Back to playing a bit of Mount & Blade: Warband which is a good RPG sandbox where you lead a party of heroes and soldiers to do whatever you want. Carve out a kingdom? Swear fealty to a king and help them take over the lands? Be a mercenary for hire? Do your own thing and become hated?

A key mod that I recommend is Diplomacy which has been updated as recently as Dec 2018.

Robert I

Male
Veteran Warrior
Street Urchin
Smith
The Loss of a Loved One

Immediately after starting, you can export your character from the ‘C’ screen, edit the file and then import it back in. Because I hate the grind, I also start with 500k in cash and some key skills bumped up. The easiest way to do that is to edit the attribute/skills/weapons “_points” lines at the top of the file. Give yourself six attribute, twelve skill and thirty-six weapon points.

It doesn’t matter where you start, but you’ll want to accomplish a few things in the first year:

Find heroes and draft them into your party. Note that of the sixteen, there are two sets of eight that get along fine but you can’t mix-and-match between the two sets. Or you can just turn off companion complaints in the Diplomacy options (on the Camp screen when you are roaming between locations).
Do work for the guild masters so that they will grant you the ability to purchase a business in each main city. This gives passive income over the long-term. Note that with diplomacy options, different cities will have different profitable businesses, and you will need to investigate more instead of always picking a single industry.
Build up a small set of infantry / calvary / ranged. About 20-30 in total would be good. Avoid mercenaries who are far more (twice as?) expensive per pay period.
Look for special armor/weapons on the merchants. This is where most of my nest egg ends up going.
Sometimes villages get taken over by bandits, there will be a farmer in the tavern when this happens. Or you can just go from village to village.
Ask lords for tasks.
Decide which faction you want to join.
Keep party speed above 5.5 during the day when on flat terrain. This can be done through higher pathfinding skill using one of the heroes, horses, or smaller party size. Below that speed and you’ll be caught by hostiles more often and won’t be able to catch hostiles as quickly.

Year 1257

March

Started in Praven, didn’t find much else besides a bit of armor/weapons. The guild merchant wanted me to chase bandits, which I’m not prepared for. Another merchant wants me to attack a bandit hideout, which I’m also not ready for. That means I need to ride fast to Suno and leave the bandits / looters behind.

Got jumped by 12 Swadian deserters outside Vyincourd Castle. They had crossbows, so I had to lead them in a merry chase around the hills until they ran out of ammo. Then I turned and fought on more even turns. My horse was grievously wounded by the end and I had to fight the last few on foot. This will make for a good tale at the tavern. Now to make my way to Uxkhal to search for more companions.

Still no luck. Going to hire a few Swadian lads from a nearby village. Then try Veluca in the Rhodok territory. Due to deserters chasing me, I ended up at Dhirim instead. I now have eight Swadian lads following me. Untrained fodder, but they’ll serve as a distraction.

Trying to get to Halmar and then back over to Veluca.

Recruited 2 Rhodok from Saren, an exposed village along the east flank of the Rhodok territory.

Found Artimenner (engineer) in Veluca. Also Firentis (warrior).

Rescued four nords from a bandit party and hired them.

Found Jeremis and Borcha at Yalen. Also helped a beggar in the streets, which gives me enough reputation with Yalen to purchase a business. Looks like a tannery (8000 cost) will give profits of about 300/week. Cleared out some bandits around Yalen, but Artimenner and Firentis are badly wounded and will need to rest up.

April

Jelkala, seat of the Rhodoks. Found Katrin. My goal is about 10 Rhodok crossbows, 10 Nord melee, 10 Swadian knights, 10 Sarranid knights, and 10 Vaegir archers. Maybe a bit less of each as I only want a party size of about fifty.

Picked up Rolf in Shariz and Matheld in Dhirim. Baheshtur joins in Tihr. Klethi in Praven.

Setup a wool weavery in Praven for 6000 with estimated profits per week of 196 denars.

Picked up Deshavi in Suno.

Delivered 550 units of beef from Jekala to Rivacheg (it was worth a lot of money and XP). Picked up Lezalit. Boyar Meriga will not allow me to purchase a business in Rivacheg.

Did a favor for the guild-master in Khudan. Purchased a tannery.

Got a quest from Boyar Meriga to destroy the sea raider lair near Rivacheg.

Purchased oil press in Wercheg.

Purchased dye works in Rivacheg.

Hire Ymira in Curaw. Purchase iron works in Curaw.

Purchase brewery in Tihr. Purchase wool weavery in Sargoth.

Purchase tannery in Suno.

Pickup Nizar in Veluca. Purchase oil press in Veluca.

First profitable week of over one thousand denars.

May

Picked up Alayen in Yalen. Picked up Marnid in Jelkala. Purchased tannery in Jelkala.

I have only 25k left out of the 500k, but I should be making about two thousand per week in profits from the businesses. There’s maybe half-a-dozen cities where I do not yet own businesses.

Purchase olive press in Tulga. Last week, I had a 2k profit and have 15k left in the satchel.

Pickup Bunduk in Rivacheg.

Cities, by controlling faction:

(done) Nords: Sargoth, Tihr, Wercheg
(missing 1) Vaegir: Curaw, Khudan, Rivacheg, Reyvadin (no)
(missing a few) Khergit: Narra, Halmar, Ichamur, Tulga (yes)
(missing a few) Sarranid: Bariyye, Almerrad, Durquba, Shariz
(done) Rhodok: Jelkala, Veluca, Yalen
(missing 2) Swadian: Dhirim (no), Uxkhal (no), Suno, Praven

That leaves me with about ten cities where I do not own businesses yet. Mostly on the Sarranid and Khergit territories.

