About Strongman Simulator:
I was apprehensive with the mixed scores, but I must say this plays quite well. I have actually run into fewer issues with Warlords than I have with Stronghold 2 (I played both right after each other for a comparison.) I really like the quality of life changes that have been added to Warlords from 2. Namely, stats and bonuses are clearly stated on each unit and building. Towers clearly state for example the number of troops that fit in each, the arrow coverage, and the range increase they receive. Another nice change from previous Strongholds is that military units no longer infinitely stack. They maintain spacing when in a fight which results in more realistic battles where some troops can’t fight all at the same time. In battles this means you need to maneuver troops to get encirclements in order to get more soldiers into the fray. This also means bottlenecking enemies works even when you lack area-of-effect attacks. The difficulty is there in singleplayer, with 4 levels which raise the challenge without feeling like its cheating you. There are numerous units to make use of, particularly in the siege and counter-siege area. The economic control is much more accessible and more in-depth in the past. You can easily diversify your food types and set the consumption rates for the peasantry for each individually. Of particular use is the market building that allows you to set auto-sell and auto-buy levels, meaning you don’t need to micromanage resource levels such as in the past. Basically I am loving the game as both a long-time Stronghold fan and as someone who enjoys RTSs. To be honest, I much prefer the production-chain approach Stronghold Warlords has over other modern RTS releases such as Age of Empires.
