Recent content by KiriKaneko

Yes, coat of plates and bishop is the best body armour. I'm wondering what the best armour for other slots is though? I've been using winged helmet, mail gauntlets and mail boots. Are there better items for these slots?

(Is posting in a topic older than 182 days a bad thing? If so then why?)

Well the only reason I brought up the mod is because there's a low number of good lords compared to the high amount of territory. If I only go with good lords then each one will end up with a rather large amount of land. As such, it got me wondering if tax inefficiency is a thing for lords. If it isn't then I've nothing to worry about I can give them 10+ fiefs without worry. If it is then I may have to consider giving them only castles and towns, and taking the villages for myself.

While I will get tax inefficiency from 100+ villages, there is a cap on tax inefficiency so I will still profit immensely. I'd rather give the villages to the lords if the lords don't get tax inefficiency though because that will give me a much larger warband

No one knows?

TL;DR:
Close range infantry beats compacted infantry cavalry (e.g. siege, a cavalry blob on a hill). 2H maces = high damage but no shields, this weak to archers. e.g. mace/short sword users
Long range infantry beats staggered cavalry and short ranged infantry (e.g. open field, especially on a hill but spread out with room to maneuver). Weak to archers. e.g. greatsword/halberd users. Weak when compacted
Mid range infantry beats short or long range infantry provided they have room to maneuver. E.g. arming sword users. Weak when compacted
Other infantry: axes break shields down fast, should be used along with archers. Spears suck.
Archers: high dps, low melee skill, low ammo, accurate at medium range. Usually carry two handers as sidearms, or daggers. Check.
Crossbows: low dps, medium melee skill, medium ammo, accurate at long range. Usually carry short ranged weapons as sidearms but not always, check.
Mounted archers: suck unless it's the Noldor. Just dismount them to make them far more useful. They get around the campaign map fast but should always be dismounted
Light cavalry: suck, die too fast
Heavy cavalry: Crush infantry and archers on the open field. Moderate casualties to long range infantry. Die fast when fixed in place on a hill, by rocks/trees, short range infantry surround and tear them apart, long range infantry get  alot of swings at them as they pass, medium range infantry are screwed, archers/crossbows do well but only if the cavalry is kept away from them and fixed in place at a medium distance. They're easily crushed with short or long range infantry covered by missile units but only with the kind of micromanagement the AI is incapable of e.g. compact short range infantry on a hill or staggered long range infantry (room to swing) with crossbow or archer support behind them (depends on if you think the cavalry might reach them, crossbows survive in melee better and their ammo lasts longer, archers will do more damage faster)

I find a archer/infantry setup is more than viable with the right terrain.

Set infantry 2 lines thick halfway up a steep hill. You want the enemy cavalry to come to a dead stop when they hit them. Because the enemy cavalry will be packed side by side like sardines they cant really swing their weapons or disengage except from the flanks. Archers go on the top of the hill behind them and fire down on the fixed in places enemy cavalry. You will want your infantry to use close ranged weapons for this setup usually but not many units in PoP get close ranged weapons, only really the noldor infantry which is why they rock in melee

If you must fight them in the open field or if you are outnumbered then halberds are the way to go. The outnumbering cavalry will easily get around your flank and disrupt any archer formation so don't even bother. Halberds have a long range but also a very good minimum range. They hit hard and their jab will stop a horse in it's tracks. The problem with short ranged melee weapons vs cavalry is that unless the cavalry is fixed in place they'll never get to hit them, or only one will ever really get to swing at a time and for low damage

Long ranged melee weapons have more opportunities to strike and do more damage, especially two handed such as greatswords, greataxes, greathammers or halberds. You ideally want one with a good max and min range and good damage, because the horses like to ride right up in your guys faces where they cant swing at them, then ride off and whirl around, the halberds will have plenty of chances to swing and everytime a cavalry charge is broken each enemy cavalry will be targetted by 3-4 halberdiers who are all in range, and many strikes will hit the rider for heavy damage and with high shield damage too! This works poorly against surrounded cavalry or compacted cavalry because there's no room to swing, but extremely well when you are caught in the open and the cavalry is skirmishing back and forth through your troops. Halberds are the way to go when dealing with cavalry heavy factions like D'Shar and Jatu who tend to swarm with cavalry pretty fast. They do have horse archers though so you had better be prepared to pick off the horse archers yourself, two handers are vulnerable to missile troops

