A Rebellion United The Empire On Day 1 - Here's what happened

In Bannerlord, the Empire is fractured at the start - Lucon owns the north, Rhagaea the south and Garios the west. But what if Emperor Arenicos was never murdered? Can the empire take over all of Calradia, or will they succumb to the ravages of the savages that surround them? Let's find out!
Episode 2 will release this Friday (September 16th) where we control the Empire instead of the AI, but are not allowed to lead armies or fight battles. There is a LOT to learn here so buckle up!
How to grow a clan 10x faster than the AI: • Bannerlord Family Guid...
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[@AdaLollA]

BRRRO there was absolutely zero justification for that good of an intro 😭😭 you are amazing at creating content!

[@Strat-Guides]

Haha you had me in the beginning... Thanks Ada! In the beginning, I thought - how can I make the data and map staring part of this video better? And I realized I'm not good enough to come up with something in time SO instead I'll make an interesting intro to make up for it :P

[@chadstallings5558]

🔥🔥🔥

[@Kazumix1337]

@@Strat-Guides Worked llike a charm :D

[@APersonOnYouTubeX]

Just realised that all Calradian Empire leaders died ironically: Lucon, who wants the senate to take over, died the same way that Caesar did when senators assassinated Caesar While Garios died with the irony of dying without fighting Rhagaea died ironically fighting, which stereotypical queens don’t do so (they get executed mostly)

[@Strat-Guides]

I'm glad you noticed :) I try to put little details without hand-holding and it's cool to see you picked that up!

[@EPICFAILKING1]

Julius Caesar didn't want the senate to take over Rome. He was dictator, and therefore HE was Rome. Which is why the senate (namely Brutus) decided to assassinate Caesar, due to his somewhat aggressive consolidation and extradition of power from the senate.

[@jackhallander6706]

Very ASOIAF-esque.

[@malyjozo5585]

So its wasnt just my imagination..:D

[@NotSimo]

Last time I was anywhere near the empire I caused it all to crumble... As an empire loyalist

[@Strat-Guides]

Hahaha Sounds like you are roleplaying the AI :D Thanks for watching Simo! What kind of video you working on next my man?

[@blank2809]

SIMOOOOOO, I wish you a good day aswell :)

[@DIEGhostfish]

Isn't that the curse of the banner?

[@ilikecatsandstuff1]

Recent patches have made me miss the higher death rates because almost nobody dies in my games anymore. For all their love of adding sliders, they should add one for these rates. The thrill of seeing that red skull when you dome a rival was great.

[@Strat-Guides]

Yeah I noticed that - more than half of the deaths in the first 20 years were from old age. Then once I checked at 30 years it skyrocketed and it was all old people! Every time a town rebels, the map gains 4 nobles instantly and most of the time they survive even after the fief is taken. Sometimes they will get executed and it destroys the other 3 in the clan, but sometimes they get recruited into other kingdoms. It's interesting stuff!

[@user-hz3ic7no3n]

@@Strat-Guides hi! Found your chanel like 4 days ago and absolutely loved it! Do you think you can make an up to date(patch) tutorials for newbies like me? Like how to manage a war campaing, how to do diplomatics) etc

[@Strat-Guides]

@@user-hz3ic7no3n Nice, welcome to the channel!! Yeah for sure, I was planning on making a beginners guide before the full release :) lots of topics to cover in that video but I think I can get it done pretty soon. I appreciate the support!

[@ShummaAwilum]

Start breaking people out of prison. Easiest way to assassi..... I mean rescue people, ever. If fact, one time I "rescued" Caladog simply because he kept taking the most tournament wins from me and I just respected him so dang much as a competitor.

[@Strat-Guides]

@@ShummaAwilum lol true! Accidentally hit em in the face with a throw knife

[@aquilathegreat9486]

Momentum is huge. Often as the player you're able to influence a battle a lot more than the AI. I've won a battle outnumbered 2:1. Sure. That wipes a lot of men off the enemy's side but more importantly it takes a ton of nobles out of the game. Mounted Patrols + Keen Sight ensures they're out of the game until peace. This allows allied AI to just run through them. I've once held 50 prisoners and completely wiped the Aseri off the map. It's wild. It usually comes down to whoever wins the first 2k vs 2k imo. If that battle never happens, it's usually a stalemate. Issue is, as pointed out, the AI is brain dead. I've watched armies ping-pong in the center of the kingdom trying to figure out the next course of action. REALLLY wish you could tell army leaders "hey. I think you should go to Myzea and siege it" like you could in Warband.

