Are swordsmen NOT worth it? - Stronghold Crusader

[@chingamfong]

As others have pointed out, back in the meta of Stronghold 1, swordsmen are fine since there was no fire ballista, horse archer, or fire thrower. Monks were only available in scenario editors too. Player only defend archers and xbows so you gotta make some swordsmen mixed with pikes to deal the killing blow to the lord. But in SHC they suddenly became obsolete when so many better units were added.

[@StinCrucing]

I do still like them in crusader vs the rat.. a nice and easy "make a squad of them and click on the enemy gatehouse>lord" strategy. But definitely not the same thrill as vs'in their buffed version in original stronghold for the first time.. "the Wolf's swordsmen are here.. we're doomed!"

[@marekzyla1659]

It would be nice, if you can use them and get them on horse and down.

[@corentinc.948]

Yes, in Stronghold 1, you could sadly only script monks to come via events, which is sad. {outlaws} There is a mission you can play {economics}, where you actually get a small amount of monks to protect yourself with. The difficulty is vile... Very difficult, but manageable.

[@genesisSOC]

They also nerfed swordsman damage by 25% in Crusader from Original

[@altaruss2838]

@@genesisSOC they didn't nerf their damage at all, in fact they instead nerfed their base health from 30k to 25k (but they also reduced their dmg taken from arrows/xbow bolts to roughly match sh1)... for whatever reason

[@d3nny_s3mpai]

Me: *laughs in Pikeman

[@Aaahrg]

Tougher, cheaper, faster and can dig.

[@thatguybrody4819]

Best units in the game.

[@joeessen1059]

Pikemen have less arrow shots, and their damage is fairly terrible

[@yellowduckinbluewater9629]

but are weak to monks

[@Volcano4981]

Here's the thing; Units that are cost-effective against them are terribly weak against archers, and many units who aren't, but beat them one-on-one also suffer heavily against crossbowmen. Pikes are well-rounded against absolutely everyone, even fire and ballista shots, and are fairly cheap for a heavily armoured unit.

[@ausdrik2049]

Question: Are you gonna go through almost all units in this type of video-series? I think it would be an awesome idea!

[@Jefflenious]

Will probably cover most of the units yeah, maybe skip some non interesting ones idk

[@Angrymonkey2489]

@@Jefflenious Like siege towers?

[@ausdrik2049]

@@Jefflenious Yeah, that would probably be the best decision. Some units really need no individual video. For example Mangonels and Tower Ballistae could be combined

[@StinCrucing]

@@Jefflenious do slingers next please! they are very interesting units and don't get that much coverage

[@riverinafritsch2573]

Swordsmen are super good for Good Fearfactor because they have the highest melee unit damage in the game, pairing them with pikemen to dig moats and ranged units to clear walls makes them an effective means to clear melee units out of a castle during a siege, mastering the economic side of the game means filling out your army and nullifying the weakness of coat effective units. When used right they're devastating! But that requires a lot more economic skill at the game when compared to pikemen or monks.

[@altaruss2838]

they do have the highest melee damage per unit, except that's also shared with arabian swordsmen, what matters far more tho is that both of these get easily outstacked due to their awful movement speed and that their cost effectivness is really poor, you can get an assassin for practically half the cost which deals only 20% less melee damage than a swordsman, or a monk that deals 50% less damage but also costs literally 10 times less... there's also a thing where euro swords deal only 50% melee dmg to other euro swords and knights, so to damage those down specifically you really want other units, such as assassins or monks which don't get their damage reduced against these

[@l.v.5244]

Speed is really their main drawback, they can be outrunned easily and are very hard to stack in melee fights, hence their bad peformence, especially in huge numbers.

[@mystictomato9466]

I always use them. Mostly because I really like them, after monks they are my favorite unit. I also like the fact that they are the strongest unit in the game both health and damage wise (individually). They are far from being the best unit in the game ofc.

[@unimportantcommenter4356]

Say what you want about these guys, but when they took down 550 arabian swordmen with 25% damage boost while being outnumbered 6 to 1, it solidified in me the idea that these guys are good. For context, I was playing the 69th mission on the crusaders trail (You-Richard-Philip vs Emir-Wazir-Khaliph-Sheriff), and the AI of the Emir bugged out: he kept making Arabian Swordmen, his army size reached over 750, out of which around 650 were swordmen, which he managed to garison on top of his keep, as the bug allowed him to bypass the keep's capaciry limit. I could only muster around 127 regular swordsmen before reaching the army cap (they got aid from like 120 horse archers, whose numbers got reduced to 89 and 3 siege rams, also 10% good stuff bonus). I breached the main gate, as it was the least protected, and his bugged army of swordmen attacked mine. Despite him having a 15% dmg boost compared to mine, his total army count dropped from 721 to 125, I got cleaned up, and forced to retreat, but I dealt a massive blow to the AI. The next siege I cleaned him up with a similar amount of swordsmen, as he stood on his last legs.

