I haven't done a proper Sturgian playthrough in awhile and decided to see how it feels with the new changes. First, the good.
Ulfhednars are no longer hot garbage and actually manage to sometimes do decently well against enemy infantry. That's an improvement from their days of being bare-chested, dying to archers and stray swings constantly and being generally out-performed by almost every variety of tier 3 infantry you could encounter, including their own predecessors. I still try not to use them, because Shock Troops are strictly superior, but at least now they aren't a literal downgrade from Beserkers, which is nice.
The idiotic AI decision-making that would continuously have Sturgia being fingercuffed by some combination of Vlandia, Battania, Northern Empire and Khuzaits is no more either. Not only do they not declare wars though, the AI is really good about ending wars when it is declared upon. Sometimes I have to pay out of pocket for it, but compared to getting double-ended by factions of equal strength, it is way less frustrating and far easier to deal with having to make a bit more money.
Sturgia's economy doesn't seem as ****ed-up either, no idea what happened. It may be that some long, months-ago economy change was put in but there is more food, for lower prices, in Sturgia compared to the last time when I had to constantly raid Khuzait sheep villages to keep my army fed. Whatever changed, good.
There are more women to marry, that's good too. It was getting tiresome constantly going after Silvind.
With the aiming improvements, their jav cav getting a lance doesn't rub me as raw as it did before and Druzhniks are back to arguably being the top-tier noble cav for reasons I can't explain.
The bad though? Some stuff still sucks:
The AI still doesn't know how in the **** to defend Neyvansk Castle. Oh my god, if you want to defend that castle, stop forming the army at Revyl! Form it at Varcheg or Omor or even ****ing Balgard! Just not Revyl! As an army marches, it is slower than any of the other towns to get to Neyvansk Castle. I'm pretty sure an army from Sibir could get there before one from Revyl, if you include the starting form-up time. Or, better yet, instead of forming an army far off and marching at the speed of molasses going uphill, they could use the parties already converging independently to form up an army on-site and go at it that way. Best of all would probably be to just abandon it though thanks to...
The AI regularly turning any war with Vlandia or Battania into a giant quagmire centered around Omor. It burns off all their strength to constantly go back and forth, even when they hold the settlements. I'm talking about the general region here (Omor, Ov Castle, Kanirorig Castle, Mazhadan Castle), not any one specific holding, but when there is one taken, it immediately becomes a giant Thunderdome. If you're going to have a linchpin region like this, it needs special care and attention: better starting wall and garrison levels, more militia in the villages, etc. Sturgia hasn't yet let anything major in this area, but only because I'm personally intervening in everything constantly.
The Sturgian noble troops are fine but leveling them into Druzhinks sucks because as infantry they die way too easily. I'm not sure what can be done to fix this, it is kinda a systemic thing with all low-tier infantry in Bannerlord generally. But I'd greatly prefer if they started off mounted like most other factions' noble tree troops, so they wouldn't be at the mercy of anyone in the melee press. Also, the never ending raids of Battania tank landowner influence, meaning it becomes impossible to get noble troops anyway past a certain point.
The snow bonus still does nothing. Going into sieges and large battles with death enabled is a pretty good way to empty out Sturgia's clans. Their towns and villages seem to almost never produce cavalry recruits. The food situation is improved but it still isn't good. Maybe Sturgia should rely less on grain and more on fish in terms of consumption?
Ulfhednars are no longer hot garbage and actually manage to sometimes do decently well against enemy infantry. That's an improvement from their days of being bare-chested, dying to archers and stray swings constantly and being generally out-performed by almost every variety of tier 3 infantry you could encounter, including their own predecessors. I still try not to use them, because Shock Troops are strictly superior, but at least now they aren't a literal downgrade from Beserkers, which is nice.
The idiotic AI decision-making that would continuously have Sturgia being fingercuffed by some combination of Vlandia, Battania, Northern Empire and Khuzaits is no more either. Not only do they not declare wars though, the AI is really good about ending wars when it is declared upon. Sometimes I have to pay out of pocket for it, but compared to getting double-ended by factions of equal strength, it is way less frustrating and far easier to deal with having to make a bit more money.
Sturgia's economy doesn't seem as ****ed-up either, no idea what happened. It may be that some long, months-ago economy change was put in but there is more food, for lower prices, in Sturgia compared to the last time when I had to constantly raid Khuzait sheep villages to keep my army fed. Whatever changed, good.
There are more women to marry, that's good too. It was getting tiresome constantly going after Silvind.
With the aiming improvements, their jav cav getting a lance doesn't rub me as raw as it did before and Druzhniks are back to arguably being the top-tier noble cav for reasons I can't explain.
The bad though? Some stuff still sucks:
The AI still doesn't know how in the **** to defend Neyvansk Castle. Oh my god, if you want to defend that castle, stop forming the army at Revyl! Form it at Varcheg or Omor or even ****ing Balgard! Just not Revyl! As an army marches, it is slower than any of the other towns to get to Neyvansk Castle. I'm pretty sure an army from Sibir could get there before one from Revyl, if you include the starting form-up time. Or, better yet, instead of forming an army far off and marching at the speed of molasses going uphill, they could use the parties already converging independently to form up an army on-site and go at it that way. Best of all would probably be to just abandon it though thanks to...
The AI regularly turning any war with Vlandia or Battania into a giant quagmire centered around Omor. It burns off all their strength to constantly go back and forth, even when they hold the settlements. I'm talking about the general region here (Omor, Ov Castle, Kanirorig Castle, Mazhadan Castle), not any one specific holding, but when there is one taken, it immediately becomes a giant Thunderdome. If you're going to have a linchpin region like this, it needs special care and attention: better starting wall and garrison levels, more militia in the villages, etc. Sturgia hasn't yet let anything major in this area, but only because I'm personally intervening in everything constantly.
The Sturgian noble troops are fine but leveling them into Druzhinks sucks because as infantry they die way too easily. I'm not sure what can be done to fix this, it is kinda a systemic thing with all low-tier infantry in Bannerlord generally. But I'd greatly prefer if they started off mounted like most other factions' noble tree troops, so they wouldn't be at the mercy of anyone in the melee press. Also, the never ending raids of Battania tank landowner influence, meaning it becomes impossible to get noble troops anyway past a certain point.
The snow bonus still does nothing. Going into sieges and large battles with death enabled is a pretty good way to empty out Sturgia's clans. Their towns and villages seem to almost never produce cavalry recruits. The food situation is improved but it still isn't good. Maybe Sturgia should rely less on grain and more on fish in terms of consumption?
