How is your game going?
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I'm a rare type of player, it would seem. Not only do I play the original M & B exclusively, but its also the native version. Always. Why? First of all, I haven't beat it, but I'll get to that later. Second of all, and this is the part where you kill me, to me Warband is not superior. Even with all the changes, I still view it as nothing more than a very, very successful old-school expansion pack. And finally, I am not a person who prefers mods to the core game.
Anyway. My campaigns have continued for hundreds of hours, not sure if I've reached a thousand (non-Steam version). I played with several avatars before but eventually I'd get bored and start over. Not with the last one.
Named him Ubiec. Like every campaign prior to this, I joined the Nords. First as a mercenary, then as a lord with fiefs and ultimately I became the marshall that got the votes every time.
Nothing unusual so far, right? Well, I'll let my creation tell of his life in his own words:
"I am Sir Ubiec, the favorite of King Ragnar! My army was "pure" Nord steel, as I was building it around Huscarls and Nord Warriors, with no archers whatsoever (Warriors and Huscarls can decapitate people on a castle wall with their throwing axes, absolutely OP). As I didn't need any other recruits but Nords, I found myself burning down entire villages of the other factions which made me very rich very fast, but I was also hated among the common folk and the rival lords. Only when I defeated a mighty lord did I take troops from other factions and most of the time they were either Rhodok Sargeants or Khergit Lancers. My losses were usually compensated with the Nord prisoners, of course, minus the archers.
Our main enemies were definitely the Rhodoks and the Swadians. The Rhodoks, being the neighbouring kingdom, took some of our castles, we took some of theirs and so on, and so on. Sieges could only be carried out with the other lords because the lack of archers meant the deaths of experienced men (Huscarls don't have shields for the most part) while the archers of my allies could return fire AND take some of the inevitable casualties themselves which would make victory even sweeter. The problem was that the Rhodok fough fanatically for every inch of land and not only would he retaliate after a lost fief, he also gathered all armies to attack on Nord soil and capture every castle all the way to the sea. I managed to capture their lands on the mountain pass and those that neighboured ours all the way to the big towns like Praven, but wars with them costed too many men and resources while gaining little in terms of land. Their kingdom remained as powerful as before, if weakened a bit.
The Swadians were another story. They didn't want Nord lands but pillaged villages and ran. In the early years of my ascension, their lords' armies ran free among our lands, started a fight or two but mainly clashed with travelling caravans or peasants. This pissed off our king, who not only destroyed their armies home (mainly by my sword), forcing them to flee in dishonor, but also started crusades against them, besieging castles as near as the Khergits. Success was on our side, as they fought with all kingdoms and rarely had time to invade. To them, Kelredan Castle was the ultimate prize. The Swadian banner flew over its walls for short perios of time, but ultimately its inhabitants remained our servants. Vaegir lands were more tempting for the Swadians which was a welcome chance for us to not think of them often. They too survived despite the odds.
The perils that we had to live through on account of the Vaegirs are... sadly my fault. You see, our kingdoms had good relations. I was respected among their lords as I helped them defeat several Swadian armies. I freed Vaegir lords from Swadian captivity on many occasions and on the battlefield we saw our common enemy fall.
One day I got bored. Peace with the enemies of ours was in force. I mobilized my army and marched to Vaegir lands. I started stealing resources from their villagers by force and their caravans were no match for my men. I tried to capture their castles across the river in the name of our King Ragnar but defeat was my mistress. The Vaegir archers were like the hand of death, as their arrows killed my men in droves before they could reach the walls and swing their axes. One castle took multiple offensives to put its defenders to never-ending sleep. Once captured for the Kingdom of Nords, the castle soon went back to its original master, since my army was too weak to keep it. The Vaegirs also managed to capture two important Nord castles neighboring their lands and I, to my shame, could not put them back where they belong - under my King's scepter. Their lords only marched together and their men were never few in number. Their fury in battle could only be matched by the atrocities I committed against the servants of the Kingdom of Vaegirs. Alas, what once was a trusted ally, quickly became another adversary we had to crush to achieve complete domination over Calradia.
