break through the wall by the monastery. There’s a particular section of diagonal wall that isn’t flush with any trees, so your rams will quickly reduce it.

Storming the Castle

King Alfonso’s Army has already sallied out and been crushed, but there are still scorpions in the western district. Four or more rams packed with all your remaining infantry will be sufficient to destroy the castle sitting astride the canals, and this particular approach isn’t defended by any towers.

Despite the danger, have El Cid with the conquistadors and knights charge in to surround King Alfonso’s royal person or even rush the scorpions. In the heartbeats between the castle’s destruction and the town’s surrender, it’s possible for Alfonso’s Army to turn on their sovereign and spit him with scorpion bolts. Screen him with El Cid and his knights as a precaution, or all your work may have been for naught.

With the castle’s fall King Alfonso will yield and join you, and the town will surrender and set their status to neutral, then ally. With your remaining conquistadors and knights as an honour guard, send the royal procession back to King Sancho’s tournament grounds for victory.


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