A Total War Veteran Analyses Manor Lords' INSANE Warfare

FULL MANOR LORDS REVIEW: • A Total War Veteran Re...
Warfare is a vital part of the Manor Lords package despite being the second most important part of the game. Manor Lords' battle systems have managed to capture the imagination of Total War and strategy players for some time, as even though we're looking at different scales and interpretations of battle, Manor Lords attempts to portray medieval battles in a realistic and simulation-like style. It is a massive part of why I find the game so appealing, and it's a good thing it's so much fun to play.
That's why in this video, I analyze the battles and warfare of Manor Lords, compare it to Total War, and show you why my first impressions of it are so positivem, and why I cannot get enough of these battles.
What do you think of Manor Lords' warfare so far? Let me know in the comments, and remember to leave a like on the video and subscribe to the channel! :)
#manorlords #manorlordswarfare #manorlordsgameplay #manorlordsbattle #manorlordsanalysis

[@AndysTake]

Check out the FULL REVIEW right here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qmKygGl-rL93eJI

[@Wafelkowiec]

I love the fact that there are no standing armies (maybe in end-game? Knights with retinues?). Those are your workers. In TW you see a pyrrhic victory and think: "Meh 2-3 turns of recruting and I'm back in the game" . Here a pyrrhic victory can devastate your village or at least delay your plans. Especially early when you have like 10 dudes and know each one of them, so when Maćko dies you know your tannery just went offline and your profits from upcoming trader went to hell.

[@braxtongutschke6346]

True that, I wish more games had battle that meaningfully impact the home front.

[@aerosdacillo1227]

The auto replenishment is a life saver to me when you have a larger force its hard for me look at them but what i like its replenisment in 3k if you recruit a militia instead of full health you get half i just wish that they bring it back it was a cool mechanic

[@Zedpade]

That's why I only play legendary difficulty campaigns, in the beginning you have to fight every battle because even a victory where you lose abt 30% -40% of your units, can cost you losing the game

[@changlu9649]

I like to think in the end game, you'd reach a city of sorts and would have a nobility that would be full time knights.

[@miceliusbeverus6447]

To simulate how valuable peasants were - and how hopeless in fight, realistically - and how hard it was to recruit a sizeable army - I always play TW with the self-imposed challenge of NEVER recruiting peasants... This simple trick, along with the rule to never allow rebellions if they can be avoided by lowering taxation, adds hugely to realism imo.

[@lorisuprifranz]

Total War fans to CA: "Slavic Magic was able to build this in a cave! With a bunch of scraps!"

[@sdnnvs]

Hey... this speech was stolen from the movie Iron Man (2014)!!! lol

[@lorisuprifranz]

Seriously though, Total War's units have gradually become weightless and anemic with every new game. I miss the battle in Medieval II when piling up more and more units against one single enemy unit, defending a gate, meant incredible losses but also that the number of men actively pushed against the smaller unit until it was a thin overstretched semicircle. Or when cavalry charges were game-changers

[@buzter8135]

​@@lorisuprifranzMy battles in Medieval 2 are some that I might seldom forget.

[@rogergargantua]

ROFLMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@binbows2258]

@@buzter8135 They need to remake medieval II but with a better GUI. Literally all they need to do is change the GUI and you'd have a new fantastic TW game.

[@HypaxBE]

I wish this single developer all the success possible for his insane dedication and skills

[@Gr4cchus]

It's been a larger team for a while btw - still a great achievement!

[@mostupdate8802]

It has transitioned from being developed solely by an individual developer to now involving a team of developers at the studio level.

[@--SPQR--]

​@@mostupdate8802it hasn't. He's partnered with a publisher. Publishers aren't developers.

[@RyTrapp0]

@UngaBungaBrain Whoever the hell he fired for the music - NAILED IT

[@SirPano85]

​@@RyTrapp0 maybe you mean "hired"....

[@troo_6656]

I think the very fact that this is small scale city builder first with warfare as an extension is what really makes it tick and stand out from the crowd. You are not fighting for the sake of it, you are not doing it for nebulous goals either, but for very tangible reasons with purpose (for example for that fertile soil in the neighbouring region that you need to feed your population) and with the consequences fit for such a risky move.

[@theblindbandit6533]

I do not accept your claim to this land. The mineral rights have been bestowed to my house and my fathers legacy. I would rather die fighting in the deposits of clay and stone than see a day when the lands of my people are laid claim to by some mud dwelling peasants. If you indeed intend to expand your lands allow me to show you the fields of the heavens. DECLARATION OF WAR 1233ad

[@blackjacka.5097]

Can say the same about the people who have that fertile soil (unless it's bandits)

[@jonnoble5624]

8:00 That halberdier shoulder checked his opponent, got parried, replied with a successful riposte, dodged, countered his opponent to the ground, and then finished the fight with a quick downward thrust. That's just the duel occurring in the foreground. Every fight and individual action behind that was different. Holy hell, this game is impressive.

