Stronghold creature choices

[Metathron]

Goblin Trapper vs Goblin Witch-Doctor - 50:50. I like both equally. The docs are more on the offensive side and the trappers on the defensive.

Centaur Nomad vs Centaur Marauder - 55: 45. I somewhat prefer the nomads due to a slightly greater damage output and 2 more shots.

Mauler vs Warmonger - 85:15. Assault is just a very limited form of double strike, but it triggers a fair amount of times. In any case, I much prefer an offensive unit in my barbarian's ranks rather than a defensive one.

Sky daughter vs Earth Daughter - 30:70. I'm not that smitten with chain lightning. The Earth Daughter is more offensive, travels a little faster and will attack without fear of retaliation after casting slow on its enemies.

Executioner vs Chieftain - 90:10. Executioner all the way, no contest. Like Assault, Cleave is also a somewhat watered down version of Double Strike, but unlike Assault, Cleave is much better and will trigger in 99% of cases due to the Executioners' good damage output.

Foul Wyvern vs Paokai - 50:50. Not really partial to either of these units. They're not a priority when building either.

Untamed Cyclops vs Bloodeyed Cyclops - 55:45. Will choose the untamed fellow a bit more, due to better damage. Also, is it just me or does the Bloodeyed Cyclops have the 2-hex attack of the HoMM II cyclops? If it does, why is it not in its description?

[Omega_Destroyer]

1) Trappers for creeping, Witch Doctors for seiges.

2) Marauders over Nomads. The extra defense is nice, the extra shots of the Nomad don't mean much with an ammo cart, and the no melee penalty is always nice when the enemies reach you.

3) Warmongers over Maulers. The Assault ability is nice, but the 8 extra hit points, taunt, and fierce retaliation are very nice. Plus the extra defense helps.

4) Earth Daugters about 70% of the time. Their hexing attack is wonderful and the no retaliation against slowed units is a nice bonus. When it comes to defending castles, I prefer Sky Daughters for the chain lightning ability, even though it does take two turns (without special gear) to cast.

5) Chieftains. While the Executioners are an offensive nightmare, the Cheiftains have better staying power.

6) Paokais Whilke the regenerating and venom abilities of the Foul Wyvern are nice, they aren't great. The 15 extra hit points of the Paokai are really nice and the scavenger ability is great for resurrecting troops. Plus it's handy when dealing with commonly resurrected/reanimated troops.

7) Untamed for seiges, Bloodeyed for everything else. While I really like the Untamed Cyclops's ability, they are just too much of a liability with their attacks. Way too often I've had an Untamed Cyclops retaliate and kill one of my stacks. I find the Bloodeyed Cyclops are a bit more managable.

[tb5841]

1) Trappers early on, may occasionally change later
2) Marauders, they are SO much more durable, the small loss to attack rating has little effect
3) Unsure, seems fairly evenly balanced. Not an upgrade priority
4) Earth Daughters, unless in a seige
5) Executioners, they do so much damage...
6) Unsure. Scavenger is amazing against computer players, but fairly useless if playing someone with sense, as they'll kill your Paokai very quickly
7) Bloodeyed Cyclops, i keep killing myself with the other one

[Jolly Joker]

This is valid for the creature choice of other races as well, but I'm not going to repeat it there:
I think that "choice" doesn't apply, since you don't need to make the choice or playing with both upgrades often.
This starts with the Goblins, Docs being offensively the better pick, but 2, 3 or 4 (depending on the number of free slots) Trappers will help massively with the added plus of being the stuff that sacrifices being made of.
It's much more pronounced with the Executioner/Chieftains later on: Executioners are good, but a stack or two with a couple of Chieftains near them (or any other higher-level stack) will make them so much more effective.

With units being regradable, clearly there is no either/or.