[@Mokujin433]

You probably trained a Spartan swordmans lmaoo

[@Angrymonkey2489]

It's funny how powerful they were in Stronghold 1. The mission First Blood, train enough archers just to kill 3 Swordsmen on Normal (1 on Easy; 6 on Very Hard). That's even if the Snake's two attacks didn't kill your units. Here, like mentioned, they're outnumbered easily. Swordsmen are only useful for protecting the Lord.

[@Volcano4981]

Here's the kicker: Their stats are completely unchanged in Crusader compared to the first Stronghold. It's just that more cost-effective melee options have become available - Monks became trainable, the mercenary options allow you to swarm them early on etc.

[@Angrymonkey2489]

@@Volcano4981 Figures, I used to train Swordsmen and lose to the easier, lesser Lords except Rat.

[@altaruss2838]

@@Volcano4981 nope, their health was reduced from 30k to 25k in shc, but the thing with monks and mercenaries (namely assassins) is indeed what kills them

[@Talal19954ever]

i always pair them with pikemen to deal with the units stationed in the lords keep since pikemen easily loose to other swordsmen or mace men. Also they are really useful in protecting your castle they helped me to deal with other melee units in my skirmish against 7 wolves

[@Jefflenious]

Honestly their best use is probably using them in your lord's keep as a last resort, but if your enemies made it that far you're probably dead

[@Talal19954ever]

@@Jefflenious Well in that specific skirmish vs 7 wolves each had 40k gold they were the best option. I had around 120 crossbow men on 4 towers and they were still not enough to repel the first attack wave(wolfs attacks are not something to be trifled with), even with 50% damage bonus the attack had broken into the castle and there was plenty of pikemen and swordsmen which i used swordsmen only due to fact i was close to unit limit(1500 i think) they were the best option. Knights would have been better but i had no space left in the castle for stables plus with 3k starting gold you don’t have the option to recruit knights

[@chadnorris8257]

I like to use swordsmen on defense, because they're the toughest unit out there, but they do require support so they're not overwhelmed. One thing they have over knights is you can only have a limited number of knights on the filed. Unless you make a lot of stables. So I use knights in sieges, and swordsmen to guard the Lord and gatehouses.

[@andromidius]

I imagine having a few to guard the Lord isn't a terrible idea, in case of Assassins. Or a couple mixed in with cheaper units when you're expecting a mass infantry assault. But that makes them purely a defensive unit unless you so completely overpower your enemy that you can afford to build lots of them - in which case you're just BM'ing rather then ending it faster with more effective unit selection.

[@AngryMinkey]

stronghold 1 swordsman are a lot stronger i believe. i think in those days, two could nearly take a king

[@masterragnar5413]

Actually the Lord was weaker

[@Angrymonkey2489]

@@masterragnar5413 In Stronghold 1, the Lord dies by 3 Swordsmen. Crusader? Depends on the AI, but I remember more than 8 Swordsmen to kill a Lord.

[@AngryMinkey]

@@masterragnar5413 that makes sense. i must of been thinking of the knights in stronghold 2. i believe they themselves are mini-lords

[@Phoenixlp44]

@@Angrymonkey2489 its 4 swordsmen in crusader and 4 in stronghold 1 as well.

[@Angrymonkey2489]

@@Phoenixlp44 I realized that the AI Lords have a stat above their heads. Rat is the weakest Lord; Wolf is the strongest to kill.

[@corentinc.948]

They still have very niche uses! 1# I use +-10 of them, assisted by X-bow men to hold my keep and protect the Lord/castle. In stronghold Legends, it works very well with Sire Gareth VSevil factions. 2# I use them as my second attack wave, in case my first one fails. Which is great VS stronger Lords. This trick helped me in all stronghold games, to be honest. They saved me several times.

[@sandrothenecromancer6810]

Possible they are hard countered by fire and crossbow but they are extremelly deadly, they are supposed to be used in combination with other units to mitigate or remove their weaknesses (spearmen, slaves to burn pitches, archers and field constructs to keep enemy ranged busy).

[@leogodofnone2706]

" This Armour Heavy " XD

[@StinCrucing]

..you dig in this weight!

