I would like to know if there are any advantages or more disadvantages of being a woman in Mount and Blade: Warband. I know for example you need more points to become vassal (I believe it's called) and you need more points to get a fiev. Now I also know its harder to become an actual king. Are there any advantages of being a woman?
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Marco GeertsmaMarco Geertsma4,7761111 gold badges3434 silver badges7272 bronze badges
6 Answers
Disclaimer: I have never played Mount and Blade. The following information was gained entirely through secondary sources.
When you play as a female character, your starting stats will change - you will, relative to a male character, have +1 AGI and +1 INT, but -1 STR and -1 CHA [1]. In addition, a woman of noble background will have different starting skills to a man of noble background: women will get Riding, Wound Treatment, and First Aid instead of Power Strike and Tactics [2]. A similiar change in starting skills applies to a woman of nomad background compared to the male counterpart.
As a female character, you will need more Renown to do things. The base requirement to join a faction is 150 for men, but 200 for women[3]. In addition, it is more difficult to get a fief as a woman, unless you have a large amount of Renown (700). If you play as a woman, the lord who owns the castle associated with your village granted to you will deny you entry into his castle [4].
The marriage system for men and women is also different. The system for marriage for women may be considered simpler, but possibly more difficult [5]. It is very direct - find the lord you want to marry, increase your relationship with him, and then ask to 'cement the alliance to their house'. The wiki page suggests that a female character 'may gain more from a marriage than her male counterpart', but it doesn't elaborate on this. One last thing: female characters also can marry a Hero, which male characters cannot do [6].
Altogether, it seems like playing as a woman is overall a disadvantage [7], as it seems the cons outweigh the pros.
[1]: http://mountandblade.wikia.com/wiki/Player
[2]: http://mountandblade.wikia.com/wiki/Character_creation
[3]: http://mountandblade.wikia.com/wiki/Renown
[4]: http://mountandblade.wikia.com/wiki/Fiefs
[5]: http://mountandblade.wikia.com/wiki/Marriage
[6]: http://mountandblade.wikia.com/wiki/Heroes
[7]: http://www.gog.com/forum/general/mount_and_blade_warband_female_character_confusion
LessPop_MoreFizz[2]: http://mountandblade.wikia.com/wiki/Character_creation
[3]: http://mountandblade.wikia.com/wiki/Renown
[4]: http://mountandblade.wikia.com/wiki/Fiefs
[5]: http://mountandblade.wikia.com/wiki/Marriage
[6]: http://mountandblade.wikia.com/wiki/Heroes
[7]: http://www.gog.com/forum/general/mount_and_blade_warband_female_character_confusion
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absintheabsinthe
From my experience playing the game, playing as a female character could be considered the 'Hard Mode' within Mount and Blade: Warband. It's less of a disadvantage and more of a way to give a challenge.
They have a unique way of getting Renown as well, but it could be a gamble:
If you counter a lord's remarks about you being a maiden, it is possible that you may get Renown for this due to them admiring a quick tongue and an equivalent wit. However, they may also lose relations with you, try to duel you, or even send their army at you. [[1]]
Overall, it's more of a way to make the game much more difficult than it is as a male character.
Source (Last bullet in 'You can gain renown in a number of ways:')
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Rose ArrendaleRose Arrendale
The best thing i find about being a female is mount and blade is that when you marry them and leave their faction, the husband will support you most of the time.
FangFang
If you're using the mods that allow you to control the garrsion of the spouse, then being a woman is an insane advantage. Command and conquer eva. It means you can have an indefinite amount of troops without paying their wages (even their half wages).
This is also possible for men if one is playing a mod where female lords do exist (e.g. Clash of Kings with Asha Greyjoy, Maege Mormont et al). However, it is significantly more difficult to marry those (you'll probably have to be in the same faction first).
Though to be honest, this is quite gamey and could probably ruin the immersion and make the game a bit too easy.
