Defense of (ruined?) castle tiles

[white_haired_uncle]

I want to place a castle in a swamp. I want it to be clear to the player that this is a castle tile (I assume this means not using 'castle overlay'). I want the defense to be that of a swamp, no benefit from the castle. I would have thought that's what a "ruined" castle does, but I guess that's just appearance?

I guess maybe I could set the terrain as Ss^Cov and then place an image on the tile?

I did find the castle tutorial while searching for [terrain] to see if it would take image= in addition to terrain=, but it seems a lot deeper than I care to go.

Before I make things too complicated, am I missing an easy approach?

TIA

[Atreides]

Is that wise? Making the player think it's a castle but have it work like a swamp? Or is the deception intentional?

[white_haired_uncle]

I'm not trying to deceive, I specifically want it to look like a castle so they know they can recruit (always bugs me when castle tiles aren't obvious). But I don't want them to use it as a place to hide either. I guess making it look like a castle but not give defense could be deceitful.

I'm surprised that ruined doesn't do just this. A castle gives defense and recruiting, a ruined castle gives recruiting but no defense -- at least that's the way it would be if it were up to me.

[Atreides]

Ah I see what you mean. You look at a ruined castle and think that is a wreck that doesn't help the defenders. Looks like Wesnoth though decided that it's only a "little" ruined. LOL. I believe it is mainly a cosmetic difference. "Ruined" but still fully functional. Yep, I see what you mean. It is a bit of a contradiction.
In any case I recall that you can make any hex a recruitment spot, no matter what terrain it is.

[white_haired_uncle]

In any case I recall that you can make any hex a recruitment spot, no matter what terrain it is.

Yes, with a castle overlay. But it doesn't change the way the tile looks so the player only knows if they think to check.

I tried placing an image over one, but it doesn't look right. A real castle tile looks different depending on the adjacent tiles (making a nice looking castle). An image is static.

Oh well. I ended up just having swamp castle tiles cause poison and slow.

I've also been toying with the idea of a leader who can recruit wherever he wants (or at least on any adjacent tile). That one seems tricky.

[Atreides]

In any case I recall that you can make any hex a recruitment spot, no matter what terrain it is.

Yes, with a castle overlay. But it doesn't change the way the tile looks so the player only knows if they think to check.

I tried placing an image over one, but it doesn't look right. A real castle tile looks different depending on the adjacent tiles (making a nice looking castle). An image is static.

Oh well. I ended up just having swamp castle tiles cause poison and slow.

I've also been toying with the idea of a leader who can recruit wherever he wants (or at least on any adjacent tile). That one seems tricky.

No need to reinvent the wheel. Check out Monster Hunt 2.0, the monster can recruit next to itself anywhere on the map.