 Not the prettiest guy to bear the title of duke (real name: Duke Truffe). Legend has it that he was so ugly when he was born, his parents abandoned him and he was taken in by a group of wandering bandits. The Pig eventually became their leader.
A strategy guide, castle guide, map makers guide, walkthroughs and plenty of food awaits you inside... Submitted by Aubergine, Jalis, Lord Nick, Lord Michael, Earl Listibald
The Pig appears in Stronghold 1, Stronghold Crusader and Stronghold Warchest. This opponent guide is biased towards Stronghold Crusader and Warchest. Opponent Overview The Pig, whilst not being one of the regions best economists, likes a fight. His greed for (other peoples) gold will soon have him trying it on, with even the smallest of siege forces...  | Name: Duc Truffe
Age: 28
Height: 5 11
Weight: 20 stone
SH1 Colour:  |
When the Pig was born it is rumoured he looked so hideous that his parents abandoned him in the street. Whatever the case, it is known that he was taken in by a group of travelling bandits who raided small towns and villages throughout the homeland. Whilst growing-up with small army of rogues he was vastly underfed, however after developing a crude understanding of basic military tactics and being nominated as their leader, the Pig made sure that he had first call on the best food after each raid and has overcompensated ever since. After one of the Pigs successful raids, the Wolf paid a visit to his encampment saying he was in search of a leader to command an army and after seeing the long scar on the Pigs left arm the Wolf became insistent that he was the right man for the job. To this day it is unclear why the Wolf thought the Pig was the best choice or why the king himself agreed with the Wolfs proposition to grant the Pig dukedom but however this came to be, the Pig now runs an effective if over populated kingdom. The Pig is an average opponent (no yellow or blue squares on the Lord). He uses leather-armoured troops (macemen and crossbowmen) as well as siege equipment (catapults and battering rams). His castles have relatively weak walls but they are well defended by towers. He does not place any good or bad things (except for aesthetic purposes) so his troops and economy do not have any attack bonus. Nicknames The Pig has the following nicknames... Duc Truffe 
Truffe is a French word. Translation in to English is 'truffle'. A truffle is an underground brown/black muschrom usually growing under Oak trees. They are considerated as very valuable for cooking and are also very expensive due to the amount of time taken to find them. The famous 'Black Truffle' of Europe is a culinary delicacy that can fetch over $2000 US per pound. Pigs and dogs are use to find and locate truffles. The Duke of Pigsbury 
Although pigs are smelly dirty animals that tend to roll around in their own muck, most people find them kind of cute. If you want to stand out from the crowd, I'm told pigs make excellent pets and can even be house trained. The Hog 
Although there are several varieties of hog, they all seem to be derived from feral Russian and domestic Spanish pigs! The Old Boar 
A boar is a male pig (the female is called a sow). You can find out how the Romans farmed these critters by clicking here. The Earl of Bacon 
Bacon comes from pigs. There are different types of bacon (as there are different types of pigs) and you can even get vegetarian bacon! To find out a little more about bacon, click here. Baron von Bloater Pigs and hogs tend to eat just about anything hence the term "bloater" being appropriate. The Earl of Hogsbottom Hogsbottom is used as a surname and was originally thought to have been given if a person looked like a hogs' bottom! The Whole Hog This is an English phrase that roughly means "the whole thing" or "the whole lot". Military Overview He prefers to use the following troops: - Crossbowmen
- Macemen
- Engineers who man catapults and battering rams
While the Pig does not use any crenellated walls or moats, he does pay some attention to the finer details of his castle design. He places large square stone towers and mans them with crossbowmen. To make sure they have a good command over the battlefield around the castle, his outer walls are made from the half height "low" walls. He protects his towers from catapult and trebuchet attack by placing two layers of normal height wall around them - these deflect many of your early attacks and significantly reduce damage to his towers. one drawback to this approach is that when a tower is destroyed any surviving crossbowmen will be at the bottom of a pit surrounded by walls and therefore cannot attack your troops. The Pig is also the first AI opponent we encounter that uses wooden spike traps, also known as "killing pits", and you need to send in more troops than usual as several will get killed by these traps. The Pig usually waits until he has around 60-70 troops before launching an attack. Depending on how advanced his castle is, his attack force will contain between 1 and 3 catapults and sometimes even a battering ram. He usually accompanies his siege equipment with 16-20 macemen and roughly 6 crossbowmen although it's difficult to estimate exact numbers as sometimes he will get the crossbowmen that are defending his farms to join in the attack. While The Pig does not build up his army as fast as some of the other AI players, the widespread use of leather armour (macemen and crossbowmen) make his troops quite dangerous at times and they can still move pretty quickly unlike the metal armoured troops used by the Wolf and other AI players. As with most other AI players, if there are several allied Pig castles on the map you can find yourself in some pretty tricky situations as hoards of catapults, macemen and crossbowmen approach your castle at the same time. The Pig will send between a quarter and a half of his crossbowmen to guard his beloved dairy farms and occasionally his quarries and iron mines. Civilian Overview - Population: 58 or 66 (depending on castle)
- Taxation: Not yet known
- Stockpile Levels: 30 wood (checking), 40 Stone, 10 Iron, 0 Pitch
- Granary Levels: 480 Cheese, 10 Fruit, 10 Bread (Checking)
- Armory Levels: 10 Maces, 10 Xbows, 10 Leather Armor (excess is sold once a threshold is reached, ie sells 4 Maces when reaches 14 in Armory)
- Generosity in Skirmish Mode: So far, the Pig has given me up to 250 cheese when requested. I think I can go a little higher when his granary is total maxed out with cheese, so I will give you an update on this. He will not give any wood, iron, stone, maces, leather armor, crossbows, pitch, fruit, bread, or gold. There is a high probability he will attack and defend when requested. He requests wood, stone, maces, crossbows, and leather armor.
