Garrison troops in stronghold?

[Sayers]

Hi

I'm trying to protect my strongholds but I don't have any hero/knight armies free that I can use to protect them.
Is there a way to protect (ie, garrison troops in) the stronghold without using a hero army?

(I saw in stronghold buildings that you can put in a few defensive troops but is there still another way?)

[The Giving One]

Yes, you can get an upgrade in your strongholds that add a few units of good troops to them to garrison. It's only like a couple though.

For example, if you play Christian, and have the right upgrade in your stronghold, you will be given 2 units of Crusaders in that stronghold to defend it. It's only 2, so they won't have much of a chance against an entire army, if you get attacked there.

[Noon]

You can also start some recruitement in the stronghold. Let say you hire 4 squads of 48 men, taking 3 seasons to complete, and the enemy attack next season. You will have 4 squads with 1/3 of 48 men (1season worth of recruits) that will defend the stronghold without the need of a hero (+ the free units if you get the upgrade The Giving One is talking about).

If your province is in good shape, recruitement can take only 2 seasons, so an emergency hiring can get you 1/2 squads, which can be enough with the defensive advantage of strongholds.

4* 24 archers can do massive damage on stacked enemy units. 2- 3 infantry squads to protect them and block the enmy in a choke point, + 1 fast cavalry unit to get the capture points, and you have good chances.