Welcome to this video AAR (After Action Report), or let's play M&B: Warband as a video series like this is more commonly called (AAR usually refers to written story/narrative, possibly supported by screenshots and other images, while let's play is gameplay videos with commentary).
This let's play has been completed and the whole Calradia was conquered, so this post is no-longer updated. However - feel free to leave comment, feedback and/or questions if you have any. You can always find all the videos and the complete playlist from YouTube...
Foreword
I like to watch let's play videos (gameplay videos with commentary). I found some Warband let's plays, but they were mostly about goofing around and I had few good laughs, which is awesome, but I wanted something more. I wanted "hardcore" Warband.
Everyone I found seemed to play the game with the easiest settings (reduced damage, etc.), just riding around and killing everything without any challenge. I found that extremely boring to watch. I couldn't find a video series where Warband was played the way I like to play it and it made me think...
And since none of the let's plays I'd watched featured a female character, let alone female commoner...
I started Violet's Tale.
Intro:
I found original Mount & Blade from my hard drive couple of weeks ago (bought it back in 2006), got hooked again, and went on to buy the Warband (while waiting for w/F&S). While at it, I decided to start a let's play, AAR or IAR "In Action Report"
I'm relatively experienced M&B player, but I hadn't played Warband before this let's play.
"Relatively experienced M&B" doesn't mean I'm "good" at the game or anything, just saying.
I prefer the commanding / tactical role over front line fighting. And I also like trading, a lot. That doesn't mean that there isn't fighting and battles in the series, but that there's more trading than most let's plays (I've seen).
Game Stuff:
I started with the auto-block on, but after the early videos, went for manual.
I ended up playing on the "hardest" difficulty, with settings:
Control Block Dir:auto Manual block
Control Attack Dir: manual
Lance Control: manual (hard)
Damage to Player: Normal
Damage to Friends: Normal
Combat AI: Good
Campaign AI: Good
Combat Speed:Faster Fastest
Battle Size:150 300 after E046 (with Warband Battle Size Changer)
Difficulty:125% 131% (with Battle Size 300)
(Not 149% cos I have the "quit without saving" ON instead of 'realistic saves', even that I never quit without saving)
Mods:
Episodes 1-23: Started the series with no mods
Episode 24+ Diplomacy 3.3.2
Episode 44+ Warband Battle Size Changer (500 for E045, 300 after that)
Episode 104+ Pre-Battle Orders & Deployment v0.88 w/ Hotfix B (Diplomacy 3.3.2 + PBOD v0.88 w/ Hotfix B) & Floris Basic PLUS (Floris Basic Mod Pack installation on top of Diplomacy+PBOD)
Episode 106+ Movie WB View Texture Pack
About This Let's Play
I'm started as a female commoner, called her Violet. Violet was a hunter, a steppe child, a game poacher with the wanderlust background - The plan was to be mainly a horse archer, with outriding/skirmishing battle style (when not commanding and overseeing the tactics).
In the end, the goal is to get Violet her own kingdom and eventually, capture whole Calradia.
I like the trading part of the game, so there's plenty of that. And that's all part of the process to get enough money to support armies and the kingdom when I get to that point...
Here's the link to the playlist and little "trailer" I made for fun after the first couple episodes:
Since episode 24, the videos are 45-60+ minutes long. Before that ~15 minutes.
Some Milestones Along the Way:
Join the journey and feel free to post feedback in this thread or in the YouTube comments.
Edits:
Added Foreword, changed formatting a bit, added milestones up to ep.82
This let's play has been completed and the whole Calradia was conquered, so this post is no-longer updated. However - feel free to leave comment, feedback and/or questions if you have any. You can always find all the videos and the complete playlist from YouTube...
Violet's Tale: This let's play is the journey of a young nomad woman adventuring in the land of Caldaria,
dreaming of her own kingdom and making name for herself, trading and fighting for fame and fortune.
180 hours of slow-paced Warband gameplay from the very start to the very end (controlling whole Calradia).
COMPLETE playthrough with a female character (commoner) and using the hardest possible settings.
The whole series was played as ironman, I only saved and reloaded between videos.
Watch the videos on YouTube (720p HD): Let's Play Mount & Blade: Warband - Violet's Tale
And here's the playlist link: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=FA2F5D4430134AC2
dreaming of her own kingdom and making name for herself, trading and fighting for fame and fortune.
180 hours of slow-paced Warband gameplay from the very start to the very end (controlling whole Calradia).
COMPLETE playthrough with a female character (commoner) and using the hardest possible settings.
The whole series was played as ironman, I only saved and reloaded between videos.