[@james_robnett]

Yeah, the videos the developer released on discord as he was developing the combat showing different options, different approaches was fascinating, he really got it dialed in. That was a great sequence and it's amazing to me that it scales so smoothly to hundreds of actors. Sure there are games with 1000+ soldiers but as has been pointed out they mostly just stand their and wait for a clock to tick and then swing.

[@SakibLH44]

Omg that was insane wow

[@thorwaldjohanson2526]

@@james_robnett The only game that I have seen that does it better on that scale is Bannerlords. However, Battle Realms back in the day had fantastically dynamic fighting too, truly ahead of its time.

[@michaelweston409]

@@thorwaldjohanson2526bannerlord mount & blade is the best army sword fighting simulator game ever made

[@thorwaldjohanson2526]

@@michaelweston409 it is fantastic, but the game outside of combat is a bit lacking. A combination fo the two would be amazing

[@kyleseabaugh8613]

I just love the fact that it adds so much tension to these battles that your soldiers are directly from your city's population, so it seems to just incentivize utilizing real tactics to minimize casualties.

[@babaal78]

Yes the fact that you can't just click and cash an army from nowhere (except for mercenary) make you consider carefully those are your people you need to care of, and to be wise when deciding to go to war, because it has consequences. It's a true roleplaying as a lord in a city builder game.

[@Zack_Wester]

yep Remember playing Shogun 2 fall of the samurai played as Tosa and just spammed out like 10 units of Tosa Riflemen from my capital that was a small my capital was a small town. remember Tosa Riflemen are sized in (30/60/90/120 depending on setting and are the smaller size as most units are in 50/100/150/200 size). yet I was cranking out about what could that be 90x10 900 soldier from a small town. this was my strategy as Tosa. rush and capture Bizen for it blacksmith before anyone else did. devlop it to hold the following buildings ( Cadet School, Firing Range and maybe the artillery school) + blacksmith so the town needs to hold 2-3 buildings we are not even close to a large city here. yet the town can host and train 5000+ soldier (just one stack).

[@jonny-b4954]

Yeah, it's cool. Bit small scale though. You're not going to truly feel you conquered an empire or kingdom. But a small, local region.

[@Projolo]

​@@babaal78 Medieval 2 removed the cost of population in training units

[@donalddouds6033]

@@jonny-b4954which is the basis of the game at its inception. You are a “MANOR” Lord not a King or Emperor. The smaller scale for that description is quite fitting and the initial target of bandit camps is well within the original concept of the game itself; that being a village->town->city builder with minor combat conflicts added in to the mix that can have detrimental effect on their towns etc

[@TheXan57]

Never, in my 20 years of gaming life, have I been waiting for a game like for Manor Lords. Being from Poland, loving late medieval age history, city builders and grand strategy games - Manor lords checks all my requirements

[@Tofi_ytchannel]

Exactly! I've been looking forward to this game so much ever since I tried the demo about two years ago. Greetings from Hungary

[@ebeb9156]

Kurva!

[@robqwert2696]

I have been kinda addicted to it now 🤣 i am still playing on easy mode without fighting, cuz i like the micro management aspect and optimization

[@carminumbarritus8220]

Once this game is fully established to iron out any bugs, I'm sure there will be further expansions to create your own fortified cities with castles and sieges. The potential here is tremendous and something to get very excited about.

[@YeraBlizzadHarry]

The dev has officially said that he plans on bringing AI cities and castle mechanics into the game!

[@frenchfry9370]

He has even said he intends to go as far as early gunpowder and proper siege engines to lay waste to your opponents strongholds and castles

[@PopularesVox]

@@frenchfry9370 This all sounds so promising, and given that all the reviews I've heard about this game release have been overwhelmingly positive, there is much to look forward to, especially if modding becomes available.😃

[@aurelian2668]

Hope mods will also be able to work.

[@michaelweston409]

@@YeraBlizzadHarrythey’d be copying bannerlord mount & blade then

[@S.U.I.T]

The dude really put some love into the game, respects on the highest to him and those who helped. If he actually reached out to historians, even bigger props to bring in experts. It definitely shows.

[@LordSesshaku]

I can bet you that sometime, a CA developer will watch this video and come to all the wrong conclusions, I can even hear them speak on a meeting: "We should make battles smaller in size, since that apparently makes people more invested in units on this trending game called Manor Lord"

[@AndysTake]

Lmaaaaooo please don’t give them ideas

[@LordSesshaku]

@@AndysTake If it happens, I'll go to the Courts and testify that I had nothing to with it, and it was you who suggested the idea in 5:19 xD. Seriously though, ever since Attila, CA has a trend of focusing on ALL THE WRONG THINGS. The battles feel smaller and dumber with each new installment. They even look worse since they prioritized close-up screenshots over the actual view you're using most of the time which is the eagle view.

[@FilipMoncrief]

“Hmmm, perhaps it’s the lack of cavalry and arrows flying through units that makes this game so popular, let’s try it” xd

[@AndysTake]

@@FilipMoncrief HAHAHA NOOOO

[@undertakernumberone1]

@@LordSesshaku You are guilty and have been sentenced to no more video games. Even retro.

