I'm fond of clumping my infantry together in a tight mass. Cavalry tend to bog down and die horribly.
Unless they have bows.
Then it's pretty much up to me to get on my pony and shoot every single one of them in the head while my troops run around flailing their arms and screaming like little girls.
This is why you and your army have bows and horses yourselves. Which also comes in handy for fun pincushion-making whenever infantry-heavy enemies come your way.
Khergit fo lyfe, yo.
"My other save is a Khergit" is branded on my horse's rump.
I figured out a couple of my problems -- first my battle size was only set to 51 so I wasn't getting anywhere near a full complement of troops when I fought. Also, I was having my infantry and archers stay way back while I charged in with cavalry and cleaned house, so my infantry and archers weren't getting any kills, and were levelling really slowly.
capnrico on
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FiggyFighter of the night manChampion of the sunRegistered Userregular
I figured out a couple of my problems -- first my battle size was only set to 51 so I wasn't getting anywhere near a full complement of troops when I fought.
Now go download this mod and set it to like 400. You'll shit your pants.
I'm fond of clumping my infantry together in a tight mass. Cavalry tend to bog down and die horribly.
Unless they have bows.
Then it's pretty much up to me to get on my pony and shoot every single one of them in the head while my troops run around flailing their arms and screaming like little girls.
It's pretty brutal watching enemy cavalry ride into a wall of infantry shields, stop dead in their tracks, get their horse killed, fall to the ground and just get an unholy beatdown.
I figured out a couple of my problems -- first my battle size was only set to 51 so I wasn't getting anywhere near a full complement of troops when I fought.
Now go download this mod and set it to like 400. You'll shit your pants.
Be careful with that if you don't have good tactics. otherwise it will be like 300 to 100.
Morkath on
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DepressperadoI just wanted to see you laughingin the pizza rainRegistered Userregular
edited January 2009
even though I'm mostly playing Nord, I keep a horse and use it to distract whatever army I'm fighting until my army gets into position, riding circles around them, throwing axes at them. Plus, couching the lord of whatever army I'm fighting is rad as hell.
"whoops, jousting lance to the sternum, have fun rotting in my castle's prison."
even though I'm mostly playing Nord, I keep a horse and use it to distract whatever army I'm fighting until my army gets into position, riding circles around them, throwing axes at them. Plus, couching the lord of whatever army I'm fighting is rad as hell.
"whoops, jousting lance to the sternum, have fun rotting in my castle's prison."
Right now I'm leading my tiny army with a big ol' maul on horseback. It's like being Sauron from the first LoTRO movie.
Fiaryn: like Basil said, order your Nordman to stand their ground, then jam the "stand closer" key about 5-8 times, this'll bunch them up a lot closer. The charging cavalry will still get hits in, but its much more likely they'll hit a shield, and they're much more likely to take multiple return blows and get dehorsed and raped before they can break away from the condensed infantry.
even though I'm mostly playing Nord, I keep a horse and use it to distract whatever army I'm fighting until my army gets into position, riding circles around them, throwing axes at them. Plus, couching the lord of whatever army I'm fighting is rad as hell.
"whoops, jousting lance to the sternum, have fun rotting in my castle's prison."
You've no right to call yourself a lord!
After King Ragnar's great campaign the Vaegir are slowly starting to recover, the Rhodoks declaring war on us didn't help either. The Vaegir have taken back most of their lost territories east of the rivers and are currently laying siege to Rivacheg. The Rhodoks have not made any progress, but are an annoying thorn in our side. However...
I think someone has a plan to deal with the Rhodoks... (or at least, I'm assuming they're gonna go after the Rhodoks based on where we are gathering, in southwesterern Nordland)
My company is doing pretty good. Admittedly, I've spent most of my time chasing down Sea Raiders and the like to build my strength, though I have taking down a couple marauding warbands (usually decently outnumbering me, but consisting of crappy quality troops). I'm almost up to being able to command 55 men. I've got 10 Huscarls and just as many Nord veterans forming the core of my fighting force with 10 archers, most of them veterans, for ranged support. I figured 1 archer for every 4 infantry was a good mix for Nords.
On my next game, which I think will be Vaegir, the ratio is probably going to be 2/1/2 Cavalry/Infantry/Archer, but I'm not sure really).
