One player's summary of M&B Warband ... and questions too
Hello M&B friends
I've been playing M&B Warband (vanilla) for some time now (Edit: 1946 game days) on my PC and I gotta say that I'm still really enjoying it.
I did alot of game saves in the beginning because it is SO easy to be killed or captured in the early stages of the game. Every group of bandits or deserters would attack me. Money was hard to come by as well. Then I did a couple of quests before becoming a vassal of the Nords. I learned some and fought plenty. Plundering villages during wars with other factions brought in quite alot of dough in those days. Stealing cattle was particularily fast and lucrative if a friendly town was nearby so the butchered beef could be sold while still fresh. Several of the hero characters joined me during this time. King Ragnar and I became friends along with several of the Jarl's. The King eventually gave me the village of Ryibelet. I put alot of time into that village and was careful to do anything that they asked. I eventually married a daughter of the Nords and the "blue faction" had expanded it's range considerably. The Swadian and Kergit factions were gone by then. I think my group size was up to 40-60 and I said goodby to my Nordic friends.
In a fairly short time I took four castles near the town of Dhirim and I also took the town of Halmar (the first castle seemed SO expensive!). Selling prisoners and gear from Sea Raiders was my best source of income during this time as well as buying land/business's in each possible town.
Although Tihr does does have the permanent slave trader Ramun he is a skin flint and will only give you 50 denars for each prisoner. All other ransom brokers will give you a fair price based on the class of prisoner. You can get 240 denars each for some of the elite troops!
By then I had 4-5 lords under me, each with an army of 20-170 men. I kept the castles and villages until I had 150 elite troops (Sarranid Master Archers, Sarranid Guards, Rhodok Sergents, Swadian Sharpshooters, etc. etc.) in each castle. Then I gave a castle to my most loyal hero character, Deshavi (she has been with me from prior to my time with the Nords). That was a huge mistake because I found out that I lost my best warrior as well. So I loaded a earlier saved game and brought her back. I'll never give land to a hero character again. Hero character's in this game can be the biggest asset. Just kit them out with gear from battles until you have the extra money to upgrade their weapons, armor, horses, etc..
So I gave the castles and villages to my lords except for 1 castle and the town, Halmar.
I held a 'magnificient' feast and my lords loved it. Money was rolling in and life was good.
Then things went sour. The different factions took turns attacking me for "historical" lands that I now owned. It was crazy. The Vaegirs, Rhodoks and Nords all wanted Knudarr Castle, regardless of who I took it from to begin with. My lords and I killed over 1500 Vaegir troops in various battles as they tried to take that one castle. I was finally able to make peace with them but then the Rhodoks starting attacking Knudarr Castle as well. I couldn't recruit new troops fast enough to replace my losses so the castle fell. I soon lost another castle too.
I then entered into an extended war against the Rhodoks in hopes of killing off the faction. I would not accept their offers of peace when they wanted to end the war and held on to any Rhodok Count I captured. I eventually got to where I had 11 or 12 Counts and King Graveth himself in the prison tower of Halmar. It was easier to take and hold Rhodok castles and towns due to no counter attacks but by then my lords were leaving me and I had lost over 25 honor points from not being willing to sell the Counts back to the Rhodoks.
So now I am trying the tactic of only taking one castle or town from whatever faction is attacking me at that particular time (if I have enough extra troops to garrison in it).
I now hold on to a castle until I have about 250 elite troops in it and a town has about 300+ elite troops in it.
I still own Halmar and it's garrison is 350 elite troops. It has only been besieged one time - and that was when it held far fewer soldiers.
The village of Ryibelet is no longer mine but it has 70 loyalty towards me and due to that factor I can easily get from 14-36 Swadian Recruits whenever I recruit troops there for training.
(Edit: I made the mistake of giving Halmar to one of my unhappy lords (-60 opinion of me or something like that) after the extended war with the Rhodoks. I don't know when or how but after a good bit of playing the Sarrinids ended up with the town. Using a saved game from waaaaay back was not a good option since so much had changed since then.
