Let's Play Mount & Blade!

[Flickerdart]

Let's Play: Mount & Blade
http://img001.photo.21cn.com/photos/album/20080203/o/B5EC83A0F0C913D27CAED799356E49A3.jpg

Ah, Mount & Blade (http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/pc/mountandblade?q=Mount%20&%20Blade). Heavily mixed reviews, some praising it for the gameplay, others laughing at it for the graphics. Personally, I find the game massively entertaining, the graphics just mean the game actually works on this rig. But the sandbox, open-ended nature of the game leaves something to be desired, namely a story to bring together the adventures of the intrepid hero. And that's what we're going to do.

But this wouldn't be an LP if you guys didn't have input. First of all, our PC requires a background. Mount & Blade gives a large array of options on that. The character could have been born of a:
a) Impoverished noble
b) Travelling merchant
c) Veteran Warrior
d) Steppe nomad
e) Hunter
f) Thief
He (or she) could have then been raised as:
a) A page at a nobleman's court
b) A shopkeeper's assistant
c) An apprentice to a craftsman
d) A street urchin
e) A steppe child
As a young adult, the character became a:
a) Squire
b) Troubadour
c) University student
d) Game poacher
e) Goods peddler
f) Smith
Finally, the reason the character became an adventurer was:
a) Revenge
b) Death of a loved one
c) Lust for money and power
d) Wanderlust
e) Being forced out of your home
Every choice affects your stats and skills, as well as starting equipment. There are a huge amount of skills, 4 stats (STR rules HP, AGI rules attack speed, INT rules skill points and CHA rules party size) and a bunch of different weapon types. The weapon type is also up for picking, but I loathe using crossbows and throwing weapons, so please don't pick those.

So, Playground, cast your votes for what you want the PC to be!

[Eldan]

You are the only son of an impoverished noble, growing up as a street urching and compensating for that by becoming a peddler adventuring for money and power.

It's basically the LP I wanted to do but then was too lazy to start.

[Istari]

I vote
e) Hunter
a) A page at a nobleman's court
a) Squire
d) Wanderlust

I tried playing the demo of the game but I thought it felt a bit to big and open ended, there wasn't really anything you should be doing and most of the quests sent you all over the place and it was hard to find anything.

[Breltar]

My choices...

a. Impoverished Noble - maybe the illegitimate child of a noble who did a bit too much wenching

c. raised an apprentice craftsman - since orphaned got an apprenticeship to a local smith which would make our hero a bit smarter than the average serf

f. grew up to be a smith - knows weapons and armor a bit, how metal works and increases the heroes strength more than that of an average serf

e. Forced out of your home - war ravages the heroes home and with his town/village in shambles he embraces his illegitimate heritage to do what he is destined to do.

This makes for an interesting combo and should be a fairly compelling story if played out in a role play fashion.

[The Dark Fiddler]

Born of a Thief
Raised as a page at a nobleman's court
As a young adult, the character became a Game poacher
Finally, the reason the character became an adventurer was being forced out of his home

He got a bit too Don Quixote.

Use a lance! And fight the windmills!

[Flickerdart]

I tried playing the demo of the game but I thought it felt a bit to big and open ended, there wasn't really anything you should be doing and most of the quests sent you all over the place and it was hard to find anything.
Yeah, that is one issue, but it also lets you just run around killing people. You can locate things with an encyclopedia sort of thing, and all the lords seem to spy on one another so they know exactly where everyone is. My biggest issue with the game is that everything is almost in the same place, so you can be wailing on looters one minute and then Sea Bandits come and take your stuff the next.

[Connor Darkdart]

He was born from the pairing of an impoverished noble and a merchant, as such as a child he was sent off to be an apprentice to a craftsman to support the family. He spent many years crafting items before coming home to find his father had sold him as squire to a lord. There were many painful years of learning to serve a knight before he decided to leave the lord covertly in a fit of wanderlust.

I did something like the second poster, but bolded the important parts. I might write up a more detailed one once we know our name.

PS. Can we also submit ideas for names?

[ZeroNumerous]

She was the third daughter of an Steppe Nomad. Born into a life where she was expected to be nothing did not jive with her, and she lived her life as a Steppe Child with multiple vocal complaints. A group of knights coming from the south killed her family, captured her and her sister and brought them back to be sold as slaves. During an escape attempt she critically injured one of the guards and caught the eye of a passing noble. He bought her and made her into his daughter's Lady In Waiting(Or Squire, if that option is available to female PCs). An assault by the noble's rivals saw the daughter slain and so she sets out to find her long lost sister in a fit of wanderlust.

[Flickerdart]

Sure, since I'm awful with names, feel free to submit your own.

Also feel free to recommend mods, since I don't have any.

[ZeroNumerous]

Sure, since I'm awful with names, feel free to submit your own.

Joe(Jane) Facestabber.

[The Dark Fiddler]

Ron Mixote.


What? Why are you looking at me like that?

[Connor Darkdart]

Connor Darkdart.

What? Thats what I name all my characters in Mount and Blade.

Alternatively:

Horatio Darkdart
James Harty
Nick Shurmass

Mirene Ticleg
Jeanette Fairbossom (What? There were many people named after their inherent genetic treasures)
Treoatia Firehand
Prinley Motherson

[Thanatos 51-50]

Man, I really need to re-download M&B.
UUnfortunatly, I've since lost my code from back when the game was something like 40% cheaper.

I see the character generation has changed alot. I remeber when it was Hunter, Squire, or Merchant. Most recent version I played only had two character gneration choices beyond gender, but I don't remember them.

I do remember it was immensly satisfying to A) go tilting and run down river pirates with a quarterstaff, only to sell them into slavery. and B) Bear down on a peasent full speed with a battle axe and crash it into his face.

How is the full version?

Also:

Steppe Nomad
Steppe Child
Game Poacher
Being forced out of your home

Horse archery for the win.

[Myatar_Panwar]

He was born from the pairing of an impoverished noble and a merchant, as such as a child he was sent off to be an apprentice to a craftsman to support the family. He spent many years crafting items before coming home to find his father had sold him as squire to a lord. There were many painful years of learning to serve a knight before he decided to leave the lord covertly in a fit of wanderlust.


I agree with this one.

Also, have any fellow M&B players tried out the Prophesy of Pendor mod? New map, new factions, new units, new items, new lesser factions, new quests/town options, new companions, etc. Its the most fleshed out mod I've ever played, and there is little it doesn't do better than Native, if anything. Try it out. :smalltongue:

[Recaiden]

I agree with this one.

Also, have any fellow M&B players tried out the Prophesy of Pendor mod? New map, new factions, new units, new items, new lesser factions, new quests/town options, new companions, etc. Its the most fleshed out mod I've ever played, and there is little it doesn't do better than Native, if anything. Try it out. :smalltongue:

Yes. It's the one I'm playing now. Lords and Realms does a few knigdom managing things better, but compared to native, everything is improved, I think. Although running from the unique spawns gets annoying at times. Then again, watching Eyegrim mow down enemy lords is pretty fun. :smalltongue:

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

Horse Archery FTW! It takes skill, but there's nothing more fulfilling than killing an enemy lancer with an arrow to the head the second before he hits you. Watching him slide backwards off his horse is also fun, of course.

[Connor Darkdart]

Horse Archery FTW! It takes skill, but there's nothing more fulfilling than killing an enemy lancer with an arrow to the head the second before he hits you. Watching him slide backwards off his horse is also fun, of course.

Except of course, shooting said lancer in the head from his own fortifications and then promptly doing so to every one of his kin who tries to hunt you down, then extracting the arrow and reshooting it (or just shooting new arrows) in to his private parts so that it seems he died of blood loss to the privates. Although that goes double when playing the opposite sex of the lancer, as it then appears that he not only died, but died because he was attracted to you.

*cough* I play too much Condemned don't I?

[The Dark Fiddler]

Being Don Quixote might be better.

Come on, imagine it!

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

Ok, I admit, that is also kind of awesome.

[Connor Darkdart]

Being Don Quixote might be better.

Come on, imagine it!

*starts modding in windmills and halucinatory drugs*

[13_CBS]

Being Don Quixote might be better.

Come on, imagine it!

You'd lose in a one-on-one battle against a caravan merchant. That...doesn't sound quite as awesome. :smallconfused:

[ZeroNumerous]

You'd lose in a one-on-one battle against a caravan merchant. That...doesn't sound quite as awesome. :smallconfused:

Early level battles are more about how you play rather than your stats.

Level 15+ is when you stats matter more than how you play.

[Thanatos 51-50]

Does couched lanes still blow everything out of the water?
And can you still couch quarterstaves?

[Myatar_Panwar]

Does couched lanes still blow everything out of the water?
And can you still couch quarterstaves?

Couched lances are still amazing.

And I believe that quarterstaves still count as polearms, so yes.

[ZeroNumerous]

Does couched lanes still blow everything out of the water?

Yes, if you could actually hit with the damn thing. Personally, I favor heavy bastard swords or two-handed axes.

[Thanatos 51-50]

Couched quaterstaves: A Slaver's best friend.

Actually - is there a non-Evil option for taking captives, now?


Yes, if you could actually hit with the damn thing. Personally, I favor heavy bastard swords or two-handed axes.

If you're having trouble hitting something with a couched polearm, there is something seriously wrong with that. Is your game bugged or something?

It's even more fun taking down horse archers by either hitting them or their horse from the side.

[ZeroNumerous]

If you're having trouble hitting something with a couched polearm, there is something seriously wrong with that. Is your game bugged or something

Nope, my horse just hits things before I do.

[Thanatos 51-50]

Get a better lance. theres a reach stat for a reason, and it's probably the most important one for polearms.
If I remember correctly, there was one with fairly long reach that did blunt damage called a "Practice Lance". It was awesome.

[Myatar_Panwar]

Your horse doesn't even have to hit the guy at all if your lance is far enough to the side, and you make sure to move your horse when necessary.

And while couched lances are awesome for taking out both horse and rider, just about any weapon with a little momentum will 1 shot dudes, so its not like its your only option. My current loadout is Lance, 2H Sword, Shield, Throwing Axes. In my last archery heavy game I used 2H Sword, Bow, 2 slots for arrows.

[ZeroNumerous]

My current loadout is Lance, 2H Sword, Shield, Throwing Axes.

Mine's Heavy Bastard Sword, Shield, Longbow, Khergit Arrows. I hate throwing stuff, and dislike crossbows for attacking during a siege.

[Thanatos 51-50]

Your horse doesn't even have to hit the guy at all if your lance is far enough to the side, and you make sure to move your horse when necessary.

And while couched lances are awesome for taking out both horse and rider, just about any weapon with a little momentum will 1 shot dudes, so its not like its your only option. My current loadout is Lance, 2H Sword, Shield, Throwing Axes.

My personal favourite loadout was the best bow I could afford and use, a quiver of the best arrows I could use (It still automatically refills at the end of every figh, right?), a lance, usually dealing blunt damage, and the thickest shield I could afford and use.
The shield was mostly so I didn't get shot in the back when soloing mobs of fifty or so horse archers.

[Myatar_Panwar]

Yeah whenever I have to siege/defend something I switch out the lance and throwing axes for bow and arrow.

[Thanatos 51-50]

I don't believe I've ever succesfully partaken in the taking of a castle. It's just far too hard to do solo.

Attacking trade caravans and villages alone, and completely wasting them into nothnngness, though?
Score.

[ZeroNumerous]

I don't believe I've ever succesfully partaken in the taking of a castle. It's just far too hard to do solo.

I use soldiers. Specifically veteran horse archers if I can swing it, but Rhodok crossbows will fit in a pinch. Just don't let the horse archers go charging in.

[Flickerdart]

Looks like Nobleman's Son - Apprentice - Squire - Wanderlust is what we're going to hit up, then. That gives us melee weapon scores in the high 70s, 8s in everything except INT which is 6, 4 attribute points to spare, 6 more skill points (with Power Swing, Riding, Weapon Mastery and Leadership already raised) and abysmal ranged attacks. We are going to be hiring a lot of archers by the looks of it. I'll have something up in the next two days.

[Matthew]

I don't believe I've ever successfully partaken in the taking of a castle. It's just far too hard to do solo.

Attacking trade caravans and villages alone, and completely wasting them into nothingness, though?
Score.

Storming castles and towns is probably the hardest part of the game, especially if the enemy town is filled with enemy lords and their retinues. You basically need a decent army of heavy infantry to do it in one go, though I hear people who turn automatic parrying "on" have a much easier time of it. Archers are okay in that situation, but eventually they run out of arrows.

[The Dark Fiddler]

So, we're gonna be an archer, right? :smallcool:

[Swordguy]

You know, to this day I've never seen a computer-controlled character run out of arrows (I've got the retail version, been playing since 0.6).

As for storming castles, here's the trick that works for 80% of the castles in the game: make sure you have a shield equipped, hit F2 for "follow me!", and then run up the ladder. At the top of the ladder, turn right or left and hop up on the crenellations. You can usually run all the way to one of the archer-infested towers. If not, just jump from one crenellation to another. You'll pull a bunch of NPCs with you, which gives your infantry time to establish a beachhead on the wall. They'll stop chasing you after a moment and turn back around, so wipe out anybody left following you and hit F3 for "charge!". Then just start laying into the turned backs of the enemy (or go after the archers so they stop shooting people on the way up the ladder). You'll rack up HUGE numbers of kills (and XP) that way - downward strokes of a 2H sword being your best tool here. Things to watch out for is the enemy reinforcements - if they spawn behind you, you're in deep, deep trouble - and lone archers that zone in on you as the only possible target to shoot at. Ten archers will miss you every time, one archer will headshot you five times out of ten.

And regardless, you shouldn't try taking a castle without a good 25-40 Hired Blades as the core of your army in any case.

[Myatar_Panwar]

And regardless, you shouldn't try taking a castle without a good 25-40 Hired Blades as the core of your army in any case.

I prefer 40-50 Nord Huscarls. :smallcool:

[Swordguy]

I prefer 40-50 Nord Huscarls. :smallcool:

I don't always go Nord. :smallamused:

To be fair, I usually do, though, just because I HATE trying to take castles from the bastards.