- Market Manipulation: Buys/Sells Wood, Stone, Iron, Pitch, Fruit, Cheese, Bread, XBows, Maces, Leather Armor
The Pig usually places six to seven hovels and provides food by placing up to 12 dairy farms. The cheese diet is supplemented by the occasional purchase of fruit and bread at the market. If resources are available, he will place up to eight woodcutters, two quarries, six ox tethers, four iron mines, and one pitch rig. He places two to four fletchers, one to five blacksmiths, and two to seven tanners to produce crossbows, maces, and leather armor. He protects his castle from fire with up to four wells. Defending Against The Pig Defending against The Pig will vary depending on the design of your castle. If at all possible, enclose your keep using nothing but large square stone towers and gatehouses as this makes him think twice before attacking and also makes your castle stronger against his siege equipment. This castle design will drastically reduce the number of crossbowmen and macemen you have to deal with - as long as your gates remain shut! If you cannot afford the stone to create the tower and gate walls, then place moats around your castle (especially in front of walls) in order to slow down his macemen. Placing ballista on your towers (the more the better) will serve you well when his catapults and battering rams head towards you. The ballista will make short work of them before they can do any real damage but you still need to keep your castle walls, towers and gatehouses in good repair at all times. When his macemen attack, they generally run to any normal walls (which they will break down) and failing that they will look for an open gatehouse. As such, it's a good idea to place wooden spike traps ("killing pits") and pitch so you can dispose of any macemen that reach your castle. Putting these in front of gatehouses is especially effective if using the reccommended "towers and gates" design for your castle. Placing crossbowmen on your towers will also help you kill his macemen before they cause too much trouble. If possible, place a few pikemen on top of your Keep to protect the Lord should any of the Pig's macemen get inside your castle. Remeber that pikemen are actually better than swordsmen when under fire from enemy crossbowmen. Attacking The Pig Wear-Down Strategy The easiest way to start wearing down one of The Pig's castles is to cut him off from his dairy farms, quarries and iron mines. Not only will this result in his peasants eventually starving but it will also severly disrupt his troop recruitment and make it more difficult for him to replace lost towers. The Pig goes to great lengths to defend his dairy farms and you will run up against lots of crossbowmen guarding them. There are various ways to dispatch of these but a large number of horse archers is generally the fastest. You may want to launch some diseased cows at his dairy farms first (using a trebuchet) in order to kill off some of his crossbowmen and give your horse archers an easier task. Rather than destroying his dairy farms, it's usually best to leave your horse archers patrolling them - they will constantly kill off his farmers and tanners and the occasional bands of crossbowmen that come out to try and defend them. You should also take along some assassins (or pikemen) just in case he sends any of his trusty macemen out to bash your horses. Next, destroy his quarries and mines using trebuchets, catapults or fire ballista (whichever you find easiest). Without iron from his mines, he will be forced to use up his remaining reserves of iron and then his remaining cash to get maces. Without the stone from his quarries he will not be able to replace towers when you destroy them later... Once you have dealt with his farms, quarries and mines you have two choices - either wait for his food to run out or charge his castle. If you wait for his food to run out then you will find his castle a bit easier to capture. Without the food, his workers will leave so he will not be able to recruit new troops when you go in for the final attack. in addition, by the time his food runs out he will have also run out of maces and leather armour reducing the number of macemen you have to deal with on the final assault. To avoid heavy casualties you need to get rid of his defending crossbowmen - they will be in his towers and on top of his gatehouse and Keep. Destroy his gatehouse and towers with six or more trebuchets. His towers are usually surrounded by two tiles of normal height wall so it will take several attacks to finally destroy them. Any of his crossbowmen that survive his tower being destroyed will find themselves at the bottom of a walled dungeon and will no longer cause trouble (unless he has enough stone to rebuild his tower - hence us destroying his quarries). Instruct your horse archers to patrol around his castle and they will help out with the remaining crossbowmen as well as any of his workers that try and attend to his farms. If you want to minimise casualties to your more expensive troops, you may consider sending in laddermen, monks or spearmen first to clear his killing pit traps. When you are happy that you have dealt with enough of his crossbowmen, send in around 20-30 assassins or pikemen (depending on how many troops he has left) to finish him off. Pikemen are more resistant to crossbow fire than any other type of troop but assassins will have an easier time getting past his low outer walls. Decisive Force Strategy Send a large army of over 100 horse archers to circle his castle - they will get rid of his crossbowmen and many of his macemen. At the same time, send about 40 assassins over his walls and in to his Keep. Quick carnage is guaranteed! Castles Note: Click on any of the castle pictures or diagramatic views below to see a full-size version. #1 - Left Wing Single Right Castle 
- Structure: 1 offset Gatehouse, 2 Square Towers. Square Tower to the left of the Keep is connected via a large walkway. A second Square Tower is to the Right of the Keep.
