I’ve been going through a bit of a Warband drought lately and I’m looking for some new content to watch. I’d normally watch Oprionn, but he doesn’t put out content that often, so I’m kinda in need of some new names.

Who are some Warband creators you guys would recommend?

Back before Bannerlord came out the only lore on the Rhodoks that we've had was that they were a tribal people that were submitted to the Swadians until Grunwalder came from "over the hills" and taught them to wage guerilla warfare. Grunwalder was killed in one of the significant battles, but the Rhodoks, having tasted strength and freedom, continued fighting, and eventually made their own independent kingdom.

In-game, Bunduk and Kastor (maybe Ymira as well, I don't remember) will tell you that the Rhodok spirit of freedom is reflected in their political system: their state is a monarchy, because it's ruled by a king, but also a republic, because the king is elected by the nobles and the rich merchants, and they're also familiar with the institution of 'Tribunes' as well (even if they don't have it). The Rhodok system was apparently inspired by customs of the old Calradic Empire. One can see the real-world inspiration taken from medieval republics such as Genoa, Venice, Ragusa, maybe Poland as well (Speaking of which, what would the difference be between a constitutional monarchy, and a medieval republic? Ah, but I digress.).

Of course, since Warband came out, the world map changed quite a bit. It no longer makes sense for Grunwalder to have had come from "over the hills", because the only "hills" he could come from are the mountains east of Jelkala and Veluca, because the north is literally all plains, whereas the south and the west are all ocean. That said, it's interesting how TW expanded the initial map to the south, west and east to make Warband's map, then did the same thing to make Bannerlord's map (also expanding it to the north).

Now then, Bannerlord came out, and Vlandia - Swadia's "ancestor" - controls roughly the same territories where Swadia and Rhodokia are located in Warband. But the Rhodoks are nowhere to be seen, not even as a minor culture. I've seen some of you on here claim that the Company of the Golden Boar is supposed to be Rhodok, but I don't buy it: besides their use of crossbows and their "homeland" being in Vlandian territory, there's nothing to suggest it. I mean, their lore states that they have ties to dey Cortain, which holds the town of Charas (Warband's Shariz), but by that reasoning we can also claim that the Company is Imperial (since it's so close to the Western Empire, and the Empire also uses xbows) or else Aserai\ Sarranid (since Shariz will eventually become the Sarranid capital). Yeah, it's a flimsy argument.

But disregarding that, Bannerlord's lore doesn't add up to what we know of the Rhodoks. If we look at what is known, initially the land that ultimately became the Kingdom of Rhodoks was inhabited by several different peoples: the Ialoi, the Massa, and maybe the Battanians (at least if this video is anything to go by). Then Calradios's Empire came and took it, pushing the Battanians north until they got confined to a corner between the Empire and the Sturgian tribes. Then the Empire started losing traction, giving space to foreign invaders such as the Nords and the Vlandians, who'd come from Nordwyg and Balion, respectively. (the latter part we actually know from the game) So, yeah, the prequel came out, but the lore we got from Mount&Blade (classic) is still the only lore on the Rhodoks that we have.

So, who are the Rhodoks? Are they leftover Battanians? One would assume so, given that they're tribal and kinda primitive, live in mountainous terrain, and wear green all the time. But then, maybe they're mongrel Imperials instead? They seem to worship the old Empire, practicing its alleged customs, we know that not all Imperials fled when the Vlandians arrived in force and established their own kingdom (realistically, it would just be impossible), they use the Imperial eagle on their banners and shields (see Etrosq's and Matheas's banners)(then again, so do the Swadians: Meltor and Rochabarth). Of course we can't 100% rely on these banners, since half of them are randomised every playthrough, but even so, two Swadian and two Rhodok nobles will always have banners featuring the Imperial eagle.

And then, what of Grunwalder himself? What hills did he come over from? Was he an old Imperial commander? You'd think so, given everything he's given the Rhodoks, and it kinda checks out with the new (Warband's and Bannerlord's) geography, since if there was an Empire left anywhere in Calradia, it would definitely be somewhere in the east, at least before the Khergits came. Or perhaps he was a disgruntled Swadian noble? It takes one to know one, and he knew the Swadians' weakness.

