Recent content by (Darkelf) Temper

Difficulty 130% 16 companions (TweakMB) 150 sea raiders turned into minced meat.

150 strong,rested and trained faction army on the other hand is a different story.

It sounds like it's time for you to move on to bigger and greener pastures.Build an army and take on 2-3 times your number of a faction armies.

But I digress....... Cheers to your victories ! 

Had my first loss in a looong time last night.

220 swadian knights,15 level 39 companions (me) VS 2500 something vaegirs.

I had to fight because I couldn't outrun the smaller group that was tagging along with them (A khergit lord with 30 men).

It ended up 33 of us verse something in the 300s (and that's with 10 Tactics)
3x reinforcements.
We died a horrible death but managed to weaken their army so much (1000 losses to them),that they abandoned their siege on  my property of Dhirim (garrison of 1200 men).

As luck would have it,I was pulled from the battle field by some of my men and retained my companions.It was then a quick trip to Dhirim and some heavy duty payback time for Vaegirs,who were promptly decimated in the field and very soon after,punished by losing Reyvidin to 223 screaming and kicking seargants and sharpshooters.

Meh I digress again,.... 

Cheers to your victories !   


Temper

Hertog Jan said:

I'm going to try and join a faction, attack a lord from a faction my faction is at peace with and then besiege his castle. That should be enough for a war imo

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If I remember correctly,you will also lose relation with your liege for doing this,no big deal tho.


Temper

Hertog Jan said:

(Darkelf) Temper said:

Hertog Jan said:

JosieJ said:

Mid game: snatch a castle, preferably within range of the faction I want to join.  Castles that they've just lost are great for this, as the garrisons tend to be low at first.  After I get the castle, I join the faction and then play the good vassal for a while: I always answer the marshall's summons, help out lords in battles, etc.  All the while, I'm keeping my eyes open for possibilities.

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How can you attack a castle when you havent joined a faction yet?

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The easiest way is to attack one of their lords/king by talikng to them and deliver your demands.I'd attack King because of relation hit and it means you also just dispensed of their most dangerous army.Then you can siege their castles/cities.

Temper

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wtf i never knew this!
So when you capture a castle and then quickly join another faction, you can keep your castle? Guess same would apply for cities then? 

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Exactly !
But why join another faction ? Take the bull by the horns and forge a brave new wold of your own !  =P

Temper

Poor King Harlaus !

I'm going to agree with Captured Joe on this one.Swadia is quite possibly the hardest faction for the AI to handle.It's expansive and borders on all but the Sarranids turf.It has in my opinion some of the most obnoxious Lords in the game to deal with both honorable and dishonorable.

I'm playing a take swadia for myself game and using only swadian lords.Currently I only hold Praven,Suno,Uxkhal and surronding Castles (the swadian faction is actually defeated).Eight of there former lords are my vassals and it's a certified ***** fest.

Like Harlaus I've started holding feasts in times of war because it's a never ending war and a few of the lords are fief pillaging lunatics and ALWAYS end up defeated,I actually pray for them to be captured so I don't lose more relation with them.

Defeating the whole map with Khergits from their starting location with only Khergit lords was a walk in the park compared to what I am now facing.

So I suppose it's a matter of Damned if you feast and damned if you don't.

Poor King Harlaus !......... I want to give you back your kngdom...please.

PS. Lord Haringoth is a monkey and his son is monkey see monkey do.

Temper

Hertog Jan said:

JosieJ said:

Mid game: snatch a castle, preferably within range of the faction I want to join.  Castles that they've just lost are great for this, as the garrisons tend to be low at first.  After I get the castle, I join the faction and then play the good vassal for a while: I always answer the marshall's summons, help out lords in battles, etc.  All the while, I'm keeping my eyes open for possibilities.

Click to expand...

How can you attack a castle when you havent joined a faction yet?

Click to expand...

The easiest way is to attack one of their lords/king by talikng to them and deliver your demands.I'd attack King because of relation hit and it means you also just dispensed of their most dangerous army.Then you can siege their castles/cities.

Temper

Hi !

Khergits: 60% Veteran Horse Archers 40% Lancers

Advantage in this is that it's one army for all purposes.

Nords: 60% archers 40% Huscarls

Adavntage in this is that it's one army for all purposes.

Swadian: Siege army 70% Sharpshooters 30% Seargants
              Field Army 100% Swadian Knights

Vaegirs: Siege Army 70% Marksmen 30% Guards
            Field Army 100% Knights

Rhodoks: 60% Sharpshooters 40% Seargants
              All purpose army

Sarrinids: Don't like em don't play em,but would imagine they would play out just like Vaegirs

Mercenary/Independant Army: Siege army 70% Mercenary Crossbows 30% Hired Blades
                                            Field Army 40% Mecrenary Cavalry 40% Slaver Chiefs 20% Sword Sisters

I have the opposite siege policy to McGough....... I will try to outshoot my opponent by mass of ranged numbers and charge the walls only when ammunition is gone.I may even have two ettempts at the siege to whittle their numbers (Replenishing troops is NOT my favorite past time).

Sirdangolot5 said:

Is it me, or has the advice in this thread gotten to a ridiculously time-consuming point? I mean, he's not even to the point where he has hammers yet, and we're talking about level 35 companions in Heraldric Mail?

