Manor Lords: The AI CHEATS?

Today, we're continuing a multi-video journey on which we will be building historically accurate and authentic city designs in Manor lords, a highly anticipated city-building game! I will explain how the game works as I play and explain some historical details as we go!
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Manor Lords is a strategy game that allows you to experience the life of a medieval lord. Grow your starting village into a bustling city, manage resources and production chains, and expand your lands through conquest.
Inspired by the art and architecture of late 14th century Franconia, Manor Lords prioritizes historical accuracy wherever possible, using it to inform gameplay mechanics and visuals alike. Common medieval tropes are avoided in favor of historical accuracy, in order to make the world feel more authentic, colorful, and believable.
#manorlords

[@OneProudBavarian]

You'll have to bring a loootta troops to threaten me ... oh ... you brought a lot of troops? Well ...

[@isogaming6775]

about the gambeson production, its bugged atm, i had the same on my campaigns. They take one linen to the house but the 2nd always seems to get taken to a market so it never accumulates 2 linen at the tailor to make the gambesons

[@SweetuPatel72]

Hey how do I get a different skin like that?

[@spamfilter32]

It might take a while to get the new villages populated. The widows need to get their mail-order husbands first.

[@vosechu]

I think you meant “male-order” :)

[@richman2601]

@@vosechuThe males are mailed

[@Mhantrax]

bonus hint: You can click the 'X' in the granary/storehouse to deny all of that category (such as all weapons) being stored there. This will save the millions of clicks needed to deny all of each item individually.

[@peterkadar768]

I find that even after disabling certain goods they will still be stocked in the granaries. For example grain was stocked in my last save file in all of my granaries despite the fact that it was disabled in all of them (as well as flour). There are also other things which never get stocked for some reason, like flax. I wish I knew whether it's a 'me' problem or an actual bug cause it's so frustrating

[@Wenchbane]

@@peterkadar768 I've had this before too. Had granaries near farmhouses for grain/flax and barley to be processed nearby and then further transported to granaries closer to my markets. None of the selections and disallowed items worked.

[@richman2601]

@@peterkadar768Maybe the buildings ran out of space?

[@peterkadar768]

@@richman2601 unfortunately no, there was more than enough space in all cases

[@vincenzoemanuelkleinszig9094]

The Battle ends when the timer runs out! Victory is then proclaimed by witchever army is standing on the battle ground (cicle with crossed swords); I got a heart attack when you gave up your claim... Love the series! Greetings from Österreich!

[@theorixlux]

The timer pauses during the battle. The timer just tells you how much time you have left to contest the claim. There was definitely some sort of bug tho. I don't think a second army should've spawned, and the battle didn't end at the right time. Maybe there were troops hidden in the forest tho

[@genericusername52]

@@theorixlux On Challenging difficulty the ai always spawns a second army halfway through the claim period.

[@blablubb4553]

@@genericusername52 On normal difficulty, as well. If you defend, you have to defeat two waves.

[@Owen-rl3iy]

Don’t worry about the optimizer comments! I really enjoy watching you specifically because you choose to make good looking cities, instead of “playing to win”! Thanks!

[@AdonisOuranios]

Just so you know, the farm at around 22:00 was NOT set to have a Crop Rotation, so it's going to produce all year every year. This series is so much fun to watch, I love learning about history as you go.

[@mariuss1590]

Did you assigned someone to the church to bury the dead? Also a corpse pit for the enemey

[@lb2791]

you only need this if you fight in your own territory to not get the unburried bodies penalty to approval.

[@shadeitplease7383]

On my playthrough on normal it felt like the baron was claiming territory while I was still in very VERY early game like no possible way I could contest it. So I drop a save and think “well maybe if I challenge it’ll send an appropriate number of troops for where I’m at in the game”. Save, click challenge on the battlefield, and instantly like 3 divisions spawn on the edge of the map and I don’t even have a retinue and only the weapons I was given. Welp, guess he gets the territory lol

[@2KXMKR]

I don't play with the gifted weapons as it feels cheap and scummy to just have them magically appear in your storehouse, so by the time I have my first 36 spearmen the baron has taken three regions and killed all the bandits. I find it completely impossible to keep up with the AI, but I don't want to turn it off because I eventually want that end-game battle. Some balancing is definitely needed and the spawn limit of bandits needs to be lifted - Currently they completely stop spawning if all territories are claimed.

[@Cigmacica]

Well you’re lucky i challenged him later on and his army directly spawned in my territory, so while i was scrambling to move my army from the original battlefield to my village he already burned it down

[@spamfilter32]

@@2KXMKR The dev is aware of this problem and has said that the baron's aggressiveness will be toned down. Probably a lot of balancing to go though.

