Couple questions on Run Speed mechanics

[juzz]

Heya all, hoping some definitive answers can be made on a couple queries I have. But before that, I'd like to say that M&B is by far the best medieval game that combines tactics, active combat and quests. Easily the most impressive part for me so far is the amazing incorporation of land architecture.... no fight is ever the same.

Firstly, how does encumbrance and athletics work in determining run speed in combat, and on world map? I've created a foot soldier that I am enjoying immensely, but do not wish to spend 15-20k denars on a suit of armour that will reduce me to a crawl

Secondly, how do horses in the inventory effect world map speed directly? Does the speed of the horses you have determine the speed, or just the quantity vs your encumbrance? Do armies effect walk speed, ie more troops = slower map speed?

I had a look for answers to these questions and couldn't find it unfortunately, so any certain answers would be greatly appreciated

p.s. Sorry if these questions have been answered previously and I missed them in my search

 

[holybandit]

Dont worry about search, only forum geeks and admins care about them.

And get athletics, that increases your running speed (though my running speed stays the same because of my huge armor)

 

[Sir Saladin]

If you raise your athletics skill up to 8 you can run around as fast as a horse according to the other posters who don't like riding horses. And I know for a fact that horses in inventory only help your speed by negating the encumberance of hauling loot.

 

[Ingolifs]

Here's a post I once made. It should answer a few questions.

What affects party speed:

Your riding skill affects your individual speed. (athletics if you're not on horse)

Type of horse DOES NOT affect your speed.

You need a lot of mounted troops in your party to have a noticeable speed increase.

If your army is mostly infantry, having a bunch of mounted prisoners will speed you up.

Speed depends on how much stuff you are carrying along, - extra horses will decrease this penalty, but won't raise your total speed.

Finally, pathfinding increases your overall speed by a bit.

As for speed on the battlefield, being completely naked with athlatics of 8 will make you fast, but not as fast as a standard saddle horse. I'd say your speed yould be equivalent to speed 7 for a horse, and about speed 5-6 when wearing armour.

Armour doesn't affect your speed much once you have good athletics. My beserker guy has athletics of 8, and about 40 pounds of encumberance, but he can still run faster than anyone else.

 

[katank]

If you run naked with 8 athletics, you can totally own sumpter horses, smack down steppe horses, and be slightly slower than a saddle horse.

Full armour like hauberks or plates before having an athletics of 4 or 5 while being a foot soldier is a bad idea as you get mobbed. Better choose a hardened leather jerkin for optimal balance of speed and protection.

If you like a fast party, recruit exclusively mounted units and be sure to give horses to heroes.

Adding horses to inventory will reduce penalty by roughly .1 per horse.