[@johnnysmythe4012]

CA on suicide watch

[@El_Cattivo1988]

A building game is a completely different genre Even with small real-time battles.

[@luccasdubai]

@@El_Cattivo1988Yet battles seem to play, look and feel better in a said city builder… shame for CA, the last good total war was Shogun 2, it got worst after that, should have been greatly improved….

[@aerosdacillo1227]

TW fans are in a copium state rn

[@arevolvingdoor3836]

Yeah, I know it's been said before, but I think it all comes down to CA being a unfriendly, uncreative, and profit focused company. They don't seem to want to try anything new or original with their games, their treatment of their employees doesn't help either.

[@mdc3227]

Why? Not even the same genre of game. Max soldiers in ML are something like 500. You know you can play and like both though? Not sure why people are comparing a settlement builder with Total War.

[@JasonOfArgo]

The mechanic of the population directly impacting how strong your army is, and casualties being potentially disastrous for your economy, has been my dream for years and years. It's so obvious, but for some reason not many city/empire builders really make it so meaningful! Can't wait to see if this continues to be expanded upon.

[@Projolo]

Total war had that mechanic but it was removed in medieval 2

[@HackerArmy03]

Yes, a competitor. I know this isn't the main feature and the developer himself even stated it isn't, but I still would say it is (It's bad I know, but still). And I hope that he keeps improving it alongside the city-building, because CA has sunk in its laurel and is... rotting. Competition is always good. Now, if the engine can handle 2000 units at once without lagging... yeah I can definitely see someone modding it and making a medieval 3 somehow x)

[@AndysTake]

A 2000-man Manor Lords battle would feel the same as a 50K Total War battle in terms of intensity and scale, although now we have actual good performance and consistent visuals with actual cool tactics

[@jfmgunner]

@@AndysTake I've heard several people mention that the modding community may be the key to this game in the long term. I'm very excited about how they could expand the scale and scope of the game, especially with battles.

[@aurelian2668]

@@jfmgunner ASOIAF mod and LOTR mod would be godly. The amount of people playing this because of the mod would skyrocket

[@JohnstyPonst]

@@aurelian2668Battle for Middle Earth is one of my favorite RTS games ever, I would throw money at whoever made it happen in this format

[@BlaZeiken441]

This gives bannerlord vibes but also gives the only thing it lacked, base building. Man it's so nice to finally see something like this

[@CHAOSMOVEMENT]

If they add seiges and diplomacy and other faction style interaction to this game, and multi-player at some point, it will be supreme.

[@BlaZeiken441]

@@CHAOSMOVEMENT the developer has clarified that it will primarily be just a city builder, which was him just hinting that it won't turn into a bannerlord or world of war craft kind of thing. He didn't 2ant to disappoint fans and clarify the road he will be taking throughout the development of the game. Nonetheless, it'll still be an awesome game

[@ChampionsGearhead]

Agreed. The battle scale seems to be similar to Mount & Blade.

[@mattm7798]

Bannerlord has had so much potential...really upset me they took 10 years to make it and it feels like a warband mod. The combat feels almost identical.

[@michaelweston409]

@@mattm7798banner lord mount & blade is the best game ever made

[@nateweter4012]

I love the way the armies/soldiers look. It’s so immersive. They actually look like what you’d imagine mid 14th century European soldiers to look like. There’s no ridiculous fantasy armor or banners/colors that are way too bright. It feels very grounded and realistic. It’s quite refreshing. Even the brightest banner and cloth colors have a natural subdued hue to them that looks realistic. I can’t wait to train and outfit my guys. From; hammers and poles with leather caps < chainmail hauberks, nasalhelms with shields, axes and spears < reinforced gambesons, kettle helms and swords < early plate armor, bassinet helmets and halberds. Just over a week left until EA release. I really didn’t think a one man show could lull this off. I really didn’t. I thought the town building or enviormnetal ambience or combat would be good but no way all 3 would work well, look great and mesh well. I was wrong. I know he’s hired some helping hands to complete it, but I still get the impression this developer is going to be rich. Good for him and well deserved I say. We have way too few history based games that are lead by passion for the subject and it shows. You cant fake passion and when it’s given time, money and resources to grow, its the fuel to make incredible games.

[@josephrohrbach1588]

You know that real mediaeval Europe *was* super colourful, right? It didn't look like Hollywood movies with grey colours everywhere.

[@nateweter4012]

@@josephrohrbach1588 You’re referring to historical films lowering the saturation. I’m not talking about the environment and world, I’m talking about garments and fabrics and personal items. Without artificial color dies and modern paints, banners, clothing field gear etc contained only natural dies and pigments, the brightest and most vibrant of which were extremely expensive. Tyrian Purple (made from snails) and Cinnobar “dragons blood” for example, were more expensive than gold. It’s one of the tell tale signs and misgivings of reenactments; Way too many have gear that’s way too vibrant and bright. This game seems to depict things accurately which I can appreciate.