[@is2unknown893]

wasn't that a thing in warband? where you ask the army leader to head to somewhere.

[@kopazwashere]

@@is2unknown893 yes that is a thing, in bannerlord you can only toggle defensive/offensive/neutral :( I think you were able to tell lords to go wherever even if you werent a king or marshal, which didnt make sense; if TW wants to implement that only king or marshals (policy enacted and T5 clans+) and you have to spend tiny bit of influence for ordering army to move somewhere. Perhaps TW thought it wasnt necessary to implement the option since you can disband armies and form armies of your own.

[@rignanroach1775]

Where IS the video game that has good AI? I Haven't watched this through yet, but is there some talk of modding AI? Us that doable?

[@Strat-Guides]

Yeah that's one of my favorite perk combos in the game! One thing I noticed in this one is the AI was very aggressive with sieges - they would siege anything they could even when they shouldn't. 500 army being chased by 1500 an hour march away? No problem, siege the castle and get ganked Lol. The only sieges that won were the ones where the enemy couldn't get there in time, but then they lost it because a 100 stack would come in right after to take it back. PRetty sad. Yeah being able to give basic commands would be game changing.

[@aquilathegreat9486]

@@Strat-Guides the simple fix for me is just to follow an army (not join it) and vanguard ahead looking for enemy armies Typically when a siege happens, the enemy will form an army nearby So what I do is go looking for that army, and basically blockade it from the enemy parties from joining However if you attack and kill the army before it even starts, the ai will just form a new army And if the army is already too big well you can lure it around All this doesn't apply to Khuzait or Aseri armies who move too fast for you to run away even if they outnumber you by 300

[@colour1881]

Loving these map visuals, especially with region names, makes everything exceptionally clear

[@Strat-Guides]

I should have put the names in for the other ones - it's just hard to read because I made that layers while zoomed in a bit so I could have to cut them all out and readjust. I might make 2 layers - one for zoomed in and one zoomed out. It's just tought because it's a massive file lol almost 100MB for a single jpeg!

[@daviddavidson505]

Good to see Vlandia maintain the tradition of bullying Battania no matter what else is going on under any context.

[@Strat-Guides]

Lol damn that Derthert! Battania was doing so well too. I guess they are fine as long as they don't get dogpiled - but inevitably they do.

[@venator4838]

I was shocked that Sturgia was able to hold their town in the south for 20+ years

[@herbertpocket8855]

Dude the storytelling on this one is incredible. Such a great mix of genuine information and narrative

[@Strat-Guides]

Thank you Herbert! I'm trying to make these videos a bit more entertaining/immersive instead of just straight data/guides so I'm happy to hear that :)

[@ervinsapinis2379]

There simply isn't any better bannerlord content out there. For the intro alone. You've set the bar so high, I can't imagine how could it be surpassed. I remember one of your videos talking about how you plan to make this your full time, man I really hope its not stressful for you on that front. You deserve so much more attention and views

[@Strat-Guides]

Thank you Ervins! Yeah I do plan on it - I've been able to survive on the revenue from my other business so far but at some point I do hope the income from the channel catches up :) Either way, I'm learning so much and having such a great experience doing this that the skills and fun alone were worth the effort. Thank you for your support and I'll keep pushing forward! I've got next week's intro in the works right now and I'm going for something a bit lighter lol it should be funny. I've been paying for voice overs and I think this video it will really shine!

[@MarkD5678]

just imagine what it would be like if clans could decrease in rank over time as their prominent members die off

[@Strat-Guides]

That would be interesting - or have some sort of decay rate so if they don't keep fighting or lose a lot of battles their renown could decrease?

[@Axis_._]

Totally agree with you, one of the things which makes me struggle to really get into bannerlord is the campaign AI is just lacklustre for where it needs to be. If the potential is 100%, i would say its currently at max 30-35% of what it could be. Doesnt need overhauls, just small tweaks to make the kingdoms actually feel dymanic, and smart. Also, i really hate that rebellions just result in the feif returning to its old kingdom. Would be such a huge improvement, if rebellions led to entierly new kingdoms/factions which then tried to expand themselves.

[@Strat-Guides]

Agreed! I would rather have a more stagnant map if it means the AI is better at defending. Then they could add other mechanics to help break the deadlock like alliances and using influence or denars to have other kingdoms attack with you, etc. So much potential!