I'm just salty the Rhodoks don't exist in Bannerlord, and trying to understand when they developed as a standalone people.

._.

So essentially i wanted this to be a rhodoks run where i become the loyal servant of the mighty green mountain guys, since i never played them and i wanted to see whats what. My plans were foiled when the sarranids took Almerra castle, and, seeing it was weak, i decided to attack it. I had not yet pledged myself to the king, but i assumed the castle wouldve gone to him. This didnt happen, and instead i started my own kingdom on accident. Before i could pledge myself, the rhodoks declared on me to reclaim lost lands and i ended up fighting both the sarranids and the rhodoks for what felt like forever. I captured Shariz, moved my court there, then the sarranids peaced out, and then I secured my hold on rhodok lands and the rhodoks peaced out too. Then, the rhodoks declared again, and i managed to take Veluca, where i discovered that there were lords lining up to join me. I let them join, then I had to indict one of them for treason because he hated me so much. Now, after another war which ended with me taking Jelkala and peacing out because the Sarranids want to declare on me again, I am looking back on this and it is pretty crazy to me that I got this far. Ive done 3 runs before this where all I did was be a loyal servant to some kingdom or other, but now i actually control my stuff!

Any tips for kingdom management are welcome, but one of the problems I seem to face is that my lords have anywhere from +8 to -5 relations with me at all times, and I wonder how to get them to like me more without awarding fiefs, because whenever I award fiefs to one guy, all the rest hate me. So selfish and for what??

Maybe some of you can help me.

I really enjoyed Warband back in the days. Spent more than 600-700 hours into it. In Multiplayer as well as Singleplayer. The most fun I had in Warband, when I played with Floris Mod. Maybe some of you know it. Spent many hours in campaigns and had much fun. My favorite nation were the Vaegirs I think.

I stopped with M&B for a long time. Now it is my 3rd time that I'm giving Bannerlords a shot. And I just think, that it's bad. It feels like an early-access game for me, even though I really wanna like it, because I don't know any other alternative that isn't ages old.

To get a better picture I'll try to explain a few points, of what I think, that makes the game bad.

1. The AI is borderline stupid. And I mean it. I'm not even sure if you can call this AI. I'm speaking about allies and enemies.

You are always on your own. You siege a settlement and have clan-members nearby? They just pass you. You pull it out, so that your allies have more time to help you? No one will ever come to aid you.

You create a kingdom, and give them their own thief and clan? You will never see them again.

You are a vassal, fight for your king, because you are in war with another faction? You nearly extinguish the faction are at war with? You siege the last settlement that they have. They are nearly out of food? AND YOUR KING, YOUR LORD, MAKES PEACE WITH THEM? MID-SIEGE? WHICH INTERRUPTS IT? THEIR LAST SETTLEMENT? Hello???? It's so dumb. Just bad. It's 0% realism. I don't even have an option to protest against it or do anything about it. Because it's SUPERFICIAL (See point 3.)

It's so bland. Soulless.

1. 0 ways of interacting. You wanna make plans on how your clans (or your own) should patrol an area? You can't. You wanna launch a tactical attack on multiple settlements at once? You can't. You wanna make plans with your allies? You can't. You wanna sharpen your bonds with your companions? You can't (only superficial, not immersive). These are only a few examples of a dozen that come to mind.

2. Don't you think, that every system feels superficial in this game? It's like everything is there, but nothing is good. Do you have Diplomatics? Yes. Are they good? No. Can you create your own Kingdom? Yes. You feel like a ruler then? No. This is the case for so many things. The basic ideas are there, but the systems are so minimalistic. Why? Why implement an offer tab with other people that looks like the diplomatics tab from Total War, when it's completely useless? Why can I let my companions create their own party, if they don't even know how to hire troops? If they can't buy new armor themselves? 2 Seasons into the game and your companions still sometimes lose against bandits, because they ran with a party of 30 people again. I just don't get it. You wanna rule the world and end up with allies that literally suck. And there's nothing you can do about it, apart of babysitting them in your own party to level them into eternity.

