Lords of the Realm II: Siege Pack

Last updated: January 09, 2026

Overview

Lords of the Realm II: Siege Pack is the official expansion pack to Lords of the Realm II, released in 1997 by Sierra On-Line¹. Developed by Impressions Games, the expansion features several new maps and castles, an all-battle mode where players can defend or attack castles, improved AI, and a map editor¹. The expansion was designed to focus on pure combat gameplay, as the marketing description proclaimed: “Declare all-out war with the Lords of the Realm II Siege Pack. Now you can concentrate on just fighting - this is pure combat”².

Set in medieval England in 1268 A.D., the game places players in a struggle for the English throne alongside five other lords³. The Siege Pack adds 20 new maps to the 24 maps of the basic game, along with 50 new battle arenas and support for head-to-head combat on the Internet⁴⁵. According to David Lester, Impressions Games general manager, “We wanted the game to be more multiplayer friendly, and one way to do that was by adding realtime combat. Besides, when you can bring a castle down by aiming a battering ram or a catapult at it in realtime, it’s a lot more satisfying”⁶.

Game Info

Developer: Impressions Games¹ Designer: Chris Beatrice, David Lester, Eric Ouellette, Simon Bradbury⁷ Publisher: Sierra On-Line¹ Platforms: DOS, Windows 95, Macintosh, Steam⁸ Release Year: 1997 Series: Lords of the Realm Sierra Lineage: Core Sierra

Story Summary

The English throne lies empty in 1268 A.D., and players find themselves as one of six lords locked in a struggle for the crown³. As the game description states: “When the throne of England sits empty, the sword rules”⁹. The medieval setting places players in the role of nobles who must manage their territories and armies to conquer neighboring realms before being conquered themselves⁹. The ultimate goal is clear and unforgiving: “Because in the end, you’re either king - or you’re dead”⁹.

Gameplay

Interface and Controls

Lords of the Realm II: Siege Pack is a mixture of turn-based county and economic management and real-time combat⁷. The game supports keyboard, mouse, and trackball controls, with the mouse being the primary input device⁸. Players can engage in both single-player campaigns and multiplayer battles supporting 1-5 players offline and 2 players online through LAN or modem connections⁸.

Structure and Progression

The expansion pack includes an all-battle mode that allows players to focus purely on combat without the economic management aspects of the base game¹. Players can design castles using historical blueprints and engage in siege battles using various medieval weapons¹⁰. The game features no magic or technology trees, instead focusing on realistic medieval combat and resource management⁶.

Puzzles and Mechanics

Combat occurs in real-time when players engage enemies in battle, which GameSpot’s Tim Soete noted as “when the real fun starts”⁷. Players must carefully manage their peasants, who “are fairly temperamental” and “get ticked off by things like slight tax increases, food shortages, over-conscripting, and being overworked”¹¹. The game includes complex economic mechanics, including a notable integer rollover glitch where provinces losing around 160 happiness per season from taxes will see the -160 happiness roll over to approximately +120 happiness¹².

Reception

Contemporary Reviews

Publication	Score	Notes
GameSpot	7.6/10	”The Middle Ages were tough times and similarly, Lords of the Realm II is a tough game”11
Hyper	85%	Reviewed by Dan Toose, February 19976
PC Zone	80%	Reviewed by Paul Presley, February 19976
Home of the Underdogs	8.19/10	”Siege Pack adds more of what made LOTRII a classic”13
MyAbandonware	4.6/5	”An excellent expansion pack to one of the best medieval strategy games ever made”10

Modern Assessment

The game received “generally favorable reviews” according to Metacritic, with an aggregate score of 77%⁶. MobyGames shows a critics aggregate score of 69%¹. Amazon customer reviews rate the game 4.0 out of 5 stars⁵. PC Gamer praised it as “Immense fun for both the empire-builder and the medieval combatant with all the intrigue and bloodletting you could want,” though Computer Games Magazine noted it was “A solid game, but it isn’t terribly original”¹⁴.

Development

Origins

Lords of the Realm II was Impressions Games’ first major game for Sierra after Sierra’s acquisition of the studio¹⁵. The expansion pack was developed to address feedback about the original game and make it more multiplayer-friendly through the addition of real-time combat elements⁶.

Production

The game was composed by Edward Saltzman and Keith Zizza, with a complete soundtrack featuring 65 total audio files totaling 52 minutes and 5 seconds of music¹⁶. The development team was led by designers Chris Beatrice, David Lester, Eric Ouellette, and Simon Bradbury⁷. The game uses the Smacker Video engine for multimedia playback⁸.

Technical Achievements

The original system requirements included a 486/66 MHz processor, 8MB RAM, Windows 95, local bus video, 10MB hard drive space, and a 2X CD-ROM drive⁸. The expansion pack required the registered version of Lords of the Realm II to function⁵. Later compatibility modifications allowed the game to scale to use the entire screen with Direct3D bilinear interpolation for modern systems¹⁷.

Legacy

The Siege Pack expansion was well-received by strategy game fans, with MyAbandonware reviewer HOTUD noting: “If only more expansion packs today give as much bang for your buck. Two thumbs up, way up!”¹⁰ However, some critics questioned whether an expansion was necessary given the original game’s “mediocre success”¹⁸. The game maintained commercial success, appearing on PC Data’s best-seller lists throughout 1997, including a comeback to number 9 in January 1997 after previously dropping to number 16¹⁹.

Downloads

Purchase / Digital Stores

• GOG Dreamlist - Community wishlist
• Available on Steam as part of Lords of the Realm II collection

Download / Preservation

• Internet Archive - Lords of the Realm II: Siege Pack
• MyAbandonware - Lords of the Realm II: Siege Pack

Series Continuity

• Previous: Lords of the Realm II (1996)
• Next: Lords of the Realm III (2004)

References

Footnotes

1. MobyGames - Lords of the Realm II: Siege Pack – - Publisher and developer information ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

2. Internet Archive - Lords of the Realm II: Siege Pack – - Marketing description ↩

3. Internet Archive - Lords of the Realm II Royal Edition – - Game premise ↩ ↩²

4. Sierra Chest - Lords of the Realm II: Siege Pack Maps – - Map expansion details ↩

5. Amazon - Lords of the Realm II: Siege Pack – - Feature list ↩ ↩² ↩³

6. Wikipedia - Lords of the Realm II – - Developer quote about real-time combat ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

7. MobyGames - Lords of the Realm II – - Design team credits ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

8. MobyGames - Lords of the Realm II: Siege Pack – - Technical specifications and engine ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

9. GameFAQs - Lords of the Realm II: Siege Pack – - Game description opening ↩ ↩² ↩³

10. MyAbandonware - Lords of the Realm II: Siege Pack – - Castle design and siege features ↩ ↩² ↩³

11. GameSpot - Lords of the Realm II Review – - Peasant management mechanics ↩ ↩²

12. GameFAQs - Lords of the Realm II: Siege Pack Cheats – - Integer rollover glitch ↩

13. Home of the Underdogs - Lords of the Realm II: Siege Pack – - Review score and summary ↩

14. Metacritic - Lords of the Realm II – - Review quotes ↩

15. Sierra Gamers - Sierra Studio Acquisitions – - Impressions Games acquisition context ↩

16. KH Insider - Lords of the Realm II: Siege Pack Soundtrack – - Audio specifications and composer credits ↩

17. Sierra Chest - Technical Information – - Compatibility modifications ↩

18. Old PC Gaming - Lords of the Realm II: Siege Pack – - Critical assessment ↩

19. Web Archive - GameCenter Sales Rankings – - Commercial performance data ↩