From Official Stronghold Kingdoms Wiki

Combat is an essential part of Stronghold Kingdoms™, and is the only way to defeat enemies and remove AI threats.

Attacking

Troops are required to attack an AI enemy or another player, and are created in the barracks screen of your village. Each troop usually requires gold, a weapon and a free peasant. In all cases, barring armed peasants, before new troop types may be created, research is required. See Units and the research, Command.

To attack a target:

1. On the world map, select one of your villages by clicking on the yellow shield above it.

2. Next, click on the target you wish to attack.

3. A dialogue box will appear to the right of the screen, offering several options - select attack.

4. Choose which troops to attack with from the right-hand panel, and place them anywhere outside the white line of the castle.

5. Once you are happy with your layout, click launch attack.

Various attack options will now be presented to you, depending on your research and your rank:

Symbol	Description
	Capture allows you to capture the village you are attacking. To succeed, you must reach the centre of the keep and have a captain which survives the battle. You must have a vacant village spot for the capture option to be available.
	Raze allows you to destroy the village you are attacking. To succeed, you must reach the centre of the keep and have a captain which survives the battle, and be of Rank 16 (Knight) or higher.
	Pillage allows you to steal a certain percentage of goods from the village you are attacking. You can select the type of goods you wish to steal, and which percentage. The higher the percentage, the longer your troops must spend inside the castle's white line in order to succeed.
	Ransack allows you to destroy a certain number of buildings in the village you are attacking. You can select the type and number of buildings you wish to destroy; researching Ransacking will allow you to destroy more buildings. Troops must stay within the castle's white line for a set amount of time for the attack to be successful.
	Vandalise allows you to destroy the castle you are attacking. During this attack, troops will simply continue until they reach the keep.

All attacks against human players cost honour - the amount is dependent upon the other player's rank; the higher your rank and the lower the rank of the player you are attacking, the higher the honour cost to you. You may go into negative honour (lose more honour points than you actually have) after an attack; however, you will not be able to attack again until you're back into positive honour.

Defence

Creating a well-defended castle is the key to Stronghold Kingdoms™. A weak castle may eventually be attacked, which could result in a lost village if the attack is a raze or capture. Successful AI attacks generally result in a loss of honour, plus goods and buildings if a pillage or ransack command is used.

Initially, upgrading the keep by researching Castellation will help to kill or weaken enemy units. Enemies need to reach the keep in order to raze the castle, therefore, defending the keep is absolutely vital. Researching Fortification allows access to wooden walls, stone walls and eventually, towers - all of which help to defend the castle. A well-constructed castle with stone walls and well-placed towers can withstand most attacks.

Researching Defences allows guard houses to be built in the castle, which in turn increase the castle's capacity for defensive troops. Researching Defences further will make guard houses more resistant to attacks.

TIP: Only human enemies can capture or raze a castle.

TIP: The castle may not be completely enclosed without a gatehouse.