In general keep in mind, horse archers are meant as a hard counter to two handers, but currently only noldor AI can pull it off. Heavy cavalry are the hard counter to short ranged infantry caught in the open or missile units that aren't being defended (or can't be defended) by infantry. Compacted infantry on a hill will stop a cavalry charge and compact it, and can hold defensive positions well for archers to fire. Infantry with short ranged weapons massacre compacted cavalry or medium/long range infantry and are the best siege rush unit, but most mods nerf or leave them out entirely. They're usually mace or hand-pick wielders (axes are surprisingly mid ranged) but noldor short swords are close ranged too, and 2H maces are close ranged high damage but lack shield support. Two handers are the cavalry counter provided they have room to swing, and are best deployed loosely on a hill so they have room to swing and the cavalry is still slowed down a lot, they do well on the open field too. Archers vs crossbows, archers are high dps and short range and run out of ammo fast, crossbows are low dps, high range, tend not to run out of ammo, and are usually more competent in melee so don't need to be protected as much

And those are the general rules. The AI ignores them completely so tailor your army to the enemy's weaknesses. Avoid field battles it's a better strategy to chain siege with 10+4 engineering. This means close ranged infantry and crossbows are your bread and butter and this applies to all mods. Heavy cavalry are for mopping up individual lords. If you want to take out those pesky warbands then either hope your marshall engages them, or if you become marshall then wait for a siege to start, hide somewhere near it with your warband til all the enemy lords enter the siege then move over quickly and fight the defensive siege. When it is over you will all be outside in a cluster so engage the nearest lord. You'll be in command of all your allies troops so remember the strengths and weaknesses and deploy accordingly. Try to protect your own units and bring units that are a strong counter to the enemy

Khergits do rather a lot better in sieges than on the field surprisingly. Their horsemen are pretty decent on foot, at least equivalent to dismounted mamelukes, and their archers are rather a lot more accurate when dismounted. They're still he second or third weakest siege faction (behind or on equal footing with swadia) but certainly not the total pushover that the Sarranids are

So the generic companions rotate through taverns just like normal companions? Is there a way to distinguish them from ordinary companions? I'm playing the June 2016 version (the latest I think) and I am only seeing the normal companions in taverns even though they are meant to be fewer in number. Do they have their own names like normal companions or something generic sounding like "high elf companion" etc?

Does anyone know how to recruit lvl 1 "generic" companions? I've been searching taverns but I can only find the normal companions

If you want to win as a Tolrania supporter:

1) Expand east, the eastern factions are a more even match in siege warfare. Taking territory here to be distributed to the other Tolrania nobles will bolster their forces.
2) Try to become the marshall, just keep joining in the big fights with your marshall, talk to all the lords afterwards to get rep, if you're lucky enough to get peace then marry and throw feasts to improve relations with other lords. When your renown is high and the lords love you then you'll be marshall. In the meantime use your cavalry to isolate and defeat enemy lords to either capture or release for honour, plus the exp and renown boost you get for each victory
3) War strategy as Marshall: Fight field battles manually, using your powerful cavalry and 2H infantry to win. Try to let your cavalry engage first and rush your 2H infantry into the distracted enemy infantry/cavalry. 2H infantry are strong vs cavalry as they have the damage and range to get through horse armour and tag them while they're trying to ride away. Auto-calc sieges as you should have superior numbers thanks to the territory you took for your lords in the east. If your faction is getting battered then just focus on defeating enemy armies. To force a field engagement: Wait til the enemy siege a castle/town and then head over there and wait a short distance away. As soon as they begin the assault head over there and defeat them in the siege battle. To win the siege manually just keep your troops back from the edge of the wall, in the courtyard, let the enemy come in and then charge so their missile troops don't get to engage you at a range, keep your own ranged troops in the courtyard and firing into the enemy flank. If it's going badly then retreat and auto calc instead. When the siege is over the enemy lords will all be outside the castle/town mixed in together with your troops, quickly attack one before any skirmishes start and fight the battle manually on the field.