Watch the videos on YouTube (720p HD): Let's Play Mount & Blade: Warband - Violet's Tale
And here's the playlist link: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=FA2F5D4430134AC2
Foreword
I like to watch let's play videos (gameplay videos with commentary). I found some Warband let's plays, but they were mostly about goofing around and I had few good laughs, which is awesome, but I wanted something more. I wanted "hardcore" Warband.
Everyone I found seemed to play the game with the easiest settings (reduced damage, etc.), just riding around and killing everything without any challenge. I found that extremely boring to watch. I couldn't find a video series where Warband was played the way I like to play it and it made me think...
- Why no-one (who were making videos) played Warband with the hardest difficulty settings?
- Why no-one was doing any trading?
- Why no-one set up productive enterprises?
- Why no-one was using tactics in the battles, but just charged in every battle, coming out alive with almost full health after getting hit 20 times by the enemy cavalry?
- Why so many videos were about "goofing around" and not playing "seriously"?
- Why there was so much swearing, instead of talk about the game, strategy and tactics?
- Why no-one played to "the end", claiming the throne of whole Calradia, but stop before they even had own kingdom or shortly after starting one?
And since none of the let's plays I'd watched featured a female character, let alone female commoner...
I started Violet's Tale.
Intro:
I found original Mount & Blade from my hard drive couple of weeks ago (bought it back in 2006), got hooked again, and went on to buy the Warband (while waiting for w/F&S). While at it, I decided to start a let's play, AAR or IAR "In Action Report"
I'm relatively experienced M&B player, but I hadn't played Warband before this let's play.
"Relatively experienced M&B" doesn't mean I'm "good" at the game or anything, just saying.
I prefer the commanding / tactical role over front line fighting. And I also like trading, a lot. That doesn't mean that there isn't fighting and battles in the series, but that there's more trading than most let's plays (I've seen).
Game Stuff:
I started with the auto-block on, but after the early videos, went for manual.
I ended up playing on the "hardest" difficulty, with settings:
Control Block Dir:
Control Attack Dir: manual
Lance Control: manual (hard)
Damage to Player: Normal
Damage to Friends: Normal
Combat AI: Good
Campaign AI: Good
Combat Speed:
Battle Size:
Difficulty:
(Not 149% cos I have the "quit without saving" ON instead of 'realistic saves', even that I never quit without saving)
Mods:
Episodes 1-23: Started the series with no mods
Episode 24+ Diplomacy 3.3.2
Episode 44+ Warband Battle Size Changer (500 for E045, 300 after that)
Episode 104+ Pre-Battle Orders & Deployment v0.88 w/ Hotfix B (Diplomacy 3.3.2 + PBOD v0.88 w/ Hotfix B) & Floris Basic PLUS (Floris Basic Mod Pack installation on top of Diplomacy+PBOD)
Episode 106+ Movie WB View Texture Pack
About This Let's Play
I'm started as a female commoner, called her Violet. Violet was a hunter, a steppe child, a game poacher with the wanderlust background - The plan was to be mainly a horse archer, with outriding/skirmishing battle style (when not commanding and overseeing the tactics).
In the end, the goal is to get Violet her own kingdom and eventually, capture whole Calradia.
I like the trading part of the game, so there's plenty of that. And that's all part of the process to get enough money to support armies and the kingdom when I get to that point...
Here's the link to the playlist and little "trailer" I made for fun after the first couple episodes:
- Cinematic Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21LFnHaLVn0
- All Videos (Playlist): http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=FA2F5D4430134AC2
- My channel: http://www.youtube.com/TheZemalf
Since episode 24, the videos are 45-60+ minutes long. Before that ~15 minutes.
Some Milestones Along the Way:
- Episode 31: Violet became a Vassal of Sultan Hakim of the Sarranids
- Episode 38: First fief (Village)
- Episode 50: First Castle, Lady Violet
- Episode 82: Own kingdom created, Queen Violet
- Episode 104: Started using Floris Mod Pack "Lite" 2.4 and Pre-Battle Orders & Deployment
- Episode 106: Started using Movie WB Texture pack
- Episode 135: Capturing Dhirim
- Episode 150: Roughly half of Calradia controlled by Violet (Special 2.5 hour episode celebrating episode 150 and 140 hours on the playlist.)
- E174: Two (NPC) factions remain, War against the Nords starts
- E183: Final War against the Kingdom of Rhodoks started
- E194: Calradia Conquered (The End)
Join the journey and feel free to post feedback in this thread or in the YouTube comments.
Edits:
Added Foreword, changed formatting a bit, added milestones up to ep.82