D'Shar madness, help needed.

[Aurex]

Hello everyone!
While i'm having a wonderful time playing Prophesy of Pendor, i found myself in a rough spot playing a newly declared King of Pendor. On day 300, having every possible enterprise, great relations with many lords and more than 300 top tier troops in Laria (my town) i decided to secede from Ravenstern, having captured a castle that the King refused to assign to me. After a bloody and 100 days long war on three fronts (D'shar and Empire declared war on me shortly after seceding) i've managed to get a firm hold on Laria, Walven castle and Stormshield. I defeated most Ravenstern and Empire lords, managed to sign a truce with them, and all seemed well enough. Then an army of D'shar sieged Stormshield. I was confident i would be able to repel them, unfortunately they had two STACKS OF DOOM. I mean, they had Syla Uzas as a mercenary (with 2145 soldiers, almost all immortals, knights and heavy infantry) and Bahadur Khan with more than 1200. I had to evacuate the castle, taking it back days later with a bloodshed on both sides. They returned later, with two separate armies of 1800+ and almost 3000. Now, i'm reluctant to start from a scratch with no fiefs (as i'm going to lose them all at this rate) and i really feel D'Shar with 2 castles and 3 towns should NOT have an army like that (Konigur Valdis, the most powerful King in Pendor has like 400 men in his party). I'd like to know if that's normal, or some kind of bug or balance issue. If that's the case, should i "meddle with the occult" or is there some legitimate way to deal with this situation? Note that i never used cheats and i'm playing realism mode, i just don't want to lose a campaign i really like playing.

 

[Sir Lans]

Hello everyone!
While i'm having a wonderful time playing Prophesy of Pendor, i found myself in a rough spot playing a newly declared King of Pendor. On day 300, having every possible enterprise, great relations with many lords and more than 300 top tier troops in Laria (my town) i decided to secede from Ravenstern, having captured a castle that the King refused to assign to me. After a bloody and 100 days long war on three fronts (D'shar and Empire declared war on me shortly after seceding) i've managed to get a firm hold on Laria, Walven castle and Stormshield. I defeated most Ravenstern and Empire lords, managed to sign a truce with them, and all seemed well enough. Then an army of D'shar sieged Stormshield. I was confident i would be able to repel them, unfortunately they had two STACKS OF DOOM. I mean, they had Syla Uzas as a mercenary (with 2145 soldiers, almost all immortals, knights and heavy infantry) and Bahadur Khan with more than 1200. I had to evacuate the castle, taking it back days later with a bloodshed on both sides. They returned later, with two separate armies of 1800+ and almost 3000. Now, i'm reluctant to start from a scratch with no fiefs (as i'm going to lose them all at this rate) and i really feel D'Shar with 2 castles and 3 towns should NOT have an army like that (Konigur Valdis, the most powerful King in Pendor has like 400 men in his party). I'd like to know if that's normal, or some kind of bug or balance issue. If that's the case, should i "meddle with the occult" or is there some legitimate way to deal with this situation? Note that i never used cheats and i'm playing realism mode, i just don't want to lose a campaign i really like playing.

Hm, in that case, why not lure the Noldor patrols? It may not totally kill them all but they may do a considerable amount of damage to the D'Shar(100 Noldor troops may kill about 500 or so before they go down). Well, the Jatu or anyone else is recommended, I guess. Do some siege defending, too.

Edit: Unfortunately, it is not a bug. The D'Shar are just plain lucky.

 

[Aurex]

Hm, in that case, why not lure the Noldor patrols? It may not totally kill them all but they may do a considerable amount of damage to the D'Shar(100 Noldor troops may kill about 500 or so before they go down). Well, the Jatu or anyone else is recommended, I guess. Do some siege defending, too.

Edit: Unfortunately, it is not a bug. The D'Shar are just plain lucky.