[@josephrohrbach1588]

@@nateweter4012 No, there were still absolutely bright colours. Not a wide variety, but they were definitely there. There are easy natural ways to make pretty bright yellows, oranges, and greens in particular.

[@nateweter4012]

@@josephrohrbach1588 I think there might be a language or conceptual barrier here. We are saying the same thing. We agree. Yes there were bright colored pigments, they were rare and very expensive, however there is a very big difference between artificial neon dyes and pigments used today and the hues they had back then. The game conveys that very well.

[@2009heyhow]

The Dev came out and warned Total War fans that this is not like a Total War game because you spent most of your time building your town. Which is exactly why i think it's even better. I'm a huge fan of Total War as well as for example the Anno series. And now we fianally get a game that's going to combine my two favorite strategy and city building genres.

[@dragonlord4643]

I think the Real magic is its all in Real time, while you fight Battles in the Country Sides. The Wifes of these men are in your acutal village doing town stuff. You get a feeling of Casualties really hit your town. Its not like in TW were youre like "aww i just lost 6000 men ... raise another army in Paris wihtin 2 turns and throw them into the War." Total War feels like a WW1 meat grinder. Edit: I would like it if our actual Lord could take Part in Battles taking a General role wiht Abilitys that supports your units. A mix of the Stronghold Lord and a Total War General.

[@BroNapartay]

The Divide Et Imperia mod for Rome 2 tackles this very issue, by having regional population caps. Say a fertile historical region or a larger city state can muster more forces than a small town in the middle of nowhere and if you lose too many soldiers in the backwoods of Gual, you must decide to retreat to a province where you can replenish your losses quickly, or stay and replenish far slower and augment with mercs.

[@jacksheldon8566]

you can actually take control of your lord in 3rd person and roam the battlefield X) but the ennemy units will ignore you. its like a 3rd person spectator mode. still, its super cool to be able to move a character like this inside your town.

[@robdom91]

Imagine building your little town for countless hours, watching it grow and then suddenly having to sacrifice a number of your little peeps in a senseless war! The feels! Total War games don't let you get attached to your people that much. I think becoming a ruthless tyrant will be more difficult in Manor Lords.

[@Farron6]

Your point regarding how poor the battles in Total War have become is spot on. It's at the point now where things like terrain for ranged units just does not matter. I've had to resort to playing Mount and Blade with a RTS mod to scratch the same itch that TW use to do.

[@AndysTake]

It’s sad, man

[@misanthropicservitorofmars2116]

Just keep replaying med 2 It’s the only way.

[@yodison666]

Ive tried but even mods cant get ne past that aging ​@misanthropicservitorofmars2116

[@misanthropicservitorofmars2116]

@@yodison666 even outdated, it’s still extremely enjoyable. The map mechanics are flawless, and the battle mechanics are just a pleasure. Until I stop paying attention to my cav and lose them. Then it’s the worst game ever made. Shogun 2 is your best bet then. That’s the last good total war.

[@saber2802]

Sieges are terrible though ​@@misanthropicservitorofmars2116

[@buboyasilo2992]

8:07 that dodge tho. Holy shee. Skill gap LOL.

[@r.m2072]

bro got his ankles broken then dunked on

[@ipo3838]

it is awesome how they react to different attacks

[@FilipMoncrief]

Imagine that of all the peasants on the field it’s you who has to fight the plate armoured mf

[@j.m.salazar9964]

To be fair, pitchfork dude was putting up a good fight until that point

[@28gbb]

Cavalry will be expensive to develop once that update has been made. Even charging 10 horsemen into a line will be a big investment for the Manorlord

[@chickennoodle6620]

Which makes sense. You’re not roleplaying as a king or emperor with vast wealth to recruit horseman and knights.

[@feintfaint7213]

Even 10 knights is enough since each unit size is small. I dig it

[@markmitchell590]

Realistically, one manor = one knight and a squire. Medival populations could provide 1 knight per 3000 people, based on the French numbers at Agincourt

[@28gbb]

@@markmitchell590 yes maybe some cheaper light cavalry and then very few fully kitted out knights

[@mattm7798]

True, mounted units were quite costly to keep and train. A key once they add them is adding proper physics to a charge. Total War got this way back in 2004's Rome where a charge sent foes flying...the charge just didn't stop on a dime once it hit units. I like the idea of keeping cavalry small and expensive. It's also easy to do proper physics on smaller units.

[@thopham6129]

Single dev ? I cant belive when i hear it

[@2rato]

With the help of some historians and his Discord Community

[@Rex1987]

@@2rato and a good deal of freelancers and other temparary workers.

[@boynextdoor1951]

@@Rex1987 single armless dev you say?

[@rigf1997]

And the dev worked on it for several years, and i really hope there will be more updates after launch too.

[@OneofInfinity.]

@@rigf1997 And stays an independent title without corporate meddling in the future.

[@crmesson22k]

CA got some competition now.

[@TheFrododentron]

One guy...makes one think :D

[@OneofInfinity.]