These next lines I write with sadness, as not even the boldest sceptics could have predicted what would happen once they appeared. Khergits... From the far steppes they came, mounted on mighty horses. With armor that few arrows could compromise and eyes like the devil himself. Their fighting in close range could only be bested by their ability with their bow - both on the saddle and during sieges. Their men were as many as the souls lost to the Underworld - beyond count. Not a single kingdom could withstand their advance, as we were too weak because of killing each other for years. The outlanders would not be satisfied with border lands. Instead they captured the most beloved castles of their enemies, in the heart of their territory, where it hurt the most. And thanks to their many men, they could keep their new fiefs, surrounded by enemies on all sides. Their bravery on the battlefield was devastating to our morale and as they had the fastest horses in the land, they could catch whoever they wanted. I couldn't escape them myself many times and a bad head injury which can't be healed will always remind me of those barbarians. Every kingdom now has precious fiefs lost to the Khergits and their leader, Sanjar Khan, is greedy beyond comprehension and reason. If we do not unite against them, all will be lost and the good men who died in the service of Ragnar would have fallen for nothing..."
Aaand this is where the story ends, because my save got corrupted and no solution proved useful. I'm gonna start a new game soon.
Anyway. My campaigns have continued for hundreds of hours, not sure if I've reached a thousand (non-Steam version). I played with several avatars before but eventually I'd get bored and start over. Not with the last one.
Named him Ubiec. Like every campaign prior to this, I joined the Nords. First as a mercenary, then as a lord with fiefs and ultimately I became the marshall that got the votes every time.
Nothing unusual so far, right? Well, I'll let my creation tell of his life in his own words:
"I am Sir Ubiec, the favorite of King Ragnar! My army was "pure" Nord steel, as I was building it around Huscarls and Nord Warriors, with no archers whatsoever (Warriors and Huscarls can decapitate people on a castle wall with their throwing axes, absolutely OP). As I didn't need any other recruits but Nords, I found myself burning down entire villages of the other factions which made me very rich very fast, but I was also hated among the common folk and the rival lords. Only when I defeated a mighty lord did I take troops from other factions and most of the time they were either Rhodok Sargeants or Khergit Lancers. My losses were usually compensated with the Nord prisoners, of course, minus the archers.
Our main enemies were definitely the Rhodoks and the Swadians. The Rhodoks, being the neighbouring kingdom, took some of our castles, we took some of theirs and so on, and so on. Sieges could only be carried out with the other lords because the lack of archers meant the deaths of experienced men (Huscarls don't have shields for the most part) while the archers of my allies could return fire AND take some of the inevitable casualties themselves which would make victory even sweeter. The problem was that the Rhodok fough fanatically for every inch of land and not only would he retaliate after a lost fief, he also gathered all armies to attack on Nord soil and capture every castle all the way to the sea. I managed to capture their lands on the mountain pass and those that neighboured ours all the way to the big towns like Praven, but wars with them costed too many men and resources while gaining little in terms of land. Their kingdom remained as powerful as before, if weakened a bit.
The Swadians were another story. They didn't want Nord lands but pillaged villages and ran. In the early years of my ascension, their lords' armies ran free among our lands, started a fight or two but mainly clashed with travelling caravans or peasants. This pissed off our king, who not only destroyed their armies home (mainly by my sword), forcing them to flee in dishonor, but also started crusades against them, besieging castles as near as the Khergits. Success was on our side, as they fought with all kingdoms and rarely had time to invade. To them, Kelredan Castle was the ultimate prize. The Swadian banner flew over its walls for short perios of time, but ultimately its inhabitants remained our servants. Vaegir lands were more tempting for the Swadians which was a welcome chance for us to not think of them often. They too survived despite the odds.
The perils that we had to live through on account of the Vaegirs are... sadly my fault. You see, our kingdoms had good relations. I was respected among their lords as I helped them defeat several Swadian armies. I freed Vaegir lords from Swadian captivity on many occasions and on the battlefield we saw our common enemy fall.
One day I got bored. Peace with the enemies of ours was in force. I mobilized my army and marched to Vaegir lands. I started stealing resources from their villagers by force and their caravans were no match for my men. I tried to capture their castles across the river in the name of our King Ragnar but defeat was my mistress. The Vaegir archers were like the hand of death, as their arrows killed my men in droves before they could reach the walls and swing their axes. One castle took multiple offensives to put its defenders to never-ending sleep. Once captured for the Kingdom of Nords, the castle soon went back to its original master, since my army was too weak to keep it. The Vaegirs also managed to capture two important Nord castles neighboring their lands and I, to my shame, could not put them back where they belong - under my King's scepter. Their lords only marched together and their men were never few in number. Their fury in battle could only be matched by the atrocities I committed against the servants of the Kingdom of Vaegirs. Alas, what once was a trusted ally, quickly became another adversary we had to crush to achieve complete domination over Calradia.
