A couple more questions, please.

[Tata the Militant]

So I just made it through my mercenary phase and made it to a vassal. I picked the southern Empire and we were at war with Aserai. I won a castle and a city that were relatively close so I was happy, and I was continuing to hunt down war parties when the queen declared peace. Now I don't have anyone to hunt and I'm scared to just keep building up my castle/city as I only have around 500k and it's 2k per day in cost.

1) Is there anyway I can start a war, and should I?

2) I took this time to get a wife, do I need to do anything to start making babies (stay in same city/castle, etc..?) And will my babies grow up if I have no deaths on? Not sure if they still age.

3) Not really sure what my next plan of attack will be. I wanted to keep getting Aserai land so it's close to each other, but if war against another faction should I try to get castles/cities so far away from these 2? I plan to be my own kingdom eventually not sure how I will defend them so far away.

4) not really sure how to build governors I been looking for companions with high leadership/steward/medicine. If I want a governor in a city that was originally Aserai I only want to put an Aserai governor there because choosing a different faction would be bad, right? Or is it the faction I choose in the beginning?

Thanks sorry for the long post I'm just a little confused at what I should be doing at this stage in the game. Any help is appreciated

 

[Haterius Delirans]

During peacetime the income will increase. Do the quests given in the villages linked to your town and castle. Hunt down the bandits you see so they don´t frighten the villagers.

1. In theory yes. But keep the peace for economic stability. The Aserai will want to take back what they lost so war will come soon anyway.
2. I have no idea. I have death on.
3. In the Kingdom area you just give away the fiefs you don´t want.
4. Look for loyalty perks first! It got a huge upswing now so much easier to build up loyalty. Engineering for quicker building. Steward builds up just by being a governor and charm. But the rest don´t. Some weapon skill from tournaments will come in towns.

 

[Tata the Militant]

During peacetime the income will increase. Do the quests given in the villages linked to your town and castle. Hunt down the bandits you see so they don´t frighten the villagers.

1. In theory yes. But keep the peace for economic stability. The Aserai will want to take back what they lost so war will come soon anyway.
2. I have no idea. I have death on.
3. In the Kingdom area you just give away the fiefs you don´t want.
4. Look for loyalty perks first! It got a huge upswing now so much easier to build up loyalty. Engineering for quicker building. Steward builds up just by being a governor and charm. But the rest don´t. Some weapon skill from tournaments will come in towns.

Awesome thank you I will try to utilize this time to get more money while waiting for the Aserai to attack. Thanks for the tips

 

[Roma Crushus]

1. .you can start a war by attacking villages, caravans or lords,
2. kids grow up, so don't worry,
3. you can give away fiefs or trade them if you have trade perk ''everything has a price''
4. send companions or family as caravan leaders, so they gain trade and scouting,make them governors for charm and steward and make them a party leaders to build up clan strength

 

[Tata the Militant]

1. .you can start a war by attacking villages, caravans or lords,
2. kids grow up, so don't worry,
3. you can give away fiefs or trade them if you have trade perk ''everything has a price''
4. send companions or family as caravan leaders, so they gain trade and scouting,make them governors for charm and steward and make them a party leaders to build up clan strength

Okay awesome thank you I really appreciate it I'm glad the kids grow up that's exciting.. on the other hand though;

Apparently I put clan member death possibilities off and hero deaths in combat off, so I guess my characters will still die from old age ? Idk if I like that lol.

 

[Papius Urbicus]

Enable birth and death can only be selected with a new game but I think you can change the other two in game.

 

[Orbius Gravis]

Hmm...

1): I'd recommend just hanging on--peace rarely lasts more than a season, so you'll find some fresh meat before long. Escort Caravan missions are good ways to make money while traveling as well (at least I found them useful) since the pay you get is pretty decent and you're guaranteed a mounted pillager mob that you can auto-battle for easy money and XP.

3): Just be patient and wait for the next war with the Aserai and expand towards Husn Fulq, Razih, and all that. As long as your fellow nobles aren't homeless, and you remain close by, you ought to gain these lands. Once they stop granting them to you (since eventually the penalty for having lots of prosperity will override the benefits of being close by, the player character, fief conqueror, etc) you can begin sabotaging the Empire from the inside before declaring independence and establishing a new country. This could take a few years, so plenty of time to make babies and (if you were playing with death enabled) secure your succession.