Thanks for the answer. I did lure a couple of noldor patrols to them, unfortunately they got slaughtered with low if any casualties for the hated D'shar. The Jatu... well, their status is "crushed" and they have no army at the moment. Their warbands are pretty weak too =/. A little update: They took stormshield again while i brought the bulk of my army in Laria, to defend it from the other sieging force. Now they've joined forces... 4100 d'shar soldiers in total. I will try to defeat them on the walls, i've got 480 good soldiers. Maybe i should accept Lethaldiran's proposal to assassinate the D'shar lords, it could help. (If only it was possibile  )

 

[Sir Lans]

Thanks for the answer. I did lure a couple of noldor patrols to them, unfortunately they got slaughtered with low if any casualties for the hated D'shar. The Jatu... well, their status is "crushed" and they have no army at the moment. Their warbands are pretty weak too =/. A little update: They took stormshield again while i brought the bulk of my army in Laria, to defend it from the other sieging force. Now they've joined forces... 4100 d'shar soldiers in total. I will try to defeat them on the walls, i've got 480 good soldiers. Maybe i should accept Lethaldiran's proposal to assassinate the D'shar lords, it could help. (If only it was possibile  )

You could've joined the battle between the D'shar and Noldor. That way, you can order them around. Even if you lose a few of your troops, D'shar will certainly have worse deaths than you. Also, do what you can to lure them out one by one. If not, breaking the siege is certainly one way. Or you can lure the  enemies of the D'shar to that place. Any way is fine as long as you can wipe out most of their troops.

 

[Aurex]

You could've joined the battle between the D'shar and Noldor. That way, you can order them around. Even if you lose a few of your troops, D'shar will certainly have worse deaths than you. Also, do what you can to lure them out one by one. If not, breaking the siege is certainly one way. Or you can lure the  enemies of the D'shar to that place. Any way is fine as long as you can wipe out most of their troops.

I followed your advice, and joined a battle with 240 of my troops and 78 noldors. They are still sieging, but i managed to curb their numbers to a more manageable level. There's still a damn hard siege ahead, however (3000 vs 420). Thanks for your advice.

 

[Sir Lans]

You could've joined the battle between the D'shar and Noldor. That way, you can order them around. Even if you lose a few of your troops, D'shar will certainly have worse deaths than you. Also, do what you can to lure them out one by one. If not, breaking the siege is certainly one way. Or you can lure the  enemies of the D'shar to that place. Any way is fine as long as you can wipe out most of their troops.

I followed your advice, and joined a battle with 240 of my troops and 78 noldors. They are still sieging, but i managed to curb their numbers to a more manageable level. There's still a damn hard siege ahead, however (3000 vs 420). Thanks for your advice.

3000 vs. 420? Hm, it is really not a surprise if all of the lords are there.
You can manage to crush most of their numbers by doing it. If you think they are now manageable, you can wait for them to siege, afterwards, break it. If you are successful, they will flee and you can hunt them one by one.

 

[No idea]

If you dont want to start from scratch put your damage level to minimum. Even then, i am not sure if you will be able to repel them, if they have so many inmortals. This or start praying thta some Noldor Lord spawns and you have time to lure them into the attacking army

 

[Aurex]

It was nearly impossible to hold them with -8 advantage, too many top tier troops. Tried with 1/4 damage on both me and allies - succedeed but it turned out extremely... cheap. For Syla Uzas to have that many troops should not be possible. A pity, for it was an outstanding campaign =/

 

[Sir Lans]

Unfortunately, every unique spawn do have a large army.
If you are able to hold them back, the rewards are certainly great.

 

[Empiro]

My advice: don't meet them head on. Out maneuver them. For every castle they take of yours, take three of theirs. Order your lords to raid their villages and they may break off a siege to defend it (even if it's on the other side of the map).

For more cheesy play, try to lure a handful of their lords away from the main party. The 1000+ armies should be extremely slow moving.

 

[Sir Lans]

This is certainly useful, however, I do not think he has vassals as of now since he just newly declared himself King.
So, in his case, it certainly is a difficult situation.

 

[noosers]

Sylas Uzas may have been simply lucky in defeating a SNC Army or two. 

His huge amount of troops is most likely coming from that. One can usually judge pretty easily from the troop roster.

Otherwise, simply kill them all. No matter how, when or how long it takes. Death to D´Shar! And if you´re lucky, Fierdswine will declare war on them and help and aid your cause.

