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Which is the strongest castle? By that, I mean, which would be the best to defend in a seige. That would also include the defenses, stability and the types of soldiers guarding it.

I don't know why I'm asking this, but I'm just looking for ideas for a new castle project...

Oh my heavens - I can't just pop off an answer after that. I'm going to have to review all the various castles. I will say that I will dismiss any nonsensical (but cool or fun) "defenses" including dragons, Rube Goldbergs, or faux-flaming wheels of doom out of hand. I'm also not sure if I am going to consider reduced back walls that are designed for hand access to be as low as they appear to be. Gad, what a can of worms (but might tasty worms, he says with a smile).

I would say it's a toss up between the "King's Castle", the "Black Monarch's Castle" and the "Yellow Castle". Coming in close behind are the two falcon Castles.

These castles are all designed and built well, so there is no obvious, gaping holes (ex: Morcia) or easy to hop-over walls (ex: King's Mountain Fortress). Because I am a biased Crusader fan, I therefore vote for the "King's Castle".

Wow, not sure what to vote for, is there a castle with onle one entrance and at the same time no gaping holes or other bad stuff?

Why isn´t King´s Castle (6080) in the poll?

grumble grumble.....

Woah! Don't ask such hard questions.

Firstly, Vladek's Dark Fortress. It's got a ton of defenses: two big, fire-throwing catapults, solid, tall walls, plenty of weapons, boiling oil, a skeleton guard, several traps, the Vladmask, three Elite Shadow Knights and Lord Vladek himself.

(seems almost ironic that a KK2 set is in the lead for 'strongest castle'... )

Secondly, Black Knight's Castle. With four heavily-armoured knights, lots of footsoldiers and a very solid, imposing structure, this is one place I'd feel secure in, if I was in control of it. It simply had to make it into the list.

(hmmm, why are the dark castles always the winners?)

Thirdly, Royal Knights' Castle. Even though the back wall is somewhat lower than the front, it has a catapult here which somewhat makes up for it. The rest of the castle is quite impressive, with a sweet gatehouse and a nice front wall. The ghost and the skeleton make it feel like it's seen many battles. And the Royal King and his soldiers are very cool, IMHO.

- Matt

I went with Misc, because the best ones aren't even in the poll. As previously mentioned, the King's castle (6080), Black Monarch's castle (6085), and the Yellow Castle (375) are the easiest to defend. All three of these have complete walls, towers, and gates. But more than that, they came with enough figs to actually put up a fight. Vladek's Dark Fortress is a cool set, but fig wise it can't compete. After all, it only has four defenders.

Josh

Hi Everybody!

I went with Misc, because the best ones aren't even in the poll. As previously mentioned, the King's castle (6080), Black Monarch's castle (6085), and the Yellow Castle (375) are the easiest to defend. All three of these have complete walls, towers, and gates. But more than that, they came with enough figs to actually put up a fight. Vladek's Dark Fortress is a cool set, but fig wise it can't compete. After all, it only has four defenders.

The reason I didn't put those specific castles on the poll was because I wanted one big castle from each faction. I cut those two out because 1. The King's Mountian Fortress in on high ground. 2. The Black Knights Castle was bigger and had more troops then the Black Monarchs Castle.

Hmmm... I had to think for a minute on this one.

I'd say probably the Black Knight's Castle (6086), then King's Castle (6080)--even if a knight could jump off his horse onto the palisade.

I have these two, and really, no gaping holes. The Knight's has reasonably high sides--plus the idea of a moat. Both also have a good number of figs, crossbows, archers, knights, etc (10 and 9, or something like that).

I don't know about Vladek's, but I was under the impression it was only a facade... Is this right, or is it like 6080?

I don't know about Vladek's, but I was under the impression it was only a facade... Is this right, or is it like 6080?

Right, I think.

It has only three sides, but it has three components that are large outpost sized. They can fold up and cover two more sides, but the rear is still exposed.

I voted for that because, IF it had a larger group of defenders, it could probley turn back any invading army. For the back section, just build the whole thing in some narrow pass.

Honestly, I don't think any of these castles come close to being able to withstand a seige. 375, 6080 and 6085 certainly have the advantage of being fully enclosed by proper walls. They also come with more defenders than some of the newer castles.

Castles like 6090, 6081, 6097 and 6091/6098 aren't even worthy of consideration. With more holes than swiss cheese, these castles are almost impossible to defend. And considering the meager number of soldiers these sets provide (6090 isn't as bad in this regard), defending these three turkeys would be nothing short of a nightmare!

Now 6086 is a bit of an inigma. Sure, it has alot of minifigs, and it looks fantastic. Unfortunately, it is also missing two walls. Sure, this is undoubtedly to make the castle easier to play with. It still doesn't change the fact that two of the four walls that make up this castle may easily be breached. In many ways, this castle is not unlike 6081 in that the drawbridge is rendered utterly useless by the wall to the left of the ramp. Unfortunately, while 6086 is a fantastic looking castle, it probably wouldn't be terribly difficult to breach.