[@Axis_._]

@@Strat-Guides i totally agree. I wonder if the Devs know that this is what the player base wants for single player. The game doesnt need more/new content, just basically AI improvements in battles and campaigns. It still feels very much like it did two years ago.

[@zoramaitken3449]

That would mostly depend on different types of rebellions. A loyalist rebellion led by NPCs wanting to rejoin the old kingdom, or an independence faction that doesn't like the new regime OR the old one. Would definitely make more really cool options popping up in the game

[@GamerGrovyle]

@@Strat-Guides They could give "personality traits" to Lords between Attackers and Defenders. Using a Defender to join an army would cost extra influence and their priority would be to garrison into newly claimed fiefs whenever they have a full party. Meanwhile Attackers would function more or less like AI is now.

[@DIEGhostfish]

@@Strat-Guides I wish there were alliances, Ibdread thebday my liege declares war against my inlaws.

[@Strat-Guides]

The next episode can be found here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rae3oJSiZ9xkq7s How to grow a clan 10x faster than the AI: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bYq7k4aVjbeDkJI

[@AAllen-br8it]

The AI is my biggest gripe with this game. I lose all motivation to fight for a faction when there's no way to get anybody to work with me to get things done.

[@jamiehughes5573]

Exactly why independence is superior

[@tomsonlarrson3318]

You can call armies, and clan mates come with no? Influence to get them in. You need to be part of a kingdom tho

[@nanni-buyerofcopper]

​@@tomsonlarrson3318 thats great, but you cant conquer an empire with 1 army, and if all your factions armies are halfway across the world for no reason, theres not much you can do. I hope they implement a system where the king can spend influence to direct other armies like a king should be able to do

[@tomsonlarrson3318]

Get riding 225 and scouting 225 and ambush parties as you go. I ended up not even bothering with scouting perk and just leveled leadership and steward to 275 for the bonus in order to take over empires. You can take it all with just one party, not even an army. Running around with a stack of 200 and arresting as many nobles as you can means their armies get greatly reduced, and you can hunt the armies when they scatter due to cohesion loss. By the end of the run I had a party size of 545 alone, literally just let my vassals fight off the smaller parties while I solo'd armies and only consolidated when the enemy army was 2-1 or higher. @@nanni-buyerofcopper

[@ahmedhussain153]

@@nanni-buyerofcopper if you’re in a war then put the plan to offensive and stick to them they will mostly take castles and you can take towns

[@ethanbrown7198]

Sheer gold and I want more! Can't wait for Episode 2! Nice job Senor Strat

[@mendax2251]

Your editing is unmatched. The level of effort is pretty outstanding

[@Strat-Guides]

Thank you Mendax! I've been trying to improve for the last 6 months and focusing hard on editing and story telling so It's good to see that paying off. Thanks for watching :D

[@makingmercien9642]

I love this map you've got! This is so much better for seeing the big movements between kingdoms.

[@Strat-Guides]

Yeah I got spoiled with EU4 and HOI4 maps looking all pretty, then you get to Bannerlord and you can't even see the castles lol It took me a while to make, but I think it's worth it because I'm going to use it for my campaigns as well :D

[@lupus_croatiae]

I've had a playthrough in which western Empire was an absolute smasher, they've took half of northern and southern empires and had huge armies, for 5 years I've been fighting as mercenary against them. In the end Sturgians came deep and took western side of Northern Empire, Lycaron. Vlandians took western castles, Battanians took Lageta. Had I not intervened Garios would conquer SE and NE. But this ended up just like in real politics.

[@Strat-Guides]

Oh wow, that sounds like a really fun campaign! It reminds me of an EU4 achievement - I think it was called the Gendarme of Europe? Something like that lol but basically policing everyone around you :)

[@unskillled9258]

Thanks for taking the time to compose this very informative video. Great content!

[@Strat-Guides]

Thanks for watching!

[@osetrinushka]

Discovered this channel 10 days ago and have already watched ALL of your videos. Keep up the great work, the best bannerlord channel out there!

[@Strat-Guides]

Thanks Dmitry! The algorithm gods have blessed us both then haha Friday's video should be eye opening :)

[@osetrinushka]

Haha, yeah, that's true, can't wait!

[@waitingword87]

I hope your viewership explodes with the full release of bannerlord. You do a great job with your videos and are always helpful and are able to help all the bannernoobs

[@Strat-Guides]

I appreciate that! I'm hoping as well :) I think a lot of people will come back to play so it will be interesting to see how long they will stay. I hope TW does an amazing job with the full release version of the game :)

[@ryanleggott2716]

This video is beautiful. Some of your best work. I am so glad I found your channel a few months ago keep up the good work!