2): Pregnancy triggers whenever time passes while you're doing something that causes your party to disappear, like waiting in cities, waiting in sieges, waiting to raid bandit camps, etc. so you'll make a baby sooner or later. Don't worry about it--you're extremely likely to have at least 2 without trying for it and kids can become super OP when they grow up.

4): I'm not solid on this aspect since I hardly took advantage of governors, but I do know that INT and SOC stats like Steward, Leadership, Medicine, etc. level up well enough for party leaders so making future governors officers isn't a bad idea. Alternatively, simply assigning same-culture homies works because Steward levels up passively while governing, and you probably want a lot of Aserai companions to be governors until you're independent and can pass laws that basically make loyalty concerns a thing of the past.

 

[Tata the Militant]

Hmm...

1): I'd recommend just hanging on--peace rarely lasts more than a season, so you'll find some fresh meat before long. Escort Caravan missions are good ways to make money while traveling as well (at least I found them useful) since the pay you get is pretty decent and you're guaranteed a mounted pillager mob that you can auto-battle for easy money and XP.

3): Just be patient and wait for the next war with the Aserai and expand towards Husn Fulq, Razih, and all that. As long as your fellow nobles aren't homeless, and you remain close by, you ought to gain these lands. Once they stop granting them to you (since eventually the penalty for having lots of prosperity will override the benefits of being close by, the player character, fief conqueror, etc) you can begin sabotaging the Empire from the inside before declaring independence and establishing a new country. This could take a few years, so plenty of time to make babies and (if you were playing with death enabled) secure your succession.

2): Pregnancy triggers whenever time passes while you're doing something that causes your party to disappear, like waiting in cities, waiting in sieges, waiting to raid bandit camps, etc. so you'll make a baby sooner or later. Don't worry about it--you're extremely likely to have at least 2 without trying for it and kids can become super OP when they grow up.

4): I'm not solid on this aspect since I hardly took advantage of governors, but I do know that INT and SOC stats like Steward, Leadership, Medicine, etc. level up well enough for party leaders so making future governors officers isn't a bad idea. Alternatively, simply assigning same-culture homies works because Steward levels up passively while governing, and you probably want a lot of Aserai companions to be governors until you're independent and can pass laws that basically make loyalty concerns a thing of the past.

Thanks for the detailed post your awesome! Yeah it wasn't long after I decided to build up my castle and city that the queen declared war on the northern kingdom. This will give me time to beef up my city/castle while hunting lords for money/relation as I wait for the Aserai war.

I had two babies but not sure if death is enabled from aging so idk if they will grow up, I haven't found a good companion to be a governor yet but that's a neat trick about letting them be the party leader, I'll remember that.

I really appreciate it

 

[Orbius Gravis]

To make an in-setting clarification: Rhagaea's an empress and the other Empire dudes are emperors!

I assume they'll age just fine, unless age numbers are frozen or something. Now that you mention it, death being disabled means the plan I was going to suggest of waiting for Empress Rhagaea to die of old age and trying your hand at electoral politics isn't going to be possible lol.

And you're welcome! I'm just sharing what I know from my one complete playthrough before my brain loses all it learned between then and whenever my next one is lol.

 

[Tata the Militant]

To make an in-setting clarification: Rhagaea's an empress and the other Empire dudes are emperors!

I assume they'll age just fine, unless age numbers are frozen or something. Now that you mention it, death being disabled means the plan I was going to suggest of waiting for Empress Rhagaea to die of old age and trying your hand at electoral politics isn't going to be possible lol.

And you're welcome! I'm just sharing what I know from my one complete playthrough before my brain loses all it learned between then and whenever my next one is lol.