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It's advice for soloing with companions,as per query.

Not sure what you mean by ridiculously time-consuming......    =/

Captured Joe: Simple answer,heavy horses make for faster xp greater survivability and quicker battles.Yet I do agree it can be fun to play a Nordic flavor army once in a while (I just don't have the patience to wait for routers to get off the field to finish battles).

Captain_Octavius said:

Deck them out in the best armour in the game and give them a heavy charger. Weapons can be several, I myself always go with shield + heavy morningstar (requires 14 Strength). You can easily take out parties of 50 Sea Raiders with them. When I just start out I usually take about 10 Mercenary Cavalry with me. By the time they have all died out my companions will have enough skill to handle it by themselves.

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YA it's really quite hilarious rounding up a hundred or so Sea Raiders and watching your level 35 companions decimate them while taking no casualties.It does wonders for your renown =).
However the REAL experience to be had is fighting actual faction troops,that way you get better xp and the chance to gain/lose honor.I find it best to interact as soon as possible with the factions lords,BEFORE they are eliminated.

I tend to play in the flavor of the faction I want to take over(exceptions being shield and crossbow) and I have two games at the moment,a Swadian game and a Khergit game.
Just a note,I use all 16 companions (TweakMB)

Swadian companions:
Heavy Charger
Plate Armor
Winged Great Helm
Plate Boots
Plate Gauntlets
Huscarls Shield
Siege Crossbow
Steel Bolts
Heavy Morning Star

Khergit companions:
Heavy Steppe Charger
Khergit Elite Armor
Khergit Guards Helm
Khergit Boots
Lamelar Gauntlets
Huscarls Shield
Siege Crossbow
Steel Bolts
Heavy Sabre

Upgrade everything to it's highest quality(Lordly/Sturdy/Reinforced) as you can.

I use them as an elite body guard and travel with them exclusively when not at war.Travelling with an actual army drains the coffers and is not recomended when you have your own kingdom and can field two hundred plus troops,troops better left in garrison to deter would be war mongers =P.Or play as a female and give ALL cities to your husband and just fill them up with as many troops as you like,when you like free of upkeep.

I don't turn them into lords and only ever lose one of them to the job of minister (usually Katrin).All are fighters except two (but they still kick butt in combat,and everyone fights nobody sits on the sidelines in my armies) Borcha is tracker and Jeremus is surgeon.They all have the training skill at varying levels (minimum of 4)

So I guess the moral of the story is........No matter what you have planned for any of your companions builds,make them battle worthy first,the more they kill the faster they level up,the faster they level up the sooner they become what you want.Just don't give them bow/throwing weapons and expect to see them level quickly lol.

RULE 1: Give them heavy chargers of some sort (RIDING 4)

RULE 2: Give them enough strength for your desired weapons/armor (10-14 strength)

RULE 3: Everyone fights in the front line ! Including the surgeon !

All I can think of,

Temper

First of all,Hello all !
What I do for companions.

Once all the companions you want are in your party,start with killing forest bandits.Level up RIDING to level 4 ASAP and secondly enough strength for armor/weapons 10 str is enough for utility companions.Give them heavey/sumpter horses to start (they are cheap and easy to find in any town).When they reach 4 riding give them heavey chargers/Sarranid warhorses.Giving them horses increases their survival rate ten fold !

Don't buy any gear for them except weapons (blunts if you want prisoners),the armor from forest bandits will be just fine for starters.Sell left over gear.

As a general rule,once all my companions have better armor from looting I move on to small bands of sea raiders.Rinse and repeat until everyone is riding heavey chargers or the like and have helm/byrnies/nordic shields,then move on to the larger groups.

Do NOT give them missile weapons that can be fired from horseback (AI is useless with this and it's a skill sink).Give them siege crossbows.

With all the cash you have saved up from NOT buying them gear,invest in buisnesses.This will give you income while waiting for respawns and doing quests for lords.Once you have a buisness in every town you can forget killing bandits altogether and start buying companions the good stuff like elite armor/plate/huscarl shields and weapons of your choice.

Even for utility companions I find it a must to have riding 4 and at least ten strength,after that I start on their utility skills.

Just my take,hope it helps

Temper

First up I'm new to the forum so Hi !

Currently playing as a mercenary with realistic saving,on around day 350.Vaegirs were down to Rivacheg and nelag castles.So I went to lend them a hand.They have three Boyers left,but Yaroglek has joined the nords (Jarl Yaroglek).Despite having great relations with the remaining lords I cannot become their mercenary(no merc quest given),which also means I can't become their vassal.

After asking a traveler the whereabouts of Vladim the Bastard and going to Wercheg asap,He wasn't there (maybe just bad timing,he may have left already).If I find him,I will see if he can be inserted on the throne.I am traveling with an army of 160 men so I cannot afford to travel the map more to see if he is somewhere else(I have realistic save on).

New lords ARE joining the Vaegir faction (around 8 now) and despite having no marshal they appear to be working together to retake castles (just took Jierbe).What surprises me is that most of these lords have pretty big armies all 150 plus.

If I wasn't playing with realistic saves on,this would actually be quite fun to just sit back and monitor what happens to them.But as it is I can't vassal or merc with them which defeats the purpose of their prescence and mine.

Anyway nice to meet you all

Temper