Why does TW hate Vlandians?

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Bratok

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Vlandian troops look like ****!

I know they are supposed to be XI century Normans, but they are the worst looking faction right now!
All their troops look bland and generic, just not badass. Also, their selection of armor is extremely limited. Several types of boring undecorated mail and OMG their helmets are so lame - 150 variations of kettle hats and stupid looking nasal helmets. Only 2 types of shoulder armor which both look cheap and ****ty. Poor top tier noble Bannerknights have to wear CIVILIAN hood, because they have no appropriate shoulder armor LOL.

Enclosed helmets look not bad but could they at least add some great helms, I know these will be a bit anachronistic (late XII century), but they look badass.
I am pretty sure that William the Conqueror's troops looked much more badass LOL.

All other factions look nice and have much bigger selection of armor and helmets. In Warband Swadia was my favourite, because they looked badass. In Bannerlord I just can't play Vlandians, because they look so boring and bland.

And don't start about historical accuracy and authenticity, because all other factions have armors and armor elements from XII-XV centuries. But for some reason, only poor Vlandians look like bums. BTW I am pretty sure, that at least Italo-Normans used lamellar and scale armors, not just bland mail.
 
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The helmet situation is okay IMO. One easy way of adding variety would be to add a painted variant. I oppose the addition of greathelms, I think they would detract from the early-medieval look Bannerlord is going for. The Italo-Norman helm is already cool enough and just needs to actually get used by units.

Agree though that the shoulder armour situation for Vlandia is very bad, considering all the promotional art showing Vlandians wearing cloaks, they should at the very least get a cape or cloak of their own that isn't so obviously belonging to the Empire. And the existing mail shoulders item doesn't match the textures of Vlandian mail. So they need to either change the texture or make a new mail shoulders.
In my opinion those two changes/additions would be the minimum Vlandia needs for its armour lineup to look good. You're right that Banner Knights look silly with their green hoodie, and Sergeants look bad too wearing an Empire cape that doesn't match their gear.

Here were my suggestions to fix Vlandian shoulder armour, and also add a bit of variety to helmet and torso armour.

 
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The helmet situation is okay IMO. One easy way of adding variety would be to add a painted variant. I oppose the addition of greathelms, I think they would detract from the early-medieval look Bannerlord is going for.
Yeah, but even enclosed helmets (early greathelms) were much more diverse than what we have in the game right now. And one particular model of what looks like a spangenhelm with a riveted (!) flat visor (on a Vlandian Vanguard) looks particularly atrocious. Never seen anything like that, especially in XI century armoury.
I would rather prefer some mild anachronism (great helms), especially when all other factions have elements from 14-15 century armor and enjoy a much wider selection.

Except for Battanians maybe. Apart from obvious gaul themed helmets, their equipment looks strange. Like a mix of old Saxon style and fantasy. Their top tier armor looks like dwarven plate from LotR movies LOL
 
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Yeah, but even enclosed helmets (early greathelms) were much more diverse than what we have in the game right now. And one particular model of what looks like a spangenhelm with a fixed visor (on a Vlandian Vanguard) looks particularly atrocious.
I would rather prefer some mild anachronism (great helms), especially when all other factions have elements from 14-15 century armor and enjoy a wide selection of armors.
I hate that it comes down to the one thing we disagree on because I agree with you on everything else here. But to say all other factions have elements of 14-15thc armour is misleading IMO even if it's technically true, because the anachronisms are overall mild. I'm not sure what 14th century armour Battania is meant to have, and whatever it is, it isn't particularly noticeable. Imperial and Aserai armour mostly seems on point, though Aserai fail to match the cultures TW claims they're based on at least they still match the time period. Khuzaits are probably the most anachronistic, but there is barely any historical record of what armour was used in that region in the 600-1100AD time period anyway.

