Lords of the Realm II FAQ/Strategy
Written by JonSan16, E-mail [email protected]
Ver 1.0
©2000 to JonSan16

---------------------
Table of Contents
---------------------

I.	Introduction
II.	FAQ's
III.	Game Strategies
IV.	Battle Strategies
V.	Disclaimer
VI.	Thanks to
VII.	Copyrights

------------------------
I.	Introduction
-------------------------
This is my first FAQ. I have read several, so I am using them as examples. If 
this sucks, I am sorry. Anyway, Lords of the Realm II is your everyday 
strategy game. It was made by Sierra in 1996. I just recently got the game, 
but I think I have figured out a sure-fire way to triumph over the other 
nobles on any of the maps. I hope you like what you see here and I hope it 
helps you out in your game.

-----------------
II.	FAQ's
-----------------
1.	How do I keep my crops from dying?
A.	I can answer this easily. Only plant crops in the winter. At the beginning 
of the game, it should be winter; this is a good place to start your 
crops. Turn the fields you want into crops and move your work meter over 
towards food for now. This way you will get off to a good start with 
keeping your people happy and healthy.

2.	My cows keep dying, how can I keep them alive?
A.	I don't use cows myself, so I wouldn't know. I do know that if you are 
raising cows, they are for food. Make sure the food meter is equal between 
grain and cattle, but also make sure the people are getting atleast normal 
rations. You have to keep them happy or they will revolt against you.

3.	My people aren't happy, and they revolt and I lose my county, how do I 
prevent this?
A.	When you raise an army, don't take too many people. Try to keep your 
people's happiness level atleast at 30-35. Don't go below 30, this is when 
they start complaining.

4.	I never have any money and can't afford mercenaries and other stuff. How 
do I get money?
A.	Most of the counties have forestry, always have it turned on. If you have 
an excess amount of timber, you can always sell it. That is not always 
reliable though since you have to have bows for battle. The taxes can 
bring in a lot of money. If you people aren't happy and are complaining, 
don't give them taxes. They will revolt. If the happiness is 30-45, make 
taxes 1%. If happiness is 46-60, make taxes 2%. If happiness is 61-80, 
make taxes 3%. If happiness is above that, make taxes 4%. Do not ever go 
above 4%, the people will slowly get mad. Another way to keep money is to 
make sure that you disband armies with mercenaries when you are through 
with them. Do not garrison a castle with mercenaries, they will take all 
of your money.

5.	The other nobles keep taking my counties, how can I stop this?
A.	Never leave one of your counties without a castle. As soon as you take a 
neutral county, build a castle. If you don't have the supplies, then buy 
them from merchants if possible. You can also concentrate your workers on 
one industry such as stone or timber if that is what is needed. After you 
have the supplies for you castle, turn off everything but castle building 
and put the work meter between food and labor. That way the castle will be 
built quicker. After the castle is build, you should get free archers. The 
best way to keep armies out of your castle is with archers. Lots of 
archers in your towers can keep them out with no prob.

-----------------------------
III.	Game Strategies
-----------------------------
Here is basically what I do. The first season I plant nothing but crops and 
raise a small army to conquer the nearest neutral county. Depending on 
people's happiness, I may raise the taxes some (see FAQ above for tax 
percentages). I will then suck up to all the nobles, to see who is on my side 
for now. Don't offer alliances yet. The next turn I start my labor. I make 
lots of bows and swords. After I have conquered the nearest county, I raise 
it up like the one I have and build a castle. The castle is a must! Do not 
try to make the Royal castle right off, it will never get finished. Then I 
garrison both my castles with a lot of archers. Then, for a few years, I 
build up those counties and make them happy and get lots of weapons. I then 
take big armies from each county, and combine then to make a huge county. 
Even though it may not seem this way, peasants are necessary in armies that 
are sieging castles, especially royal castles. They are used as sacrifice and 
to dig moats. An army of like 300-400 peasants, 200 archers, 200 swordsmen, 
100-150 crossbowmen, 100-150 pikemen, 100-150 macemen, and a few knights, 
along with 4 catapults, a couple of siege towers, and a couple of battering 
rams can easily take a royal castle if you plan your attack. After I have 
built the army above, I will attack the nearest noble and get rid of him. If 
he has two counties, I take them both. Once I have got rid of him, I suck up 
to the other nobles, and offer an alliance to the one that likes me best. I 
never ally with the Bishop; he is a traitor and a liar. I would get rid of 
him first if possible. The Baron is a good ally, if he likes you. He asks for 
money a lot though. But beware, he may attack your castles. The Countess 
usually does not turn on you if she likes you. Do not suck up to her too 
much, she will get suspicious and start doubting you. After I have my ally, I 
build up all of my counties to about 1000 or so people and make them all 100 
happy and make sure they are all working on making weapons. The weapon making 
is very important. The most important weapon is the bow, then the sword, 
mace, pike, crossbow, and then the knight's armor. An army of archers can 
stop an army of peasants anyday as long as the peasants aren't more than 
twice the archers. After I have raised about 4 good counties, I make two huge 
armies to go each direction and take over the rest. Try to leave one county 
neutral when you are taking over the other nobles. That way when you are 
done, you will have no trouble taking the last county. If there are no 
neutral counties then surround one of nobles and leave him alone till you get 
the rest. When you are done to one county, make a big army and take it. If 
you lose, make another army; you will probably win now because you have worn 
them done.

