How do you build an army that rivals the AI army?

[\\F.A.B.// Lucius]

I cant imagine a way to have an army of 150 men as the AI without relying on mercs. But mercs require more than spoils of defeating bandits to maintain on this level. So why the AI has all that treasury? Why can it keep a large force as that all the time? And how to build an army to defeat it?

[EroticOnion23]

Somebody said that the only way is to cheese and have the enemy army chase your retinue around the map away from your region...until you build up and can take them on. The enemy A.I. will chase that one retinue unit forever...

[Be kind to each other.]

You need a few things to supply your armies.

1. Recruits. Your village pop needs to be high to supply with troops.
2. Armaments. You need to have the weapons and defenses like shields to arm your troops.
3. Taxes or steady castle coffer supply. If you mean to use mercs as consistent recruits you need to be able to pay them. This can be done through taxes on trade or consistently being able to clear bandit camps to add money to your kingdom's coffers.

[Nik-Naks]

You probably have to focus on getting more money so you can buy all the mercenaries before he does. That is until you have taken enough towns to have an army from each one.

[Daedrochon]

what i did was just forget about claiming in the beginning the ai claimed the whole map and i built my town. trough trade i got iron which i then used to make armaments to get my militia going , ended up with 2 militias of spears and 2 militias of swords + the 12 initial retinue ( i just robbed the thief camps ). if u dont rush and just focus on building up ur town while trying to get ur swords and shields by the time he attacks u (or even sooner like it happened to me ) u should be able to fight him. after that just start claiming the provinces one by one

[\\F.A.B.// Lucius]

Postat inițial de EroticOnion23:

Somebody said that the only way is to cheese and have the enemy army chase your retinue around the map away from your region...until you build up and can take them on. The enemy A.I. will chase that one retinue unit forever...

Thank you for the info, but we need a valid way of building an army in this game to oppose the AI. Right now, it is really messed up.

Postat inițial de Be kind to each other.:

You need a few things to supply your armies.

1. Recruits. Your village pop needs to be high to supply with troops.
2. Armaments. You need to have the weapons and defenses like shields to arm your troops.
3. Taxes or steady castle coffer supply. If you mean to use mercs as consistent recruits you need to be able to pay them. This can be done through taxes on trade or consistently being able to clear bandit camps to add money to your kingdom's coffers.

The AI makes claims way before we can afford a manor. So this doesn't solve the problem of the AI having a crazy advantage with a huge army made out of thin air.

Postat inițial de Saicko:

You probably have to focus on getting more money so you can buy all the mercenaries before he does. That is until you have taken enough towns to have an army from each one.

That is treasury, not the local money, and you can only get treasury from bandit camps or manor, but bandit camps are limited and manors are too advanced buildings.

Postat inițial de Daedrochon:

what i did was just forget about claiming in the beginning the ai claimed the whole map and i built my town. trough trade i got iron which i then used to make armaments to get my militia going , ended up with 2 militias of spears and 2 militias of swords + the 12 initial retinue ( i just robbed the thief camps ). if u dont rush and just focus on building up ur town while trying to get ur swords and shields by the time he attacks u (or even sooner like it happened to me ) u should be able to fight him. after that just start claiming the provinces one by one

I have no idea how you got an army big enough to oppose the AI since it should have 300 men by the time you did it all.

[Etherton]

In my first playthrough i was able to comfortably beat him without any issue and i only used 1 merc group. I built up my town to max size and got a strong economy, imported 100 of every type of weapon and armour and then was able to fully stock my retinue with 24 men max armour and 4 units to 36 men. I only got 1 extra map area prior to doing this and defeated him first time around. Havent gone further so idk if i have to fight him again. I built my treasury by taxing my town around 6-8% constantly for ages too, have over 3k currently. Couldnt get much over 8% as then it equalled my positive points and kept me around 90-95% happiness or whatever its known as.

Imo all you need is a strong economy and large town and youre golden, the sooner you can tax the better. If you build the economy well you can also buy food in then tithe it to create ♥♥♥♥ tonnes of influence. Hope this helps!

[Waam]

For some reason i am unable to recruit mercenaries. They have not shown up in my recruitment tab for years, so the game is basically lost

[\\F.A.B.// Lucius]

Postat inițial de Etherton:

In my first playthrough i was able to comfortably beat him without any issue and i only used 1 merc group. I built up my town to max size and got a strong economy, imported 100 of every type of weapon and armour and then was able to fully stock my retinue with 24 men max armour and 4 units to 36 men. I only got 1 extra map area prior to doing this and defeated him first time around. Havent gone further so idk if i have to fight him again. I built my treasury by taxing my town around 6-8% constantly for ages too, have over 3k currently. Couldnt get much over 8% as then it equalled my positive points and kept me around 90-95% happiness or whatever its known as.