Vladek's fortress, with its high walls would probably be an ok choice if it wasn't for the lack of infantry. I simply can't imagine withstanding a seige (even a LEGO seige) with only four men. Coupled with several noticeable holes for minifigs to crawl through, this too is probably a challenge to defend.

Overall, none of LEGO's castles would be particularly successful in thwarting a seige. However, I have made one observation that might be worth consideration. If the castle looks boring, it probably is easier to defend. More compact castles generally have fewer holes for attackers to gain access, however most fans seem to regard these smaller fortresses as being dull. Its a lose/lose situation.

Later.

After thinking on it for a day here's what I think.

Yellow Castle:8/10
It's got four walls and a couple towers and enough defenders to have a successful defense and have a mounted counter attack. If one section falls, there are other spots in there to defend from. The reason it doesn't get a 10/10 is because it doesn't have very good ranged troops.

Castle of Morcia:6/10
This is on high ground and has a couple weapons to take out siege engines. Once the four corner points fall, the defenders will most likely be slaughtered in the middle. Maybe a wall of some sort will be more defend able.

King's Mountain Fortress:9/10
It's also on high ground and has walls. It will take a lot of men to take it, but then they can counter attack with their horsemen.

Black Knight's Castle:10/10
It has all the same things as the king's Mountain Fortress but is bigger and has a bigger garrison.

Fire Breathing Fortress:8/10 or 5/10
This is more of a big outpost then castle. Not much to say really, if you count the dragon and wizard, the invaders will lose a lot more men though.

Royal Knight's Castle:8/10
This is like the Black Knight's Castle in design,only slightly weaker. The back walls are weak, but there are enough defenders.

NightLord's Castle:4/10
It has walls, but not a very good design, once the enemy is in the courtyard, it's pretty much over.

King Leo's Castle: 7/10
Marginally better then the Castle of Morica because of a marginally better design.

Vladek's Dark Fortress: 9.75/10
This is easily the biggest and strongest castle, but it only has three sides and needs a huge number of troops to defend it.



Wow that was a lot.

TheOrk wrote:After thinking on it for a day here's what I think.

Yellow Castle:8/10
It's got four walls and a couple towers and enough defenders to have a successful defense and have a mounted counter attack. If one section falls, there are other spots in there to defend from. The reason it doesn't get a 10/10 is because it doesn't have very good ranged troops.

Castle of Morcia:6/10
This is on high ground and has a couple weapons to take out siege engines. Once the four corner points fall, the defenders will most likely be slaughtered in the middle. May a wall of some sort will be more defend able.

King's Mountain Fortress:9/10
It's also on high ground and has walls. It will take a lot of men to take it, but then they can counter attack with their horsemen.

Black Knight's Castle:10/10
It has all the same things as the king's Mountain Fortress but is bigger and has a bigger garrison.

Fire Breathing Fortress:8/10 or 5/10
This is more of a big outpost then castle. Not much to say really, if you count the dragon and wizard, the invaders will lose a lot more men though.

Royal Knight's Castle:8/10
This is like the Black Knight's Castle in design,only slightly weaker. The back walls are weak, but there are enough defenders.

NightLord's Castle:4/10
It has walls, but not a very good design, once the enemy is in the courtyard, it's pretty much over.

King Leo's Castle: 7/10
Marginally better then the Castle of Morica because of a marginally better design.

Vladek's Dark Fortress: 9.75/10
This is easily the biggest and strongest castle, but it only has three sides and needs a huge number of troops to defend it.



Wow that was a lot.

Nice reviews but I still miss 6080

I always liked intellectual threads

In my opinion, none of them. A strong castle is surronded by thick walls that can't be pushed over or vibrated by the tossing of a brick. TLG doesn't make strong castles, they don't really think that over. If a castle is strong, its made out of overlooping bricks, or strong wall pieces attached to a brick structure.

I may be wrong, for I don't have all of these.

Shadow wrote:TLG doesn't make strong castles, they don't really think that over.

Well, I believe that what makes we think like this is what comes to walls and defenses, as other said before. But we can see that some castles rely on other factors (Vladek's mask, dragons, wizards) to counter other weaknesses.

Well, I think that the walls and, mainly, the towers of the Black Monarch's Castle makes it the stronger fortress. Towers like those ones makes rains of arrows at any attacker...

Oh, maybe we should consider the attacker on some cases. Vladek's castle is great, but Mathias' Siege Towers have that magical protection. Besides that, relying on a Mask to protect the entire army and fortress is not a good idea. Jayko could explain it very well.