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Avihoo IlanAvihoo Ilan
How the game mechanics work may vary by version/update for female toons.I played version 1.1.72 as woman and and man both and noticed little to no difference in renown gain. I did notice that in the 1.172 as soon as renown was 150 or more vassal and a fief was offered by the king of the territory I was in via messenger (neutral or positive in that faction ). I too noticed a difference in the response options for female toons when talking to lords . I suspect, but have not tested, getting a positive result will ( like capturing lords in battle) depend in the fellows personality. Wiki fandom has a personality chart that allows you to figure which lord has what personality by their first comments at meeting you (prior to merc or vassal in that lords faction) .Character builds 6: 2 female , 4 male. 1 noble 1 non on the gals.
SMCSMC
Well, the disadvantage I have encountered, is simply that during sparring (a good way to give your troops XP BTW) on training fields, the female character wears a bikini and having people in the room you are in is awkward.
Crally69Crally69
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Posted byKingdom of Rhodoks2 years ago
Archived
Now before someone condescendingly tells me to 'go read the wiki nub', I already know that 'Every two levels of tactics increases your starting battle advantage by 1. Battle advantage determines how many soldiers you can have on the battlefield at the start of a battle and how large your reinforcements will be.'. The problem is that that's not really detailed enough.. How much of a difference does 1 battle advantage make? How are initial troop counts and reinforcements calculated from it?
So far I haven't found a clear answer. Some people claim 1BA = 1 extra soldier, which would make the skill extremely useless. Others claim it affects the ratio of troops (which would make sense, but it still isn't clear how exactly the BA bonus from tactics is factored into that ratio). Can someone with more intimate knowledge of Warband's inner workings (like a modder) shed some light on how these calculations actually work?
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Soloing is a risky, tricky, thing to pull off in M&B:WB, but with this simple guide, you'll (probably) find yourself singlehandedly racking up more bandit corpses than you can count.
Disclaimer: While the techniques in this guide are somewhat universal to most M&B Modules, this guide is directed towards the Native module, and some bits of information may not provide helpful in other modules & entries in the franchise.
Other Mount & Blade: Warband Guides:
- Cheats.
- Beginners Guide.
- Basic and Improved Infantry Melee.
- Prophesy of Pendor Guide.
- Kingdom of Nords Guide.
Essential Equipment
Get a Horse
This is, by far, the absolute most important part of fighting bandits solo. A horse allows you to get & stay out of tight situations, it allows you to swoop in at oppertune times, it allows you to kite the enemy, it allows you to chase down routers & stragglers, and many other things. In short, a horse keeps you 10 steps ahead of the enemy, and you absolutely need it to survive as a solo.
Get a Shield
This one is much less important than having a horse, but crutial none-the-less. You should always have your shield facing the enemy archers, and only have it down when facing directly away from the enemy, attacking, couching, and when you have your ranged weapon out. You won't really need it too much, however, when the enemy's ranged attacking capabilities are neutralized.
Get a Bow or Crossbow
This will allow you to kite the enemy, whilst still inflicting casualties on the enemy. Remember to take out the enemy archers before using this thing, because you can't have your shield and bow out at the same time.
Techniques & Maneuvers
Kiting
Kiting is a very important part of soloing, and it's what you'll spend 90% of a battle doing. The actual process of kiting is actually pretty simple. Repeatedly circle the group of enemies.
When the enemy still has their throwables, it's a very good idea to keep an aditional 40-70 meters away from the enemy, as the AI isn't very good at leading their shots, so almost all of their projectiles will be drunkenly flung onto the ground behind your horse. Doing this is actually quite helpful even when you have an actual army, as it makes the enemy waste their very limited supply of throwing spears, saving many of your own men from dying right before the fight even starts.
Exposing their archers
Now, unlike the melee infantry that run at you in a straight line, archers, as long as you stay within their range, will just stand in one spot. And since these guys are your #1 threat while soloing, you want to get them out of the way ASAP.
So here's how you do this: Kite the enemy in an uneven circle, luring them in a particular direction, until the enemy infantry is seperated from their archers. After this is done, charge the archers, 1 by 1, while strafing & wiggling as much as you can, and start to pick them off. Charge, lure the infantry away, charge, rinse & repeat until all archers are wiped off the field.
