What to prepare in advance before starting a new kingdom?

[pondweed]

Hi chaps

so i'm a lord of West-seaxe, got 3 forts, and am making preparations to start a new kingdom.
what would you suggest i prepare in advance before renouncing oath, loosing my forts and assaulting first city?

i saw a few mentions to gather an army of 500 / 800: To assault the city, then defend against counterattack, then defend against all the nations that wage war against the new rebel kingdom.
im aiming for 800 to play safer, though how much of those 800 would you suggest be mid-tier / high-tier troops?

Im aiming to eventualy assault dublin, so have built a refuge next to it, currently upgrading it.
Dublin has a garison of 700, +400 in lord's armies, so i might need more than 800 for assault?

would it be worth improving relations with the Christian religion? will it sway other christian kingdoms to be an ally?

I have farmstead's (aprox 600/week) in about 10 cities scattered across Britian. should i purchase some more?

Lastly, but not least, how on earth am i to capture a city of +700 garrison, with a 365 party size limit?

 

[kalarhan]

you may find some interesting info in the guides thread  https://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php/topic,323183.0.html

 

[pondweed]

interesting list of guides, had never seen before.
though i couldnt find anything on starting kingdoms

 

[kalarhan]

those guides have some reference about how to make money, control bigger armies, etc, which are important if you want to rule your own faction

another suggestion: VC has a feature for goals like creating your own kingdom, which can help explain some of the mechanics and requirements. Its optional.
http://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php/topic,339728.0.html

you can also search the VC forum using keywords like "kingdom", "faction", ... This question was asked a few times before, so you will find some older posts on the subject. Remember the game is closing 2 years from initial release, so you may need to go deep into the posts history.

and if you have more specific questions you can also visit the Q&A thread (see sticky thread)

 

[Celticfury3]

I''ll throw in my two cents here.
1. You will need not only a large force, a large back up force (presumably in your refuge), but also a high quality one. Because starting/maintaining and eventually expanding will involve A LOT of sieges, my personal choice is the close quarters melee troops almost all factions have (the Frisians do not have a branch of these guys). The ones who have typically and axe/sword and armor and a shield. In sieges spearmen are not horrendous, but they get a bit "stuck" and also unless they are tier 5 their back up weapon is typically a very tiny knife (not ideal).

2. 600 a week is not enough. Ideally you want to be in the positive unless you have your maximum number of troops in your army. In my current game I am the ruler of Cornubia and even with 150+ tier 3's and 4's I typically earn at least 2k in profit per week. Subtract the fact that I own one city and two villages (all very rich) and that means you have alot of farmsteads to buy. Secondly, go in with a fortune, if you need mercs in an emergency situation (and you probably will) they are not cheap on average say 10k or more for 15 guys. I currently try to maintain at least 100k year round in my campaign, not easy but it makes things go smoothly.

3. Make sure you have over 1000 renown and at minimum 30 right to rule. People don't respect you until you have proven to be an untouchable bad ass. Moreover, also try to have alot of either reputation (a.k.a honor) or the opposite, this allows you to either use fear to your advantage or your kind heart. I personally recommend going with honorable because it will attract the kind of nobles you want. Nobles who leave or are exiled will show up time to time in your court at your capital. They could be aggressive or honorable and looking to be permanent members, or complete ****s with no interest other than their own goals.

4. Plan your alliances very, very carefully. In my game I made good with all Briton factions, because I though my campaign would be one of survival rather than conquest( West Seaxe usually plows through the Cornish but they left me alone mostly this campaign). So now the Welsh nations cover my borders in a sporadic fashion and weast Seaxe only holds the very eastern tip of southern england. Now I need to come to blows with my Welsh neighbors in order to supply my nobles with their increasing demands of war and fiefs. Needless to say the factions you have planned to be a long term ally you may need to wage war against. Try to ally with factions opposite of a large or substantial opponent. Connaught or Ui Niell in your case might be good choices.

5. Have a very effective party, have at least one (I personally have 3-4) companions that are excellent medics, specifically in surgery as this keeps men from dying. Put them in a safe area each open battle and siege in order for their healing effects to be of use for the entirety of the bloody business of the day. Also have or at least try to have one that counters your weaknesses such as perhaps tracking and trade. Also, begin to focus your character points (hopefully you already have been) on what is necessary for you to have. You can put companions points in sea king, but this doesn't help your actual ship limit, the skills that are leader only are the ones I am referring to mostly.

Hope this helps

 

[lord_Nelson]

Have some lordly companion developed so you can have one or two lords to fight along side you instead of waiting for exiled lord to come. And use mid tier troop and elite spear or cavalry for battle and elite sword wielding troop for town defense. And keep trying to hire deserter or raider before fighting. Viking, reaver, Dannish viking are the best troop around.