That's interesting I never really put it together that emperor/empress rules over a large body of land while a king/queen is like an independent state. Guess it should of been common sense 😂

 

[Orbius Gravis]

That's interesting I never really put it together that emperor/empress rules over a large body of land while a king/queen is like an independent state. Guess it should of been common sense 😂

The distinction isn't independence or size but nominal; empire=emperor; king=kingdom. Empires and kingdoms can be vassals/dependent by other countries or independent. For example, IRL, the Indian Empire was a vassal of the United Kingdom with the British monarch reigning as both King of the United Kingdom and Emperor of India. During the time of Queen Victoria, their title was specially styled "Queen-Empress" in an effort to emphasize the UK (with "Queen" coming first) and her also being an empress. In other words, a recognized empire was the vassal of a recognized kingdom. For example, Japan today is an empire but is much smaller than, say, the British Commonwealth (which is technically still a kingdom).

There is an implied hierarchy though; emperor=king of kings; king=senior royalty; duke=lesser royalty or senior nobility (there's an important distinction since royalty, implicitly, is to nobility what nobility is to regular people); and the middle tier of nobility is Count/Earl/Jarl while the lower tier is Baron/Free Lord/Chief and the bottom of nobility are knights (landed or otherwise) and the like. Therefore, to be an emperor is to be implicitly the highest among rulers while to be a king is to be above standard nobility but dukes (and international equivalents) are essentially lesser royals or senior nobles. However, as I said above, emperors have been subservient to kings and kings have been subservient to high ranking nobles (and even elected head of states, which operate outside the context of royalty and nobility) so relationships can be... "flexible," depending on historical contexts lol.

 

[Tata the Militant]

The distinction isn't independence or size but nominal; empire=emperor; king=kingdom. Empires and kingdoms can be vassals/dependent by other countries or independent. For example, IRL, the Indian Empire was a vassal of the United Kingdom with the British monarch reigning as both King of the United Kingdom and Emperor of India. During the time of Queen Victoria, their title was specially styled "Queen-Empress" in an effort to emphasize the UK (with "Queen" coming first) and her also being an empress. In other words, a recognized empire was the vassal of a recognized kingdom. For example, Japan today is an empire but is much smaller than, say, the British Commonwealth (which is technically still a kingdom).

There is an implied hierarchy though; emperor=king of kings; king=senior royalty; duke=lesser royalty or senior nobility (there's an important distinction since royalty, implicitly, is to nobility what nobility is to regular people); and the middle tier of nobility is Count/Earl/Jarl while the lower tier is Baron/Free Lord/Chief and the bottom of nobility are knights (landed or otherwise) and the like. Therefore, to be an emperor is to be implicitly the highest among rulers while to be a king is to be above standard nobility but dukes (and international equivalents) are essentially lesser royals or senior nobles. However, as I said above, emperors have been subservient to kings and kings have been subservient to high ranking nobles (and even elected head of states, which operate outside the context of royalty and nobility) so relationships can be... "flexible," depending on historical contexts lol.

Very interesting, thanks for the indepth explanation! Guess I didn't know as much as I thought 😂


So I'm trying to build up my castle/city and I usually run with 30ish knights, 100ish fians, and 70 heavy axeman so I just dumped all but the knights into the city and I went out to recruit a full new party. Should I switch up the troops or is the fians/axemen good for sieges? Also around how many troops do I want in them?

Im not sure if making someone governor means they will recruit troops on their own, or if actually giving them the fief is the only way.

 

[Servius Stumpus]

So I'm trying to build up my castle/city and I usually run with 30ish knights, 100ish fians, and 70 heavy axeman so I just dumped all but the knights into the city and I went out to recruit a full new party. Should I switch up the troops or is the fians/axemen good for sieges? Also around how many troops do I want in them?

Be careful; depending on how you set up the fief wages this may lead to your troop steadily disappearing (in order to keep the wage below the limit you set). As for your troop composition, if you can still beat the sieges you are all good. One could argue that Khan's guard would be better here but eh

Im not sure if making someone governor means they will recruit troops on their own, or if actually giving them the fief is the only way.

A governor will only run the city (fief recruitment happens regardless as far as I am aware). If you want them to roam and have a band you need to make them lead a party, in which case they will behave as any other lord (e.g., recruit). To give them the fief itself you need to first promote them to nobility (as king) so that they have their own clan.

