Kingdom of Swadia Guide

The Kingdom of Swadia is known for its Calvary, ok Infantry, and Good Crossboman. However, due to its position, Swadia, in a lot of cases, has a hard time fighting the other factions. From the characters that I have played in the past, I have always joined Swadia. Why? Well, I will explain in this guide the Strengths, Weaknesses and give the Rundown for the Kingdom of Swadia.

The Kingdom of Swadia Introduction

The Kingdom of Swadia. This kingdom inhabits the plains in the middle of Calradia. This faction is usually the faction (from my experience playing Warband) that is either always destroyed or is weakened by the Nords and the Rhodoks. I will explain on in a later section why this is.

Swadia, given its postion, is always destroyed or weakend as mentioned above. Swadia, according to legend, is the remains of the old Calradic Empire. Maybe thats why it is targeted by the other factions. Wih four towns, each in key postitions, Swadia is open to invasion. Swadias strength is in thier Swadian Knights, the strongest melee cavalry in the game.

Swadia starts off in a war with the Khergits, a very heavily cavalry based faction in the East part of the map. However, every faction eventually makes peace and goes to war with thier true enemies. In this case, Swadia usually goes to war with the Rhodoks, a faction heavily based on Crossbowmen and spear infantry.

Usually when the war starts, Swadia is also attacked by the Nords to the north. In my past experience in playing Warband and becoming a vassal of Swadia, the Nords take both Praven and Suno. The Nords only attack when Swadia is at war with the Rhodoks. (NOTE: ALL OF THIS IS FROM MY EXPERIENCE IN PLAYING WARBAND AND AS A VASSAL OF SWADIA. IT CAN BE TOTALLY DIFFERENT IN YOUR GAME EXPERIENCE. IF IT IS, I WOULD LIKE TO HEAR ABOUT IT IN THE COMMENT SECTION)

After the Nords declare war and take Praven and Suno, the Rhodoks usually take Uxkhal and the castle that is next to it. In some cases, the Rhodoks will take Suno if the Nords have not already taken it yet. Then somehow the Vaegirs will come in at random and take Dhirim. Dhirim then will somehow by some miracle will be taken back by Swadia or it will fall to the Sarrinids in a war with the Vaegirs.

So much war and despair. The next section will explain why Swadia is easily defeated and how Swadia can survive for a long time in the game without it getting destroyed early on in the game itself. It is possible for Swadia to survive.

Becoming Swadias Vassal

Like starting out in Warband or any of its mods, the first few fights suck, mostly because your troops are not good and you have to fight 1 against 18. Looters are going to be your best bet to training up your units. Swadias recruits eventually can become very powerful units. Here is a troop tree:
As you can see, the Swadian Recruits turn into Militia. From there, the Footman can either become Swadain Sergants or Swadain Knights, if trained in either direction. As expensive as it sounds, you want to recruit a lot of Swadain Recruits, mostly because saftey in numbers is important in the early game and if you lose a lot in a battle, the remaining will train up to become better soldiers in the future. You should build up a big army, mostly made out of either Swadian Knights or if it is costing you a lot of denars, Swadian Man at Arms is a good way to do. As long as you have calvary, you are good. To back up your calvary, Swadain Infanty or Sergants along with Sharpshooters would be a good combination.

However, even with an army that is powerful, the Nords and Rhodoks are your targets. (Unless Swadia declares war on another faction, then that can be your goal too) It is good to make sure not to get into batles that you knw you will not win. Sooner or later, your army will be able to take out any Nord or Rhodok Army.



Wheather you started off as a noble or decided to work up to it as a commoner, it is good to try to get vassalage from King Harlaus. This can be achieved by doing tasks for him, building up a good army and taking the sword to the enemies of Swadia. You can also do tasks for the other vassals to try to improve relations with them and make the Kingdom as a whole like you a lot more.



This is not an easy process, but all the hard work pays off when you recieve your first fief and you are able to collect rent from it. After you become Swadias vassal, you should have a good army and be able to fight off all the other factions armies to protect the lands of Swadia. Another good way to become a vassal is to be hired as a Mercenary. This gives you the opportunity to fight the enemies of Swadia, which allows you to prove your worth as a vassal.