[@1stshockarmy]

Swordsman: Who are you? Pikeman *costs half as much, is faster, tanks more arrows, digs moats and destroys walls faster* I'm you but better

[@StinCrucing]

Pikes attack is so bad though.. very annoying killing a lord with them

[@themadhatter8178]

Swordsman: Actually, u may take more crossbow hits, but I take FAR more arrows hits. And your sharpened stick is no match for my blade of fury. U stab and slash for 10 seconds on one unit, meanwhile I’ve already killed 3 in the same time.

[@josephcro2138]

Man I love this content. Keep it up

[@proximityclockworkx1572]

I really like them, and I usually base my economy on armourmaking then I see no point why not use them. When you whittle down your enemy's castle and you let these bois in, they can't do anything if they got no fire left.

[@fadhilyudistira8819]

that's exactly why I always fear phillip more than I fear richard

[@CrustaceanSensation63]

I use them for defense tbh. Strong melee units that don’t have to walk far since they are already in my castle. Expensive, but worth it towards the end game

[@kuba4877]

i remember when i was younger and played on my uncle's computer stronghold crusader demo, how satisfying it was to kill Rat just using exactly 100 swordsmen and losing only 1 or 2 of them

[@Lyndione]

Use other units as distraction such as pikes and maceman and rush swordswan behind, they are a backup melee reinforcement unit. Or just make knights...

[@andrewluchsinger]

I am a supporter of combined arms. When I play depending on the character I am up against . Most of the time I use a combination of archers and crossbowman. in addition of catapults. Once I kill the enemy's archers and do the damage I want to the castle walls with the catapults. Then I send in my swordsman. I also do love to use any other useful solders like the Knights and even my favorite mace men. It all depends on who I am against. I use a layered defense as well. layered walls with either water or even fire ditches. lots of balistas on the towers and once in a while an engineer to dump burning oil. I have loved this game since the original game. Now it's 2023 and I still love to play it. I just wish I could play it on line against a human again

[@tomasplanicka2539]

"Because they are cool" That is my reasoning and will never change

[@AMD_7900]

The only broken units: Ballista, Shield, Catapult, Horse Archer, Crossbowman. Fix them by price only and everything looks not so bad in this game.

[@zhaoyun255]

You forgot Assassin as well. The combination of Shields, Catapults, Horse Archers, and Assassins is enough. Crossbowman is really good only for defense due to their low mobility. PPL would argue for Mace Men but Assassin is way better thanks to the stealth and can climb walls without Siege Tower or Ladder man.

[@compman12345]

Against bots i think they are useful if paired with faster units. My strategy against wolf is simple: make hole in a wall with catapults and attack with every melee unit, macemen usually die to archers and crossbows, but enemy will propably set off fires, then when the fires will go out swordsmen will finally arrive to stroll to enemy lord without many problems. Arabian swordsmen may be fine too, but are less tanky.

[@darioalparone6385]

My typical set units is: Arcers, crossbows, pikemens and swordsmen. When I am in rush I use macemen and assassins, and in general I use them only as support. But I should confess: I rarely use the all power of swordsmen, in the most of cases it is more than enough the combination of arcers/crossbows and pikemen

[@james64ibm]

I mean if you built up an army of 250 horsearchers to attack and suspect that the enemy might be swarming you with assassins and you only have 10 units left until the unit cap (and too much gold anyway), then swordsmen ARE the ideal unit.

[@marksaints7131]

I like your contents bro

[@Cetus2222]

I think they are worth it behind a big push like shields with arabian horse archers. And i think they are good when there are lots of units on the keep.

[@tsuki5284]

Your opponents? My ally always kills my soldiers with catapults more than the enemy

[@dragonlord4643]

The answer is yes. Cause theay are still the most Damage dealing Melee Unit in the game and can take the most shots after the Pikemen. Pikemen - super tanky, low unit-damage, high building damage Horsearchers - fast and mobile, can shoot while moving, low accurcy, medicore damage, can reach the lord Macemen - quick moving, medicore damage output, fast attackrate, not tanky Spearmen - no comment needed Archers - highest range, low damage Xbows - medicore range, High damage specially against armor Arab Archers - highest firerrate, medicore range Arab Swords - slightly Faster than Swordmen, way less Tanky Assassins - zero durability, die even quick to archers, high damage vs Armor Knights - High Damage output, Mobile, cant reach the lord ALL weak to fire

[@Jefflenious]

Yeah definitely worth it when you're only against normal archers They're immune to arrows, and they dominate the melee fights (Unless they get out traded by monks or something but they're weak to arrows)

[@sandrothenecromancer6810]

Arab archers have the same stats as european ones apart from shooting faster and being costlier (kinda stupid as longbows have longer range than composite bows).

