How do you tackle large hideouts?

[martin_fcg]

Hi all,

I have a question, I have several large bandit hideouts, the largest being the image below.

How can I economically remove this bandit camp?

I mean 32 units in 1 area, 56 units in total vs my 10 is a huge advantage their way. Im likely to spawn in and lose very good units with multiple attempts to whittle this down.

Anyone have a strategy?

 

[paladinx333]

I've never done a hideout. If I can't take my whole army, I'm not going. The way hideouts work is a holdover from Warband. It's a mechanic that did not age well. I would have preferred some type of walless siege attack.

 

[tree-man of battania]

I usually roll as an archer, so whenever i encounter large hideout i poke bandits from behind the tree.

hide -> poke -> hide again quickly.

If you do this properly fast you can shoot them before they shoot you from your poking position.
Once hiden, they will run at your troops, only stopping and aiming at you when showing from behind of tree again, so its best to shoot those that are closest to your troops.
However if they approach from two sides, then sooner or later bandits will start shooting you from one of them, so you also have to deal with bandits from one side of tree and then another.
Which side first is situational.

 

[eddiemccandless]

I've never done a hideout. If I can't take my whole army, I'm not going. The way hideouts work is a holdover from Warband. It's a mechanic that did not age well. I would have preferred some type of walless siege attack.

I am honestly hoping that they will do that at some point, that would make much more sense and be way more fun.

 

[Kangamangus]

F3+F2. Shield up, troops follow. They were problematic until I started using shield wall. Also, once you can have 5 or more companions, stacked at the top of your troops list, equipped with good armor and shields. Makes them much more manageable.

 

[Badcritter]

There was an exploit for forest bandit AI in particular that made solo'ing a hideout with 50+ bandits practical, but that may well be fixed by now and I'll assume you are looking for solutions that aren't effectively cheating.

Forest bandits are obsessed with firing arrows at you. Shields are profoundly effective against arrows. Put your troop types with the biggest shields at the top of your troop list, followed by archers and hopefully you'll get mostly shield tanks with a bit of fire support coming into the hideout with you.

Set the shield infantry to shield wall and position them closest to the enemy without agro'ing the enemy. Position your archers to the side and behind them, on higher ground if possible. Position yourself taking cover behind a tree, and take a pot shot at the enemy to get their attention at the same time as switching your archers to fire at will.

The enemy will tend to shoot at the shield wall because it is closest, and you can pop out from behind the tree and take shots at them while your archer support fires arrows at them from range. Be aware that when you pop out, agro usually switches to you unrealistically fast - but you still get time to loose a shot and get behind the tree again if you start to draw your bow before you start to step out.

For the really big pull of enemies you need more than 1 quiver or arrows. If you don't want to bring 2, you can pick up one of the enemies' quivers and take it to the tree you plan to hide behind so you can replenish from it during that battle. Otherwise you just replenish arrows between engagements, and your archer troops will too if you lead them over the quivers the dead enemies leave behind.

This strategy works on other types of bandits too, though the cover is less convenient than tress and also less necessary. You will need to switch to melee and support your shield wall fighting when the enemy reaches you for other bandits types since the others are more inclined to close to melee - but the other types don't have pulls of 30 enemies at a time so you can usually keep losses to a minimum.

If the pull of 30 is just too much and you're not able to dispatch the patrolling enemies that cause the two camps to come together without causing the deluge of enemies, you can always pick off the 20 others and retreat, then come back the next night to fight the remaining 30 bandits who will now be spread out across the camp and able to be engaged in smaller groups.

 

[tree-man of battania]

I am honestly hoping that they will do that at some point, that would make much more sense and be way more fun.

If that would be idea then at least i would put bandits in some sort of advantageous position as a form of prepeared ambush

 

[eddiemccandless]

If that would be idea then at least i would put bandits in some sort of advantageous position as a form of prepeared ambush

Right, I am thinking something similar to the Snake Cult stronghold in the Prophesy of Pendor mod for the old Warband, if you have ever played that. Bandits would have a simple fortification, so not a castle but still some defense. If you are giving them those numbers they might as well have some kind of barricade.