Wondering if they will react and if so keep their dignity. We live in the age in which lowering others to the same low level is prioritized above improving themselves.

[@leafarasta4517]

Don't worry they are too busy selling their premium dlc packs

[@zabababa4898]

manor lords needs to add blood dlc pack that costs 29,99$ if they want to compete with CA

[@El_Cattivo1988]

That's just nonsense. It's a great building game but not a total war. It doesn't want that at all. But CA is welcome to learn something from the battles.

[@henri2058]

This is peak, and cavalry is not even in the game yet btw

[@itshenry8977]

Knights would be very welcome, however they surely will be really expensive if affordable at all

[@leafarasta4517]

if you see the pre-alpha trailer, the world map is alot more bigger and the cavalry is in the trailer. maybe it will come sooner than we think

[@jonathanjohnson7743]

And Castles and Sieges

[@GennaroSantoro611]

The sky is the limit 🙏🏾 I hope the A.I works in the game ✔️

[@checkcommentsfirst3335]

@@GennaroSantoro611 A great AI is my greatest wish, but with the ongoing development in that sector, I can imagine amazing AIs

[@AndysTake]

Check out this massive authentic European Manor Lords city: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nWrLZ5atrZh1bpY

[@Marc-gj9vx]

Do arrows friendly fire? The only thing that made it look less realistic for me is archers shooting straight in their allies back.

[@donaldsmith6615]

It has been years since i have been this excited to play really any game

[@smkeybare]

I just want to say thank you for talking about the details of the combat. Been struggling to find someone that would zoom in and show the little details.

[@martins3d453]

Lets appreciate the hard work of the talented 3D artists who created models, retopologised them, textured them and made this all look as good as it does, plus the animators and other developers that were outsourced to help build this. I find the 'solo passionate dev' talk a bit silly and unrealistic

[@YeraBlizzadHarry]

Agreed. You can be the best programmer in the world but without the animators and artists you don’t see what’s on screen right now!

[@SneakyLikeASnek]

No

[@vagodinfir1636]

I’m a 3D artist myself, and I’ve worked on Game-ready assets. They require good topology and optimization. So textures are utilized to the max. Without good optimization, it will be a messy process. (Lag, FPS drops, engine issues etc”). And in this case of multiple people (armies). There’s a function called “Instancing” where the engine uses the same pre-loaded model for all troops with the same equipment. There’s also LODs, which is the “Level of Detail”. This function depends on your distance to the model. Every set of distance you get further from the model, the model will switch to a lower detailed (less vertices, texture detail etc) version. But it won’t look different from your point of view because you’re far away, this work both always, the closer you get to the model, it will switch to a higher detailed version. There are many other functions. So the coder is responsible for all of this. While 3D modeling and animating are hard processes, they have quite clear goals. For experienced artists, the moment the concept is established, it’s quite a clear process for them. While for Coders, they have to handle the engine and implement the models/animations. So the process for them doesn’t have a clear path. They run into errors more often and have to make everything work in harmony.

[@ErnestIsGaming]

Underrated Comment

[@jacksheldon8566]

they used motion capture for some units animations. ;)

[@BanditoBurrito]

Bravo to one man for dunking on “creative” assembly and its lack of immersion. They can’t even be bothered to add men carrying banners/flags in most of the titles

[@undertakernumberone1]

ANd that one man would very much appreciate people to stop this tribalistic bull crap.

[@Squant]

@@undertakernumberone1 It's in his best interest to play it cool. It's not in ours.

[@unitor699industries]

and bannerlord

[@trollsquad1827]

I know it is a small thing but what I am most looking forward to for Manor lords is I heard bodies and flags are persistent after battles so you can see where combat has taken place. Just the thought of seeing a reminder of how hard fought some of my land was and maybe my town or manor or whatever expanding to encompass the former battlefield and maybe removing the bodies that way would be nice. I don't know I have always liked persistent bodies as a game mechanic. Probably got that from total war and dawn of war

[@AndysTake]

Bodies remain for a time, at least until they’re buried or they’ve disappeared into the dirt over the course of a few months

[@Mundiz_]

The battle flags look so good!

[@anthonyklanke1397]

These guys nailed it, its all about the gravity of the battles. When i was younger, i could play custom battles on total war all day. As i got older, the custom battles became less fun because of their lack of purpose. The best total war battles that i still remember, are the ones where there was something very important at stake. Battles that decided victory of a campaign or survival of the country, that sort of thing. So by making the battles have real impact, really increases the enjoyment factor 👍

[@Jaeger_89]

The impression I have from this is that comparing Total War's combat with this is like comparing Command & Conquer to Company of Heroes. Instead of focusing on great masses and meat grinding, combat is a lot more tactical and your decisions, big or small, matter a lot more. I'm looking forward to this one...

[@KOTStream]

This looks absolutely amazing. Very, very well done.

[@AndysTake]

Thank you very much!