Vassal Duties

The first war is not going to be easy, mostly either your army is not where it should be or you do not have enough money to recruit more troops. Also, depending on the difficulty of the AI, wars in the game can be challenging. Wars in Warband usually can either be one of two things or both of them. The attacking faction raids the others villages, destroying the economy or the attacking faction sieges towns and castles to take land and expand thier power.



In my game, the Nords did declare war, but they took a different approach and went for Dhirim instead of Praven or Suno, which are much closer to thier lands. Even though the Nords went for Dhirim, I was surpirsed that they did not succed in taking it. Then they went for Praven and did not even take that. Maybe Swadia does have a chance. But this is early in the game and not many events have happened yet.






At this point, if you are a vassal, you have recived your first fief and receive small rents from your village. As time goes on, you will get more villages or even a castle if you have proven a worthy vassal. Also, as a vassal, you are expected to follow the marshall into war or you can do your own thing and fight the enemies of Swadia by yourself. Either way, it does not matter how the enemies of Swadia are destroyed, they just need to be destroyed.



It is also important that all of the towns and castles of Swadia are defended so that the enemy can not take them. Also, try to do tournaments on the side during war or when you have the chance. This allows you to earn money and invest in your army.



Like all wars, they have to end. The Nords made peace after Swadia took one castle and the Rhodoks found there chance to declare war on Swadia.

The Second War

The second war and every war after that comes easy to you, mostly because your army is a little bit better and you actually have a chance to win some fights. However, it is good to build up your army to contian some Swadian Knights in it, just to be safe. Since when Swadia and the Rhodoks are at odds all the time, it is good to have a lot of cavalry and a lot of infantry to hold the line, while your Knights do most of the work.

You should also engage the enemy as well as let your army fight as well. Both the army and its commander must work together to fight as on whole unit. The Rhodoks in my game experience have either gone for Uxkhal or Dhirim. I do not know why everyone goes for Dhirim, its just the way it works.

In my game, the Rhodoks did in fact take Dhirim, but it was short lived. Swadia fought back and retook it. Swadia also retook Knudar Castle, which the Rhodoks also took. As a vassal, it is part of you duty to participate in the war by fighting lords, raiding caravans, and even possibly participating in siege battles. Eventhough Siege Battles give boatloads of experience for you if you survive, they are extermely bloody, boring, and costly. I mean, hundreds of men going up one ladder, while the enemy shoots up everyone before they even get to the top of the walls, thats boring. But Sieges are very effective and even boost your relations with lords that you fought alongside with.



Whatever faction it may be, the Second War is the make or break war. The Second War ususally lasts longer because the second war involves rival kingdoms fightint each other for territory or just to fight because reasons.

Peace Time Build Up

The War is over and finally you have some time to restore yourself and your army before another war starts. Remember this is Warband and not all the kingdoms like each other so as soon as a war is over, another one is bound to start. Using the peace time is good to evaluate your character, your army, and the factions that you serve now as a vassal.

You can do the folliwng things during peacetime:
1. Invest in business in the towns
2. Recruit more to your army
3. Fight the local bandits
4. Do tasks for the other vassals or the king


INVESTING IN BUSINESS:

This is a good idea to get some extra money flowing into your pocket to pay for your troops and such. However the downside is that you need a lot of money to make money. Also, once when war starts and the enemy takes over the town that you invested in, that faction will confiscate your assets and take the money that you earn from that business from you. In other words, it is good to invest in businesses only if you are not part of any faction or you have your own kingdom.

RECRUITING MORE TO YOUR ARMY:

Building up your army is important, espically after you have been in a war. It is good to replensih your loses and rebuild the army. The downside to peace time is that all of the lords have to make money like you and will attack bandit groups to take thier loot and sell it for money. This creates competion amongst the vassals and as painful as it sounds, it is good to join them in a fight against bandit groups.

FIGHTING LOCAL BANDITS:

Fighting bandits is the only way that you are able to make money besides raiding villages, caravans, and fighting other lords. You do not get alot from fightint bandits but it allows you to train up your army and even your character. The more experienced you and your army is, the better off you are to fighting in the next few wars or so.