[Flickerdart]

So, we're gonna be an archer, right? :smallcool:
I'll be dumping excess weapons points into archery, most likely, not that I'll have them with Weapon Master this high by default. Why, my weapons skills are almost as good as those of random peasants you buy for 10 gold!

[ZeroNumerous]

You know, to this day I've never seen a computer-controlled character run out of arrows (I've got the retail version, been playing since 0.6).

This is true. If you set up 20-30 Swadian Knights as a shield wall and back them up with Crossbows or Vet Horse Archers they'll end up being a very powerful force.

[Myatar_Panwar]

Flicker, what faction do you plan on joining? If any?

My vote goes towards the Vaegirs if you plan on hiring lots of archers.

edit: And the computer definitely will run out of arrows. I have seen it happen a few times when I've cheated to try all archer forces. When defending a castle however, I believe they replenish them every so often.

[Flickerdart]

Plans are for those who know what they're doing. With the story I have in mind, plans are irrelevant. Bwahaha. Haha. Uhm.

First faction to offer, probably, but as with anything, I will listen to suggestions.

[Thanatos 51-50]

I vote for the aweosme Horse-archery of the Khergits!
I'm iased, though.

Remember when the Khergits were just a Raider faction? That was awesome!

[Murska]

Go for Nords! And yeah, I usually go for a good 2H sword, a lance and a bow with arrows. I tend to lose horribly if I'm not on a horse, though. :smalltongue:

[Recaiden]

Khergit or Rhodok, all the way. If I'm not a horse archer, I like to use a lance to take out infantry, and a 2 handed sword to fight other cavalry or when knocked off my horse.

[Flickerdart]

Is there any way I can name my nameless mooks? The X-Com LPs were hilarious in that regard, and I'd like to do that too. I mean, I know that I can have just the one unit of a type and keep track that way, but it's just not the same.

[The Dark Fiddler]

Knowing nothing of the game or these 'factions', I say don't join anything, just be a loner. :smallcool:

[Matthew]

You know, to this day I've never seen a computer-controlled character run out of arrows (I've got the retail version, been playing since 0.6).


Really? I have seen it happen time after time; every fresh wave of enemies sees a new hail of arrows period.



As for storming castles, here's the trick that works for 80% of the castles in the game: make sure you have a shield equipped, hit F2 for "follow me!", and then run up the ladder. At the top of the ladder, turn right or left and hop up on the crenellations. You can usually run all the way to one of the archer-infested towers. If not, just jump from one crenellation to another. You'll pull a bunch of NPCs with you, which gives your infantry time to establish a beachhead on the wall. They'll stop chasing you after a moment and turn back around, so wipe out anybody left following you and hit F3 for "charge!". Then just start laying into the turned backs of the enemy (or go after the archers so they stop shooting people on the way up the ladder). You'll rack up HUGE numbers of kills (and XP) that way - downward strokes of a 2H sword being your best tool here. Things to watch out for is the enemy reinforcements - if they spawn behind you, you're in deep, deep trouble - and lone archers that zone in on you as the only possible target to shoot at. Ten archers will miss you every time, one archer will headshot you five times out of ten.

And regardless, you shouldn't try taking a castle without a good 25-40 Hired Blades as the core of your army in any case.

Never works for me, my guy is always laid out as soon as he attempts to scale the ladder, shield or not. That's with a heater shield mind, I should probably invest in a board. Once he's up on the ramparts he's an even bigger target. So risky if you have been sitting outside the castle for a week building a siege tower (in the old versions you didn't need to rebuild it on each assault, but in the newest version you do), and morale suffers like mad under those conditions. Of course, I play on hardcore, no saves to reload. :smallbiggrin:

A good alternative is to take a small force of crack troops to draw them out by provoking a sally, as you can mow them down in a straight up fight. Only works once, though, it would seem.

[ZeroNumerous]

Never works for me, my guy is always laid out as soon as he attempts to scale the ladder, shield or not.

I use a Knightly Heater and don't have much trouble getting up the ladder. Even without a board, I get up with at most two arrow hits.

[13_CBS]

A secret I've found in castle storming in M&B:

No matter how many enemies there are garrisoning the castle, there will always, ALWAYS be no more than 230~250 enemies spawning on the map, total (coming in waves, of course). I found this out after using cheats to essentially solo castle storming. Once (or if) you win, you'll have a disgusting number of prisoners to capture or let go.

If the enemy sallies, that's another 100 enemies to fight, but you do it outside of the walls. No one will be on the walls during the sally, so enemy missile troops aren't quite as worrisome.

[Thanatos 51-50]

Just re-downloaded the trial. Spent the last half hour or so dancing with 21 Steppe bandits on my own.
Guess who won?

[Flickerdart]

Oh, just a quick heads up, I'm not exactly what you'd call good at the game. Don't expect soloing of any castles.

[Myatar_Panwar]

Oh, just a quick heads up, I'm not exactly what you'd call good at the game. Don't expect soloing of any castles.

That is what I would like to call impossible, unless you are straight up cheating. Hell, when on foot I don't even like fighting more than 2 people at once, let alone a whole castle full of dudes.

Unless you just mean without the help of other lords. The ability to take castles with just your army comes eventually, when you have invested far more time than you would like to think into the game. :smalltongue:

[Thanatos 51-50]

Oh, just a quick heads up, I'm not exactly what you'd call good at the game. Don't expect soloing of any castles.

It's cool. I'm horrible when not on horseback and I'm significantly worse without a polearm.

[Comet]

I prefer to play Mount&Blade these days with mods.
The Eagle and The Radiant Cross is my favourite. Not sure if it's the kind of mod you're looking for, but I think it's really cool. It has an all-new pile of factions, new units and most importantly firearms that are not horribly buggy or ugly.

The longarms, pistols and handcannons really change the feel of the game, but I think they're too cool to pass up :smallbiggrin:

[Thanatos 51-50]

A found a possible way to re-acwuire my serial code! Woo!

[Flickerdart]

I'm uploading the screenshots now, the writing soon to come. It's going surprisingly well so far, no one's died or anything. I've even got a potential "recurring" NPC (which might not be the same one as he was before) who is the first unit I recruited, then the first Crossbowman, then the first Trained Crossbowman.

Strange technical difficulties have resulted in some images being shunted down a little bit by a little bit of landscape. Weird.

Aaand...here we go!

Ch. 1

Progressor Anton Malyshev, personal log
Local Date: March 23, 1257
Touched down on Calradia today, a backwoods place of little consequence. No one would trust a rookie with anything interesting like Pandora, so we get sent all over the place for scouting instead, getting some experience in before they call in the big shots like Kammerer and shoo us off.
The brass had a story all worked out for me, how very kind of them. I am to be the son of a nobleman fallen from grace (foreign, they assure me), apprenticed in his childhood to a smith and later in life a squire. Gave me a banner too, big flashy thing on coarse canvas that I would rather chuck somewhere. The story would fit my skills, they said, but thinking about what a craftsman squire of noble birth should be able to do, I don't think I have what it takes.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/Charsheet11.jpg
My story had been tied to the name of Rumata, supposedly one that will blend in. Unfortunately, as a scout it is my job to find out whether or not this is actually the case, as well as anything else about this place. Preliminary reports peg it as your standard medieval fare, cities loosely tied into kingdoms and much to be desired in terms of sanitation. The immunity drugs should keep me safe in terms of that, but there have been cases proving the contrary before.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/Startage1.jpg
Looking around now, I see the grassy plain stretched out before me. There are no trees for miles, only pastures and grain. This must be very fertile land, meaning that someone would be trying to conquer it pretty much all the time. Suddenly, the weight of the weapons that the eggheads gave me feels very comforting.
The craft dropped me near a training field before taking off. Captain said that's where they send all the newbies, to see if they can take care of themselves. Those that can't usually don't become Progressors to begin with. The champions at those fields were almost exclusively our boys by now, though it's impossible that anyone else would have made it as far as this place already.
The trainer didn't waste any time, and as soon as I dismounted, he was already calling one of the fighters over.
"Another adventurer?" he muttered. "Where do you people keep coming from?"
"I-" I stammered. "I was told to come here by-"
He smacked me upside the head. I should have brought a helmet. "Too much talking for a warrior! Not enough fighting! Here's an opponent, kid. Try not to wet yourself."
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/fight1.jpg
He tossed me a quarterstaff, a moment too late to block the other man's strike. But his second blow met my staff, and the third was cut short by a jab in the guts.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/block1.jpg
The staff rested in my hand with more sureness than a sword would have. The other man flinched, shocked that I was able to strike him. Most likely he's only faced straw dummies before, or whatever they use here for practise. [I later found out this was whoever happened to be smaller and weaker than them. Barbaric.] That hesitation cost him all his momentum, and I smashed through his feeble defence with as much finesse as one can muster wielding what is essentially an oversized stick.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/victory1.jpg
The trainer didn't seem impressed, but I noticed that he hesitated for a moment before calling over another fighter. This one carried a proper sword and shield, and almost looked like he knew which side of them to hold on to as I knocked him down with more ease than the first.
Opponents came at me in a steady stream. Eventually the trainer took away the staff and let me use a sword, as if that would make me more susceptible to what he could throw at me. Needles to say, it didn't work, and so he gave it back. Soon only the two of us were standing, the morning's gentle silence broken by groans and moans of my former adversaries.
"Is that all you've got?" I asked the trainer, leaning on the staff and panting. I've never had to fight this many opponents in a row, regardless of how feeble.
"No, it isn't!" I heard a hearty voice call out from behind as a heavy hand smacked me on the back. As I spun around, one of the three men standing behind me grabbed my hand and shook it vigorously. "I am the champion of this field. The two of my friends and I have each defeated all the other combatants, same as you, and now we'd like to try our hand against such an extraordinary newcomer. What do you say?"
"Sure," I stood up straight. This was going to be the real test of skill.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/champions1.jpg
"Ready?" the Trainer said. You could see the hope in his eye, that his best fighters would be able to take me down. Let him hope. "Go!"
The first champion drew his tremendous blade and spun it in a complicated pattern as he approached me slowly, taunting. The first strike of my staff disarmed him, and soon he joined his weapon on the ground.
"A fluke, nothing more," the second one declared as he strode into the ring. After a few seconds, he limped back out and collapsed beside the first, saying nothing.
I had gotten quite arrogant by this point, and rushed straight at the third champion, brandishing the staff. My blow landed square on his shield, and his riposte across my ribs. The blow knocked me down, and as I leaped to my feet he knocked me down again. The third time, I caught his blade on the staff, and soon he fell to the ground, though not as soon as I would have liked. The shield he used had saved him countless times, and I was about to strap it onto my own arm before the Trainer sent something harder at me. But he didn't.
"Congratulations, lad," he patted me on the back. "You've outdone my wildest expectations, but don't get too cocky. You've only fought single enemies so far, but even a common gang of looters are something else entirely." He thrust a small pouch of silver into my hand and waved me off.
I thanked him for the advice, and left the training ground, the red lion banner trailing behind my steed. I felt more confident in the mission than I ever did before, like my years of training were suddenly paying off.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/lvl21.jpg

There was a village nearby, and I headed there. Regardless of my successes, it would not be prudent to forget my primary task. The place was filthy, and the streets were bare. As well they should; by the looks of it the time was ripe for harvest, and the locals likely couldn't afford to sit around the village. Most of them, anyways.
"Hullo, m'lord!" I heard someone shout, and a filthy heap of sandy hair popped out from behind a building, followed by the rest of a short, slightly malnourished man. He had a sack slung across his back and an axe in his simple rope belt, neither of them things that a local would carry with him. "Travelling without your men at arms, here? Needlessly brave of you, m'lord."
"Uh..." I stopped. So this was a feudal land, which meant that nobody would take anyone but a lord or a merchant seriously, and the economics of this place were not yet clear to me. "They were killed. By bandits." I gestured at the cuts and bruises I earned at the training field.
"Bandits, eh? Well, m'lord, it just so happens that me own 'adventuring company' had a run-in with some curs as well, a few days back. I was the best fighter there, I was, and I reckon I'll server you just as well as any other lad around here would."
It would be useful to get a local's aid. "Very well," I said, "you may follow me," and turned to leave before the other man cleared his throat loudly.
"There's the matter of me pay, sire."
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/recruit1.jpg
Oh, great. I had no idea how much the coins the Trainer had given me were worth. I reached into the pouch and grabbed a random amount of coins, tossing them to the tribesman.
"Ten denar, m'lord? You honour me!"
Great, I overpaid.
"If you're paying that generously, m'lord, then I know a few more friends what would be interested in such a wage."
Great. I was going to be overpaying more, but there was no renegotiating now. I put on my best stony face and rode forth, telling the man that I would meet him outside the village when he got his friends gathered up.
But there was already someone there when I neared, and he didn't look friendly at all.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/locals1.jpg
I don't lose my temper often. But after being hit about the head and body more than I can count, being overcharged and the generally offensive smell of this whole place in which I would be stuck for another five years at the least, it didn't take a lot to get me mad.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/kill1.jpg
Even one of the Novices at the training ground could have taken down this man. He looked like a random villager who found someone that looked rich and decided to try his luck. And now he was dead. I made a mental note to cut down on the killing.
"Nice shot, m'lord!" a familiar voice rang out, and it was joined by cheering. It looked like my new followers nearly handled the rest of the bandits faster than I could notice them.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/lootersdead1.jpg
I pulled out a crossbow and loosed a few ineffectual arrows at the remaining looter before my followers smashed into him, doing quite a bit more good than I. I looked at the contraption with disgust. So clumsy, with a horrible rate of fire, and inaccurate from the back of a moving horse to boot. This may be the latest and greatest in technology hereabouts, but I was ready to toss the thing.
"M'lord, that's a nice crossbow!" I heard my new friend call out. "Might if I try it out?"
"Be my guest," I tossed it to him, and he nailed a bird to a tree some fifty yards away almost at once. "That's how you use it, m'lord. Mind if I hang on to it?"
"Be my guest," I shrugged.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/promotions1.jpg
We made camp right there, to deal with the matter of their payments. We settled on a paltry sum of one denar a week, though the crossbowman managed to bargain his way to ten by means of some more incredible crossbow tricks, the last of them putting a bolt through the head of a bandit no one else saw coming. The rest of them were stopped dead quickly enough by others who wanted a raise before they even got a single paycheck. Two others proved to be crack shots, and almost all the rest of them were very promising. I decided to stick to swords for now.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/morepromotions1.jpg

[Myatar_Panwar]

Man you should have updated this with a double post.