Purchased a tannery in Reyvadin for 8000, leaving me with about 15k denars.

Noticed that Halmar has been taken from the Khergit by the Sarranid.

Narra is controlled by Belir Noyan and I need his permission to purchase a business here.

Purchased olive press in Ichamur.

June

Purchased brewery in Dhirim.

Purchased wine press in Halmar.

Down to about six cities where I don’t have businesses: Narra (Belir Noyan), Uxkhal, Bariyye, Almerrad, Durquba, Shariz.

Purchased wine press in Shariz.

End of June. Have a troop strength of 64 and a speed of 6.4-6.5 on open ground. Renown is 150, which means I’ll probably start getting liege offers soon.

Purchase tannery in Uxkhal.

Down to four cities where I don’t have businesses: Narra (Belir Noyan), Bariyye, Almerrad, Durquba.

July

Time to make a decision (and a save point) on day 100. I’m going to join Rhodoks under King Graveth. I’ve been granted a small village called Pagundur near Veluca. It’s not the worst location in the world to have (Saren is worse), but it is near the front lines with Swadia.

Count Reland is marshaling forces near Culmarr Castle. I have chosen the black lark (white bird on black background) for my banner.

Swadia has taken Etrosq Castle (neighbor of Culmarr Castle) and there are 500-600 Swadian troops in the field. Time to run.

Count Reland has been sacked, Count Laruqen (sword on black) is the new marshal. Count Talbar is the only lord besides the king that is fielding 100+ troops. Most of the Rhodok lords field 40-50 troops.

Started building a watch tower at Pagundur. It takes 50% longer for enemies to pillage it, which isn’t a huge help.

Yalen is under siege again, not sure where our marshal has wandered off to. Ah, here he comes with the rest. I’m going to pick-off a straggler Swadian troop of about fifty. I’m down to only fourteen calvary (I need twenty-five).

This war drags on and on. We took a castle on the far side of Swadian territory, only to lose it again. Swadia keeps threatening Yalen, but we keep breaking the siege. Swadia has lost Dhirim to the Nords, but I don’t know if they’ll keep it.

New marshal, Count Reichsin. There’s a feast planned at Weyyah Castle (near Shariz and the Sarranid).

August

New marshal, Count Matheas. Followed shortly by peace with Swadia. No real gains, no major losses. Well, so far Swadia has lost Dhirim to the Nords. But that doesn’t help the Rhodok cause much.

Peace gives me a chance to visit villages and look for easy tasks like cattle or grain quests. Or stumbling across a village that has been taken over by bandits. All are good for reputation with the villages (I suggest ignoring the “train the peasants” quest). I also need to keep doing tasks for King Graveth to earn his favor so I can get awarded a castle or town.

King Graveth is planning a feast at Weyyah Castle. It is well attended. (Note that with small venues that can’t hold all the attendees, you need to leave/return the meeting hall in order to rotate who is attendance. The goal is to say hello to everyone there, then ask for tasks once you’ve done the rounds.)

Lords with ten or better reputation towards me:

+15 Tribidan (2 villages), also +15 to the king
+11 King Graveth (castle, town)

Time to go visit towns / villages and ask for rumors. It will give you information on the nature of various lords so you can spot the troublemakers and snakes.

Sarranid have taken Halmar, Narra and Ichamur from the Khergit. Dhirim is now owned by the Vaegir.

Purchased a wine press in Durquba. That leaves me with just Narra (Belir Noyan), Bariyye, and Almerrad where I don’t have businesses. Since Narra has changed hands, it’s worth a trip over there to see if I can buy a business. Huzzah, the new owner is neutral to me and I was able to pickup a tannery.

Narra has only 71 troops, it’s likely to change hands soon. And a day after that visit, Khergit have sieged it. Khergit fail to take it though, leaving them with only Tulga. Khergit took Narra a few days later, but I’m unsure if they’ll keep it.

Another feast is planned for the 25th at Weyyah Castle.

War breaks out with Swadia on the 29th. Swadia is already fighting the Vaegir for Dhirim.

First act of the war by Marshal Matheas is to take Uxkhal. Good job. Now to see if we can hold it. Took Suno as well from Swadia and Dhirim is under siege by Vaegir. But the Sarranid have declared war on us too.

Lost Weyyah Castle to the Sarranid, but gained Ryibelet Castle from Swadia.

My troops are battered and worn (only ten calvary left) after days of fighting. But we’ve captured two Swadian lords, two Sarranid lords and the king of Swadia. Pagundur paid the price and has been sacked. I’ve made about 5000 denars from captured prisoners and another 2000 for one of the Sarranid lords. I’m going to convince King Graveth to sue for peace with Swadia, even if it costs me 10,000 plus in future ransoms. We need to turn and focus on the Sarranid.

September

Good, peace with Swadia on the 11th. The Nords have declared on Swadia and are sieging Dhirim, if they take it that would leave Swadia with only Praven.

Now for Sarranid Sultanate.

The Vaegir ended up with Dhirim, leaving Swadia with just one city (Praven). Swadia made an attempt to get it back, but failed.

We have taken Weyyah Castle back, but King Graveth awarded it to Count Etrosq despite my desire.

Nords and Rhodok enter a defensive pact on the 23rd.

