I tried the demo of King's Crusade and did not like it. But at that price, it might be worth a look. The main problem is that King's Crusade battle maps reminds me of classic RTS scripted encounters where you have to do multiple stages and less open like King Arthur's.
In the first province I assaulted for demo play, I was told to land my first batch of troops and wait for reinforcements. After that, I must proceed to destroy northern or southern defence before the siege can commence. Etc. Very scripted. But the hero and magic system is still there, but less Lightning Bolts and Fireballs.
Upon conquering your first Stronghold, these two quests will trigger:
Finding Merlin will push you towards an alliance with the Welsh Kingdom and Old Faith.
Dealing with Sir Caradoc will seal an alliance with the Saxons and opens the path towards Christianity.
Both of these choices will not permanently lock you towards Christian/Old Faith path, but will affect the future bride of King Arthur. Also, these two quests have no time limit, feel free to settle other issues and gather strength before taking them on. Because doing it too early while unprepared will screw you over.
Winter Hero progress report:
Sir Kay unlocks Rank 4 Cloud of Arrows and will plan towards Protection against Magic. This is to prevent Archers from being destroyed by spells.
Rank 5 archers gains a perk. I can choose between:
-Masterwork Weaponry: 15% increase to damage
-Masterwork Armor: 15% increase to armor
-Aimed Shot: +50% shot damage but +50% shot delay, can be turned on and off.
I picked Masterwork Weapons.
Sir Mark maxes out his Dragonstrike.
Sir Gareth improves his Curse of Shadows.
The main reason to capture a Stronghold, is to gain access to research and laws.
Only 4 laws are available at the start at the Chancellery. You must research additional laws if you wish to implement them. They provide bonus and drawbacks.
Lordly privileges is useless. It increases your knight's loyalty but lowers your province income.
Monopoly is great. It reduces mining income by 30% but increases trade by 30%. Since we have very little mining income, there's more gain to implement it. I activate it.
Forced labour can be very useful if you need extra income. You gain more annual taxes, at the cost of more expensive recruitment and longer recruitment time. If you can keep casualties to a minimum, the bonuses will pay off handsomely. Since we're on VERY HARD mode, I'm not going to activate this.
Reserve unit is the opposite, you recruit cheaper and faster, but province annual income suffers and loyalty drops. Not worth the trade in my opinion.
They also give a projected balance of Income and Expenses for both gold and food. It's quite apparent that we're not in good shape at all on the food department but there's not much we can do. Horses consume more food and I like horse units.
This is the research screen, it's divided into three: Military, Law and Kingdom
This is where you plan upgrades for your units.
Archers > Longbowmen > Master Longbowmen should be prioritized.
Ignore the light footmen upgrades, since most of your playthrough, you should be using Sidhe / Christian Light infantries.
If you have need of heavy infantry, it might pay off to proceed towards Breakshields path. But like I said, I dislike their price and slow speed compared to Cavalry.
Pikemen is a mystery to me. On one hand they are good defense against heavy units and cavalry with trampling resistance and armor piercing traits, but heavy units usually die to arrows. Since I have plenty of Cavalry, and intend to use them as a makeshift anti-cavalry and mobile attack force, I decided not to use pikemen at all. Why do I use horseback units as anti-cavalry? Simple, they're immune to trampling. Buy a little time for the archers to reposition and then retreat quickly as the arrows fly again.
I pick the Longbowmen upgrade first. You can queue multiple upgrades, but since gold is in short supply, I can only do one at a time.
I choose to totally ignore the Law research for the time-being. After Longbow research is complete, I might go for Kingdom upgrades.
King Cadeyrn, the deposed monarch of Viroconium wishes to purchase the freedom of his hero.
It's a good offer, I take it. The wife is a good pair with Sir Kay.
+Honest means more mining income.
iraculous reduces recovery time, should the hero falls in battle, to zero.
+Just increases loyalty of all ruled provinces by 3.
-Flirtatious is a minor negative trait that lowers all knights loyalty.
We wipe out the remnants of King Cadeyn's forces the next year and gains another province.
The Vision is a DLC added quest. Some chatters in the official forums claim if you finish Visions, it will delay the arrival of Samhayne. It's a long quest chain with good rewards and massive battle at the end of it. Definitely worth putting off Wrath of Sir Caradoc to settle it.
Another aspect to Stronghold development is building structures. Just like research, building queues can only be set during winter. So pick your upgrades wisely. I always prioritize
Towers of Knightly Deeds. It gives 1 free skill point to all heroes and will considerably increase their effectiveness.
As Darth Roxor has recommended, I should prioritize disaster-preventions Kingdom upgrades almost immediately. These random disasters have negative effects to the provinces, and may sometime require a battle or lots of resources to quell. For 3000 gold and food research fee, I can remove these headaches, permanently. Well worth the price.
While all this is going on, the King of Murcia enters Bedegraine Forest, this event will trigger regardless of whether or not you did Into the Deepwoods.
And as planned, I will bring Sir Alymere, the Divine Legendary Champion (DLC) hero to our main force. But first, let's give him a quest to bring him up to speed.
The King would like me to investigate this 'vision' a hermit saw. I place not much belief in superstition, but orders are orders.
Blast it. Perhaps Ambrose would know more.
Very suspicious.
I've got you. Now, tell me the truth and you will not come into harm, boy.
An ambush? It's not much of an ambush now once I know about it. I better keep my eyes open.
Time to go see this Seer, then.
I've been expecting you! Taste steel!
For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. (Psalms 1:6)
Very well, I'll see what I can do.
This crystal ball holds great importance. A life is involved and the kingdom itself is at risk. Would you not lend me the artifact?
I'm glad you are a man of reasons.
Here are your coins. Now give me the answers I need.
Interesting. This artifact really does work. I suppose I shall return it to the church.
I must report this news to the King at once!
You've returned, what news?
Troubling. The hermit is in the clutches of the Sidhe, his knowledge may be the key to darker designs.
I see. Are you prepared, Sir Alymere?
Always.
Take command of these Champions and join Sir Kay's army. Deliver instruction to him to settle this matter at once.
At once, Sire!
I see. Most troubling news. If what you say is true, then we must proceed to West Mercia and begin our search there.
That will prove difficult.
Why is that?
King Aethelred disappears in the depths of Bedegraine forest, and our open borders treaty was dissolved, Mercia is now divided into two.
Then we have no other options but war.
I offer my place in the army. I would like to pay my respects to my brother's grave.
Very well, brother. Welcome to the army, Sir Alymere.
I am honored, Sir Kay.
The construction of Knightly Tower completes that winter, and our heroes can spend an additional skill point.
Sir Kay is given Masterful Strategies to lower casualty rates by 5%. A good skill, in my opinion.
Sir Gareth perfects his Curse of Shadows.
Sir Mark bolster his Armor of Faith. It's a nice passive skill, providing 20% melee damage reflection and 20% magic resistance at rank 2.
Sir Alymere mastered his cleave and gains Rank 2 spell of Daylight from an artifact.
As recommended, I will not attach any hero to the Giants and instead give command of the Champions to Sir Alymere. Champions are one step above Tourney Knights. Join me in my next update as we take on the Vision.