These next lines I write with sadness, as not even the boldest sceptics could have predicted what would happen once they appeared. Khergits... From the far steppes they came, mounted on mighty horses. With armor that few arrows could compromise and eyes like the devil himself. Their fighting in close range could only be bested by their ability with their bow - both on the saddle and during sieges. Their men were as many as the souls lost to the Underworld - beyond count. Not a single kingdom could withstand their advance, as we were too weak because of killing each other for years. The outlanders would not be satisfied with border lands. Instead they captured the most beloved castles of their enemies, in the heart of their territory, where it hurt the most. And thanks to their many men, they could keep their new fiefs, surrounded by enemies on all sides. Their bravery on the battlefield was devastating to our morale and as they had the fastest horses in the land, they could catch whoever they wanted. I couldn't escape them myself many times and a bad head injury which can't be healed will always remind me of those barbarians. Every kingdom now has precious fiefs lost to the Khergits and their leader, Sanjar Khan, is greedy beyond comprehension and reason. If we do not unite against them, all will be lost and the good men who died in the service of Ragnar would have fallen for nothing..."
Aaand this is where the story ends, because my save got corrupted and no solution proved useful. I'm gonna start a new game soon.
Newcomer's post reminds me of why I play Khergits. You may consider yourself a brave and mighty warrior, but a thin stick with feathers can mean swift death in the skilled hands of an archer on horseback, and you can't catch a man on horseback. In the open field, the Khergits are unstoppable, although they tend to have to rely on captured Nord and Rhodock footmen to storm castles, since they're not so mighty when off their accustomed steeds.
In my previous native campaign, I only held one castle (and its associated village) and 3 towns before ending the campaign. Those towns were Praven, Sargoth, and Rivacheg. My faction (Khergits) controlled more than 2/3 of the rest. Normally, Rhodocks are capable of taking over most of the map without player intervention, so I only played them once, which was pretty close to a cakewalk. In subsequent campaigns, I lean heavily toward horse-archery, drawing many of the opponents off while my party slaughters the rest piecemeal, or leaving the enemy in the hopeless situation of taking arrows in the unshielded back either from me or from the rest of my party on the other side of them.
Now, I play almost exclusively with mods: Star Wars Conquest, The Last Days (Middle Earth), The Eagle and the Wolves (post-Roman Britannia), or a semi-historical 1257 AD: Eastern Europe sub-mod for 1257 AD (the sub-mod's map is beyond ginormous), but have just started up another native campaign. So far, so good, and I've got 5 Companions and around 5 or 6 regular troops training up. This time around, I'm going mainly for lance combat, with bow as a secondary weapon, rather than relying almost exclusively on the bow as before.
In my previous native campaign, I only held one castle (and its associated village) and 3 towns before ending the campaign. Those towns were Praven, Sargoth, and Rivacheg. My faction (Khergits) controlled more than 2/3 of the rest. Normally, Rhodocks are capable of taking over most of the map without player intervention, so I only played them once, which was pretty close to a cakewalk. In subsequent campaigns, I lean heavily toward horse-archery, drawing many of the opponents off while my party slaughters the rest piecemeal, or leaving the enemy in the hopeless situation of taking arrows in the unshielded back either from me or from the rest of my party on the other side of them.
Now, I play almost exclusively with mods: Star Wars Conquest, The Last Days (Middle Earth), The Eagle and the Wolves (post-Roman Britannia), or a semi-historical 1257 AD: Eastern Europe sub-mod for 1257 AD (the sub-mod's map is beyond ginormous), but have just started up another native campaign. So far, so good, and I've got 5 Companions and around 5 or 6 regular troops training up. This time around, I'm going mainly for lance combat, with bow as a secondary weapon, rather than relying almost exclusively on the bow as before.