 

[Tata the Militant]

Be careful; depending on how you set up the fief wages this may lead to your troop steadily disappearing (in order to keep the wage below the limit you set). As for your troop composition, if you can still beat the sieges you are all good. One could argue that Khan's guard would be better here but eh



A governor will only run the city (fief recruitment happens regardless as far as I am aware). If you want them to roam and have a band you need to make them lead a party, in which case they will behave as any other lord (e.g., recruit). To give them the fief itself you need to first promote them to nobility (as king) so that they have their own clan.

Okay got ya thanks, I appreciate it. How many do you usually keep in each castle/city?

 

[Orbius Gravis]

Very interesting, thanks for the indepth explanation! Guess I didn't know as much as I thought 😂

We never do lol. With every thing you learn, you realize you've not even chipped the tip of the iceberg lol.

So I'm trying to build up my castle/city and I usually run with 30ish knights, 100ish fians, and 70 heavy axeman so I just dumped all but the knights into the city and I went out to recruit a full new party. Should I switch up the troops or is the fians/axemen good for sieges? Also around how many troops do I want in them?

There's a handful of good siege strategies and, depending on which you prefer, it may not matter what type of high quality troops you have.

For example, I like to use Trebuchets to utterly decimate a fief's defenses and then rush them down. This is usually so effective that friendly casualties rarely go above 30 and deaths above 5 even when there's 200+ defenders. If there's an unusually large amount of defenders (say, 500+) then maybe double the casualty count I gave. It's really that effective a siege strategy, though it's the most time-consuming. Any top tier troop will do since defenders are usually screwed no matter what.

On the other extreme you could forgo siege weapons and instead arrange your shield-carrying infantrymen to form a wall and have your archers/crossbows hide behind them to snipe the enemy sentries. Similar to Warband, it's highly effective but, also like Warband, you'll have to call a retreat to get fresh ammo, so that can delay you if your shooters couldn't decimate the defenders the first time around. Just make sure you've destroyed the enemy siege weapons before doing this since artillery is the obvious weakness of this strategy; nothing like a flaming rock in the center of your formation to make it a bad idea lol.

Therefore, for the purposes of sieges, I'd recommend any shielded infantrymen (I prefer spearmen, since they're about as effective as sword/axe/macemen in melee while being extra effective against cavalry) + the best archers you can find to hide them. Fians are definitely the best, but other top tier archers will do since you can't always run to the Highlands to source your local mini-fians lol.

When roaming around, keeping it to just knights as bodyguards is not a bad idea; Khan's Guards are also great bodyguards (as their name would imply) on top of being great shooters. Taking troops to the Duzeg Steppe so you can get some Noble Sons is also not a bad idea since they're as good at melee as they are at ranged and almost as good on foot as they are on horseback, making them OP when not being shot at from a safe distance (they lack shields lol).

Im not sure if making someone governor means they will recruit troops on their own, or if actually giving them the fief is the only way.

Troops are recruited automatically by default; you can set a budget to stop that or limit it.

I recommend you be VERY careful with troop stacking; unlike Warband, you can actually lose loads of money sustaining troops in cities/castles and even starve the local fiefs if there's basically too many mouths to feed. If you're about to rebel and basically expand into your former country's lands, it's not a bad idea to "overstock" with high quality troops so you can shrug off losses, but if you're years away from that or have successfully secured your independence (or otherwise aren't in imminent danger) then you ought to limit wages and try not to have more than 1-200 proper soldiers (ideally not higher than Tier3, but I'd never suggest kicking out your top tiers since I'm sentimental like that lol) + the free militia (you don't have to pay for them and, despite being a joke in active battles, actually count for something in automated conflicts so they aren't useless). So, basically, it's okay to load your cities with tier 1 jokers for the time being (they are dirt cheap after all and the sheer mass does make the cities effectively immune to attack by anything less than a 2000+ mega army) but don't go crazy with breeding high quality troops unless you're going to be using them. Having said that, I like to have a "back up army" comprised of top tier troops recruited from prisoners stationed in fiefs, so feel free to have equal to your party size in storage--provided you can afford it (and with only one city and a castle or two, you probably can't since I'd expect your retinue max to be around 250 by this point lol).

 

[Tata the Militant]

We never do lol. With every thing you learn, you realize you've not even chipped the tip of the iceberg lol.


