Too many sacked lords joining me

[76561199069605909]

With +10 to the lord that gets the fief and -2 to all others, you essentially get a negative total from giving away a fief once you have 6+ lords (OK, with 6+ non-"saintly" lords). Is this at all sustainable? I thought lords who already have a fief might not get upset at another lord (especially someone landless) getting them, but no!

I guess it's better for me to stop warring and conquering, and try to get all other landed lords to defect to me. At the end, I might just take the other factions' rulers' (Ragnar's, Yaroglek's, Sanjar's, etc.) fiefs for myself and finish the game.

In the mean time, I want to deal with these lords so that those who are actually in my service can appear in the court for feasts and stuff.

So basically which of the following would be better?

1. Send lords out, saying their services are not required
2. Take in lords, but don't give fiefs

3. Take in lords, give them fiefs and annoy lords already serving me - I can rule this one out, but please correct me if I'm overlooking anything here.

[Tuidjy]

You seem to think that there are two types of lords - аssноlеs and saints. There are actually three, the last one are the wise аssеs, namely martial and circumstantial (also known cunning, calculating, etc.)

The way to handle all the lords types is as follows:

1) Hire all saints. Give them walled fiefs. They will never betray you if you are half-way competent. Even if you are a horrible king, as long as you are honorable, they will stick by you.

2) Hire a few wise аsses. Give them a village immediately. Always consult them before assigning a fief, then follow the majority advice. Before you follow the advice, consult the dissenters once again, and try to make them switch, if possible. Giving walled fiefs to wise аssеs is risky, but manageable - use bribes through their female dependents, if needed.

3) Hire аssноlеs if you need extra lords. Never, ever, ever give them walled fiefs. Give them one village if you think you'll need their services for a while, and do not have too many lords who will object, i.e. if you are the ruler of a tiny, tiny kingdom. Once you're established, send those in your court packing, and disregard the ones already working for you. They'll leave anyway.

The above is my way. My wife hires everyone, and keeps them all happy, by spending a fortune in bribes, and months on feats and tournaments. But she gets campaigns like this.

[76561199069605909]

Let me see.

I have Grainwad and Despin, who are upstanding. I also have Gerluchs who seems upstanding too.

Then I have Gutlans, who might not be upstanding - probably "calculating" type. He gets upset when I give others fiefs.

Deglan, who I think is the martial type - he and Grainwad once had a quarrel I had to sort out, where he said Grainwad's too soft. I unfortunately sided with Deglan, even with an overall relation penalty, since Grainwad still likes me.

The above lords have forts (Gutlans came to me with Yalen, and I gave him an adjoining village later).

I also have Bulba (my Marshall, I think he's either marial or calculating), and Faarn whom I'm keeping somewhat happy with some effort. Faarn has Tevarin castle. I really like Faarn's teddy bear flag. I like Bulba from an older game I played ... this time he seems to have another personality, but I still recruited him! (That's so human!)

Then I have Dirigun and Gearth, who are basically lost causes. They both have a village each.

I'm still hiring - and I want to give Gerluchs a castle. I have Haringoth, Ibdeles and Ergellon castles to give away (maybe Etrosq if I haven't already given it), and a handful of villages too, but I'm too scared at the moment, as every time I give something, everyone gets upset.

I have relations in 0-20 with some important ones like Gutlans (who brought me Yalen) and Rimusk (who brought me Uxkhal). Tarchias has a castle and two villages and STILL has minus 2 relation with me. I think I should indict him for treason. I think he has Ryilbet, my first capital, which I painstakingly garrisoned with top-tier troops until I got Praven.

>>> Would you suggest removing Trachias?

It's kinda annoying that jerks land right in my court, wasting space, when I have to run around so much getting upstanding lords who're being mistreated by their current lieges.

Btw in the picture, are the green-coloured parties your wife's vassals' (because they normally show up in red - not sure about multiplayer)?

>>> I have 100+ honour, should I simply talk to all lords waiting to be interviewed by me in my court, and reject out everyone with < 30 relation with me?

I need to act fast, because right now, Nords are fighting Khergits and Sarranids (and Sarranids are also fighting Vaegirs), and I just shrank Nords taking in Knuddar, Surdun, Reichsin and Trimbau. Nords are hard to beat when they aren't fighting on multiple fronts.

[Tuidjy]

>>> Would you suggest removing Trachias?

Trachias has fixed debauched personality. It's too bad that he has a walled fief and a strong garrison - this should have never been allowed to happen.

You have three choices, really:
1) Accuse him of treason. You will lose relations with all your lords. The hit may or may not be worth it - only you can decide this.
2) Let him desert, and take back the castle. This depends on how easy you find assaults.
3) Keep bribing him when he goes negative. At 1000 gold per relation point, some people can easily afford it, some would rather not.

As you can see, none of the choices is ideal. I have not had to face this choice for a long, long time. If I had to decide, I'd let him desert, and take back the castle.