- Population (58): 8 Woodcutters, 6 Quarry Masons, 6 Quarry Workers, 8 Miners, 1 Pitchman, 12 Dairy Farmers, 2 Firewatch, 2 Fletchers, 1 Blacksmith, 3 Tanners (49 working, 9 idle)
- Unique Features: The only Pig castle without an Engineer's Guild (so no catapults or battering rams). The Small Gatehouse is surrounded by killing pits
 After clearing his towers of crossbowmen using plenty of horse archers (or even just destroy the towers with trebuchets), send your assassins in over his walls at the back of the castle - they will have easy access to his Keep.
#2 - 4 Room Gallows Castle 
- Structure: 1 reverse Gatehouse, 3 Square Towers, 4 separate areas: Barbican; Market & Engineer's Guild; Armory and Weapon Shops; and Barracks and Granary.
- Population (58): 8 Woodcutters, 6 Quarry Masons, 6 Quarry Workers, 8 Miners, 1 Pitchman, 12 Dairy Farmers, 2 Firewatch, 3 Fletchers, 3 Blacksmith, 3 Tanners (52 working, 6 idle)
- Unique Features: Castle has 2 Gallows next to the Gatehouse. Killing pits protect the Gatehouse and the 'doorways' between the 4 areas.
 Clear his towers of crossbowmen with plenty of horse archers then send assassins over the low wall near his campfire so they can get to his Keep without stepping on all the wooden traps behind and to the sides of the Keep.
#3 - 3 Room Gallows Castle 
- Structure: 1 reverse Gatehouse, 3 Square Towers, 3 separate areas: Market & Barracks; Armory, Granary, and Weapon Shops; and far right Tower.
- Population (66): 8 Woodcutters, 6 Quarry Masons, 6 Quarry Workers, 8 Miners, 1 Pitchman, 12 Dairy Farmers, 4 Firewatch, 4 Fletchers, 3 Blacksmith, 4 Tanners (56 working, 10 idle)
- Unique Features: Castle has 2 Gallows next to the Gatehouse. Killing pits protect the Gatehouse, the 'doorways' between the 3 areas, and the stairs for each of the Towers.
 Use the same tactics as those listed for the 4 Room Gallows Castle!
#4 - Butterfly Gallows Castle 
- Structure: 1 inline Gatehouse, 5 Square Towers arranged in a Butterfly shape.
- Population (66): 8 Woodcutters, 6 Quarry Masons, 6 Quarry Workers, 8 Miners, 1 Pitchman, 12 Dairy Farmers, 4 Firewatch, 4 Fletchers, 5 Blacksmith, 7 Tanners (61 working, 5 idle)
- Unique Features: Two large square towers placed at each end of the castle. Killing pits protect the Gatehouse, the campfire, and the stairs for the Towers.
 Start by attacking the right hand side where the engineers' guild and market are. Use your Horse Archers to clear the towers and then send assassins over the walls to destroy buildings one by one. As you move towards the Keep you will be able to destroy large numbers of hovels, fletchers, tanners and blacksmiths. Be sure to use wipe out those pesky crossbowmen in the other towers well in advance of your assassins reaching the Keep to minimise casualties. An alternate method would be to attack from the back of the Keep and use your assassins to quickly kill the Lord.
#5 - Left Wing Double Right Castle 
- Structure: 1 inline Gatehouse, 3 Square Towers. Square Tower to the left of the Keep is connected via a large walkway. The other two Square Towers are to the Right of the Keep. arranged in a Butterfly shape.