[@konstantinos-iliasstrempas4594]

and it will be still in early access when it comes out imagine in 3-4 years what things this game will have

[@rileyxbell]

I really hope they add some type of multiplayer would be soo fun

[@Squant]

It was always the abstract nature of strategy games that always prevented me from playing them. A single giant character model (apparently representing an entire group of people) moving at 300mph across a tiny board game map with miniature villages at his feet just rips the immersion apart for me. That's not a game, it's a spreadsheet. This is what it took to get me interested. This feels like I'm actually doing something, rather than merely placing bets and waiting for the result.

[@Bishop1664]

Fantastic video. I was literally saying to my friend yesterday that while I was liking the look of Manor Lords, I was a bit worried by the possible lack of depth or complexity in the combat (as I have countless hours in the total war series). But seeing this video it definitely does have more realistic looking combat like Total War used to have, but has turned away from over the years.. Ps 8:07 death animations omg!

[@briboy2009]

I have been watching various people play this game for a few days now and I think it is fantastic. It is hard to believe that one developer is behind this and that it is a culmination of 7 years work. Well done that man, I can't wait to play it.

[@samcarr562]

6:39. Never in my life have I seen such an immersive battle in a video game. It looks like we have been teleported right back to Hastings in 1066. Absolutely gorgeous. I DON’T CARE ABOUT THE PRICE I AM PICKING THIS UP DAY 1!!!!

[@misanthropicattackhelicopt4148]

It actually looks brutal compared to total war where they just tap someone and they fall over.

[@thortrouble2311]

Literally everyone should buy this game even if you don’t like it. It send a huge message to those LAZY companies pandering to investors and ignoring the requests of the actual gamers

[@WarlordMSM]

Bro does not miss roasting Total War in his videos

[@AndysTake]

"For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth"

[@TypdersichderTypnenn]

If this game ever gets multiplayer, it will be the game of my dreams.

[@silent-trouble]

That is the only thing that bugs me. I want to play this in multiplayer so bad.

[@yodison666]

Nah let them cook with the single player. Yall jump to multiplayer way to quickly

[@cameroncrider6970]

I’m dreaming of the mods. Wait until a Roman mod comes out for this. Plus all the features that will be added. This is going to be amazing. Can’t wait for 2-3 years of this game.

[@aurelian2668]

Polish the singleplayer then mods then multi would be better to do.

[@cameroncrider6970]

@@aurelian2668 I believe that’s what he’s doing

[@Mrnolanoneal]

I would love to see them add something like your men must camp when moving around the world map and after fighting for long periods. Making it more slow paced where it can take a few days to meet the enemy. Also turning fights into multiple day battles not just 1 fight and you win. Maybe you could fortify your camp making mini sieges giving you advantages when out numbered. Also later on if they are ever considering a DLC there could be a rulering baron or lord that you have to appease and win favor with via taxes or joining his army from end game threats that come from outside the map or even offensive wars/crusades where you can take spoils back home giving a economic reason to have an army.

[@leeham6230]

In TW: Rome, the individual men in each unity could team up against other men. They changed their engine years ago to make the melee fights more cinematic, which locks two men into a cinematic combat state. They also screwed up the unit collision, and a bunch of other stuff.

[@agidotexe7167]

i love the sizes of the battles in this game, they feel alot more personal when its a lord vs a lord instead of 2 kings with like 10 vassals making up armies of thousands. what also makes me so happy with this game is that the devs historical advisors have helped him so much with the armor and weapons of the militia and men at arms, it looks so good and i think Manor Lords now officially has the most accurate depiction of medieval armor in any game ever.

[@SpiritualSpecialForces]

Can only imagine the mods and DLC to come. Looking forward to seeing where this game goes.

[@mikoajziokowski4006]

First Kenshi and now Manor Lords, I feel nothing but respect to creators of these games making such a masterpieces all by them selfs with minimal help if any from other people. I wish all the succes to Manor Lords and it's creator waiting for steam release.

[@SonSantana]

The best thing that can happen in an industry is to someone to raise the bar really high. Amazing

[@Nunes2894]

I dream of a japanese version of Manor Lords, so I can recreate the Seven Samurai story over and over again

[@LookHereMars]

Pretty sure it has or is going to have full mod support, we are in for a ride, Samurai, Rome, Alexander, Lord of the Rings, Warhammer, the possibilities will be endless, praise be to the modding community.

[@FilipMoncrief]

@@LookHereMarsAncient Greece would really fit into this, with all the city state fighting

[@LookHereMars]

@@FilipMoncrief Sengoku Jidai, Wars of the Diadochi, Peloponnesian Wars, Wars of the Roses, some really good historical periods to mess with.

[@gentlesirpancakebottoms6692]

One guy with either help or some outsourced work to a handful of people made better arrow projectiles than a billion $ company with 100's of employes. The battles are smaller in scale. But what is on display here is looking so much better and more organic than Total War has, since Medieval 2.