The thing about Khergit AI is it rarely acts as an organized entity. It's more like a pack of cooperating raider hordes than a kingdom like the rest. Just like the barbarian tribes during the last days of the Roman Empire, the Khergits go wherever they want, whenever they want and get their daily ration of blood with little to no resistance. Like you said, they can hit troops with arrows in the back or in any other unprotected areas, thanks to the fast horses. If you lose your horse against the Khergits, to quote the popular meme: "you're gonna have a bad time." Even if you neutralize their horses, their Lancers can still pose a challenge with their strong shields and armor. Otherwise not even Knights can oppose them. Sending top tier Mercenary Cavalry against anything but Tribesmen and Horsemen is gonna end badly.
However if you use a pike or a lance against them they die in droves. Also, against an army of infantry only (say Huscarls), they struggle if you do the following: since you start on opposite ends of the map, you can order your men to retreat to the very borders, where your troops can't retreat any further. The AI will aggressively charge as expected but will face an impenetrable wall. They will clash with your guys which will halt their advance immediately. Whoever gets through will get stuck in the invisible walls. Sure, you will lose a few men because of their lances being unstoppable, however once an entire wave of enemies is immobilised your troops can wipe them out in seconds. The horses will die, then their riders. Of course, since half their army consists of moving archers you're gonna have to move and kill them but at least a wave of them can be destroyed by this simple method. So on the field they may have the advantage but only if they're mobile and you're alone.
They suck when they besiege castles. While they are on the field and they can bombard you with arrows they are deadly, but once on the ladders/tower, they will fall. Of course if they have gathered all their lords and you defeat like three in the siege defense, you'll get obliterated when you leave but still worth it. You don't kill hundreds of Khergits with little losses every day.
When they defend a settlement, they are probably the best kingdom at it. Arrows will kill you until you reach the walls and if you still do, you have Lancers on the front and archers on the sides. Death is imminent. Only Rhodok Sargeants are better defenders.
The best thing about the Khergits, hands down, is their starting location. They are surrounded by mountains and they can only expand. Whoever enters the steppe but the Khergits is gonna have a warm welcome by the Steppe Bandits in packs of 50 (!) and in smaller groups that I can swear are more than the Sea Raiders near the coast. Which is an accomplishment. And remember how said Sea Raiders hunted you in five parties while you were in the early stages of the game? Now imagine having five packs of Steppe Bandits on your ass, with their fastest horses and the smallest party consisting of five riders. They will join forces against you. You're dead. Your equipment is gonna be gone. All your upgraded army boys and companions will scatter like broken glass. You're gonna wish you never started playing. Which is the worst thing this game can do to you because it's a drug. A good kind of drug.
The only way to defeat the Khergits for good is to somehow beat their armies (considering you're the Marshall it's theoretically possible), capture as many lords as you can and never accept any ransoms. Of course, the game will laugh in your face when it activates the algorithm that allows lords to simply escape but at least you would have slowed them down. Which is enough to turn the tide. If only...
However if you use a pike or a lance against them they die in droves. Also, against an army of infantry only (say Huscarls), they struggle if you do the following: since you start on opposite ends of the map, you can order your men to retreat to the very borders, where your troops can't retreat any further. The AI will aggressively charge as expected but will face an impenetrable wall. They will clash with your guys which will halt their advance immediately. Whoever gets through will get stuck in the invisible walls. Sure, you will lose a few men because of their lances being unstoppable, however once an entire wave of enemies is immobilised your troops can wipe them out in seconds. The horses will die, then their riders. Of course, since half their army consists of moving archers you're gonna have to move and kill them but at least a wave of them can be destroyed by this simple method. So on the field they may have the advantage but only if they're mobile and you're alone.
They suck when they besiege castles. While they are on the field and they can bombard you with arrows they are deadly, but once on the ladders/tower, they will fall. Of course if they have gathered all their lords and you defeat like three in the siege defense, you'll get obliterated when you leave but still worth it. You don't kill hundreds of Khergits with little losses every day.
When they defend a settlement, they are probably the best kingdom at it. Arrows will kill you until you reach the walls and if you still do, you have Lancers on the front and archers on the sides. Death is imminent. Only Rhodok Sargeants are better defenders.
