Best Place to set up your kingdom and a few other questions

I'm currently playing POP v3.610.  I have over a million denars war chest, 280 elite troops, 7000 renown/prestige and 140 honour, so next I want to declare my allegiance to a king and then grab a bunch of territory.  Then once I've got a good block of land, I will break away as a rebel.

1)  Where do people think the best towns to conquer are when starting your kingdom?  Ideally I would like to take 2 towns which are close in proximity to each other.  I guess it would also be a good idea if one of them has a training grounds so I could train my knights order quicker (then again you can build them so I guess it doesn't matter that much).


2) I have a number of heroes that I've been training for a long time that are between level 21-28, is there anything I can do or buy which will accelerate their progression, because by the time they're my level (40) I will have died of old age... literally!


3) In vanilla, you could train a Swadian heavy horse unit, which used blunt weapons, which was incredibly useful for taking captives, is there still such a unit in POP?


4) Should I be concerned about right to rule and if so what's a decent strategy for this?  Obviously you can marry into nobility or send certain companions out to increase your right to rule, but I've typically never done it so a few primers if you think it's needed given my current progression would be great.


Thanks any advice most appreciated.

I'd say either take a Ravenstern town or Ethos. Ravenstern is a very safe area with only 2 entry points, and the towns are pretty damn easy to defend too.
Wipe out the Mystmountains and you won't have much problem with bandits either.
Ethos has alot of villages, 6 I think? Give Ethos and villages around it to yourself and you'll be able to profit off an overpowered garrison easily.
I haven't found any blunt cavalry on the level of Swadian Knights, but your custom knighthood order can be given the Doom Mace which makes Swadians look like babies, after you train them.
Once companions get to around level 30, you can't count on them leveling up much more, unless you go hunting big armies with only companions.
Not really sure on right to rule, I think it has something to do with lord defect rate, how often kingdoms declare war on you, and your ability to make peace. I personally am picky with my lords though, so I only take defects if I know it's a lord that isn't a douchenozzle.

Ravenstern is probably really good for the reason specified. The closer to Poinsbruk you are the less likely you will have to deal with anyone but Ravenstern. It helps that Mystmountain is pretty weak compared to Jatu, Heretics, and Snake cult.

I love starting Ethos as my capital however there is a bit of risk due to how difficult it is to defend the town in a siege. Snake Cult + Heretics can be an annoyance as well, and Ethos is frequently contested between Empire, Sarleon, and D'Shar. Defending your villages can also be annoying due to that river...

However you can mass recruit troops ridiculously quickly. Once you wipe out the snake cult Ethos becomes remarkably safe, especially with free Noldor patrols. Having the Noldor as allies is extremely helpful if you start as Ethos and Laria. Being a vassal that owns a castle/town in that area is also a great way to get effortless Noldor prisoners...

Of the Empire -- If I were trying to beat the game in some type of perverse minimum day game I imagine starting in Cez and using the Shadow Legion is the way to go. Pretty out of the way non-Empire factions to attack as well.

Fierdsvain towns seem like they would be a nightmare to defend, and don't really offer any geographic advantages that I can think of. Area has a lot of never ending bandit spawns as well, which can be bad for lord relations.

D'Shar is much more defensible than Fierdsvain but shares the annoyance of neverending bandit spawns killing your Lords. Especially the random 200 Singalian slavers.

Sarleon, Marleons, and Avendor seems like you are begging to be attacked by 3+ factions. In the upside, having a capital in the middle of the map can be pretty snazzy as your empire starts to grow.

Zenoxious said:

I'm currently playing POP v3.610.  I have over a million denars war chest, 280 elite troops, 7000 renown/prestige and 140 honour, so next I want to declare my allegiance to a king and then grab a bunch of territory.  Then once I've got a good block of land, I will break away as a rebel.

1)  Where do people think the best towns to conquer are when starting your kingdom?  Ideally I would like to take 2 towns which are close in proximity to each other.  I guess it would also be a good idea if one of them has a training grounds so I could train my knights order quicker (then again you can build them so I guess it doesn't matter that much).

Thanks any advice most appreciated.

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If you wanna be foolproof, take Laria, so you can kite Noldor into enemy lords (Aeldarian/Itha vs siege armies); Poinsbruck, so you can kite Mystmountain armies (or Jatu if you can pull it off), Marleons for Jatu, or Cez if the Dread Legion or Snakecult Armies are around.
I wouldn't recommend Avendor for Heretic armies, since it's a high traffic area and chances are the heretic armies get destroyed by bypassing armies.