Greathelms, on the other hand, are clearly iconic of the 1200s, firmly high medieval as opposed to the early medieval look Bannerlord is going for (and, overall, successfully executes). I also think that "just because they have done some minor things to dilute the aesthetic means diluting the aesthetic further is fine" is a flawed argument, as this could also justify the inclusion of plate armour, muskets, straight up fantasy gear, etc that you wouldn't necessarily agree with.

When you say "I am pretty sure that William the Conqueror's troops looked much more badass", keep in mind they looked like this:
bayeux-tapestry.jpg

They weren't wearing great helms, just nasal helms.

More anachronisms aren't necessary to have helmets that look cool or diversify the range. In my opinion, making some Vlandian troops actually use the Italo-Norman helm already in the game (Closed Knight Helmet) and making some painted variants of other helms should be enough. I do also agree with you that some existing helmet models are flawed and so may need adjustment.

Pic related, which already exists in the game and just needs to be used, is a plenty cool aesthetic that fits the time period.
Mount_and_Blade_II_Bannerlords_604x423.jpg
 
When you say "I am pretty sure that William the Conqueror's troops looked much more badass", keep in mind they looked like this:
Yup, still more badass than current Vlandians
They weren't wearing great helms, just nasal helms.
Alright, you don't like great helms, I've got it already.

But to say all other factions have elements of 14-15thc armour is misleading IMO even if it's technically true, because the anachronisms are overall mild.
Ah-ah-ah, If one faction is in XI century than everyone else should be as well. That is why Vlandians look lame - everyone else has at least XIII-XIV century armors. That and their limited, for some reason, inventory.
 
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That is why Vlandians look lame - everyone else has at least XIII-XIV century armors.
Can you point out for me which Battanian, Imperial and Aserai armours date to the 1200s-1300s? The only noticeable "futuristic" anachronisms for me are a couple of pieces of Khuzait armour.
 
I despise these threads with a passion.

“Because one tidbit in the game isn’t pre-crusades, nothing should be”

“Because one piece of the game is slightly fantastic, they should add Dragons”

“Because I’m an idiot and don’t know where Turks come from and think the Khuzait are completely out of place, they should add Samurai into the game”

Knock it off with these fallacies already.

More to the thread, Vlandians were so far ahead of the other factions with some of their options at the start, it wasn’t even funny. They were second to the Empire in that regard. Maybe some of those options can be cleaned up, but they are there.

The biggest area of concern is a few shoulder options. But even 3-5 would be sufficient. They also just need more shoulder options available for purchase at their cities.

But we still also don’t have camels truly implemented into the game. That must mean that hate Aserai.

We don’t have crafting options for 2-Handed maces. That’s another that applies to the Aserai more then most.

The Slavic faction has a massive lack of cavalry. They must hate them with a passion.
 
Pic related, which already exists in the game and just needs to be used, is a plenty cool aesthetic that fits the time period.
Mount_and_Blade_II_Bannerlords_604x423.jpg
Wait this isn't in the singleplayer? Not available to be bought and worn by the player? It is a customization option in multiplayer for the Vlandian Knight.

Do troops of the same unit also spawn with slight variations in equipment on the battlefield like they did in Warband? I haven't noticed it in Bannerlord.
 
Do troops of the same unit also spawn with slight variations in equipment on the battlefield like they did in Warband? I haven't noticed it in Bannerlord.
They do, a nice addition in 1.7.2 is you can now flip through their potential loadouts in the troops encyclopedia page. Most troops have 2-3 potential loadouts
 
I despise these threads with a passion.
Hey, why so serious? The game development is stagnating. No one in TW reads these forums anyway. Why don't we just sit and grumble a little?

I am just saying that other factions look so much less bland and generic, they look badass. Vlandians look boring to the point I can't play them, and I usually prefer to play Western European factions in medieval games.

As for the thread name, it was chosen for laughs.
 