Good stuff so far, strange to see any sort of interesting dialog accompanying M&B.

[Flickerdart]

The worst thing about this is that I have to update before I can play more. I already have the screen caps for the next update, which I had to stop because there's a decision you guys get to make.

[Fri]

That was... interesting...

And I've waited so long for a MnB letsplay.

[Thanatos 51-50]

So - I recently figured out it was possible to rebel against the khan.
Oh, yes, Sanjar. You'll get yours, and it will be glorious!

[Lord_Asmodeus]

Man, I wish I'd seen this sooner. Can you change your banner in Vanilla? I forget. Speaking of which, Prophesy of Pendor (http://forums.taleworlds.net/index.php?topic=53027.0) is a fantastic mod for M&B, though it's a fair bit harder (most notably due to the fact that while there are still bandits and looters to slay, roving bands of Rogue Knights, Heretics, Snake Cultists and more can be very dangerous to a beginning player)

[Flickerdart]

I don't think you can change your banner, no.

On a side note, since I can't keep playing without having to write, I've been hitting up the Quick Battles. How in the world do you beat Siege Defence? The character you get is level TWO (I've gotten her to level twice in that battle) and all your troops get slaughtered by the attackers. The only way I can think of would be to perfect head-shot 25 of the enemy before the siege engine makes it to the wall.

[Myatar_Panwar]

I just gave it a shot. Not sure what problem you are having.... Beat it, and in the end lost 15 troops. Our side killed all 40, and I only killed 5 of those. Though maybe its because I didn't bother shooting the crossbowmen, but used all of my bolts to weaken the heavily armored melee dudes.

[Flickerdart]

Wow, seriously? Just tried it again, and my forces were destroyed pretty much as soon as the guys got up on the wall. I ended up defending against half the enemy's force and then died.

[Thanatos 51-50]

What's the choice? Is it to join a faction or something?

[Flickerdart]

What's the choice? Is it to join a faction or something?
All in due time. I may be able to update again today.

[Thanatos 51-50]

I shall fill you with Arrows launched from the back of my charging horse!
WAAAAAGH!
I wonder if you'll notice a sharp increase in your personal skill as you continue this LP. I've sure noted a big jump in my Horse-Archery skills.

[Flickerdart]

You mean they are not one and the same? The more you know...

[Thanatos 51-50]

Wait - what? That didn't make sense.

[ZeroNumerous]

I don't think you can change your banner, no.

Be a noble, pick a banner. Once you have it though, no you cannot change it.

EDIT:


The only way I can think of would be to perfect head-shot 25 of the enemy before the siege engine makes it to the wall.

I beat it pretty effortlessly now. I just pull my archers onto that little area that overlooks the siege tower's landing spot, then tell my infantry to hold beside them. When the tower's approaching I fire my crossbow into them with my archers. We'll usually kill 5-10 guys. Then when the tower hits you order your infantry to charge while your archers fire into the enemy as they move up. The winnowing effect from your archers combined with the tight quarters of the castle wall negates the enemy's numerical advantage.

Though I admit to having trouble when I first started.

EDIT: Just now beat it, but the map glitched and wouldn't end despite having killed all 44 guys. I killed 9 and only lost 12.

[Fri]

Be a noble, pick a banner. Once you have it though, no you cannot change it.

EDIT:



I beat it pretty effortlessly now. I just pull my archers onto that little area that overlooks the siege tower's landing spot, then tell my infantry to hold beside them. When the tower's approaching I fire my crossbow into them with my archers. We'll usually kill 5-10 guys. Then when the tower hits you order your infantry to charge while your archers fire into the enemy as they move up. The winnowing effect from your archers combined with the tight quarters of the castle wall negates the enemy's numerical advantage.

Though I admit to having trouble when I first started.

EDIT: Just now beat it, but the map glitched and wouldn't end despite having killed all 44 guys. I killed 9 and only lost 12.

Same with me. It's the easiest on all the quick battle for me now.

[Ethdred]

Excellent start - I loved the idea of being a spaceman exploring the place! Looking forward to the next update.

I vote for joining a pretender and leading a faction of rebels - great fun, but you probably need to be a bit higher level than I was when I started doing it in my game :)

[Flickerdart]

Ch. 2

Progressor Anton Malyshev, personal log
Local Date: March 27, 1257
Now that I and the men have agreed on wages, it occurs to me that the handful of coins was not going to last me very long. Requisitioning more replicas from home base was not an option, and I could scarcely fathom how people here made money. Nobody at the Institute actually listened to the historic development theorems, but some parts I still recalled readily enough. Namely, that most people in a society of this level would be illiterate, farmers that couldn't afford anything more than the next day's meal. Any way of making money I was going to find would be at one of the local cities.
As I was about to announce that we were breaking camp, I heard an incredibly loud crashing noise coming from the tents. I wrestled my sword from its scabbard and was at the scene momentarily, shocked when I saw nothing but my own men, one of whom was jumping around on one foot and clutching the other in a rather comical way. Those who weren't laughing at him were trying to get some canvas sacks back onto one of the horses.
"What are you doing?" I exclaimed. "And what happened to that man?"
"One of the loot sacks spilled, sire," one of the bystanders told me. "Right onto poor Tidrich's foot. Just a harmless bruise, he'll be good to go in a minute or-"
"Hold," I raised my arm to stop him, realized that I still had my blade drawn and hastily replaced it in its sheathe. "Loot sacks?"
"Quite right, sire. The weapons and armour of our enemies, yours by right of conquest."
I was speechless. On the one side, this was practically grave robbery, in addition to the murder. On the other, I think I have just solved my brief financial crisis.
"Get that sack up on the horse, and pack up. We're headed for the nearest city in half an hour."
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/01merchantry.jpg
The new funds seemed almost like a fortune. On the advice of my men, I hired several horsemen to join me in the charge of battle. Men who are on foot simply can't keep up, it would seem, and they seemed surprisingly interested in my well-being (because I pay them well, most likely). I just think they want the fights to finish before they can catch up.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/02cavalry1.jpg
These men, who call themselves the Khergit, proved to be invaluable allies. So invaluable that they demanded twice the payment of the other troops. They were not prone to negotiating, so I begrudgingly accepted. It will be invaluable research to learn their way of life as well as those of the Rhodok.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/03armedforces1.jpg
At first glance, it would appear their way of life is eerily similar, which is to find something, then kill it and sell its stuff. When pressed, they said it's "just what adventurers do", and acted as if that was explanation enough. Truly, this land is more barbaric than I had thought, and I fear that in paying them to kill, I am perpetuating this violent style of life.
But no, it would not appear they need my money to kill. No sooner have my archers spied an approaching enemy that I heard hunting horns behind me, and a cavalry force charged past us, much better equipped than even those under my command. Had they been of a mind to bring us harm, it is likely we would have died there and then.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/04somelord1.jpg
Instead, they rushed at the enemy, and spared me the grisly deed of murder. After the dust had settled and my men dragged off what equipment they judged valuable enough (which seems to be everything, down to the woolen hats they wear. I think that if we had a wagon, these "adventurers" would have filled it to the brim with everything we find instead of merely anything they can sell. I think I saw one of them trying to attach two of these five-foot spears they have together end-to-end, muttering something about poles) I was approached by an immaculately dressed and well-groomed man, who introduced himself as Lord Nasugei of the Khergit Khanate.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/05Nasugei1.jpg
"Do not be ridiculous, my lord," I replied. His accent was hard to understand, but I was shocked at how polite he was compared to everyone else I have met so far. "It was your victory. I played no significant part."
"If you really thought that, your men would not be looting the bodies right now," Nasugei laughed. To be so nonchalant after a battle said a lot about these people, as did the fact that they were so quick to come to a stranger's aid. I must remember Nasugei as a potential contact for any intervention by upper classes that may be needed.
"I do have a request to make of you, Rumata," Nasugei said suddenly. "I understand that it is odd to ask a stranger a favour, but I am hoping you would do this one thing for me. I have here a letter to Lord Belir, which I need delivered immediately. But I cannot spare any of my men to deliver it. Would you kindly deliver it for me?"
No courier system? Strange. Though perhaps Nasugei believed that my men-at-arms would mean a surer delivery.
"I would be glad to do you this service, my lord."
Not long after Nasugei's party and we parted way, I spotted another large force on the horizon, coming more or less right at us. They also flew a banner, and must have spotted mine, because a few of the horsemen split from the general party and approached us.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/05Meltor1.jpg
Lord Meltor was not as kind, and clearly did not think much of me. On the plus side, my story seemed to hold; nobody recognized this banner and didn't pry further.
"Yes, my lord," I answered, bowing slightly as I recall from somewhere was a custom. "How may I serve?"
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/05Taxcollector1.jpg
He did not have the look of a man that took no for an answer. This would prove another valuable insight into the society, so I accepted, though I did not know where this village was. I did not want to betray my ignorance, and decided to ask lord Belir when I delivered the letter.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/08locallord.jpg
I found him in a large castle nearby, the guards only letting me in after I brandished Lord Nasugei's seal. Lord Belir himself greeted me rather warmly, and opened the letter right there and then.
"Rumata, is it? If Lord Nasugei trusted you enough to deliver this, I have no reason to doubt you."
"What would you have me do, my lord?" I asked warily.
Instead of an answer, Lord Belir began reading from the letter.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/09bounty.jpg
"Bragamus is an infamous villain," he concluded. "Lord Nasugei had asked me to take care of this, I know, but I must stay here and tend to business." By the giggling of the shapely maiden next to him, it was evident what sort of business he had in mind. "Are you up to the challenge?"
"Of course, my lord," I answered. Bringing a criminal to justice was at least less reprehensible than looting the bodies of the people I just killed. "I will set out at once."
The new task had reminded me of another that I had been given by Lord Meltor. His village was nearby and so I headed there first, leaving my weapons with the men before I approached the buildings. Lord Meltor had mentioned the peasants were unwilling to give up the tax money, and the last thing I wanted was to provoke them to take up arms.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/10rebellion.jpg
They did anyway. Wonderful. Fortunately, my training field days were not so long gone that I forgot how to do this, and the wounded peasants hobbled away as I stood bewildered. They brought the taxes without question, and only glared or scurried away when I tried to talk. So much for diplomacy.
Lord Meltor himself was at the capital, or so the rumours went (some precise rumours, these). That was where I headed, and to my surprise I was let in the king's castle without a problem. After several wrong rooms, I spotted Lord Meltor, and barged in before noticing who was in there with him.
"Kneel in the presence of His Majesty!" Lord Meltor barked, and so I did. "What is your business here?"
"I have completed the task you gave me, my lord," I said quickly. "Here is the tax money you requested. Though, if you would lower the tithe, I think tha-"
"That's great, Rumata. Listen, shut up for a second. King Harlaus and I have been discussing matters of war, and our armies need trustworthy men like you.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/12offer.jpg

[ZeroNumerous]

Don't do it! There's no money to be had in it.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Go for it! There sounds like blood, guts, and glory to be had! :D

This is very entertaining so far, and I love the sci-fi premise.

[Myatar_Panwar]

Don't do it! There's no money to be had in it.

You get payed weekly, at least I believe you do for those short campaigns. If anything, by joining the big battles you will get access to some prime prisoners. Which equal money.

Doooo it.

[Eldan]

Noo! Swadians are boring. Don't go.

[Thanatos 51-50]

Pros:
It would certainly give your character a historians-eye view of how the backwars people on this planet make war, which is, as he noted, seemingly a pretty cnetral part of their life.

Cons:
More 'senseless murder'.

I say do it. A good researcher must put the needs of research above his own petty morality.

[Flickerdart]

I had to decline so that I could save the game, but I'm pretty sure I can ask the King again, right?

[shadow_archmagi]

So, does anyone else find that after awhile Mount And Blade becomes extremely tedious, because eventually you can't really afford to send your main character into combat (since even the most optimized killing machine will be worn down fighting whole armies, or get headshotted or something) it becomes a game of "OK I'll stand behind this rock and wait for my army to win the battle"

[ZeroNumerous]

"OK I'll stand behind this rock and wait for my army to win the battle"

Nope. Even if I'm afraid of dying I always at least provide assistance with a bow.

[Thanatos 51-50]

Flicker: I don't think so. Consider these as votes for the next "Merc Captain" request that comes your way in that case.

Shadow_Archmagi: Nope. Who actually uses armies?

[Fri]

@shadow archmagi: Not really. Of course I won't send the main character battling whole troop alone, but my character is always in the frontline with the cavalry. Now I can always win a 2 to 1 battle anyway. In defending a castle, a 6 to 1 battle is winnable for me now. My only problem is attacking a castle now. I still can't find how to do that without massive numerical advantage.

My standard tactic is something like this: I let the crossbowmen stand still in some place, preferrably a hill, with the spearmen guarding them in a packed line, and wait until my enemy is in their range. If they've start shooting, I charges with my cavalry and fight in my massed crossbowmen's range. If I keep moving, I rarely get hit by an arrow anyway. If I'm shot down from my horse, then I run into the crossbowmen line and start shooting from there.

If my enemy isn't attacking, I'll harrass them with my meat shields baits cavalry then, fall back into the crossbowmen's range.

Really, my main troop now is the crossbowmen and the spearmen. My cavalry only act as bait/shocktroop now. Fighting defensively, a mass of rhodok segeants can hold against anything.

[ZeroNumerous]

My only problem is attacking a castle now. I still can't find how to do that without massive numerical advantage.

You have to siege it the normal way if you want to win without overwhelming numerical advantage.

[Myatar_Panwar]

So, does anyone else find that after awhile Mount And Blade becomes extremely tedious, because eventually you can't really afford to send your main character into combat (since even the most optimized killing machine will be worn down fighting whole armies, or get headshotted or something) it becomes a game of "OK I'll stand behind this rock and wait for my army to win the battle"

You don't loose the game when you die. And if you are smart you don't have to wade into battle alone.

[Thanatos 51-50]

You don't loose the game when you die. And if you are smart you don't have to wade into battle alone.