Loaning Rolf to Count Gerluchs for a week or two. That will sweeten him up as I’ve made no headway with him otherwise.

We lost Weyyah Castle again. I’m going to follow King Graveth around.

Running at about 80-85 troops with a daylight open ground speed of 6.1. They cost me about 1800/week.

Peace with Sarranid, we never kept Weyyah Castle.

Count Nasugei has been banished by King Graveth and has fled to the Vaegirs.

October

Feast in Jekala, hosted by King Graveth.

Going to construct a mill in Pagundur to increase prosperity. Artimenner reduces the cost to 4200 with a build time of 45 days.

17th: A feast has been announced at Ibdeles Castle.

The Sarranid and Swadia kingdoms have formed a defensive pact.

Sarranid declares war on Swadia. So much for that pact. It lasted maybe a week, tops. We’ll probably go to war with either Swadia or Sarranid soon, so I need to empty the coffers at Pagundur.

We’ve gone to war against both the Vaegir and Sarranid. The Vaegir are already at war with Nords and Swadia, and the Sarranid are still at war with Swadia. Count Reland is the marshal for now.

November

We’ve taken Weyyah Castle and I’ve asked King Graveth to grant it to me. He seems amenable to the suggestion. But he gave it to Count Reland.

Swadia has taken Dhirim back for a total of two towns including Praven. Vaegir have already sieged it again, so I doubt Swadia will keep it.

Count Trimbau has been banished by King Graveth and has fled to the Sarranid Sultanate.

Sarranid have taken back Weyyah Castle, good for them.

Count Nelag defects from Rhodok to Swadia.

Swadia declares war on Rhodok. And huzzah, I’ve stumbled across Count Nelag already. Run, you coward!

Loaned Firentis to King Graveth for a week on the 11th.

Count Laruqen has been appointed the new marshal on the 12th.

Peace with Sarranid on the 12th, we did not take back Weyyah Castle.

Started building a messenger post in Pagundur for 3000 denars. Figure if I’m stuck with this little village, I should invest in it.

Peace with Swadia on the 30th. We failed to take Praven. Still at war with Vaegirs.

December

Nords have taken Praven on the 13th, capturing the Swadian king and half a dozen counts. Swadia is now left with just eight castles and zero towns.

1258

Start of a new year. Running with about ninety troops now. Sixteen companions, twenty to twenty-five heavy calvary (Sarranid or Swadian), ten to fifteen archers, about ten crossbows and a mix of other melee for the rest. Weekly cost is about 2000 and profits of 1500-2500 from the village and my businesses. Plus whatever I can get for capturing and ransoming bandits or enemy troops. Holding at about 30k in funds, having spent a bit on upgrading the arms and armor of my companions. I’m ready for a castle, but none has fallen my way. I may need to wait until I’m the marshal or start petitioning everyone to support my claim to the next town or castle.

January

The war with Sarranid drags on with not much other than some village pillaging going on by both sides and Weyyah Castle being fought over like a bone between two hungry dogs. Rhodok have formed a non-aggression pact with Swadia, which plays havoc with my goal of taking a Swadian castle soon.

The Sarranid war peters out with no result.

February

Loaned Lezalit to King Graveth for a week.

Feast at Jelkala.

Possible bride choices (and fathers):

Lady Calantina (Reland)
Lady Aliena (Matheas)
Lady Reada (Gutlans)
Lady Geneiava (Talbar)

Gutlans only has a +7 relation with King Graveth and Tribidan has a -11 relation with the King. Matheas has +43 so is more stable. Marrying into Matheas line would be useful, but not Tribidan. Other friendly lords are Laruqen, Reichsin, Fudreim, and Reland. I have around +15 with each of them and they’re all positive relations with the king. Reland has a high trust value with the king (about 60).

I have 370 renown, Matheas 610, Gutlans 663, Reland 866. It’s possible that I don’t have enough renown for Reland, but do for Matheas and Gutlans.

Mmm, there’s also Etrosq, Talbar and Kurnias. None of them are above +15 with me, but are all still in King Graveth’s good graces. Talbar is the only one with a daughter (Lady Geneiava), bringing me up to four possibles. Talbar has 660 renown.

Back to the feast. Gutlans recommends his daughter to me. But I talked to Lady Aliena and she was receptive to my compliments at the feast. So I will start there in an attempt to better my position within the realm.

Huzzah (er…), my village has been infested with bandits. It’s good at the meta-level because it will give me a +8 with the village for defeating them.

Talking with the wandering bard in the tavern:

Lady Aliena likes to hunt and ride. Count Stamar has given up.
Lady Calantina likes to hunt and ride and is betrothed to Count Marmun.
Lady Reada is romantic and unpredictable. Count Rimusk was pursuing, but has given up.
Lady Geneiava has the highest moral standards.

I don’t know the right poem for Lady Aliena, but I’m already at +21. I need to go talk to Matheas.

War with Sarranid and Raichs is the marshal. Now would be a good time to get Weyyah Castle.

Huzzah, the king has granted me Weyyah Castle. Now to defend it. First step is to drop off all the troops and then run to get more recruits. I now have 220 troops stationed in the castle of various training levels. I’m going off to recruit and train more. I need archers, but running over to Nord/Vaegir territory will take too long.

Ah good, the marshal has sieged Halmar. That will take some heat off of my castle, I think. It will give me time to run over to Nord/Vaegir territory after all. And pick up some more Swadians on the way back.

Saw the Swadian king in the field, with only a troop of 70. They’ve fallen on hard times.

