military and historical

I bought this game while I was waiting for the release of Lords of the Realm III. I am very glad I made the purchase. This game has provided much entertainment. I really enjoy designing the castles, placing archers and crossbowmen on the walls and towers and placing engineers with pitch pots to shower the enemy with liquid fire. There is also a lot of management and strategy needed to succeed. For example You can only build a large castle with a large supply of stone. I also like the fact that if you dont have one item you could over produce and sell another in order to gain money to buy what you need. I would strongly recomend this game to Medieval strategy game fans. After playing Lords of the Realm III, I am really glad I bought Stonghold Warchest because while Lords of the Realm III sits in my garbage can, Stronghold sits in my PC.

This pack includes the original Stronghold along with Stronghold: Crusader. Think of this as WarCraft II in medieval times. The game begins with a nice introduction and has an easily navigated menu system. It is a one player game but can be played over a network or Internet connection.

Play is very straightforward and there are help menus throughout. Game play is very fluid and exciting. It includes a set game with various campaigns to defeat the baddies. It also includes stand alone attacks and a great map editor. I can't say enough about the map editor as it lets you do 3-D terrain design (up to a point) and provides plenty of options. Perhaps the only disadvantage is that like all of these games the AI is limited and at times you find yourself yelling at the soldiers, "How can anyone be that dumb - take cover!"

Perhaps the coolest thing about this is being able to fight battles at real historical castles in Europe. They provide a brief historical description of the castle and its history and then you can kick derriere.

An added bonus is that there is a strong following of the game and an online community with whom you can exchange maps, engage in battle, participate in contests, etc. If you feel you are up for a medieval challenge and enjoy WarCraft, StarCraft type games this one will provide you with lots of entertainment.

Let me start off saying that this game is absolutely superb. Although I did have to struggle a bit in the beginning learning some of the buttons and controls, it was worth it. This game is complex and simple at the same time -- which tells you that it is a special game.

You start off with small wooden keeps, which you must defend with archers and lightly armored foot soldiers. Slowly, you gain the ability to more advanced soldiers, like Crossbow men and macemen, and many more. The economic side is pretty straight forward, in order to make money you must raise taxes. But you can trade goods for gold or vice versa through a building which you will get in the middle part of the game. So if you have excess wood that you won't need, you can trade it for gold or something else.

Trust me, you will lose sleep over this Stronghold. Many hours will be consumed by this game, which is saying a lot these days. Buy this game, you won't regret it.