Companions vs Lords

[boriss]

Here it is.
Just took a castle from Angle kingdom, and i gave the castle to one and the village to other companion. Most other lords have 300-350 men armies, twose two(companions) have about 150men army. Did i make a mistake giving those fiefs to companions or should of i recruited some real lords? Because i did a test and gave castle to a real lord, and he raised his army to about 300men.
Or is this a bug? Or do they need a specific skill maxed out?

Anyway, out with it, i thank you for any responses.

Cheers

 

[kalarhan]

hey @boriss,

a companion that you promote to be a vassal/lord will work like any other, but they do start with lower renown (fame), so they will have a lower cap for how many troops they can recruit. They will also start with less cash to pay them.

Over time (as they win battles) they will be able to increase the army size. You can help them in a few ways:

1) Only promote a companion that is already at a higher level
2) Give good stats for that companion. Leadership, pathfinding, ... will help them grow faster
3) Give troops to them
4) Reward them with better fiefs (rich villages and castles or towns)

It is easier to promote a companion and you get the advantage of good relations (if the morale was high). Rest is up to you 

 

[boriss]

You know what, not worth it. Thankfully i have a save before i started to conquer Angle land, so... ill start again.

Its much better to have them in your party. Ill wait for other lords, theyll come begging as i am kind and just ruler.
Also, those 2 companions that i did promote to lords didnt had more than 150 troops, and they got easily overrun by the enemy, and i got hit by -1 relation with the companion, because
he was defeated but managed to escape. I mean seriously come on, how could i know he is fighting, i cant see the whole map.
Anyway, there are more cons than pros to have comps as a lords, so yea.. thanks anyway for the answer.

 

[Phoenix VII]

Just to let you know, companions that have high enough Leadership (ideally 7-10) and Level (20 and above) should have about the same number of troops as regular lords assuming the fiefs are equal from what I've seen.

 

[Wayfarer]

In my game I gave Helgi a fief just because, something of an experiment, and from a "power gamer" point of view it was a poor move.  He'd levelled up some, I dunno what level etc. but can't have been too high I suppose.  He didn't do a lot other than get beat up   We were best mates though 

I kinda think it's better to keep them in your party.  Having said that, it is cool to have them as lords, but like Kalarhan said, gotta put the time and effort into levelling them first.  Oh and another thing, you get negatives from what seems like every other lord because you gave land to a "commoner".  At least in Helgi's case.

 

[Phoenix VII]

Many lords, at least those with debauched and quarrelsome personalities complain when you make a commoner into a lord and I got the same complaints when I made Bodo into a lord. I haven't heard any complaints from upstanding, martial, calculating, or pitiless lords yet though.

I'm kind of hoping that someone eventually comes up with a list that mentions which lords are commoners and which lords are noble though because I was planning to make Helgi into a vassal before reading your post since I though he was a noble. From what I can tell, the lords with better personalities don't seem to mind who you make into a lord, but I haven't seen Bodo join a campaign yet which makes think that commoner lords might not have the right personality for joining campaigns which would make them less useful compared to the alternatives.

 

[Wayfarer]

I don't think you can return them to companion status, either.  You can take the fief of them but then I suppose they're a still a lord, albeit a landless one.  So even less useful.

 

[boriss]

FRUSTRATING!

I got 2 lords on my doorstep, and they both have Upstanding personality. This one is the best, right?
But hear this. I call out a campaign, they accompany me, everything is fine. Until one of them sees enemy's farmers and he goes MAD!
I mean, im marshal, obey my orders! Should i indict him? What will that do? I count on drop in relation, but other lords will still throw themself at my doorstep, right?

Its madness. I cant understand why. Both are Upstanding, but just one of them is mad and does not obey. I really hate it. Wanted to siege a fort, and i had to wait for him to get back from hunting the damn farmers.

 

[kalarhan]

Wanted to siege a fort, and i had to wait for him to get back from hunting the damn farmers.

loooootttttt 

 

[boriss]

I dont even attack farmers. You get nothing. And i would very much like a option where you could forbid attacking the innocent. 

Anyway, what is the trick here? I really want them to obey me. There has to be something that triggers this "madness", and personality, thats not it.

 

[JuJu70]

Until one of them sees enemy's farmers and he goes MAD!
I mean, im marshal, obey my orders!

Medieval times...nobles could do whatever, marshal or no marshal, this is not modern army

 

[Wayfarer]

Yeah..they will follow your orders, but not if the odds are against them and not if there's easy prey, like farmers.  Because spending a day chasing a group of farmers, at a speed just a bit higher than them, is a better use of the lord's time than sitting with you besieging a key stronghold, didn't you know?