Northgard Chapter 3 Guide: Defending Against Mercenary Raids

To survive the recurring mercenary raids in Northgard Chapter 3, fortify every colonized coastal tile with a Defense Tower and maintain an on-demand military rather than a bloated standing army. Mercenary longships land directly on exposed beaches, setting fire to production buildings and targeting civilian workers. Holding these beaches requires early territorial scouting, rapid tower construction, and stockpiling reserves before winter hits.

Early Territorial Expansion and Scouting

Do not claim coastal tiles immediately. Early shoreline expansion triggers mercenary raid events before your settlement has the economy or stone to defend itself.

1. Scout Inland Resources First: Direct your Scouts inland to locate stable food tiles (such as Deer or Fish) and Stone deposits. Map out natural choke points before exploring water borders.
2. Establish Wood Production: Construct a Woodcutter's Lodge immediately. Wood is essential for heating during winter, repairing scorched buildings, and erecting military camps.
3. Delay Shoreline Colonization: Build a solid food and wood surplus on inland tiles before colonizing coastal zones. Once you claim a beach tile, treat it as an active combat zone that requires immediate fortification.

Tower Placement and Maintenance

Defense Towers are your first line of defense against landing parties. They distract raiders and inflict steady damage while your warband moves into position.

• Set Towers Back From the Water: Place Defense Towers slightly inland on coastal tiles rather than directly at the shoreline. Positioning the tower within range of your production buildings allows it to cover fleeing villagers and prevents raiders from surrounding it instantly upon disembarking.
• Upgrade Key Beachheads: Use your first mined Stone to upgrade Defense Towers on the tiles raided most frequently. An upgraded tower possesses higher durability and sufficient attack power to absorb a raid wave with minimal civilian casualties.
• Repair Promptly: Assign an unassigned villager to repair damaged towers immediately after combat ends. A compromised tower will collapse during the next raid, triggering decolonization penalties and building destruction.

Military Roster and Upkeep Management

Maintaining a large standing army permanently drains Food and Krowns, which can stall your settlement's growth. Station a small core force of two to four military units in a central tile between your coastal zones, then temporarily draft additional troops when a raid begins.

When the raid warning sounds, immediately convert healthy villagers into Warriors at the nearest Training Camp. Defeat the invaders, then send wounded survivors to a Healer's Hut to recover. Keeping units at full health prevents costly replacement recruitment fees.

Surviving Winter Raids

Mercenary raids continue through blizzards, making winter defense a major economic hazard due to increased firewood and food consumption.

• Stockpile Resources: Accumulate 150 to 200 Food and Wood before the late-year snowfall begins.
• Avoid Winter Drafting: Do not recruit military units during winter unless a landing party is actively breaching a tile. The combined upkeep penalty and seasonal drain can deplete your food supplies in seconds.
• Maintain Health Reserves: Ensure your villagers and combat units enter winter at full health so they can repel raids without requiring emergency military expansions.

Transitioning to Victory

A purely reactive strategy will eventually deplete your stone and population. Once your coastal Defense Towers are upgraded and successfully absorbing landing parties, shift resources toward completing the mission objectives.

Consolidate a strike force of 8 to 10 upgraded military units. Scout the remaining fog of war toward the chapter objectives, clear out hostile enemy camps systematically, and claim the required target tiles while your automated shoreline defenses hold off incidental mercenary longships.