Here are some ideas that would make the game, especially the battles, both more fun and realistic. And these are easy to implement too. Just do it and the world will be a better place
1) In WB you could easily become overpowered in combat as a mounted lancer even with the max difficulty settings. If fighting as infantry was made more rewarding, the game would be both more fun and realistic. Historically, cavalry charges were high-risk endeavors that depended on suitable terrain, well-trained horses, good morale, etc. to achieve the intended impact. When these conditions did not come together, even the best knights frequently dismounted and fought on foot. So
- More infantry should use spears as their first weapon, they should always use it against charging cavalry, and not break formation unless absolutely necessary. (The Viking Conquest DLC made a good job in this, why not imitate?)
- Dramatically decrease the trust damage of lances when they are not couched, and also make them prone to breaking upon impact sometimes.
- Introduce a probability (inverse to the quality of the horse) that horses decelerate/turn away when facing infantry in formation (especially when you are not part of a barrage of cavalry riding close to each other in formation)
2) Fighting with a two-handed sword seems the most fun weapon for most players, as one can tell from the multiplayer battles. So make it more rewarding to use it. Again this would be realistic too. Knights with the best resources and training tended to rely on full (mail and then plate) armor and a two-handed sword, doing away with the shield. So,
- Make armors more resistant to one-handed swords and to swing (cut) damage in general.
3) Another reason why battles can become too easy in WB is that the AI didn’t care about taking down the commander any more than they care about taking down a random peasant archer. This is outrageous.
- Make the morale of the army depend on the performance of their commander and any participating lords, letting it change during the battle. If the commander falls, the troops panic. If the commander takes down many enemies himself, the troops hearten. Take a page from the Total War series.
- Make sure the AI values targeting the enemy commander and any lords much more than targeting regular soldiers.
- Make sure that when you personally take down an enemy lord, he doesn’t simply appear “managed to escape” in the after-battle screen.
4) The battles would become strategically more meaningful if withdrawal was more rewarding and desertion of AI-controlled troops (due to low morale) was a thing.
- Introduce a time limit by which the attacking party should destroy the enemy. Failing that, the remaining troops of the defending party can withdraw with few additional (automatic) casualties, finding themselves at some distance from the attacking party on the campaign map afterwards.
- Introduce more terrain features (swamps etc) on the campaign map that create chocking points where one can practically impose a battle on an unwilling party. Introduce more interesting terrain features in battle maps too.
- With these changes, I can envision many different kinds of battles. At some occasions you’ll just hope to survive by making good use of the battle terrain and then withdraw. At other occasions, when you are somewhat outnumbered, you’ll throw yourself to the front hoping to take down the enemy commander to turn a likely defeat to a great victory, etc. We could have quests in which you have to face a significantly overwhelming enemy so that you can capture a particular lord, or so that the enemy is weakened before your suzerain’s main army attacks, etc.
I suppose these would be fundamental improvements in the battle system that few would object, are mostly easy to implement, and some (like the battle time limit) could be turned off if desired.
In short, make lances less effective when not couched, swing damage less powerful against armor (thus making dismounted and 2-handed fighting more rewarding); and introduce battle timer, in-battle morale and intuitive withdrawal options (thus making commanders/lords much more highly valued in battle). It would be the best game ever, and more realistic too.