There's a handful of good siege strategies and, depending on which you prefer, it may not matter what type of high quality troops you have.

For example, I like to use Trebuchets to utterly decimate a fief's defenses and then rush them down. This is usually so effective that friendly casualties rarely go above 30 and deaths above 5 even when there's 200+ defenders. If there's an unusually large amount of defenders (say, 500+) then maybe double the casualty count I gave. It's really that effective a siege strategy, though it's the most time-consuming. Any top tier troop will do since defenders are usually screwed no matter what.

On the other extreme you could forgo siege weapons and instead arrange your shield-carrying infantrymen to form a wall and have your archers/crossbows hide behind them to snipe the enemy sentries. Similar to Warband, it's highly effective but, also like Warband, you'll have to call a retreat to get fresh ammo, so that can delay you if your shooters couldn't decimate the defenders the first time around. Just make sure you've destroyed the enemy siege weapons before doing this since artillery is the obvious weakness of this strategy; nothing like a flaming rock in the center of your formation to make it a bad idea lol.

Therefore, for the purposes of sieges, I'd recommend any shielded infantrymen (I prefer spearmen, since they're about as effective as sword/axe/macemen in melee while being extra effective against cavalry) + the best archers you can find to hide them. Fians are definitely the best, but other top tier archers will do since you can't always run to the Highlands to source your local mini-fians lol.

When roaming around, keeping it to just knights as bodyguards is not a bad idea; Khan's Guards are also great bodyguards (as their name would imply) on top of being great shooters. Taking troops to the Duzeg Steppe so you can get some Noble Sons is also not a bad idea since they're as good at melee as they are at ranged and almost as good on foot as they are on horseback, making them OP when not being shot at from a safe distance (they lack shields lol).




Troops are recruited automatically by default; you can set a budget to stop that or limit it.

I recommend you be VERY careful with troop stacking; unlike Warband, you can actually lose loads of money sustaining troops in cities/castles and even starve the local fiefs if there's basically too many mouths to feed. If you're about to rebel and basically expand into your former country's lands, it's not a bad idea to "overstock" with high quality troops so you can shrug off losses, but if you're years away from that or have successfully secured your independence (or otherwise aren't in imminent danger) then you ought to limit wages and try not to have more than 1-200 proper soldiers (ideally not higher than Tier3, but I'd never suggest kicking out your top tiers since I'm sentimental like that lol) + the free militia (you don't have to pay for them and, despite being a joke in active battles, actually count for something in automated conflicts so they aren't useless). So, basically, it's okay to load your cities with tier 1 jokers for the time being (they are dirt cheap after all and the sheer mass does make the cities effectively immune to attack by anything less than a 2000+ mega army) but don't go crazy with breeding high quality troops unless you're going to be using them. Having said that, I like to have a "back up army" comprised of top tier troops recruited from prisoners stationed in fiefs, so feel free to have equal to your party size in storage--provided you can afford it (and with only one city and a castle or two, you probably can't since I'd expect your retinue max to be around 250 by this point lol).

That's very true. I really appreciate you typing all that out. I was actually in the process of getting them all to the end tiers but reading this i stopped to take them to my city, I know even though I have 600k saved up it will be burnt through pretty quick I'm already losing up to 3,000 per day so I have to manage it pretty smart.

Im going to stick to around 250 I think of "mid" troops and see how that goes, when we're at war with Aserai I'll just stay close so I can help defend. I don't want any fiefs outside that area so I don't get spread thin so I'll give any others away.

I'm going to try the Khans guard I heard they were really good. Pretty enticing too being good on horseback and foot, so I can keep some as backups Incase I do lose my main party I can go grab more. It's all kind of managing money at this point and I suck at it lol besides killing for loot I have no other means of making money. Well quests and tournaments but that's just in-between money.

So my leadership is at 250, do I want talent magnet (10 party size limit, 1 clan party limit), or we pledged our swords (1 companion limit, 1 battle morale at begining of battle for each tier 6 troop up to 10)?? I usually watch strat gaming yt for answers but the guide is old and they changed the first troop, he said the clan party over companion is better but idk if that still stands as I'm not exactly sure what the clan party entails?

