Pure Khergit, hardest faction to play?

[Old One-Eye]

Just so you know, Tribesmen (first tier) get PD 2 and a hunting bow which makes them better for siege defense than a lot of other first tier units that throw small rocks at the enemy. And man, you don't need castles, you got a nice big ass Khergit tent you can put up on the steppe! You're a nomad, after all

 

[Schemer]

5. The worst problem of all, none of their lady is good  looking. I have to import lady from other faction to marry 

To me the Khergits generally have the best looking noblewomen, and they never have hats. I always marry into Khergit families. This is the main bonus, not the main penalty.

Everything else is true, though. I blame AI. If different troops could have different AI, then factions could be a lot better. Spearmen AI for Rhodoks (as well knights during sieges due to lances sucking on the ground), and light cavalry AI for Khergits would be good to start with.

 

[Mallissin]

I won a -17 battle against the Khergit using a squad of Merc cavalry outsided Dehrim.  (I named the save game "MIRACLE!!")

But yah, they seem underpowered. Their arrows don't do much damage to heavy cavalry and even if they are smart enough to shoot out the horse (or do it accidentally), they piled on the merc and it owned 3-4 of them before dying. The only thing I was afraid of during the battle was one of the lancers accidentally hitting us, so I took them out first. Rest of the time, I just did my best to take out horses or block them if they had someone chasing them.

Horse stops, cavalry swings twice...Khergit goes down.

 

[Mixedpotatoes]

When playing as Khergit, 90% of your troops will have a bow. You need to use that as your advantage.
If you set every troop in the archer group, and fire volleys with fire at will and hold fire, you will do some devastating damage.

 

[Dark Elf]

Defeating another lord with khergit is not a problem, their troop is good enough.
At least you can outrun them if you feel you can't beat them 

But as people said their arrow lacking in punch, while dismounted lancer is far from the strongest fighter.
Defending my castle/city with khergit only troop is really getting on my nerve. I lose Narra for the fifth time 
I have try several combination with disappointing result
700 tribesman + 150 lancer
200 skirmish + 100 lancer
400 tribesman + 50 skirmish + 100 lancer +50 archer

How can i be a king if i can't hold my only fief 

 

[SPD_Phoenix]

For garrison, I use:
-1st slot: 100 lancers.
-2nd slot: 100 VHAs.
- From 3rd slot down: about 250-300 skirmishers/HAs.

I don't keep the garrison there just to keep AI lords from attacking it. A couple lords may not be able to take it, but a whole gang will and there isn't much [option] to stop them except keeping 1000 troops in garrison. Autocal isn't great for player. Myself, a handful of companions and 200 archers can beat a gang of 2000+ with less casualty than 1000 vs 2000 in autocal.

As I said before, maitaining an all cav party/garrison cost more and the Khergit don't exactly worth the extra money (as compare to other faction troops).

If you want to, replace skirmisher/HA with sea raiders for both melee and range capability. They are very good (just like the Nord). Also, sword sister and slave chief can beef up the melee capability (if the lancers aren't enough).

 

[Dark Elf]

Thanks, going to try slaver chef route, they are quite easy to get. 
Hopefully they will be stronger than lancer
Sea raider harder to get in big number, need to capture them first, after that still need to recruit them, bad for morale.

I play with 400 battle size, so usually i need to hold at least 700 enemy before the siege end.

 

[XT_Billy]

One tested tactic to employ the veteran horse archers is not to charge directly, as it makes them get into melee with superior melee infantry/cavalry without using their formidable horse archer skills first.

Just form them up and get them follow you, reform them just  behind a hill or equivalent, something that will make the enemy slow, also protecting them from the enemy archers, wait until the enemy units come within javelin range and then, attack. They completely avoid melee as they rush to the right flank hitting arrow after arrow and God! they ARE deadly with this tactic.

They continue to avoid physical contact until their arrows are depleted and charge at the now deformed enemy lines with the remaining troops scattered here and there, most of them wounded from arrows. The results are devastating!

They function properly if used right. If left uncontroled, they charge into enemy lines, 1-2 at a time, usually getting murdered by the massed enemies. IF they survive the forst melee action, they properly change to horse archering, but it's usually too late. Never charge them directly over long distances.

I find them extremely effective, and having a troop of 30-40 exclusively with vet HA, with high riding skills, accuracy on horseback and not too bad melee, chasing down everything on the map with superior speed, getting lot of casualties on the enemy without losing many of their own, leaving the player to choose targets as they completely deform the enemy lines
with their arrows and the enemy chasing them.

On harsh terrain, unmounting them gives you a lot of good and mobile archers, able to compete with the best the enemy can have, also they are VERY-VERY useful on sieges, especially on defence, since they can pepper arrows on the enemy inflicting heavy losses before switching to melee.

The game and it's troops are balanced very nicely, every side can win if used right.

 

[Old One-Eye]

Thanks, going to try slaver chef route, they are quite easy to get. 

Yeah, they sure swing a mean meat cleaver, fight in aprons, wear distinctive tall white hats and know their way around a kitchen. Slaver Chefs are the über-troop of Warband!

 

[vota dc]

But slaver knock your enemies, so they don't seem a good idea for defending a city.