Troop level at Weyyah Castle is 292, with wages of 1749 per week. That’s reasonable and will rise over time to about 2500 per week. Weyyah Castle only has income of 980 and Pagundur earns 350-750 per week, plus the 1500-3500 from my businesses. I’ll need to step up my bandit hideout questing and capturing of bandits for spare money. I’ll be running around with a about 100 troops that costs about 3000/wk (35-40 heavy cav, 15 archers, 15 crossbows, 20-30 infantry).

Our army has taken Halmar and is laying siege to Narra.

March

Narra is taken by us, but is under siege again. I have 380 troops in Weyyah Castle now and about 100 in my personal warband.

Convinced King Graveth to go to where the Sultan of the Sarranid was pillaging and together we captured him. That brings me up to four emirs and one sultan under lock and key in Weyyah Castle.

Mid-March, we have imprisoned nine of the Sarranid lords, including the sultan. Only twelve lords roam free at the moment and I’m hoping to capture more of them. They are at war with both us and the Khergit.

Had to duel Count Rafard for Lady Aliena. So far, Count Matheas will not give us permission to wed.

Selling off my Sarranid prisoners. Each trip nets me about 4000 denars. Probably 12,000 for this war, if I can get rid of them before it ends. Also have gotten a few lords ransomed at 2000-3000 each and the sultan was worth 10,000. Plus shaking down a few merchant caravans for 900 denars at a time.

Finally got Matheas’ permission at the feast of Culmarr Castle. He put up 9000 denar and I put up 12,000 denar for her dowry.

April

Marriage. True love (of titles, money and power).

Vaegirs declare war on us. Maybe we can take away Dhirim from them.

Nords declare on us, this is not good. We’re not ready for a three front war.

We’ve lost Narra, possibly going to lose Halmar as well.

Pagundur is going to be sacked by a moderately large (400-600) Nord army. There’s nothing I can do as I’m down to 100 troops and some of them are conscripts. This will cost me 5000-10000 denar. It will free me up to go roaming against the Vaegir and Nords, picking off straggler warbands.

Disaster, 200 of Rhodok against 450 of Vaegir and we lost. Not by much, but enough that I’ve been captured, my army slaughtered and my companions either captured or fled.

Peace with Vaegir, but still at war with Nords. We took Narra back, but not Halmar. The good bit of news is that I still had 50,000 in my pockets when released from captivity and none of my companions are imprisoned. They’re just scattered to the four winds and I will have to seek at least some of them out. Only seven of the sixteen are still in my party.

Swadia takes Dhirim from Vaegir. I doubt they can keep it.

May

Deshavi is in Tihr, Matheld in Praven. The rest are still scattered to the winds.

Sarranid have declared war on us.

Spending 2500/wk on Weyyah Castle wages for 450 troops, plus about 2800/wk on my personal troops of about 110. I have about 30k in the treasury and 12k in my purse.

Hah, captured King Ragnar of the Nords. He’s going straight to the gaol. Found Lezalit and Klethi in Suno while breaking up the Nord siege.

I’ve been granted Praven as a fief. My first town. Now to stock it with troops and lower the troops I have in Weyyah.

We’re at peace with Sarranid. Now I just need to convince the king to also stop fighting the Nords. Down to 290 troops in Weyyah Castle, I’ll probably do one more trip and get down to about 200 troops there with the rest in Praven (400-500 would be good).

Last day of the month and the Nords have agreed to peace.

June

Katrin and Deshavi have wandered to Praven and rejoined us. I’ve dispatched runners to bring us 90 Nords, 90 Vaegir and 90 Sarranid troops. On top of the 360, plus another 90 that I’m about to bring from Weyyah that will give about 720 troops in Praven. About half will only be 1-3 denars per week (fodder for the walls). I also want to move court from Weyyah to Praven.

Well, that period of peace didn’t last long. The king has declared war on Swadia. Now I have a chance to seize the castle along the west coast near the training grounds.

Found Nizar in Suno. And Ymira was in Uxkhal.

Ugh, and we declared war on the Vaegirs.

Found Rolf in Jelkala.

My recruiters managed to return 90 Nord and 90 Sarranid, but not the 90 Vaegir. Now to train up some Sarranid heavy calvary and take a castle.

Loaned Firentis to King Graveth for a week.

Oh, somehow we lost Maras Castle (near Yalen) to the Sarranid. Or the lord that owns it may have defected to Sarranid after the war. That’s deep within our territory and I’ll have to try and take it back in the next war.

Khergit have declared war on us (now we’re at war with three factions).

The king and I broke the siege around Suno by Swadia. Khergit declare peace.

King is a fool, we’re now at war with Sarranid and Nords.

Artimenner might be at Suno according to a tip. He must have arrived just after I left. Found him. Matheld is still rumored to be up around Curaw.

July

Matheld is still in Curaw. We’re still at war with Sarranid and Nords.

Suno is under siege.

I’ve started to release the good lords after a battle and only imprison the ones that say:

“I give up! I give up! Call back your dogs!” (debauched)
“Enough! You win today, you dog! Ach, the shame of it!” (quarrelsome)

The other lords will give a small to moderate (+5) boost to relations for being let go. The downside is it cuts into the possible income stream from combat of ransoming lords for 1000-3000 each. So you’ll need to do more capture/ransom of soldiers and sell loot to make up for it.

Matheld finally made her way to Praven and rejoined us.

Must be beat-on-Rhodoks time of year. Khergit have declared war.

Peace with the Nords.