Exposing their faces
After taking out the enemy archers, you'll find that you've now got to deal with a solid brick of shields. But the M&B AI are programed to hold up their shield at all times, until they're near an enemy, in which they will lower their shield and raise their weapon, preparing to strike, and at a closer range, they will actually attempt to strike with their weapon.
You want to ride right past them, to the point where they almost get bushwacked by your horse's tail, right at the point where they raise their weapon and lower their shield. This is when you should strike, either with your ranged or melee weapon.
Weaving
This one goes hand-in-hand with the former technique, as you'll need it when getting so close to their line, especially with spearmen.
Weaving consists of charging towards an idividual straggler, or the edge of the enemy formation, and subtly wiggling your horse during the charge to avoid missile fire (charge weave), weaving towards the enemy right as you make contact (Contact weave), and weaving out to better avoid their melee retaliation (escape weave), or the melee attacks of the other members of their formation. The charge weave can be ignored, however, if the enemy has no more ranged weapons, although it is very important when charging archers.
Types of Bandits & How to Deal with Them
Looters
These guys are who I would recommend going after whenever you can, as they're pretty easy targets for soloing, as their ranged weapons are very weak, they have no shields, and their melee weapons are mostly short ranged swords.
Now, if you're all decked out in a full suit of late game armor, their rocks will just bounce right off of you, doing 0 - 1 dmg per hit. Just kite them, and shoot blindly into the crowd, and your archery/throwing/crossbow skill will quickly improve.
If you're not particularly well armored, then it's best to wiggle around as much as possible when kiting, and preform the charge weave constantly, but the damage of their stones still shouldn't be that much of a threat to you.
Mount And Blade What Is Battle Advantage
Forest Bandits
With forest bandits, it's actually best to dismount and take advantage of the enviroment that you found them in. the forest. Just hide behind a tree, peek out, take a pot shot, and hide back behind the tree to reload. Some of them will eventually try to flank you, so make sure to keep vigilant over your flanks and take the flankers out ASAP.
Tundra Bandits & Sea Raiders
I'm throwing these 2 into the same bin, because Sea Raiders are essentially just upgraded Tundra Bandits. So with these guys, you want to do an initial loop around them with a very wide distance between you & them, in order to make the infantry expend their throwables. Then, you want to lure the infantry away from the archers, take out the archers, and kill off the infantry as usual.
Mountain Bandits
Mount And Blade Battle Advantage
Same as the Tundra & Sea Raiders, but with yourself being put at a disadvantage due to the steep terrain, which almost knocks your speed advantage right out from under you. Almost.At the very start of the battle, scout out the area to see if you can manouver properly. If not, retreat and attack again, re-generating the battlefield terrain. If it's still not suitable, repeat once more. If you do this again, it will go back to the first of the 3 maps that it generated and cycle through them in the same order, so pick the best, most flat terrain that you can.
Sandits
These guys are on horseback, just like you, so make sure to only pick small groups. As always, go after the archers first, and then move onto the melee ones.
Oh yeah, and DO NOT GET COUCHED!
If you get hit by a couched lance, it's game over. Those things do about 400 damage, which is enough to one shout both you, and a low-end shield. If you see a couched lance with your name on it, just put your shield up, and get out of the way.
Remember that fighting these guys is the medieval equivalent of being in a modern day dogfight, so make sure that you keep vigilant at all times, or else a single fell swoop from behind is gonna be your demise.
Steppe Bandits
Alright, now here's how you solo fight a group of steppe bandits: You don't. Seriously, you might as well fight a helicopter with an M60 gunner on the side. Just don't.
Fighting Dismounted
Okay, you've just had your horse turned into a shish kebab, so now what? Well, before you put your weapon down and accept your fate, there's a few things that you can try in a last-ditch effort to stay alive.
Backtracking
Keep walking backwards, and make it so that only one enemy is engaging you at a time. If you can successfully funnel them into a single file line, then you have an infinitely higher chance of surviving unhorsed, than if you were to run in and surround yourself with bandits.