 

[Aurex]

I have a couple of honorable lords, (lord caderyn and lord alamar), both with around 140 soldiers. They're always running from the d'shar  but i managed to both save Laria and forcing them to abandon the siege, with the help of *cough*31%difficulty*cough*. Switched back to 131% later, though. Aaaand the fierdswine (fierdsvain in this case, they probably saved me from a crushing defeat) declared war on the D'shar. Time to get a couple of castles and make them eat a LOT of sand. (I don't know how the fierdsvain will fare against that monstrosity called Syla Uzas.)

 

[Sir Lans]

I have a couple of honorable lords, (lord caderyn and lord alamar), both with around 140 soldiers. They're always running from the d'shar  but i managed to both save Laria and forcing them to abandon the siege, with the help of *cough*31%difficulty*cough*. Switched back to 131% later, though. Aaaand the fierdswine (fierdsvain in this case, they probably saved me from a crushing defeat) declared war on the D'shar. Time to get a couple of castles and make them eat a LOT of sand. (I don't know how the fierdsvain will fare against that monstrosity called Syla Uzas.)

Well, if you can manage to wipe out their lords, you can fight Syla with no worries.
Also, why not make one of your companions a lord/lady? They can help you greatly.

 

[No idea]

I have a couple of honorable lords, (lord caderyn and lord alamar), both with around 140 soldiers. They're always running from the d'shar  but i managed to both save Laria and forcing them to abandon the siege, with the help of *cough*31%difficulty*cough*. Switched back to 131% later, though. Aaaand the fierdswine (fierdsvain in this case, they probably saved me from a crushing defeat) declared war on the D'shar. Time to get a couple of castles and make them eat a LOT of sand. (I don't know how the fierdsvain will fare against that monstrosity called Syla Uzas.)

Well, if you can manage to wipe out their lords, you can fight Syla with no worries.
Also, why not make one of your companions a lord/lady? They can help you greatly.

Yes, Roland is especially good. Noble, Honourable and comes with Knights od Dawn troops

 

[Vades]

If you have the opportunity to capture Sylas, I suggest you execute him.  There are several spawn lords that are just to troublesome to let live.  I'm sure you can figure out which ones you need to kill after you've had a go at there armies.  I know most ppl say, "What about the qualis gems?"  Well there are a plethora of easier opponents to face then 1200 immortals or a huge dread legion.

What I suggest you do, if you survive the siege, is every lord you capture who will not defect gets put in a dark whole until they capitulate.

 

[Serazu]

Three pieces of advice (which may have come late in this time, but may prove useful later on):

1 Go to the guildmaster of the nearest city (ideally the one you just captured) and do the bet easter egg. Save and reload till he provides you twice with either almost 20 Noldor or 80 (!) Ravenstern Mounted Rangers. You can abuse it twice till you lose your QJ, but even when you lose it, the troops will be yours. Ergo, almost 40 Noldor (or 60 if you sacrifice your gem) or 160 RMR (or 240 if you sacrifice your gem). These are not only top-tier troops (especially in the case of the Noldor), but they will significantly boost your numbers and how many of your troops will appear on the walls for the siege ahead as well (especially in the case of the RMR).

2. Do the Salt trick and stock on top tier troops.

3. This is going to take a lot of time, but will save your bacon with 100% certainty: Put your top archers on the top of your army and engage the enemy on the open field. The odds will be horrible, I know. Do not panic. Spread your archers and wait for your enemies to approach. Let your archers snipe them without mercy. Once they come at engaging distance, retreat. Repeat. And repeat. And repeat. After A LONG time, you 'll have crippled them so much, they 'll be unable to take your city. Just make sure you are always at 100% health or as close as it gets to that (there will be instances where you retreat and you suffer some damage), let no enemy approach you or your retreat will be cut-off till you deal with him and you have a good number of great archers, preferably Doomguides or Noldor with the tricks I 've already mentioned. No need to be an ass and lower the difficulty. This is called "attrition tactics" and is one of the most effective ways of warfare. Of course, the greatest portion of your companions won't like it; just ignore them. Saving your kingdom is more important than Sir Jocelyn's whine.

Of course, the above either call for a QJ and / or top archers, but, frankly, if you lack either of the two, then you were too hasty on starting a kingdom.

 

[Aurex]

Well, if you can manage to wipe out their lords, you can fight Syla with no worries.
Also, why not make one of your companions a lord/lady? They can help you greatly.

That's an interesting idea, i will definitely make Sir Roland a lord when i manage to capture another fief.