[@paijokotak6996]

If knight could dispatch their horse, will be interesting

[@ahmedazr5526]

That why I only use Arabian swordman and assassins and also horse archers.

[@Aaahrg]

I only build them when im low on horses for knights and still have swords, armor and gold left. Usualy I just use the armor for pikemen and sell the swords left.

[@Scarletlord]

I feel it is mandatory to have at least 5 knightly bodyguards for my lord.

[@Noobtato_Channel]

I usually use swordsmen to defence my lord in my keep.

[@Jefflenious]

Same (If I get them as my starting units)

[@mastergmoore]

But fighting the lord? How much gold does it cost to kill the lord? How well do they stack up in that regard. You missed the point of whether or not casualties were worth it? If the wall is down and you have troops on the way and stagger your swordsmen. They could be a dangerous vanguard left to fight a lord with little rangers and resources left to buy back into the game.

[@unknown0soldier]

I think the sworsmen were supposed to be though all-purpose juggernauts but in reality, they are very situational. I'd say they are good for defense, but macemen/pikemen/assassins are better melee options for attack most of the times

[@kareem5653]

Best strat evey game if you have space and lots of Iron is to make swordsmen, horse archers, shields to support horses and catapults, slaves to deal with moats. and after you easily clear towers and some fire just send the brave swordsmen to hell to the lord for a sweet slow and most satisfying death to the lord because they take time to get there.. The enemy can't get any units because you would have taken out his food, and horses killing the workers at the camp fire so easy for swordsmen to walk.

[@husseinalamerkani7671]

Love your content man❤️❤️

[@feluto7172]

They are really good as a brute force tool when you just cant get the finishing blow and aside from fire they are not micro heavy at all. Just send them in and forget about it

[@Mokujin433]

I use swordsman to make my "Royal Guards" for my castle, good for defending my stuff.

[@FilipsCZE]

Its really easy make XY maces and push it with (ledders with wheels xD i dunno english word xD) swords gifts that game magic and its about prestige you CAN make them. I hope its understandable.

[@Jefflenious]

Siege towers yeah, macemen are probably the best units for that strategy!

[@tsuki5284]

I always send pike men on head of the army then swordsmen, pikemen have great defense, they tank the arrows and swordsmen clean the castle, with knights afterwards, I think my strategy is good tho

[@zhaoyun255]

TBH, all I need is Catapults, Horse Archer, and Assassin. Catapults like 15 of those bad boys could remove ANY defense in like 10 secs.

[@lordicarus8807]

One that I wonder a lot about usability is the slinger. I know they're weak and all, but that fire rate...

[@garymorris7472]

I typically get a few to protect my Lord and a couple more in strategic locations but prefer pikemen and Monks for a lot of my melee style.

[@yunusaksoy6591]

Pikemen & Macemen so tough

[@masterragnar5413]

Does a 100 gold is for you slightly higher price? One stables cost 400 gold and provide 4 horses that make one horse cost a 100 gold (if all buying) swordsman cost 156, knight cost 256 how is this slightly higher? (I am not talking one is more useful than other I don't care, I am talking about that slightly higher cost)

[@tomaszk.6065]

Horse count is restored after knights die, so their cost is lower than 100 gold unless you use them only once

[@Fox277]

If you lose a knight, the horse respawns for free tho. You just pay for the max knight knight capacity

[@Jefflenious]

Okay maybe I shouldn't have said "slightly" lol Yeah knights are insanely expensive but in terms of stats they're the best units in the game, not cost efficient at all but the most peasant efficient option out there for sure

[@raylast3873]

Even I can only tank like 15 shots before going down. Well probably more than that but I‘d definitely be dying afterward 😂

[@bamf6603]

Yea I m still going to make swordmen because they are just cool.

[@TheMastertbc]

Horse riding crossbows for the win

[@ImperadorLucius]

i would like to see this dude do rushes in campaing expert mode or multiplayer.

[@callahanfolt6460]

I usually just give them horse and make them knight

[@xMarble]

'knights are better' well, knights cant get up the keep to actually kill the opponent

[@Tigerson1xo]

I prefer only macemen, assassins and horse archers. Crossbowmen with shields for defense

[@Eslamm94]

@2:20 what was the shortcut for the fire man ?