Speaking of that, what ARE some good troop ratios for combined forces armies for the various nations? And please don't say "All Swadian Knights" or "Huscarls, Vaegir sharpshoots, and swadian knights" I'm talking about single nation, and I'm talking about ratios anyways.. :P
GalagaGalaxian on
Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you succeed in doing this, tell me how.
even though I'm mostly playing Nord, I keep a horse and use it to distract whatever army I'm fighting until my army gets into position, riding circles around them, throwing axes at them. Plus, couching the lord of whatever army I'm fighting is rad as hell.
"whoops, jousting lance to the sternum, have fun rotting in my castle's prison."
any reason you are using a joustin lance rather than a normal, good lance?
Galaga: If you are doing lance cavalry, you only need about 10, tell them to follow you. Not charge. And then just couch through the enemy army, then circle around, making sure your knights are behind you, then go in again. Anymore than 10 and they start getting pathing issues and getting stuck in the mob, in my experience.
Vaegir: 2/1/2 is good. Archers to soften them as they approach, then order the cavalry to charge and take out the remainder. Use the infantry to protect the archers.
Swadian: 3/0/1, take advantage of their knights, just go balls out charge. Archers for besieging and to hit horse archers.
Khergit: I would probably take all cavalry with khergits, it's what they do.
Rhodok: HAHAHAH. Uh, 0/3/1 I guess. More spearmen than crossbowmen. If you pack enough spearmen together you should be able to attrition their cavalry.
Nord: 0/3/1. Huscarl huscarl huscarl. And some archers for blah blah blah.
Do I just suck or is it supposed to be fuckhard on the easiest settings?
I could handle looters and deserters, no problem, no matter the odds.
Mountain bandits wrecked me if they outnumbered me.
Any and all nords would destroy me no matter the odds - 3 to 1 in my favor? Dead. All of us dead.
I enjoyed the fuck out of the game, but getting wrecked so often kinda bugged me. What was my mistake?
Also, I couldn't decide on weapon choices. I wanted to use polearms, but never found one, and ended up gaining a shitload of one handed sword skill.
Looters are the easiest enemies in the game, unless maybe you attack farmers. Deserters can be pretty much any type of enemy so they vary. If the mountain bandits had horses, then it's expected that you'd be in trouble when you first start out. If they didn't, you probably need more practice. Try some arena or tournament fights.
Do I just suck or is it supposed to be fuckhard on the easiest settings?
I could handle looters and deserters, no problem, no matter the odds.
Mountain bandits wrecked me if they outnumbered me.
Any and all nords would destroy me no matter the odds - 3 to 1 in my favor? Dead. All of us dead.
I enjoyed the fuck out of the game, but getting wrecked so often kinda bugged me. What was my mistake?
Also, I couldn't decide on weapon choices. I wanted to use polearms, but never found one, and ended up gaining a shitload of one handed sword skill.
It's a little of columns A, B and C, really. The game can be really easy or mind blowingly [strike]awesome[/strike] hard depending on both your settings and how you're trying to play it.
Mount and Blade's world is a very dangerous place, even for people wearing full plate and iron chamberpots for helmets. The important thing to keep in mind is that that at most, any character in the game has just enough health to die if they get shot in the face or swiped by a charging cavalryman, and maybe enough to survive one arrow to the chest or a couple hard blows. Most people have less, which is why they wear armor. When you start off, you're firmly in the less category. Those looters are even worse off than you.
On the bright side, the default settings reduce all damage done to you by half, meaning that rather than dropping to one solid hit, you will drop after two.
Generally speaking, if your head sprouts a crossbow bolt or you take a battle axe to the chest, you will hit the dirt. If your armor is shiny enough, you might even manage to stand up again before the axe comes back the other way and puts you down like a rabid dog. (Remember, everyone's in the same boat! Sort of. Plan accordingly! )
The real trick is to avoid being hit in the first place.
Shields are a widespread favorite, as they can be used to catch arrows that aren't aimed at your opposite shoulder, legs, groin or forehead, depending on what size and shape the thing you're cowering behind is. Shields are great, you can stop sharp things, pointy things, and in a pinch they'll even save you from a couched polearm. Shields also break if people hit them enough. A lance attached to a fast moving horse will usually break one. And your face. And possibly your horse as well.
Two handed weapons and bows preclude the use of a shield. If you're gonna use a two hander, learn to use your reach and master blocking and side stepping. It can be a pain to use a two hander against veterans at first, because at low skill levels you'll swing much slower than they can. Blocking is better than dying, so block lots.
