Bannerlord Tactics, Pre-battle Tips and Tricks, Volume I: Character & Companion Development

Welcome back future Emperors, Khans, Jarls and Sultans, in this episode we continue our series covering some of the pre-battle strategy that is necessary for you to succeed in Bannerlord. I cover several important subjects that will help you with Kingdom, a summary of how I form my army composition, what troops I like, how much of each kind and then a little on army and noble management. I recommend the playlist for those who REALLY want to get better at the game and dominate.
This episode has been refreshed, with better audio, a more in-depth philosophy on everything from how to develop characters and companions, how to designate party members optimally, city management and more pre-battle complexities.
Please comment, like and subscribe if you're interested in more of my ultra-late-game campaign, that may end up ending in utter despair, but that's the challenge of it. Any challenge where success is assured is no challenge at all.
My campaign is an extremely late-game campaign where I am resolved to give no peace to these scum Kingdoms attacking me - seven of the eight have been at war for years, with only Sturgia at a neutral stance. My family of warriors is now large though and with what remaining strength and valor we can must, we stand against the map of Calradia.
Join me on this adventure if you like huge battles, the use of advanced tactical maneuvers and intense Bannerlord gameplay, and subscribe to my channel if you want to follow along. This campaign is very lightly modded:
I use five to seven mods:
Time Pass Mod: Realistic Lighting for battles and town scenes(the time CHANGES):
www.nexusmods.com/mountandbla...
RTS Mod(for better unit flag colors/overhead view and using other characters in battle):
www.nexusmods.com/mountandbla...
Immersive Battlefields:
A great mod that adds battle cries, roaring troops and more:
www.nexusmods.com/mountandbla...
Lord Retinue Uptier(Makes the enemy forces stronger, much less peasants and lower ranked troops)
www.nexusmods.com/mountandbla...
Improved AI Troops(Also makes enemy lords and their armies tougher by giving them a higher daily xp rate. This means you'll routinely face armies with HUGE numbers of the highest tier units, sometimes four or five times the normal amount in vanilla Bannerlord): www.nexusmods.com/mountandbla...
Death for all: This mod allows you to set the rate at which nobles die more often. I want both a harder challenging late-game but also a more realistic game. If you're cut down with a massive aserai two-handed axe, you shouldn't just be injured 99.9% of the time. It's a very customizable mod so you can just a little more death or set the death rate so high you get several deaths every battle. The number I often like is '10', some deaths but not a massacre of nobles...
www.nexusmods.com/mountandbla...
I also use the Dismemberment Plus Mod: It's highly customizable and works seamlessly with the new beta(and versions back to 1.28). I thoroughly recommend it if you enjoy carnage!:
steamcommunity.com/sharedfile...
I've also used Realistic Battle Mod in the past and highly recommend it for Ai and battle realism BUT I find the pace too slow for my taste and the AI is actually rather predictable after a half dozen battles. Still I wanted to put a plug in for it here, it's a GREAT mod and highly configurable. www.nexusmods.com/mountandbla...
Much of the music and inspiration for this and other videos in the channel are inspired by Epic History TV - probably THE best channel on youtube(and the internet for that matter) covering the Napoleonic wars. With amazing work Epic History TV takes you through the dramatic and incredibly story of Napoleon covering all of his most famous battles. I HIGHLY recommend it.
Epic History TV:
/ @epichistorytv
#bannerlord #war #medieval #bannerlordgameplay #bannerlordmod

[@blackamericannomad7500]

Great run down man. I have been watching your content for the last few weeks and have really enjoyed it. I have implemented cav screens and it has been incredibly useful to reform my troops to accommodate reinforcements. Truly a game changer. I think your tip about feeding your cities will be just as helpful for me. I'm a couple weeks into a world domination campaign and want to increase my income rather than continue to fund the kingdom off of heirloom swords.

[@HeadlessHorsemanProductions]

No more enjoytable comment for me than this, like a professor watching former students out there winning the Pulitzer prize, I've done my job if people watch a few episodes and get better immediately. Happy crushing and check out the video on making your companions better too(I think it's episode IX of the series).

