Fierdsvain are dominating the map... HELP!?!

[Emogma]

So it's about 500 days into the game. The Fierdsvain have absolute control over the middle portion of the map with some parts extending towards the south (Singal, saidu sharif, shadi, etc) The only two faction that I would considered still at it's height is the D'shar and Ravensterns. The Ravenstern is capable of defending against the fierds but at the same time, they can't do anything aggressive towards the fierd. While the D'shar, which i'm a vassal of, has control over a lot of the Empire Land, although Janos and Cez is still empire. Sarleon, still has some castle, but all of their towns are fierd controlled now.

If the game continues this way, I don't think I would be capable of conquering Pendor,  so... Help?

 

[Vissy]

Begin an arms race, wherein your goal is to equip your Custom Knighthood Order with the best possible gear (and then getting as many of them as possible), after which you can begin steamrolling the Fierds.

Do note that you need to have your sergeants kitted out as archers. Otherwise your force may not be deadly enough.

 

[Emogma]

Begin an arms race, wherein your goal is to equip your Custom Knighthood Order with the best possible gear (and then getting as many of them as possible), after which you can begin steamrolling the Fierds.

Do note that you need to have your sergeants kitted out as archers. Otherwise your force may not be deadly enough.

There is some unique spawn, maybe I can get some lord to follow me to take them down and create an order.

 

[Vissy]

Of course if you've got the end game in mind, you can just join Fierdsvains, build up relations with all their lords and wait until they've conquered the whole map, and then begin a rebellion!

 

[thermocline]

So it's about 500 days into the game. The Fierdsvain have absolute control over the middle portion of the map with some parts extending towards the south (Singal, saidu sharif, shadi, etc) The only two faction that I would considered still at it's height is the D'shar and Ravensterns. The Ravenstern is capable of defending against the fierds but at the same time, they can't do anything aggressive towards the fierd. While the D'shar, which i'm a vassal of, has control over a lot of the Empire Land, although Janos and Cez is still empire. Sarleon, still has some castle, but all of their towns are fierd controlled now.

If the game continues this way, I don't think I would be capable of conquering Pendor,  so... Help?

You need to push for war and aggressively fight the Fierds whenever you can. Even picking off individual lords will weaken the strength of marshal parties. Taking over their fiefs (and claiming them for yourself) will weaken them even more.

Do the lord quests that lead to provoking a war... and aim for Singal and take it for yourself.

 

[Alavaria]

Better yet use the Fierds to follow and take a fief for you, then endlessly lead them around so the faction can't attack or defend anything and get owned.

 

[Emogma]

Ahhh I made a huge mistake. I fought against the fierd after the war was over and got Singal. I requested it but I didn't get it. So with me being the cocky person I am, i declared soverneighty. I'm officially screwed. I've transferred all of my troops to Laria and out of the D'shar land to prevent any sieges. I lost singal but Sher Quila and Laria are still there.
HELP ME?????????????

 

[Vissy]

You must now pay for your arrogance. 

I don't know, though. You could just hand out marshalship to some lord of yours and sit in Laria with your personal retinue, defending it from all threats.

 

[Emogma]

You must now pay for your arrogance. 

I don't know, though. You could just hand out marshalship to some lord of yours and sit in Laria with your personal retinue, defending it from all threats.

Meh, I became a vassal of the weakest kingdom currently... The Empire.

 

[thermocline]

Dude, you need to calm the **** down. Make a plan and stick to it.

Being at war is good. Just make sure you have some top tier troops and high prisoner management. If you have ~250 high-quality troops and a 300ish garrison of mid-tier, cost-effective troops, you should be able to defend a city against almost any reasonable marshal party.

In your case, you're now tied to Empire, but there was no need to rush into their arms. At this point, I'd let Sher Quila fall (it's too far from Laria) and concentrate on building up a good force in Laria. Your priorities now are:

1) Give up Sher Quila
2) Get 300 mid-tier garrison units in Laria
3) Make sure you have a solid force of 250+ good troops (knights, HAs, doomguides, top-tier faction units like RRs, EACs, Huscarls)
4) Found CKO in Laria and start upgrading it
5) Hunt spawns and get Qualis gems to build up your PC...maxing Leadership is a priority for morale and cost savings. 10+4 Surgery is also great
6) If your companions are weak, get them some levels
7) Raise your honor so upstanding lords like you
Help Empire lords in battles, especially Martial lords
9) With your high-quality army, fight as much as you can... sell prisoners and capture lords for $.
10) Build up a big bank, upgrade your CKO and other knighthoods you want to use
11) Take nearby fiefs if the opportunity presents itself. The two castles behind Laria are excellent places to found additional knighthood chapters
12) When you have a good supply of high-quality troops and decent Right to Rule, declare independence after being denied a city. Quickly challenge honorable lords to battles, capture them, and convert them. Then you're set.

