I'm in a bit of a pickle here and could use some strategic advice from experienced players.
I'm about 160 days in and have been taking it slow, just enjoying the game and getting the hang of battle etc. As a result I've just recently become a vassal of Sarleon and was granted a tiny fief. I have businesses in most towns and my fief gives a bit, but I'm running at a deficit of about 2-3000/week because I've maxed out my army with top tier units and at least a few of my businesses are under sequestration due to war. As a result, I don't really have time to participate in campaigns and further my position with Sarleon and the lords because I constantly have to run my trade route in order to support my army. I'm not too good at hand to hand combat, so I've only managed to win the tournament at Sarleon so that's not really a steady source of income for me. Neither are prisoners as I don't have a good blunt weapon I can rely on.
So here are some options I'm considering.
1. Quit vassalhood and become a merc again. It pays for my army and I don't have to worry about denars, but can just enjoy the game. This doesn't seem a good career choice as I think I just have to grind through this stage and get some better fiefs somehow.
2. Reduce my army to the bare minimum, cutting to the bone. Again, this doesn't seem a good career choice, but then again, I'm still not strong enough to take towns or castles or large armies by myself, so I guess I could just follow the other lords around and jump in on battles here and there.
3. Do something drastic and try to take a town and hopefully win and get awarded the fief. This is a long shot as I'm sporting 112 units and I'm only level 20 or so and probably wouldn't survive a siege.
4. Disband my army and train. Just hit the training field and grind my weapon profs so I can start winning tournaments.
5. Grind bandits for loot. This is pretty much out as the loot system is terrible. 9 out of 10 battles I get broken clubs and fur hats.
6. Keep going and hope to break even. Make friends with all the other lords and King Ulric and hopefully get awarded a fief more at some point. Problem with this is that the marshals are all idiots. They just ride around aimlessly or sit still for long periods of time and Sarleon hasn't actually captured a single town or castle here 160 days in, so there's not much hope that this will happen. The marshal won't take my advice either cause I'm new so I can't talk them into attacking anything.
Come to think of it, the only fiefs to change hands anywhere in Pendor is Fierdsvain taking one D'Shar castle and the village that belonged to it. Other than that the world is at status quo. At this point I'm leaning toward throwing my army at either a town or a unique spawn army just for the hell of it (I really need that 3rd Qualis gem so I can bling up my Strange Rune Bow). Then I'd be left with my companions and minimum expenses.
Any help is appreciated!
I'm about 160 days in and have been taking it slow, just enjoying the game and getting the hang of battle etc. As a result I've just recently become a vassal of Sarleon and was granted a tiny fief. I have businesses in most towns and my fief gives a bit, but I'm running at a deficit of about 2-3000/week because I've maxed out my army with top tier units and at least a few of my businesses are under sequestration due to war. As a result, I don't really have time to participate in campaigns and further my position with Sarleon and the lords because I constantly have to run my trade route in order to support my army. I'm not too good at hand to hand combat, so I've only managed to win the tournament at Sarleon so that's not really a steady source of income for me. Neither are prisoners as I don't have a good blunt weapon I can rely on.
So here are some options I'm considering.
1. Quit vassalhood and become a merc again. It pays for my army and I don't have to worry about denars, but can just enjoy the game. This doesn't seem a good career choice as I think I just have to grind through this stage and get some better fiefs somehow.
2. Reduce my army to the bare minimum, cutting to the bone. Again, this doesn't seem a good career choice, but then again, I'm still not strong enough to take towns or castles or large armies by myself, so I guess I could just follow the other lords around and jump in on battles here and there.
3. Do something drastic and try to take a town and hopefully win and get awarded the fief. This is a long shot as I'm sporting 112 units and I'm only level 20 or so and probably wouldn't survive a siege.
4. Disband my army and train. Just hit the training field and grind my weapon profs so I can start winning tournaments.
5. Grind bandits for loot. This is pretty much out as the loot system is terrible. 9 out of 10 battles I get broken clubs and fur hats.
6. Keep going and hope to break even. Make friends with all the other lords and King Ulric and hopefully get awarded a fief more at some point. Problem with this is that the marshals are all idiots. They just ride around aimlessly or sit still for long periods of time and Sarleon hasn't actually captured a single town or castle here 160 days in, so there's not much hope that this will happen. The marshal won't take my advice either cause I'm new so I can't talk them into attacking anything.
Come to think of it, the only fiefs to change hands anywhere in Pendor is Fierdsvain taking one D'Shar castle and the village that belonged to it. Other than that the world is at status quo. At this point I'm leaning toward throwing my army at either a town or a unique spawn army just for the hell of it (I really need that 3rd Qualis gem so I can bling up my Strange Rune Bow). Then I'd be left with my companions and minimum expenses.
Any help is appreciated!