August

Goal right now is to defend the Praven-Jelkala line against enemy patrols and sieges and build back up my treasury. I need about 8500/wk for troop salaries. Still releasing lords after battles for reputation gain so I’m well-liked by more lords.

We’re now at war with everyone except the Nords.

Moved household to Praven.

And now it’s all the kingdoms vs Rhodoks. This is going to be a pain for a while. We do have 53 centers (towns + villages + castles), the next most powerful factions have only 24-30. We’ll probably lose the northern/eastern towns of Dhirim and Narra if we still have them. Hopefully we can hold the Praven-Jekala line.

Ah peace with the Sarranid, now I can field their heavy calvary and archers.

September

We’re down to just 41 centers. I tried and failed to take Harringoth Castle.

I’ve been made the marshal, just in time for peace to break out. I have 103k in the treasury, 35k in my personal purse. I’m recruiting another 360 raw recruits to Praven.

Loaned Klethi to Count Clais.

Vaegir/Sarranid declare war on us.

October

I’ve gone on a rampage in Vaegir/Sarranid lands, taking out enough lord’s warbands that I feel safe trying to take castles and towns now.

Maras castle has been taken, Nords declare war on us.

I’ve been awarded Maras Castle and have put 200 troops there to hold it. Now to go wreck the Nords.

Peace with Sarranid. I’m still trying to hunt Nords and Vaegir.

Retaken Ibdeles Castle by Jelkala. My controversy is up to 72, so I’d better reinforce it quickly (up to about 200-250 troops).

For my last hurrah, we’ll try to take Uxkhal back. Ah no luck, but Vaegirs have made peace. Now that I’m not the marshal, I’m off the leash to attack Nords.

November

We’ve declared war on Swadia.

Peace with Nords, but war with Sarranid.

I’ve taken Haringoth Castle and have asked for it from the king.

December

I’m going to relinquish Pagundur; I’ll be keeping Maras Castle, Weyyah Castle and Praven.

Salaries: 3000-3200 for my party, 2750 for Praven, 700 for Maras, 1600 for Weyyah. I need to trim down Weyyah Castle a bit. But I do have 35k in my purse and 135k in the treasury.

Vaegirs and Nords declare war. That puts us at war with four factions.

Peace with Swadia. Time to switch to Swadia troops and go beat on Sarranid and Nords.

Peace with Sarranid, that leaves Vaegirs/Nords.

Wages in Weyyah Castle are down to 1150, Maras Castle is up to 850. Both have about 300 troops in them. Praven is 3050 and my personal troops are 3700.

Captured King Ragnar of the Nords!

Enemy caravans can be lucrative sources of income, just stop them and demand a toll for passage. That gives you about 500-1500 per caravan and you can stop them every few days. You seem to get more money if your warband is larger and possibly if your renown is higher.

I’ve been offered the Marshal position again. Immediately took Uxkhal from the Vaegirs and was awarded it by King Graveth. Now to stock it like Praven, with 800+ troops.

Nords agree to peace. That just leaves the Vaegir, who are also fighting the Khergit.

1259

January

War against Sarranid. I’m still marshal, but not ready to take on Shariz. Swadia has taken Tihr from Nords. We now own 46 centers again. Sarranid have 37 and Vaegir have 36.

Good, I’m no longer marshal. That lets me off the leash again to go against Sarranid.

Peace with Vaegir.

I’ve exchanged Praven for Suno. Hopefully the twins of Uxkhal and Suno will produce higher tariffs then Praven did.

War with the Nords.

February

War with Nords/Vaegir. Working on convincing the king to swap Maras Castle for Kelredan Castle. That will give me a forward base near Dhirim that I can fill with raw recruits. He agreed and now I have Kelredan Castle.

Captured King Harlaus of Swadia outside Uxkhal. Took Vyincourd Castle from Swadia.

Move 187 raw Sarranid recruits from Weyyah Castle to Kelredan Castle.

I’m the marshal again. We’re at war with Nord, Swadia, Vaegir. Add the Sarranid too while we’re at it, eh? I feel like the best use of my time is going to be putting recruits into every town and castle that is weak.

March

Vaegir agree to peace. My time as the marshal was short, but I did shore up a few weak castles with 20-40 troops. At this point in the campaign, I want a troop count of at least 200 in each castle and 400-500 in each town.

Created a 187 troop patrol around Uxkhal, made up of tier 1 (raw recruits) and tier 2 (one upgrade). Should cost about 275-300 per week.

April

Peace. Swadia now has Tihr and Rivacheg. I’m busy doing recruitment of tier 1 and 2 soldiers and stuffing them into my holdings. I’ll need about 500-600 in order to help expand the borders.

Hmmm, I wonder how fast Khergit patrols would be. The ~190 troop patrol around Uxkhal only moves at a speed of 3.5 during the day, not fast enough to catch bandits. My budget for a patrol is 800/wk which means an average of just 4 per week per soldier.

Current troop costs:

Suno: 2100 denars for 1100 troops
Uxkhal: 3200 denars for 1000 troops
Kelredan Castle: 1450 denars for 850 troops
Weyyah Castle: 1600 denars for 400 troops
Uxkhal Patrol: 400 denars for 190 troops
Personal: 2500 denars for 136 troops

There we go, Sarranid have declared war. Time to go hit up their caravans for funds and hammer their patrols. We declared war on the Nords, so now I have two sources of fun. I’m going to run with about 75-80 knights, 25 Rhodok Sergeants, 25 Rhodok Sharpshooters.