Come on, join the "I solo 30+ Khergit Vetren Horse Archers" club! It's a fun place to be!

[DranWork]

this game becomes stupidly easy when you have enough Swadian Knights, basicaly once you have 15 or more there isnt an army that can stand against you. Right now I have my solo character riding around with 40 swadian knights alone and i can beat an army of 200 men without casualties. Its not a hard game really. Hella fun tho. Heck Swadians are probs the 2nd best unit for sieges after Nords (attacking that is) due to platemail and maces (good armor and lots of prisoners)

Want more of a challange? Never recruit Swadians or Nords.

[Fri]

I don't. I only use rhodoks and uh... whatever ragtag bunch of cavalry that I can find.

[EleventhHour]

Got the demo. Messed around.

Conclusions ; Vaegirs are neat. Khergit are useful (AMAZING) for open fields. I don't like Swadian Deserters. Rhodok Sharpshooters are evil, and excellent to have. Sea Bandits are the most evil enemy, after Swadian deserters. Steppe Bandits are... pathetic. Nords are a bit random. Rhodok Spearmen are fairly useless at surviving. My computer lags a lot.

[Eldan]

My last army only consisted of Khergit Lancers and Horse Archers, all in all about 150 of them. Usually, I didn't lose a single man when fighting an army that wasn't much larger.
And in a siege, my tactic was just to stand there and let them shoot the enemy. I was an archer as well, so I'd just kill all the archers first, so that the enemy couldn't shoot back, then everyone who showed his face.

Also mean: stand at the top of the ladder, barely outside of sword range. When enemies try to hit you, shoot them.

[Flickerdart]

Ch. 3

Progressor Anton Malyshev, personal log
Local date: March 30, 1257

As I rode out from Praven, I began to see why the King was so desperate for a mercenary captain. Only devastation surrounded me as I neared the Khergit border, villages torched to the ground and bodies piled up high. Perhaps it was a mistake to refuse so hastily, but I really did need more time to think. The King took is as a no, I think.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/01pravendevastation.jpg

"Milord," the notorious crossbowman who still got the bulk of the wages rode up to me, "you might want to take a look at the food stores."
"Why, what's wrong with them?" I asked, sensing trouble. I had planned to restock on the way, but these people did not even have enough to feed those who survived the border raids, much less have anything to offer for sale.
The answer was apparent. For a company of thirty-seven men, we had the grand total of two cabbages remaining. Whoops.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/02whoopsnofood.jpg

Loading up the horses with food from the nearest village (taking us half a day to reach) I counted off the money in my pouch with increasing alarm. I would be able to afford feeding my men, and then paying them a week's wages. Not much more besides. After a series of expectant coughs behind me, the week's payment was done with and I was looking at a handful of measly coins that I quickly hid, lest they figure out I was broke. the time for another get-rich-quick scheme would be later, as I neared the small village of Tismirr that a certain murdered was hiding in.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/04tismirr.jpg

The village looked peaceful in the snow, serene. If not for the shadow that Bragamus the Black cast over this peaceful hamlet, it would not have made for a bad place to stop and resupply. But there was some investigating to be done, and I accosted the local village elder immediately.
"I bring grave news, Elder," I began cautiously. "There is a criminal among your people."
"Criminal?" he sounded almost insulted. "This is a peaceful little village! There are no criminals here."
"I have it on good authority that Bragamus the Black is hiding here," I insisted.
"I know nothing of any Brigginses," the Elder waved me off.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/05uncooperative.jpg

Well, that was helpful. The common folk are not concerned with justice, that I should have expected. They'd hardly be able to rout a hardened cutthroat on their own. But to hide him from the law? That was odd indeed, and I felt obliged to include it in my report.
"No, wait, sir," the elder called out as I turned to leave. "If you are looking to do justice, then there is something I must ask of you."

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/06training.jpg

Here was something that I wouldn't have any qualms over doing. Teaching oppressed citizenry to stand up to themselves in the face of aggressors? I should get a medal for this sort of thing, or at least use it to balance out everything criminal I've done here. Like the murdering and the looting.
The training seemed to hinge on me beating the peasants senseless.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/08beatingthemsilly.jpg

This was doubly odd as I recalled my time at the training field, where my own training included me beating other people senseless instead. Ah well, whatever works. I had taught five of the men how to take a staff to the face when the amassing sound of hooves rudely interrupted. The bandits were here.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/09bandits.jpg

And then they were not. The peasants didn't do much in the fighting, but my own men were enough to drive the brigands away. I hurriedly took off before the peasants tried to bestow some sort of reward upon me from their meagre holdings, but not before I spotted a very suspicious figure. Unlike the other peasants, he stood up straight and proud, his physique honed to a soldier's standard and his eyes full of courage instead of tired apathy.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/07bragamus.jpg

He was also trying to kill me.
"I heard you were askin' around about me," he hissed between his teeth as his blade sunk into my shield. "Can't have you doing that. This is my village now. You may have spurned my bandits, but I'll have your head!"
"Bragamus?" I half-asked, half-exclaimed.
"Who'd you think it was, Farhad Khan?" the brigand scoffed. "Of course I'm Bragamus the Black!"
That was all I needed to know before I took him out. Justice has been done, and I could ride to Narra and inform lord Belir of my success. But as I was checking into the local tavern, an interesting man caught my attention. He was dressed immaculately, and his hair was more than a tangled, filthy mess. He didn't look very wealthy, though, but he wasn't sopping drunk either, marking him as some sort of scholar. That, and he had next to him a sizable stack of something I have not seen here yet. Books.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/10bookmerchant1.jpg

Very expensive books. I made a mental note to come back here when I was more wealthy, and acquire these tomes. They could tell me more about the culture of this place than what I could myself learn in a year, which is considerably longer than I had any desire to stay here for. No, what I needed was another kooky scheme to gain some cash.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/11tourneys.jpg

I'd already learned enough of the culture to guess that even their entertainment involved hurting things. A tournament would be a better test of skill than the training ground, and I would get paid as well, it would seem. The tourney master called it a princely sum. Hopefully, enough to buy one of those books and keep the men's steel away from my throat for a while longer.
Unfortunately, I would have to win the tournament first. It seemed relatively simple at first: two teams of 8 mounted fighters with swords would clash, and those conscious by the end of it would continue on to the next round. There were two interesting anomalies in the execution of these rules that I noted. One was that I didn't get a shield, unlike everyone else.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/12notverygood.jpg

The other was that my team consisted of drunks and amateurs that were out of the battle in a matter of seconds. The other team was quickly upon me, and I could only disable three of their number before I blacked out from a well-placed strike to the head.

"Get up, my lord," someone was prodding me with something, and then a bucket of water splashed on my face. It wasn't very fresh water, either, and I was up in a flash and looking for payback.
"Easy, my lord," the tourney master deftly dodged my half-blind swing. "You'll need that energy for the next round."
"But I lost," I mumbled, slowly coming to.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/13continuing.jpg

None of this made much sense, but I decided to roll with it. My team was never very good, but at least I got a shield from then on and things were looking up. Thanks to my performance, the last man I was facing turned out to be from my team, a job-less mercenary by the looks of it. And job-less he shall remain, because the man is awful at what he does. This was the easiest victory in the entire tourney.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/14victory.jpg

Two hundred gold. That was a week's wages for my men. Nowhere near enough for a book, or even more than a week of respite. This was going to get rather interesting, and in the bad way. The really bad way that most people only see on television and that progressors are paid to deal with.
Something was nagging at me as I headed from Uxkhal. Something important that I forgot to do, something I promised to a Lord...ah, crap. Let's hope Lord Belir is a forgiving type.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/15questcompletion.jpg


Stupid in-character ethics not letting me take rewards. Can't afford anything like this.

[WitchSlayer]

The real way to make money is by betting on yourself in the tourney.

[Flickerdart]

The real way to make money is by betting on yourself in the tourney.
I know, but I couldn't afford to lose, and there was more than one close call.

[Flickerdart]

Next update will be running a bit late, as my computer crashed after some playtime. I have been able to reproduce some but not all events. I do have a hilarious out of context screenshot of Rumata defending a castle literally alone against an invading army, with a -285 Battle Advantage.

[Shademan]

I'm following this now. it's great!
ok, wanna earn cash? mounted warriors+archer vs sea raiders. you'll get chainmail armours, nordic helmets and much other neat stuff to sell.
and remember to press gang prisoners into service!
you can only attempt that every 24th hour, tho'. unless you go mod some files

[Flickerdart]

The prisoner thing is a bit out of character, but once I join a faction, I can recruit enemies' prisoners of war. As for the Sea Raiders thing, that's what I did now. The Nords are what this update's gonna be all about, mostly.

[Shademan]

psa! you can just say that you offer the prisoners redemption or some shait. whatever gives you searaiders on the team ;P

[Ethdred]

Looking forward to the next installment, and hoping this one doesn't go the way of so many 'let's plays' - ie dying a rapid death!

[Flickerdart]

Looking forward to the next installment, and hoping this one doesn't go the way of so many 'let's plays' - ie dying a rapid death!
I already have the screens for the next update, and will put it up on Monday (since there's Fan Expo on the weekend).

[Flickerdart]

Ch. 4

Progressor Anton Malyshev, personal log
Local date: April 6, 1257

I've spent nearly two weeks here in Calradia, and now that the initial culture shock is receding, I'm starting to appreciate it somewhat. Not near the cities: those ruts of disease and famine are hellish and oppressive to every sense of a free man. But the countryside is incredible; sometimes I pause to feel the wind against my skin and forget that I'm on assignment.
As I stood upon a hill, listening to the ordered drumming of hooves across the steppe as the bulk of my party shifted down below, I could not help but admire the fluidity of their movement, far from the ordered parades that would traverse the city squares back home on days of celebration, but more beautiful because of it. And as I watched them, my job began to creep slowly back into my head.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb1.jpg

I saw down there Rhodock men with their deadly crossbows, Khergits leading their horses behind them, and burly Swadians that showed the least discipline of all, tossing some sort of wine skin between one another. But there were more people here: I have heard passing reference to the savage Nords of the north, and the industrious kingdom of Vaegris to the East. For a first report, it would look good to learn some of every culture.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb23.jpg

And so we rode forth. I decided to go to Vaegris first, since it was closer and I felt their people would be less at odds with my existing men than the Nords. That was true, to an extent: they were willing enough to join up with me, but I soon found the mere presence of them chafing. The men were incredibly vain: all they would talk about is themselves; and I could not even get a word in edgewise.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb7.jpg

Their skills did not lie in the warring arts, but in trading and engineering. This would have been a boon earning me a ticket off this planet if they were willing to share these talents, but they were secretive as sin, and would only do what they signed up for, which is fight. Going into the savage northlands where the Nords waited, I felt it was best to leave them behind and perhaps direct some later Progressors to infiltrate their society more thoroughly. For now, it was time to see the Nords.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb27.jpg

If this village was typical for the Nords, it was quite alarming. The entire place was scorched, as if someone tried to burn it to the ground repeatedly. Then I remembered we were on the border with Vaegris. Their raiding parties must have done this. Even the artisans and merchants of this forsaken place were vicious.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb8.jpg

The people here were none too friendly, nor receptive of foreigners, it would seem. These men would also take some careful work by my successors in order to be scouted properly.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb9.jpg

Or not. It seemed my fame ran before me. This was not so good: I had to remain inconspicuous as a scout. I politely declined before clearing as much distance between us as possible, not wanting to risk the anger of these giants. I soon found myself in a tavern, where a rather haggard-looking man slurred something and beckoned me forward.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb28.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb29.jpg

That was a little bit too much. I excused myself the only way I knew how: by striking up a conversation with a nearby maiden and pretending this was happening all along.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb32.jpg

A modern-thinking woman in this medieval place? This was a find of the century. Mentally thanking that twisted bastard Rolf for this discovery, I gently placed my hand on Ymira's waist and was about to flee the scene when my way was blocked by an old, balding man. This was probably going to be my doom.
"If you are recruiting for a company of men, sir," he began before I had a chance to escape, "then I should like to join you."
"He won't want ya!" I heard Rolf shout from the back. "Din't take me, an' I'm the best there is! A baron, too, I tells ya!"
"Yes, quite," the sage waved him off. "Allow me to explain, sir knight."

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb13.jpg

This was a goldmine. What were all these scholars and women centuries ahead of their time be doing in the savage kingdom of the Nords, and not in Vaegris? This was strange indeed, and I resolved to investigate that land more thoroughly, which is to say at all. It was the only country that remained, and from all I have learned here so far, I felt decidedly up for the challenge.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb2.jpg


Planning to get me some famed Swadian Knights to compliment my Sharpshooters.

[Ethdred]

So did you go for any of the NPCs? Personally I've always liked Ymira, mainly because I ignore her strengths and turn her into a hardened warrior simply by diny of hard training and constant fighting :)

[Flickerdart]

I took Jeremus and Ymira. Not Rolf, though. Expect a lot more dialogue now that I have people with names!

[Recaiden]

So did you go for any of the NPCs? Personally I've always liked Ymira, mainly because I ignore her strengths and turn her into a hardened warrior simply by diny of hard training and constant fighting :)

That's just wrong. I always made her an engineer.

[Flickerdart]

That's just wrong. I always made her an engineer.
I thought there already was an engineer NPC?

[WitchSlayer]

There is. I also make her a hardened warrior because I WILL NOT TOLERATE PEOPLE WHO CAN NOT PULL THEIR WEIGHT!

[VariaVespasa]

Late to the thread, but anways-
I favor a military hammer/shield/ and the best war bow and arrows I can find/use, myself. Swords tend to have trouble swinging close in, while the hammer doesnt. I usually carry a lance of some kind and a two-handed sword to keep my skills up or to use, depending on who I'm fighting. I'm torn between faster smaller shields and larger slower ones.

Sieging castles for sallies- You can only draw out one enemy sally using the small elite attack force, but you can also draw out enemy lords to attack you if you just maintain the siege with your small elite force without actually attacking, to cut down the battle advantage modifiers against you when you do attack for real.

100 hired blades take darned near any city or castle, especially with you playing sniper support to clear enemy archers.

[Oeep Snaec]

I don't think you can change your banner, no.