[@mortache]

​@@2KXMKRit makes sense that you have a few pointy sticks for defending yourself, you don't even have that many recruits when the shipment comes.

[@HansWurst1569]

Doesnt really matter if he conquers all territories, you can take your time and build up. Only the last region has a special battle. for the rest, just try to go for 3-4 spearmen, 1-2 small arms militia and just hold line with spears and flank with ret and small arms.

[@kaades_]

I live in Hungary and my small town is called Kunszentmiklós, basically translating to Cuman-Saint-Michael after the cumans that were settled there, would love to see a region/village named after a saint as it was really common back in the day, maybe spiced up with the name of a people living there ;)

[@Aries-ne9uq]

This series is so cool cuz I feel like I’m learning watching manor lords and it’s such a good looking simulation game first person and at the larger scale

[@owendarragh1396]

I think the Baron bought some of the new mercenaries that became available, that would be my guess at least.

[@mikloskoszegi]

That's exactly what happened.

[@Niveaufriedhofchef]

Yeah thats what happens, luckily OPB bought some of the mercenaries. Otherwise i think the baron would have hired those as they are stronger (he seems to only hire 1 group?!)

[@Vipre-]

I kind of miss the ability from the demo, unless it's now baked into the game, to allow idle workers to work other tasks. Leaving your farmers at the farm or foragers at the hut wasn't ever an issue because when they had nothing to do they could go off and chop wood or help at the communal ovens.

[@jarlnils435]

As would be normal for people.

[@DARKH0BBIT]

one feature I really find I need is the ability to move livestock between stables especially when I build multiple villages in a region aswell as selecting which livestock gets assigned as a permanent worker for buildings like the log farm and farmhouse etc.

[@DARKH0BBIT]

also maybe Dreibauerndorf could be a name that fits though I'll admit its not very creative

[@Lostwoz486]

I'm a Manor Lords obsessed American living in a German village In Baden-Württemberg with a rich history dating back to the 11th and 12th century and I'd love to know more about it's design and origins. I love classical and medieval study and your series is hitting every interest for me! My family and I took a trip to Paris recently and my wife asked me why I was staring so intently at every village we passed... Me: Oh, just getting ideas for my field layouts 🧐 Her: You know you're actually here right? You don't have to play a medieval village simulator when you live in one! Me: That's it. You're reassigned to the corpse pit. Her: *Audible eye roll*

[@mumpitzkaffeeschluerfer4262]

I hope that your maltsters (especially those at the kiln) don't overdo it and always keep an eye on the flying sparks. Don't let the nearby mill explode. 😉

[@Denek_23]

When you have been hiring mercs, there was another band avialable, he simply hired it and send in with some of his usuall stack. He used units that were avialable, if you would hire those mercs he wouldn’t. All fine for me, he fights with the means that are avialable, same as you would do. He has 90 days to reach battlefield, same as you do. In my hard play through I disbanded my mercs after initial clash, becouse didn’t want to pay for another month and was confident I would win. So he hired them after few days and send my ex-brothers in arms against me. If you ask me it’s realistic.

[@OneProudBavarian]

I don't think those were mercs - the mercs I didn't hire were just archers. And his initial troops weren't mercs either. Just seems like his standard setup is two swords, one archer, one bandit and one retinue as that is what we fought here twice. I don't think he actually interacts with the mercs although I know that's a common perception.

[@Denek_23]

you might be right… sorry then, I had exact same situation in circa same moment of the play through snd that how i explained to myself what happened. At 30:15 when you hover over archers it says light merc archer, but if what I say would bd true there should have been heavies as well… i dont know then… there was no pop up after you hired that band the new mercs ard avialable… one cunning baron he must be dividdd his forces and tried to trap you ;) just joking, no idea what happened then… but i won’t be agitated about it ;)

[@blablubb4553]

Whenever Hildebolt wants to invade one of your territories, he will do it in 2 waves. You have some time to defeat the first wave before the second one arrives. But if you wait too long, you're screwed.

[@SilverWolf09100]

I actually have a trick for filling in those little road areas like at 11:20, if you temporarily place a market inside the gap it will transform the road to be a wide road and will look much nicer I think than the cross-hatched road.

[@thegamingdutchman2280]

I just walked up to the small stone church in my settlement, and found that on the side of the building there is a small roof with just hundreds of what appear to be skulls underneath it. Very disturbing 😅

[@dennisfiring7518]

Phew that battle :) Well done getting out of that near disaster. Tip on how to adress the undesired snapping when placing housingplots or fields. Place a temporary road with your desired form. Once you have the plot/field placed you then remove the road.

