How do I raid for food?

[ambi]

Whenever I go on a raid, my troops bring back cattle, goods and horses, but never food. My war clan always end up starving. Is this working as designed? I know there are events that pop up and allow you to raid for food specifically, but you never receive food from a normal raid. My only option is to slaughter the cattle I've stolen, which seems wasteful?

[david]

Food is not sitting around in the open like cows are, so you will only gain food in fairly desperate situations.

[FroBodine]

So, is slaughtering your animals the only way to really get food? Other than a random food event?

[ambi]

Originally posted by FroBodine:

So, is slaughtering your animals the only way to really get food? Other than a random food event?

I've raided about 30 times, and in two instances I found food,and it wasn't much (around 45 units or so). It seems to be rare. In one instance I even captured thralls, even though I had set my objective to "Plundering". I think the range of loot you find may depend on your army's size (bigger army = more stuff). When I accidentally captured thralls, my army was 2x the size of the enemy.

[david]

Why not trade for food or ask another clan?

Note that this is one reason we suggest you don’t start as a war clan in your first game, it can be a little harder to figure out the balance.

http://a-sharp.com/kodp/tips.html

[FroBodine]

Thank you for the tips!

[Ciciro]

Trading for food is necessary for a war clan, but seeing as war clans can usually get their hands on more things to trade, it really isn't that inconvenient.

[ambi]

^ Yeah, that seems to work. Also, cattle creates food as well. I'm trying to build a massive herd (via raids) to provide enough food. I believe they create food all-year round, so you don't need to stop raiding during the Sea or Earth seasons. I'll see how this goes.

[ambi]

My current war clan game is going well. Here's my tactics:

- Cattle raiding is generally better than a full raid.
- But if you're staging a full raid, then plunder.
- If your tula is being raided and you have a superior army, then Take Captives and Manuevre. In my best battle, I managed to capture 40+ prisoners and ransom them for around 250 goods.

- It's best to think of your war clan as more like a Mafia, rather than the Mongols. You want to raid, and then trade your loot for food. The ultimate aim is to receive tribute (20 cows per year seems best?). Once a clan is giving you tribute, you can focus on raiding someone else.

- Make trade routes with far-off clans. You can't raid them, so their only use is for trade.

- For magic, Truesword seems to be the best, since it doubles the strrengh of your weaponthanes. Earthblood is also good since you'll often be counter-attacked by your neighbours.

- Seems as if you can recruit more weaponthanes when they're wounded/sick. So after a big battle where I've quite a few wounded weaponthanes, I usually recruit more. At the moment, I have about 42 weaponthanes.

- Avoid raiding during Sea / Earth seasons. It doesn't seem worth it. Use those seasons for other stuff, and devote Fire / Storm to raiding.

[Percussigant]

I wish I could just eat my thralls.

[|(๏̯͡๏ JλςҜ♣Ҳ̸λnO]

Originally posted by Mucho Trabajo:

I wish I could just eat my thralls.

Would be very interesting if you could play or become beastmen (Werewolves), as they kinda eat others. Probably not in this game. I haven't quite learn'd their history yet.