Also, I would start with 1 town...get the 2nd town if the 1st town is properly garrisoned. As 1st entry, a castle is often a good choice...just to unload troops, get a Knight Order, and focus on a town next.

A castle that needs siege tower to capture is perfect to defend...not really because of the siege tower, but because of the time an army needs to siege it.

Garrison?

Zenoxious said:

2) I have a number of heroes that I've been training for a long time that are between level 21-28, is there anything I can do or buy which will accelerate their progression, because by the time they're my level (40) I will have died of old age... literally!

Click to expand...

The only ways to train them:
a - be higher level and have trainer
b - run around in small party (preferably ONLY you + companions if you have the guts) and do some challenging battles
c - participate in big faction wars, so your companions get to kill high tier troops
d - do quests: caravan quests may yield little money, but you get good experience the farther it goes.
e - sieges can do wonders!

Zenoxious said:

3) In vanilla, you could train a Swadian heavy horse unit, which used blunt weapons, which was incredibly useful for taking captives, is there still such a unit in POP?

Thanks any advice most appreciated.

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No. And it's not the Sarleon Knight or S_Squire...it's the Slaver tree: Slaver Chief (who many avoid because he uses the 2h Great Hammer), but the Slave Crusher (who uses shield).
Not even slavers are around in PoP with blunt weapons. If you are patient, you can try hoarding Heretic Worshipers (who always spawn with blunt wpns, usually 2h Maul) to complement your companions (provided they have a useful build for it).

Later, if you get your CKO, you can give them blunt weapons, though it seems like a waste by then.

Zenoxious said:

4) Should I be concerned about right to rule and if so what's a decent strategy for this?  Obviously you can marry into nobility or send certain companions out to increase your right to rule, but I've typically never done it so a few primers if you think it's needed given my current progression would be great.

Click to expand...

Good ways to get RTR:

That's it I guess, hope this helps.
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I know a lot of people do it, but personally I don't like the "grab towns then rebel"-opportunist attitude. It's like planning to become a betrayer which I think is not suitable for a would-be self-proclaimed king, yes?
If you have the guts, take a town or castle on your own and start and stick to your own kingdom!

Oh, btw...once you are king...just beat up the hell out of other factions and get loads of peace agreements + "goodwill" letters, easily gives RTR.
Of course, if you can do that, you probably won't need RTR anyway...duh. Strange game mech...sadly it reflects life perfectly.

Cheers, have a fun game!
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Zykox, that last RTR method was patched in 6.10 (I think. If not, it was 6.11)

Epicrules said:

Zykox, that last RTR method was patched in 6.10 (I think. If not, it was 6.11)

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Oh, haha right of course, silly me. Totally forgot I'm a lord atm...
And yes, I think it was a good idea to patch it out.

Btw, I stand (partly) corrected: Best choice for 1 denar garrison
                                HP  AGILITY  PS  PD  Shield  1h/polearms      equipment (as far as I've seen)
Bandit                      45      8          1      1      -        75                      random 1h wpn/mace/short bow, smith apron/leather armor, nomad cap/black hood
Sarleon Militia          47      7          1      -      1        65                    random 1h wpn/spear, tabard, board shield/no shield (?), leather cap (?), fur boots
Fierdsvain Militia      49      6          1      -      -        70                    random 1h wpn & boarspear, kilt, hood/leather cap (?), leather boots
Ravenstern Militia    46      7          1      -      1        90                    random 1h wpn/spear, old shield (?), sandals (?), no headgear (?)
Empire Levy recruit  46    6            1      -        1        75                    random 1h wpn/spear, board shield, leather jacket, sandals (?), hood
Militia Recruit            45      8            1      -      -        75                    common 1h sword, tabard, sandals, chain coif

CONCLUSION: depends entirely on the equipment. with bows: bandits, but then those bows are totally useless in siege yes?
HP-wise Fierdsvain, but Ravenstern/Sarleon/Empire get nice shields. Ravenstern has better skill, but worse shield than the other 2. Militia recruit gets good 1h-weapon + headgear but no shield and 1-2 less HP. Agi is +2, but I wonder how much diff it makes. Personally, I think spears are totally useless in siege (contrary to halberds)
Sadly,  I have no idea which of the above guys has best body armor....Fierdsvain seems to be ahead in my guess (at least the boots).

