How do you play warband?

[killer-blead]

Dear Warlords, Kings, Traders, Tournament champions, Slavers, Adventurers and Bandits,

How do you play warband? What is your playstyle?

A playstyle dictates not just what your goal is ingame, but also which factions do you favor, which skills do you focus on and what are your means of getting there, are you an effective player who just wants to get everything done as soon as possible? Or do you roleplay and take your time, prepare your wealth, muster your troops and claim your stakes when the time is right?

My playstyle:
I normally play 40% efficient/ 60% roleplay. I do want to get wealth on the fastest ways by tournaments and grinding searaiders. But I also want to have my own story, Mostly this involves my own made religion, which only I follow in the story. (more on that later). Everytime I start a new game my goal is to become my own king and rule Calradia myself. I do this by creating as much chaos and weakened factions as I can. This means that I try to get all the claiments back on their throne and let the wars weaken the factions, this takes an incredibly long time and there is no way of knowing if it goes the way I wanted to, but I like the war and the effort I have to put into the game.

For factions:
I normally favor the Nords as a starting area, because of the Searaiders and looters, I do not care for Taiga/Forrest bandits at all because I dislike fighting ranged troops. I also (usually) don't start at the sarranids and Rhodoks because the battles take to long, The desert bandits I'd have to chase around the map and the Rhodoks are all up in the mountains, while I prefer fighting on horse. The Khergits I actively avoid. In my eyes they are to weak to bother, plus they have range and horses, so all they do is run away and fire arrows.

I only stick with Nords or Swadians until I destroy a faction, this would be the same thing for me as "unlocking"  their units, since their faction no longer exists I can freely use their troops without suffering a penalty.

Companions:
I usually do not take companions at the start, only when I join a faction, as they either complain about me burning villages or are warrior types, which I consider a waste. Why would I need 1 strong warrior when I need an entire army of strong fighters. When I become a lord I become a bit more noble and stop burning down villages, then I take a surgeon, tactician/engineer and trainer with me.

My skills:
My skills are usually focussed on strength and agility, sometimes I take the Int/Char build, but I like fighting to much to stay on the side lines. As for my equipement I prefer to be a knight, with basic sword and shield, plus a lance on the side. For sieges I use a twohander and a crossbow with bolts.

My goal:
My goal is tied to the way I roleplay. My character is a devoted follower of the void, the void is a believe that wants to empty the world as much as possible until there is nothing left. My goal therefor is to be the only and only ruler of calradia with no lords. Only me, villagers, caravans and bandits. If it were possible I would remove those as well, but I can't. This religion leaves me on an extreemly long cursade to purge Calradia. I have even made ranks for this religion which I add to my character name [Name][Rank]

Spoiler: Ranks

Ranks from highest to lowest.

Void-Emperor    - Only obtainable after emptying Calradia of all lords, kings and factions.
Void-Lord          - Obtainable after becoming a king.
Void-Demon      - Obtainable after becoming a lord with a vast army
Void-Dragon      - Obtainable after become a lord with a medium sized army
Void-Lion          - Obtainable after become a lord with a small/medium sized army
Void-Wolf          - Obtainable after by having a party of 60 without being a lord
Void-Apostle      - Obtainable after by having a party of 40 without being a lord
Void-Pilgrim      - Obtained when starting the game

To reach my goal the first thing I usually do is a lot of money collecting, I do this by grinding on searaiders, doing tournaments and buying enterprises in all factions. It's a long preparation, but it really pays off in the long run.


So what do you do and how do you do it?

 

[Phalnax811]

Best warrior in all the lands who is also a good field surgeon. Nords all the way <3

I have 200 days in my current Swadian game and I really want to abandon my men to grab Norse soldiers.

 

[King Richard]

Nords ? Nothing a Swadian cav charge can't stop 

 

[SAUS]

Heavy horse, 1h sword, shield, crossbow, bolts. I swap to 2h sword for castle sieges or any fight I expect / prefer to fight on foot (usually against Khergits if I have a nice hill to stand on). Heavy armour, usually just best possible, but I often will stop with cuir bouilli or heraldic mail with surcoat because I think they look awesome.

I either have the goal of conquering calradia myself or with a faction. Which faction I join is random between Vaegirs, Nords, and Swadians. Not sure why I haven't done the other ones. The only exception to this is that I often will make a challenge for myself, such as taking a castle with only companions or just seeing how large a party I can kill by myself.

I always start in Praven because that's where I went first. After analyzing further, it seems pretty safe in terms of bandits, and the Praven tournament is the easiest one to win at level 1. I imagine Sargoth is a good starting point as well since it is nearby, so you can still make it to a tournament there and fight similar kinds of bandits.

Early game is farming solo or with my companions. I usually try to farm up a bunch of dyeworks so I can support an army easily. I do lots of quests in this stage. Mid game I build up a small army and join a faction. After taking some land, I usually betray them and take one of the towns they gave me (I leave no garrison). Then I just hold out and slowly build my kingdom from there.

