Crusader Forts?

[DorosTheConqueror]

Right, well, I'm not sure if this is a bug, a feature that wasn't finished by release date, or if I just happen to be unlucky, but what in Allah's name is up with the forts in teh Crusader campaign? One would assume (from press releases, instruction manuals, and opening movies) that you can build stone forts, same as in Britain. Right? Well, the forts cost an arm and a leg, and they sure look like stone forts on the campaign map, but I just fought a siege battle in one of them, thinking I could be all clever like and break a full stack of Egyptians against my towering walls and archer-filled towers. TADA! The fort's wooden. NO different from the forts in the vanilla game, and it cost me a whooping 2500 florins to make.

So what gives? Has this happened to anyone else? Or, more importanly, has anyone else actually fought a fort battle in the Crusader campaign yet? While I appreciate the impressive graphical effect on the campaign map, it's sort of useless to be paying that much money for a wooden fence that couldn't stop a French peasant.

[Kinjo]

Right, well, I'm not sure if this is a bug, a feature that wasn't finished by release date, or if I just happen to be unlucky, but what in Allah's name is up with the forts in teh Crusader campaign? One would assume (from press releases, instruction manuals, and opening movies) that you can build stone forts, same as in Britain. Right? Well, the forts cost an arm and a leg, and they sure look like stone forts on the campaign map, but I just fought a siege battle in one of them, thinking I could be all clever like and break a full stack of Egyptians against my towering walls and archer-filled towers. TADA! The fort's wooden. NO different from the forts in the vanilla game, and it cost me a whooping 2500 florins to make.

So what gives? Has this happened to anyone else? Or, more importanly, has anyone else actually fought a fort battle in the Crusader campaign yet? While I appreciate the impressive graphical effect on the campaign map, it's sort of useless to be paying that much money for a wooden fence that couldn't stop a French peasant.

You are paying for a permanent wooden fort that does not disappear when you leave it. I really with they where stone forts too.

[Jonni_g_n]

does anyone actually build forts? i always find them a bit pointless. rather fight a pitched battle than risk having to sally out and get destroyed if they don't assualt you!

[DorosTheConqueror]

does anyone actually build forts? i always find them a bit pointless. rather fight a pitched battle than risk having to sally out and get destroyed if they don't assualt you!

I build forts all the time in vanilla.

One, they keep your troops loyal- most of the time, one stack of troops just won't cut it, and if you need more soldiers than you have room for in your cities and castles, what do you do? Well, if you leave them sitting around in the wilderness they're liable to revolt, especially if you plan on leaving them for extended periods of time. Forts solve all your massive army management problems.

Two, if you position them right, they can really mess with the AI. A well defended fort in a tight area (like a mountain pass or just behind a bridge) can cause the enemy AI to take massive detours to get to your land... sometimes even stopping them from attacking altogether.

Three, sallies are always easier than pitched battles, since the AI tends to be much more passive during sally defence and even if you find yourself in a serious jam, you can always run back to the fort and end the day in a draw. What's more, you'll have at least one turn, maybe more, in which to send up reinforcements, just in case the enemy gets clever and jumps you with way more men then you can handle in one go.

Four, they keep your troops safe from the plague, and allows you to keep large groups of cavalry free from the burden of being stuck in a beseiged city.

Five, the classic merchant fort exploit, which seems to have been "fixed" by CA. I sent a bunch of merchants, a general, and some honor guards all the way from Acre to the Byzantine marble mines, only to find out when I got there that forts can no longer be built on top of resources.

Yes, just transfer the fort .world files from britannia to crusades

Thanks! I'll try that. Will that affect old saves, or will I need to restart to get the effect?

[nameless]

Forts are also good for keeping enemy agents away from you lands if in narrow passes or bridges.

It also helps to keep the enemy from simply wandering into your lands. At least with a fort you can keep a border guard on it and it also acts as an early warning system if the AI decides to attack you.

But yes, it's not a bug. The manual only states that the forts you build are permanent ones, hence 2500. I guess they used the stone fort model since it's the permanent one (But not the actual stone fort in the battlemap)

Though it would be nice to mod in the actual stone forts.

[wojteq]

Same ad Jonni_g_n, I never build forts, but those in Britannia Camp. seem to be more interesting

[the_mango55]

Anyone know if there's some way to change this in the scripts? To make them a stone fort rather than a plain wooden one?

[SigniferOne]

Yes, just transfer the fort .world files from britannia to crusades...

[Pachinko]

Or, more importanly, has anyone else actually fought a fort battle in the Crusader campaign yet?

yes i have. Its wrong. Maybe a .....bug.

[the_mango55]

What's the point of permanant forts if they aren't stone?

They are permanant anyway if you have a unit in them, right? And if you don't have units in them, then the enemy can take your fort without a fight, thus having a free fort.

I would rather have my forts dissapear when I leave them.

[ShadowGladius]

In addition to closing bridges and choke points, I like making Forts on roads, especially intersections of roads - they'll delay the enemy by forcing them off the road, making them take much longer to get somewhere.