Horse Impaling
Alright, you've got a horse coming straight towards you at 40mph, what now? Get your melee weapon out, preferrably a spear, and slightly fling your mouse directly downwards while clicking and holding. This should set your spear in the 'Stab' position. Wait until the time is right, and depress the mouse button, impaling the horse, instantly killing it, and giving the rider a mouth full of dirt. Kill him. Kill him now.
Dodging a couched lance
You've now got a couched lance coming for you, and your weapon is too short to impale the horse before the lance reaches you. Again, don't give up yet. Unequip your shield if you have the time, wait until the time is right, and strafe-jump to the right (or the left of the horseman), and block mid-air.
Time this too soon, and the horseman will correct their trajectory, too late and you'll either get trampled by the horse or impaled by the lance.
About this mod
Native Expansion is a total enhancement for Native Warband. It doesn't aim to be a total conversion, it aims to take everything that is great about Native and make it better. Our motto: More Better Stuff. Better troops. Better diplomacy. Better mechanics. Better quests. Better menus. More of everything!
Author's instructions
The NE dev team spans many people over many years. We have come and gone, and many hands have been in this pot. None of us own it, but all of us do, and for that reason we do provide the sources to NE (available through the mod and through the Taleworlds forums). This is a completely free-to-use module for fun, and if you want to tinker with it, rebuild it, do whatever - go for it - you just can't call it 'Native Expansion'.
File credits
Developers:
The Mercenary - One of the two founders, along with Jinnai
Jinnai - Ditto. Without these two, NE wouldn't exist.
Josef - Much quest design and porting NE to Warband
Lav - Stringing together all sorts of NE parts
daumor - Ditto.
Pellagus - Models, textures, art, ideas, moderation and more.
soulmata - One of the current dev team, along with Lav
Lav - Ditto, on top of tons of useful stuff outside of NE (like better presentations)
ThunderClaw - Honorary mention
Future NE DEV - Could be you???
Contributors, past and present:
Lord Samuel - The amazing siege ladders pack
kt0
faradon
dejawolf
dariel
AlphaDelta
Wei Xiadi
amade
Wellenbrecher
Tempered
dstemmer
TheMageLord
Mirathei
Chel
The Mercenary - One of the two founders, along with Jinnai
Jinnai - Ditto. Without these two, NE wouldn't exist.
Josef - Much quest design and porting NE to Warband
Lav - Stringing together all sorts of NE parts
daumor - Ditto.
Pellagus - Models, textures, art, ideas, moderation and more.
soulmata - One of the current dev team, along with Lav
Lav - Ditto, on top of tons of useful stuff outside of NE (like better presentations)
ThunderClaw - Honorary mention
Future NE DEV - Could be you???
Contributors, past and present:
Lord Samuel - The amazing siege ladders pack
kt0
faradon
dejawolf
dariel
AlphaDelta
Wei Xiadi
amade
Wellenbrecher
Tempered
dstemmer
TheMageLord
Mirathei
Chel
Donation Points system
This mod is not opted-in to receive Donation Points
- For the Tactics skill, see Skills.
- For With Fire & Sword, see Tactics (With Fire & Sword).
While Mount&Blade's combat system is centered on the player's character, victory in single player battles more often goes to the side which dictated the terms of the battle (when and where to fight) and utilized its troops more effectively on the battlefield. The former is properly called strategy and the latter, tactics. To succeed in Mount&Blade's single player campaign, a firm grasp of both is required.
Unit TacticsEdit
Briefly stated, there are three main types of military troops:
- Melee Infantry
- Ranged Infantry (archers, crossbows, rock throwers, etc.)
- Cavalry
Melee InfantryEdit
Melee Infantry are generally regarded as the bread and butter of any army. They specialize in getting up close to their targets and beating them into submission. They're generally cheaper than the equivalently armed and armored cavalry and perform slightly better than dismounted cavalry due to their investment in Athletics rather than Riding.