On a side note, since I can't keep playing without having to write, I've been hitting up the Quick Battles. How in the world do you beat Siege Defence? The character you get is level TWO (I've gotten her to level twice in that battle) and all your troops get slaughtered by the attackers. The only way I can think of would be to perfect head-shot 25 of the enemy before the siege engine makes it to the wall.

The best thing I found was getting out of the tower you start in and shooting the guys at the base of the tower in the sides, just for some kills. As soon as the buggers drop the ramp, I stand in the middle of the pack of defenders so they can cover my sides. Then as the enemy charges up the ramp, I may pop out and try to get a few quick kills while they don't have too much force behind them, then I fall back to the group, where I proceed to click like mad, eventually cutting them down. I throw the shield up every so often, but I usually take plenty of damage. Note I have the trial version, and the difficulty is not very high

[Flickerdart]

Ch. 5

Progressor Anton Malyshev, personal log
Local date: April 14, 1257

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb1-1.jpg

The Kingdom of Vaegris. I've wondered for a long time what lies there, what sort of culture. Bordering with the Nords and the Khergit, they face some of the more savage nations, and yet instead of military might they possess enormous trade routes and supply chains, as Jeremus tells me. Going to war with them is simply too unprofitable, and works as well as any other deterrent. He warns me that with a coin purse as light as mine, it will be difficult going.
We are in desperate need of supplies, though: not food, but equipment. Neither Jeremus nor Ymira own any battle gear, and have not enough strength nor training to use the crude and bulky Nordic gear. I have seen enough of my men fall by a stray arrow to know that this is imperative: these two are valuable enough to spare no expenses.

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Riding into Rivacheg by noon, I left orders for Jeremus to pawn off what gear we had left and purchase himself and Ymira horses at the very least. A steed seemed to do wonders for survivability as well as social status here. Myself, I ducked into a local watering hole, eager to get a whiff of Vaegris culture. If the cities of the savage Nords held within their walls such men and woman that I've already met, this undeniably more advanced society should not disappoint me in that regard. Another young lady caught my attention; this one seemed to be rather better prepared for the sort of lifestyle that my companions were dragged into. Here was the first woman on this chunk of rock who didn't only expect me to pay for her drink, she actually demanded it.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb5-1.jpg

Her demand of payment up front was rather more than my wallet could handle. I tried to gather some sort of ballpark figure for what the weapons and armour we brought in to sell would make. Minus the cost of two horses, the number didn't exactly impress. So that was the culture here: pragmatic to the point where such demanding mercenaries as Matheld would be forced to wait around in bars and drink their last silvers away, while the men of the Khergit Plains or the fierce Nords would offer aid for no more than the thrill of battle. As savage as they were, I still preferred them to her. Even random passers-by off the street could only talk about one thing: profit.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb15.jpg

Jeremus and Ymira met me downstairs, handing me a meagre pouch that would barely pay for a single week's lodgings for my men, never mind their wages. This time, however, I was ready for this eventuality.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb7-1.jpg

Tihr was not a familiar city; I assumed it was deeper south through Vaegir territory. Tulga, however, range a bell: this was a town in the Khergit Khanate, across the kingdom I was in right now. It made as good as any a direction to head in. The arena master said the tourneys were far off, and I could easily afford to spare some time to mingle among the local nobility. Perhaps they rose above the rabble's petty concerns, since they didn't need to pinch every penny merely to subsist?

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb8-1.jpg

Yeah, I didn't expect a warmer response, either. There is nothing at all warm about this land, it would seem: we have ridden into a stretch of winter seemingly from nowhere, the sound of clattering teeth joined by crunching of the snow underneath horse-hooves and wagon wheels.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb16.jpg

The snow would make battles tiresome and spirits dragged low as we entered Tihr, its tournament banners and festive cheer a stark contrast to the bitter wilderness we had just left. I tossed my men their weekly pay and sent them off to the inns to spend it as they will. This next part was mine alone to do. This was all or nothing: little more than one hundred denars of coinage graced my money bags.
"Good sir!" I heard someone call as I rode up through the arena gates, heading for the arena master's balcony. "Sir, you look like a skilled warrior." The voice belonged to a small, shrimpy man of indeterminate age. In his hands, he held a chalkboard, and a stub of chalk raced along it, circling numbers and writing new ones a he spoke. "Care to put a wager on your victory tonight?"
Gambling, huh. I looked down on his board, the new line of numbers preceded by a crude representation of my banner's image. The odds he worked out for me in the end were 13:1. So high? Just who the hell did he think I was!
"You're on," I said, gripping my lance handle firmly with one hand and tossing him my money pouch with the other. I walked with a bounce in my step as I headed for the participant equipment sheds.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb10.jpg

I was given a bag of light, fragile spears and herded out into the field despite my protests. I had no idea how to use javelins. I could barely even aim my crossbow after all the time I've spent here. But all my money was on the line, and furthermore, I had gotten caught up in the spirit of it all. My victory was assured with a familiar weapon, this would actually be exciting for a change. I was surprised how easy these javelins were to throw, and was afraid they would fly too high and pierce the heavens instead of my intended target. I didn't get a lot of them, and beating everyone else senseless with my fists did not appeal to me, so I resolved to aim better.
As the enemy side thinned in numbers, eventually the javelins I was getting familiar with were replaced with a bow and arrows. The first few shots I took with that missed awfully, and I think I heard someone in the audience fall over. I eventually settled on a tactic, riding by a prospective target and letting loose an arrow at such a distance that missing was mathematically impossible.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb13-1.jpg

This proved less effective in the final round, with no allies to distract the pointy swords of my opponents from my unprotected self. It was a lot harder to aim while at full gallop than standing still, but by running in circles around the arena and shooting wildly, I eventually stood victorious. I sincerely hoped my men would not find out what a fool their commander made of himself to get their wages.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb14-1.jpg

I felt filthy rich, and rode on to Tulga. There wasn't time to make small talk with villagers anymore. Not only were we running late, but the thrill of victory still pulsed through my veins. If I was once champion this week, then twice champion was just as likely.

This was my first time in a Khergit tournament. There were no lances here, not even swords or axes. Every man was given either a bow or javelins. These intrepid horsemen used them masterfully even while mounted, but having gotten some practice with the tools rather recently, I didn't make too shabby a show either. As they were all equipped for range, my close-quarters tactic took them by surprise. It wasn't easy by any means, and took forever as we would sometimes circle each other endlessly, every arrow finding only the arena wall.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb17.jpg

But before the day was out, the name of Rumata was on the lips of all attending. I took the initiative in seeking out the bookie beforehand, and now greedily stored my winnings away. I've seen both poverty and now riches, and travelled to every land here. There was little left to do now but to turn to the only society I have not yet scrutinized: that of the upper echelons of power, the nobility. Riding on the wings of my great renown, I recalled a certain Swadian king asking me to enter mercenary service under him. Perhaps it was ripe time to renegotiate that offer, I thought as my horse carried me back to the inn.

Seriously, ranged battles with so few ranks in those weapons take forever. Freakin' Khergit I can understand, but why were the Vaegir such sticklers for useless weaponry? Maybe the RNG just hates me.

[Ethdred]

That's just wrong. I always made her an engineer.

I should point out that I try to make ALL my NPCs hardened warriors by dint of hard training and constant combat. If I want something else done, I'll do it myself - I'm putting all my points into INT and CHR anyway

@Flickerdart

Another excellent write up. I never realised you could end up doing an all ranged tournament - then again I've only done a couple. I prefer killing and maiming for real to earn my cash :)

[Brainfart]

If (or when) you get to the stage where you're taking castles, please don't attack Grunwalder or Almerra.

Bloody buggering siege crossbows... :smallannoyed:

[Flickerdart]

Sorry about the infrequent updates, guys. This next one is 30-some screens long (haven't counted precisely) and involves acquisitions and subsequent pissings away of significant sums. Also, quite a lot of people end up dead.

[Ethdred]

This next one involves acquisitions and subsequent pissings away of significant sums. Also, quite a lot of people end up dead.

Who could ask for more? Sounds like a great night out :)

[Flickerdart]

I'm not done yet!

Ch. 6 part 1

Progressor Anton Malyshev, personal log
Local Date: April 19, 1257

Morale was high all around after my consecutive victories. The men, it would appear, were beginning to doubt me, but now they realized just how skilled (and more importantly, wealthy) their commander was. Not having to squirrel away wages for fear that no more would come resulted in a flowing river of whatever vile fluids they drink here instead of wine. Not even Jeremus could resist the celebrations, and unusually in high spirits (or at least high on spirits) pulled up to me as we set out for Swadia.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb001.jpg

"Go on," I urged him, mentally smacking myself on the head. This place was so backwards that I never realized they had any medicine at all.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb002.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb003.jpg

Back in those days, huh. I would have to ask Jeremus more about what's changed since then, but now was an inopportune time. One of our scouts came galloping back, with word of an enormous army gathered up around nearby Reindi Castle.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb004.jpg

Naturally, this piqued my interests. The army was flying colours of the Rhodocks; I could see the war was not going well for Swadia. Which meant that I wasn't going to be joining them. An equally cunning plan snuck into my head, and I urged my horse onward, calling my men to follow me.
The sentries of the sprawling camp recoiled at our coming and drew steel before one of them had enough good sense to recognize me and send for their commander. Lord Rimusk appeared before me in short order, awfully fast for a Lord to do anything at all.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb005.jpg

"Good day to you," I nodded absentmindedly before noticing that Rimusk hadn't stopped talking.

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I've had a chance to re-evaluate some things since I was last extended an offer such as this. The Swadians were, by the looks of it, done for. Rhodock crossbowmen were a difficult force to stand against, and even Swadia's mighty knights fell by the dozens before they could reach any line of these sharpshooters. But with my involvement, it was possible that I could persuade King Graveth to be merciful in his victory, at least moreso than usual.
"I...accept," I nodded.
"Good lad!" Rimusk seemed elated. I should have asked for better pay. "Hurry along now, the king wants to see you."

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb007.jpg

Expecting me? I have noticed that these lords know an awful lot about where the other nobles of the realm are. I would have to look into this curious phenomenon. But that would have to wait. Seemingly reinforced by my presence, the king beckoned over a lieutenant, and soon horns were blowing all across the camp. The siege had begun.

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It is difficult to describe the blood-pounding frenzy of foot combat. So far I have always fought from the back of a horse, safe above the sting of most any enemy blade. On the ground, pelted by arrows and watching my allies fall like wheat to a scythe, I found myself facing a dozen foot troopers, something that would normally have challenged me not at all. If I'd had my horse.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb010.jpg

Was this, then, my death? I thought as my knees buckled and the world swam around me. The data I collected would be sent monthly without my initiative, but there was so much more to study here, so much more to do. Much more to live for. Then, everything went black.

[Myatar_Panwar]

I don't think we have a normal mount and blade thread anymore, so I thought I'd just come here and let you guys know.... Its $5 on Direct2Drive right now. Until monday.

Just sayin'. :smalltongue:

[Flickerdart]

Anyone who's played the game knows you can't actually die, so not much suspense here.

Ch. 6 part 2

Progressor Anton Malyshev, personal log
Local date: April 20, 1257

Up until moments ago, I was sure we lost the battle. But as Jeremus gave me something vile to drink to keep me conscious, he explained that a siege customarily involved only the Lords and their closest retainers at first. By the time I had been knocked unconscious, a horde of fresh soldiers were scaling the walls, and dispatched the few defenders with ease. That was when a messenger from the king barged into the tent.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb012.jpg

Still nursing my aching head, I arrived before the sovereign, whose men were already packing to leave. Graveth simply delegated the castle to one of his vassals, and intended to press on. My force, as the smallest contingent of men, was chosen to scout the area. I readied a protest, but looking around, all the lords were similarly wounded - even King Graveth himself winced while walking. Such was the dedication of these people to wiping out each other. No doubt, "scouting" would involve a lot more burning and pillaging were any of the others involved, so grudgingly I accepted and shambled back to my own men.
We set out soon after, slipping by villages without stopping long. It looked like such a strategy was unknown here, since it took so long for Swadia to send a force to intercept me.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb014.jpg
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This would be my first battle against a force as well-trained and equipped as the men I headed myself. We were prepared to meet them, though, and our weapons were stained with their blood before too long.

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Those slippery lords! I had hoped to speak with one on my terms, but it looked like I would have to settle for befriending them the old-fashioned way. The man that recruited me to the cause, Lord Rimusk, made as good a choice as any, and to him I offered my aid.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb019.jpg

Unfortunately, the king called upon me before I could set out. Do any of these lords ever do anything themselves? By what I have heard from Jeremus and the others, no they do not.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb021.jpg

At least this was a reasonable request. I purchased some cattle at a nearby village and drove them to where the army was. Unfortunately, it had since moved on, and I could only track them down at the next siege.

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I really don't know what the infantry was thinking, not taking cover. Several men were shot dead by enemy archers before the siege engine even reached the walls. Fortunately, my brilliant application of tactics left me unscathed before I climbed the walls along with the rest of the warriors. Most of them rushed into the courtyard, while I took the time to dispatch the men on the walls. By the time I cast my gaze downward, they were dead to a man and the defenders shouted derogatory terms in my general direction.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb033.jpg

I was ready this time, and having learned from my last mistake, waited for reinforcements to arrive. Soon, only one man remained, balancing precariously on the wall, just out of reach.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb034.jpg

I'm not sure if this was deliberate or he had slipped down there in a vain attempt to save himself, but as I slipped down to face him, the man's footing gave way and he tumbled down to his death.

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This time I didn't even have a chance to put my weapons away before a messenger from the king beckoned me to follow. It was all I could do to restrain from telling the king to find his own damn cattle with the hundred-odd men that he commanded. But surprisingly enough, that wasn't what he wanted...

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Lord Rumata. It had a nice ring to it. Though I was far from being an equal to the other Lords, I was among them, and that was progress enough. After a copious amount of drinking to celebrate my promotion, King Graveth said I was free to leave and tend the village I was granted. I think it belonged to another Lord, because one of the men present kept shooting me the most hateful glances. But that was no matter. My men would have a chance to rest up at what could become my base of operations.
All of these grandiose plans were cut rather short. Almost literally.

