When I play bannerlord, sometimes I wonder if I'm not just getting older, reflexes going, knowing what to do, but not getting there in time because I'm over the hill. But I played warband tonight, and I was blocking perfectly fine. I'm not a great blocker or anything, but had plenty of good exchanges with the average population. In bannerlord I'm sighing in exasperation of trying to block a certain direction and it not blocking in time, knowing I can do it, and if I was playing the older game it would be done, but it not working.
But I have noticed something odd, dunno if this is just me, but it seems like shields can block quicker then just weapons. Could just be me, or because shields are 'semi-directional.'