We’ve taken Ryibelet Castle from the Nords. I’m sending 100 troops to reinforce it.

Took Knudarr Castle, sending 180 troops to reinforce it. I’m attacking with 180, leaving 40 behind, then reinforcing with 180 to get up to about 225 troops. That’s enough to discourage the remnants of the Nords from retaking castles.

Encountered King Ragnar, but he slipped away after the battle. Rhodok are trying to take Dhirim from Sarranid. Going to go help with that and then shore it up with troops if we take it.

Nice, we took Dhirim. I’m going to move 375 from Kelredan Castle and 375 from Uxkhal over to Dhirim. Should put it up to around 775 troops, a big enough deterrent, I hope.

May

Rhodok tried and failed to take Halmar, but I think it was too much too soon. We need to take a few castles in the area, then push up. I also don’t have the spare troops to send to Halmar (costs me about 50/troop to recruit and train and move – or about 30,000 per 600 troops that I place).

My Uxkhal patrol is down to just 113 troops, but they have Nord prisoners. I’ll restock them up to 200 with a bit of mid-level troops and see how they do (526/wk).

Dhirim is down to just 618 troops after a few weeks. No battles, I just think the troops melted away (or into lord’s retainers?).

We took Reindi Castle, but it only has 72 troops in it. Guess I’ll send 188. That brings it up to 260 troops.

Taking 3x188 out of Suno and moving them to Kelredan Castle. That leaves me with about 600 in Suno, with orders to recruit 90 Swadian and 90 Rhodok troops.

Next targets:

Tevarin Castle, lies behind our lines and is owned by Swadia.
Senuzgda Castle, lies near Dhirim
Jelbegi Castle, next castle towards Sargoth
Unuzdaq Castle, between Weyyah Castle and Halmar

I’m going to need about 800-900 troops in Weyyah Castle, in preparation for taking Shariz. And I’ll need another 600 for Halmar.

Captured King Ragnar of the Nords. He’ll be worth a moderately pretty denar. They only have Sargoth for a town, so I’m not expecting more then 6000 denar. Turns out they’re willing to spend 12,000 in ransom.

The 200-troop patrol around Uxkhal is earning its keep. Rushing to the aid of the smaller Rhodok lords when they get into battles. They were down to 193 troops, so I’ve reinforced them to 200 again. And I’ve enlisted a second Uxkhal patrol of about 1/2 Khergit tier 2 or tier 3 troops. They move slightly faster at 3.7 instead of 3.5.

June

Encountered Sultan Hakim near Uxkhal. Sarranid are making a play for Reindi Castle. The marshal is going elsewhere, so it’s up to me. I’m going to move 180 troops from Uxkhal to Reindi Castle, plus accompany them with a hardened force of 160. Not sure that my 180 reinforcements made it, the garrison at the castle was down below 25 when I moved in. So it may be 185 of us against about 600-700 enemy troops.

(The downside is the ladder on Reindi is buggy and the hostiles get stuck coming up it. I don’t have the ranged units to put that to good use.)

This has turned into an open-field battle, 160 of us against about 470 of them. I lost 18 wounded and dead in the first round, but we killed or wounded about 350 of the enemy. Second battle is 143 of us vs 120 of them. Ouch, I got knocked down by a Khergit Lancer that came up in my blind spot. My troops should be able to finish it off without me.

Broke the siege, but it was expensive. Time to go beat up on things in the Sarranid territory so that they don’t have the forces to pull that again.

Wow, when did we take Ichamur. That’s going to need reinforced quickly. It has 260 troops, I could send another 380 for a total of 640.

Sarranid have made peace with us. The war with the Nords drags on. Rhodok have 67 centers, the next largest faction (Sarranid) have 37.

My Uxkhal patrols have taken a beating, down to 158 and 192 troops.

Nords agree to peace. Time to recruit Nord infantry at Kelredan Castle. I’ll run the maximum recruiters out of my two towns and two castles, which is twelve. That gives me 1080 troops recruited if all succeed. And as long as we’re at peace, I’ll be sending the recruiters out again and again as I have over 400k in the treasury.

Dhirim holds 618 troops, seems to be its natural level. There will be a feast here soon.

July

Well, that didn’t last long. Vaegir declare war. I immediately ran into King Yaroglek outside Reyvadin. He escaped after the battle, but I shall have him in my dungeon.

I’m trailing the main army of Vaegir, hoping that they run into the main army of the Nords that I saw heading towards Khudan or Ymira Castle. Or I’ll be able to pick off stragglers as I follow them around. If the main force gets below 300 or so, I’ll take them on and wipe out their fighting capability for the next week. Picked off a few 60-80 strong packs so far and now a 250 strong pack.

Took Dramug Castle.

Took Derchios Castle.

War with Sarranid. We’ve taken Wercheg, but it needs troop reinforcements. Moving 570 troops to Wercheg.

One of my Uxkhal patrols got wiped out, the other is being attacked and I’m helping.

Captured Sultan Hakim of Sarranid. We’ve taken Halmar and I need to provide reinforcements.

August

Huzzah, King Graveth has bestowed Halmar on me.

Derchios Castle is down to 120 troops. I’ll send 130 over from Kelredan Castle.

Running around and recruiting for Halmar. We’re at war with Swadia, Vaegir and Sarranid. I want to setup a trio of 1500 denar/wk around Halmar.

