Mount and Blade Bannerlord

[Martok]

Thanks, ArizonaTank.  I'm admittedly not to the point yet where I need to worry about group tactics (gotta get a handle on personal combat first), but I'll keep the tips in mind for when I do.   

(FYI in Bannerlord the interface to give commands is much nicer and smoother. and you can easily accomplish some fairly complex battle plans)

Yeah, I've noticed that in a few LP/preview videos.  Definitely something to look forward to! 

[Toonces]

Hey fellas.  Still on the fence with this game; I see it's still in EA.  Any of you guys playing it currently and, if so, what's the verdict?

On sale for $40 on Steam during the sale.

[Jarhead0331]

Hey fellas.  Still on the fence with this game; I see it's still in EA.  Any of you guys playing it currently and, if so, what's the verdict?

On sale for $40 on Steam during the sale.

I just started playing again this past week after a long break. It's very good. If you liked the original title you should like this one too.

[Sparhawk]

I got my son hooked on Warband with the POP mod back in the day and he couldn't wait to get this when it first came out. He absolutely loves it. I have spent countless hours with the previous iterations myself and keep getting convinced by the Steam reviews to wait. I think a big part of me holding off is them charging full price for EA and taking so long to get it up to speed. It will be 2 years in April since its release and it's still unfinished. That's just my gripes. My son is satisfied with where it's at and thinks I should buy it because it's so much better than Warband even with no mods. If I didn't have other games I need to start playing I would have bought it this sale.

[ArizonaTank]

Great game. Much better on all levels than MB Warband. Although technically still in "early access", the game is pretty much all there and I have not seen any bugs recently.

Was just playing over the holidays and have about 80 hours on the clock.

I am not a great twitch jockey, so I usually set combat difficulty to something more comfortable than stock (how much damage the bad guys do mostly).

If you haven't experienced the Mount & Blade series, there is really nothing else like it. The only first-person game where you can lead a heavy cavalry unit charge against a shield wall across an open field. Or, set up your army across the field from a rival lord, waiting for the right moment to order the advance. Or, hold your castle walls against an oncoming siege tower.     

[al_infierno]

Are the siege battles improved from Warband?  Those battles were an absolute nightmare in the vanilla game.

[Toonces]

I played a lot of Warband, but mostly in MP.

Thanks, Sparhawk.  I think that you and Jarhead have convinced me to part with a few hard-earned gold pieces.

[Yskonyn]

Good moment to jump in. But use the 1.7 beta version.
It has some great siege features; siege towers and ladders will be used properly.
And it has the long awaited 'dynamic terrain system' of whatever they call it.
It translates the position of your army on the world map to a similar battlefield map. So for example, if your tactic was to choke an enemy army near a river on a bridge, the battle should now reflect that.

I've started playing again this week and its been an absolute blast so far! Excellent game, though rather slow to start and get to the fun stuff of commanding armies with better gear. It takes a while to get there.

[Gusington]

How many hours does it take to get there?

[ArizonaTank]

...Excellent game, though rather slow to start and get to the fun stuff of commanding armies with better gear. It takes a while to get there.

I agree, it can be somewhat "grindy" at times early game. Mostly as you run around building your band and crushing the various types of bandit gangs that inhabit the land.

My usual path goes something like the below. I have never timed it, but I guess it usually takes me four or five hours of gameplay.

1.  Immediately recruit 7 - 10 peasant recruits in local villages. Run around taking on small bandit groups...but running from larger ones. Take and sell everything you take off the battlefield and ransom anyone you take alive. Rinse and repeat about 10 - 20 times (the grindy part). I usually have the computer do auto-battles when the enemy group is small enough...just to save time.

2.  As your troops gain experience in this process, upgrade them. Add more recruits and replace the dead as needed. Get up to your maximum number of guys based on your leadership level.

3. After about 20 battles or so, start looking at more professional troops to hire. Look at adding an NPC or two to increase your party skills. If you have any extra money, start upgrading your personal gear.

4. Start ingratiating yourself to one of the factions. I usually do this by catching up with some of the lords, introducing myself, taking some of their quests, and volunteering my band as hire swords.

5. Once you are with a faction, the game starts to open up. When your faction is at war, attack the enemies by raiding their villages, stomping on their caravans, and picking off their lesser lords who go foolishly about their lands with only a small escort. This step gets some real wealth. You can start to afford some of the better troops and gear.

6. At some point, your exploits will get you enough attention in your faction. Then you can ask the leader to join permanently and become a lord. One you are there, you start to lead armies, get your own fief, and start your climb up the ladder... 

I am certain there are many variations of the above...but that is what has been working for me.

[al_infierno]

How many hours does it take to get there?

In Warband it really depended a lot on your knowledge of the game and a bit on luck.  If you know exactly how you want to build your army and which king you want to pledge allegiance to, I'd say you can get rolling in 3-ish hours with a mid-sized band of A$$-kickers and some decent weapons and armor.  If you lose a battle or the kingdom you're fighting for gets stomped in a war, your progress can get hampered pretty badly though, and early on in the game there's very little you can do to change the outcome of wars before you rise in the ranks a bit and gain valor.

[Yskonyn]

Starting up is made harder as well by the fact that for every major version increase Taleworlds suggests to start a new game to incorporate the fixes and prevent weird issues from arising.
Normally with these kind of games I play through the first phases of the game and then save a 'baseline' savegame that I backup several times so that I can always 'quickstart' a new playthrough.
It works in between major versions still, but patching is quite frequently.
If you don't want that another option is to stay on the stable build, but you'll not have some nice overall improvements to gameplay at this point in time.
In that case I'd suggest waiting until 1.7 hits stable.

[Gusington]

Thanks guys. IIRC I bought Bannerlord at the beginning of COVID (2 years ago) but have been waiting for a good time to finally start a campaign, never having played a M&B game before.

[Toonces]

Ugh.  I totally forgot to buy this yesterday.

Guess I'll have to wait on another sale.

Warband kicks my ass.  I've never gotten very far in building an army.

[Grim.Reaper]

Ugh.  I totally forgot to buy this yesterday.

Guess I'll have to wait on another sale.

Warband kicks my ass.  I've never gotten very far in building an army.

Other places

https://gg.deals/game/mount-blade-ii-bannerlord/