Melee infantry in Mount&Blade are very similar to real world medieval infantry in that if the infantry unit is moving, it is virtually helpless up against cavalry. The infantry scatters into a loose formation and allows the cavalry to do its run-by attacks.
Defeating cavalry is easy by using 'hold this ground' and formation orders to thicken your line. With this tactic, charging cavalry become trapped in your defensive line which causes each attacking cavalry troop to potentially face three or four of your infantry at once. Using this stratagem, even crossbowmen can be quite effective against an assaulting cavalry force. As in real life, infantry only has the ability to defeat cavalry when kept in formation and standing strong or using the terrain to their advantage.
StrengthsEdit
- Economical
- Athletics
- Dense Formations
- Mobile in Rough Terrain
WeaknessesEdit
- Relatively slow ground speed
- Vulnerable out of Dense Formation.
Ranged InfantryEdit
Ranged Units (typically Archers) are usually potent, but poorly protected. They're designed to stay out of melee and rain death on enemies from afar. Against infantry this works well enough, but Cavalry can usually cross the danger zone and bring the fight to the archers.
A ranged unit that isn't lobbing projectiles is misused. With their generally weaker armor they'll lose in melee combat.
Ranged units can concentrate fighting power from a wide area onto targets. On their own, ranged units tend to spread their fire evenly, so it's best to try break up advancing enemies so your fighters can concentrate fire and overwhelm their defenses. The other problem ranged units have is running out of ammunition. A ranged unit without ammunition is just a weakly armored infantryman, so it's usually best to have firing lines hold fire until you can make it count. Crossbowmen with their lower rate of fire can be somewhat exempted from this as their slow methodical fire will achieve the same end, but archers can typically empty their quivers before the enemy even charges. The most important things to remember about ranged units are:
- Keep out of melee.
- Make your shots count
StrengthsEdit
- Economical
- Can Concentrate power from wide area
WeaknessesEdit
- Weak Armor
- Vulnerable to melee
- Limited ammunition
CavalryEdit
Cavalry in Mount&Blade are extremely powerful. Mounted troops can use their horses to charge isolated infantry, inflicting blunt damage and staggering them, which breaks their shield defense. The increased speed grants added striking power to their rider's blows.
However, unlike infantry, horses turn slowly and their length interferes further when hemmed in by obstacles. Also unlike infantry, horses in Mount&Blade can't walk sideways or strafe.
Finally, when the player recognizes these weaknesses and strengths, they can use cavalry more effectively. Just remember two points concerning cavalry:
- Melee cavalry are made for charges. Do not engage in prolonged melee; either pierce through or withdraw and charge again. Stay out of the fight and use the 'charge' and 'hold this position' commands to continually ram the enemy and pull your cavalry out before they get stuck.
- Ranged cavalry do not shoot as well as ranged infantry while on the move; either hold still to shoot or charge the AI's likely scattered formation.
StrengthsEdit
- Speed
- Guard Crush Charge
- Weapon Power Multiplier When Moving
- Shields
WeaknessesEdit
- Slow turning
- No Strafing
- Impeded Ranged attacks
- Increased expense
- Often become surrounded if halted by infantry (and vice versa)
- Can't attack things behind them if they are unable to turn their horse (happens when surrounded)
Typical TacticsEdit
These categories suggest a form of rock-paper-scissors arrangement, perhaps something like:
- Cavalry beat ranged attackers
- Ranged attackers beat infantry
- Infantry beat cavalry
This model is too simplistic however, more realistically commanders should appreciate:
- Cavalry are a danger to all foot troops if not halted.
- Ranged Attackers can safely engage shorter ranged troops and concentrate firepower from a wide area.
- Infantry have the athletics to bring superior armor and weapons into melee and emerge victorious.
Cavalry are both faster than infantry and can move much more easily in and out of melee combat. Infantry once engaged must typically defeat their opponent to survive. Archers avoid the problem of moving in and out of combat range by inflicting damage from afar and intentionally avoiding melee at the cost of being very ineffective when forced into it.