Ok, in any case someone DIDN'T know...peasant women are the worst. As they are, they should cost 0.5 denars, but game-wise that's impossible unfortunately.
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Now, to 7 denar ranged troops (with Leadership 6)
                                HP  AGILITY  PS  PD  Shield  1h/ranged      equipment (as far as I've seen)
Heretic Minion          55      10          3    -      2        140                  random 1h wpn/spear, crossbow, heretic shield, heretic chain, black hood
E Levy Skirmisher      55      9          3      -      2        180/200          random 1h wpn, crossbow, light/padded leather, board shield, black hood, light leather boots
Maiden Ranger        53      9          2      2      -        125                2h Voulge, crossbow/bow, chainmail, leather cap, sandals
MystM Raider (6 dnr) 55    10        2      3      -        100     
random1h wpn/spear, shortbow, rawhide/studded leather, shield (?), ankle/fur boots (?), no headgear/pilgrim hood, sumpter horse
Pendor Hvy Bowman  55    10      3      3      -          200/240          1h sword/inf mace, comp shortbow (?), brigandine, chain boots, bascinet
Seer Initiate              53      9          2    2      -        125                    2h voulge, longbow, maiden leather, leather cap, light leather boots

CONCLUSION: I think H minions are the best choice, close with P Hvy Bowman. Sure P Bowman is better equipped and skilled, but I think the crossbow is still
better vs high tier troops as well...BUT I may be wrong. E skirmishers are a good and available choice, though their light armor means they die like flies.
Am I overestimating the H Minion? I dunno....some other experts pls voice your opinions.
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High tier archers for garrison...I don't think we need a comparison, yes? Everyone agrees that S Armored Longbowmen & P Armored Archers are the best choice.
E Armored Crossbowmen & R Rangers are the best, but they're almost 2x weekly denars of S Bowmen. P Bowmen is even cheaper, but of course slightly worse.

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Puh, ok done, finally. Now let's hope the custom amateur-made table shows properly.

A very nice list, zykox!

You keep the 1d garrison units mainly for filler troops and cheap replacement, so their performance matters little. Important is what you want them to become - so they´re usually your main culture troopers or some rare species you want for special purposes ( eg.like 300 Sarleon recruits from early game to be trained into Sarleon Men at Arms for serious work, or Ravenstern recruits to be made into M.Rangers, Rangers or Kiergards while picking a totally different nation)

Spears are of limited use, yes. But that´s mainly because they´re that easily blocked and get no hefty speed modifier in a siege, like you´d far more easily get with a sword. Note that PoP´s infantry spears have been riddened of the penalty if used with shield, which makes e.g the regular war spear quite an ugly weapon to encounter or use.

Out of your ranged list I´d personally prefer Pendor Heavy Bowmen (as I´m usually chosing Pendor, of course) and the Empire Levy Skirmisher. On low levels crossbow units inflict more damage against armorued opponents than units using a bow do, at least from my personal feeling.

Just the same reason why Swadian Milita is one of the best garrison units in native. Crossbows and Bardiches=Slaughterfest on the opposition.

Damn, nice table indeed!

zykox said:

I know a lot of people do it, but personally I don't like the "grab towns then rebel"-opportunist attitude. It's like planning to become a betrayer which I think is not suitable for a would-be self-proclaimed king, yes?
If you have the guts, take a town or castle on your own and start and stick to your own kingdom!

Oh, btw...once you are king...just beat up the hell out of other factions and get loads of peace agreements + "goodwill" letters, easily gives RTR.
Of course, if you can do that, you probably won't need RTR anyway...duh. Strange game mech...sadly it reflects life perfectly.

Cheers, have a fun game!

Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice, I've actually gone down this route in the past and typically it's been a massive pain.  That said the way I see this is that I am now in effect the most well known and feared man in Pendor, I have more right to a kingdom than any of the other so called kings.  At the moment my problem is that I need to garrison off my elite troops so it doesn't cost me a fortune to maintain them, which will free me up to run around with a small cavalry force to catch up to bands etc, unfortunately as a Merc you can't garrison your troops so my only option is to declare really. 

With regards to stationed troops, I thought it was primarily based on quantity, not quality as in it won't get attacked if you have more troops than the other guy?  FYI I don't think it was Swadian knights who had the blunt weapons, they used maces, it was the tier down from them I think that had them.  I've typically found that it's more economical to go round knocking out and selling guys than anything else.  I suppose I could outfit my companions with 1 handed blunt weapons and do it that way, any ideas what's the best 1 and 2 handed blunt weapons available are?

zykox said:

The only ways to train them:
a - be higher level and have trainer
b - run around in small party (preferably ONLY you + companions if you have the guts) and do some challenging battles
c - participate in big faction wars, so your companions get to kill high tier troops
d - do quests: caravan quests may yield little money, but you get good experience the farther it goes.

