Why does swadia always get destroyed?

[darklord5555]

like title almost in all of my playthrough swadia gets annhilated is there a reason because their knights packs some punch so i wonder

[White Knight]

I heard someone else mention this the other day. It's very curious to me since I've never seen the computer wipe anyone out. Well, they do occassionally pick off the last remaining army of a faction I've already annihilated but they don't seem to have the coding for actual war, just perpetual skirmishes.

Swadia is in the middle, it only makes sense that they would go down first. I'm of the opinion this is why the Swadian Knight is so much more powerful than other elite troops.

Maybe I play aggressively enough that they are all more worried about me than their troublesome neighbours? I've got several games that are in the final lap and in all of them, I'm the only one interested in wiping out other factions.

I wouldn't mind it in the least if they killed each other off.

[darklord5555]

well by destroyed i mean they have like one castle and one city left

[SnakeDoc]

Being in the center of the map they will always be at war with 1 or 2 kingdoms at any time.Constant rading cripples trade, reducing prosperity, causing nobles to leave, making the army smaller. Rinse and repeat.

[JonnyBoy]

A similar issue is why i have chosen to protect them in my playthrough. Ive almost completely anihaleted the kergits though

[raubrey]

If you can survive to mid game, eliminating the Kingdom of Rhodoks ASAP will help immensely.
.
Keep enough pressure on the Nords though (might have to ping-pong a bit). Looting really helps as mentioned, esp. with the Nords: if you don't mind the relation/recruit penalty. You might not have much choice though.

Go with the attitude if you can't beat them, irritate them and make them broke. :D

If you're lucky the Rhodoks go down sooner than later if Sarranid Sultanate or basically any faction are fighting them -- make the most of those wars.

It helps if you can become Marshall to minimize some of the stupid sieges the AI takes on -- spreading themselves too thinly or not taking strategic advantages.

If possible, take Veluca first to cripple Rhodoks financially and with any luck keep it. A weakened Rhodok is good motive for SS to declare war, too. And the Khergits may declare war on them if they make advances.

I've had games where the AI takes Veluca and I took Jelkala. Avoid mass looting there if possible to keep your spearman recruit options to fight off the other calvary-centric factions.

Otherwise if the AI does something stupid, like take a far out city that is not very defensible before taking on a closer threat/expansion, then you may have a bum game. As the other factions won't war each other over lost territory, only you, Swadia.

If you're a merc, you might bounce around a bit and join factions (preferably weak ones) that are at war or likely to war your two biggest enemies/threats. Then return. I haven't tried it, as Swadia has never fallen (except by me <evil grin> ) when I played, but it seems a viable alternative, if not a much longer game.


P.S. Does anyone know if the Floris mod balances Swadia a bit? They do take a beating, even if it is desereved because they also tend to be greedy.

[Smelly Cheese]

be cause swadia is in the middle of the map

[raubrey]

Originally posted by Heroicpeanut:

be cause swadia is in the middle of the map

That's only half of it, many declar war because they are major exansionists, if they get a foothold, and aim to curb their power. The factions to the east have more to gain by fighting each other when Swadia is strong and occupied by war with Nords/Rhodoks.

[Stonechat]

Because auto-calculated battles aren't the most accurate thing. 10 swadian knights vs 4 looters could result in a knight or two getting killed when auto-calculated. Know what I'm saying?

[darklord5555]

Originally posted by Zhander:

Because auto-calculated battles aren't the most accurate thing. 10 swadian knights vs 4 looters could result in a knight or two getting killed when auto-calculated. Know what I'm saying?

i guess thats pretty reasonable

[kaiyl_kariashi]

Because NPC armies tend to only have a few elite units, and are mostly rabble, spread across all tiers, rather then a huge chunk (or all) of elite units like players tend to run.

And yes, autocalc is broken as hell, never use that thing yourself for any reason. Even if you outnumber enemies 10 to 1, all elite vs mostly grap, with 10 tactics and leadership, you'll still lose a ton of units.


On an unrelated note...for the first time EVER, I had an NPC actually surrender when engaging them in the field yesterday. I know they're supposed to if your army is big enough, but even at 4-1 couldn't get them to do it.

[White Knight]

^^^ Seriously? I have yet to see that myself. That's awesome! It always irked me that they can never die and no matter how many times you beat them senseless and throw them into prison, they keep talking trash and coming for your villages.

Way to show 'em who's boss!

[raubrey]

Originally posted by tiredofpain:

^^^ Seriously? I have yet to see that myself. That's awesome! It always irked me that they can never die and no matter how many times you beat them senseless and throw them into prison, they keep talking trash and coming for your villages.

Way to show 'em who's boss!

I so have to agree with this. I don't know if I'll go for a full domination win again (I've done 2) mostly because of this. And really I suppose it's even more irritating <midgame when trying to expand.


I had a King accept peace when I had 6000K units behind me :D but that was in a mod.

[White Knight]

Originally posted by raubrey:

I had a King accept peace when I had 6000K units behind me :D but that was in a mod.

Well, don't I feel just a bit intimidated all of a sudden...lol

[raubrey]

Originally posted by tiredofpain:

Originally posted by raubrey:

I had a King accept peace when I had 6000K units behind me :D but that was in a mod.

Well, don't I feel just a bit intimidated all of a sudden...lol

LOL -- well ya shouldn't feel that way, but the King sure did. ^^

[Salty?!]

Originally posted by raubrey:

Does anyone know if the Floris mod balances Swadia a bit? They do take a beating, even if it is desereved because they also tend to be greedy.

Floris mod adds dart throwing heavy infantry with thick shields, longbowmen to spam arrows everywhere, and even heavier calvary then native. I suppose they need it to balance out the fact that they are surrounded. They also have a tendancy (at least in my gameplay) to declare war on just about everyone, and nothing makes me moar mad then that King Harlus kidnapping all my peasant women.

Sword sisters are hard to find you know.