September

Oh dear, Gutlans has defected from Rhodok to Sarranid. That means Sarranid just gained Yalen, Ibdeles Castle and Ryibelet Castle.

Khergit declare war on us.

My single Uxkhal patrol is 250 troops, costing 1550/wk and moving at a speed of 3.6 which is an okay speed.

Bah, Nords too. We’re now at war with all the factions, who are all at peace with each other. We have 67 centers.

October

Peace with Sarranid.

Captured King Yaroglek of Vaegir.

Took Tevarin Castle. The king has granted it to me, along with Yaragar by Uxkhal. It’s not really a castle that I want, so I will trade it away for one towards the front lines.

Took Jelbegi Castle. We’re now only at war with Nords.

Back at war with Sarranid.

Took Tehlrog Castle from Nords.

November

Patrol/Garrisons:

Uxkhal: 902 at 1627
Suno: 668 at 967
Halmar: 1346 at 3129
Weyyah Castle: 1264 at 1693
Tevarin Castle: 243 at 574
Kelredan Castle: 478 at 2293
Uxkhal Patrol: 301 at 3221
Personal: 61 at 990

Suno is a bit low on troops, as is Kelredan. The Uxkhal patrol has higher wages than expected, but it’s a strong fighting force around my primary town where my wife lives. Weekly income varies between 5k and 10k right now and I have 665k in the treasury and about 95k in my purse. I still want to setup another pair of 200-250 troop patrols around Halmar, but that would cost 2500 each.

Count Reichsin was awarded Tehlrog castle, I wonder if he will trade it for Tevarin Castle.

Sarranid have sieged Dhirim. I will have to fight with my 200 against 750 to break the siege. Pulled it off, but it was expensive and I have 150 walking wounded.

Created a 300 strong patrol around Halmar for 1521 per week. I need to create a second one to help reinforce the first, possibly by pulling troops out of Weyyah Castle. Done. Now there are a pair of 300 troop patrols around Halmar. Both have a speed of 3.5-3.6, not enough to catch most things but enough to come to the aid. The second costs about 1300 each per week.

The one patrol is already missing 60 men, but have captured 51.

Khergit declare war.

I may have to put a 3rd patrol around Halmar.

Swadia declares war.

Uxkhal has been sieged and I’m the marshal. Tehlrog Castle too.

Peace with Sarranid.

Peace with Nords, leaves Khergit and Swadia.

December

Suno is under attack by Swadia.

Peace with Swadia.

Uhhun Castle requires a siege tower, leaving it for later. Looking at Malayurg Castle, it also requires a siege tower.

Going to take Distar Castle from Khergit, then maybe Tulga if the Sarranid don’t do it first.

Swadia declares war.

Captured King Harlaus at Derchious Castle.

Peace with Khergit, that leaves Swadia.

We’ve declared war on Vaegir.

1260

January

I’ve taken Senuzgda Castle. And the king has granted it to me.

Took Tilbaut Castle from Swadia.

Took Rindyar Castle from Swadia.

We’ve taken Narra, I think it will be a good way to reduce my staffing costs by moving one of my patrols there.

Swadian army roaming around, but too large for me to take directly. Count Reichsin was around and engaged them, so I helped out and captured King Harlaus. We have whittled their forces down across a few battles so that they had to break off their siege. I came away from those battles with two counts and a king for ransoming. Swadia only has eight total lords and four of them are imprisoned. This will make it a race to take Rivacheg, Sargoth and Tihr from Swadia.

I’ve been awarded the village of Toshdar.

Took Sargoth, left 130 troops there and will send about 500 troops to join them. We now have 79 centers and war has broken out across the lands.

Gave up my two villages, they’re just a drain on my economy. Swadia declares peace and I get Sargoth. I have about 1500 renown and 350 honor.

Swadia only has Tihr and Rivacheg left as holdings. Nords have seven castles and Wercheg. Khergit have Tulga and four castles.

February

Got in a scrap with a huge amount of Vaegir, 600+ to our 160. Came out of it with only 50 troops capable of fighting. We won, but the king and five of his lords escaped. It does crush their ability to field an army for the moment.

Sarranid continue to take Khergit castles, but they still have two or three.

Army of Vaegir near Dramug Castle. It will be my 220 troops against their 535. Mine are seasoned veterans, theirs are a mix with a lot of low-level troops. Twelve dead and ninety wounded in the first battle and ten wounded and two dead in the second battle. Vaegir army is broken again.

Giving up Tevarin Castle and Senuzgda Castle, they’re a drain on my finances. Leaves me with four towns and two castles and a -36% tax inefficiency rating. Gives me +5000/wk instead of -2500/wk into my coffers. I may give up Weyyah Castle and Kelredan Castle soon too.

We have 83 centers, but only 11 lords.

Vaegir are after Dramug Castle again.

Took Ismirala Castle from Vaegir. Took Slezkh Castle from Vaegir.

March

I’m ready to give up Kelredan Castle.

Tempted to take Radoghir Castle as it requires a siege tower.

Took Yruma Castle from Vaegir.

War against the Nords.

Peace with Vaegir.

War with Swadia.

Took Tehlrog Castle from Nords.

Curin Castle requires a siege tower.

Peace with Khergit, but war with Sarranid.

We have 91 centers and 16 lords.

Peace with Nords.

I think one of the two Halmar patrols got wiped out, the other was down to just 220 troops. I’ve brought the one I saw back up to 300. Got confirmation that the one patrol was defeated, sending the remaining patrol down to Uxkhal.