[Mirez]

1) in the start I prefer trappers cuz it's great creeping in combination with centaurs, but soon I prefer to keep both upgrades in all avalible slots and when I really have to choose I prefer wich docters since set snares becomes slightly useless and I can need al the anti-magic I can use
2)Centaur Marauder for sure, it has way better defence and 1 more hitpoint, maneuver becomes useless since you'll probably box your centaurs in to prefent it from being attacked, you can buy an ammor cart if think you need more then 6 shots
3)warmongers it has way better defence and hitpoints, fierce retaliation is quite the treat aswell
4)earth daughters, man those woman can hit hard, defeating high level stacks is gunna be easy pie once you slowed them, besides lighting chain isn't that good since you'll damage your own units with it most of the time
5)Executioner, even though Chieftain are better statwise, cleave is to good to pass by
6)Foul Wyvern, even though scavenger can ressurect more, you'll still have to sacrifice 1 turn for it while regeneration keeps going on
7)Bloodeyed Cyclops, even though it's weaker statwise I hate crushing blow since it deals damage to my own units most of the time, evil eye is pretty neat aswell, so unless I'm going to use my cyclops as an goblin launch battery I prefer bloodeyed cyclops

[HOMMV_N00B]

I've just started playing whit this side (and the game), but this is my first expirience.

1) trappers because of the more life and their trap ability.
2)nomads because they can do more damage and have manauver.
3) Mauler, this is an attacking faction , so I prefer the attack oriented unit above the other one.
4) earth daughter. I prefer attacking whit this one that casting spells. The slow is to good.
5) executioner: again this is the most attack oriented.
6) No idea, I havent found much use of it.
7) untammed. Because it has better stats, and crushinb blow is interesting if you siege.

A question to the more expierenced ones. Do you guys play with both upgrades or just with one? Must of the time, I make a choice and stick .

[Omega_Destroyer]

I will change which upgrade I'm using depending on the situation, or if I get bored and have a lot of spare gold.

[Dacarnix_]

I think that Stronghold is one of the best factions (if not the best faction) with regard to great options in their alternate upgrades. Not only are some of the choices interesting / tough to begin with, but they also get more interesting / tough once you factor in blood rage bonuses.

My typical preferences are...
Goblin Trapper
Nomad
Mauler
Earth Daughter
Executioner
Paokai
Bloodeyed Cyclops

But that lineup is more subject to change than it is for most factions. The Mauler and Executioner slots, in particular, depend on a ton of factors, and none of those are really set in stone.

[gzork]

While neither is really that great, it doesn't seem like there's ever really much of a reason to use the Foul Wyvern over the Paokai, the poison won't do that much damage, considering that it's based on the stack size of a T6 unit. However scavenger adds some durability, the lightning breath can help hit targets that would otherwise be out of reach, and they have 15 more hp than the foul wyvern. There's not much of a contest.

[Geo]

My choice of Stronghold creatures varies quite a lot from map to map, and for the sake of variation. I think this faction has the most variety in it's upgrades, and as one of you mentioned, when factoring in blood rage, choices between upgrades becomes even more interesting.

The only creature I am sort of puzzled about is the paokai/foul wyvern. As was also mentioned earlier, they are not a priority when building the city. And in battle, I have some problems finding a proper use for them. They aren't bad creatures, far from it! But maybe because of the power of the tier 5 and 7 creatures + blood rage, they seem a bit underpowered almost. I simply find that in battle I rarely use them for anything unless I need to block some creature, or to deliver the finishing blow if their turn just happens to be up.

I find good use of all the other creatures, but the paokai/foul wyvern just doesn't seem to fill a role that the other tiers haven't already filled. I am at a loss as to finding a good strategy for them in combat. In addition, I am the kind of player who hates to lose creatures, and as the AI has a tendancy to target the paokai/foul wyvern, I usually hold them back.

Maybe if the paokai/foul wyvern had a rider which could be affected by blood rage, they would have more uses in combat (note: I'm not asking for a buff of the creature), but as it is now, they are simply not a priority, and unless I have enough gold I usually prioritize tier 2-5+7.

[aaelgr]