[@bluebutton36]

I've participated in some LARP and Reenactment battles over the years. Having done skirmishes with 20vs20 and battles with up to 300vs300. Smaller skirmishes already feel so stressful, but actual battles are a nightmare. Manor Lords is the first game ever, that gives me the feeling an actual commander has on the battlefield, because not only of the impact and chaos, but also because of the importance of every single person within that fight. Your militia and your retinue are people, that you know and need. They are not some people, that I raised by paying some goods. That is what made me fall in love with Manor Lords.

[@chellybub]

BROOOOOOOOOOOO omg! Looks great. I played the demo weekend and had a lot of fun, the warfare was like the next big factor that we were waiting for. Looks awesome!

[@NomanJohan]

The dev is literally a one man army! How did he create this monstrous gem alone?

[@Ducaluk]

Cant wait untill the 26th. The combat looks fun and autentic and looking forward to building bigger cities than in the demo.

[@tallinshelley4254]

Fun fact, most medieval military engagements were relatively small scale like this. Hollywood battles were very rare, with 40,000 or more in a battle would be a nearly war deciding battle, and were usually the main turning points in a conflict. For refrence The Battle of Hastings was the largest military engagement of the Norman conquest, but there were many smaller skirmishes and battles.

[@AetherXIV]

love the passion and details

[@djmustang000]

Sounds design goes a looooong way to make something feel weighty and brutal

[@AndysTake]

Absolutely, I am thrilled by this soundscape!

[@shariarmontasir3569]

It just lacks cavalry.

[@oneshortgamer2540]

There will be,probably

[@ajiibshah3760]

Its so cool how the troops have variety in terms of clothing. Makes them feel more alive.

[@finegamingconnoisseur]

Manor Lords will likely make a lot of gamers very happy and a lot of corporate game reviewers and developers foaming at the mouth and lashing out in rage. That one guy with passion and vision can create something that an entire studio team with millions in funding couldn't or wouldn't in a decade.

[@Zeke90k]

hope they add siege battle and cavalry

[@rush4in]

Cav is coming. As a matter of fact, upon seeing the 600-man battle Strat uploaded on his channel, the dev remarked that the priorities for combat additions will be cav and ammo for archers.

[@2009heyhow]

The Dev came out and warned Total War fans that this is not like a Total War game because you sepnt most of your time building your town. Which is exactly why i think it's even better. I'm a huge fan of Total War as well as for example the Anno series. And now we fianally get a game that is going to combine my two favorite strategy and city building genres.

[@tommantek3632]

Ok, now I'm really sold! I was going to get the game anyway for the city-building part but wasn't jazzed about the combat. This though looks very cool and realistic. Thanks for your video!

[@jamesholder5638]

Great video hope CA are paying attention

[@OneofInfinity.]

Prolly hiring a bunch of haters on social media and paying off game "journalists" to give bad ratings.

[@AndysTake]

Thank you!

[@jamiegladwin]

no friendly fire?

[@RJXT]

There is, your archers will try to avoid friendly fire, but you can turn it on if your unit is getting rinsed to kill as many baddies as possible.

[@CsStoker]

Archers stop firing when your units are in the arc, you have to find an angle to make them continue firing

[@mattm7798]

What's amazing to me is how few devs have done the TW formula(turn based strategic map with real time large scale battles). I remember there was one like a decade ago on the Napoleonic era, but can't think of others.

[@BonsaiBurner]

I never expected this scale, it is like christmas came in April

[@robbarber7455]

You have to stop comparing this to Total War. It could really damage this game. It’s a city builder/management game with some combat. It’s completely the inverse of TW. I know that titles like”Total War Killer” or whatever gets more views, but that’s just not what this game is.

[@jacksheldon8566]

thing is, this game has already better battles than totalwar games...

[@garrettjones3108]

I hope bro makes a ton of money and keeps this game alive for a long time. I come from Stronghold, so to see graphics such as this makes my RTS heart happy.

[@retaxed]

had a skirmish in a secluded forest earlier today. just wow man. threw it in cinematic mode and just was in awe.

[@Hunter-wl3zt]

King: "Archers!" Knight: "I beg pardon, sire. Won't we hit our own troops?" King: "Yes, but we'll hit theirs as well, we have reserves."

[@AC-hj9tv]

Thank you for your service

[@Mr.Byrnes]

I would love a “campaigning season” mechanic that would allow you to leave your boundary area with a host to raid and sack an opposing lord’s villages to take their regional wealth. You could even add a mechanic that allows you to bring supply carts into the enemy territory that acts as a timer

[@sethleoric2598]

It's like a somewhat smaller yet brutal and lethal and more thought reliant version of M2's warfare, slow drawn out combat like M2 but every kill on your enemy counts.

[@jereboy2005]

I have been excited for this game fir a long time. It still blows my mind that 1 dev was able to make something like this.

[@stormcrow3642]

Good video thanks, I’m so excited for this game!

