Should i buy horse lords?

[xiaozhubiang]

Im kinda on a budget here, have all the dlcs from the bundle but it excludes newer dlcs like horselords/conclave. The reviews for conclaves are bad so Im ignoring it atm, but do you recommend horselords? Does it add much new content to the game?

[Hank the Cow dog]

conclave is fun, but it makes the game REALLY hard. if you have completly mastered the game where your at now, then i would reccomend it.

horselords is a tossup. if your into nomadic tribes the mongols conquering vast swathes of steppeland, then its for you. if not then id skip it

[Varainger]

See horse lords:
http://www.ckiiwiki.com/Downloadable_content

As nomads don't seem to be really that special and rather overhyped, at least form what i read.
It seems to be easy to conquer the world with them. I could as well cheat.
Well let's say i was disappointed about what i read.
Didn't buy it.

I'd only get it for making tributaries and the silk road(s) fatures.
So stuff more or less unrelated to nomads.


Grumpy rant part:

That they mix features in one and the same DLC is the most annoying part and contrary to what they promised with the DLC model.

And before anyone says "but mongols had mostly tributa..", yeah sure, but it was hardly them alone who did it back then, except maybe in western europe and the system is as old as war itself.

The point of the argument is more about promised flexibility.
Instead we get content packs too now and DLCs in it which are not truly related to the main DLC.

I might be wrong about nomads, but the excitement died down rather quickly.

[Ea0]

Be aware that Horselords enables host raiders.
Those can be quite annoying since they come out of nowhere and can strike anywhere (no coast or border required).

[The Cure]

Conclave is trash, avoid it like the plague.

And Horselords is worth it just for the larger map and the Silk Road.

[Ea0]

Originally posted by The Cure:

Conclave is trash, avoid it like the plague.

And Horselords is worth it just for the larger map and the Silk Road.

The larger map is part of the free patch.
You can enjoy bonuses of parts of the silk road without Horselords, too. Only small parts in Khotan and Kamarupa, though.

[Ea0]

Originally posted by Varainger:

Grumpy rant part:

That they mix features in one and the same DLC is the most annoying part and contrary to what they promised with the DLC model.

And before anyone says "but mongols had mostly tributa..", yeah sure, but it was hardly them alone who did it back then, except maybe in western europe and the system is as old as war itself.

The point of the argument is more about promised flexibility.
Instead we get content packs too now and DLCs in it which are not truly related to the main DLC.

I might be wrong about nomads, but the excitement died down rather quickly.

As with Charlemagne - allows custom kingdoms and empires
and Rajas of India - allows converting to capital religion and culture.

Those are features tied to a random DLC.
I don't see any reason to do this other than craving for higher sales.

[The Cure]

Originally posted by Ea0:

Originally posted by The Cure:

Conclave is trash, avoid it like the plague.

And Horselords is worth it just for the larger map and the Silk Road.

The larger map is part of the free patch.
You can enjoy bonuses of parts of the silk road without Horselords, too. Only small parts in Khotan and Kamarupa, though.

Ah, still worth it though and I don't even play nomad.

[Varainger]

Originally posted by Ea0:

As with Charlemagne - allows custom kingdoms and empires
and Rajas of India - allows converting to capital religion and culture.

Those are features tied to a random DLC.
I don't see any reason to do this other than craving for higher sales.

Yup, true.

Just like a lot of their actions seem two-faced.
I wrote a rant, but decided not to post it.

*sigh*

[Gnome Boy]

I would say take conclave over horselords. Here is why:

The Horselords DLC mainly focusses on the nomadic warlords of the russian steppe. While they are an interesting bunch on their own, the new nomadic government style simply doesn't do them justice. Their gameplay gets repetetive realy fast and hasn't much to offer, exept war and raiding. Also, nomads are rediculously underpowerd, only having very small ammounts of troops, unless you controll all of tartaria. The tributarry system is quite nice, since it allows you to subjuggate small neighbours without being an absolute game breaker.

Conclave on the other hand has quite some nice features. Also, contrary to what someone said earlier, it actually makes the game much easier if you are an experienced player. The DLC introduces a new "powerful vassal" mechanic, through which the 4 most powerful vassals in your realm (by levies) demand a seat at your council (5 for kings, 6 for emperors). If you give them the seat they are not allowed to form factions (with some exceptions). They can, however, vote on law changes, which can be a good thing if you know how to play them out right. Also there are more and different laws, which open up new opportunities for you (like female councilours). Finally, conclave introduces favors, which can be called in and gained from other characters everywhere, to perform specific actions, like voting like you on the council, forcing the liege to start a law change, calling someone to court or arranging a marriage. These can become realy usefull if you know how to use them right.
I had no civil wars in my (few) conclave games, since councilors are not allowed to join factions if the council is content and the few factions that gave an ultimatum only wanted council law changes (which don't hurt realy and can be changed back easily). I never had a succession change or independent faction reach critical mass yet, despite multiple regencies.

[marked"the toothless"rooster]

yes get hores lords

[Zednaught]

I really liked horselords. I'm generally someone who says you can ignore the DLC, but it offered a cool experience for me. I thought they were the best of all the DLC government types you get to choose. You're on a budget, so I suppose you won't get the music/cosmetic pack that comes with it(it's definitely overpriced), but for what it's worth, I like that as well. The music in particular was outstanding.

I haven't played Conclave. I'm planning on getting it on sale. The reviews seem bad, but I like the features described in it.

[Lizardemus]

I've never played as a nomadic tribe, but I have it installed. What irritates me is how nomads marry and end up owning counties in Wales and such in the first 100 years, it really kills the immersion.

[Coffee Fox]

Everyone is missing out on the most important reason ever for buying Horse Lords.

You can have wolf-blooded childern and find a child raised by wolves - The fact wolves are even mentioned raises the value of this DLC ten-fold.

[suppa]

I have both. I absolutely hate Conclave but still play with it because it does add some challenge in keeping happy powerful vassals on your council. Also the education system is much improved.

I love playing Nomad. It's really difficult if you start off at the earliest date as Mongol (you're much smaller than your neighbors). But once you get a lot of land, your manpower jumps and you're unstoppable.