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More suspense! How will the shrewd and cunning Rumata get out of this one?

[Cristo Meyers]

More suspense! How will the shrewd and cunning Rumata get out of this one?

By running like a frightened chipmunk that has just seen a barn owl?

[Tavar]

By running like a frightened chipmunk that has just seen a barn owl?

Preferably while pushing some smaller chipmunks into the owls path to distract it.

[toasty]

Preferably while pushing some smaller chipmunks into the owls path to distract it.

That works, or you can fight just enough to give yourself the chance for escape! That is, fight one skirmish then run off before the enemy knows what hit them! Its a risk, but well worth it, methinks.

[Flickerdart]

By running like a frightened chipmunk that has just seen a barn owl?
How did you know?

Ch. 6 part 3

Progressor Anton Malyshev, personal log
Local date: April 20, 1257

Lord Montewar! I've bested him once before, but the sly rogue waited to strike me at my weakest. I've never seen anyone but a king able to afford so many troops. Evidently, Montewar's vengeance was unbridled. It was regrettable, but there was no way I could jeopardize my mission. As I urged my horse onward into the woods, I knew that Montewar would not stop until he had my head. With the few men I had left, I moved faster than him, but I couldn't run forever. Eventually, I would have to fight, and when that moment came, I would be ready.

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Once more we stood across the field of battle, but now our forces were evenly matched. Most of my recruits were plucky young men and women, a band of misfits with something to prove (because everyone else had died). Most of Montewar's men were grizzled combat veterans who were only in it for the payment. They outnumbered us yet again, and Lord Tredian was lending his support to Montewar to see us brought down.
Naturally, we won.

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It was but a brief respite, for the enemy descended upon us once more. How many Lords have made it their mission to end me? I was evidently doing a rather poor job as a scout. It may be that this land is beyond the help of the Progressors, after all.

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We were backed up against a river. There was nowhere to run. My force consisted of mostly Rhodock men, excellent sharpshooters but horrible melee fighters. If the enemy broke into our ranks, it would all be over. As the enemy horde crested the hill, I raised my hand in preparation for the volley.
"Ready?....FIRE!"
The sound of dozens of bolts being loosed is much more fearsome than it would seem. With a firearm, the bullet goes faster than sound, so when you hear it, you know you weren't hit. With arrows, though, I could see the enemy break rank before the first bolt found its mark. The second volley met only receding backs. There was no need for a third.

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"That'll do, men," I nodded. "Let's go home."
Home, in this case, was my new fief. I didn't expect it to be a thriving place, but what I found was quite unexpected.

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They were bandit skulls, the Elder told me. The village was plagued by them. King Graveth had handed me a barely civilized hell-hole, not a village! I would have to correct that immediately. Step one was to drive out the bandits.

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But even with that threat no longer looming, starvation still ran amok. The Elder requested five heads of cattle, any less and they would all starve. Briefly recalling my frontline days, I agreed to help; it was easy enough last time.

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The land was all beset by poverty and suffering, and those few who were well off hoarded their resources. I had no choice but to head into the hostile Khergit plains, and seek a source of cattle there.

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What has happened to this place? Just how badly did the feudal lords neglect their people? I was no longer surprised at the violent responses when I would come to collect taxes from other villager. These constant wars were all the ruling classes cared about. The only way anything seemed to sustain itself was through happenstance of random strangers. No wonder these lords allowed conference with them so readily. With this in mind, the prices I saw seemed almost reasonable and, sighing, I loosened the drawstrings on my money-pouch.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb063.jpg


Whew. Wars, famine and training montages wear a guy out.

[Flickerdart]

Is anyone actually reading this? I've got an update waiting in the wings, but it doesn't seem like there's much interest in one.

[Timarvay]

Post it. I was reading until the updates stopped.

[Knaight]

I read it when it actually shows up, but its hard to do so when we don't have access to the material.:smalltongue:

[Arcanoi]

Post it. I was reading until the updates stopped.

Same. This thread actually convinced me to buy the game.

[Cristo Meyers]

I was reading it.

[Flickerdart]

Well, since there're people reading it...

Ch. 7

Progressor Anton Malyshev, personal log
Local date: May 19 1257

It's been two months, or nearly so, that I've been here. Sent off my second report to HQ yesterday, under the cover of night. I expect the reply to be the same: more data needed, this and that and so forth. They haven't been down here themselves. It's not info these people need, it's some goddamn help.
With help from Jeremus and the Elder, I ballparked how much it would cost to build a school for the village. Too much, they both agree. Only Lords have that kind of money, not upstart nobodies. And yet, it costs just about as much to buy a book. Another expense on the list. I'll have to see if the men upstairs can get me a crate or two of silver.

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Looks like it was back to adventuring for me. I briefly entertained the notion of leaving some of the men to guard the village, being all too aware of the dangers of this place, but the Elder said they've rarely had that problem.

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My mind somewhat at ease, we rode off. Following a familiar strategy, I soon found where the nearest tourney was being held, but knowing how lazy lords were with their affairs, I decided to visit the castle first.

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Maltheas, the local lord, was nowhere to be found, and when I asked a chance dweller of the castle where he was, a larger picture began to unfold. The woman I asked this turned out to be Lord Maltheas' wife, and she was not very pleased with the "drunken, worthless lout" as she, affectionately I'm sure, referred to the man.

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Why her husband couldn't take care of this, I did not dare ask. But there was some time to kill before the tourney, and immersing myself into local politics seemed like an excellent use of my time. Lord Gharmal turned out to be an incredible pushover, and I won't detail the battle here. Finally, things are starting to clear up around here. Looks like the reason none of the Lords do anything is that they can't. My history isn't great, I'll admit, but the boys back at base can probably use this.

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When I made it back to the city, the tournament had almost begun. All the horses were spoken for, and I started every round on foot. Not accustomed to this sort of fighting, I tried to grab horses whose riders were knocked unconscious. It worked remarkably well, I have no idea why nobody else did this.

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Naturally, a portion of my winnings went on celebration in the local tavern. It was custom, or something, and if not then it should be. But amid the cheer was a sullen and miserable-looking man I didn't recall.

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That was rather rebellious talk for a society like this one. Hushing him a little bit (after all, I was pretending to be of noble birth myself), I urged him to go on.

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Men carrying ideas like this would definitely be useful for the Progressors that would replace me. On the off-chance that I wouldn't be reassigned after my scouting term of duty was finished (and perhaps to use this as leverage so that wouldn't happen) I took the man on my payroll.
In the morning, a messenger from the king barged in. I muttered something about already bringing cattle before I remembered that particular campaign was long over. The life here was getting to me in all of its monotony. This was something new, though. The king was electing a marshal for his forces. Oddly democratic, that. I doubt that either one was much different from the standard sort of noble hereabouts.

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With a new marshal, a new war was bound to start brewing, and sure enough I spotted a Swadian force nearby. Many more men than I commanded, as usual. Also as usual, they spotted me before I did them.

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They were remarkably fleet of foot for a force twice the size of mine. But that too was par for the course. I've played far worse odds and come out on top.

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Riding through the enemy camp, I noticed the frightful amount of prisoners they had with them. More than I had fighting men before the battle. Some of them I was able to recruit, others wanted nothing more to do with the fighting. A lot of them were Nords, another nation we were at war with, but these were nowhere as eager to fight as the Nords I've seen in battle. A horrible fate, that of a prisoner. I resolved to let those still living go, with the exception of Lord Aeric. Him I wanted to bring to justice before King Graveth, since there was no threat of death penalty for nobility hereabouts. [Note: I was given a reward in silver for the Lord, and never saw him again. I wonder what became of him.]

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My men were all too happy with that reward as pay day rolled around once more. I noticed with glee that I had quite a bit more money than I thought I did, even though my expenses grew as well.

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Another messenger tracked me down (why do the Lords keep asking me to deliver letters if they have these people?) to demand mine and my men's assistance in his latest military campaign. There was, unfortunately, no way to refuse (as I had no such messenger myself), so I sped there dropping everything else I was doing, reading into the calls of urgency. However, when I got to the large gathering of various lords and tacticians...

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It took Falsevor about a week to figure out what he wanted me for in the first place. Naturally, it all boiled down to "go and kill me something". Tired of the waiting, I decided to apply a little bit of tactics previously unseen. You'd think that line infantry would only work with muskets, but crossbows proved just as effective.

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I was done in time to see Falsevor finally ride out, and hurried to catch up. If he didn't want me with the army, what was the use of making me wait?

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No sooner did I rejoin the army, I received another summons from him. I was beginning to feel foolish. Perhaps Gharmal was having his revenge for the humiliating defeat?

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As I grudgingly set out on the task, I asked Bunduk the revolutionary if he had anything to say about the area, on the off-chance it was something useful. Surprisingly, it was.

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New material meant that I was less bored with this than normal, and actually managed to restrain myself from strangling Falsevor when he demanded something else of me as soon as I returned.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb36.jpg

So again I rode out, looking for a war party to do battle with. But war is a cheap commodity hereabouts, and I soon came upon a battle already in progress.

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Coming to the aid of a fellow commander was altogether less vile than kidnapping a man in the dead of night, and so I sprung upon the opportunity. Perhaps a little too readily: my men and I were weary from the repeated missions, and things could have gone better.

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My men pulled through without me, though. The loose bunch of men and women that followed me was becoming more than just an armed mob, it would seem. They were worth two if not three warriors apiece, and I couldn't help but be proud of their murderous, barbaric ways.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb39.jpg

By the time I dragged Lord Regas back in chains, Falsevor had already gone ahead with the siege. Truly, there was no respite from this madness! Part of me hoped he would get cut down in the fray, so I wouldn't have to deal with this nonsense any longer. If only to find his corpse, I plunged into the fray.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb40.jpg


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http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb43.jpg

That's how we're doing so far. 17th level with a ragtag bunch of soldiers and a ton of Sharpshooters. Seriously, these guys are hilarious in large numbers. If only the allied AI wouldn't blindly charge forward...
What sort of direction would you guys like me to head in? I figure I can't handle the impostor quests just yet, need a bigger army for that. But skill point allocation, troops, maybe dabble a bit more in my ranged weapon proficiencies?

[Arcanoi]

Get some pathfinding. It's a necessary skill.

[Timarvay]

What are these impostor quests?

[warty goblin]

Get some pathfinding. It's a necessary skill.

I've never really taken it. It's a Party skill right? Better to farm it off on one of the NPC companions, allowing you to be an ultra-charismatic killing machine. LeastwaysI always tend to put my Attributes into Cha, Str, and enough Agility to keep up with the Weapon Master Joneses. The skill points tend to go for Leadership, Ironflesh and Powerstrike/shot/throw, depending on character. A little bit of prisoner management, particularly early, goes a long way too.

[Flickerdart]

What are these impostor quests?
For each nation, there is a guy loafing about the rest of the kingdoms that claims the current ruler has no claim to the throne and they are the true heir. You can help them reclaim the kingdom by persuading or conquering the lords that remain on the side of the current king. You automatically become Marshall for the kingdom you help out, and get a bunch of brownie points with the new king, presumably. The old king runs away and is gone forever.

[Starbuck_II]

So why does the guy never want a reward? Is it because he doesn't need the money?

[Flickerdart]

I'm trying to RP him as slightly selfless, but not too much. I took the reward from the lady, because she could afford it, but the various peasants don't give much and need it more, and being paid for killing criminals is an unscrupulous occupation. In terms of money we've enough now to either buy a book or start building something in the village, but not enough yet for both.

[Starbuck_II]

I'm dling the Demo due to this Let's play.

I see, so your guy is selfless. Question is it possible to take an army by yourself?

[Foryn Gilnith]

For some definition of army. I've never bothered trying, since getting troops is so easy. But if you take out the archers, I reckon you could circle around the infantry. But then again, I'm still only playing on 60% difficulty...

OP, have you changed the amount of damage you or your troops take?

And because this is a great, I think that I might want to start one of these. Flickerdart, do you have any general suggestions from your experience putting this together? Any aspects of the game you feel you're missing out on and would like to read up on?

[warty goblin]

For some definition of army. I've never bothered trying, since getting troops is so easy. But if you take out the archers, I reckon you could circle around the infantry. But then again, I'm still only playing on 60% difficulty...

Feh. Real Men like me play at 107% difficulty. Of course then we get our horses killed out from under us, our money stolen and get to march around at the behest of bandits for several days.

And the Really Real Men play at 107% difficulty, then download the mod that allows more troops to be in a battle at a time.

I'm not that much of a Man...

As to taking on an army, it depends hugely on the troops involved and your character's level and loadout, to say nothing of your personal twitch skills. A horse archer can kill looters without any problem so long as the arrows hold out. Even heavier infantry with shields and armor is possible if you've got the skillz, although they can be significantly harder. Same goes for a lancer/swordsmen on horse. Flip the tables and play a footmen of pretty much any breed, and a cavalry army will eat you alive...

Foot vs. foot is possible, so long as the equipment favors you substantially. Two handed weapons vs. unarmored dudes with a high enough Strength results in pretty much one hit one kill, and some decent light armor can keep you from ever engaging more than one or two at a time, so long as their numbers are low (like: 8 guys).

But in general, soloing armies is something you want to avoid.

[Foryn Gilnith]

Feh. Real Men like me play at 107% difficulty.

How do you do that? The highest difficulty I've managed to get up to was 102% or so. Cranked it up to 77% recently (which would go up to that 102% if I weren't afraid to change my personal damage to full), but haven't played with it enough to really count.

[warty goblin]

How do you do that? The highest difficulty I've managed to get up to was 102% or so. Cranked it up to 77% recently (which would go up to that 102% if I weren't afraid to change my personal damage to full), but haven't played with it enough to really count.

Set the army slider to max, the AI to the highest setting, the damage to player and damage to allies to full I think does it. I'll check my settings later tonight to see exactly what I have them at.

[Arcanoi]

I've never really taken it. It's a Party skill right? Better to farm it off on one of the NPC companions, allowing you to be an ultra-charismatic killing machine. LeastwaysI always tend to put my Attributes into Cha, Str, and enough Agility to keep up with the Weapon Master Joneses. The skill points tend to go for Leadership, Ironflesh and Powerstrike/shot/throw, depending on character. A little bit of prisoner management, particularly early, goes a long way too.