Horses are the best option for avoiding personal injury. Archers have a lot of difficulty tracking fast moving objects, and men with sharp things have to put themselves into harms way to get a good swipe at your legs as you pass. Playing the cavalryman is the safest and easiest way to go.
So, don't get hit, play like every arrow you see could have been your last, right? It's a little harder for your troops. They're dead stupid, so telling them to block harder doesn't work, and early on they're no match for anything in a uniform. It's up to you to do most of the killing before they get any good at killing anything that doesn't fight back, and even then you'll have to tell them to stand their ground or charge when you want them to rather than running off to die in small groups.
Clumping infantry works wonders against mountain bandits, since they get all hung up and then you can chop their horses out from under them and commence with the vicious sack beatings. A good pony and a handful of arrows is the way to go against sea raiders, you don't even have to kill em, just a few arrows here and there will reduce their life expectancy. If your troops don't look like they're carrying heavy armor and weaponry to match, expect them to suffer and die unless you play an active role in combat. Stab people in the back, slice them in the neck from your saddle, insert arrows into their skulls from close range while they're otherwise occupied, and do your best a murdering bastard. It's a funny way to play a hero, but being so fragile means you've got to be brutal.
even though I'm mostly playing Nord, I keep a horse and use it to distract whatever army I'm fighting until my army gets into position, riding circles around them, throwing axes at them. Plus, couching the lord of whatever army I'm fighting is rad as hell.
"whoops, jousting lance to the sternum, have fun rotting in my castle's prison."
Right now I'm leading my tiny army with a big ol' maul on horseback. It's like being Sauron from the first LoTRO movie.
Also, holy shit I am so proud of myself. I waged a vicious guerilla war against the Swadian invaders, and over the months my ragtag band of peasants and recruits was forged into an elite band of fifty of the baddest motherfuckers to ever walk the earth. I managed to catch the main Swadian force in a forest, where my troops cut their cavalry to pieces. Then really quickly we jumped on Sargoth, and massacred everyone there with only light losses. We spent another month keeping the Swadians at the border. By then my other rebel lords had rebuilt their forces, and we sacked Wercheg. It was the most epic battle ever. First, there was this massive clash outside the walls, 200 men on each side. We crushed them, then rolled a siege tower up. Their numbers ground us down, until it was me and one Huscarl on top of the walls, facing down the Nord King and a handful of footmen. We fought for a few moments, and then I got knocked off the wall. The king killed my buddy, and came after me. I was almost dead, but I managed to kill him and win the battle. I was the only person left standing, out of perhaps 700 total troops. That was easily the most adrenaline-packed fight I've ever had.
Now Lethwyn rules the north, and we're struggling to win the war against the Swadians. Eventually I'll get those defeatist bastards who defected to the Khergits when things were looking down.
thats interesting if its a mod, because they are using it as a screenshot to show off m&b heh. Wonder what mod it is, haven't seen any guns like that before.
Btw, don't use the map "enhancement" mod. I took it off last night, and now that I've played long enough to recognize the before and after, I can see how much it fucked up the map. I thought it was just doing visual changes, but apparently "enhancement" means adding lots of impassable mountains and lakes, and in the process, cutting off a lot of towns and castles from access. This is the cause of that almost game-killing bug that hit me earlier, and I apoligize to M&B for blaming it. Off the top of my head I saw at least 6 places that were unreachable because they were on a mountain, or in one case, in a lake. I failed a couple quests because I couldn't get to the town.
Btw, don't use the map "enhancement" mod. I took it off last night, and now that I've played long enough to recognize the before and after, I can see how much it fucked up the map. I thought it was just doing visual changes, but apparently "enhancement" means adding lots of impassable mountains and lakes, and in the process, cutting off a lot of towns and castles from access. This is the cause of that almost game-killing bug that hit me earlier, and I apoligize to M&B for blaming it. Off the top of my head I saw at least 6 places that were unreachable because they were on a mountain, or in one case, in a lake. I failed a couple quests because I couldn't get to the town.
I don't think the map enhancement mod is save game compatible (like the author said). So you must start a new game to use it.
Now if you want perdy "overworld" map re-textures, I recommend this baby.
All it does it replace two of the text files, you can just swap them in and out. Unless the map mod I was linked in the last thread is a different one than the one linked here.
Edit: Okay, the OP link goes to a thread that explains it, the link someone posted in the last thread just had the direct download. I guess if I had started a new game it would've been ok. So I guess my warning is, don't use that mod with an existing game.