[@spamfilter32]

@20:28 if you want to mass exclude items from a storage building, on the far right side of each category of goods, there is an 'x' and a checkmark button. clicking the 'x' button deselects all the items in that category.

[@bearstarpresents2264]

During colonial America, my town was founded in the literal middle of nowhere in the forest by two land speculators. They flipped a coin to see which one of them the place would be named after. Winner got the town, loser got the stream it was built on. Have a little fun with choosing the new name. Edit: oh and as growing up on a farm in the Northeast US. Deer watching you on the edge of the trees while driving your tractor is completely normal. Bears even. I’d write a lyric from ‘She thinks my tractor’s sexy’ but this is a medieval game, so maybe the deer think your ox is sexy 😉😅

[@MastigosWilkins]

one thing about clothes, they need level 1 and level 2 clothing, level 1 being leather, yarn and linen and level 2 being cloaks, boots and clothes

[@deltav864]

@10:55 I also like to use 0 stall marketplaces to fatten up the road; instead of putting down a lot of roads, a little faux marketplace in that triangle would've probably given the same effect. I use this to fatten up main roads that are adjacent to the side or the back of houses too.

[@NurmaBP]

How about the new small villages having their own mini market, probably just 3 (max 4) stalls for foods, firewoods, clothes, etc. That would be convinient for the villagers.

[@intruder6570]

For bigger roads you can place market place close to it but make it small enough so no stalls are actually built

[@Iwan.Spillebeen]

Absolutely love this series, your historical knowledge and enthusiasm, awesome

[@robertsnook7443]

You have a Beer village and a Clothing village! Maybe they could be called something that signifies that? Bierdorf und Kleidungdorf ;) lol

[@spamfilter32]

@8:19 The yield figures will climb as the crop continues to grow, reaching it's peak once the growing season is finished. If you check back in another month, the yield of this flax field will be much higher than 10

[@Attilladehun]

It's funny how you raise two armies, then get shocked as your opponent does the same thing

[@oopswrongplanet4964]

You make me smile, Crocodile.

[@_Belisarios_]

very nice battle - you outmanoeuvered them heavily

[@Strigulino]

The two battles reminds me of the famous battles of 1066 in England. First the Battle of Stamford Bridge in the north of England, King Harold of England versus King Harold of Norway. English win, but then he hears that the Normans are attacking so the Anglo-Saxon army had to march about 180 miles, mostly on foot, southwards in three weeks for the Battle of Hastings. It is believed that had the English not been exhausted from marching straight from one battle to another they may well have defeated the Normans as well.

[@cammauermusic]

I love your videos, especially the history!!! but I have a question…My last name is Mauer and I know it’s Jewish-German, having roots in Austria, but I was wondering if it was tied into any of the medieval german history you’ve been sharing with us. Please let me know and FEEL FREE TO USE IT FOR A SOLDIER!! Especially for a retinue soldier because Mauer means wall :)

[@lukash3742]

You should really get tax again, to enlarge your retinue.

[@Hobbyrepubliken]

Yeah a low and steady tax income would be good

[@RevAnakin]

So the AI was claiming Goldhof. When you sent troops through Goldhof to attack the other ones in the Baron's lands they spawned. The first army you fought was just one of the mercenary bands that the Baron hired and had NOTHING to do with the actual battl for Goldhof. Had you sent everyone directly to Goldhof, you would not have had to fight them until you wanted to.

[@nugo520]

Probably not the best name for the whole region but for the district with all the flax and the weavers shop a cool name could be "Hemsworth" it means "The clearing in the forest where the Hemmers live" in old to middle english (I forget which one) and hemmers were basically just people who made clothing.

[@zandrazandra9127]

Otterberg would be a nice name

[@Strigulino]

On town names - I live in quite a small town in England and was amused when I played Assassins Creed Valhalla and my home town's old name was being used for a bandit camp. 😆

[@lb2791]

Would be neat if you could do different forrest management systems, like Niederwald or Mittelwald instead of the rather ahistorical Hochwald we see in this game.

[@Obsidianoak]

The field being harvested at about 10min in had force early harvest checked

[@Steve_Keen]

I imagine stacking all those roads together might mess with pathfinding.

[@Sfaxx]

Definitely mercs. I've checked numbers and as a result of that double battle you've lost 10 troops (of them 2 retinues) while mecrs lost 33 troops (almost ½ of them archers - 16). Essentially you've lost ⅓ of hired mercs in that battle.