I always start with Goblin Trappers, and unless I've got lots of money later on with which to change them into Witchdoctors I usually leave them that way. As an aside, does anyone go for Goblin Support and Defend Us All? They can be a real boost to a usually considerable Goblin stack.
I've always gone for the Marauder for the No Melee Penalty. Most of the time people try to block your shooters, and seeing as I can't wait for something else to unblock them...
I used to always go for the Mauler, though recently I've been more divided between the two. Assault is handy, but doesn't happen very often while Fierce Retaliation always happens(?). Having not used Warmongers that I much I don't know how often Taunt happens. What does it do?
Earth Daughters every time. Hexing Attack and No Retaliation against Slowed units make them lethal no matter what level the unit is.
I tend to go for Executioners. They always kill more than one unit, and thanks to Blood Rage unless there are a lot of units left they usually don't get too badly hurt on the retaliation. It's the reason I use Vindicators more than Squires now (though granted more of them die in retaliation than Executioners).
I usually go for the Foul Wyvern if I do get them at all. Regeneration is useful, but the amount of damage Poison does per Wyvern isn't very much. I agree with Geo that it would be more useful if it got Blood Rage too.
Crushing Blow is really useful in a seige, but losing lots of units because of the area attack is a pain (no matter how hard I try, the computer can always get at least 1 of my stacks hit when they retaliate). The Bloodeyed Cyclops isn't great, but I don't lose units (apart from the occasional Goblin which Goblin Support replaces in a matter of days) and Evil Eye is useful too.

[Tensho]

1.Trappers(almost never use doctors)
2.Nomad.Better dmg,if u get your centaurs harmed- you made a mustake(a bir defence from marauder wont really help)
3.50:50.Both are good.
4.Earth daughers.2 spells +hex attack is better than chain lighting(also ,if they get lvl 2 blood rage-speedy killers)
5.Chieftan.Few stacks with few chieftans...no comment
6.Definetely paokai.Foul wyrern sucks a lot
7.Untamed Cyclops.(if u have chieftans)And rarely bloodeyed...

[gzork]

It's kind of hard to make a blanket statement about a unit with orcs, they have some of the best options for what to upgrade for every tier. Most of the time it comes down to whether you're in a siege or not.

1. Trapper in field battle, usually witch doctor in a siege, depending on opposing army, I'll almost always use witch doctors against orcs in a siege, since they have the only caster with potentially infinite mana.
2. Centaur Nomad for sieges or small neutral packs, Marauders in large scale field battles or, sometimes, against human players who are likely to target them.
3. This is one of two places where I typically choose the same thing, I almost always go with Warmongers, they ARE mostly used for blocking so more durability's useful, and fierce retaliation is better than assault for the role they fill.
4. Earth daughters for field, Sky daughters for siege, they'll usually end up stationary next to a stack of goblins for the better part of a siege anyway.
5. I'll typically pick Executioners here, but if I have the resources for a LOT of cyclopes I'll go with Chieftan, otherwise it's not always worth the loss of Cleave.
6. I usually play against computers ,and they target wyverns a lot, so I ONLY use Paokai, way more durable, and besides that the poison of the Foul Wyvern's almost entirely useless.
7. If i'm sieging a town or have Chieftans I, of course, use Untamed, but their retaliation can be a little unwieldly and I end up killing my own units with it too much, and it's a pain to have to seperate them from the rest of my army. I don't like being forced to adapt in a tactics game, in chess as soon as you start to play reactively, you start to lose, HoMM isn't much different. So, if I'm playing against a human opponent who's well aware of how to take advantage of its attack range, I'll use Blood-Eyed instead. Also, if it's late game and I have to deal with large stacks of high level creatures, I tend to favor their -3 luck debuff.

All in all, there aren't many set-in-stone choices with Stronghold unlike, per se, Haven or Necropolis.

[HOMMV_N00B]

How does the chiefttang untammed cyclops work everyone is talking about?

[gzork]

You have a few stacks of Chieftans near an Untamed Cyclopes, and force it to take turns significantly more frequently, typically used in conjunction with the First Aid Tent perk to heal the Cyclopes afterwards.

You'll see the Cyclopes stack move and attack, lets say, an equal sized stack of black dragons, and kill a few of them, and get retaliated on, then come your first Chieftan's turn, you force the Cyclopes to takes a turn again with Order of the Chief or whatever, and it does, without retaliation, then another stack does it, and it hits the dragons again, I usually use three seperate stacks and against their T7, hence my example, this way I can often hit it 4 times with a sizable stack of Cyclopes (and any enemy units nearby) before it takes a turn.

[Metathron]

Having played the last map of the barbarian campaign recently, I've gained new appreciation for the chieftains, and raise the bar to 50-50 when making a choice. Also, the maulers have let me down recently, as their special didn't trigger even once for the duration of one whole map, so I'll lower that down too, to 50-50.

I think Stronghold may just be the winner when it comes to the best upgrades to choose from.