 

[Orbius Gravis]

That's very true. I really appreciate you typing all that out. I was actually in the process of getting them all to the end tiers but reading this i stopped to take them to my city, I know even though I have 600k saved up it will be burnt through pretty quick I'm already losing up to 3,000 per day so I have to manage it pretty smart.

Im going to stick to around 250 I think of "mid" troops and see how that goes, when we're at war with Aserai I'll just stay close so I can help defend. I don't want any fiefs outside that area so I don't get spread thin so I'll give any others away.

Happy to help! A lot of it was hard-won knowledge lol. Nothing quite like living on the edge of bankruptcy while ruling a tiny kingdom in the desert after being forced to make an expensive peace with the Aserai due to a lost territory and broken momentum lol. There were quite a few things I could have done to make that time gentler, and one of them was not spend so much money maintaining troops that weren't fighting since the enemy focused on weak, vulnerable castles rather than dense, armed to the teeth cities like Askar lol.

That's probably for the best; while it's good to have lots of good troops, you can't keep what you can't afford and it's very dangerous to live in the red. Once you've acquired several cities the tax money off of them ought to cover what I've described plus a densely packed "capital." Otherwise, for the time being, I'd say the best ways to make more revenue is to set up Workshops (ideally in cities you own so they won't be seized when you rebel) and keep an eye out for Tournaments with Tier 6 items and horses, since they can sell from 20-60,000 denars a piece.

I'm going to try the Khans guard I heard they were really good. Pretty enticing too being good on horseback and foot, so I can keep some as backups Incase I do lose my main party I can go grab more. It's all kind of managing money at this point and I suck at it lol besides killing for loot I have no other means of making money. Well quests and tournaments but that's just in-between money.

They're quite good; not as good as Fians at shooting, but superior at chopping with their glaives and extremely well-armored while also being fast thanks to their horses. You can keep them with you as guards, send them to camp on hills behind enemy lines to shoot from before pulling them out when the enemy tries to storm them, and even have them support cavalry charges where they can just go crazy chopping people up (remember to order them to Hold Fire so they don't try to shoot instead of chop lol).

So my leadership is at 250, do I want talent magnet (10 party size limit, 1 clan party limit), or we pledged our swords (1 companion limit, 1 battle morale at begining of battle for each tier 6 troop up to 10)?? I usually watch strat gaming yt for answers but the guide is old and they changed the first troop, he said the clan party over companion is better but idk if that still stands as I'm not exactly sure what the clan party entails?

Definitely the extra clan party; it means another retinue running around, which means another 100+ soldiers acting on your behalf and available to be summoned (without having to spend Influence) to any armies you call for. Whether patrolling your fiefs or supporting armies, an extra retinue is very effective once you're wealthy enough to support them.

Aside from more and better fiefs, I'd say the main ways to get into the black are to improve the quality of your fiefs (besides construction projects,
protecting the villages means their "Hearts" can build up, which means more tax money and cheaper trade goods and thus more caravans coming in to pay tariffs to buy your local goods, etc.) and acquire various Steward perks to decrease the cost of your troops (the last perk is particularly potent at cost-saving--it may well send you into the black all on its own).

 

[Tata the Militant]

Happy to help! A lot of it was hard-won knowledge lol. Nothing quite like living on the edge of bankruptcy while ruling a tiny kingdom in the desert after being forced to make an expensive peace with the Aserai due to a lost territory and broken momentum lol. There were quite a few things I could have done to make that time gentler, and one of them was not spend so much money maintaining troops that weren't fighting since the enemy focused on weak, vulnerable castles rather than dense, armed to the teeth cities like Askar lol.

That's probably for the best; while it's good to have lots of good troops, you can't keep what you can't afford and it's very dangerous to live in the red. Once you've acquired several cities the tax money off of them ought to cover what I've described plus a densely packed "capital." Otherwise, for the time being, I'd say the best ways to make more revenue is to set up Workshops (ideally in cities you own so they won't be seized when you rebel) and keep an eye out for Tournaments with Tier 6 items and horses, since they can sell from 20-60,000 denars a piece.