I meant get the skill on SOMEONE. He currently has it nowhere, which is why the massive armies are out-pacing him.

[Foryn Gilnith]

the AI to the highest setting

(hate to derail the thread like this)

What does AI do? I've never played with it below the highest setting (because as AI it is inherently inferior); and I can't entirely see how lowering it would change too much.

I think battle speed does it. I currently have battle size max, full ally damage, and non-automatic blocking; but damage to self is still half and combat speed is slow.

[warty goblin]

(hate to derail the thread like this)

What does AI do? I've never played with it below the highest setting (because as AI it is inherently inferior); and I can't entirely see how lowering it would change too much.

I think battle speed does it. I currently have battle size max, full ally damage, and non-automatic blocking; but damage to self is still half and combat speed is slow.
Ah yes, battlespeed is indeed it. I'd forgotten that one.

Absolutely no idea what the AI does though, since like you I've always played with it turned all the way up. At a guess it probably reduces the chance that they choose the correct block when attacked or something like that. At highest it's really quite good at choosing the correct block, and reducing that likelyhood would certainly make things easier for the player. No more trying to lure them into making a faulty attack or anything like that.

[toasty]

I changed the AI to a harder setting and played for two hours: no noticeable difference.

And FYI, I do read this when I see you've updated it. I enjoy it.

[Flickerdart]

Question is it possible to take an army by yourself?
I have two playthroughs like that, one with a solitary warrior (overland map speed of 10 is awesome) and one with only named heroes recruited (like an adventuring party) which is a lot more expensive to maintain and levels more slowly. So long as you pick your battles until you're in the high levels, you'll be fine. Anywhere with a river is great for farming: get good proficiency with a bow, wait til the enemy runs into the water and pick them off. This is surprisingly effective against Nordic sea raiders (just stick to the groups with less than 20). Mountain Bandits with their bows and Khergit anything with horses will be your doom, though. Your Renown skyrockets because even a battle against Looters is worth something, and kings start shooting requests of vassalage at you day in and day out. Get the highest HP horse you can get, it's all that stands between you and death. Pump your Strength and Agility. First Aid is a good skill to have, it'll heal you between rounds which is quite useful. Tournaments are also a lot easier if you're used to doing it alone.

Slow combat speed, I find, is too slow. Never tried Fast, Normal is good enough for me.

[warty goblin]

I'm still trying to get it through my thick head that Sea Raiders are not the Footmen of the Apocalypse the way they used to be. Back in .6 through maybe .8, back when Zendar existed and the only armies were the Vaegirs and Swadians, there were three foes I lived in fear of. Ranked from worst to less bad they were:

1) Black Knights. Entire forces of lancer specced heavy cavalry in the best armor in the game. If you didn't bring a mace and a lance, you were probably screwed. Their lack of archers made mass foot a viable option so long as you didn't mind a lot of dead followers. Usually worth it though, if you could loot a set of Black Plate.

2) Khergit Raiders: Beatable with enough horses, but absolutely ravages foot armies.

3) Sea Raiders: Less bad, but could chew up early armies plenty good, and even later on those throwing axes remained a major threat.

[Foryn Gilnith]

1) Black Knights.

I remember my first foray into M&B around middle .8ish. A bit late to actually experience this sort of stuff, but early enough to know about black knights, the salt mine, et cetera.

[warty goblin]

I remember my first foray into M&B around middle .8ish. A bit late to actually experience this sort of stuff, but early enough to know about black knights, the salt mine, et cetera.

Ah yes, the salt mine. Easy money for trading, although the Khergits were something fierce around there.

Actually for a brief and gloriously broken while in I think .7xx or so, there was a fascinating exploit. Back then the battlemap more or less just ended, except for a perhaps fifteen foot high very steep slope that formed the border. Normally this was too sharply sloped to actually climb, but it could be scaled in the corners, although even there it was steep enough to force horses to walk.

Thus the perfect strategy against any enemy was to take your army, which ideally was composed of heavy infantry or cavalry and archers, hightail it to the corner of the map, then climb up as high as possible and wait for the enemy. Cavalry couldn't charge or maneuvre, and were easily taken down, infantry had to cut their way through a thick patch of your guys while the archers rained arrows from above. Even Khergit were trivial to beat like that, since they couldn't flank and eventually would be forced to engage up close and personal. I have happy memories of quite potent armies being wasted by Watchmen and assorted other cheap dudes using that tactic.

[Flickerdart]

Bwahaha, that's hilarious.

The current battle map has a bug of sorts as well, that makes it much easier to run down horsemen. NPCs don't know where the battle map ends, and charge into it blindly, then whack each other with their lances at point blank range. If you happen to be tailing an NPC with your lance couched and they hit the wall, they're toast. Annoyingly, the boundary is too close to your starting position: in one of the screens in the LP, I mention a river behind me that had the boundary inside it. So I couldn't cross the thing, sit on the cliff and pelt the enemy with bolts, which would have been much more fun that meeting cavalry on an open plain.

[Foryn Gilnith]

Try "retreating" (tab) and picking a new battlefield. Best way to "debug" things like that.

[Flickerdart]

Doesn't that mean that I lose the round and morale goes down/I get captured?

Oh, and I do have Pathfinding. Only one point on Rumata, though. I might have them on someone else, but we were all dead at the time except Jeremus, and dead people can't use skills.

[warty goblin]

Doesn't that mean that I lose the round and morale goes down/I get captured?

Oh, and I do have Pathfinding. Only one point on Rumata, though. I might have them on someone else, but we were all dead at the time except Jeremus, and dead people can't use skills.

And more importantly you sacrifice all the loot you would have gained from that round!

[Foryn Gilnith]

PRocess:
1) Elect to enter battle with your men
2) Realize immediately that your map sucks (or no-so-immediately, if you're willing to be a mounted scout)
3) Press tab to "retreat". As no enemies have been killed, no loot is lost; and as the enemy is still a whole map away there is no risk of either you or your men being damage
4) Enter battle with your men again.

Repeat steps 2-4 until you have a good map. Don't get too picky, though, or you'll be refreshing forever. Waiting long enough to get a river farther away from the edge would likely work. Backspace to find out where the enemy is also helps.

[WitchSlayer]

So I randomly got into the M&B Warband beta today.
I have learned one thing:
I am not very good at it.
At all.

[Flickerdart]

Yeah, I applied for the beta a while ago, but still nothing. Is there content beyond multiplayer additions?

[WitchSlayer]

New animations, improved graphics, improved weapons, a few added weapons and armors I believe, couching is upgraded so it's more realistic, there's also a new faction but we haven't seen it yet.

[Atreides]

You forgot the most important part: being your own faction and assigning your own vassals! That right there is cause enough for celebration. Go ahead, try and be a rebel in M&B now. Take over a castle all by yourself. You'll find out after you do that you are at WAR with all other factions now. I mean, I don't understand why they gave you the option to take over castles/cities on your own, but give you no means to create your own vassals so you can actually wage some kind of war when you have five other factions hounding you down.

[Flickerdart]

Ch. 8

Progressor Anton Malyshev, personal log
Local date: May 29 1257

After the assault was over and all business was taken care of, I made a most careful count of the funds now in my possession. All in all, I had almost ten thousand denars, and several beasts of burden loaded up with spoils of war in various states of disrepair. The war would have to wait a while, then: it was time to make use of that money.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb002-1.jpg

But as my followers lazily drifted across the plain, something in the distance caught my attention: a shrill scream split the forest. I sent scouts, and their report was almost immediate: a force of bandits, twenty or so men in all, was making off from the scattered remains of a trade caravan, leaving bodies in its wake. The scream was from their only hostage, a woman; presumably the rest of the caravan had been slaughtered. I didn't even waste time sounding a charge, my galloping off had to be enough alert for those of my men ready to fight.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb003-1.jpg

They knew we were coming for a long time, and tried to lose us, but they were bloated with plunder and wounded. We cut into them savagely, and by the time the dust of our charge had settled, the prisoner's bonds were already cut. I put her in the care of Ymira and Jeremus, and set out to the nearest city once more.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb004-1.jpg

It looked like they took a liking to her: I was informed the girl grasped the basics of combat quite swiftly.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb006-1.jpg

In the meantime, I had money that needed spending, and my fief was immediately nearby. This would be difficult to explain to the brass: a Progressor, especially a scout, was not supposed to interfere very heavily in affairs. Commissioning building projects was probably breaking that rule, but to hell with it.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb008-1.jpg

My wallet lightened, I decided to make some of that money back the tried and true way, and a tournament in the Khergit Khanate was the perfect place. This time, however, idle curiosity drove me to request a listing of the participants. To no surprise, my followers were participating, as well as a slew of mercenaries that usually loaf about the taverns. The personage that caught my attention, however, was one Dranton. I've seen him fight in many a tourney, perhaps every single one. A prominent character such as that would be a bountiful source, and perhaps a stalwart fighting companion. In true narrative tradition, I would have to fight my way to him first.

Oh yes, I'd forgotten why I never came back to the Khanate after the last time. At least this time it was javelins, and not a bow.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb011-1.jpg

This time, my opponents proved very clever. One of them dismounted, and used his horse as a shield while peltering me with projectiles, a fair tactic that would never have worked outside this ridiculous tournament.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb012-1.jpg

Eventually, though, I began to notice the distinct lack of ranged weapons that some combatants possessed. Instead, they had real weapons: lances and swords. A fiendishly clever idea struck me as I struck one of these participants with a well-placed javelin toss. I slipped down from my horse and rushed for the weapon, hoping that it would stay put until I got back on.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb014-1.jpg

This worked so well that soon enough, the judges stopped giving my team any melee weapons at all, leaving us to run madly in circles against lancers. Naturally, we still won.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb016-1.jpg

Eventually they gave up and gave me a lance to start with, since I would end up with one despite their efforts.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb017-1.jpg

A good thing too: this was the final round of the tournament, against none other than the fabled Dranton. To the great misfortune of the warrior, he wielded a bow against my lance, and did not seem as comfortable with it as a melee weapon. The first charge knocked the horse out of under him as he deftly dodged the lance, and I spent several minutes trying to hit him too. He was adept at dodging, but the fight was effectively over the moment his horse went down. He didn't even try to use his bow, swinging a fist at me every time my steed thundered by. Eventually, though, the final blow was landed.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb019-1.jpg

Against all narrative convention, Dranton slunk away before I could speak to him. I assumed he'd go to the tavern, and followed suit, but He was nowhere to be seen. I did however spot someone else, a rather more uncommon sight.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb020-1.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb021-1.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb022-1.jpg

Deshavi proved to be an excellent tracker and scout, despite being as awful at riding as one could be. Still, with her giving orders, my troop marched considerably faster, a beneficial thing to have amid the Khergit steppes that teemed with mounted bandits.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb023-1.jpg

Still, we had no hope catching up to them, and they were much too afraid of me to attack, and so we rode to more familiar territory unmolested. Just as soon as we entered the Rhodock holdings, the distant sound of battle struck my ears, echoing through the otherwise silent night. Harringoth Castle was under attack!

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb024.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb025.jpg

That...that was a tiny little bit more than I could handle alone. The two Rhodock lords passing by were busy chasing a trade caravan, but once that was done were all too glad to join me in defending the castle.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb026-1.jpg

Still, the odds were bad. There was hardly any choice otherwise though, and so I gave the order to attack. The two other lords and I led a regiment of infantry forward, to brace against the main enemy charge.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb027.jpg

Things were looking pretty good, and though the enemy lords fought bitterly, each of them was swiftly brought down. Victory was almost in my hands, until...BONK!

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb028.jpg

My followers helped me get to my feet, but morale was still depleted. Strangely, enemy forces never pulled back when their generals fell. I guess mine just like me better.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb029.jpg

The odds improved a little bit, but I was fairly wounded as I rode forward. A lot of my men were, too, as were the enemy's: the elite troops were over and done with, mostly, and it was time for the rabble to sort things out. Quantity was going to win out, quantity that we didn't have. And so...BONK!!

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb034-1.jpg

With myself barely strong enough to walk, and my forces decimated, I had one of my knights sound a retreat. The castle was lost, it wasn't worth more human lives.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb036-1.jpg


Sorry to end this update on such a bitter note. The Huntress survived, which is kinda nice...hoping to get her to Sword Sister, which I hear tell are pretty good. Most of my Knights and Sharpshooters died, and will need a while to be replenished. Deshavi does have a Pathfinding of 3 though, which is nice.

[Starbuck_II]

So why did you decide to fight when vastly outnumbered?

[Flickerdart]

Cause otherwise the castle would've fallen? I figured that 2:1 odds was good enough so long as I didn't die, and that was the case until I, well, died.

[Foryn Gilnith]

Bah, it wasn't a Rhodok castle. It's all well and nice to fight and die for homeland defense, but the Swadians can squabble over the castle that was theirs in the first place. The troops they'd lose in the siege is benefit enough.

Hindsight is 20/20, though. Good to see how Rumata is shaping up. Really like what you've done with the premise.

[Ethdred]

Interesting to see things not always going your way! Apologies for not commenting on earlier updates, but was on holiday. Please keep these up - you've got a good style and it's interesting to see the game played differently from how I do it

[Flickerdart]

Interesting to see things not always going your way! Apologies for not commenting on earlier updates, but was on holiday. Please keep these up - you've got a good style and it's interesting to see the game played differently from how I do it
You mean incompetently? That's not on purpose! :smallredface:

[Arcanoi]

Sword Sisters are slightly better than Swadian Man at Arms and Khergit Veteran Horsemen, but not as good as Knights or Lancers. They're not worth going out of your way to get, but they're effective enough when you do get them.

[Flickerdart]

Well, Knights are pretty hard to get since I'm at war with Swadia, and lancers mean going into Khergit lands which I abhor. Do they also have the same Khergit strategy of "run around the whole goddamn battlefield and contribute absolutely nothing"?

[Arcanoi]

They're equipped like Man at Arms, as far as I know, and if you're at war with Swadia and need some Cavalry, they are probably your best option.

[Flickerdart]

How about Horse-Archers? I love my line of crossbowmen, but I also love them not dying when the enemy cavalry reaches them. Horse-archers should have a higher rate of fire than Sharpshooters, at the cost of range and damage. They'd effectively tie up enemy Knights though, since they can cheese it and shoot at the same time.

