Suggestion: Castles can lock gates/raise bridge

[CrazyCracka420]

That would prevent anyone from entering the village castle.  This would then prevent people from seeing how large of an army you have stationed there, this would be one more incentive for clans to take and control castles.  Would not be able to "lock out" people from villages or cities, as they don't always have one easy to control access point.

[dynamike]

I like the idea! Castles do not have enough advantages for clans at the moment that justifies the high effort of taking them.

It would also make them more of a wildcard to judge troop numbers and a good fallback point in case of invasion (like a final boss to beat at the end). 

[Tears of Destiny]

Marvelous idea!

[Casimir]

I like the idea! Castles do not have enough advantages for clans at the moment that justifies the high effort of taking them.

It would also make them more of a wildcard to judge troop numbers and a good fallback point in case of invasion (like a final boss to beat at the end). 

Monopoly on recruitment, highly defensible position, 2000 man free army.  There are definitely some benefits, enough to justify it IMO, although i'm all for more strategus features.

[bredeus]

anyway very good idea

[dynamike]

2000 man free army

Wut? Where did you get that from?

Afaik troop upkeep is only discounted the same way as in villages.

[CrazyCracka420]

Monopoly on recruitment and highly defensible position are the only benefits I see now.

But it costs a lot more troops and gold to take a castle, and unless you are able to then reinforce the castle with more troops and better equipment than the AI, then you just basically gave away the castle to anyone smart enough to attack.

Having a defensible position and being able to recruit more troops is nice, but it seems a lot of clans have decided it's easier to take the village and try to hold it than a castle, even though the castle would be obviously easier to defend.  All comes down to the raw numbers, troops and cost to equip them. 

I don't make decisions or have any say in Hospitallers, but I always wondered why they didn't take some more castles over to use as a "last stand" type of strategy (if needed).  And let the villages be taken over, and retake on your own terms.

[Casimir]

2000 pop limit means you've got a free 2000 men if anyone tries to capture it. Compared to 500 for a village. Thats the way i see it in my castle anyway.  Makes it much harder for someone to capture and hold all your villages if you have a place of strength to strike out from. A castle is an investment for the future. An expenditure to take, but also an expenditure for your enemies.

As i said i like the idea.