What's the best way to go about restoring Pendor from this point?

[BlackOne]

Firstly, I'll say that I'm loving this mod and it's really living up to its reputation as one of the best mods for M&BWB. 

So here's my query, I've been adventuring for almost a year in-game, I'm a sworn vassel of the Kingdom of Ravenstern, I've won quite a lot of battles, taken many lords prisoner, I hold only one fief though, and the usual 400 strong castles seem a little too daunting for me to risk my armies on (I'm playing with saving only on exiting), I tried it once and it was a bit of a disaster. I have over 100,000 (gold/denars?) and have used it to buy a lot of businesses throughout Pendor, so I'm not really worried about money too much for once.

At this point things seem to be getting a bit stagnant, I'm basically spending my time capturing lords in the name of Ravenstern, getting thanked by my fellow Ravenstern lords for doing numerous things to help them out or spread intrigue, helping out the Noldor in battles, and pursuing bandits, but I never seem to be in a position to advance? I could try taking a castle, but there's a chance I might not be granted it by the king, in which case I could claim my own kingdom with it, but then, as past experience has shown, everyone declares war on me in a second and I lose it all, and I'm especially reluctant to risk it all, fail, and then not even be in the Kingdom of Ravenstern anymore, although I have been gaining a lot of right to rule over time.

So are there any tips from experienced players in how to break away, and when is the right time, to successfully forge your own kingdom and start on the road to fullfilling the prophecy?

 

[bobknight]

You'll need a troop cap of about 200. 150 if you are really ambitious and also got your hands on top tier troops (think doomguides and noldor troops). You will also want to target castles first - the ladder kind that has about 250-300 garrison at around day 200ish. It's possible to take your first castle by day 100, if you got lucky and have fantastic troops (read: noldor archers equivalent) then you can start your kingdom right there and then. I usually start at around 200-250. For normal players, you will want at least 40 Ravenstern rangers and about 100 orcs/legionaires. Park your archer in front of the ladder and let them shoot the defenders to pieces. 60 rangers can kill 100-150 guys by themselves and your orcs can do the rest. (Or you can just retreat and shoot again until defenders are dead). Now that you have the option to hire mercenaries, it is actually really easy to defend your starting kingdom. The 1st banneret is really strong and so are the unicorn knights. Revolting is probably the best way to go about starting a kingdom as it allows you to have a large garrison from the get go. I usually stock up with about 200 heavy shield infantry and 100 archers in my main strong hold (along with 200 of my own men) before I give the king the finger. Remember that you'll want to hit the lords piece mean BEFORE they attack your stronghold so that you can whittle down their advantage.

 

[BlackOne]

Thanks! Awesome information! I'll work on achieving those things, I'll need to get some Noldor troops as well, from my battles helping them their archers are like medieval machine guns! 

Remember that you'll want to hit the lords piece mean BEFORE they attack your stronghold so that you can whittle down their advantage.

The lords piece mean?

 

[bobknight]

Thanks! Awesome information! I'll work on achieving those things, I'll need to get some Noldor troops as well, from my battles helping them their archers are like medieval machine guns! 

Remember that you'll want to hit the lords piece mean BEFORE they attack your stronghold so that you can whittle down their advantage.

The lords piece mean?

That should read piece meal.

It is probably also easier to get doom guides/ omen seekers than it is to get noldor troops. Ravenstern rangers are also quite good in a pinch. You do not need to go whole hog to start your little kingdom.

 

[BlackOne]

Ah I see, thanks again!

 

[krisvk]

If you have good relations with the lords in ravenstern you can get them to help you take a castle (persuasion helps there), or maybe being marshal would be a good idea,

 

[kjeltringen]

Getting castles is all about relations with the other lords in your faction. When you are at 15-20 points with 5-6 lords in your faction you should get them to support your claim to a castle or town.
The best way to get good relations is to help out other lords in battle and of course talking to other lords who took part in the battle. follow a succesful campaign, and you should be at least +10 with half the lords.

 

[bobknight]

Actually, the best way to get a castle is to capture it yourself. Unless you have horrible relations with the lords, they will basically never deny you the first 1-2 captures.

 

[LevonVeldspar]

Every campaign reaches this stage eventually. My advice would be to get yourself a castle/town while still a vassal and build up a stockpile of troops there in preparation for your own kingdom. Having a pre-trained reserve force is essential to beating back the onslaught a new kingdom often faces. Aside from that, keep doing what you're doing: get as much rep as you can with as many lords as you can, build up your wallet, and most importantly gather Right to Rule. Its very important because the higher it is the more likely you'll be able to successfully sue for peace with some of the factions once you go independent. Get married if you haven't already, and send your companions out on their RtR missions, However, don't let it get too high before you're ready to go off on your own as once you reach a certain magic number (I forget what it is...) your king will wise up to what you're up to and stop giving you fiefs. In my experience, your relation with the king matters more heavily than any other single factor when it comes to being granted fiefs. Once you're at about 20+ he'll give you pretty much any fief you capture as long as you aren't disliked by more than a fellow lord or two.

I'd be wary about relying on stuff like Doomguides or Noldor troops. Don't let them become a crutch. They're nice to have but not a necessity by any means. You're much better off learning how to handle your village and noble troop lines because they're what you'll always have access to and be able to reliably replenish, and they're plenty capable of bringing you victory.

 

[BlackOne]

However, don't let it get too high before you're ready to go off on your own as once you reach a certain magic number (I forget what it is...) your king will wise up to what you're up to and stop giving you fiefs.

I think this is what has happened in my case, I've noticed that I no longer have the option to tell my companions that I aspire to be king and send them off for RtR, plus yesterday I managed to convince the overwealming majority (80% at least) of Ravenstern lords to support me in being given a newly taken castle, even the king said he'd support me, yet it was still given to another lord. 

 

[Bruxy]

Keep an eye on other wars that are going on. If a particularly-weak faction manages to steal a city from another (or has a city sacked by a minor faction), get there quick. Even if your own faction aren't at war with them, a quick caravan raid or unprovoked lord attack with drop your relations and give you the opportunity to besiege their territory. If the city is only just taken its garrison will be poor and you'll have an excellent shot at taking it solo - giving you a very good claim for it to be handed to you by the king. Even if you aren't granted it, providing you put your own temporary garrison in place you have the opportunity to rebel and keep it for yourself.

The beauty is that since your original faction isn't strictly at war with the people you stole it off (they only dislike you, personally) they won't attempt to take it back from you. They'll also be too busy with their original war to come after you. If you rebel, your faction relations will be reset for your new kingdom and they still won't attack you as peace will be implied (though clearly your original king will be at war with you from the off).

I used this method to take Laria from the Sarleons while they were at war with the Empire and I was a Ravenstern vassal. Laria stayed Ravenstern and was awarded to me, Sarleon never tried to claim it back as they weren't at war with Ravenstern at the time. I had an opportunity to build the garrison and store personal troops there. In the mean time I took Valorshield Castle but rebelled when I didn't get it. My new kingdom defaulted to peace with Sarleon and fortunately Ravenstern bottled it and sued for peace a day later. Big wins all around.