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TheShadowOfTheNorth said:

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^
"The negative extra morale seems to be disappearing slowly, I guess mans revengeful heart takes it's time to accept his new master"

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Hmmm...well, I'll admit that I haven't played as much in the "rebel" style that you are, I usually start as a vassal of some faction or another, so perhaps the negative morale works differently if you're on your own? IDK.

I will say that it's usually not a bad idea to diversify your troops and keep at least some "neutral" soldiers around. You can almost always pick up some type of mercenary in taverns, but they are on the pricey side. If you don't mind leveling up some troops, then rescuing Manhunters, Caravan Guards, Farmers, or Peasant Women (which become Sword Sisters) from bandits/enemy castles can give you a good foundation for a neutral army. Even rescuing the bandits themselves can work out: for example, rescued Taiga Bandits can be leveled into Vaegir Recruits, Mountain Bandits into Rhodok Tribesmen, and so forth. Also, don't be afraid to stash some of those Nord troops in a castle or town until morale improves; AFAIK morale is only hurt by troops in your current party.

Also, you might want to check out some of the villages right on the border of the former Nord lands: did they conquer any castles/towns before you started your offensive? If so, then you might be able to recruit some Vaegir/Khergit/whatever recruits from villages that they took over.

Did you get an official notice that the "Kingdom of Nords faction" has been eliminated? (it's a message relayed on a special splash screen) AFAIK this only happens when you hold all the faction's territory AND all of their lords + king are in captivity. If there is still a Jarl or two out there running around, you will still officially be at war with the Nords until they are captured. After the faction is eliminated you shouldn't see a morale penalty for having Nord troops anymore.

Aure said:

Lords can defect and join different faction. Each lord has a certain personality. Based on that and current events they can become unhappy with the king and defect, or get thrown out by the king.

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Heh, I'm playing a game right now where I'm a vassal of the Nords, and we've been wiping the Swadians off the map. We have all their cities, and all except maybe 2 or 3 castles. Something like 8-10 lords plus King Harlaus are currently rotting in our dungeons (formerly their dungeons). I have a feeling this will not end well for Swadia.

BUT...recently I've had at least two Jarls defect...to Swadia! WTF? Nice choice, guys

What I usually do is have two types of armies on standby: mostly- or all-infantry/archers for sieges, and mostly-cavalry for trading/patrolling/chasing down bandits. Of course it helps to have at least one castle or town to stash the lineup in that you're not using at the moment.

Ludial said:

why would you need to become a vassal to anyone? get really high rep with villages and towns, eventually start attacking caravans and small lord parties, eventually capture something for yourself and voila, you're king without serving any pompous ass.

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It's not always about being a vassal. There are a few times I've had to raise my rep with a certain lord just to be able to build a business in his town, and occasionally the murder quest has popped up. I generally just do it and move on - I think you lose something like 3 rep for the murder quest, which is not that hard to balance out especially if you defend the village against bandits or something.

In my most recent game I've been developing a trader/businesswoman character who's neutral with everyone (except bandits, heh) to maximize profits from enterprises (i.e. no risk of sequestration due to war, minimal negative relationships with town lords). I was interested in seeing which businesses would run well without me having to supply them with goods or ferry their products elsewhere to sell.

First of all, a good rule of thumb is to try and focus on products that demand high prices in towns where the raw material needed to make them is relatively inexpensive. A good example is that in Veluca, olives are usually not too expensive (~75-100 in the market), but oil is always pricey (it is everywhere except occasionally in Suno). This is probably why oil presses in Veluca work out well for a lot of people. Another example is Ahmerrad where they have cheap iron but expensive tools, which makes building an ironworks profitable usually.

Other businesses that have done decently for me:
~ Tihr: wool weavery
~ Shariz: linen weavery (flax is cheap there for some reason, head 1 town over to Durquba and it's a different story)
~ Yalen: brewery (LOTS of cheap grain in the area; not a ton of income but it was cheap to build and I haven't seen a loss thus far)
~ Sargoth: tannery
~ Bariyye: linen weavery

A good thing to do is to ask the guild master how trade is in his town; he will tell you what goods they are in need of. If you see a product that is in demand, and the GM doesn't also mention that they need the raw mats needed to make that product, then that might be the product you'd want to invest in. So, if he says they need wool cloth but doesn't also mention wool, then a wool weavery might be a profitable thing to build.

If you just can't figure out the supply/demand structure of a given town, or if you are rolling in dough, then you can't go wrong with a velvet weaver/dyeworks. They will turn a nice profit in every town except for Jelkala.

What irks me the most is when I get a marshalling order clear across the world from where I am.

I was playing as the Nords the other day, and had picked up some super-cheap iron in Curaw (which we had conquered). This was in peacetime, which is generally the only time I attempt long, heavy trade routes due to gimped map speed and travel time. I had just finished trading the iron for a crapload of spices and salt in Jelkala, with the intention of selling it for a mint back in the Motherland, when two things happen in rapid succession: 1) Nords declare war on Swadia, and 2) I get word that the whole gang is marshalling way the hell over on the other side of the map in Suno or someplace. Great.

Other than that...this doesn't really piss me off, but I find it weird when two pieces of dialogue from one NPC don't quite jive with one another. A couple of examples off the top of my head:
1) when I'm playing as a female, I introduce myself to the various lords of the faction I just joined, and many of them greet me with the "fair ladies bearing arms is a shame/disgrace, get back to the kitchen, make me a sammich etc." thing. Yet then they all turn around and say that they'll remain my most ardent admirer. WTF.
2) I encounter an enemy lord and he says that he heard about how I defeated Count Whatshisname, and ever since he's been eager to cross swords with me. Yet when I pick the "surrender or die" option to get on with the battle, he says something like "Oh, I had hoped we could resolve this without conflict" or "I am sad that you cannot be reasoned with". Uh, weren't YOU the one who wanted to "cross swords" with me like 2 seconds earlier?