Yeah I linked the Map Refinement mod rather than the Map enhancement mod because I heard bad things about the "enhancement" one. Im almost positive the "refinement" mod just puts in new textures.
His screenshots also include extra texture changes from another mod, but that's the one. Tehlog Castle in Nordland is where I got stuck, it was just barely on a mountain, could get on but couldn't get off again.
Hmm, ok. Ill take that one off the list and I'll add the Punkt Hi-res one then.
Ok, added a FAQ to the OP along with some other stuff. If you keep suggesting stuff I'll keep adding it. However, I'm going out of town today until Saturday, so I'll update it then.
I figured out a couple of my problems -- first my battle size was only set to 51 so I wasn't getting anywhere near a full complement of troops when I fought.
Now go download this mod and set it to like 400. You'll shit your pants.
Be careful with that if you don't have good tactics. otherwise it will be like 300 to 100.
When you have a ton of troops like that, do they automatically form ranks or will form all one line like normal?
I figured out a couple of my problems -- first my battle size was only set to 51 so I wasn't getting anywhere near a full complement of troops when I fought.
Now go download this mod and set it to like 400. You'll shit your pants.
Be careful with that if you don't have good tactics. otherwise it will be like 300 to 100.
When you have a ton of troops like that, do they automatically form ranks or will form all one line like normal?
just one long line I believe, unless your playing with a mod that has formations.
Is there a cap on number of castles you can have in Native? I have a village and two castles (plus villages) and I'm thinking at taking a run at Khudan (its next to one of my castles and has been the source of nearly constant sieging on one of my castles).
Is there a cap on number of castles you can have in Native? I have a village and two castles (plus villages) and I'm thinking at taking a run at Khudan (its next to one of my castles and has been the source of nearly constant sieging on one of my castles).
The Bastard Sword is the best one handed weapon I've found.
I've been wielding a bastard sword for awhile (I think I'm up to Heavy Balanced Bastard Sword or something along those lines), and now some of the shopkeeps are starting to have War Swords. They're even better.
So how do I go about asking the king for a castle? We just conquered one and I went to talk to him and I didn't see the option. But when I went to the castle we took it says it belongs to no one.
So how do I go about asking the king for a castle? We just conquered one and I went to talk to him and I didn't see the option. But when I went to the castle we took it says it belongs to no one.
You have to be the one who iniates the besieging, you can't do it following a warparty, they have to be following you.
Yea, the lack of any reward (other than xp) for helping out on a siege seems like a significant oversight, given how many losses you tend to take on one. If you take a castle yourself, you'll get a screen with two options "request castle" or "don't request castle" basically. It'll take a day or two for him to decide, so you'll want to hang around and make sure it's not recaptured while it's sitting empty.
Here's a question that I couldn't find on the wiki; different actions on some quests raise or lower honor, but what does it actually do?
Different lords react to you differently based on your honor, some will be more willing to help if its high, some will be more willing to help if its low. You can tell based on how they talk, if they talk about nothing but winning and fighting and whatnot, they like honorless heathen dogs.
God this game is addictive. Twice in the last few days I've been playing the game, looked up at the clock, and noticed it's 1am. I'm tempted to just write down the URL of the game download and give it to my boss as an excuse for my poor performance at work lately.
So I've been kicking ass and taking names as a Swadian Calvary vassal now that I've finally gotten the hang of the game. But I've decided I want a bit of a challege, and I'm beginning to see the shortcomings of the default game, so I've installed Native Expansion, I'm going to stick with either the Nords or Khergits, and I've given myself one extra challenge. The bulk of my force - as much as possible, will be all-female. I know this won't work for very long, as even Sword Sisters aren't -that- great, but it'll be a neat challenge for the first half of the game. I'll let you know how it goes.
Oh, and if anyone wants a music suggestion while playing, I can confirm that listening to the Battle Theme from Gladiator while performing a Calvary charge is indeed, EPIC.
Pantsy:
Bold that Wiki at the bottom! A lot of questions asked in this thread can be answered - it's fairly well-put-together, and is a great resource.
If you can also throw these in the OP, it'd be appreciated:
- Big List of Tweaks is an invaluable thread over at the official forums. Some of these are incorporated into the bigger mods, but for those who are still playing a stock game, but want to change a few small things, it's great. Things like having the cattle follow you, changing the number of prisoners, letting you win castles more often (instead of the other nobles getting them all the time), etc. I highly suggest everyone take a quick look through, and use anything that looks good. They're quite easy to change, too - if you're familiar with notepad and the find function, you'll do fine.
