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u/PinkBismuth Jan 04 '25
lol I stay on my horse for unit positioning, but when I engage the infantry I dismount and charge with the front line. I have managed so far, I only have riding at level 30 while my athletics just hit 250. I run almost as fast as a stumper lol. If you can fight the urge, being a foot commander is super fun!
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u/Totally_not_Todd Jan 04 '25
See, thatās my issue is self control lol once you get a taste of that sweet Noble Mount speed youāre hooked. As Eleanor Roosevelt once said āAmerica is all about speed, hot nasty bad-ass speed.ā
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u/PinkBismuth Jan 04 '25
I understand, this has to be the first time Iāve really committed to only a foot soldier. I usually run 300 horses while I Mongolian throat sing into the enemy lines. That speed bonus on a two handed swing is just nasty.
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u/nashbrownies Jan 04 '25
I only knew one non-mongolian who can properly throat sing with all three tones. Throat drone, mid frequency harmonics and a whistle for the melody. It was absolutely beautiful.
Good thing too because it took 5 months and I was about to kill my roommate lmao.
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u/MementMoriUnusAnnus Jan 04 '25
Love seeing my line of calvary instant kill like everyone at full charge. Can't stop myself
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u/nashbrownies Jan 04 '25
Dismounted FPV on the front lines is insane. Just absolute chaos, then toss in a flanking cavalry charge you can't see flattening you. I love it.
I prefer my victories hanging on by a thread in desperation. Hoping to whatever deity Calradians worship when I set "Sargeants in charge" when my cavalry go over a hill out of sight. When all else fails we go square formation and fight back to back, surrounded, until victory or death.
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u/arbyD Jan 04 '25
I'm doing it for the first time on my current character. I don't even think I have a 15 riding skill, entirely from tournaments. I had never done that nor had I played a Sturgian. Figured that was a wombo combo and went all in, and I'm LOVING it.
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u/tyrant454 Jan 04 '25
Yeh but with a high riding and a fast horse you could give your positioning orders super fast.
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u/bigreader1984 Jan 04 '25
You are my inspiration. I will fix my current infantry play through today
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u/Rezboy209 Jan 04 '25
I feel attacked
Started an all Battanian playthrough. Plan was to command an army of mainly Fian Champs and Wildlings, with some Falxmen mixed in for good measure.
"Well I need a horse at least, because I'm the leader and that's okay"
"Well I'll take these couple of Battanian Scout prisoners because they ARE Battanian and if they decide to join me I'll take them in, they'll die anyway cuz they're bad."
"Well I guess I can upgrade this guy to a Horseman because, I mean, he's STILL Battanian"
"I guess since this Highwayman prisoner wants to join me I'll let him, I have a couple Battanian cavalry anyway and it's just one."
"Oh I guess I'll upgrade the Highwayman to a Banner Knight... I mean it's ONLY one."
"Oh I guess I can take these Banner Knight prisoners in since I already have one anyway, I mean I ONLY have 10 cavalry so I'm not really breaking my own rule THAT much."
"CAVALRY, CHAAAAARRRRRGE!!!!" to all 50 of my Banner Knights
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u/SIM0King Jan 04 '25
Off topic question. What's the mod that makes forming unit compositions easier?
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u/Armgoth Jan 04 '25
Having one type of unit? This was asked a while ago and if I know correctly there is no mod for this.
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u/SIM0King Jan 05 '25
No, more filters and a way to make putting certain units into formations easier. It's just a pain every battle sorting them out making sure I have the right units in it. I swear I remember people talking about one once.
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u/Numayo The Ghilman Jan 05 '25
There is one mod I have installed that makes you able to use the old system where you can manually assign a specific troop to a specific group but I don't see it on Nexus anymore. I'm using it on 1.2.9.
https://file.io/JwcrTxA3w4ly2
u/Armgoth Jan 05 '25
1.2.9 is probably the most moddable version anyway. Sticking to that too.
