Agent of the Crown

A Summons
An oft overlooked tale in the great war was the heroic part played by a young
captain of the guard. At the bleakest moment of the war, a promising young guards
captain was sent deep into our enemies' heartland. He had two tasks: His first was
to distract our foes at a time when our situation looked at its bleakest. The
second and the more daring objective, was to return with the fabled 'Jewel of the
North', Sir Longarm's niece. Recently captured by the Rat's advancing horde, she
was thought to be still live, but her location was unknown. For my own part, as a
sergeant of some years' experience, I volunteered to accompany the young Captain on
his journey, and I will here do my best to relay the events that befell us.

Mission One: Enemy Lines

We were under heavy siege and the situation looked desperate. But a relief force
was coming, and the truth was that we could crush the Rat's mass of ill-disciplined
troops, if only we could pin them here in the valley for a while longer. To do
that, we needed to take charge of the old fort at the head of the valley. The
Captain and I were given our first order: Break through the enemy lines and reach
the fort.

Mission Two: The Anvil

The road out of the valley passed right beneath this disused fort. We would have
to fortify it quickly and then hold it from prying eyes. The plan, as we were told
it, was that once the relief force arrived, they would sally forth from the castle.
The Rat's troops would panic and then rush to exit the valley, past our fort. Our
job was to try and hold them in place; an anvil to hold the crushing blow.

Mission Three: Lying Low

The Rat was said to be furious and dispatched overwhelming reinforcements to retake
the valley and bottle it up again. The Captain was only briefly congratulated on
his success, before we were sent on our way once more. Heading deep into the Rat's
newly conquered territories we dodged his patrols for a week before stumbling on a
small village deep in the bandit infested plains to the east. They welcomed us
with open arms.

Mission Four: A Detour

With the village's stores full and the bandits dealt with, the headman was sorry to
see us leave, but he offered what aid he could. He was convinced that any hostage
would have been taken and held in Seaward Tower, a castle high above the enemy's
main seaport and probably the most secure location in the county. Our final path
would hopefully see us there, but first we had some confusion to sow and a risky a
detour was needed. The headman selected a group of our recently trained men to
guide us to the perfect place.

Mission Five: Storms Peak

It was time to turn the tables on our enemy, by going after their own winter
supplies. Storms Peak was a very defensible location, and our plan was to first
fortify it to withstand any reprisals, after which we would conduct sorties to
destroy the Rat's grain stores in the farmlands below. We knew speed was
important, for once news of the operation reaches the Rat, his knights would be
quickly on our trail.

Mission Six: Escape to the Coast

Job done! Time now to flee Storms Peak, as the Rat, hopping mad with rage
apparently, had dispatched a huge army to crush us. The coast was too far,
however; and the Rat's fast moving vanguard would overtake us well before then.
The Rat himself gave us a chance with his impetuousness... In ordering his army to
move with all haste, the faster moving vanguard elements would charge ahead of his
main force. If we halted and looked for a defensible rear-guard position before
reaching the sea, we had a chance of holding off the vanguard. After which there
may yet be time for us to make the coast before his main force arrived.

Mission Seven: Seaward Tower

With the enemy's vanguard defeated, our tired but smaller force moved faster than
the army behind us, but time was still of the essence. When we reached the coast,
we made a quick assessment of the enemy's position, and the Captain led us directly
to siege. The Seaward Tower, however, was a daunting prospect. Easily accessible
from only one side, it wasn't about to throw its doors open to us.

Taken
She wasn't there! The castle had fallen, and the Jewel's maids set free, but of Sir
Longarm's niece there was no sign. The maids told of how a gang of sailors led by
a rough looking man came for her that very morning, setting sail for the enemy's
shores immediately. It was to there that we must now journey, if the Jewel was to
have any hope of rescue.
Strategy
Clicking on the alert icon on the radar map will help you find your reinforcements
more quickly.
You don’t need to kill all the enemy units, just reach the fort.
Destroy the enemy tower ballistae early on in the mission.
Take out the enemy ballistae and occupy the towers with your own archers and
crossbowmen.
Defending your reinforcements, crossbowmen and archers is key to victory.
Strategy
Get your castle walls up quickly to protect the keep.
Upgrade to stone walls as soon as possible for a better defense.
Get weapons workshops going quickly.
Build archers a soon as possible.
Hint 5
Strategy
You can turn off cheese consumption once you have gathered enough cheese.
Use plenty of ‘good things’ to permanently boost your popularity, to counter the
constant bandit attacks.
Clicking on the alert icon on the radar map will help you spot bandit incursions
more quickly.
Build wells in case of fire.
Hint 5
Strategy
Attract enemy attacks with your armored units.
Use elevation to boost ranged units.
Avoid patrols by timing your advances.
Hint 4
Hint 5
Strategy
Wood cannot be traded, so make sure to start felling trees early.
Secure stone deposits early.
Protect your keep. You may be attacked from all sides.
Use the market to raise money and buy the goods needed.
Save the highly defended granary for last, once you have built up sufficient troops
Strategy
Start weapons production early.
Protect your stone and iron production.
Placing an additional tower in a strategic location can be very helpful.
You can use pitch as a formidable defense.
Hint 5
Strategy
Take your time and plan well, the enemy lord isn't going anywhere.
The keep is well defended so be wary of traps.
Use macemen to quickly assault archers on towers.
Use small groups of spearmen or pikemen to tease enemy archers into lighting the
pitch.
Hint 5