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Warfare in Stronghold 4 centres on the siege, the part of castle life the series is best known for. Attackers must break through walls and defences, while defenders turn their fortress into a deadly obstacle for any army that approaches.
Classic tools of siegecraft return, including moats and tunnellers, alongside deadly castle traps and defensive constructions. The game adds new tactical military structures and units to this mix, broadening the options on both sides of a siege. Among the new additions is a ballista, a ranged engine that can cut down crowds of attacking soldiers.
Siege tools
Tool | Side | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
Moats | Defence | Slow and channel attackers approaching the walls |
Tunnellers | Attack | Dig beneath defences to undermine walls |
Castle traps | Defence | Deadly constructions that punish attackers inside the fortress |
Ballista | Attack | A new ranged war engine that tears through massed infantry |
New military structures and units | Both | Tactical additions that broaden options on attack and defence |
On defence, the demo's military mission leaned on layered fortifications: towers linked by walls and gatehouses, with flammable pitch poured onto attackers to break up massed assaults. Against waves of ground troops and enemy siege engines, reading where pressure will land and channelling it with moats and traps matters as much as raw troop numbers.
Units and Abilities
Troops and siege engines carry abilities, some triggered automatically and some passive. Men-at-arms hurl spears at enemies who close in, while longbowmen have a chance to land a critical hit for extra damage. New siege units and siege weapons broaden the arsenal alongside the ballista, and higher honour ranks unlock stronger troops as a settlement advances.
Weather on the battlefield
Combat is shaped by enhanced medieval war mechanics that force players to read the conditions. Weather becomes a tactical factor: heavy rain, for example, can cut the range of archers, so commanders must adapt their plans to the skies as well as the terrain. Players test these systems against the artificial lords described under game modes.