Another post about late game being grindy - and what to do about it.

[Pacific_Salmon]

I know this topic has been talked about before, but I was just wondering if there is any new ideas about this:

How to make the late game fun?

I love POP, I must have done at least 3 or 4 dozen playthroughs.  However, I have only completed it once because I find the late game really grindy and not fun at all.

I basically end my playthrough once I get to the point where there is no challenge left.

Problem is I am getting better and better (I am still by no means an expert) and thus the point where there is no more challenge comes quicker.

I have built my CKO to the max several times now, so this is not something I want to do.

Actually, it's not only the fact that there is no challenge, it's more that at a certain point fighting battles losses meaning.  And battles are the biggest fun part of warband (POP).  Usually when I am involved in a campaign, if I do things correctly, I don't have to have fight any tough battles.  My advantage is usually crushing.  So that fighting a battle where I have 2000 soldiers and the enemy city has 600 seems kind of pointless.

Of course someone might say to me:  "just don't play if you are bored", but the point is the early/mid game is tons of fun, it just game less and less fun.

So, any ideas?

 

[sher]

Fighting with minimal party can prolong interesting phase. If you know the game you can win almost in any situation so the only way that is left is to optimize your way of playing - most spoils and comfort in replacing casualties, speed of movement and such. It also has its limit, then you can try roleplaying method like using only one faction soldiers and such but if you know battle mechanics well then all battles are basically similar for any faction unless you're using extremely small parties. Then you can only shorten game sessions to not get bored too quickly.

There is no point in actually getting to winning screen at all - it can be done easily without CKO and other intricate means. Most fun occurs in 200-300 party size window anyway.

 

[Alavaria]

It's amusing to watch the evil lords do the "kingdom shuffle" as you keep on kicking them and they rotate though available kingdoms (potentially yours as well) and then finally just give up and leave the map. Potentially leaving you and your kingdom of "good" lords as the only ones left.

 

[Kushana]

One of the things I was thinking about doing one time is well, conquer the entire map. Aaaaand?

And then quit your kingdom. A melancholic sovereign bored of the world one day goes on a routine desert bandit hunt and never comes home from it. Wake up in a remote village, RPing amnesia. You still have your skills, but not army or status. All your companions are gone. You are alone.

Now take down the empire you have built. Lead the peasants in a rebellion against the oppressive tyranny you caused. Since your WP are in the high hundreds, and you're decked in some of the most broken gear available you could actually try to solo some parties, killing entire armies all by yourself.

After you conquer a fifth of the map with the nation you created, QUIT that nation and begin anew. Repeat that until you have restored all 5 of the races/cultures to their rightful homelands (or new territories as you see fitting). That way you can de-facto arrive at the initial state of the game.

Another thing you can do is pick up some modding skills. It's pretty easy to edit party sizes to make them larger or composed of better units and even create new random megaparties. You can also introduce new characters, like companions and lords into the game. This can almost indefinitely prolong the challenge of the game. And who knows, maybe some of your edits might even be adopted by the creators of this mod in future releases!

 

[Gorvex]

@Kushana: that sounds great, but afaik you can only leave your kingdom if there is another major faction left to join as a vassal. Otherwise you are not able to leave anymore I'm afraid...