They're quite good; not as good as Fians at shooting, but superior at chopping with their glaives and extremely well-armored while also being fast thanks to their horses. You can keep them with you as guards, send them to camp on hills behind enemy lines to shoot from before pulling them out when the enemy tries to storm them, and even have them support cavalry charges where they can just go crazy chopping people up (remember to order them to Hold Fire so they don't try to shoot instead of chop lol).




Definitely the extra clan party; it means another retinue running around, which means another 100+ soldiers acting on your behalf and available to be summoned (without having to spend Influence) to any armies you call for. Whether patrolling your fiefs or supporting armies, an extra retinue is very effective once you're wealthy enough to support them.

Aside from more and better fiefs, I'd say the main ways to get into the black are to improve the quality of your fiefs (besides construction projects,
protecting the villages means their "Hearts" can build up, which means more tax money and cheaper trade goods and thus more caravans coming in to pay tariffs to buy your local goods, etc.) and acquire various Steward perks to decrease the cost of your troops (the last perk is particularly potent at cost-saving--it may well send you into the black all on its own).

Yeah I can already see myself going into the danger zone with dailies always coming out, it goes by pretty fast and it can be somewhat hard to keep up on it without a revenue stream coming in. I'm definitely going to look into the workshops, I haven't built one yet because I never knew where I wanted to set up base but now the picture is becoming clear I think it's time to try and learn them.

I find it easier to only run 3-4 troop types so it's easier to get them to high rank, idk if thats smart or not so I was planning on removing the Fians for the Khans guard but I might try to run both of them. I'll just have to test it out and see how it works for me, so far I really just been doing the shieldwall technique with the Fians and then sending the calvary in the clean up.

Taking castles is the new challenge. Im going to try out some of the tactics you suggested and see what works best for me. It's getting exciting because I can start to see how my kingdom will start to shape up, now it's just being smart and implement the plan and not rush it so I don't become drowned in debt lol.

You definitely been a big help helping me understand the situations better

 

[Orbius Gravis]

Yeah I can already see myself going into the danger zone with dailies always coming out, it goes by pretty fast and it can be somewhat hard to keep up on it without a revenue stream coming in. I'm definitely going to look into the workshops, I haven't built one yet because I never knew where I wanted to set up base but now the picture is becoming clear I think it's time to try and learn them.

I find it easier to only run 3-4 troop types so it's easier to get them to high rank, idk if thats smart or not so I was planning on removing the Fians for the Khans guard but I might try to run both of them. I'll just have to test it out and see how it works for me, so far I really just been doing the shieldwall technique with the Fians and then sending the calvary in the clean up.

Workshops are something I haven't really figured out how to make consistently profitable, however, except by leaving them alone once purchased. Basically, if a town has a workshop, it's probably solvent on its own and changing it generally hurts you in the long run. Otherwise, the theory is that if the local villages produce the good that becomes the finalized product your workshop makes, it ought to be profitable, but, in reality, it tends to flood the market and lower the price index to the point of unprofitability while doing the opposite, naturally, leads to the resources to make the product becoming too expensive. If you're playing as a trader then you can actually exploit this to manipulate local economies, but you're past being able to do this and by the time you can again (like, as ruler of a country the size of the default territories of the existing factions) you most likely won't find it worth the effort compared to simply relying on taxes and loot.

Simple is not a bad thing, though more niche troop types do have situational advantages (like two-handers and axemen being good against other infantry, with spears being great against cavalry, and throwing-weapon types great at punishing enemies who try to creep slowly rather than rush, etc.). I wouldn't replace Fians (or archers in general) with Khan's Guards unless you plan on going all four-legged simply because Fians are much better as archers and the Guards are very expensive to be treated as mostly stationary archers (and it makes the infantry kinda pointless since they aren't defending anything anymore) In terms of 4 troop types, as I may have said in the past, it's basically good to think of it as shielded/melee; shooters; flying melee; flying shooters. The footmen do most of the work while the "flying" troops exploit flanks and cover up holes.

Taking castles is the new challenge. Im going to try out some of the tactics you suggested and see what works best for me. It's getting exciting because I can start to see how my kingdom will start to shape up, now it's just being smart and implement the plan and not rush it so I don't become drowned in debt lol.