Click to expand...

To be honest, there really should be better ways of training your companions, because at mid level they've massively under levelled for killing elite troops and get bugger all from killing lower level troops.  I know you can go to the training grounds and do training, but the XP you get is completely pointless.  I think that this should be addressed in later versions of POP as its an area which needs some slider love.

Best blunt 1h? Doom mace.

2h I like blunt polehammer but there are some choices here.

zykox said:

I know a lot of people do it, but personally I don't like the "grab towns then rebel"-opportunist attitude. It's like planning to become a betrayer which I think is not suitable for a would-be self-proclaimed king, yes?
If you have the guts, take a town or castle on your own and start and stick to your own kingdom!

Click to expand...

I've been advising this for a little bit on these forums but I agree and like approaching things from a RPers mentality. I just mention it a lot because it really is one of the safest (probably THE safest) way to start a kingdom, and being a vassal is the only real way to start building up your CKO in the early-mid game.

I have actually only starting my kingdom once via rebellion; my most recent game, and it was purely for early CKO. If it were not for CKO I would probably be trying out a different mod/game due to having played PoP to death years ago.

Ivor said:

Best blunt 1h? Doom mace.

2h I like blunt polehammer but there are some choices here.

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I like (Veteran) Polehammer myself, and in the early-mid game I was even doing this for a while: 1H - Shield - Empire Halberd - Veteran Polehammer .

165 reach goes a long way to mitigating the speed penalty that is typical of blunt weapons. Blunt damage is amazing for armor penetration as well, especially early on when your proficiency/power strike isn't awesome yet.

For CKO Veteran Polehammer is a good secondary weapon for archers, and it's cheap transitioning between polehammers and the other poleweapons. Doom Mace is good, but Runed Bastard Sword is so good (and expensive...) that you have to make a commitment.

It's not uncommon to get +20,000 Denars from prisoners with blunt CKO. Especially when you have a lot of Assassin, Berserker, or Gladiator prisoners. 

Zenoxious said:

To be honest, there really should be better ways of training your companions, because at mid level they've massively under levelled for killing elite troops and get bugger all from killing lower level troops.  I know you can go to the training grounds and do training, but the XP you get is completely pointless.  I think that this should be addressed in later versions of POP as its an area which needs some slider love.

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It doesn't really bother me. Part of it may be my play-style though: I am a trainer freak, and ALL of my main companions are used as archers in combat. It's pretty rare for my companions to not get a decent amount of kills, especially as I have built the habit of putting them behind my archers.

I find melee companions mediocre due to damage carrying over between battles. Until CKO 10 Draw/Strike was a troop impossibility aside from companions, and 10 strike is really good for quickly killing off random knights that are lingering... Especially as they will have been slowed down by my infantry and archer line.

It's never normally bothered me that much either till this play through, I want to give them Noldar armour/weapons, but I can't because they don't have high enough STR.  I can't give them bows, because they don't have power draw 3, yet some of my guys have 350+ in bow proficiency.  I can't give the guys who can use bows decent shields.  Oh common really, so is that all our companions are really for, sitting them at the bottom of the deck and having them contribute stats to the party?  That's just not good design or fun in my book.

Zenoxious said:

It's never normally bothered me that much either till this play through, I want to give them Noldar armour/weapons, but I can't because they don't have high enough STR.  I can't give them bows, because they don't have power draw 3, yet some of my guys have 350+ in bow proficiency.  I can't give the guys who can use bows decent shields.  Oh common really, so is that all our companions are really for, sitting them at the bottom of the deck and having them contribute stats to the party?  That's just not good design or fun in my book.

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They are always on the top of the stack in my present game. Unless I field my CKO they are easily the best ranged troops in my army. There isn't much need for shields when they are to the far rear of my formation (not stack) as well.

Get 15/18 STR for Heavy/Siege crossbow and even Ansen/Leslie are getting kills, although the only reason I've done this is that my game has gone on for a long time and I am probably being excessive with trainer stacking. (They have maxed INT as well.)

Addendum: I don't bother with bow use unless/until my companions gain good power draw... 3 is pretty low. Sigismund for example is now a 10/10 Strike/Draw, but I didn't bother with a bow until he had 8-10 draw... Can't remember. Yeah 8-10 is probably a bit overkill for starting bow use. Proficiency goes up fast with an accurate bow (like Noldor's)

IlluminaZer0 said:

Get 15/18 STR for Heavy/Siege crossbow and even Ansen/Leslie are getting kills, although the only reason I've done this is that my game has gone on for a long time and I am probably being excessive with trainer stacking. (They have maxed INT as well.)