- Population (66): 8 Woodcutters, 6 Quarry Masons, 6 Quarry Workers, 8 Miners, 1 Pitchman, 12 Dairy Farmers, 3 Firewatch, 3 Fletchers, 2 Blacksmith, 5 Tanners (54 working, 12 idle)
- Unique Features: Killing pits surround the Gatehouse, and protect the stairs to the two towers on the right.
 Use Horse Archers to clear defending crossbowmen and as many macemen as possible then send assassins in from behind the Keep where they can quickly scale the walls to get direct access to the enemy Lord.
#6 - Double Gate Castle 
- Structure: 2 opposed Gatehouses, 3 Square Towers. one Tower is attached to the Keep, the other two oversee the gatehouses.
- Population (58): 8 Woodcutters, 6 Quarry Masons, 6 Quarry Workers, 8 Miners, 1 Pitchman, 12 Dairy Farmers, 3 Firewatch, 3 Fletchers, 2 Blacksmith, 2 Tanners (51 working, 7 idle)
- Unique Features: The only Pig Castle with 2 gatehouses. one Square Tower abutts the Keep and killing pits protect the Gatehouses and stairs. Castle has 3 separate areas.
 Clear the defending crossbowmen with Horse Archers then send your assassins in near the armoury as this will avoid all the killing pit traps.
#7 - Killing Pit Keep Castle 
- Structure: 1 inline Gatehouse, 2 Square Towers.
- Population (58): 8 Woodcutters, 6 Quarry Masons, 6 Quarry Workers, 8 Miners, 1 Pitchman, 12 Dairy Farmers, 2 Firewatch, 2 Fletchers, 2 Blacksmith, 3 Tanners (50 working, 8 idle)
- Unique Features: The only Pig Castle with the Keep 'exposed'. Killing pits line the exposed portion of the keep, and protect the gatehouse and access stairs for the Towers.
 As with most of the Pigs' castles, send a large number of horse archers to circle the castle until there are no crossbowmen left on his towers. Send in assassins to capture the Keep, preferably from the back of the castle near the armoury and tanners where there are no killing pits.
#8 - Exposed Hovels Castle 
- Structure: 1 reverse Gatehouse, 2 Square Towers. Hovels and Engineer's Guild outside the castle's walls.
- Population (58): 8 Woodcutters, 6 Quarry Masons, 6 Quarry Workers, 8 Miners, 1 Pitchman, 12 Dairy Farmers, 3 Firewatch, 2 Fletchers, 2 Blacksmith, 3 Tanners (51 working, 7 idle)
- Unique Features: only Pig Castle with the hovels and Engineer's Guild outside the castle's walls. Killing pits surround the gatehouse and protect the access stairs for the Towers.
 The easiest way to destroy this, the smallest of the Pig's castles, is to destroy the hovels to reduce his popularity. Get 100 horse archers to circle his castle and take out his crossbowmen. Send in assassins to take control of his Keep.
Map Makers Tips The Pig will place up to 3 quarries and 4 iron mines. The quarries are vital to his castle building, in particular his towers that are a key part of his castle defence. The iron mines allow him to produce maces for his macemen and without them his ability to attack his enemies will be greatly reduced (unless he manages to make lots of money). To nurture the Pig, make sure there is plenty of grassland where he can place his dairy farms. The dairy farms not only provide him with vast amounts of his favourite cheese but also provide him with leather armour courtesy of his tanners. All his troops wear leather armour so without these farms he is severely disadvantaged. The Pig also needs wood - initially to build his workshops and later to build lots of crossbows. A plentiful supply of wood will keep him fully stocked with crossbowmen which are critical to the defence of his castle and much loved farms. Scripting Invasions If you are scripting invasions be sure to include macemen, some crossbowmen and at least two catapults (along with the engineers to man them). For larger invasions increase the number of crossbowmen and macemen and bring along three catapults and a battering ram. Stronghold Walkthroughs The Pig appears or is mentioned in the following missions in the Military Campaign: Stronghold Crusader and Warchest Walkthorughs The Pig is encountered in the following missions in the first Skirmish Trial: He is also encountered in the following missions in the second Skirmish Trial: And he appears in the following missions in the Historic Campaigns: Advanced Tactical Data Sheet In what is probably the most thorough research ever provided for The Pig, Lord Nick's tactical data sheet is a sight to behold! For more information on the data sheet, please click here. For those of you that do not have Microsoft Excel, we have taken screen granbs of all the charts - just click the image below to see the corresponding chart: 
Castle Sizes
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Weapons Cost
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Demographics
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Opportunity Costs
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Raw Resources Cost
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Resource Requirements
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Weapons Productivity
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Revenue from Sold Weapons
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A huge thanks to Lord Nick for some outstanding work on the tactical data sheet and castle diagrams!
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