I have since taken Dhirim - but Halmar still has the 350 elite troops I put in there that are now enemy troops!!! I think the unhappy lord just gave the town away when they attacked it. It still has the 50 Nord Huscarl's I put in it)
I have 8 hero characters. That seems to be the maximum number that I can have in my group and still keep everyone happy.
My total group size has grown to 131 soldiers.
Now bandits and deserters are a just a way to level up my "trainer" troops and a whole lot of fun to try out my new weapons on
Of the 131 the vast majority are recruits that are in various stages of training.
However, I keep 70 or so Swadian Knights in my current abode and grab them when I need to slaughter enemy armies in the field. I also keep 60 or so Nord Huscarl's in the same garrison for when I am besieging or defending a castle or town.
Is it true that I can garrison troops in a village after I have built a manor in it?
If so, then how?
(Edit: Not possible in Native, see Chien's post below - Thanks, Chien!)
Does anyone know if a Lordly Great Helmet exists or not?
(Edit: Yes, it does exist - I finally found it!)
BTW, I use a Heavy Charger for my mount, Lordly Heraldic Mail armor with Talberd, Balanced Heavy Lance, Masterwork War Bow, Large Bag of Kerg Arrows and a Balanced War Cleaver most of the time and in that order.
I will switch to only the bow with three large bags of Kerg arrows when besieging or defending a castle or town so I can have 102 arrows.
I rarely use my shield now a days.
I just took revenge on the Desert Bandits and Deserters by temporarily leaving the majority of my army in one of my towns. Then myself and my small group of heros and Swadian Knights (25 total troops) were easily able to run down the outlaws and kill them with no losses.
I was NOT merciful :laugh:
I look forward to your comments, suggestions, questions, etc. I've read all of the pages in the M&B forum now and learned alot from them.
Thank You for all the answers you have posted over the years - they are so helpful!
jermy
Hello M&B friends
I've been playing M&B Warband (vanilla) for some time now (Edit: 1946 game days) on my PC and I gotta say that I'm still really enjoying it.
I did alot of game saves in the beginning because it is SO easy to be killed or captured in the early stages of the game. Every group of bandits or deserters would attack me. Money was hard to come by as well. Then I did a couple of quests before becoming a vassal of the Nords. I learned some and fought plenty. Plundering villages during wars with other factions brought in quite alot of dough in those days. Stealing cattle was particularily fast and lucrative if a friendly town was nearby so the butchered beef could be sold while still fresh. Several of the hero characters joined me during this time. King Ragnar and I became friends along with several of the Jarl's. The King eventually gave me the village of Ryibelet. I put alot of time into that village and was careful to do anything that they asked. I eventually married a daughter of the Nords and the "blue faction" had expanded it's range considerably. The Swadian and Kergit factions were gone by then. I think my group size was up to 40-60 and I said goodby to my Nordic friends.
In a fairly short time I took four castles near the town of Dhirim and I also took the town of Halmar (the first castle seemed SO expensive!). Selling prisoners and gear from Sea Raiders was my best source of income during this time as well as buying land/business's in each possible town.
Although Tihr does does have the permanent slave trader Ramun he is a skin flint and will only give you 50 denars for each prisoner. All other ransom brokers will give you a fair price based on the class of prisoner. You can get 240 denars each for some of the elite troops!
By then I had 4-5 lords under me, each with an army of 20-170 men. I kept the castles and villages until I had 150 elite troops (Sarranid Master Archers, Sarranid Guards, Rhodok Sergents, Swadian Sharpshooters, etc. etc.) in each castle. Then I gave a castle to my most loyal hero character, Deshavi (she has been with me from prior to my time with the Nords). That was a huge mistake because I found out that I lost my best warrior as well. So I loaded a earlier saved game and brought her back. I'll never give land to a hero character again. Hero character's in this game can be the biggest asset. Just kit them out with gear from battles until you have the extra money to upgrade their weapons, armor, horses, etc..