The best thing about the Khergits, hands down, is their starting location. They are surrounded by mountains and they can only expand. Whoever enters the steppe but the Khergits is gonna have a warm welcome by the Steppe Bandits in packs of 50 (!) and in smaller groups that I can swear are more than the Sea Raiders near the coast. Which is an accomplishment. And remember how said Sea Raiders hunted you in five parties while you were in the early stages of the game? Now imagine having five packs of Steppe Bandits on your ass, with their fastest horses and the smallest party consisting of five riders. They will join forces against you. You're dead. Your equipment is gonna be gone. All your upgraded army boys and companions will scatter like broken glass. You're gonna wish you never started playing. Which is the worst thing this game can do to you because it's a drug. A good kind of drug.
The only way to defeat the Khergits for good is to somehow beat their armies (considering you're the Marshall it's theoretically possible), capture as many lords as you can and never accept any ransoms. Of course, the game will laugh in your face when it activates the algorithm that allows lords to simply escape but at least you would have slowed them down. Which is enough to turn the tide. If only...
The trick of backing up to the map edge works for the player against the Khergits, but is easily thwarted by a Khergit player, who simply has his troops follow him to a spot some distance away from the edge, has them shower you with arrows from range, while personally moving to either side of your line and picking your troops off one by one in a neat row. Again, they either face the player and get shot by the host, or face the host and get shot by the player. If the foot troops leave the map edge to charge the mounted host, the Khergit player orders a charge and the riders can do their usual bow and lance tactics. If they charge the player, the player simply rides away while his friends get easy back shots. The AI has tried that "back up" trick against me numerous times, but after a hard struggle on the first or second occasion that they used it, it hasn't helped.
Of course, sieging castles is where the Khergits fall face down, which is why it's nice to have captured Nords and Rhodocks (with shields) to climb the ladders while your regular Khergit troops pincushion the poor sods on the walls with massed arrow fire. Personally, I tend to maneuver in close to the walls, to shoot the guys on the flanking towers, which does wonders for the survival of the people on the ladders. I'm not the "uber skilz" kind of player who rushes up the ladder to trade blows with the mob behind the parapets, my reaction times aren't what they were 30 years ago when I was already past my prime for that kind of thing.
Of course, sieging castles is where the Khergits fall face down, which is why it's nice to have captured Nords and Rhodocks (with shields) to climb the ladders while your regular Khergit troops pincushion the poor sods on the walls with massed arrow fire. Personally, I tend to maneuver in close to the walls, to shoot the guys on the flanking towers, which does wonders for the survival of the people on the ladders. I'm not the "uber skilz" kind of player who rushes up the ladder to trade blows with the mob behind the parapets, my reaction times aren't what they were 30 years ago when I was already past my prime for that kind of thing.
Rather than a single battle, my biggest success was in defending a Khergit castle (on the hill above Uxhal) from the entire Rhodock war party of something like 8-9 armies. With only about 40 men in my party, and the castle garrison being less than 30, there wasn't much hope of holding the walls against a direct assault by around 600 attackers, so I led the attackers away on a wild goose chase (a highly mobile mounted army pursued by slower footmen), stopping many times to let them get closer rather than have them give up the chase. When most of those followers were strung out in a long line, and many of them started to give up the chase and head back to reinitiate the castle siege, I lured away and engaged the one closest to me (my 40 versus their 100+). Destroyed them, with only one or two wounded from my own army, and some companions down a few percent in health. Repeated that, by luring away another group, peeling them away from their friends, and engaging, again at bad odds, with light casualties. I then had to draw off the whole mob again for a day-long chase to allow the siege to lift, and to allow a few troops to recover slightly for the next fight.
By the time I had demolished 4 of the larger stacks (but not the Rhodock king's huge army), I didn't have enough men left in fighting condition to do that again. so it was time to join the castle defense and hold off the remaining 300-ish attackers, who repeated the attack several times, losing a lot of men each time, partly due to my flanking fire against the guys coming up the ladder, at least until the arrows ran out. Barely survived it myself (it rarely goes well when I get stuck in the melee, but I was able to use a quarterstaff to beat down the guys coming up the ladder before they got within weapons reach of me, while the other defenders quickly took advantage of their stunned condition), and at the end I didn't have a single unwounded member of my own party left, with only 3-4 of the castle defenders still standing. The Rhodock army, or what little was left of it, shuffled away in defeat.
I hate fighting against Rhodocks.