[@malicioussw7654]

I honestly hate when ppl claim someone cheats in a sandbox game like Bannerlord. The whole point of the game is to play it how you want, there's mods and stuff to improve things that you dislike about the game or to mix things up and try different things. It is also laughable that they think you're cheating because of the amount of gold you have. I think there is very little use for gold once you get to a certain point in the game and it is so easy to rack up millions, especially if you do smithing. I appreciate your videos and they are very well made. It's good that you're not too bothered by the ppl calling you a cheater, but definitely don't let them get to you lol. Keep up the good work.

[@HeadlessHorsemanProductions]

I appreciate the support. Though I've used mods to alter the game, and sometimes use things like reduced player damage, I'm trying to play the game at an EXTREME difficulty, so it also doesn't make any sense to me that I would be trying to cheat to then make it easier. Why add mods that make it harder if I wanted it easier through cheats??

[@malicioussw7654]

I think that's fine and normal, a lot of ppl play with Diplomacy and stuff which can make certain things easier. I don't see it as an issue in a single-player game. From a content creator's perspective, I don't feel it matters as long as you're upfront about any mods that might change gameplay. From what I've seen, I'd say every youtuber I've watched will usually list any mods used in their gameplay. I think I just hate when ppl try to dictate how you're meant to play your own solo game haha

[@HeadlessHorsemanProductions]

@@malicioussw7654 The imperative word you said is 'game'. Amazing people get tied into knots about a 'game'. Let's have fun people, jeez!

[@malicioussw7654]

Couldn't agree more, lol

[@Reconsniper468]

Love the video it really helped me out with character and companions because I always struggled with stats and I’d have this amazing army but my companions and I had really shity perks for commanding troops and we would get crushed by other armies with competent leaders, and my guy would just be this super soldier that would take like 100-150 down with them but that doesn’t matter when your troops get instantly crushed

[@HeadlessHorsemanProductions]

Unfortunately in many cases it's hard to fix things quickly, especially if you have companions with widely spread skills. But FORTUNATELY family members can generally be guided towards dominance, either as a leader/castle defender or a brutal murderer in your army. Happy killing and thanks for the support brother!

[@markianpajarillaga3206]

I just started the game, thank you for the content

[@HeadlessHorsemanProductions]

You're welcome, and be sure to check out strat gaming guides and other youtubers for more comprehensive content. Once you're ready to start winning battles, check out this playlist which should help walk you through battles from somewhat beginner, to badass war chieftain. kzbin.info/www/bejne/hKqWqaifpJaJkLM

[@Ubindfx]

It took me many hours to understand that you can either build a great party leader or a great warrior, or a half ass at both. Reminds me of a Civilization 4 quote: "If you chase two rabbits, you will not catch either one". To this day, I am not satisfied with the description of the perks, I had a ticket opened back in Jan 2021 about the terminology being used.

[@HeadlessHorsemanProductions]

Yep. If that character gets VERY high level, eventually they can be great at one half and good at another but never GREAT at both, no doubt by design. Love the Civ quote, hadn't heard that one before. Certainly the perks have been half-baked since the beginning and some are absurdly powerful(250 jav perk), but it's at least a fun puzzle for us to put together and try different things. There is no PERFECT spec in my opinion and to each his own but I know I'd always rather kill to get better at leading than lead and get better at killing first.

[@Ubindfx]

@@HeadlessHorsemanProductions My main character will get to mid 40's before the campaign comes to an end. There are some Party Leader perks that are real good, Throwing 75 Well Prepared +1 ammo for throwing weps to troops. No matter what type of character I make, I always take that perk, low hanging fruit.

[@HeadlessHorsemanProductions]

@@Ubindfx No question and part of the beauty is that we can glean these details for maximum effeciency. My own character was like low 40s when I declared war on everyone for good. Still, even a mid-40's character is a beast.

[@fkzx77AkaJonasTornqvist]

I normaly takes the discarded weapons and armor perk and upgrade my troops! But i sell everything that has a value of 500! So i don't miss money! 😄

[@HeadlessHorsemanProductions]

It seems to me that MOST people don't miss the money once their campaigns get rolling. I hope this is eventually addressed by Taleworlds.

[@JoshSweetvale]

11:30 Heh, nobles in Bannerlord have genetic memory. Each knows what their parents know. :P With regards to Influence: It's a legitimate game mechanic. "You're the boss" only works as long as people respect you. No influence, no giving orders.