 

[Emogma]

Dude, you need to calm the **** down. Make a plan and stick to it.

Being at war is good. Just make sure you have some top tier troops and high prisoner management. If you have ~250 high-quality troops and a 300ish garrison of mid-tier, cost-effective troops, you should be able to defend a city against almost any reasonable marshal party.

In your case, you're now tied to Empire, but there was no need to rush into their arms. At this point, I'd let Sher Quila fall (it's too far from Laria) and concentrate on building up a good force in Laria. Your priorities now are:

1) Give up Sher Quila
2) Get 300 mid-tier garrison units in Laria
3) Make sure you have a solid force of 250+ good troops (knights, HAs, doomguides, top-tier faction units like RRs, EACs, Huscarls)
4) Found CKO in Laria and start upgrading it
5) Hunt spawns and get Qualis gems to build up your PC...maxing Leadership is a priority for morale and cost savings. 10+4 Surgery is also great
6) If your companions are weak, get them some levels
7) Raise your honor so upstanding lords like you
Help Empire lords in battles, especially Martial lords
9) With your high-quality army, fight as much as you can... sell prisoners and capture lords for $.
10) Build up a big bank, upgrade your CKO and other knighthoods you want to use
11) Take nearby fiefs if the opportunity presents itself. The two castles behind Laria are excellent places to found additional knighthood chapters
12) When you have a good supply of high-quality troops and decent Right to Rule, declare independence after being denied a city. Quickly challenge honorable lords to battles, capture them, and convert them. Then you're set.

The Three Seers haven't spawn yet, and it's about 600 days into the game so I highly doubt I can get Doomguide

 

[thermocline]

What level are you, what are your stats?
Do you have any gemstone weapons?
What level are your companions?
What's the total # of points of Trainer skill in your party?
What's your leadership, renown and army size?
How much honor do you have?
What does your army consist of?

 

[Emogma]

What level are you, what are your stats?
Do you have any gemstone weapons?
What level are your companions?
What's the total # of points of Trainer skill in your party?
What's your leadership, renown and army size?
How much honor do you have?
What does your army consist of?

Level 28
No gemstone
Too lazy to bother with counting all the companions level but they are capable of soloing in fights (except for leslie and ansen who are utilities)
Trainer Skill is 5 from Jocelyn, 6 from Donavan, 5 from Frederick
8 leadership, 932 renown and 171 max.
76 honor
Army consist of RR, HA, CC, Hauptmen, Windrider, DSA, Jatu Lancer, Legionaires, Merc. Highlander, EAC, and 3 rogue knights.

I'm behind for a 600 day game huh?

 

[thermocline]

Not behind necessarily. You seem in OK shape. What's your surgery, and how are your combat skills? Have you been drinking qualis potions?

You already got the +1 leadership for independent king, right? Have you read the leadership book yet?

Your army seems to be composed of a lot of random garbage. Many of those units are good but I wouldn't be using so many types. Definitely ditch the mercenary highlanders though, they are terrible for the price. I personally would build an army around Ravenstern Rangers (excellent and easily replaced) with some kind of good cavalry unit, like the cost-effective Rogue Knights. HAs aren't bad but as I've gained more experience with the game I now realize you can get almost as effective combat potential from cheaper units.

Given where you are right now, I would focus on building up my character more before trying to capture fiefs and hold territory. Hunt spawns for Qualis gems, read all the books, hit the Noldor tournaments for gear and gems, buy a Spirit Horse if you haven't already, fight battles to raise renown, make sure companions have decent gear. I'd also start doing the Knighthood Order quests with the aim of becoming the grandmaster of some order you like. The renown quest is also an excellent source of high-quality KO troops when you don't have your own chapters, and you don't have to be a member to do it. Since you're already an Empire lord, I'd focus on building relations with Shadow Legion and Immortals. Extra Immortals you can stash in Laria because they don't cost too much.

If you haven't founded a CKO, that needs to be the next thing you do with your next Qualis gem. You can always disband Clarion Call and re-found it later if you need to. The troops themselves are not that good--you're better off using HAs or RRs.

 

[Emogma]

Not behind necessarily. You seem in OK shape. What's your surgery, and how are your combat skills? Have you been drinking qualis potions?

You already got the +1 leadership for independent king, right? Have you read the leadership book yet?

Your army seems to be composed of a lot of random garbage. Many of those units are good but I wouldn't be using so many types. Definitely ditch the mercenary highlanders though, they are terrible for the price. I personally would build an army around Ravenstern Rangers (excellent and easily replaced) with some kind of good cavalry unit, like the cost-effective Rogue Knights. HAs aren't bad but as I've gained more experience with the game I now realize you can get almost as effective combat potential from cheaper units.