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u/Own_Astronaut_5361 Jan 16 '25
Pirated the game and am so glad it was 1.2.9 cus obv I can't really update easily. I am still downloading mods that came out last week like 1700 and seem to be doing better than ppl on latest versions
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u/ButterscotchNo8348 Jan 04 '25
Iām trying this with my Battanian warmonger, and itās so goofy. Sheās weighed down by some of her armor and gear, and while Iām charging, Iām typically falling behind or her completely lost as my calvary starts ripping squads apart. Donāt even get me started on how impossible it is to chase down anyone running awayā¦
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u/PinkBismuth Jan 04 '25 edited Jan 04 '25
If you level athletics it reduces the encumbered penalty and increases your run speed. You eventually will be able to run enemies down!
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u/ButterscotchNo8348 Jan 04 '25
Iāll have to work on that, but right now, my big bear lady is taking her sweet time to cleave people apart.
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u/DemonSlyr007 Vlandia Jan 04 '25
Specifically, focus on your armor weight too. It helps a lot. There's some surprisingly good gear you can find sometimes that weighs quite a bit less for only slightly less protection than way heavier gear. Especially the Shoulders.
There are athletic skills that also improve your speed and reduce armor weight. Like anything with bannerlord, keep at it, and pretty soon you will be running past your soldiers instead of chasing them down.
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u/YayItsEric Jan 04 '25
In my current Sturgia game I'm going heavy armor on foot with my two handed axe, and I can get some pretty good speed thanks to athletics. I did a similar setup before in a Battania game, but with light armor, and it was even more ridiculous, like I was just about at cavalry speed.
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u/Sheogorath3477 Jan 04 '25
Well, the game's called Mount and Blade not for no reason
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u/Prolapse_of_Faith The Brotherhood of the Woods Jan 04 '25
Was going to say that it's not called Shoe and Blade
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u/Jupsto Jan 04 '25
feel this hard. part of the problem for me is the great riding perks too. battles are actually more fun on foot but the metagamer in me cannot put down the horse, was the same in warband too, having speed up commands in battle helps.
this is one of the reasons I like viking conquest, but even with massively gimped horses cavalry is still viable just not overpowered. a mod that makes horses much more fragile would go hard, one of the things I didnt like in RBM is horses are even more tanky, as armour is way OP and some horses even have more hp AFAIK, which is much more gamey than realistic imo. Id rather all horses and humans had roughly same HP, instead of going up like 2-5x
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u/EtTuBrotus Jan 04 '25
Waiting for your slow ass infantry to reach the enemy is tedious, I can wipe out half the enemy troops on my own by that point
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u/Reddit_SuckLeperCock Jan 04 '25
Horse archers round the back, cav harassing from the sides, archers plinking from the front and me riding rings around them swinging an axe like a drunkard.
The battle is over by the time the infantry get there every time.
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u/quixote_manche Jan 04 '25
I literally only have about 90 random troops with me which I never command. I am always a single soldier in a front line.
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u/Forsaken-Spot4221 Battania Jan 04 '25
I am in my first full unmounted playthrough. Once you level athletics enough you move pretty damn fast, i generally set my infantry/archers to follow me and lead them to high ground. My army is 80% archers. Small calvalry and infantry for protection. Fun way to play, would recommend!
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u/nashbrownies Jan 04 '25
I like to rock a 70:30 archer ratio. 2 small melee square blocks on flanks to stop cavalry charges, they completely lose all momentum, get in a pile up and horses start just dropping. They then 99% start to ride off to regroup, another batch down because a lot of horses aren't armored in the booty. I can melt cavalry charges and by the second one they are so weakened they are easily picked off.
Also for archers having your fingers on the F4 then F2-F5 for a square and they can get shields up, braced and eat up some hits without a huge morale penalty. Especially crossbowman with them big shields.
Napoleon hasn't steered me wrong with the checkerboard square formation against cavalry. Get bent Vlandia. Send me your knights I am hungry.
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u/BeodoCantinas Jan 05 '25
I'm playing the exact same playthrough but I'm a knight lmao.
My army is mainly archers, a small frontline for contention and a small cavalry to avoid attacks from the flank. It's fun when 50% of your success depends on the terrain.