DOING TASKS FOR OTHER VASSALS AND THE KING:

Doing tasks is important to gain favor with other vassals and increase your opinion amongst the other vassals and even the king. This is good at the beginning of the game and can also be used to earn some small amounts of money.

You do not have to do this during peace time. All of these apply to the game in general, in peace or in war.

War on Two Fronts

The war with one faction is over and in my game, the Khergits and the Vaegirs have declared war on Swadia. Swadia has experienced some unusual circumstances, in which they have taken some land from the Khergits and are winning. But the Vaegirs have the upperhand against Swadia, which I am not happy about. No matter the circumstances or which faction you are playing, one faction will always be against two other factions or three in some cases.



Warring on two fronts can be difficult, espically if you are spread out in Swadias case. It is still good to have calvary in your army, espically against the Khergits that have cavalry as thier entire armies.The problem is that Swadia can handle fighting two factions, it just requires patience and help from you. The AI can not do everything on its own, so thats why it has a human player as a vassal to help out. In the introduction, I have said that Swadias strength is in its cavalry, the Swadian Knights. Sure it is a little overpowered to have an army of them, but when in a war its alright to have that many elite troops.

Rinse and Repeat

Now that you know how to use Swadia, its your turn. Play and become Swadias vassal and lead the faction that is always destroyed or weakened to nothing to victory. Survive and thrive as Swadia, build up a large army of mostly cavalry and enjoy being a vassal. If you think being a vassal is boring, revolt against the king and take over Swadia as king as a challenge.

If you have enjoyed this guide on Swadia, please post you comments below. This is my first guide for Warband and like the Civ 5 guides, many of them will be coming in the later months. I will be doing all of the Native Warband Factions and possibly some other Warband Mod factions. If you think that there are other games that I should do guides for, post your ideas below.

[SeveredEmbers]

Question.

Why are we at war with everyone except the Vaegirs.

Am I dead?

[Jonocat25]

I don't know wwhy people say "don't play as Swadia, you'll always get trampled!"; Both tries so far have resulted in us taking excessive amounts of territory, so long as we are only fighting one or two factions at most. In my current game, we have extriminated the Rhodoks and Nords, and have taken all but Rivacheg and two castles from the Vaegirs. The only thing we've lost is Tibault Castle, taken early on by the Khergits; we haven't been at war with them for an age.

[Hermit]

as soon as i started my current playthrough Boyar kumpida and Emir Azzeran defected to swadia then Marshall Meltor told me to scout the border of Rhodokia he then proceeded to run the oppisite direction of me, (i lost him for 30 minutes) the Nords then declared war on us, then somehow every swadian lord had 12-28 soldiers, everyone of our villages were sacked. The Sarranidian empire took this oppurtunity to declare war on us. they made peace with the Khans who then Declared war on us. the Vaegirs (God bless them) made peace with us and declared war on the khans and Sarranids. and all the while i'm still having trouble paying my troops (tahlberg is always sacked).

[Warlord Indlovu Mgwazeni]

the swadians and rhodoks are evenly matched, rhodoks have high ground and spearmen, swadians have a chance to break through them with mass cavalry

[DrewWheezy]

Dhirim is like Kingslanding for it always changes hands and it's the most war torn town on my game, I was chosen marshell and it was my duty to take back our lands. As being the "Most valliant warrior ever to be known on Calradia" I took the lands in the name of Swadia. But only a couple of weeks later was taken back and Dhirim kept on getting besieged by different factions and the hands kept on changing. So now I am lord of Uxkhal and aim to take over Calradia with Swadia for vengence and peace. Or I might start my own faction as Swadia seems to be getting more and more corrupt with the current king....

[DrewWheezy]

Swadia is in the middle so people get a bit of their land like roast dinner

[The Harambe ressurectionist]

What happened to me is that swadia got into a war with the nords, rhodoks, AND the vaegirs... we were almost screwed, we lost both cities we had already captured, and almost lost praven.

[Lunchtime Zone]

lmao, Khergits are pussies. Their cavarly is good but everything else sucks. Of course, there are no mounts during the sieges so their defense and offense just sucks. Only way they're powerful is when you just attack in middle of no-where.

[Jack Clock]

it was a father-son siege spree

[Axius]

Explain to me how Swadia took Rivacheg, Tihr, and Curaw with no help from a player?