Addendum: I don't bother with bow use unless/until my companions gain good power draw... 3 is pretty low. Sigismund for example is now a 10/10 Strike/Draw, but I didn't bother with a bow until he had 8-10 draw... Can't remember. Yeah 8-10 is probably a bit overkill for starting bow use. Proficiency goes up fast with an accurate bow (like Noldor's)

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Well obviously if it's someone like Leth or Sigi then yeah they appear near the top of my desk also.  The problem is even in your own words you've basically said that you've stacked trainer like mad and played for decades to get them to a respectable level.  I'm all for a challenge and I don't want to be given things easily hence why I play POP, but you have to admit it's pretty ridiculous and limiting having to go to such lengths for something which should come easily?

The easiest way to grind right to rule, if you're okay with extensive cheesing is to grab a city and start Pendorstan. You'll become a one-man kingdom after the city is taken, so every time you restore negative relation with a faction by paying off a lord, you gain 3 RTR. If you want to go back to being a humble mercenary, you'll have to capture another center, send a companion to some king asking for protection to become their vassal, then ask them to free you of your oath (the -20 relation hit can be fixed with the help of a befriended lady).

Incidentally that means that you can restart Pendorstan as many times as you like, which might be useful if you want to get a certain culture-locked order, but don't want to keep that faction's culture.

Zenoxious said:

Well obviously if it's someone like Leth or Sigi then yeah they appear near the top of my desk also.  The problem is even in your own words you've basically said that you've stacked trainer like mad and played for decades to get them to a respectable level.  I'm all for a challenge and I don't want to be given things easily hence why I play POP, but you have to admit it's pretty ridiculous and limiting having to go to such lengths for something which should come easily?

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I don't see why high levels companions should come easily. Stacking trainer multiple times + party skills is extremely good, and getting 10/10 Strike/Draw is very powerful as well. The only thing that can compare to a Companion warrior is CKO, and you cannot train a CKO to such heights without uber companions anyways. If anything, CKO offers even less reason for uber companions to "come easily."

I mentioned Ansen/Leslie not to emphasize my play-length but to emphasize even they could achieve a respectable amount of kills with 15/18 STR and a Crossbow. You should not have issues leveling companions such as Sigismund, Diev, Kaverra, Adonja, Ediz, and so on.

Complaining that your companions are incapable of using bows with below power draw 3 is absurd as it would suck anyways. Give them a crossbow until they can use bows competently. You do not need Noldor armor to have competent companions. Even now the only companion that has Noldor armor in my army is Lethaldiran, and that's just for flavor.

The bolded is just weird.

zykox said:

Best choice for 1 denar garrison

Spoiler

                                HP  AGILITY  PS  PD  Shield  1h/polearms      equipment (as far as I've seen)
Bandit                      45      8          1      1      -        75                      random 1h wpn/mace/short bow, smith apron/leather armor, nomad cap/black hood
Sarleon Militia          47      7          1      -      1        65                    random 1h wpn/spear, tabard, board shield/no shield (?), leather cap (?), fur boots
Fierdsvain Militia      49      6          1      -      -        70                    random 1h wpn & boarspear, kilt, hood/leather cap (?), leather boots
Ravenstern Militia    46      7          1      -      1        90                    random 1h wpn/spear, old shield (?), sandals (?), no headgear (?)
Empire Levy recruit  46    6            1      -        1        75                    random 1h wpn/spear, board shield, leather jacket, sandals (?), hood
Militia Recruit            45      8            1      -      -        75                    common 1h sword, tabard, sandals, chain coif

CONCLUSION: Depends entirely on the equipment. with bows: bandits, but then those bows are totally useless in siege yes?
HP-wise Fierdsvain, but Ravenstern/Sarleon/Empire get nice shields. Ravenstern has better skill, but worse shield than the other 2. Militia recruit gets good 1h-weapon + headgear but no shield and 1-2 less HP. Agi is +2, but I wonder how much diff it makes. Personally, I think spears are totally useless in siege (contrary to halberds)
Sadly,  I have no idea which of the above guys has best body armor....Fierdsvain seems to be ahead in my guess (at least the boots).
So, F_Militia gets my thumbs up, Militia recruit next, because they always get a sword and good head prot.