Troop TiersEdit
In addition, units are also marked by upgrade tiers, which indicates troop quality. At each stage the troops level and attributes increase which improves their lethality and survivability.
The quality of the unit(s) in question has a huge influence: a Nord Huscarl will shred almost any other unit in the game in most melees, regardless of the above relationships. This, of course, does not take into consideration any other factors, such as terrain or morale (the zeal of one's troops, which plays-out via the odds of either side's units fleeing mid-battle). That said, a Huscarl's total training cost is nearly quadruple the nearly-as-good Rhodok Sergeant's.
A few things to keep in mind when one is about to start a fightEdit
- Are you taking on a lord or just a group?
- The presence of a lord impacts the morale of the army heavily, which means that groups without one, such as a group of looters, are more likely to flee mid-battle.
- Where are you in the game map when the fight starts?
- If you are on a mountain in the big map, expect hills in the battle, and so on.
- How is your morale?
- If Morale is low, consider that your units might take off on you during anything but a castle siege. However, if you ride near them, they suddenly perk back up, turn around, and get back into the fight. The Player is, in effect, a moving morale generator.
And once in Battle..
Take a look at the enemy units. Maybe tell your army to stay put (press 0, then F1, then F1 again anytime during combat to make the entire army stay put at your current position) and Ride out by yourself.
- See a lot of Missile Shooters?
- That means get everyone behind a hill. In fact, that's just a good practice if you plan to play a defensive game, period. Have them spread-out, too. Although they lose cohesion this way, the added defense against missiles is totally worth it, in this scenario.
- How about horses?
- In that case, get on the top of a hill, so that they are slowed down considerably just trying to reach you. While you're at it, have your units stand closer (check your control options to see how) so that the horsemen can't get through. If you are not opposed to exploitations and want to make for an easier fight, have your men stand right at the edge of the map so that when the enemy horses charge you and run past they get stopped by the map border and are momentarily vulnerable to attack.
Another effective strategy -- especially if you have very little cavalry -- is stand in the center of a river; it's impossible to charge in a river. Make sure that all your men dismount. The enemy will advance slowly and dividedly, making it extremely easy to kill them all with minimal casualties on your side. Ensure that the infantry and dismounted cavalry make-up the front line and ensure that the archers are just behind them. If you can't place them in the river itself, place them on the banks. As previously stated; one simply cannot charge through water. Historically, the Scots won many upsets against the English by doing this.
- And what about infantry?
- In this case, get your archers in there early, and attack with your cavalry if you can to keep them distracted while your archers go nuts. Once they break through your horses and start running towards the archers, unleash the infantry. Mind you, if those infantry look like they have a lot of spears, you may want to consider moving in your infantry and cavalry in such a way so they attack in unison to give the Missile Shooters all the chance they need. Try to flank (hit from behind or on the side) with your cavalry, especially when the enemy has a lot of spear-men (pole-arms and two-handed weapons are the best ways to take-down a horse).
Faction-Specific TacticsEdit
- Kingdom of Nords Tactics: Fierce Northmen field an all infantry army.
- Kingdom of Rhodoks Tactics: Well known for an army of Crossbowmen.
- Kingdom of Vaegirs Tactics: A mix of heavy cavalry and armored archers
- Kingdom of Swadia Tactics: Heavy Cavalry and crossbowmen.
- Khergit Khanate Tactics: Steppe riders best known for their horse archers.
- Sarranid Sultanate Tactics: Desert riders with a mix of heavy cavalry and light archers.
StrategiesEdit
Understanding what you can do with the tools available, it's possible to construct a plan of action. Collect and bring those tools into action. This is strategy.
Cavalry ArmyEdit
Part of what makes steppe bandits so dangerous is their high map speed makes them hard to avoid. This can be attributed to their horses. Composing your own forces of mostly or entirely cavalry keeps your own map speed high which enables you to outrun forces you can't outfight and quickly run down slower forces who you can beat. The pathfinding skill also contributes so don't neglect that side of your party composition.
