How can I conquer a fief as an independant

[Cojultad]

All the methods I am finding online are not working for me. I was told that if you see a rebellion they will only have a few armies running around so you can siege the city until their soldiers starve out and then you can just walk right in and take it but when I tried it, The garrison inside actually left to attack me so I am guessing that was a previous patch. Anyway these rebellions seem to start with a garrison between 300 to 500 and I cannot fight that with a 130 some cap.

Second tactic was to wait until a kingdom is in multiple wars then grab their weakest holdings but for some reason the AI armies of other countries seem to just dance around their borders, They might siege one castle but then you will see them walking around in circles near the border instead of pushing further even if they have an army of 800 or so. So they don't really distract the armies of the enemy. If i am trying to siege something it's a never ending stream of small groups of 30 or so meeting near the area until they have enough to attack, and if I call of the siege they run so I can't just pick them all off. Even if I do capture them it only seems to hold them for about 2 days before they escape then come back with a larger army. Doesn't matter if I currently have 10 of their generals in my inventory. Makes no difference how many battles I win, I have to call off the siege to recruit more but by then they have another army to interrupt me.

And when i finally found a way to cheese it, all the videos showed that turning in the main quest with the dragon banner will end all wars but that didn't happen either, Not only was the war still on but the moment I declared myself a new kingdom the empire decided to declare war on me.

Do I have to just give up and become a vassal because I just see no way I can actually do this.

[BlackKatana]

Max your intelligence attribute, steward, and medicine focus. Reach clan level 1, be a mercenary but don't fight in any battle. Just recruit soldiers and send them to die attacking bandits. repeat it until you feel confident about attacking minor non-mercenary clans, buy some profitable workshops. Reach clan level 6 if you have some attribute try to max cunning after intelligence and max scouting, tactics, and roguery. hone your skill from constant battles. When you have 240+ high tier units and a couple of million gold coins, I believe you can take a city yourself.

[Hatchero]

I do this in 2 ways. First way is to conquer a city which is in a current rebellion. The 2nd way is to get trade to 300 and buy fiefs. Take your time to build up these fiefs, companions and family members before you declare your new kingdom.

[Cojultad]

The rebellions must have been buffed, the videos I have seen showed them having around 80 or so defenders but now they are starting with around 300 at the very least, And it doesn't seem like starving them out will accomplish anything. Even if I sack the surrounding cities and wait until their food output is 0 the garrison remains the same. It only seems to move if I am actively sieging them but the AI is numerous to know if can send the 300-500 man garrison outside to beat me so starving them out isn't going to work as well. And it doesn't help that the other AI will roll by with 700 plus armies and just siege it themselves, They rarely fail so it's not like they will leave a weakened city for me to take.

And since Stewardship seems mostly trainable after you get your first city there isn't much I can do to increase my solider capacity aside from trying to up my clan level. I am not sure if that will get me to 200 or if that will even be enough

[BlackKatana]

Originally posted by Cojultad:

And since Stewardship seems mostly trainable after you get your first city there isn't much I can do to increase my solider capacity aside from trying to up my clan level. I am not sure if that will get me to 200 or if that will even be enough

Buy every different food. your stewardship will rise at least 1 each day.

[Master]

Get enough archers in your army. Build 4 catapults. If enemy have catapults on walls build 4 trubushets. The moment enemy have 0 siege engines pause, switch to catapults and start assault. When battles starts -> order your melee infantry to hold ground infront of your archers and just clear walls with archers and catapults. Your heavy infantry now should be able to clear what is left of enemy garrison. Good luck defending your 1st town.
Another cheasy strat is to become a vassal, siege with big army, kills most of garrison troops, retreat. Leave kingdom, attack weakened garrison alone.
Playing as a vassal first to get rank 6 clan is a good idea i think. You only lose 20 relations with faction when you leave.