So I gave the castles and villages to my lords except for 1 castle and the town, Halmar.
I held a 'magnificient' feast and my lords loved it. Money was rolling in and life was good.
Then things went sour. The different factions took turns attacking me for "historical" lands that I now owned. It was crazy. The Vaegirs, Rhodoks and Nords all wanted Knudarr Castle, regardless of who I took it from to begin with. My lords and I killed over 1500 Vaegir troops in various battles as they tried to take that one castle. I was finally able to make peace with them but then the Rhodoks starting attacking Knudarr Castle as well. I couldn't recruit new troops fast enough to replace my losses so the castle fell. I soon lost another castle too.
I then entered into an extended war against the Rhodoks in hopes of killing off the faction. I would not accept their offers of peace when they wanted to end the war and held on to any Rhodok Count I captured. I eventually got to where I had 11 or 12 Counts and King Graveth himself in the prison tower of Halmar. It was easier to take and hold Rhodok castles and towns due to no counter attacks but by then my lords were leaving me and I had lost over 25 honor points from not being willing to sell the Counts back to the Rhodoks.
So now I am trying the tactic of only taking one castle or town from whatever faction is attacking me at that particular time (if I have enough extra troops to garrison in it).
I now hold on to a castle until I have about 250 elite troops in it and a town has about 300+ elite troops in it.
I still own Halmar and it's garrison is 350 elite troops. It has only been besieged one time - and that was when it held far fewer soldiers.
The village of Ryibelet is no longer mine but it has 70 loyalty towards me and due to that factor I can easily get from 14-36 Swadian Recruits whenever I recruit troops there for training.
(Edit: I made the mistake of giving Halmar to one of my unhappy lords (-60 opinion of me or something like that) after the extended war with the Rhodoks. I don't know when or how but after a good bit of playing the Sarrinids ended up with the town. Using a saved game from waaaaay back was not a good option since so much had changed since then.
I have since taken Dhirim - but Halmar still has the 350 elite troops I put in there that are now enemy troops!!! I think the unhappy lord just gave the town away when they attacked it. It still has the 50 Nord Huscarl's I put in it)
I have 8 hero characters. That seems to be the maximum number that I can have in my group and still keep everyone happy.
My total group size has grown to 131 soldiers.
Now bandits and deserters are a just a way to level up my "trainer" troops and a whole lot of fun to try out my new weapons on
Of the 131 the vast majority are recruits that are in various stages of training.
However, I keep 70 or so Swadian Knights in my current abode and grab them when I need to slaughter enemy armies in the field. I also keep 60 or so Nord Huscarl's in the same garrison for when I am besieging or defending a castle or town.
Is it true that I can garrison troops in a village after I have built a manor in it?
If so, then how?
(Edit: Not possible in Native, see Chien's post below - Thanks, Chien!)
Does anyone know if a Lordly Great Helmet exists or not?
(Edit: Yes, it does exist - I finally found it!)
BTW, I use a Heavy Charger for my mount, Lordly Heraldic Mail armor with Talberd, Balanced Heavy Lance, Masterwork War Bow, Large Bag of Kerg Arrows and a Balanced War Cleaver most of the time and in that order.
I will switch to only the bow with three large bags of Kerg arrows when besieging or defending a castle or town so I can have 102 arrows.
I rarely use my shield now a days.
I just took revenge on the Desert Bandits and Deserters by temporarily leaving the majority of my army in one of my towns. Then myself and my small group of heros and Swadian Knights (25 total troops) were easily able to run down the outlaws and kill them with no losses.
I was NOT merciful :laugh:
I look forward to your comments, suggestions, questions, etc. I've read all of the pages in the M&B forum now and learned alot from them.
Thank You for all the answers you have posted over the years - they are so helpful!
jermy
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