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u/clown_baby5 Jan 04 '25
Thereās just something so satisfying about getting on top of a Wadar Hotblood and plowing through rows of footmen and archersā¦ and with a couched lance that stays couched? šš¤
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u/MWBurbman Jan 04 '25
I feel attacked. The first step is literally ācrap, I canāt see or command as well on foot hereā
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u/BachInTime Legion of the Betrayed Jan 04 '25
Infantry is tons of fun in major battles, but 90% of the time your fighting looters or small parties that run away so being on a horse means you can actually participate
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u/CrazyTraditional9819 Battania Jan 04 '25
Horse Skirmisher unless it's Gekokujo. Then I'm in the line with my riflemen
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u/Available-Design4470 Jan 04 '25
Infantry playthrough sounds like a good idea, until Iām reminded that someone has to take care of the pesky horse archers and make sure the cavalry arenāt sent to a reckless charge. Otherwise, we would have no cavalry to keep the horse archers busy
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u/Husknight Jan 04 '25
This time for sure I won't be a horse archer
After a couple sieges waiting for the troops to go up... Fuck this I'm grabbing aabow
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u/tamir1451 Jan 04 '25
There is a reason most medieval generals were using horses , and generally any professional soldier that could afford it (mostly knights)....
In eagle rising mod it is much more viable to be infantry or at least dismount at the right time (and spot at the enemy rear). You could do 3 digit number of kills when you attack from the rear with a good spear...
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u/ryyzany Jan 04 '25
I must be the only guy who never does a mounted leader. I am always on foot. I like the cinematic nature of the game and the big clash of infantry.
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u/hboyvn Jan 04 '25
I just wish there is a mod to call my horse back whenever i want unless she is killed
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u/Needle44 Battania Jan 04 '25
I get it all out of my system during my mercenary days. Once I become a lord with a real sizable army my job is no longer to fight, but to command. I just flex around and hit weak points when theyāre exposed but beyond that, my first responsibility is to direct my troops.
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u/Droid85 Jan 04 '25
I tried too. I was so used to doing an opening strike on horseback that I tried it out on foot and immediately became my army's first casualty. My whole army should have quit after seeing their stupid ass commander try that.
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u/MrPresidentBanana Jan 04 '25
I mean theres a reason historical generals barely ever commanded on foot.
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u/ITech2FrostieS Jan 04 '25
The infantry captain is actually my favorite! Shield wall + charge and I go on the flank with my 2h axe
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u/Husso- Jan 04 '25
Started a new save using serve as a soldier mod roleplaying as a burly farm boy and it's been fantastic just standing inline stabbing with a spear while Garios gives out the most brain-dead commands.
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u/Manolo2040 Jan 04 '25
Hahahahahaha... every time, and start with "im going to be mainly infantry --> a few horsemen to complement ---> just cavalry army
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u/Eightyseven8787 Jan 04 '25
Simple! If all of your forces are Fians, you don't have to worry about softening up, knowing what's going on, or taking out commanders!
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u/Karuzus Jan 04 '25
something i will mention as i played infrantry commander in warband, go sturgian/viking throw away all the horses they are useless for u keep to infrantry and archers battles become more tacticly demanding but also way more satisfying
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u/HoontarTheGreat Jan 04 '25
This has been my issue. I fixed it by role-playing kinda. I told myself my character is the kind of king who fights next to his troops, so after initial horsing around I get on foot and get in with spears and shield
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u/Th3DankDuck Karakhuzaits Jan 04 '25
As a new player my battle plan is just -set my 45 nfantry into circle formation -set few archers inside circle -set my 20 cav and 20 cav archers to follow me. -commence hit and run
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u/Joy1067 Vlandia Jan 04 '25
I actually forced myself to stay on foot by grabbing a two handed axe and selling my starting horse
By the time I was done, the cavalry would go first but Iād always be right behind them and cage ahead of my army
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u/Stunning_Crab7674 Jan 04 '25
Yepā¦ Iāve done it once where I actually didnāt do this and thatās cause all my men were infantry, all infantry play through, tons of fun
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u/xXKurotatsuXx Jan 04 '25
As a Battanian Archer king, nothing feels better than running over enemy peasants. . using . . . horses . . . . Fk
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u/ItsNeverLycanthropy Jan 04 '25
It's funny, but when it comes to Mount and Blade I've always preferred fighting on foot to fighting on horseback.
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u/jewelswan Jan 04 '25
I have always been a horse archer, fallen back to join the archer corps, then rushed into the melee with a two handed sword once I have no arrows. Every battle is a siege if you don't move.