-Throw the tip that blight posted about the font tweak in there too. I bet a lot of people would use it:
For people who play in high resolutions and are tired of huge walls of text during battles but still want messages on.
Edit the file E:\Mount&Blade\Data\font_data.xml
Find the line <FontData width="2048" height="1024" padding="10" font_size="70" font_scale="100" line_spacing="100">
and change it to <FontData width="2048" height="1024" padding="10" font_size="70" font_scale="75" line_spacing="100">
it'll make all text in the game smaller and less eye raping during battles.
Mod Suggestions:
-Punkt's Hi-Res Textures is in the OP already, and I highly recommend it, but I would also suggest if you're using those, you also use his other texture packs. Specifically, his Battle Map Textures and his Ocean and Blood Fix.
-More Metal Sound Mod works pretty well too. It's quite subtle - it just adds a bit of clanging, banging metal to battles and adds metallic noises if you're wearing chain or plate mail, adds some metallic noises to the horses...just about everything. It's quite well done, and in no way overbearing. You don't really notice it's there after a while, but once you take it out you notice how much worse it sounds :P
The wiki page on soldier levels I found particularly interesting. It points out that steppe bandits are the toughest horse raiders, and sea raiders are the toughest on foot, which explains why new guys get their ass kicked by them so often. Also, recruits from the Manhunter training line only ever use blunt weapons, so they're good for capturing prisoners.
I was also surprised to see that while Caravan guards are 14, Caravan masters are only 9. No wonder they always die first, the weakest guy in the whole group is leading the charge.
Nord Huscarls + Khergit Veteran Horse Archers = Extra fun time!
Is there a fast way to rack up popularity? I'm level 17 and all I've been given so far is a town, when I'd really like a castle.
There's two ways:
1) Check Cycophant's link to the Big List of Tweaks. Seriously, the original formula for deciding who gets a newly conquered fief sucks. Your relationship to the king means nothing, and any fief you own count massively against you. Oh, and the modifier for being the person who conquered the town/castle doesn't come close to outweighing a bad roll on the random number generator.
2) Get a shitload of renown and don't ask for anything but castles. Win impossible battles or tournaments, basically.
How many castles have you taken? I got the first one I captured, but neither of the two after that. I think the king goes by who has the least amount of land at the time (and when you become a vassel, you get the poorest village they have, so you're pretty low to start with). Plus maybe a combo of renown and rep, I dunno. You can rack up lots of renown by beating armies bigger than yours, I think I've gotten 18 in one seriously outnumbered fight (but not outmatched, Vaegir footmen are no match for an army of Swadian Knights). You can also get rep and renown at the same time by rescuing a fellow lord from a fight they might have lost.
I've personally taken 3 castles. And I haven't gotten a single one of them. Just this incredibly poor village on the border of the nation we're at war with.
Looking at the formula from that tweak thread, using the tweak seems to definitly be the way to go. I'm not going to bother getting 100 rep with the king (running around for most of the quests seems to cost me too much in morale and wages), but capturing it yourself definitely needs to be a higher factor.
Also, Heroes cause a morale negative? I'd guessed that the companion hatefulness was a kind of soft cap on how many you could have, but that's the opposite effect that I'd expect Heroes to have.
Galaga: If you are doing lance cavalry, you only need about 10, tell them to follow you. Not charge. And then just couch through the enemy army, then circle around, making sure your knights are behind you, then go in again. Anymore than 10 and they start getting pathing issues and getting stuck in the mob, in my experience.
Vaegir: 2/1/2 is good. Archers to soften them as they approach, then order the cavalry to charge and take out the remainder. Use the infantry to protect the archers.
Vaegir Cavalry don't use lances. They use 2 handed weapons. At least they do in Native Improved anyways.
More Metal Sound Mod works pretty well too. It's quite subtle - it just adds a bit of clanging, banging metal to battles and adds metallic noises if you're wearing chain or plate mail, adds some metallic noises to the horses...just about everything. It's quite well done, and in no way overbearing. You don't really notice it's there after a while, but once you take it out you notice how much worse it sounds :P
Oh yeah, I can definately reccomend this mod too, its great.