 

[bannerlord_addict]

I would shoot them one by one from as far as I can and keep my soliders at a far distance.
when I need assistance I command them to charge.
If you fail and die in the hideout, try to fight in the hideout immidialy afterwards, the next time you fight them they will have less bandits guarding.

 

[SavatageRoyo]

To my knowledge companions will join you for a hideout for sure or at least there is a very high chance? In my Valandian campaign I have 6 or 7 companions in my party, I liked the idea of being some kind of knightly brotherhood. They ride next to me in battle, they smash faces next to me in hideouts.
Since I`ve choosen the campaign option my companions can`t die, and they are all decked out in the best Valandian heavy armor by now......hideouts aren`t that difficult.
Alot of requirements for this "hint" but that is how I do it.

 

[hruza]

I have a question, I have several large bandit hideouts, the largest being the image below.

How can I economically remove this bandit camp?

Attack the camp, kill few bandits, leave. Next day repeat. Don't get greedy and don't get yourself and your companions mauled too much, or you will need to heal for couple of days. Once bandits are down to manageable number, finish whole hideout off.

Tip for shield wall is good, but keep in mind that troops in shieldwall are less offensive, so tell them to charge when in melee range. Also I found out that if you leave your guys in the shieldwall before the final scene, they will keep standing still in place. Either disband shieldwall before final scene or tell them to charge after the scene when fight with boss and his bodyguards start.

Also numbers inside the camp fluctuate over time, some parties will enter, others will leave. If you are not in a hurry, you can try come later and check how many are inside.

As for troops that go with you, companions always join you, unless under 20% of health. The other troops are prioritized from top to bottom of your list. But it's proportionate, with those on top having highest chance to be selected. So put those that you want to bring in on top, then next best choice and so on. Just tell them to go in to line formation and then command them to go where missiles are on the ground.

Troops that bring some missile weapons will pick up those stuck in the ground and resupply themselves. Most useful with throwing weapons. But they must NOT be in the shieldwall and they must be near the javelin or arrow. They will also use enemy missiles, as long as they are the same type as those that they came equipped with. Helps in long fights. Holding Alt will highlight missiles on the ground to help you find them out.

You can pickup stuff yourself. When you aim at the object and pres-hold button, it will even bring up menu that let's you swap equipment around.

Don't forget to change your shield when damaged too much. Sheat your weapon, press G to drop the shield, hold Alt to highlight things on the ground and pick up new shield from dead enemy or ally.

You can crouch using by pressing Z key. Not sure if you are less visible thou, I suppose you are. In any case if you approach enemy from behind, you can get really close to him to for example headshot him with the javelin for insta kill. Works against solo bandits or very small groups only. Shooting will alert enemies nearby.

Using bows or crossbows can be really powerful in these missions. Even if you don't have high skill.

 

[tree-man of battania]

Right, I am thinking something similar to the Snake Cult stronghold in the Prophesy of Pendor mod for the old Warband, if you have ever played that. Bandits would have a simple fortification, so not a castle but still some defense. If you are giving them those numbers they might as well have some kind of barricade.

i was thinking about advantegous position as literaly standing above our troops in some canyon and shooting them like ducks

besides, wont we just abandon ambushing hideout alltogether if we could always just roll in with our entire army? and wont it breake hideouts with smaller oposition?
I for once actualy enjoy these comandos missions where you put down one campfire after another. it makes you feel like rambo

 

[Agroplode]

The Cheese Tactic still works

"Mount and blade: Bannerlord, Forest Bandit Hideout! Tips Tricks and Exploits!" by Xander Tyrann

 

[Androme1]

You put your best infantry units, preferably with shields and throwing weapons, on top of your party list. You tell them to hold their fire once you enter, you put them into a shieldwall formation, and order them to follow you. You order them to charge once you're in melee with the enemy, and then order them back into shieldwall and to follow you when you're walking from group to group. Once you're up against a sizeable group of enemies, say 3-4 or something. You order your infantry to fire (throwing weapons), and then turn it off after one or two volleys.
You also make sure to retreat if you've lost too many units.
You grind the hideout down this way, by each of your soldiers taking out many more of theirs.