So long as you start with the weaker factions and defend your territory well by crushing enemy armies in field battles and not letting them build a garrison in any territories they take then you should be able to win, just remember your strength is your dominance in the field which let's you stop invading armies, and your weakness is your siege capabilities for which you need to defeat siege-weak factions to build up your numbers and win against the siege-strong factions through high numbers and auto resolve

All the pretty female faces have brown eyes. There's one with blue eyes and blonde hair but it has deep granny lines even when the age slider is set to bottom. Could you fix the blonde hair blue eyed female face sometime please? I want to be a young westerlander XD

2 main ways:

1) Disband your army and order your companions to spy on the other factions. Go to Ravenstern territory and fight mystmountain bandits solo. With solid armour, a heavy horse and a bow you can easily pick them off from horseback. Shoot the horses first and then shoot the archers, finally pick off the infantry and dismounted cavalry. You can do this with rusty heavy armor and a mellitine horseman bow easily enough but you should probably tank all the arrows with a shield if you do that. With noldor armour and a ruby bow you can shoot horses in 1 hit and tank arrows without taking any damage even from headshots. Try to find groups of bandits with berserkers in because they give lots of renown even tho they are infantry with no shields or ranged weapons. This method is the fastest and can be done easily enough, just be very careful riding around solo and dont speed up time on the campaign map, if you run into a mystmountain army, some red brotherhood bandits, Jatu or an enemy lord you're gonna have a bad time

2) Go on a massive war party killing spree. Just make sure you are elected marshall right before you take this quest, then gather your bannermen, start the quest and then run around wiping out unique spawns and enemy factions war parties. Let the lords do the work for you. I suggest you assign the knights you were given to a division of their own and hold them back as best you can to preserve them as long as possible, since unlike the lords you are unable to replenish your lost troops until the quest is complete. This method takes longer but it's safer and more afkable

The sarranids are the easiest faction to take over:

1) Infantry - the worst infantry in the game and a large portion of their forces. Unless you're using fresh recruits their infantry is unlikely to cause even a single casualty to you. Since their infantry is the only thing stopping you storming the walls and slaughtering them on an even footing besides cavalry, this makes them the easiest faction to beat with infantry or dismounted cavalry in a siege

2) Archers - As archers they are superior to nord archers, but behind vaegir and khergit archers. Rhodoks sharpshooters are better, and both rhodok sharpshooters and nord archers do alright in melee. Sarranid archers are average at best and easily beaten in melee combat

3) Cavalry - Excellent on the open field, nearly as good as swadian knights. They have a high chance to spawn without shields. This means that in siege combat they are often killed quickly by missile units. Additionally the shield ones spawn with scimitars which are an amazing cavalry weapon but an average siege weapon. They do alright at holding the wall against infantry but as they make up a small portion of the enemy force they're just not enough. While their top tier cavalry mamelukes are amazing, their second to top tier horsemen dont get heavy horses and are easily dismounted where they're really not much better than sarranid infantry

Fighting sarranids on the field: Their cavalry is strong but they dont bring a lot of it. Their infantry are pathetic and their archers die easily in melee. You can either attack with pure cavalry and just charge, their mamelukes will put up a fight for a while but die to the sheer numbers and nothing else can stop you. Or you can go pure archer if you like, their horsemen will be dismounted fast and the few mamelukes wont do much by themselves. It's really hard to lose

Fighting sarranids in a siege: If you're defending then so long as your troops are decent it's easy enough. Their archers hurt but they will soon charge up the ladder and die. The infantry are useless and the mamelukes arent sufficient in number to break through. Aim for the archers to minimise your losses, their mamelukes will probably get shot. If you're attacking then either attack with mass rhodok sergeants and you will smash through their weak infantry and dominate them no problem, their 1H mamelukes scimitars whiff in very close combat but the 2H maces will hit, their infantry and archers cant fight at all in melee and the archers won't get through the sergeant tower shields. Alternatively go with a lot of  rhodok sharpshooters, their archers will cause some casualties but your sharpshooters will pick them off faster, kill the 2H mamelukes fast and break through the shields fast, and when your sharpshooters run out of ammo just make them charge in with their 1H hammers and watch them kill the infantry easily. Rhodok sharpshooters > sarranid infantry in melee!

Khergits have one interesting feature in their favor: all of their units are mounted, even their mid tier. Khergits armies are universally fast, but they're also pretty decent dismounted in sieges. Dismounted khergit horse archers do a much better job than mounted ones and I've seen khergits lancers take down huscarls sometimes when they get lucky. They can run down or flee from any army, and they can get between sieges incredibly fast. The usual AI tactic is to just charge all out, and this leads their cavalry to rush on ahead by themselves and get massacred but since khergits are pure mounted they end up staying together and attacking in one force. It's rather easy to cheese AI armies without using cavalry by using pure missile units, only 3 other factions use cavalry and they dont use enough of it to make it through the missile volley, but khergits are a hard counter to pure archer armies! Truthfully they take far more skill than the AI can handle to use effectively but should not be underestimated