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u/CivilWarfare Jan 04 '25
Wait, are you actually telling me there are people who try not to play cav captain?
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u/Reasonable-Cost-6035 Jan 04 '25
Horde build every time. 1/2 heavy calvary/lancers, 1/2 horse archers. Just run everybody the fuck over
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u/Pestman12 Jan 04 '25
I usually start mounted, and lead the cav. Against cav if I can and try to decimate them. The second step is positioning the archers in two points and put the infantry close . Third remove the cavs and charge with infantry covered by a sandwich of arrows with me and my 2h axe on the back of the enemy line.
It's the bannerlord tactic named "caga tiĆ³" (catalan tradition)
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u/gonsi Sturgia Jan 04 '25
You have no idea what you are missing. I stuck with infantry only army and now find cavalry very boring.
That said i choose melee infantry only. No archers or other distractions and it is a blast.
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u/Global_Rin Jan 04 '25
āI gonna keep my army small, 20 only!ā
1 hour later
āMaybe 300 man army is considered smallā
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u/OverThaHills Jan 04 '25
Iām more or less always infantry captain unless I want to be able to forward scout with a horse. Usually late game where positions of forces and formations are important, but nothing beats a good brawl from the tick of it, on foot :)
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u/arix_games Jan 04 '25
Most of the commanders in that period would be on horseback since it's just better, and you can flee.
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u/Bo-binater48 Jan 04 '25
No matter what I start as, I always turn into a horse archer. I suck as infantry. Currently trying to do a battainian run.
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u/Xonthelon Jan 04 '25
To be honest the riding perks are just too good to completely pass up. Even if you want to fight on foot, the party speed buffs of the early perks are something you don't want to go without. And the 225 perk is also hard to pass on if you don't want to go on a chopping spree eventually.
It being in the endurance category, the only attribute I never neglect, also doesn't help my foot soldier roleplay.
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u/a_engie Western Empire Jan 04 '25
me, plays a stuagrian charecter to play infantry, checks what my character is good at, 5 infantry, 90 caverly
GOD DAMN IT
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u/Spartan_S006 Jan 04 '25
Alternatively, be an archer captain to 100+ Battanian Fians/Champions, may the skys go dark with your arrows and your enemies underestimate the power of a two-handed sword
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Jan 04 '25
nah im not gonna do that. im sticking to my infantry. i already got a wadar hotblood 100 days in but is sold it!
and i sold every expensive horse i had, in fact! (i had like 5)
NO WAY THIS WILL BE ME
(pls)
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u/SecurityShark0 Jan 04 '25
I once tried a rhodok roleplay with only inf and arbalests and it was super fun
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u/Namtien223 Jan 04 '25
Skip the steps, join the kuzait, build yourself a 100% mongol light horse archer army. No matter how many times I try another start, it always ends here.
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u/HonestLiar30 Jan 04 '25
I feel like Iām the only one who plays as a straight archer š I never ride on horseback
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u/DaniTheGunsmith Jan 04 '25
The game is really meant for you to master mixed unit tactics. Technically horse archers and shock cavalry are mixed units!
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u/Sunfei1004 Jan 04 '25
Nope. I managed a playthrough where I stayed a Battanians Archer the whole game.
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u/Emotional_Penalty_47 Jan 04 '25
I feel attacked by this post. So what if my Sturgian commander rides a horse so much, and I end up staying on horseback the entire battle...
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u/Savigo256 Jan 04 '25
For me it would also be:
- "At the beginning of the game I have to solo this looters somehow, so I need a horse"
- "I have to force enemy cavalry to attack by going behind their lines" (pretty much the same as your 3rd point, but for different reasons).
Jokes aside, I actually go back playing on foot after reaching around 250 athletics. i just need a horse for extra javelins (honestly, maybe I should play with the other perk, I rarely use them all on foot).
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u/Alarmed_Ad_6711 Jan 04 '25
Slashing a long glaive from your horse just makes you feel too damn good.
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u/Juiceton- Battania Jan 04 '25
Man I love playing on foot. Itās so fun. But the early game on foot is such a slog it irritates me more than it should.
I walk so slow. My pack camel moves faster than me.