Imo all you need is a strong economy and large town and youre golden, the sooner you can tax the better. If you build the economy well you can also buy food in then tithe it to create ♥♥♥♥ tonnes of influence. Hope this helps!

Thanks for your testimony. However, you said the same as others have said: build the manor as fast as possible to get tax. I am saying that by the time we get a manor, the Baron has an absurd army and probably claimed all the map. This is unbalanced and I wanted to know if there were any way to get an army before getting a manor in order to oppose the baron, but after asking I am getting the impression that this way doesnt exist. As raiding camps doesnt allow to keep mercenaries for long periods, and manors are too advanced buildings, this balance problem seems to really exist and is waiting for a solution.

[Nik-Naks]

Postat inițial de \\F.A.B.// Lucius:

That is treasury, not the local money, and you can only get treasury from bandit camps or manor, but bandit camps are limited and manors are too advanced buildings.

Oh i'm sorry, i meant the militias you can buy from the regular type of money ofc.

I've seen videos on youtube with i think 800 men battle?

[\\F.A.B.// Lucius]

Postat inițial de Saicko:

Postat inițial de \\F.A.B.// Lucius:

That is treasury, not the local money, and you can only get treasury from bandit camps or manor, but bandit camps are limited and manors are too advanced buildings.

Oh i'm sorry, i meant the militias you can buy from the regular type of money ofc.

I've seen videos on youtube with i think 800 men battle?

Could you explain to me where you buy a militia? In my experience, it grows with your settlement. I cannot buy people to fight.

[Etherton]

Postat inițial de \\F.A.B.// Lucius:

Postat inițial de Etherton:

In my first playthrough i was able to comfortably beat him without any issue and i only used 1 merc group. I built up my town to max size and got a strong economy, imported 100 of every type of weapon and armour and then was able to fully stock my retinue with 24 men max armour and 4 units to 36 men. I only got 1 extra map area prior to doing this and defeated him first time around. Havent gone further so idk if i have to fight him again. I built my treasury by taxing my town around 6-8% constantly for ages too, have over 3k currently. Couldnt get much over 8% as then it equalled my positive points and kept me around 90-95% happiness or whatever its known as.

Imo all you need is a strong economy and large town and youre golden, the sooner you can tax the better. If you build the economy well you can also buy food in then tithe it to create ♥♥♥♥ tonnes of influence. Hope this helps!

Thanks for your testimony. However, you said the same as others have said: build the manor as fast as possible to get tax. I am saying that by the time we get a manor, the Baron has an absurd army and probably claimed all the map. This is unbalanced and I wanted to know if there were any way to get an army before getting a manor in order to oppose the baron, but after asking I am getting the impression that this way doesnt exist. As raiding camps doesnt allow to keep mercenaries for long periods, and manors are too advanced buildings, this balance problem seems to really exist and is waiting for a solution.

I never said that nor have i seen this. I only fought the Baron because i declared war on him, i didnt rush to build the manor, infact i forgot all about it. I was still able to claim 1 region fine. I only used the tax to upgrade my retinue and get 1 unit of mercs, this was just before i declared war. You can get an army anytime it depends on your population cap, i wouldnt say i did anything quickly, ive done 8hrs on one save and after 7hrs i fought the baron. Idk if people get unlucky and get attacked early but i didnt and as i said i had to declare war on him to create the fight. My militia were stronger than his units also and basic tactics meant i was able to surround him and route troops fast

[\\F.A.B.// Lucius]

If your retinue and a single merc company was enough to take the baron on your game, we are playing different games XD

[Etherton]

Postat inițial de \\F.A.B.// Lucius:

If your retinue and a single merc company was enough to take the baron on your game, we are playing different games XD

I said i only used the tax money to upgrade my retinue and buy some mercs, i still had 4 units of militia.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3233795558

Hopefully this screenshot works. This is maybe 30m gameplay post battle so you can see where i am in the game and my army setup!

[Nik-Naks]

Postat inițial de \\F.A.B.// Lucius:

Postat inițial de Saicko:

Oh i'm sorry, i meant the militias you can buy from the regular type of money ofc.

I've seen videos on youtube with i think 800 men battle?

Could you explain to me where you buy a militia? In my experience, it grows with your settlement. I cannot buy people to fight.

Yeah, press 3 and the army tab comes up. On the right there is a plus sign, and these randomly switches between good and bad ones whilst your playing.

if you're short on army power they can add a punch.

On that picture you can see the plus sign.

[rochetjeremy]

In my side Im able to win the lrod in max difficulty : I can get archery mercs (2x36) and my army is now 4x30. The way is too expand very fast before he claims ur region. You should get around 190 people.
Now I am waiting outlaw attacks to get influence (500 per 36 army)