- Control who you engage and you need not fear your enemies
Archer ArmyEdit
Archers can feather enemies from afar with minimal risks. While not particularly good on the assault, archers holding position can decimate advances before the enemy can do any damage.
The basic principle is:
- Get a whole bunch of shooters
- Put them in a place with good lines of fire
- Pin cushion your enemies when they close
The basic problem with the army is it requires user intervention to function and operates best when the enemy's advance is degraded. Also the optimum configuration is a line which is probably the most vulnerable to cavalry attack. On the plus side, an army of all archers can be extremely efficient and few troops will be lost in battle, so mastering this kind of army can be very valuable.
Heavy CavalryEdit
Get all of the heaviest cavalry you can find and let them charge.
Basic principles:
- Heavy cavalry are extremely well armored
Heavy cavalry can pretty much stomp any other unit. This isn't a finesse approach. Just get them to charge your enemies and keep from bogging down. This strategy breaks down in rough terrain where loss of horsepower reduces heavy cavalry to very clumsy heavy infantry. Overall, this strategy is probably the easiest and most powerful wherever horses are allowed, but it will cost roughly twice the amount of an army with no heavy cavalry.
BackstabbingEdit
Most units in Mount&Blade carry a defense, be it shield or parrying weapon. This defense is typically oriented forward. Attacking from behind or the opposite side negates this defense and improves the efficiency of your attacks. As a result it is often advantageous to mix into your armies at least a small number of cavalry to follow you in attacking flanks and rear faces of enemy formations.
Basic principle:
- Attack where their defense isn't
Kill the HorsesEdit
Cavalry are annoying to fight. They generally don't stay still long enough to skewer with your pointy tool of choice. Killing the horse reduces the once mighty knight to a less mighty heavy infantryman, who is a perfect target for couched lances.
Basic principle:
- If it's too hard to kill, weaken it
- Infantry is easier to pin and destroy than cavalry
Dislodge Their CoverEdit
With infantry-based factions like the Nords and Rhodoks, the charge mentality doesn't always work, especially dealing with horses, and, more importantly, Khergits, which both have swift steeds and sharp swords.
Unfortunately, the A.I. does not know that, and they'll most likely just get all their infantry in a line, and slowly advance. Once you get close enough, they charge.
So suppose that you're a vassal of Sanjar Khan (Khergits) and specialize in cavalry. An all-cavalry army moves much faster than an all-infantry army, but consider that a 100-man Rhodok army pins you down on the world map, and forces you to fight with your 50-man Khergit army against them on hilly terrain.
It'd be a nightmare without the command bar.
Basic steps:
- Tell your cavalry to follow you.
- Charge towards the enemy, but circle around them. I recommend turning towards the right, as that way your horse archers can fire onto the enemy.
- Do this for a minute or so. Now the enemy should be scattered, most of them charging towards you.
- Wait for about 20 seconds for the rest of the army to settle into more flat terrain.
- Regroup.
- Charge.
This strategy allows your Khergits to slaughter your foes mercilessly. But one thing to keep in mind: scatter the enemy. A lone infantryman will break easier than a clump of them. You want to bait them, then, when they aren't ready, charge them. This strategy can also work with flat terrain if you're facing up against clumps of infantry. Just circle them until they spread out. Infantry work well as a large, tightly-packed unit, using their shields and themselves to block missile fire from those deeper in the formation. Therefore, you should consider dispersing them before launching your payload of arrows or javelins.Terrain is their shield, pure melee power is their weapon. And, as always, getting rid of the shield first will make things a whole lot easier.
Time Is On Your Side Edit
Something to keep in mind is that as the player, you are effectively the center of the universe. Any battle you take part in takes absolutely no time on the strategic scale. Unlike when supporting other AI lords, any lord that is willing to take part in your battles only needs to be within a certain distance of the player, rather than actually needing to run the rest of the way between them and the other lord to take part. This mostly removes the primary disadvantage of large armies being slow. Through this, a player backed faction can effectively rack up victory after victory in less than an in-game hour and force an enemy faction to surrender due to having no one left to defend their territory.