Do I need to expand to other regions?

[Ravelli]

I ask because, even though i´ve been playing for a while, I never got to pass the third year, because I chose to restart.
So the question is: can I try to grow tall in just one region and be able to defend my region when the other lord comes to conquer?
Can I get the other regions he has already claimed? (most of the map)

[madpraxis]

The only thing you *need* to 'win' against him is kick him off the map. So, if you claim or prevent from claiming, then you just end up with one fight, and one big fight.

Yes, you can fight for what he has already.

And yes, grow tall! Most, if not all, your militia will be in your 'home' region. Tip: Raise all 6 militia before you build manor house. It will be forever and a day until you equip them all, but that means you get SEVEN units instead of locking out at 6. Cause your retinue adds another unit, see?

As for expanding, look at what is there. Honestly? You don't need to go much past the point of being able to build a manor house in another region. Why? ANOTHER RETINUE! Yay, eight units total now! (Note, this keeps going. Another region, another village large enough for a manor house? Yay! Nine units now! And fully filled and equipped retinue are machines of doom!)

Having said that...yea. Expand. Mess around with the new beta and exporting/importing goods among your regions, play around with pack mules. Do whatever.

Except don't do one thing: Don't feel the pressure to build in a region if you don't want to. Because that wouldn't be fun in that case, and you are here to have fun.

Now, go. Git. Go have fun.

[lastrix]

With new royal tax mechanics its crucial to build small or medium vilagges first. Accumulate wealth and only when you got everything fine (regional trading provide all your regions with neccessary goods at low price) you could go to single town or two. Otherwise it requires too much wealth and taxes.
E.g. i built small town with 9 tier 3 houses and 60 families total. Royal tax is 500. I get from this town about 600-700 with taxes set to 10%. Its possible to handle brigands, but if enemy lord claims my territory i can barely do anything. Money reserves are too low and i have just 3 spear militia with full gear + retinues. I can not expand because i can not pay taxes. I can not accumulate money because my economy is crippled by taxation. You need other regions, because they will sell on local market barley, wheat and other junk.

On my second run i limited number of tier 2 builings to 4 (5 will give you large village).
Now i get about 500 yearly by 5% taxes and wealth growing rapidly by selling junk, royal tax is just 125 - more than bearable. I built another small village and barter weapons, luxury items for resources that my starting village don't actually need, but still consumes.
I'm not producing everything in my starting village, just neccessary things to keep things going.
Other regions allows me for more perks, that i can not use on my main village. E.g. i build orchards in second region and sell them to first one. This way allows me to have more food variants.

But keep in mind, that you will not get infinite retinues. There is a cap on number of units you may have in your army. Right now it is the only thing opposing expansion. You can not have strong military everywhere because you are limited by 6 units total for whole map.
So you either put all your military inside single region (like center), or pray for mercenaries to come when they are needed. Otherwise you're fcked.

[madpraxis]

Or just don't sign up for a beta release, and wait for the actual patch to come out ;)

Also, there ISN'T a cap if you do it the way I said. Because since there are already '6' units, the retinues just get added on top. (Note, this is GREAT for regions on the edge you have built in, cause they have *their* retinue standing there ready to go!)

[Fekin]

I wonder if building the extra manor towers to gain infinite extra Retinue will be fixed on the patch.

[vaeta]

It's your choice. Try thinking about two different approaches in the current meta (new patch).

First Approach (one big city):

Region:
Rich deposit: only iron
Development points: all-rounded
Pros: simple, one big city
Cons: slow start

Other regions:
Optional, only for retinue if needed

Second Approach (3 regions):

First region:
Rich deposit: berries & wild animals
Development points: mainly forest trees
Pros: rapid/easy start (first year(s))
Cons: works better with additional regions

Second/Third region:
Rich deposit: berries
Development points: farming
Why: food and clothes for other regions

Third/Second region:
Rich deposit: iron and clay
Development points: industry
Why: weapons for other regions

In real game you probably want it customize to map.

[★ ace ★]

expand

[JunSunBro]

Originally posted by madpraxis:

The only thing you *need* to 'win' against him is kick him off the map. So, if you claim or prevent from claiming, then you just end up with one fight, and one big fight.

Yes, you can fight for what he has already.

And yes, grow tall! Most, if not all, your militia will be in your 'home' region. Tip: Raise all 6 militia before you build manor house. It will be forever and a day until you equip them all, but that means you get SEVEN units instead of locking out at 6. Cause your retinue adds another unit, see?

As for expanding, look at what is there. Honestly? You don't need to go much past the point of being able to build a manor house in another region. Why? ANOTHER RETINUE! Yay, eight units total now! (Note, this keeps going. Another region, another village large enough for a manor house? Yay! Nine units now! And fully filled and equipped retinue are machines of doom!)

Having said that...yea. Expand. Mess around with the new beta and exporting/importing goods among your regions, play around with pack mules. Do whatever.

Except don't do one thing: Don't feel the pressure to build in a region if you don't want to. Because that wouldn't be fun in that case, and you are here to have fun.

Now, go. Git. Go have fun.

damn i wish i knew this. I built my manor right away to get those heavy armored loyal men for my luscious baroness.

[JunSunBro]

So what do we build on the second region? Is the other regions for harvesting only to sell stuff for our main city. I havent built anything on a second region myself but. I guess ill build houses and another market? how do i make region to region trade? what do we need to build to make 2 regions trade with each other >.<

[Ravelli]

Ok, so let´s say that the other lord has taken all the regions but mine, what are my chances for survival?

[madpraxis]

Originally posted by Jun Jun:

So what do we build on the second region? Is the other regions for harvesting only to sell stuff for our main city. I havent built anything on a second region myself but. I guess ill build houses and another market? how do i make region to region trade? what do we need to build to make 2 regions trade with each other >.<

Two options.
Pack mule station or whatever it is, which is *barter*. Build in city you want to send goods FROM. Because it is goofy, heh. And maybe draining regional funds from place they are going too currently. But, what they do is send themselves and mule to the 'market' of wherever, carrying 'x' amount of 'y' goods to 'barter' for some good in return.
It...sort of worked. Still sort of works in beta branch.

Second option works two ways, depending on if you are on beta or not, using trading post. If you *aren't*, you basically make whatever you want to 'sell' to other region(s), then crash the market selling them. Now, you can buy said goods where you want for cheap ;)
If you are in Beta branch, it still works like that, with one extra caveat: You can just straight up do inter-region trades, at base prices (So no tariffs added).

Originally posted by Ravelli:

Ok, so let´s say that the other lord has taken all the regions but mine, what are my chances for survival?

Beta or not Beta? No beta... he's probably bought up all the mercs, and won't ever release them...so... it is iffy. Smart playing, planning ahead? You can take one at a time. Just focus on where YOU want the battles to be fought, much like they did back in the day. Find a nice, steep hill with a nice, long climb up to it, post up everyone right before the crown of said hill. Then play bait with a unit, and get them to follow you up into your loving arms.
Beta, he might have releases some mercs. So build up, build strong, and cross your fingers and do the above ;)

[cachmandrake]

There are several good reasons for expanding.
- Extra retinue
- Extra taxes
- Extra manpower for militas
- Access to different "rich" nodes
- Access to different fertility
- The possibility of taking different specializations (you can have a village just for producing food, or armor, or a certain class of weapon, etc)

But tbh, more than 2 villages becomes a pain to manage.