>>> I have 100+ honour, should I simply talk to all lords waiting to be interviewed by me in my court, and reject out everyone with < 30 relation with me?

At some point in the game, that's exactly what I do. That point is after I have gathered enough lords not to worry about factions taking over my rear while I'm at the front, and before I am so close to the finish that there is no time for martial and calculating lords to sour on me.

But you can just hire аssноlеs, give them a village, and use'em 'till you lose'em

[76561199069605909]

>>> Trachias has fixed debauched personality.

OH!! Thanks, I'll chuck him out. I don't think I can "bribe" him as I'm playing Native. (I have 0 relation with ladies of my realm, unfortunately.) I have truckloads of gold, and about 15k adds to it every week, so I sure wouldn't mind spending some to keep my vassals happy. All the same, "debauched" is just too bad. Got to go!

It's awesome to be able to get advice from players who even know the fixed lords' personalities!

>>> At some point in the game, that's exactly what I do. That point is after I have gathered enough lords not to worry about factions taking over my rear while I'm at the front, and before I am so close to the finish that there is no time for martial and calculating lords to sour on me.

I think I'm at such a point. Not at war, and enough lords to take on any other faction (one at a time), and with enough forts to be able to at least have a kingdom even if things go bad. In any case Swadians and Rhodoks are defeated, so no one's coming back for forts that belonged to them.

[Tuidjy]

Originally posted by Yudhishthira:

I don't think I can "bribe" him as I'm playing Native. (I have 0 relation with ladies of my realm, unfortunately.)

Don't take it personally, but this is terrible planning. You need to gain relations with married ladies, before you declare yourself a sovereign, exactly for this reason. A few ways of doing this:
- questing for married women, especially liberating lords
- tournament dedications, never let a win go to waste
- maintaining good relations with maidens... they will get hitched, eventually

It's awesome to be able to get advice from players who even know the fixed lords' personalities!

Sorry to disappoint you.

I did not know his personality on top of my head. I know only the fixed personalities of the guys who own major walled fiefs. Trachias I had to look up. I keep a lot of notes when I play :-)

I think I'm at such a point. Not at war, and enough lords to take on any other faction (one at a time), and with enough forts to be able to at least have a kingdom even if things go bad. In any case Swadians and Rhodoks are defeated, so no one's coming back for forts that belonged to them.

Then stop hiring аssноlеs, and grab all the saints, even if you have to travel a bit to do so. Go sparingly with the martial lords - only hire those who bring walled fiefs, or who like you a lot, or who have relatives who like you.

I personally like martial lords quite a bit, but I go crazy rescuing lords, and I always have dozens of ladies who like me enough to allow me to bribe people.

Calculating lords are OKish, but I'd rather have martial ones... they do not have a hard conflict or cap, but if you get too many martial and calculating ones, it can be hard to manage them properly.

Originally posted by Yudhishthira:

Btw in the picture, are the green-coloured parties your wife's vassals' (because they normally show up in red - not sure about multiplayer)?

That picture is from a mod that allows you to choose your color and has limited coop - you can have a friend join you in combat, but only in combat, and not even in all combat.

And yes, the horde is made of her vassals. I think it numbers in the 4000s.

[76561199069605909]

>>> Don't take it personally, but this is terrible planning.

I didn't know this thing when I founded the kingdom! I didn't know I couldn't keep doing tasks for lords when they became my vassals, and that these ladies are the ONLY way (other than feasts) to earn relations.

And on top of everything, I can't even dedicate tournament victories to ladies now! I guess keeping on taking saintly lords is the only tonic!

>>> - questing for married women, especially liberating lords
I've liberated a LOT of lords voluntarily. I didn't realise that doing this as a quest was SO MUCH MORE rewarding.

[Tuidjy]

I was not blaming you, you probably have not had the chance of doing as many things wrong as I have, in the course of playing Warband. I was just suggesting what you could do better next run.

[76561199069605909]

>>> Would you be knowing if Laruqne is an always-jerk? He's a 400+-renown lord whom I only gave a village, -15 with me. His son Gerluchs, also my vassal, seems nice.

>>> I got Wercheg by recruiting a jerk-lord ("men will always try to cheat each other of their rightful due"), and that's Nords' last fortress. How bad would it be to sack him now? Firentis'll probably leave (again), but other than that?

>>> I got Chalbek by asking Rimusk to besiege it and joined him. Gutlans as marshall led the siege of Sargoth (I joined him). Rimusk came to me with Uxkhal, Gutlans with Jelkala. They both have 0-10 with me, so I'm guessing they're martial or calculating. Should I be fair and give them those fiefs?

I'm inclined to keep Sargoth, give Gutlans Wercheg (instead) and give Rimusk Chalbek.

[Tuidjy]

Laruqen is debauched or quarrelsome. Gerluch has a random personality, so he may very well be nice, as you said.