[@jezusziomowski8659]

Finally! A worthy competition for Total War ;D

[@RocketHarry865]

I like the fact the battles are smaller scale. Most of the fighting done during the medieval period was rarely between massive armies of the dukes and kings but was the small skirmishes between local barons and landed knights or said minor nobles sending their retinue or what ever mercenary band they hired to hunt down troublesome bandits

[@petiertje]

I really love the attention to detail. Even the archers have proper form when drawing the longbow 🙂

[@FatLittleButterfly]

My favorite command is the give way command. Changes your tactics entirely, like when hannibal uses it to surround the enemy in a place that you wont expect to be surrounded. Also, the casualties in battles have a huge impact because if they are militias, your economy is taking a hit to production and will take time to replace, both during and after you rallied your troops.

[@rosstepher9642]

I'm a long time total war player and this is such an incredible game that just leaves me wanting more. the platform of this game has such potential!

[@ellagg]

Been waiting for this for YEARS! It all looks amazing. Will there be cavalry units? Not that it will make the game any less awesome, but just want to know, 'cause I love cav tactics.

[@feanor3791]

This looks like it might be the game I've been waiting for since Lords of the Realm II. Only a long-time Total War player can fully appreciate that responsiveness--somewhere there's a huge, dark cloud hanging in the heavens with all of the curses I've uttered at TW units who WON'T DO WHAT THE **** I TELL THEM.

[@rkhale02]

This is exactly the type of battle implementations i've been wanting out of total war for years. In my opinion, the earlier games give a better feel of the thing you mention around 4:16ish where they smash into each other. The newer engine they started using is just awful at melee which is one of the coolest things to look at during a battle.

[@Crunch2327]

Props to a developer who depicts archers "standing in the bow" properly.

[@Auxius.]

Rate of fire seems a bit high, but I guess gameplay matters

[@ovoj]

Songs of syx has tens of thousands of individual, simulated units/workers/peasants fighting in real time

[@GameCommandoNL]

This game is Knights and Merchants in 2024. Can't wait to play it

[@semaht03]

Wow, I didn't think Manor lord would invest in combat this much. Your clip blow me away ! btw, I didn't see horse army in your vid so I assume this would come later when the game out of early access

[@sacobelens]

Thanks Andy, finally some hope on true engaging gameplay.

[@ying2765]

I wish I could customize the troops with tabards and a specific house / flag color, I really enjoy watching an army being uniform

[@Auxius.]

You can customize each individual soldier, shield, tabard and undercoats colors and add your weapon on the shield if I’m not mistaken

[@Chaos8282]

I can't wait to get my hands on this next week.

[@JYAGx]

Only just started making Total War content but i already might have to do a spin off series on this game Manor Lords looks so good! Great video as always!

[@Auxius.]

I think you might want to do a TW spin off series

[@JYAGx]

@@Auxius. New series coming out tomorrow! Trying out a huge mod!

[@Auxius.]

@@JYAGx I played TW games since medieval 1 sir. I fundamentally don't like Creative Assembly anymore, they sold out :-).

[@charliesouthwaite3868]

From what I’ve seen it’s kinda half way between bannerlord being very emersive and every unit is very individual and total war, this seems to have the best of both words

[@Lalalele69]

i can not wait until they implement castles into the game imagine transforming your little village into a small realm

[@billyblumpkin2742]

What I find most amazing is this is only just the beginning and early access phase. Long term I see he has a lot more coming. One area in particular is the idea of creating a multiplayer version of this where others can start in different regions. Although, idk how you could deal with the fast forwarding of the game, because at times that's super essential. Otherwise, this game would take too long to play, but maybe they could figure something out. Still, can't wait for him to kee developing this further.

[@al_wombat]

3:20 a historian pointed out out in another review that army size was just like that (very much smaller than in the antique or modern eras) in the ma! SO HYPED! Fingers crossed for a PS release……..!!!!!

[@Syntax1963A]

this game is insane good - same as you, I always wanted a game which combines warfare with 'city builder - economy ... The graphic is just so realistic - amazing - some can even see so many smal details - the landscape looks like in real life. Some can only imagine what will happen to this game if additional modders get their hand on it because this game has so much potential.... I can't wait to play the game (until now I just played the demo - again and again...) Thank you for the video

[@MiniSugus]

Manor Lord's battle numbers makes me feel that a mod that let's you play the battles in Bannerlord like CK3 would be amazing

[@parkjimy7361]

Those longbow volley's always give me goosebumps. Battle of Agincourt and Crecy vibes

[@sunnyjim1355]

It somewhat saddens me that the Battle of Poitiers (1356) is never remembered, even though the then French king (King John II) was captured during that battle, and held to randsom. Such are the the vagaries of history...

[@parkjimy7361]

@@sunnyjim1355 nahhh the battle is to small

[@cactuskhan4649]

I think one cool feature would be for experience and drilling playing a big role. Controls should be sluggish for untrained militia, taking a good amount of time to reposition or disengage from a battle for instance, and controls should be responsive for well-drilled soldiers. Untrained troops should have unsteady lines that do not advance all at once, with some parts slower than others, while trained troops should have a consistent march (and higher overall speed) and stick together in battle better, making them more resistant to being flanked compared to a Mob.