 

[ppga]

I just wait and check from time to time until the obscenely large bandit parties leave the hideout.

 

[Lesbosisles]

The strategy depends on the tier of your troops (and their type, obviously). With a bunch of Imperial Legionaries and some decent ranged troops, like Vladian Crossbowmen or Battanian Fians (Palatines are also good) almost every bandit hideout will be a walk in the park for you. Just order your infantry to raise their shields (make up a shield wall), so they will hold they shield raised all the time. Now you can send them to charge. The chance for them to be killed is about 5%, these guys are literally invincible

Next, I usually order ranged troops to follow me (don't forget to order them to shoot, since they're holding fire by default). As a ranged man myself, I flank the bandits and together with my ranged men kill them from behind, thus assisting the infantry. Works every time.

This may also work with a mid-tier troops, but the infantry MUST have shields (Imperial Infantry, for example), otherwise they will fall victims of a fishing harpoons and cracked bows But in case of a mid-tier troops, it is vital for infantry to have ranged support, since they don't do much damage comparing to the high-tier troops, and if the fight won't be quick enough, they will be killed by enemy archers.

But if you decide to raid a hideout with a big number of bandits inside, having 10 recruits and a stick in a hand - well, that's a bad idea from the start. The only option for you is to wait a bit because there's a chance that some bandits will leave their hideout and the overall number of people will be lower. But even then there's a big chance for recruits to be killed (these are recruits, after all, they can be wiped off by a common looters, what do you expect from them in the first place? ) Sometimes there are only 4 or 5 men in a hideout - in that case you'll face the bandit boss the moment you enter the hideout. In that case having a duel 1 on 1 will raise your chance greatly, but there isn't much loot in such hideouts.

 

[Senkaze]

The best strategy for me use bow troop (so they can replace arrow)

Equip yourself with biggest shield you have and go forward aggro the enemy while shield up, when all enemy begin shoot at you, press z to minimize the expose body part Order your troop shoot from behind.

Basically just tank the shoot for your troop farm them, faster than hide and shoot from the tree and safer just let the infantry yolo and get shot down by random head shot.

Just need to wary being flaked by enemy from other direction. Work for me.

 

[martin_fcg]

Like I get the shield up, and bows out tactic, but that only goes so far. I just come across this.

 

[hruza]

Like I get the shield up, and bows out tactic, but that only goes so far. I just come across this.

Wait for that 57 band to leave. they will actually be a juicy target for XP and prisoners farming once outside. After that that hideout will actually be fairly manageable.

 

[Beau Vine]

I don't - but currently up to 3-stacks. There's so many 1-3 lairs to pick from. When I see 1-2 I check if nearby village has a quest for it - you never know when you can snag 6 rep with a noble-supplier in under a minute. Started off with the 1-group ones, figured two were just 4 guys, after a while 3 seem more like just previous step but takes more time. At this stage I only lose guys by getting sloppy as dum-dums keep stepping in front of me right in timing I need to hit enemies, and I use Mamelukes for it so every one hurts. And with 57 it just seems like a LOT of sidestepping in one go.
Two years from now people will be setting highscores.

For Forest/Step bandits I reccommend only taking one quiver - you can resupply on theirs, and it may be necessary to draw fire away from your guys on low HP. You only need to get alive up to final battle. Wither your guys mop up, or with Forest bandits currently, if you have any HP, get away and start shooting - they'll accept the duel instead of slaughtering you out right.
Hillbandits/Sea raiders on the other hand I'd rather have 3-4 quivers, as the only other resupply will be whatever your guys have on them.


PS: And start with F3-F3 always