Sacking a lord will upset your vassals, but Firentis should not care, unless you have made him into a vassal by talking to him and giving him a fief. But Jarl Irya is not supposed to be a jerk. I remember him as a reliable marshal, i.e. martial. Are you sure he is merciless?

Gutlans is martial, another guy I try to befriend early on. I draw a blank on Rimusk. He probably has a random personality... so you may want to just give him a village. Be careful letting martial lords have too many fiefs, they are not trivial to keep happy. Manageable, but not trivial.

[76561199069605909]

Ah, OK. Yes, they say older lords usually to have a fixed personality, and younger ones are randomly assigned at the start of the game. In my game, there are some good father-son pairs in my kingdom. Harald-Surdun, Talbar-Trimbau.

But Jarl Irya is not supposed to be a jerk. I remember him as a reliable marshal, i.e. martial. Are you sure he is merciless?
Jarl Irya wasn't the lord of Wercheg I recruited - Ragnar sacked him and replaced him with a Khergit. Anyway, I went to an older save and took Wercheg by force instead. Gutlans had anyway besieged it. He indeed makes a good Marshall. He went straight for Sargoth (later Wercheg) instead of defending some remote hinterlands.

And yes, he was the first to join me with a fief!

I draw a blank on Rimusk. He probably has a random personality... so you may want to just give him a village.
I should probably go an older save and ask him for his general political philosophy to clarify. He's a younger lord, so might have a random personality. It becomes impossible to correctly find out the personality when they're your vassal, so I need the older save.

I finally had Talbar, Akadan and Nuam join me, so had to give Chalbek to Akadan instead. Rimusk still has just the Uxkhal he came with.

I gave Gutlans Wercheg, kept Sargoth and Chalbek to Akadan. Nords are no more. Logarson and Tulug are now my vassals - I ruthlessly sent out about 20 other lords from Nords and elsewhere to make room for a feast! I don't know when all the -10 relations are going to hit me.

Even Uqais turned up - I sent him off!

>>> Some lords came to me a SECOND TIME! Is it normal? I now have -20 with so many lords! Why don't they just leave Calradia or become a peasant somewhere?!

[76561199069605909]

Looks like Gerluchs is a jerk too!

Either that, or I gave too many fiefs to folks he doesn't like - he always wants everything for his father Laruqen, who IS, of course, bad!

>>> So I think I should take out Gerluchs and Faarn. Laruqen just has a village, so let him leave by himself. I'll similarly have to lose Bulba - I already lost Gearth and Dirigun.

>>> I want to SOMEHOW keep the following lords happy:
1. Gutlans 2. Mundhalir 3. Rimusk 4. Deglan

>>> Matheas & Valishin are also in this club, but I know their ladies. Are ladies infinite source of positive relation? Or will I have to wait between buying those velvet coats?

>>> I recruited the following "good" lords, and need to give them castles.
1. Crahask 2. Gastya 3. Urumda 4. Kumipa 5. Ralcha

OK, giving out these castles will take 10 from each of them, giving them villages will take 6 more. Giving them another village will take 6 more. +30 - 22 should work? I can make one of them Marshall for a little extra boost.

[76561199069605909]

>>> Rimusk asks Gharmall to be given the villages. He remains where he is when I give Gharmall the village, and goes down if I give the village to someone else. What personality type is this?

[ricklong]

Maybe I missed this in the conversation, but have you tried a good, old-fashioned feast?

It's harder to do while at war, but if you just had a major battle where a number of enemy lords were defeated, then its a good time. If you move your capital to a town near the front lines, then declare a feast, it works pretty well (and all of your lords dump prisoners in your dungeon, which is a bonus).
If your at peace, you can just feast for a month.

Also, if one of your married lords ever gets captured, go talk to his wife. Once he's sitting in a jail she'll usually give you a quest to go rescue him and storm the keep that he's at.
On your next play through, make sure you do plenty of those quests before coming king. I usually do a bunch of those when I'm not working for any kingdom since I can just walk into any town or castle (warning, some castles are kind of hard to pull a prison break).

[76561199069605909]

I JUST tried keeping chicken and pork in the household inventory - and realised they don't spoil there, like they do when I carry them around!

So far I've been only hosting 'adequate' feasts because I serve only spoil-proof food.

Are grand feasts really that much better?

The main problem with feasts though is that negative-relation lords won't even attend! And they're the ones I really want more relation with!

[Tuidjy]

Originally posted by Yudhishthira:

The main problem with feasts though is that negative-relation lords won't even attend! And they're the ones I really want more relation with!

Well, that's why you do not let them go negative, and if they do, you use ladies to bribe them first to -1, then you jump them to +2 with a big bribe.

I know their ladies. Are ladies infinite source of positive relation? Or will I have to wait between buying those velvet coats?

If you got the cash, they will gladly bribe everyone for you. I suspect the old biddies are keeping a cut, but who cares, money's cheap. If she makes the relation go up, she can have all the sherry she can drink. Except for Nesha. Nesha drinks Everclear vodka, and she lights it on fire first.