[@HeadlessHorsemanProductions]

In real life respect is a two way street, the worst leaders I've ever worked with/for always assumed respect is automatic. Naturally that's a disastrous mindset. I *do* like the influence system but I think the enemy probably needs a boost as in my campaign they often cannot hold large armies for more than 5-6 days...

[@ericklorenzo7283]

That's great... it's always good to take someone less point of view on things

[@HeadlessHorsemanProductions]

You got it, happy to share my thoughts and ideas on this fascinating game. I appreciate your support, brother.

[@The_Root_5618]

Love your videos bud your tactics are awesome love that you include the historical facts of it. Keep it up fuck those 60 hr people they suck.

[@HeadlessHorsemanProductions]

Haha, you got it man, I've havin' as much fun making these episodes(I think) as the viewers. Much more to come bud, thanks for the kind words.

[@brettsalisbury1527]

I've been messing around with a few of your tips from the last video like this. I haven't specialized any of my family members for leading a party, just causing death. Do you feel a difference if one of your war lords were to lead opposed to your designated captains?

[@HeadlessHorsemanProductions]

Ya, for sure, those not specced for leadership lose more. There are various perks within the steward/tactics/leadership line, not to mention medicine, and ESPECIALLY once they have 290+ medicine, they can routinely defeat forces 50% larger than their own(with auto-resolve). I hope the tips help, the friends and subscribers here are like pupils and comrades in arms and when you guys kick ass with help from the guides here(or our conversations), so much the better and it makes me very contented. I can add too that much of what I do in the game I have learned from wise and experienced players, like you. Cheers to success!

[@sera6680]

How you train your companions ?

[@HeadlessHorsemanProductions]

Lots and LOTS of war. My main campaign is over 70 years of gameplay old...

[@sera6680]

@@HeadlessHorsemanProductions wow that's hard to train companions in my camp. My guys always die before they can hit and get exp haha. Nice done man !

[@Rezuvious]

Anyone calling you a cheater clearly doesn't play the game or they are ignorant when it comes to making money. With smithing you can spend like 200 gold to get 40k in return.

[@HeadlessHorsemanProductions]

Yep, pretty much this. Alas, some people are just bitter and ignorant. I appreciate the support.

[@wesselbooi]

In my campaign I run around with maybe 5-6 mil, just because early on (as an imperial) I chose major imperial cities to govern. Resulting in those cities to thrive (because the loyalty stayed high with me being of empire culture) my character makes about 17000 denars daily from all of the fiefs 😅

[@Y0uKnoWh0]

Smithing is broken and uneccessary. People don't know how to manage party expenses and they don't know how to manage their fiefs so they just lean on smithing because its easy. Can just max out passive income and not have to think about money and discard battle loot except with good modifiers because you don't need the money.

[@wesselbooi]

@@Y0uKnoWh0 Exactly, if you create a steady early passive income source that progresses over time, you don’t need smithing at all. You guys also discard items to lvl troops from tier 1 to 5/6 istantly right ? It’s my late game army building strat at the moment

[@HeadlessHorsemanProductions]

@@Y0uKnoWh0 I certainly agree. In my late-game campaign the only use I would have for money is to attract enemy lords to join me, but I don't do that, so I have unlimited, unless money(except to give to nobles so they field larger armies).

[@fkzx77AkaJonasTornqvist]

I always want the wifes i and my family marry is lowlevel like 8 - 10 ! That make me able to make them into partyleaders or governors or whatever i need at the moment!

[@HeadlessHorsemanProductions]

Very wise - that way you can build up their skills intelligently, not chaotically like the AI does. Are you saying you like marrying them when they're 12?? There are laws against that haha!

[@fkzx77AkaJonasTornqvist]

@@HeadlessHorsemanProductions nope! 18-20 ! This probably only goes when you start a new playthrough! When you are so far into the game like you probably not working! And you sometimes get a real couger someone tryied to dump a 40 year old something on my little brother! 🤣

[@HeadlessHorsemanProductions]

@@fkzx77AkaJonasTornqvist lmao... A Cougar, only if they wanted to pay you for your brother to marry their old lady...

[@brandomiyano7266]

what mod do you use to recruit more companions?

[@HeadlessHorsemanProductions]

No mod, this is just the result of a very long sandbox campaign. Basically we have grandfathers, fathers and children running around in an army...