Ok, so what exactly does this Native Expansion mod do? I'll check out the link, but I'd like to hear from you guys too, since most of you seem to be playing it. Does it make the nations more distinct? Cause I really like how Native Improved makes the 5 kingdoms "look" different by slightly tweaking each nations gear as well as making a few minor tweaks (like Swadian Knights are no longer better in foot combat thank top tier swadian infantry meaning you at lest have some reason to take them).
GalagaGalaxian on
Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you succeed in doing this, tell me how.
Posts
"My other save is a Khergit" is branded on my horse's rump.
Now go download this mod and set it to like 400. You'll shit your pants.
It's pretty brutal watching enemy cavalry ride into a wall of infantry shields, stop dead in their tracks, get their horse killed, fall to the ground and just get an unholy beatdown.
Did I say brutal? I meant awesome.
Be careful with that if you don't have good tactics. otherwise it will be like 300 to 100.
"whoops, jousting lance to the sternum, have fun rotting in my castle's prison."
Right now I'm leading my tiny army with a big ol' maul on horseback. It's like being Sauron from the first LoTRO movie.
You've no right to call yourself a lord!
After King Ragnar's great campaign the Vaegir are slowly starting to recover, the Rhodoks declaring war on us didn't help either. The Vaegir have taken back most of their lost territories east of the rivers and are currently laying siege to Rivacheg. The Rhodoks have not made any progress, but are an annoying thorn in our side. However...
I think someone has a plan to deal with the Rhodoks... (or at least, I'm assuming they're gonna go after the Rhodoks based on where we are gathering, in southwesterern Nordland)
My company is doing pretty good. Admittedly, I've spent most of my time chasing down Sea Raiders and the like to build my strength, though I have taking down a couple marauding warbands (usually decently outnumbering me, but consisting of crappy quality troops). I'm almost up to being able to command 55 men. I've got 10 Huscarls and just as many Nord veterans forming the core of my fighting force with 10 archers, most of them veterans, for ranged support. I figured 1 archer for every 4 infantry was a good mix for Nords.
On my next game, which I think will be Vaegir, the ratio is probably going to be 2/1/2 Cavalry/Infantry/Archer, but I'm not sure really).
Speaking of that, what ARE some good troop ratios for combined forces armies for the various nations? And please don't say "All Swadian Knights" or "Huscarls, Vaegir sharpshoots, and swadian knights" I'm talking about single nation, and I'm talking about ratios anyways.. :P
any reason you are using a joustin lance rather than a normal, good lance?
Galaga: If you are doing lance cavalry, you only need about 10, tell them to follow you. Not charge. And then just couch through the enemy army, then circle around, making sure your knights are behind you, then go in again. Anymore than 10 and they start getting pathing issues and getting stuck in the mob, in my experience.
Vaegir: 2/1/2 is good. Archers to soften them as they approach, then order the cavalry to charge and take out the remainder. Use the infantry to protect the archers.
Swadian: 3/0/1, take advantage of their knights, just go balls out charge. Archers for besieging and to hit horse archers.
Khergit: I would probably take all cavalry with khergits, it's what they do.
Rhodok: HAHAHAH. Uh, 0/3/1 I guess. More spearmen than crossbowmen. If you pack enough spearmen together you should be able to attrition their cavalry.
Nord: 0/3/1. Huscarl huscarl huscarl. And some archers for blah blah blah.
Do I just suck or is it supposed to be fuckhard on the easiest settings?
I could handle looters and deserters, no problem, no matter the odds.
Mountain bandits wrecked me if they outnumbered me.
Any and all nords would destroy me no matter the odds - 3 to 1 in my favor? Dead. All of us dead.
I enjoyed the fuck out of the game, but getting wrecked so often kinda bugged me. What was my mistake?
Also, I couldn't decide on weapon choices. I wanted to use polearms, but never found one, and ended up gaining a shitload of one handed sword skill.
http://db.tigsource.com/games/mount-blade/screenshots/404
Looters are the easiest enemies in the game, unless maybe you attack farmers. Deserters can be pretty much any type of enemy so they vary. If the mountain bandits had horses, then it's expected that you'd be in trouble when you first start out. If they didn't, you probably need more practice. Try some arena or tournament fights.
Mork, looks like a mod.
It's a little of columns A, B and C, really. The game can be really easy or mind blowingly [strike]awesome[/strike] hard depending on both your settings and how you're trying to play it.