[EleventhHour]

How about Horse-Archers? I love my line of crossbowmen, but I also love them not dying when the enemy cavalry reaches them. Horse-archers should have a higher rate of fire than Sharpshooters, at the cost of range and damage. They'd effectively tie up enemy Knights though, since they can cheese it and shoot at the same time.

Grab a group of infantry (nonarcher-sorts) and stand them just behind your crossbowmen, where they won't interfere with the shooting. When the knights are about five seconds out, order them to charge through the archers. Your infantry and the knights usually get tangled up in front of the firing line, leaving it up to you wether to order them to join in the mobbing, or stand back and take potshots.

Works for me, as long as there isn't more Knights than infantry. >.>

[warty goblin]

Bowmen and heavy infantry are a wonderful thing in combination, particularly if you can get a bit of elevation for the archers. The heavies stop whatever horsie boys get through your waves of arrows, the archers kill a lot of dudes.

[Ethdred]

You mean incompetently? That's not on purpose! :smallredface:

No, I said 'differently from how I do it'! :)

My main motivation is just getting the biggest army I can and also capturing lots of prisoners, so I've avoided tournaments pretty much - and certainly haven't bet on myself when they've happened.

I didn't realise that peasant women upgraded into sword sisters - I've been letting them all go when I rescue them, thinking it my good deed for the day!

[Celesyne]

I typically try to carry as many sword sisters as possible, simply because they have a fair amount of health, are fairly heavily armored, either wield a 2-handed sword or sword-board, and carry a crossbow with a pretty powerful punch. My last army had 13 Sword Sisters, 20 Huscarls, 14 Swadian Knnniigguhtts and 25 Rhodok Sharpshooters. Sharpshooters aside, the Sword Sisters typically walk away from the battle (whether siege or open field) with more kills and less injury/deaths than the rest of the forces.

[Flickerdart]

I didn't realise that peasant women upgraded into sword sisters - I've been letting them all go when I rescue them, thinking it my good deed for the day!
Yep, unlike regular peasants which upgrade into the woefully expensive Hired Blades.

[Foryn Gilnith]

I can't find peasant women in any quantity, which is a big drawback. Swadian Knights I can pump out by the dozen by stopping by my first village and using its 99 loyalty to get me 20-60 recruits.

[Flickerdart]

Ch. 9

Progressor Anton Malyshev, personal log
Local date: June 3 1257

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb001-2.jpg

Though we fought heroically, the castle fell. Battered and bruised, my troop limped away from the crushing defeat. The only reason we saw no crows circle above us is that they had easier pickings back at the battlefield. This also made me realize just how much I've become involved with the natives and their way of life. It made no difference who held that castle, all the nations were equally barbaric. It wasn't my job to be fixing thing.
First things first, we had to get out of Swadia. The Khergit border was nearby, and so I ordered my men to make a break for it. Stopping a few peasants in a Khergit village, I was surprised to learn that the Khanate was the only nation in all Calradia currently not at someone's throat. I was slightly less surprised when the people expressed distress at this fact and practically begged me to hire them. After yesterday's defeat, I could hardly turn them away.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb003-2.jpg

But if these men were itching for a fight, they would not find one soon. Have I mentioned why I abhor the Khanate so? It's because everyone here is on a horse. There's no way a troop the size of this one can keep up with these riders, and even with my army in tatters these vagabonds scattered at the sight of me, keeping their ill-gotten gains from my coin-purse. Disappointed at this turn of events, I ordered a rest at the nearby city of Tulga. Despite my injuries, I was restless, and wandered up on the parapets, when what should I see but a band of cutthroats, tearing through the few shacks of those who couldn't afford a life inside the walls. The local guardsmen may not be willing to protect those people, but today they were not the only law in town.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb005-2.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb006-2.jpg

This is the other thing I can't stand about the Khergit, or any Calradian horseman for that matter. There is only one strategy that all of them employ, including unfortunately those in my employ. This "strategy" involves charging blindly at the enemy and then running in circles around the battlefield chasing other mounted units.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb007-2.jpg

Returning to the city, I noticed a suspicious empyting of streets. Even street peddlers were gone, their wares packed up. Not even war could dissuade those people from bothering passers-by with their snake oils and divinations. No, there was only one thing that the people of this land vaunted above all else.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb009-2.jpg

Tournaments! I saw that Dranton managed to find his way here as well. This time around, though, I had real weapons, and thus no warrior was my equal.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb016-2.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb022-2.jpg

With another victory under my belt, I swaggered out of the arena, my winnings jingling merrily. Suddenly, I was aware that there were others who liked the sound of that coin!

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb027-1.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb028-1.jpg

Normally, muggers at least offer you a choice between your money and your life. These guys went straight for the kill. Suddenly, I didn't feel very safe; my enemies were numerous, and my luck was just about running dry. It was time to get moving. But not away from the danger, no. I remembered that Deshavi was a master tracker, and she didn't fail my expectations. The enemy was more numerous this time, but there were still less than three hundred of them, which seemed like a good threshold to keep in mind.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb029-1.jpg

But the fun didn't end here. After some very unpleasant crunching noises, Deshavi slipped out of the shed I saw her chase the bandit leader into. She nodded for me to follow her as she swung atop her horse. The plot, as they say, thickened.
Before long, we heard tell-tale clashes of steel and screams of men. These were in a dialect I've not heard in a long time; the Nords were the other nation the Rhodoks were at war with, and we were all busy enough with Swadia. What was a Nordic lord doing all the way up here? Could it be he was...looking for me?

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb033-2.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb035-2.jpg

Lord Matheas was rather shifty as he gave me his thanks. He coughed in an altogether suspicious way when I took my leave. Sometimes I wish I'd had a chance to learn the less normative lexicon of these people. But ah well. Lord Dirigun, the perpetrator of these attempts on my life, had been undone, and there was nothing more to worry about forever.
I had finally made it through Khergit territory, and neared my fief. The Elder begged me to bring them more cattle. Who but me would be stuck with villagers as useless as this?

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb036-2.jpg

After that little bit of administrative work, I thought it would be a good idea to drop by Jelkala and tell the King that I didn't get killed while defending that castle of his. But the king, as it seemed, was too busy to even greet me. He seemed to be discussing something rather heatedly with a young woman, dressed not in the garb of courtly ladies but something more fitting a warrior-king. She introduced herself as Lady Isolla of Suno. Suno...wasn't that in Swadia?

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb037-1.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb038-1.jpg
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http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb040-1.jpg

Now the barbaric actions of Harlaus made sense. He had to keep his people occupied, lest they remember him as an impostor and a tyrant. Naturally, the way to do that 'round these parts is with war.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb041-1.jpg

Ah, revolutions. Historically, these things always made a horrible mess of things. No Progressor could allow himself to get involved in something like that, and so I curtly took my leave.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb042-1.jpg

The King's second visitor was another claimant, this time to the throne of the other nation bordering Rhodok. No doubt our king intended to back these revolutions and install puppet states, thus giving him control of over half of the land, with the Nords and Vaegirs conquered soon after. Such schemes would no doubt be delicate things, and I slunk out of the room before anyone asked me to scout any more villages or bring cattle to any armies.

On my way out, I hit Lord Matheas in the face with the door. If I didn't know better, it was as if he was eavesdropping on me. He made a rather strange request of me, offering me a bounty for that rascal Dirigun. What his interest was in the man, I couldn't see; it's not like they were having a pretend battle to fool me into thinking they weren't conspiring my demise.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb043-1.jpg

Matheas made an even stranger offer, then. Truly, this man was a sly snake!

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb044-1.jpg

After I refused to fall for his wiles, he slunk away. So did I, but on my way to my room, I tripped over this man, who was ranting something about demons and damnation. An evening spent with Jeremus would do this guy good, so that's where I directed him promptly.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb048-1.jpg


Camping in taverns until bandits run by is pretty much the only way to do anything in the Khanate. :smallmad:

[Ethdred]

Another good one, thanks. Shame you don't feel able to help one of the usurpers - it can be good fun, if hectic. Nice to see you have Firentis on board - I like him. A good man in a fight.

[Sliver]

But to help them, don't you have to be first of their kingdom, then leave and join the usurpers? And you would have to leave your own kingdom too..

BTW, nice update, really enjoying this:smallbiggrin:

[Ethdred]

But to help them, don't you have to be first of their kingdom, then leave and join the usurpers? And you would have to leave your own kingdom too..

BTW, nice update, really enjoying this:smallbiggrin:

I don't think so - AFAIK you only need a reputation of over 300(?). I've only done one game where i joined a usurper but I hadn't sworn fealty to anyone - I'd just been a mercenary captain.

[Foryn Gilnith]

You can join a claimant if A) You're unaffiliated, or B) You're a member of the kingdom they're rebelling against. To satisfy A you may have to renounce your oath to your king. You also need 200 renown. This is largely irrelevant because Rumata has a whit of sense and isn't getting involved in all that.

[Flickerdart]

Dead? Who said we're dead?

Ch. 10

Progressor Anton Malyshev, personal log
Local date: June 11 1257

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb01.jpg

Has it really not been more than three months? It feels like forever that I've been slogging through this dirt-filled hole of a planet. I've gotten so used to this crowd of hired thugs. Again and again, they keep proving themselves necessary, but there are people like Jeremus here that make me wonder if my troop has to be so, well, barbaric. I needed someone that knew how to handle a screaming horde of savages - a schoolteacher, perhaps, but those weren't exactly easy to come by here. Nevertheless, I wondered what the local tavern would dredge up.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb04.jpg

Yesssss.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb05.jpg

This woman sounded exactly like my grandmother.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb06.jpg

However, an apron is probably the worst thing to be wearing into battle. The prices on new gear in Veluca were just as bad as anywhere else (to the point where I'm not surprised that the peasants constantly live in fear of bandits and foreign lords, if they can't even afford a knife, much less a sword) so the only way I could make sure Katrin didn't die was through the other kind of transaction.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb08.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb09.jpg

Even the bandits were destitute! My successors are going to have their work cut out for them. Jeremus took my sour expression for something else, though:

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb10-2.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb11-2.jpg

It gladdened me to see that I've found two people in this land with any sense between the two of them. My day brightened somewhat, despite the lack of any real progress. Weary and discouraged, I ordered my men to the nearest city, and was about to pay for the rooms when I spotted a familiar figure amid the rather small patronage.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb12-3.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb13-3.jpg

Mechanical? Theorems? Methods? Those were all very promising words, especially for a backwards place such as this. Would I finally be able to see just how far the science of this world has progressed?
Apparently, promising words are also expensive, because the price tag was still over my budget. Stupid awful economy. Oh well, nothing to do but go and earn some money, the same way as anything else is done around here.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb16-2.jpg

I managed to recover a portion of my soldiers from before that crushing defeat, and thus resume my usual tactics. The river in particular slowed the enemy down to a crawl, and not one of them reached the other bank.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb14-3.jpg

Whatever you say, grandma.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb15-2.jpg

Yes, grandma, that's nice.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb17-2.jpg

I don't know why everyone suddenly started telling me how much they appreciate everyone else. Knowing the rascals, it was some sort of ploy to get more money out of me.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb19-1.jpg

And there it went. I hoped that book merchant would stick around for a while, because there was no way I could get two thousand gold in any sort of hurry. It was odd, though, how I never found any of these travellers or merchants actually on the road.
Suddenly, my thoughts were interrupted by rather rude whoops and language that I don't care to reproduce here as a trio of sea raiders turned the corner, saw us, and promptly turned back. They had prisoners with them, though, and I wasn't going to let that stand.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb18-1.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb22-1.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb23-2.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/PresidentPSkillz/Mount%20and%20Blade/mb24-2.jpg

Nice to know that Jeremus and Firentis still had heads on their shoulders, even if they're steeped a little too far in religion. How anyone could live in a place like this and still think that some sort of deity cares about them is beyond me, although if they knew what any of the things I've brought with me can do, they'd probably think I was a god. Or a demon, perhaps. I did not want to violate Progressor rules to learn which one.

[toasty]

Another good one, thanks. Shame you don't feel able to help one of the usurpers - it can be good fun, if hectic. Nice to see you have Firentis on board - I like him. A good man in a fight.

A more general question regarding this but is it possible to "win" against the kingdom you are defeating. Like, you know, conquering all their towns and then making them surrender to you? Because I conquered all of Vaegir's towns, villages and castles, but they still are at war with me! What is this?!

Also, good update Flickerdart, I like how you seem to be going in a much less warlike and violent route. I killed everyone who came by me and then conquered their towns to boot. :smallbiggrin:

[deuxhero]

What do the motives in character creation do? The other choices are fairly obvious as to their effects when you select them (they say stuff like "You were a ___ leaningx and y" and that obviously boosts x and y), but they don't.

[Flickerdart]

What do the motives in character creation do? The other choices are fairly obvious as to their effects when you select them (they say stuff like "You were a ___ leaningx and y" and that obviously boosts x and y), but they don't.
There's a run-down of all the choices at StrategyWiki (http://strategywiki.org/wiki/Mount%26Blade/Character_creation).

[Ethdred]

A more general question regarding this but is it possible to "win" against the kingdom you are defeating. Like, you know, conquering all their towns and then making them surrender to you? Because I conquered all of Vaegir's towns, villages and castles, but they still are at war with me! What is this?!

Also, good update Flickerdart, I like how you seem to be going in a much less warlike and violent route. I killed everyone who came by me and then conquered their towns to boot. :smallbiggrin:

To defeat a kingdom, they have to have all their armies defeated. So once you have captured all their towns, you (and your allies) have to ride around the country looking for that last noble who's hiding out from you! It tends to be easy to defeat kingdoms when they are at war with each other, probably because you have so many nobles hunting down the remnants. I've only done one usurper, and had just taken the last Vaegir town and then I lost my save games, so I haven't seen what happens next. But I've started a new one, with the Expanded Native mod, and am either going to win a glorious victory or get my rear end kicked by the Swadian Queen.

I tend to follow your warlike route as well. I keep wanting to play a peaceful trader, but get sidetracked by all these easily defeated gangs of bandits.

PS: Flickerdart, good to see you back doing this