[@brandomiyano7266]

@@HeadlessHorsemanProductions thanks keep grinding love the videos brotha!

[@jackfann4350]

can you show how many clans are eliminated in your campain? i downloaded one of the mods but dont know how to tweak the chance of noble deaths so my vlandia has lost like half its nobles so far XD

[@HeadlessHorsemanProductions]

lol, oh no! I should(and tried) to warn folks - I would suggest something like a 25 death rate for the death for all mod. I don't think there's actually a way to show all the eliminated clans but I would guess with about 10 years of running the 'death for all mod' at times as high as '5' and as low as 25, I've lost maybe 1/3 of the enemy clans, including a few of ours. I hope you can still fix your situation - it's a good example of a mod that can be damaging if you go too crazy with the tweaks.

[@wesselbooi]

My wife died in my campaign recently😢 do you have any suggestions for a new one (I like a badass killer kinda gall)

[@HeadlessHorsemanProductions]

Oddly enough I would suggest you look for a young, inexperience wife. That way you can teach her... ahem... all of your expectations, either in the king's chamber, or on the battlefield. lol... No, I mean it seriously, a younger, newer wife will be beneficial in a campaign because you can spec her more from the beginning instead of finding one already higher level with points spread across to widely, that way you can make her either a badass in combat or a great governor/leader. Happy dating!

[@wesselbooi]

@@HeadlessHorsemanProductions thanks a lot mate! Haha I will find a young lass to mold into a great psycho killer 😂🫡 previous wife was a badass running around with 300 troops in a party. So the expectations are high…

[@wesselbooi]

@@HeadlessHorsemanProductions My guy is 39 atm, and he just got a new 19 year old wife 😅 feels a bit strange not gonna lie 😂

[@HeadlessHorsemanProductions]

@@wesselbooi That's called the goodlife. It's not like real life where she is going to be immature and annoying.You just get MORE kids and longer life lol.

[@wesselbooi]

@@HeadlessHorsemanProductions haha absolutely. Hope she makes some real battle machines for me!

[@jefmorard5923]

How did you drop the lengendary khan coat?

[@HeadlessHorsemanProductions]

Drop it? I assume you mean find it? I don't remember the exact battles but we fight enormous battles against the Khuzait regularly and I recall at least one from a fight vs. 4,500 Khuzait that were sieging. I say battle(s) because we actually have TWO Legendary Khan's Coats. Maybe a mod helped but I don't use anything besides what I listed(and RBM).

[@jefmorard5923]

​@@HeadlessHorsemanProductions Thanks dude on my way to make a great war ! And don't stop making videos ! (In your description, the link for the mode Lord Retinue Uptier takes us to page of RBM)

[@HeadlessHorsemanProductions]

@@jefmorard5923 Oh I should clarify, it's a mod that is coupled with the RBM mod, you can use it independently or WITH RBM, but the link for the mod download is actually on the RBM mod page. Happy conquering!

[@Y0uKnoWh0]

You only get it (in the base game) from knocking out Monchug in a battle (its his armor). In a modded game you might be able to get it from knocking out modded units that are wearing it as armor.

[@HeadlessHorsemanProductions]

@@Y0uKnoWh0 Yeah, then I am at a loss. I also swear I got one from a tournament in Khuzait territory once. Sorry, this isn't an area of expertise for me, wish I could help.

[@48zero89]

.29 people are those who call you cheater lol

[@HeadlessHorsemanProductions]

Always some surly people out there that are just unhappy with life...

[@JoshSweetvale]

Huh. Decent production. Get a pop filter. I need one too.

[@HeadlessHorsemanProductions]

Fixed it just by altering the 'hz' rate. Sorry, was so much material in this episode I decided to just roll with it.

[@JoshSweetvale]

​@@HeadlessHorsemanProductionsNo bigz. I just did a series and the first 5 episodes the audio balance was complete trash. You're at least a whole grade above me.

[@HeadlessHorsemanProductions]

@@JoshSweetvale I appreciate the feedback! I'm in a strange space with the channel, never did I think it would get popular and yet for me to keep doing it into the Summer and beyond I need it to keep generating interest. My wife thinks I should monetize it but we don't need the money. Goodluck with your own vids, and do share if you have good stuff others might enjoy!