Stronghold 4 Units Guide: Roster and Army Composition

The known Stronghold 4 units fall into three groups: ranged troops on high ground, melee infantry at the front, and siege specialists (engineers and tunnelers) for assaults — and the 2026 mechanics reward a mixed army over mass-producing one troop type. Below is the roster as currently documented, how each group is unlocked, and how to deploy them.

Where the roster comes from

Stronghold 4 launches into Steam early access on December 7, 2026, so no complete in-game unit list has been published yet. What exists today comes from three places: the official Steam page, which confirms unit categories like tactical military structures, moats and tunnelers; hands-on demo coverage from community creators; and community wiki pages assembled from demo footage. Treat exact stat details as provisional until the full release.

The known roster by role

Ranged troops. Archers and crossbowmen are confirmed staples, and demo footage shows archers split into two types: standard archers fire faster, while longbows fire further. Crossbows are produced separately from bows — their weapons come from a dedicated workshop rather than the fletcher. Ranged units are essential for wall defense and gain a significant range and damage bonus from high ground, such as towers and hills. Their weakness is weather: heavy rain cuts both how far and how accurately they shoot.

Melee infantry. Spearmen and swordsmen form the frontline, with high survivability and the job of holding gates. Demo coverage also confirms two additions for players coming from the classic games: levied peasants, who can fight when you have no proper weapons (weak, but something), and maces, which are now a separate weapon line from swords, forged in a forge distinct from the blacksmith.

Siege specialists. Tunnelers and engineers handle siege-specific roles. Tunnelers dig beneath walls to cause structural collapse; engineers operate your siege machinery. Both have low direct combat power but high tactical impact. A late-game unit called The Captain was added to the October 2026 demo build according to Firefly's Steam announcement, though its exact role is not yet documented.

Defensive structures used alongside units. Moats slow infantry and stop siege towers from docking, castle traps thin dense groups when triggered by movement, tactical towers grant range bonuses to archers and ballistae, and burning oil devastates units clustering at gates.

How you unlock units: honor and rank

You cannot recruit everything from turn one. Stronghold 4 reintroduces the honor system, and per the official Steam page you balance honor, taxes and food to keep the peasantry content. Community demo coverage describes ten ranks, each unlocking new buildings and troops, including high-tier units and castle defenses. In practice:

1. Build and upgrade houses of different tiers to generate honor each day.
2. Feed the kitchen higher-level resources (banquets, wine from vineyards and vintners) to raise honor faster.
3. Spend accumulated honor to climb ranks, which gates recruitment of advanced troops.
4. Keep the peasants fed and happy — starving peasants mean low honor, which blocks high-tier recruitment.

This also means every recruit is a peasant taken from your workforce, so military expansion must be balanced against your economy.

Composing and using an army

The siege ratio. According to player compilations on stronghold4.wiki, sieges work best with roughly three foot soldiers for every engineer: the engineers run the machinery while surrounding infantry soak up enemy arrow fire so the specialists survive to reach the walls.

Use weather offensively. Because downpours cripple enemy archer reach, a rainy day is the ideal time for a ladder assault or a melee push at a defended wall. Community creators note you can even time an approach so you close distance in the rain and open fire yourself once it lifts. Conversely, expect enemies to charge your walls when your own archers are degraded.

Play the terrain. Fighting from an elevated position — hilltops, towers — boosts both how far your troops shoot and how hard they hit, so seizing hills and holding towers is a priority in both attack and defense.

Organize control groups. Demo coverage confirms a proper RTS feature carried over: units can exist in multiple control groups, so you can keep your whole army in group one while your archers stay in group two.

Mind the bigger maps. Larger maps mean you cannot reinforce a breach instantly. Position reserves in advance and anticipate where the enemy will strike.

Pre-battle checklist

Before a major fight, the community wiki recommends verifying:

• Granary levels above 50% to survive a long siege.
• Archers positioned on towers with overlapping fields of fire.
• Engineers have sufficient gold for siege engine construction.
• Weather forecast checked for rain or snow interference.
• Scouts deployed to find enemy tunneler exit points.
• Tactical military structures placed at choke points.

Next steps

• The Stronghold 4 beginner guide covers the economy basics that feed recruitment, since every unit costs a peasant and gold.
• The castle customization guide helps you place the towers and defensive structures your ranged units depend on.
• If an enemy assault lights your walls, the pitch lighting guide explains defensive fire against clustered attackers.

FAQ

How does rain change how Stronghold 4 units perform?

Downpours sharply shorten how far archers and crossbowmen can shoot and how accurately they land their shots. It pushes you toward melee infantry and close-quarters siege tools, and makes rainy weather the best window for attacking an archer-defended wall.

Which new units are in Stronghold 4 compared to earlier games?

Demo coverage confirms levied peasants, a longbow split from standard archers, and maces split from swords, plus a late-game unit called The Captain announced for the October 2026 demo. Community pages also highlight the new tactical military structures as a key addition to the military system.

How many CPU opponents can I fight in skirmish mode?

Early access launch includes fully-featured skirmish mode with 8 unique CPU opponents, each with distinct castle-building and military styles, plus a curated skirmish trail and Free Build sandbox.

Does elevation matter for unit performance?

Yes. Per the official Steam page's enhanced war mechanics and community testing, troops positioned above their targets — on towers or hilltops — shoot farther and hit harder, so fighting for the high ground should shape both your attacks and your defenses.

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Check note: roster categories, weather effects, release date and the 8-opponent skirmish count are confirmed by the official Stronghold 4 Steam page; unit splits, the infantry-to-engineer siege ratio and the ten-rank system come from community demo coverage (stronghold4.wiki and YouTube creators) and remain unconfirmed pending full release.