Wait this isn't in the singleplayer? Not available to be bought and worn by the player? It is a customization option in multiplayer for the Vlandian Knight.
Yeah, in singleplayer no troops use the Closed Knight Helmet. I think it may possibly spawn in shops but I haven't seen it naturally in the wild.
Do troops of the same unit also spawn with slight variations in equipment on the battlefield like they did in Warband? I haven't noticed it in Bannerlord.
In addition to what Blood Gryphon said, the main reason you haven't noticed it is probably that even in units which do have variable loadouts, there is often a very minor difference. Like the type of helmet they wear, or whether or not they wear a hood.

Low tier troops like looters and recruits can have about 7 different loadouts that are noticeably different, but higher tier units only have 1-3 loadouts (as TW wants them to look more standardized, as befitting a more elite unit).
 
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The Vlandian closed helmets are awful. They look like an amateur 3D modeler downloaded a model of a hockey mask and stuck it on a completely different helmet. Absolutely terrible.
 
I hate the enclosed Vlandian helmets. Quality aside, their designs look so cobbled up and unknightly.

Its like TW could not decide whether they wanted Vlandia to look like old Swadia, or just be Swadia, and so ended up making the worst of both worlds lol. No cool great helms... but also an utterly generic Western European look that is anachronistic.

Painted helmets and more mail coifs is really the way to go for them. Stuff like this would be fantastic:

38ca0dc46b5c7a4a8c98773087ff3a32.jpg

3d1dd6681eef2838b55e8235e437ed0e.jpg


bl7owh3qixr51.jpg
 
>caring what the troops look like
The sharpshooters kill everything, they get xbow at tier 2, they easy to recruit and promote.
If you're not going to go full horse archers then vlandia is the best for bulking up a good force and is tied with Khuzland for the best location to defend and grow from.
Did I read the whole thread to understand the context?
No.
 
>caring what the troops look like
The sharpshooters kill everything, they get xbow at tier 2, they easy to recruit and promote.
If you're not going to go full horse archers then vlandia is the best for bulking up a good force and is tied with Khuzland for the best location to defend and grow from.
Did I read the whole thread to understand the context?
No.
Not much to glean from it tbf, aside from 'why can't Vlandia look like Swadia'. Wouldn't surprised if OP went gaga if Vlandia got plate armour or something.
 
Painted helmets and more mail coifs is really the way to go for them. Stuff like this would be fantastic:
Agreed, it will surely make them look less bland.
- Hey guys, we're in XI century and can't have fancy armor, only boring gray mail. Can we at least paint it bright? Maybe some surcoats, capes?
- No.
- Mkay:sad:
That really bothers me. One of the main (and pretty popular among players) factions' inventory is in a alpha/placeholder state. But no, we will give you new city scenes and village models!
I don't even go into settlements, I do everything through the menu. <sigh>
 
Wouldn't surprised if OP went gaga if Vlandia got plate armour or something.
I am not asking for plate armour and bacinets/armets. Please don't say anything about historical accuracy, or you will summon Five Bucks again LOL
I just think that Vlandian inventory is severely limited after 10+2 years of development, to the point when I just can't play them.
Alright, XI century I got it. But where are GAMBESONS? Even the Empire has 2-3 gambeson types. What happened to the best "bang for your buck" medieval armor?
 
The Vlandian closed helmets are awful. They look like an amateur 3D modeler downloaded a model of a hockey mask and stuck it on a completely different helmet. Absolutely terrible.
Thank god I´m not the only one. I really like playing with Vlandian seargants but this helm just looks so ****ing ugly.

And believe or not, but I also had the same thought that this helm reminds me of Jasons mask...
 
Alright, XI century I got it. But where are GAMBESONS? Even the Empire has 2-3 gambeson types. What happened to the best "bang for your buck" medieval armor?
No amount of gambesons matter if troops are just going wear the same set stuff as each other.

Vlandia does have a whole bunch of them though. They don't get used much, that's all.
 
Khuzaits are probably the most anachronistic,
No.
but there is barely any historical record of what armour was used in that region in the 600-1100AD time period anyway
I don't say this lightly but bruh
Just because you or TW don't care to do their research doesn't mean there's any less records.
 
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