600k in the treasury, 275k in the purse

April

Peace with Sarranid, now I can bring out the mamlukes again. Peace with Swadia too. Now to raise troops quickly.

We’ve declared war on the Nords.

Ryibelet Castle requires a siege tower. Hrus Castle also requires a siege tower.

Took Chalbek Castle from Nords. It will need 200 troops.

There’s a huge army of Nords wandering around Sargoth-Suno line. I need to nibble on that and take another castle or two.

Broke the Nord army in a series of five battles because they split up.

Took Wercheg from the Nords. I’ll need to send about 400 troops to reinforce it.

Took Bulugha Castle from the Nords. Leaving behind most of my 200-strong warband.

I’ve been awarded Caraf Castle.

May

Gave up Caraf and Weyyah Castle. That leaves me with Suno, Uxkhal, Halmar and Sargoth which are all towns. I should be making a profit of about 3000-5000 per week.

War against Sarranid.

Sarranid army near Halmar. They’re heading to Narra, but I was able to pick off the sultan’s army of 400 from the rear of the column.

I need to send 150 to Malayurg and 100 to Uhhun Castle. Then take Narra back if the Sarranid capture it and request it as a reward. Ah well, Rhodok army showed up and spoiled the siege of Narra, so that scheme will not work.

Freed my father-in-law from captivity with the Sarranid.

Khergit declare war.

Sarranid declare peace already. Nords agree to peace.

Took Tulga from Khergit, asked for it of the king. He has granted it to me.

June

Swadia declares war.

Took Tihr from Swadia, captured four lords.

Rivacheg requires a siege tower, but I’ve done one cycle of attack against it to whittle it down.

War with Sarranid.

Narra has been sieged by Sarranid.

Took Rivacheg from Swadia, that was their last town. Swadia has been eliminated.

July

I’ve been made marshal again. Captured Narra back from Sarranid and defended Tulga against the Khergit.

Spent the month defending Tulga/Narra/Halmar and nearby castles.

August

Vaegir declare war.

I moved both patrols to Halmar, but I think one of them is MIA. Nords declare war and I resign the marshal position.

Found the second Halmar patrol, they are tearing up a Sarranid warband. I think a pair of all-Khergit patrols is going to be the best approach. That is 150 of the 5/week and 150 of the 9/week units for a total of 2100/wk per patrol. They can move above 4.0 speed and catch or run away.

Took Tulbuk Castle from Khergit.

September

Captured Sungetche Castle, last of the Khergit holdings. Had to defend it against a last-ditch attempt by the Khergit to retake it.

Lost one of the Halmar patrols. The last one has 280 Khergit.

Found the last roaming Khergit lord, their faction has been destroyed.

Peace with Sarranid, leaving Nords and Vaegir.

October

Running around with 100-110 Swadian Knights, thirty or so crossbows and thirty or so heavy infantry. Going after any roaming warbands or armies to break them up.

Sarranid declare war.

November

Peace with Nords.

December

More defending against Sarranid. Most of it spent picking off stragglers, intercepting caravans, and the like.

1261

January

Peace with Sarranid, time to do mass recruiting in all my towns. But war against the Nords.

Captured the king of Nords early in the campaign. Goal of the first week or two is to capture as many lords as possible and destroy their ability to field an army.

Vaegirs also declares war on Nords.

Sarranid also declares against Nords.

Took Ryibelet Castle from Nords.

February

Took Tihr from Nords.

Took Hrus Castle from Nords.

Took Chalbek Castle from Nords. It’s their last holding. The Nords are gone as a faction.

March

War with Sarranid.

April

Took Durquba and Bardaq Castle from Sarranid.

May

Took Ahmerrad from Sarranid.

Took Samarra Castle from Sarranid.

Peaced with Sarranid. I requested it so that I could do mass recruitment in my towns again.

June

War with Vaegirs

Took Curin Castle from Vaegirs.

Took Tehlrog Castle from Vaegirs.

Took Yruma Castle from Vaegirs.

Took Radoghir Castle from Vaegirs.

Took Jeirbe Castle from Vaegirs.

Took Alburq Castle from Vaegirs.

Took Curaw from Vaegirs.

July

Took Reyvadin from Vaegirs. I’ll trade Tulga for it.

War with Sarranid.

August

Took Jameyyed Castle from Sarranid.

A period of peace would be nice, maybe the king will agree to peace with both factions.

Peace with Sarranid too, convinced the king across the span of a week. The truce with Vaegir lasts for another 12 days.

September

Both truces have expired, I’ve raised about 2000-2500 recruits during the lull at my five towns. Currently just roaming from village to village, looking for bandits. Waiting for the king to declare a war again.

October

War with Sarranid.

Took Unuzdaq Castle from Sarranid.

Took Teramma Castle from Sarranid.

Took Durrin Castle from Sarranid.

Took Sharwa Castle from Sarranid. This is a castle with a siege tower that never seems to move off the starting mark.

Took Asugan Castle from Sarranid.

Took Bariyye from Sarranid.

Sarranid are on the ropes.

November

Took Shariz from Sarranid.

Chasing down the last of the Sarranid warbands.

I’ve been awarded Curaw.

Three Sarranid lords still roaming free somewhere.

Sarranid are gone.

I’ve been granted Narra as well.

Took Khudan from Vaegir. The Rhodok army also took their last castle, Bulugha. Bit over 1700 days.

December

Oops, they still have Nelag Castle.

Six lords left to hunt down.

Found the last lord, achieved the Manifest Destiny achievement.