By the time I had demolished 4 of the larger stacks (but not the Rhodock king's huge army), I didn't have enough men left in fighting condition to do that again. so it was time to join the castle defense and hold off the remaining 300-ish attackers, who repeated the attack several times, losing a lot of men each time, partly due to my flanking fire against the guys coming up the ladder, at least until the arrows ran out. Barely survived it myself (it rarely goes well when I get stuck in the melee, but I was able to use a quarterstaff to beat down the guys coming up the ladder before they got within weapons reach of me, while the other defenders quickly took advantage of their stunned condition), and at the end I didn't have a single unwounded member of my own party left, with only 3-4 of the castle defenders still standing. The Rhodock army, or what little was left of it, shuffled away in defeat.
I hate fighting against Rhodocks.
Not much to see, just me firing arrows from the best vantage point I can find for most of the battle, until the arrows run out and I can't scrounge any more from casualties. At that point, I'm down to just standing behind the row of guys with swords and maces, and whacking over their heads with a polearm at the enemies coming up the ladder. I'm terrible in melee combat, so if I have to pull out a mace or sword, it's a desperation move, and I've often gone into battles with extra arrows and a polearm, or no melee weapon at all (figuring I can scrounge something from a body somewhere along the way, if needed). My reflexes aren't what they were 40 years ago, so it's all about ranged attacks, lance attacks against strays, and using my character's maneuverability on horseback (and the opponents' fixation on the player character) to provide my Companions and recruits with easy shots, or with an opponent strung out by the pursuit of my character, to be taken down piecemeal by my troops.
Let the enemy turn to face you, while your friends shoot them in the back, or else shoot the enemy in the back while he's distracted by your friends. "Divide and conquer", and all of that strategic nonsense. I tend to play "general", not "hero"; watching a general during a battle isn't as interesting as watching a hero in action.
Let the enemy turn to face you, while your friends shoot them in the back, or else shoot the enemy in the back while he's distracted by your friends. "Divide and conquer", and all of that strategic nonsense. I tend to play "general", not "hero"; watching a general during a battle isn't as interesting as watching a hero in action.
Mount_and_Ride ^_^
Recruit
I emerged from my mother's womb a female. Although my mother wanted me to grow up to be a proper young lady, I instead grew up rather tomboyish. Instead of playing with dolls I played with wooden swords and mock battles with my father who had been a proud warrior in his youth, which instilled in me a sense that a woman was just as capable and could be just as strong and cunning as any man. Although times were hard and we grew up poor, I wanted for nothing and I spent a lot of my free time exploring the emerald green pastures, the clear sparkling waters and the illustrious rolling hills on horseback. The swiftness and power of the beast beneath me and the wind in my hair was exhilarating! As I got older I knew being a lady in waiting simply was not for me, so I decided to take the knowledge I already learned and applied my trade to feeding my family and village off the land, becoming very skilled with the bow. Eventually however an army from a distant land drove most of us from our villages, burning them to the ground, my entire family and every one I ever knew killed. With out a home to go to and only the clothes on my back and my horse, I decided to brave the wilds alone...
However being a foreigner in a strange land, I found it tougher than I thought with roving bands of cut throats who would murder you rather than look at you and warring kingdoms who do not ask many questions and just assumes any passing traveler a cut throat as well. Eventually I found a few trusted companions and went around the country side of Calradia helping other villages in need and began gaining a name for ourselves. I found a few more companions, but these later arrivals are turning out to be more trouble than they are worth... I now have a small band of battle hardened men and took a oath to the Nord King Ragnar who in turn gave me my own town of Udiniad. I retook Alburq Castle from the Vaegirs and besieged another called Jelbegi, wrestling it from the hands of the Swadia. Currently I am waiting on word from my Lord if I am allowed to have either castles. I will be content with one or both balls of my Lord... ^_^
However being a foreigner in a strange land, I found it tougher than I thought with roving bands of cut throats who would murder you rather than look at you and warring kingdoms who do not ask many questions and just assumes any passing traveler a cut throat as well. Eventually I found a few trusted companions and went around the country side of Calradia helping other villages in need and began gaining a name for ourselves. I found a few more companions, but these later arrivals are turning out to be more trouble than they are worth... I now have a small band of battle hardened men and took a oath to the Nord King Ragnar who in turn gave me my own town of Udiniad. I retook Alburq Castle from the Vaegirs and besieged another called Jelbegi, wrestling it from the hands of the Swadia. Currently I am waiting on word from my Lord if I am allowed to have either castles. I will be content with one or both balls of my Lord... ^_^