[@leonecrociato91]

Swordsman are good to defend lord,put 50 of them on fortress.For attacking Knights are far better to support macemen,assasins and pikemen

[@paijokotak6996]

With same cost, you could build good defenses with other units and forget about enemy attacks then focuse for attacking

[@lucasmoar6513]

They are good in defense and attacking characters who don't defend with fire

[@kareem5653]

Lol fire can kill anyone. Fair enough their movement speed is slow but you can easily move out of fire so I won't say "fire" is a weakness...

[@lucasmoar6513]

@@kareem5653 yeah both two

[@Santouryu3]

Depends which Swordsmen are better... European or Arabian Swordsmen?

[@konzhul9356]

What's the difference between Swordsmen and Knights?

[@rebellikan9891]

Could you do a Stronghold Legends units ranking?

[@Jefflenious]

I already did a unit tier list!

[@rebellikan9891]

@@Jefflenious With Stronghold Legends units? i can't find the video......

[@Jefflenious]

@@rebellikan9891 Ah wait sorry, didn't see the "Stronghold Legends" No I haven't done any 3D game rankings yet, Might do it at some point but atm my viewers don't like 3D games too much

[@yunusaksoy6591]

I make all times just 20-25 Swordsmen for a Lord protection. but its all..

[@ludomirtrejderowski2688]

We ArE tHe MaCEmaN

[@drakZes]

If Monks weren't so broken then they would probably be better. They should make swordman a little bit faster, nerf monks and increase Swordsman's melee armor. Then they would actually be viable.

[@user-hx1cf4dh8b]

the swordsman is the best choice for defense

[@paijokotak6996]

Yeah, upgrade it to knight and hunting down every catapults attack, other than that, you have better options for defenses

[@mafyatekin]

pikeman can get rekt by monks aswell. Very easily btw :) I love this channel a lot, but it's sad that you give such weak advise in this video. You could put 10 swordsman against 13-14 pikeman for example(That would be a pretty realistic approach as far as affordability goes). That would be a good indicator for their melee performance since we all know that the whole point of this video was to answer pikeman vs swordsman

[@gambitsheild9814]

I dare you to face 3 caliphs with only swordsmen units. Bet u won't.

[@Aki-os5lr]

NICEE I THOUGHT IM THE ONLY ONE WHO STILL PLAY STRONGHOLD,wanna play 1v1 stronghold 2?

[@chervue7664]

I like making them, there good defense unit, offence there ok

[@EdmondDantèsDE]

No, they're not. Sure they're strong but the opportunity cost of having to make them is too large. It's more cost effective to focus on making money and hiring mercenaries. You can still make armor and swords as a means to make money.

[@strongholdcrusadermaster8305]

Super

[@maxmagnus777]

re-balance them in unofficial patch ?!

[@laszlomiskei9138]

I respect your opinion. I know it is baeed on objective facts. But i just wont accept it.

[@Schizonibba]

Is swarming enemy castles with super cheap units viable?

[@dschehutinefer5627]

That was what I was wondering. If the enemy manages to scratch together a couple of archers (as the AI is fond to do, selling all their remaining buildings for a last stand the moment you breach the walls), then you really want to go in with units with some staying power. Sure, you can still use pikes or maces, but I prefer a combination of pikemen and swordmen for that very reason. Also nothing beats the satisfying feeling of storming a castle and only loosing one, maybe two units to the enemy lord.

[@joeessen1059]

You should try making more content driven and substantial videoes such as the tier lists

[@Cyciuss]

I prefer knights for economy harass.

[@theraginggamer095]

Macemen/Assassins>Swordsmen I would say prove me wrong but I think literally no one watching this vid or reading this comment would even try

[@meph5291]

I do read but no need to compare anything. Crossbow + mace is the answer to all military problems in stronghold.

[@kareem5653]

Macemen vs Swordmen = Swordmen win without trying.... the only thing macemen and assassins are good is early game after that they are useless. the only weakness is monks and maybe knights. Only melee fighting.

[@po-sq3wj]

Bro can u make online rooms

[@godwin8260]

yes

[@dhavalpatil1515]

I never make swordsmen.

[@Markov092]

FOWAAAARD!!!

[@mercury2162]

yo

[@muhammadyudhi1338]

Dude you just mentioned Swordsmen but not Arabian Swordsmen right? While me and bois Arabian Swordsmen enjoyer: Laugh at Swordsmen because we are little quicker

[@Jefflenious]

Arabian Swordsmen have the damage, but can't tank anything

[@Morpheus98]

no

[@eisbarcito2160]

But swordman's are cool

[@tribalbacsi]

D: why did you do that i don't subscribe because of that D:

[@Jefflenious]

:(

[@alirezasobhani3101]

Infidel 😂😂

[@unforgiven1477]

no