Mount and Blade's world is a very dangerous place, even for people wearing full plate and iron chamberpots for helmets. The important thing to keep in mind is that that at most, any character in the game has just enough health to die if they get shot in the face or swiped by a charging cavalryman, and maybe enough to survive one arrow to the chest or a couple hard blows. Most people have less, which is why they wear armor. When you start off, you're firmly in the less category. Those looters are even worse off than you.
On the bright side, the default settings reduce all damage done to you by half, meaning that rather than dropping to one solid hit, you will drop after two.
Generally speaking, if your head sprouts a crossbow bolt or you take a battle axe to the chest, you will hit the dirt. If your armor is shiny enough, you might even manage to stand up again before the axe comes back the other way and puts you down like a rabid dog. (Remember, everyone's in the same boat! Sort of. Plan accordingly! )
The real trick is to avoid being hit in the first place.
Shields are a widespread favorite, as they can be used to catch arrows that aren't aimed at your opposite shoulder, legs, groin or forehead, depending on what size and shape the thing you're cowering behind is. Shields are great, you can stop sharp things, pointy things, and in a pinch they'll even save you from a couched polearm. Shields also break if people hit them enough. A lance attached to a fast moving horse will usually break one. And your face. And possibly your horse as well.
Two handed weapons and bows preclude the use of a shield. If you're gonna use a two hander, learn to use your reach and master blocking and side stepping. It can be a pain to use a two hander against veterans at first, because at low skill levels you'll swing much slower than they can. Blocking is better than dying, so block lots.
Horses are the best option for avoiding personal injury. Archers have a lot of difficulty tracking fast moving objects, and men with sharp things have to put themselves into harms way to get a good swipe at your legs as you pass. Playing the cavalryman is the safest and easiest way to go.
So, don't get hit, play like every arrow you see could have been your last, right? It's a little harder for your troops. They're dead stupid, so telling them to block harder doesn't work, and early on they're no match for anything in a uniform. It's up to you to do most of the killing before they get any good at killing anything that doesn't fight back, and even then you'll have to tell them to stand their ground or charge when you want them to rather than running off to die in small groups.
Clumping infantry works wonders against mountain bandits, since they get all hung up and then you can chop their horses out from under them and commence with the vicious sack beatings. A good pony and a handful of arrows is the way to go against sea raiders, you don't even have to kill em, just a few arrows here and there will reduce their life expectancy. If your troops don't look like they're carrying heavy armor and weaponry to match, expect them to suffer and die unless you play an active role in combat. Stab people in the back, slice them in the neck from your saddle, insert arrows into their skulls from close range while they're otherwise occupied, and do your best a murdering bastard. It's a funny way to play a hero, but being so fragile means you've got to be brutal.
The first Lord of the Rings Online movie?
Definitely a mod.
Also, holy shit I am so proud of myself. I waged a vicious guerilla war against the Swadian invaders, and over the months my ragtag band of peasants and recruits was forged into an elite band of fifty of the baddest motherfuckers to ever walk the earth. I managed to catch the main Swadian force in a forest, where my troops cut their cavalry to pieces. Then really quickly we jumped on Sargoth, and massacred everyone there with only light losses. We spent another month keeping the Swadians at the border. By then my other rebel lords had rebuilt their forces, and we sacked Wercheg. It was the most epic battle ever. First, there was this massive clash outside the walls, 200 men on each side. We crushed them, then rolled a siege tower up. Their numbers ground us down, until it was me and one Huscarl on top of the walls, facing down the Nord King and a handful of footmen. We fought for a few moments, and then I got knocked off the wall. The king killed my buddy, and came after me. I was almost dead, but I managed to kill him and win the battle. I was the only person left standing, out of perhaps 700 total troops. That was easily the most adrenaline-packed fight I've ever had.
Now Lethwyn rules the north, and we're struggling to win the war against the Swadians. Eventually I'll get those defeatist bastards who defected to the Khergits when things were looking down.
I don't think the map enhancement mod is save game compatible (like the author said). So you must start a new game to use it.
Now if you want perdy "overworld" map re-textures, I recommend this baby.
Edit: Okay, the OP link goes to a thread that explains it, the link someone posted in the last thread just had the direct download. I guess if I had started a new game it would've been ok. So I guess my warning is, don't use that mod with an existing game.
Also, adding a FAQ to the OP.
His screenshots also include extra texture changes from another mod, but that's the one. Tehlog Castle in Nordland is where I got stuck, it was just barely on a mountain, could get on but couldn't get off again.