[@Strat-Guides]

Thank you! I'm a huge fan of the map games like EU4 and HOI4 and thought Bannerlord needed some love in that department too lol I appreciate the support :)

[@Petergriffin3450]

The way you make such detailed videos that are also super entertaining is amazing good job man

[@Strat-Guides]

Thanks Peter! I'm probably going to stream this weekend, just a heads up :D

[@Petergriffin3450]

Thanks

[@restitutororbis675]

Vlandia goes crazy everytime in my campaigns btw that intro is awesome

[@CaddywumpasFilms]

I just started a new campaign and witnessed TWO 900 man armies from vlamdia absolutely blitzkrieg western empire. They took like half the territory in less than an in game year lmao. Easily the biggest conquest I’ve seen the AI do so early

[@Strat-Guides]

Thanks Alexander! I thought it would be a fun concept to get all those hated kings/queens to die off at the start :) Yeah Vlandia is savage - Derthert must be dealt with!!

[@harrybenson6731]

Really good stuff as always, keep up the good work!

[@Strat-Guides]

I appreciate that Harry! I've got an even better one for Friday :)

[@segothgalont23]

This is super interesting, thanks man!

[@Strat-Guides]

Thanks for watching!

[@thehashslingingslasher6443]

0:59 Garios is a known warrior/skilled general who is loved by his men tho; its in his description that his men love him? He ran at Pendraic because it was a full retreat. I never fought for the empire but I always respected Garios as the best one out of the 3 empire leaders. If anything it would be Garios walking at night getting assassinated and old man Lucon being the coward. I appreciate the time it took to make this tho. much love.

[@Strat-Guides]

What about the soldiers from the other 2 kingdoms? Why wouldn't they have flocked to Garios? That was my rationale anyhow lol I'm definitely no effort in Mount and Blade lore! I appreciate the feedback, I would like to make more lore videos and turn them into cinematic videos like the intro for this video, not sure if that's something people would watch though?

[@TimNurTV]

found this channel recently, big fan of the narrative driven content

[@balgain8613]

Your selfmade map is just absolutely amazing. Already saw you do similar map in Frederic's Prussian Conquest but this one is even better. After seeing this I genuinely hope TW adds political map to campaign when zooming out Thank you for the effort you put into the videos, its pleasure to watch

[@Strat-Guides]

Yeah this is the same map! But I spent about 20 hours last weekend drawing out each border so that the villages are accurately contained :) It took forever, but now I have each fief as it's own layer - so when someone is captured all I have to do is select that fief layer and change the color! I plan on using it for more things in the future as well. I appreciate that Balgain, it means a lot to me!

[@tryhardtrigg]

Omg this is amazing, and that map! Any chance of getting me hands on it so I can plot my own progress?? Either way keep up the great content! ❤️

[@WesternHypernormalization]

I'm surprised that the Aseri were so accommodating of that one Sturgian turncoat province. That clan must have a great lawyer/diplomat lol

[@Strat-Guides]

LOL! I was pretty surprised to see it myself.

[@matiasfidalgo8898]

Very good video!! Thanks

[@tigin11]

I never saw this . This is AWESOME . Beginning was like a movie . And you did very well .Map and taken castles And this excel table is good

[@Strat-Guides]

Thanks Umut! I thought I would try something a little different for this one :) I have somethin more light-hearted for Friday's intro - hopefully it's funny!

[@franciscojavierjimenezlede723]

Your videos are amazing! Keep the good work!

[@Strat-Guides]

Thank you Francisco! You've been with me for a while now so I'm sure you remember how bad the videos were when I started out haha I appreciate the continued support my man :)

[@isecsanchez789]

Alright now I like this video💪🏽💪🏽💪🏽 I hope you make more.

[@strategossable1366]

Best solution that the devs can come up with to improve campaign gameplay diplomatically is firstly to add in nerfs for Vlandia and the Khuzaits (at the edge of the map they have an advantage as they only have to defend one front really, compared to say, the Empire, or Sturgia, which have to move their armies to the other end of the map almost to defend against different enemies), and secondly to make the rebellions do stuff - as it is, they just sit there and wait to die. A good rebellion AI that invites other noble families and tries to expand, or just straight up defects to its cultural overlord (if certain conditions are met) would make the diplomatic game a lot more interesting.