Ok, in any case someone DIDN'T know...peasant women are the worst. As they are, they should cost 0.5 denars, but game-wise that's impossible unfortunately.

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Now, to 7 denar ranged troops (with Leadership 6)

Spoiler

                                HP  AGILITY  PS  PD  Shield  1h/ranged      equipment (as far as I've seen)
Heretic Minion          55      10          3    -      2        140                  random 1h wpn/spear, crossbow, heretic shield, heretic chain, black hood
E Levy Skirmisher      55      9          3      -      2        180/200          random 1h wpn, crossbow, light/padded leather, board shield, black hood, light leather boots
Maiden Ranger          53      9          2      2      -        125                2h Voulge, crossbow/bow, chainmail, leather cap, sandals
MystM Raider (6 dnr) 55    10          2      3      -      100     
random1h wpn/spear, shortbow, rawhide/studded leather, shield (?), ankle/fur boots (?), no headgear/pilgrim hood, sumpter horse
Pendor Hvy Bowman  55    10        3      3      -          200/240          1h sword/inf mace, comp shortbow (?), brigandine, chain boots, bascinet
Seer Initiate              53      9          2    2      -        125                  2h voulge, longbow, maiden leather, leather cap, light leather boots

CONCLUSION: I think H minions are the best choice, close with P Hvy Bowman. Sure P Bowman is better equipped and skilled, but I think the crossbow is still
better vs high tier troops as well...BUT I may be wrong. E skirmishers are a good and available choice, though their light armor means they die like flies.
Am I overestimating the H Minion? I dunno....some other experts pls voice your opinions.

........................................................
High tier archers for garrison...I don't think we need a comparison, yes? Everyone agrees that S Armored Longbowmen & P Armored Archers are the best choice.
E Armored Crossbowmen & R Rangers are the best, but they're almost 2x weekly denars of S Bowmen. P Bowmen is even cheaper, but of course slightly worse.

Click to expand...

________________________
UPDATE 2014-03-23

Thanks guys for appreciating my list. BTW: Sorry, my mistake, weekly denars are at Leadership 7, not 6.

Also, probably best Archer to garrison might be Seer's Favorite, due to being closely cheap with 39 denars/week (S_Arm Longbowmen 37 dnrs) (though incredibly rare and hard to get), and having noldor composite bows.

Why Seer Initiates can use longbows with PD2, and Seer Favorites can use Noldor Comp Bows with PD 5...?? Guess it's the power of the dark goddess.
...............
Btw II, some guys might be interested in
Best mid-tier infantry: 27 denars/week (leadership 7)

Best 1h blunts:
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Zenoxious said:

FYI I don't think it was Swadian knights who had the blunt weapons, they used maces, it was the tier down from them I think that had them.

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btw, I updated the other post I made, but I'll say it again: You weren't talking about S_Knight, you were talking about the Slaver troop tree, incidentally meaning the Slave Crusher, who is just below the Slaver Chief (because he spawns with 2h Gr. Hammer).
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About garrison....well, I try not to touch my garrison ever...because it's just a load of work to keep track and replace troops that I upgrade and take away.
1d troops aren't completely useless as well....if it comes down to the last 100 troops in a siege, you'll have your pawns vs enemy pawns, so even a slight advantage is good.
The good 1d troops are quite capable of defeating 3-10denar troops...and if they gang up, they might do even more. But if you got only peasant women, then even ganging up won't help. Imagine Milita Recruits hitting fast with swords in a team, they can still take down a berserker/gladiator.

Well, that's everyone's own choice. The above lists are only for those who deem it helpful. ^^

reticentReciter said:

Incidentally that means that you can restart Pendorstan as many times as you like, which might be useful if you want to get a certain culture-locked order, but don't want to keep that faction's culture.

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I don´t think the saved Pendor progress is lost after you swear allegiance to someone else, repent and restart. Unless you already tried it out yoruself and can confirm this loophole, though I doubt it, as you said "might", I fear you´ll restart with the culture you picked in your first try.

That´s at least how it works for resurrecting your failed empire if you lose your first castle and you manage to recapture one again rising from the ashes to light the dark world with your fire.

And I´m unsure wether or not MV hasn´t already sealed up the cheesy RtR pool with 3.611 as well, haven´t had WB up and running for a long time. (Damn, you Fallout New Vegas Ultimate Edition)

How many times can i change kingdom culture?

I'd like to start with empire culture, mass recruit 200 noble recruits, train them up to knight-status quick & then change culture to whatever KO i need atm.

Is this possible, as i prefer a rich diversity of KO-troops?