If you have the opportunity to capture Sylas, I suggest you execute him.  There are several spawn lords that are just to troublesome to let live.  I'm sure you can figure out which ones you need to kill after you've had a go at there armies.  I know most ppl say, "What about the qualis gems?"  Well there are a plethora of easier opponents to face then 1200 immortals or a huge dread legion.

Syla Uzas' head will be mounted on a pike outside Laria if i ever manage to capture him. That i swear.

1 Go to the guildmaster of the nearest city (ideally the one you just captured) and do the bet easter egg. Save and reload till he provides you twice with either almost 20 Noldor or 80 (!) Ravenstern Mounted Rangers. You can abuse it twice till you lose your QJ, but even when you lose it, the troops will be yours. Ergo, almost 40 Noldor (or 60 if you sacrifice your gem) or 160 RMR (or 240 if you sacrifice your gem). These are not only top-tier troops (especially in the case of the Noldor), but they will significantly boost your numbers and how many of your troops will appear on the walls for the siege ahead as well (especially in the case of the RMR).

I didn't know of this possibility. Isn't it gamey, however? Oh, and forgive me, but i have no idea of what QJ or RMR mean.
And for the retreat tactic, i used it with good results. I've got some 140 ravenstern ranger as i speak (and 25 grey archers). I will probably create a Silvermist chapter later, as i use lots of ranged troops.

Thanks everyone for your advice, it's helping me maintaining this campaign afloat!

 

[Legojack261]

With huge armies like that, just follow everybody's advice and avoid direct battles at all cost. You have to whittle them down as much as possible until you are able to fight against them on even ground. You want to hit them as hard as humanly possible, without unnecessary casualties.

1) Distraction, distraction, distraction. If they really are that big and campaign difficulty is high enough, they'll start assaulting your castles (which I assume they've already done). Previous poster already talked about this. Siege their own castles and raid villages in hopes that they'll break their own siege and run all the way back to help.

2) Strike at their economy. Raid villages and caravans. If you have a squeaky-clean-honorable image, then send your vassals to go raid villages for you. They'll take out whatever farmers and caravans they can catch along the way, both of which contribute to village/town prosperity. Don't do this too much for land you'll be taking in the near future.

3) Pick out the weak lords. Isolate them and destroy them. Keep them prisoner. This gets rid of smaller nuisances and lets you and your faction focus on the real threat(s). Those who escape will come back weaker and weaker the more you defeat them, depending on how much raiding their fiefs have endured.

4) Militia patrols. If you have extra money, you should be spending it in times like these. People generally underestimate militia patrols. Of course, they're no match against lord parties, but they serve a lot of purposes. They can distract lords and other enemies, protect your farmers against other militia patrols and bandits, and of course, harass farmers of the opposite faction.

5) Know what the enemy faction is weak at. With the D'shar, in field battles, they will immediately send their expendable skirmishers straight at you before you are able to get any real formation ready, while their fast-moving, hard-hitting infantry close in on you. Their weakness would be their archers, as they have the weakest ones in the game, however there are exceptions (Kadan Bahadur Khan will carry Windriders [Cavalry Archers], and Kaivan Khan will carry Djaha Archers [Foot Archers]. Both are dangerous). Always keep in mind that in an archer duel, they will almost always lose compared to any other faction. Of course, they won't just sit there and allow you to snipe them. That's what their cavalry/cavalry archers are for.

In siege battles, make sure you have good tanking troops that can hold the ladder, and powerful, hard-hitting archers/crossbowmen. The D'shar will try to brute-force their way through, as; like I said earlier, they will almost always lose in an archer duel. Hold the ladder and rain death upon them.

 

[No idea]

If you have the opportunity to capture Sylas, I suggest you execute him.  There are several spawn lords that are just to troublesome to let live.  I'm sure you can figure out which ones you need to kill after you've had a go at there armies.  I know most ppl say, "What about the qualis gems?"  Well there are a plethora of easier opponents to face then 1200 immortals or a huge dread legion.

What I suggest you do, if you survive the siege, is every lord you capture who will not defect gets put in a dark whole until they capitulate.

With Maltise is just better to let him go with the promise of not returning. That way you get her armor. Quite a good piece, although you look really FAT when you wear it.