I typically do heavy INT builds. I theory-crafted a high-tactics, high-surgery build one time and it turned out to be one of the most OP things in the game. I rarely stray from this build.

 

[killer-blead]

~snip

So basically you are a efficient player (I noticed that from your previous thread as well). Your build are based on the larger picture right from the start. To compare it to my character, while mine has more speed and personal strength, yours is much better suited for the role of ruler. If you do the INT build yourself, then which kind of companions do you take with you? I guess a doctor atleast?

Best warrior in all the lands who is also a good field surgeon. Nords all the way <3

I have 200 days in my current Swadian game and I really want to abandon my men to grab Norse soldiers.

I have felt the Nords alure as well. I fought onfoot for about 100 days, but after that I took a horse and went as knight. I like the intensity of the foot fights (that's why I prefer infantry in MP), but I am a very impatient player. I want to fight people right now and chase them down when they try to leave.

Nords ? Nothing a Swadian cav charge can't stop 

Swadian cav charge? Nothing a hill or forrest area can't stop

 

[King Richard]

Hills ? Forests ? Ah, that's cute, in case you don't know, there's something called Infantry

 

[Phalnax811]

Hills ? Forests ? Ah, that's cute, in case you don't know, there's something called Infantry

...which the Nords have superior of.

 

[King Richard]

Hills ? Forests ? Ah, that's cute, in case you don't know, there's something called Infantry

...which the Nords have superior of.

Yes, but they are not invincible... duh 

 

[Phalnax811]

Hills ? Forests ? Ah, that's cute, in case you don't know, there's something called Infantry

...which the Nords have superior of.

Yes, but they are not invincible... duh 

I bathe my soldiers in the blood fire of Helheim! Wait, that came out wrong.

 

[Ghost of Razgriz]

I'm probably 80% roleplay, 10% efficiency, and 10% I don't give a damn.

The efficiency part is the early game where I use pretty much only a small troop (maybe about 40-80 total) comprising of Swadian Knights, Nord Huscarls, and Rhodok Sharpshooters (if I can get there).  This is just for the early game and some mid game parts before stuff happens.  Sometimes, the troop loadout is with Vaegir Marksmen and some Sword Sisters as well just to help fill in some gaps for a chunk of the game.

The I don't give a damn part, however, is for the fact that I don't play completely traditionally.  In fact, I do have a Player-Supporter-Faction based troops, more companions, extra weapons and equipment that shouldn't be there in a time period like that (from plate armor to LotR swords to a few other things), a cheat menu because some equipment CANNOT be in the shops for specific roleplay reasons.

The roleplay part, though, is a bit tricky as I have it set up in my head like a storybook, but it's also influenced by how the game rolls out with warring factions, personalities of some lords, and whatnot.  I don't necessarily side with anyone specifically as it's something that my character can't do due to reasons left to her.  However, at certain points (whenever I feel like it...roughly a year or so in-game time), I usually trigger an "event" that basically takes around two weeks to resolve storywise (in game, I just skip two weeks out over in the snowy mountains).

 

[annallia]

Generally I build towards the future.

My early game is spent trading, running down sea raiders and other bandits and selling them all in an effort to build enterprises everywhere I can. I take my companions as I find them and pick up the occasional rescued prisoner as well if I think it is needed. While doing this I also try to improve relations with the kings and sometimes other lords (usually only if I see them imprisoned). But it is mostly about building wealth and leveling myself and my companions. I do however seek out a mercenary contract as soon as my renown starts getting high so I don't keep getting offered vassalage and taking relation hits when I turn them down. For this I tend to go for the Sarranids as they are generally only at war with the Rhodoks or Khergits, both areas I tend to avoid anyway because I hate the mountains and I hate the mounted bandits in the steppes.

Mid game I will finally assemble a proper army and swear vassalage to someone, usually Nord or Rhodok but Vaegir is good with me too.

As for skills: I generally go for strength/agility builds. I like being quick, I like being strong...  I occasionally go for an agility/int build as well.

Gear wise: I prefer sabers over swords/axes. Mostly because of issues I have with directional aim but also just because I like them more.  Generally with a strength build I will go for 1h saber, shield, throwing axes/javalins for the field. In sieges I go throwing axes, shield, crossbow/bolts. Save the last axe to use as my melee.

For agi/int builds I tend to use spears. Usually the boar spear but sometimes war spear. Shield and then a bow since I will still get enough strength for reasonable power draw and have points to spare with the high INT.


Companions become my personal guard/advisors. I put them all in the same armor, usually heraldic mail, sometimes coat of plates, give them the same shields, same weapons, and same horses.

My goals? Simple. Be one of the most powerful people in the realm. If that means I conquer everything then that is what I do, if it means I Just hold key towns and have more money than God... Well I am good with that too.