Ok, added a FAQ to the OP along with some other stuff. If you keep suggesting stuff I'll keep adding it. However, I'm going out of town today until Saturday, so I'll update it then.
When you have a ton of troops like that, do they automatically form ranks or will form all one line like normal?
just one long line I believe, unless your playing with a mod that has formations.
QEDMF xbl: PantsB G+
No cap.
The Sword of War is two handed.
Steam Support is the worst. Seriously, the worst
How boring is that? Is it even possible to whittle down 100 guys?
You have to be the one who iniates the besieging, you can't do it following a warparty, they have to be following you.
Edit: Also, @ mork, while I was reading the wiki, it indicated that there is a firearms skill in the game, but it has to be enabled by modders.
Different lords react to you differently based on your honor, some will be more willing to help if its high, some will be more willing to help if its low. You can tell based on how they talk, if they talk about nothing but winning and fighting and whatnot, they like honorless heathen dogs.
So I've been kicking ass and taking names as a Swadian Calvary vassal now that I've finally gotten the hang of the game. But I've decided I want a bit of a challege, and I'm beginning to see the shortcomings of the default game, so I've installed Native Expansion, I'm going to stick with either the Nords or Khergits, and I've given myself one extra challenge. The bulk of my force - as much as possible, will be all-female. I know this won't work for very long, as even Sword Sisters aren't -that- great, but it'll be a neat challenge for the first half of the game. I'll let you know how it goes.
Oh, and if anyone wants a music suggestion while playing, I can confirm that listening to the Battle Theme from Gladiator while performing a Calvary charge is indeed, EPIC.
Pantsy:
Bold that Wiki at the bottom! A lot of questions asked in this thread can be answered - it's fairly well-put-together, and is a great resource.
If you can also throw these in the OP, it'd be appreciated:
- Big List of Tweaks is an invaluable thread over at the official forums. Some of these are incorporated into the bigger mods, but for those who are still playing a stock game, but want to change a few small things, it's great. Things like having the cattle follow you, changing the number of prisoners, letting you win castles more often (instead of the other nobles getting them all the time), etc. I highly suggest everyone take a quick look through, and use anything that looks good. They're quite easy to change, too - if you're familiar with notepad and the find function, you'll do fine.
-Throw the tip that blight posted about the font tweak in there too. I bet a lot of people would use it:
Mod Suggestions:
-Punkt's Hi-Res Textures is in the OP already, and I highly recommend it, but I would also suggest if you're using those, you also use his other texture packs. Specifically, his Battle Map Textures and his Ocean and Blood Fix.
-More Metal Sound Mod works pretty well too. It's quite subtle - it just adds a bit of clanging, banging metal to battles and adds metallic noises if you're wearing chain or plate mail, adds some metallic noises to the horses...just about everything. It's quite well done, and in no way overbearing. You don't really notice it's there after a while, but once you take it out you notice how much worse it sounds :P
I was also surprised to see that while Caravan guards are 14, Caravan masters are only 9. No wonder they always die first, the weakest guy in the whole group is leading the charge.
Is there a fast way to rack up popularity? I'm level 17 and all I've been given so far is a town, when I'd really like a castle.
There's two ways:
1) Check Cycophant's link to the Big List of Tweaks. Seriously, the original formula for deciding who gets a newly conquered fief sucks. Your relationship to the king means nothing, and any fief you own count massively against you. Oh, and the modifier for being the person who conquered the town/castle doesn't come close to outweighing a bad roll on the random number generator.
2) Get a shitload of renown and don't ask for anything but castles. Win impossible battles or tournaments, basically.
Also, Heroes cause a morale negative? I'd guessed that the companion hatefulness was a kind of soft cap on how many you could have, but that's the opposite effect that I'd expect Heroes to have.
Vaegir Cavalry don't use lances. They use 2 handed weapons. At least they do in Native Improved anyways.
Oh yeah, I can definately reccomend this mod too, its great.
Ok, so what exactly does this Native Expansion mod do? I'll check out the link, but I'd like to hear from you guys too, since most of you seem to be playing it. Does it make the nations more distinct? Cause I really like how Native Improved makes the 5 kingdoms "look" different by slightly tweaking each nations gear as well as making a few minor tweaks (like Swadian Knights are no longer better in foot combat thank top tier swadian infantry meaning you at lest have some reason to take them).