This strategy never fails for me. Some people use the attack-all method. They 
just build armies and attack. I don't like this method because the people 
usually get mad and revolt and then you have to retake that county.

Another tip about crops: If a nobles starts destroying your crops, 
immediately stop his army so they can't destroy anymore and then start 
reclaiming your land. You need all of the land you have or the people will 
get sick, revolt, and you will lose that county. 

-----------------------------
IV.	Battle Strategies
-----------------------------
Knowing how to win battles is the key to beating this game. Archers are a 
sure-fire way to defend any castle. Peasants are necessary for taking royal 
castles. Knights are useless unless they are plentiful. Crossbowmen are good 
as long as they are with the archers. Swordsmen, pikemen, and macemen are 
good to have in a regular battle. When sieging a castle, use the army I 
described above in Part III. If you are taking over a neutral county, just 
take archers. The peasants will charge you and by the time they reach you, 
they all will be dead or most of them will be. If you are in a battle (not a 
siege) and don't want to attack and your opponent won't either, here is what 
to do. Line up everyone but your archers and put the archers behind them kind 
of spread out. Then send some decoy swordsmen, if they are available, to get 
your opponents attention and have them run back and the other army will run 
into your barricade. Then the archers will start firing at them and they 
should fall quickly. If you have no swordsmen, try to use everything but 
peasants because they will die before they can get back and your plan is 
stopped. The key to any army is a lot of archers. If you have a lot of 
archers and enough other soldiers to keep the opposing army off of you 
archers, the archers will take out you opponent. When sieging a Norman keep, 
use siege towers to get in the castle and attack quickly before the archers 
get you. When sieging a stone castle, use the same method as the Norman keep. 
When sieging a royal castle, use your peasants to dig the moat right in front 
of the drawbridge. Then have the battering ram knocking down the door. Then 
attack quickly so the archers can be stopped before they kill you.

If you follow these strategies, you won't lose many battles. If your army 
outnumbers an attacking army by a lot, auto-calculate is okay, but do not 
auto-calculate a fairly even battle, the computer will most likely win.

-----------------------
V.	Disclaimer
-----------------------
This FAQ is copyrighted to me, JonSan16, and can not be used without my 
written (typed) consent. If you would like to use this on your site, E-mail 
me at [email protected]. I check my E-mail daily and I will respond as 
soon as I can. I will most likely allow you to use it. This FAQ can not, 
however, be used for moneymaking purposes. And if you do use this FAQ on your 
site, make sure full credit is given to me. Thank you!

----------------------
VI.	Thanks to
----------------------
I would like to first thank Sierra for making a great game that I am now 
addicted to. I would like to thank my friend Michael for getting me into this 
game and teaching me how to play. Even though he uses the attack-all method, 
I learned from him. I would like to thank Louis (Dark Angel) for encouraging 
me to write this and distracting me while typing it.

-----------------------
VII.	Copyrights
-----------------------
This FAQ is copyrighted to JonSan16.
Lords of the Realm II is copyrighted to Sierra.


This is the end of my FAQ. If you like it, please E-mail me and tell me so! I 
love to know that I have helped someone.