 

[kuwhar]

I play a few different ways but generally try to keep a character to a specific personality.

Like, i've had a character that was dedicated to being a medic and persuasive leader. He always did the noble thing and relied on good relationships and a strong army more than his own sword and shield.

I've also played the nomadic horse archer who raided villages as I saw fit and claimed lands through brute force. That is a very hard way to play because of how many relations are hurt.

I've also played as the loyal subject of the vaegirs. A great combatant who charges into battle on foot with a 2hand sword and a longbow on his back.

Factions i tend to favor: Khergit, Sarranid, Vaegir, Rhodok in that order.

There really are a million ways to play and a lot of times i'll start as one faction only to face another and say "damn i love them" and restart another character in that region lol. I have a problem.

One thing I always do though is keep the same troops from a faction. never mix

 

[Phalnax811]

I play a few different ways but generally try to keep a character to a specific personality.

Like, i've had a character that was dedicated to being a medic and persuasive leader. He always did the noble thing and relied on good relationships and a strong army more than his own sword and shield.

I've also played the nomadic horse archer who raided villages as I saw fit and claimed lands through brute force. That is a very hard way to play because of how many relations are hurt.

I've also played as the loyal subject of the vaegirs. A great combatant who charges into battle on foot with a 2hand sword and a longbow on his back.

Factions i tend to favor: Khergit, Sarranid, Vaegir, Rhodok in that order.

There really are a million ways to play and a lot of times i'll start as one faction only to face another and say "damn i love them" and restart another character in that region lol. I have a problem.

One thing I always do though is keep the same troops from a faction. never mix

Likewise on: I restart too often. And never mix (unless for a training quest or have left overs from when I switched back to Nords since I love Nords. Nords.)








Nords.

 

[Vraelomon]

I have a large variety of playstyles, plus it changes mod to mod with roleplay. My favorite is to go way too far into STR and then regret it later in life when I can only field 47 soldiers.

 

[killer-blead]

Hills ? Forests ? Ah, that's cute, in case you don't know, there's something called Infantry

Sure, but you said cavalry charge, not infantry.


@ annallia,
Ah a STR&Agility build like me! I normally pick the specific starter choices which allows my character to start with the highest Strength. At around level 18 - 20 I'd be 30 STR and then I spent points in Agility. Being able to 1 hit soldiers and staying alive in a barrage of hits is really helpful. That's why I spent the first hours ingame not improving my troops persee, but put more money in my armour so I'm a real tank.

@ kuwhar,
I find that the benefit of all these playstyles is that you are able to master any form of combat and you can change it on the fly. Which is very good training for you as a whole. Why are the Khergits your favorite? I'd always find them kind of.. weak. Except for the Khergit lancer.

 

[22nd_TK_Ceasar]

You got no freakin' skill, Bleadyboy!

 

[Phalnax811]

Hills ? Forests ? Ah, that's cute, in case you don't know, there's something called Infantry

Sure, but you said cavalry charge, not infantry.


@ annallia,
Ah a STR&Agility build like me! I normally pick the specific starter choices which allows my character to start with the highest Strength. At around level 18 - 20 I'd be 30 STR and then I spent points in Agility. Being able to 1 hit soldiers and staying alive in a barrage of hits is really helpful. That's why I spent the first hours ingame not improving my troops persee, but put more money in my armour so I'm a real tank.

@ kuwhar,
I find that the benefit of all these playstyles is that you are able to master any form of combat and you can change it on the fly. Which is very good training for you as a whole. Why are the Khergits your favorite? I'd always find them kind of.. weak. Except for the Khergit lancer.

I get my Charisma and Leadership up to 15 (5 leadership) before chucking stuff into the other categories. I figure I can make up for my physical weakness with my tactics.  Which is usually the case. Though the first few battles against Sea Raiders are questionable.

 

[King Richard]

Hills ? Forests ? Ah, that's cute, in case you don't know, there's something called Infantry

Sure, but you said cavalry charge, not infantry.

Sure, but who would fight with cav in a forest ? 

 

[annallia]

@ annallia,
Ah a STR&Agility build like me! I normally pick the specific starter choices which allows my character to start with the highest Strength. At around level 18 - 20 I'd be 30 STR and then I spent points in Agility. Being able to 1 hit soldiers and staying alive in a barrage of hits is really helpful. That's why I spent the first hours ingame not improving my troops persee, but put more money in my armour so I'm a real tank.

Yeah I like being a quasi-super soldier :p

The agi/int builds I rather enjoy though as well. Having crazy high agi and wearing a lighter armor (I wear the black armor but I made it slightly better than leather at slightly higher weight) makes it really easy to cheese the AI. Plus outrunning the nords is always fun....

 

[Gurkhal]

I go the knigthly approach with with melee, lots armor and on a horse. And I always pick the Swadians, of course. While I played with the Nords way back in the day, these days its all counts and knights form me.