A special word of advice; try to bring a very large posse. Right as you're about to besiege a fief, summon an army and try for 1,500-2000 troops. With an army that large, you'll often be able to overwhelm a castle with enemy reinforcements too scared to intervene, and you can defeat in detail smaller armies (~200-500) that'd otherwise be tough for you to fight "alone." The unification game will involve castle/city hopping with breaks to staff and resupply, and the late unification game is essentially a rapid series of take-overs against countries unable to really do anything against you anymore. You're still a long way off from the latter, but the former part is applicable so be sure to take advantage of it. Also, if you ever want to be a "false friend," retaining noble retinues in your army is a great way to prevent them from being useful elsewhere... I'd keep this in mind in the event another clan gains a fief you'd rather they not have so that the enemy can conveniently take it back, for example.

You definitely been a big help helping me understand the situations better

Thank you! I'm happy to hear that. I believe the first thing you asked about was creating your character and stats to go for? Can't remember too much in detail off-hand lol, but I do know I've had a few words of advice since lol.

 

[Tata the Militant]

Workshops are something I haven't really figured out how to make consistently profitable, however, except by leaving them alone once purchased. Basically, if a town has a workshop, it's probably solvent on its own and changing it generally hurts you in the long run. Otherwise, the theory is that if the local villages produce the good that becomes the finalized product your workshop makes, it ought to be profitable, but, in reality, it tends to flood the market and lower the price index to the point of unprofitability while doing the opposite, naturally, leads to the resources to make the product becoming too expensive. If you're playing as a trader then you can actually exploit this to manipulate local economies, but you're past being able to do this and by the time you can again (like, as ruler of a country the size of the default territories of the existing factions) you most likely won't find it worth the effort compared to simply relying on taxes and loot.

Simple is not a bad thing, though more niche troop types do have situational advantages (like two-handers and axemen being good against other infantry, with spears being great against cavalry, and throwing-weapon types great at punishing enemies who try to creep slowly rather than rush, etc.). I wouldn't replace Fians (or archers in general) with Khan's Guards unless you plan on going all four-legged simply because Fians are much better as archers and the Guards are very expensive to be treated as mostly stationary archers (and it makes the infantry kinda pointless since they aren't defending anything anymore) In terms of 4 troop types, as I may have said in the past, it's basically good to think of it as shielded/melee; shooters; flying melee; flying shooters. The footmen do most of the work while the "flying" troops exploit flanks and cover up holes.



A special word of advice; try to bring a very large posse. Right as you're about to besiege a fief, summon an army and try for 1,500-2000 troops. With an army that large, you'll often be able to overwhelm a castle with enemy reinforcements too scared to intervene, and you can defeat in detail smaller armies (~200-500) that'd otherwise be tough for you to fight "alone." The unification game will involve castle/city hopping with breaks to staff and resupply, and the late unification game is essentially a rapid series of take-overs against countries unable to really do anything against you anymore. You're still a long way off from the latter, but the former part is applicable so be sure to take advantage of it. Also, if you ever want to be a "false friend," retaining noble retinues in your army is a great way to prevent them from being useful elsewhere... I'd keep this in mind in the event another clan gains a fief you'd rather they not have so that the enemy can conveniently take it back, for example.



Thank you! I'm happy to hear that. I believe the first thing you asked about was creating your character and stats to go for? Can't remember too much in detail off-hand lol, but I do know I've had a few words of advice since lol.

Yeah that was the first topic and I been asking questions since lol and you been helping since

Okay I'll stick with fians for now as really I'm fighting 200 vs 100-200 battles so I don't really need to do any crazy tactics, I'd say the tactics you saying are with the huge battles. By the time the enemy reaches my infantry my archers done tore them up so the infantry never really needs messed with. Or I tell them to charge as they clash. I'll experiment later as I can see fit.

I'll check and see if it has a workshop if so I'll do as you suggested and just leave it alone, a lot of that is still confusing. I do have a question about calling armies, I tried to once and I couldn't figure it out. I went up to a lord and I could only join his army, not the other way around. I usually hate fighting with lords too since they don't listen to my commands and make the fight disjointed. I usually have to go quicker just to protect them and don't get my usually set up off.

Of course in seiges I'd think that matters very little. A clarification on that would be awesome

Thanks