3. I really love the atmosphere and graphics when playing battles. I mean sure. The game isn't that old. BUT WHY IN THE WORLD. Why. Why does the face of EVERY character look like mashed potatoes? It's so uncanny. There's not a SINGLE character in the whole game, that has a well modeled face. Not one. How am I supposed to marry a woman in this game, if they all look uncanny and weird? Where's the immersion in that? I thought this is what you aimed for. A medieval sandbox/sim where you can immerse yourself. Then please give me character models that don't look like a game from 1995. All of them are indistinguishable because they all look the same. Come on.

4. Creating your own Kingdom is useless. You can't do anything. You feel like a rat. You have more different wood-blocks in Minecraft, than options to manage your kingdom in this game. And I thought that's one of the main features. You literally can't do anything. Also the economy doesn't really matter. You can't really do much with your settlements (the small villages) other than recruiting units. There's not really material that you need. Gold becomes more or less useless after some time. I don't know guys. Another superficial system in my opinion

I even came to the point asking myself how I could put a few hundred hours into the Warband campaign back then. I mean it's way older than Bannerlords. Was it, because I mostly played it with a huge modpack that improved so many systems and things? I don't even know.

I saw so many positive critiques for Bannerlords. I see people here talking about having 400 hours in campaign mode. And I can't comprehend how, as it is incredibly generic, superficial and feels like early-access.

And even mods this time couldn't help me somehow (I even tried Total Conversions. But they don't really help, as the base stays the same in many aspects it feels like most of the time). RBM did a great job in giving me more immersive battles. I love it. Magnum Opus improved a lot on the campaign map. But even then it is not enough. I feel like I need Floris Mod 2.0 to play this and really have fun.

So please tell me. Is it just the wrong game for me? Should I go to Total War? How do I have fun playing Bannerlords?

Hello, I'm new here! I've been doing great in the second world of my game. I've already killed around 30+ lords without knowing if they get replaced or if the game spawns new ones. I'm afraid my world will become lifeless

Bannerlord – Realm of Thrones 8.1.2 Mod List
Game Setup
Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord — v1.4.8
War Sails DLC
Vortex Mod Manager
Core Mods / Dependencies
Harmony — v2.4.2.225
ButterLib — v2.10.4.0
UIExtenderEx — v2.13.2.0
Mod Configuration Menu (MCM) — v5.11.4.0
Total Conversion
5. Realm of Thrones — v8.1.2
ROT-Core
ROT-Content
ROT-Map
ROT-Dragon
AI Mods
6. AI Influence (AI Diplomacy) — v6.0.2.0
7. Realm of Thrones – AI Influence Compatibility Patch
8. Player2 — external AI application for NPC conversations
Other
Bannerlord’s built-in developer console and cheat mode (no separate mod required)
Looking for recommendations!
I’m playing Realm of Thrones with AI Influence and Player2, and I’m looking for additional mods that improve immersion, diplomacy, companion management, kingdom management, and roleplaying.
I’m particularly interested in mods that let me:
Assign meaningful titles and responsibilities to NPCs (Wardens, Hand of the King, etc.).
Improve companion autonomy and military commands.
Customize character skills and perks.
Improve prisoner management and prevent escapes.
Expand political interactions and NPC behavior.
Any recommendations that are compatible with ROT 8.1.2 and Bannerlord 1.4.8?

Is vlandia countered by the empire since they have the best infantry in the game which counters vlandia's calvalry? which faction would have the advantage in a war? And what tactics should vlandia use to counter?

Anybody know if that's possible? I'd like to turn off recruit shortage. It makes for a better early game but by mid to late game all the enemies are running around with tiny parties that are easily steamrolled and there's a lot less sieging

Anyone know how to obtain this helmet in Bannerlord? I can't seem to locate it anywhere.

It's the one Aserai Veteran Infantry and Aserai Master Archers wear.

I’m using Homesteads Reloaded with Realm of Thrones. When choosing my homestead scene, I can select the Winterfell battle map and the build area appears to be inside Winterfell itself.

Has anyone tried using this map for a homestead? I’m mainly wondering if the existing castle is actually usable/walkable by the player and NPCs during normal gameplay and homestead defense battles, or if the castle is mostly background scenery with pathing/collision issues.

My goal is to start small inside the existing castle and gradually build up the homestead without needing to build my own walls immediately.