As you know Stronghold: Warlords will be the first game in our ‘castle sim’ strategy series to introduce gunpowder siege weapons. Coming in the form of thunder crash bombs, the fearsome mortar, hwacha fire arrow cart and more, each can be used in different ways to cripple and eventually conquer rival players. Spread fire across enemy farmlands by catapulting bombs over their walls, blow apart defences with massive cannonballs or breach their castle walls with ancient rocket launchers. Castle defences even benefit from the addition of gunpowder, with mounted hwacha able to mow down lightly armoured enemy infantry before they can approach your walls.

What you probably aren’t aware of is that rocks and Chinese thunder crash bombs won’t be the only thing you’re launching over 300 meters come March 9th… That’s right, diseased animal ammunition is returning to the series in Stronghold: Warlords! While the humble Pig featured early in our design documents as an intended option in siege warfare we weren’t always sure about what other animals would be lucky enough to make the cut. Enter the Stronghold Discord community, who voted overwhelmingly for Water Buffalo over hot contenders like the ‘Large Bactrian Camel’ and ‘A Horse With a Sore Throat’.

Whatever you decide to launch over the walls of your enemies next year Stronghold: Warlords should have your covered with 10 siege weapons, 16 units and a plethora of siege defences for those turtle players out there. These will all be playable at launch in multiplayer, free build, skirmish and also unlocked over the course of the game’s 30 mission single player campaign. We can’t wait for players to get their hands on Warlords as we approach launch on March 9th, 2021.