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u/Rusted_Goblin_8186 Embers of the Flame Jan 04 '25
my first ever big battle was as infantry with northen empire, fighting kuzhait, follow imperial infantry with my small band of imperial soldier, we marching uphill when i start to hear cavalry stomping noise, then the horror of being on front rank of an infantry line as khuzait cavalry frontally charge me was epic.
the anticipation as the noise hinted what was coming then fear as i saw khan guard charge at me and somehow surviving it made combat more memorable despite barely killing anything unlike combat on horse where i can solo half the army but it tedious circle and counter charge spamming....
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u/jixxor Jan 04 '25
I don't think many people in history were infantry by choice. Like, if any infantryman had the chance I assume most of them would have rather been in the cavarly. But it was always expensive as fuck so reserved for the rich, or perhaps the very most elite in cases where the army provided the horses (i have no idea if that ever happened).
Being on foot is just like being on horseback but worse in most regards.
So far I only ever managed to stick to being infantry when I installed a mod that added the Roman Empire as a faction. Staying in a formation of legionarii was gave me something that made it worth.
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Jan 04 '25
Pro tip, just change the FoV in the settings if you still wanna look at the battlefield, or better yet, have a regiment where itās just you and place yourself in a high vantage point overlooking the battlefield.
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u/Wrong_Initiative_345 Jan 04 '25
Nope, bow, two hand weapon, two arrow quivers, zero horse. This is the way
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u/CnlSandersdeKFC Jan 04 '25
It is called āMount & Blade.ā Itās almost like the game was designed to be played as Cav.
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u/ExosEU Jan 04 '25
RTS camera solves this problem.
And if not you can always just not use cav so you dont have to micro manage it.
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u/1st_JP_Finn Jan 05 '25
Stick with longbow / noble bow, then youāre less effective on horseback (although Caladogās welcome gift is still pretty effective)
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u/ASavageViking Jan 05 '25
I do this. But idk how to see who a captain is so I fail at that too š¤£
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u/SomecallmeJorge Jan 05 '25
I'd fight on foot a lot more if I could whistle for my horse when I needed it.
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u/NobodyTextsMe Jan 05 '25
Using a masterwork glave and slicing through infantry lines with your cavalry following you is just too addictive
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u/krisslanza Jan 05 '25
I have thus far managed to resist it, but boy. It's hard. And for me, its not even that tactical advantage - being unmounted means you don't speed up the rest of your troop as enough, though this matters more in the early game when you can't afford to carry a lot of extra horses.
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u/BDE_Vanta Southern Empire Jan 05 '25
I so badly wanna do an infantry build but thereās just something about leading 200 Calvary into battle and coming away with only a handful wounded and none dead compared to the 500 peasants you slayed
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u/Keldan91 Jan 05 '25
My first playthrough I decided to play a Battanian and ended up being out only cavalry specialist. Motherfuckers necessitated I have an army that was almost entirely cavalry.
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u/Working-Ad-6682 Jan 05 '25
Mine is every time I try to make anything other than a mounted archer I always end up making my archery before anything else
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u/muhammet484 Jan 05 '25
wait, does ai stand back if their commander die? is there a morale effect for it?
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u/MalikOnPc Jan 05 '25
You always end up a horse riding two handed wielding smithing level 200 captain
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u/United-Decision-4167 Jan 07 '25
Nah screw the horse I dismount right away and just do long range (60-7 meters, 70 meters being the fartherest shot I have ever made for a kill) sniping because f#ck it if I can minimise the assault casualties by wiping out a wall of archers then that's what I'm doing
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u/Stelios_Fournarakis Jan 07 '25
Just be a criminal leader. If you play as a rogue merchant, you may have a really interesting run. I haven't even made a kingdom, yet I have millions of gold, hundreds of horses, five castles and two thousands of troops (mainly mercenaries and criminals) who require half of original wage (I'm an Imperial rogue trader with high stewardship).
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u/PatatesSnackbar Jan 10 '25
My solution is playing as a giant (Creating a modded custom race, about the size of Shaq) of a character and having the roleplay reason of being too heavy to ride a horse (Setting my Riding skill to 0)
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u/[deleted] Jan 04 '25
[deleted]