[@emresener08]

You choose crop types before or after October and November, is there a particular reason for that? I think you should choose the desired crop type to be sowed in next season as second year's crop type. As soon as it hits October, the farming year changes

[@BackfeetBoi]

If the battle does not begin soon he will call in more troops annoyingly enough. So there is not much time sitting it out. I kinda like this mechanic. But it too cought me offguard first time it happened to me😅 It can also happen if you don't let the enemy troops get to the battleground. So if you kill them before they get there the battle won't start and therefor he will call reinforcements. Also happened on my hard playthrough first time I did that. I thought I would lose that game. So always let them get to the battle area before you attack, and don't wait too long. Lastly when using archers, if you are close to the enemy set them to "shoot at will" (Icon witht he arrows). This will increase firerate and accuary at short range making them more deadly

[@madfreacmocrazi6093]

It's not Germen but Afrikaans but Welgeleegen is a nice name in my opinion. Or even Boersrand for a more on the nose name which means farmer bank

[@buosten94]

It would be cool if you could build an actual professional military and not just a militia and build forts in territories without having to establish a settlement. Making custom formations would be cool too. My only question from there would be about horses because I would love break the enemy with calvary

[@Mifune41]

The difficulty definitely started feeling “challenging” on this episode.

[@Runetrantor]

Interesting, him claiming your lands gives nothing, but when you do it, you get -1 king support (even though the lore said he is the illegitimate one here, and the king appointed you). Unfair. :P

[@matthew_thefallen]

I am having issues to gather food, it seems that they don't gather much and it finishes rapidly -.-'

[@mrbones909]

That goat idea is awesome.

[@henryyau4780]

I heard there was a bug where the demand/pricing doesnt update until you update the trade state

[@Jakeurb8ty82]

Ya each piece of road is a mathematical spline object? I'm wondering if there are too many bad things start to happen?

[@YoJesusMorales]

I think one more battle would have given you the map.

[@baronrichardharkonnen]

lookin' real cute today.

[@neptven]

It happens to me as well, the IA had a HUUUUGE army lol

[@andromidius]

Yeah the Baron is WAY overpowered. Doesn't help that the bandit camps seem to collaborate to some degree as well by either spawning directly in the path of the Baron's troops or inexplicably deciding to run at his army even when your troops are closer. Essentially, the AI cheats. So I have no problem exploiting it in return. I'll play the battles 'properly' once the game is in a more balanced state.

[@DominusRexDK]

you waited for the month to pass to get income to buy mercs. and clearly the Enemy Lord did the exact same.

[@kimchung864]

Your fields are WAY too big, about 0.6 morgen per family even if you have the heavy plows. You should be comfortably done with all plowing in late November meaning you need significantly more farmers.

[@richman2601]

28:00 ofc the ai can hire more troops if you can too. Why so surprised? Lol

[@phatman9762]

Call it "Hamborgar"

[@bigsarge2085]

✌

[@petterv6604]

Nice

[@Hobbyrepubliken]

Allmogen moments

[@Not_Dane_Heart]

Huh

[@fletaun]

i must say as far as military goes you quite bad at it

[@OneProudBavarian]

How so?

[@fletaun]

@@OneProudBavarian historically speaking medieval battle start by forming battle formation before engaging the enemy. They would form up quite far from the enemy then march in formation, the same with the other side. Changing formation while the enemies are charging is simply not feasible as people are clumsy its hard for soldiers to do in the heat of combat much less for village militia. Most of battlefield casualty happen once these formation broken

[@hitomisalazar4073]

Yeah Goats are really destructive. One of the reasons why they're worse for sort of that Fallow Pasture work than the game suggests is that while cows will eat grass just like them. Goats tend to tear up the root system as well, preventing further growth. While a cow doesn't. The benefits of grazing livestock isn't just their dung but also the usefulness of the beast as well as its impact on the workforce and the terrain. Like Sheep are better than Goats for destroying fields... but Sheep are also.... dumb. As potentially kill themselves levels of dumb. So they're very work force intensive. Not to mention basically helpless against predators like Coyotes and Wolves. Cows hit that perfect spot really where they don't destroy the field, they do benefit fertility of the field, they can mildly defend themselves with herd tactics, and they don't need constant babysitting to make sure they haven't killed themselves. Goats also tend to be able to defend themselves fairly well and not be suicidal... but you know, if you put a goat in a field you're saying "I don't feel like using that field for the next 5-10 years" really.