Given where you are right now, I would focus on building up my character more before trying to capture fiefs and hold territory. Hunt spawns for Qualis gems, read all the books, hit the Noldor tournaments for gear and gems, buy a Spirit Horse if you haven't already, fight battles to raise renown, make sure companions have decent gear. I'd also start doing the Knighthood Order quests with the aim of becoming the grandmaster of some order you like. The renown quest is also an excellent source of high-quality KO troops when you don't have your own chapters, and you don't have to be a member to do it. Since you're already an Empire lord, I'd focus on building relations with Shadow Legion and Immortals. Extra Immortals you can stash in Laria because they don't cost too much.

If you haven't founded a CKO, that needs to be the next thing you do with your next Qualis gem. You can always disband Clarion Call and re-found it later if you need to. The troops themselves are not that good--you're better off using HAs or RRs.

The Hauptmen are so useful though. Which troops should I dump?

 

[thermocline]

The Highlanders for sure. Legionnaires aren't that great either, except in autocalc--you could take them and some trash troops from your garrison (like all those Jatu you've been collecting) and go get them all killed in autocalc battles. Go do quests for the Shadow Legion in Cez afterwards and recruit some Shadow Legion Centurions instead.

What do you have guarding Laria btw? You should never use mounted troops or mercenaries as castle garrisons btw. I only hold mounted troops in castles if I'm saving them for later. Generally garrisons should be mid-tier commoner troops, usually 1 rank lower than the max to save on costs. Ravenstern Wardens, Pendor Heavy Bows, Sarleon Men-at-Arms, Fierdsvain Armored Axes, Empire Heavy Infantry or Crossbows, etc.

Also--you have 10+4 Surgery, right?

 

[Emogma]

The Highlanders for sure. Legionnaires aren't that great either, except in autocalc--you could take them and some trash troops from your garrison (like all those Jatu you've been collecting) and go get them all killed in autocalc battles. Go do quests for the Shadow Legion in Cez afterwards and recruit some Shadow Legion Centurions instead.

What do you have guarding Laria btw? You should never use mounted troops or mercenaries as castle garrisons btw. I only hold mounted troops in castles if I'm saving them for later. Generally garrisons should be mid-tier commoner troops, usually 1 rank lower than the max to save on costs. Ravenstern Wardens, Pendor Heavy Bows, Sarleon Men-at-Arms, Fierdsvain Armored Axes, Empire Heavy Infantry or Crossbows, etc.

Also--you have 10+4 Surgery, right?

So all of my mettenheim regular infantry and crossbowmen should be dumped from the garrison?

 

[thermocline]

Not necessarily, how much do they cost? I've never used them. If they don't cost too much and you plan to use them later, just hang on to them.

Important thing is not to waste money on mercenaries (who cost 2x a normal troop) or cavalry (who cost 1.66x but can't use their horses in sieges) as garrison troops. Especially crappy cavalry that you would never use in your main army. For me this is stuff like mounted rangers, large numbers of knighthood sergeants, adventurers, dervish raiders, faction nobles, etc.

If you have good cavalry like honor knights, HAs, or Doomguides it's fine to keep them garrisoned if you're planning to use them later.

 

[Emogma]

Not necessarily, how much do they cost? I've never used them. If they don't cost too much and you plan to use them later, just hang on to them.

Important thing is not to waste money on mercenaries (who cost 2x a normal troop) or cavalry (who cost 1.66x but can't use their horses in sieges) as garrison troops. Especially crappy cavalry that you would never use in your main army. For me this is stuff like mounted rangers, large numbers of knighthood sergeants, adventurers, dervish raiders, faction nobles, etc.

If you have good cavalry like honor knights, HAs, or Doomguides it's fine to keep them garrisoned if you're planning to use them later.

They're quite cheap (About 25 - 30 denars per week) and for a rather low cost unit, they can do huge punishing in numbers, not to the extent of a rr or a eac but close enough

 

[noosers]

I really thought this was a stone old thread.
*lol*

Simple question, simple answer:
Kill them All.

All those games where Fierdswine started domintating the map and were allowed to grow strong long enough to become a real nuisance for the player have been one of the most demanding games in my experience. The Green Horde never rests, never withdraws and always regrows.

Simply kill them all and imprison all their annoying lords but let the honorable ones escape. Gazillion tons of awesome loot and muny to be taken off their corpses. It pays off. And they´re fairly easy to beat with an awesome army of heavy cavalry and massive archers - ideally in some flat terrain.

Lo and behold! Just what the Javiksholm triangle mainly consists of...