current easy faction for noob

[smanj440]

Seems most guides I've read are out of date. As a noob, I am looking for a well rounded, versatile faction that is simple to play. I appreciate any suggestions.

[❀ MOSOTO ❀]

imperial or battanian gets my vote.

[ᴍᴜꜱʜ-ᴄʀÆᴍ?]

Battania

[smanj440]

That's funny. All the guides I read hated Battania. But they are dated. Seems alot has changed.

[Grizz_FMJ]

Battania? That depends. Sometimes Battania is sandwiched between Western front with Vlanida and South with Empire. The Sturgia to N/NE can be a PIA too.

Empire can be tough with ♥♥♥♥ heads to the south probing all the time .

Vlandia is pretty easy. They have phenomenal units. Western flank completely secure by a damn ocean. So focus just East.

[Hemagene]

I would also so aseri because horses and the aformentioned reasons

[smanj440]

Geez - that's like all of them! Ha ha. I suck at strategy and am playing as more of an rpg I suppose. Don't have alot of gaming time. I like bows and sword/shield if that matters

[Swordmouse]

Cool thing about Mount and Blade is you can scale it to suit your preferences - you can try to be a king, or an adventurer/mercenary with a small party, or something in between.

Empire is central to the map so you don't have to travel far (assuming you really want to field specific units only/mostly), and has versatile units. And Battania has solid infantry and the best archers in the game.

[smanj440]

Thanks

[RJboxer]

Battania is middle of the road. It is highly overrated.

Valandia in the current patch 1.6.0 is probably the best, by a lot. Awesome starting position, the most clans, a cavalry nation that has tons of cavalry easily recruitable, tons of horse villages, and the best snipers in the game (xbows), and decent spearman. In other words they excel on the open field and are pretty great in sieges too.

Their position, and the fact that they have 11 clans (plus you thats 12) vs everyone elese 9, means valandia is Easy mode


if you want to try a bunch of "stuffs" , like "i'm new but wanna be a vassal, then create my own kingdom, while trying to get a ton of heirs, a huge family etc".. all while taking over a section of the world... Then go empire. There are more empire culture fiefs than anyone else. This means you have an easier time finding lords (when that comes up), and recruiting troops. plus your neighbors are also empire, so when you DO become a vassal of one of them, the first fief you get will most likely also be empire (like you).. Currently the loyalty system is pretty hard to navigate if you are new. So not having to wonder about what to do, when to propose a policy, who you should marry to offset governor hits... etc.. It's easy to just go empire, marry an empire spouse. and hope (which most likely will be) your first fief is empire culture.

Aserai is very difficult for a new person. The troops are above average, so are their fiefs. but the positioning of their kingdom means you will not have much help if any, when you are attacking the other guy, or being attacked. All in all, most people on aserai are experienced, or cheating, and lying. We can tell by the strats they post :)

Khuzait used to be good, but now, unless you have a good understanding about how to get rich (not that hard really), it is tough to field a strong khuzait army. And they have been severely nerfed when it comes to sieges. Fun, but not particularly strong

Sturgia, meh. Same position issue as aserai. (and this is VERY difficult thing to manage if new). They also have great infantry but mediocre cavalry. And don't field near as many as most other factions. So in open field they can get run over easily.

Battania is kinda meh as well. Their Fian troop is the most overrated troop in the game. And it was like that for a long time.. But now that the game evolved into "use whole bunches of horseys", its even worse for a nation based on archers.. rock/paper/scissors.. Horse beats archer. One advantage is the new castle mechanic means that if you are given a castle as first fief (likely) the auto recruit button recruits ITS troops. and usually you get the noble line. (hard to explain). But if you are sturgia you get a bunch of scrub tier 2 infantry that CAN turn into scrub noble cavalry (example). With battania your whole castle fills up with tier 2-4 archers, who are already archers.. and you can just grab as many as u want, as u hunt around. and level them into Fian Champions.

anyway,, grab one, have fun, you can't go wrong with any as you get more experience.. its fun to lose a bit when u start, thats how u learn more :)


But if you already have a fair understanding of the basics, and really just wanna see how far you can go THIS campaign, and want an easy faction.. I'd rank valandia twice as easy as the second easiest faction

[fastforward]

battania is nice because their troops are kinda expendable, no need for expensive horses to replenish your soldiers, also the battanian fians are very strong. if you want just the strongest faction, go with khuzait, but getting enough horses top keep all your troops upgraded to max level might get very difficult especially if you skip the infantry line completely. i am currently playing vlandians with an army composition of 60% crossbowmen and 40% cavalry, i didnt have a battle yet which i couldn't win.
the only faction i would not recommend for beginners if you want to play on realistic difficulty settings is sturgians and those only because they are slow at crossing the battlefield.
actually no matter what all factions are quite good. if you want an easy game with fast battles, pick vlandia or khuzait, if you want to have tanking infantry which is cheap to replace and amazing archers, pick battania, if you want to have 50+ minute battles of hardmode commanding your troops, disengaging, retreating, pressing f2f2 f2f3 riding all over the battlefields to find the best positions for your shieldwall and endless suffering vs khuzait then play sturgia.
i have no idea about aserai, that's the only faction i have never made a pure army of, but there is also the last option, just recruit everything, pick lower difficulty, press f6 at the start of battle and enjoy battle hacking away with your sword
every faction has very strong and some weaker troops, you can make up your army out of people from all over calradia and have fun.

[smanj440]

So if I pick Battania should I choose horse skills for myself? Or do you just run around on foot?

[RJboxer]

if you pick battania you probably lose. just saying. (thats not a bad thing, but based on your OP, I thought you were trying to avoid that)

They are slow, they need to fight in trees. They do GREAT in siege defense... they stink in the open field, they are next door to the strongest faction in the game (valandia) and on the other side is empire.. who has the advantages I listed above.

I'd pick valandia if you really understand foot combat. it is extrememly difficult to recruit cavalry there. Like very difficult. You're probably better off, hanging around empire lands and recruiting their noble line for the catphracts. I am currently in year 18 of a battania campaign at this very moment. I have more fians then I know what to do with, which is good because we lose half every fight. But, I personally own 2 castles (im king too).. so I can replace them easily.

Finding horses was so difficult, that I just started recruiting all horses I capture, and using them. again.. yeah 18... and I almost NEVER see a battania cavalry for recruit. All other factions except maybe sturgia, their feifs tend to be loaded with cavalry you can just recruit ready made.

So again, do battania if you understand infantry fighting, and know how to build a fast party. you will be slow on the campaign map. real slow.

[Grizz_FMJ]

Dude at the end of the day. . Play the faction you want. They all can be easy and or hard at times depending the situation. .i.e. AI choices, Difficulty , random events, dumb choices by the player etc. .

Battania: Celtics/ Gaul tribes who fought back against Rome.
Vlandia : you want to play as knights
Empire: you want to play as a Roman esq/ Byzantine faction
Sturgia: Vikings
Khuzaits: Genghis Khan
Aserai: middle eastern camel riders who like big axes

[desaix]

Depends on playstyle. Imperials are the best all-arounders, Khuzait the best horse archers, Battania the best foot-archers, Vlandia the best spear-cavalry, Aserai the best traders, and Sturgia the best... uh... hmm...

[patrakovi]