[@jc-nd5qx]

thanx for another great vid! been watching since the robin hood series!

[@Strat-Guides]

Nice! That's old school haha back when my videos were #$%^ :) Thanks for sticking with me, I appreciate that

[@savic101]

The editing is crazy great vid

[@Strat-Guides]

Thanks Sam! I've been working on it hard for the last 6 months or so, I'm happy to hear it's working :)

[@yoloswaggins2161]

It sucks that the campaign AI isn't smarter about war. I guess its really hard to make a good one that isn't OP.

[@Strat-Guides]

Yeah you're probably right. I don't know anything about programming AI, but I do know it's not easy to do because I've been playing games since NES and it's pretty much bad across the board since then hahaha Damn I'm old :P

[@Genktarov]

Coming up with a set of logical algorithms to assess situations even for fairly basic parameters gets stupidly complex extremely quickly. Most chess computers run by choosing the move which in its database had previously led to the most victories. Metrics like that don’t exist for Bannerlord.

[@Strat-Guides]

@@Genktarov I think it might be easier to boost the passive defense of fiefs like making militia stronger or more plentiful. Something like that would require an adjustment to the AI behavior and might achieve the same results?

[@stillcantbesilencedevennow]

So next episode we will see how YOU do in charge? I'm excited if so. A unified empire under a good commander should be interesting.

[@Strat-Guides]

Yeah that's exactly it! No combat allowed and I'm not allowed to form an army - so it's 100% AI let troops. However, as you probably noticed from this video, the AI doesn't have a problem with combat - it has a problem with managing the kingdom like wars, peace, passing useful policies, etc. It should be a good episode!

[@user-cr4cj1fl8z]

I can guess from now its gonna be making sure you only have 1 war going on even if that means paying tribute to 2 other kingdoms cuz this way the whole army can focus on 1 front. And passing beneficial policies like loyalty to prevent conquered towns from rebeling = slow but steady increase in kingdom lands until you not only outnumber the enemy 2-1 but after the conquest of one kingdom you can now grow your forces up to 3-1 so every new war is more managable and so on and so on.

[@FACM.]

This looks like a really cool alternative history for Bannerlord! I just watched the intro and I want to see more about it!

[@Strat-Guides]

I was thinking about making some cinematic videos covering some Bannerlord lore - I'm not sure if anyone would watch them but I know they would be really fun to make! I made a whole character for Emperor Arenicos too, maybe it would be a fun experiment to use him in a campaign to reunite the empires?

[@bladfadsfblaadsfsadf900]

Love that you used the KCD soundtrack as your background music. Now I gotta do another play through!

[@Strat-Guides]

I got tired of using the generic KZbin music that doesn't match the mood so I figured I would change it up! The KCD soundtrack is one of the best I've ever heard for gaming :) it could easily be in a multi billion dollar movie production

[@Salac0]

Henry has come to see us!

[@Strat-Guides]

@@Salac0 Hahaha you just gave me an idea! Time to load up the character creator... we may see Henry of Skalitz in the flesh someday :D

[@AnarchistGrandpa]

This new format slaps. I'd love to see the same video but on different mods like the Europe map or Tetsojin

[@Strat-Guides]

Thank you!! It's pretty interesting to see how the AI handles (or doesn't lol) things. Yeah I had some ideas to test this same setup with mods - I tried it with diplomacy mod but it kept crashing at around 10 years :(

[@crishernandez1056]

I’ve been watching your videos daily and I’m starting to like your content more and more I have a request though would it be possible to do a breakdown of all the exploits currently working but any way keep up your work

[@Strat-Guides]

Thank you! I'm going to need some time with the new 1.1.0 patch as I have not found any new ones and they have been patching all the old ones lol but if I find any, I'll be sure to make a video on it.

[@vagodinfir1636]

Great editing!

[@Strat-Guides]

Thank you!!

[@Grauer1510]

Great effort, great video 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@Strat-Guides]

Thanks! I know this one was a bit delayed and shorter than usual but those maps are pretty labor-intensive to work with. I think it's worth it though, the map in game is doesn't really show progress very well (in my opinion anyhow, I like to see the colors and borders move around lol)

[@znahardev]

Map coloring is very comprehensive. Thank you

[@Strat-Guides]

Thank you! It's a lot of work, but it's almost impossible to know what's really going on without slowing it down and tracking each fief change.

[@jaredsmith7240]

Video quality is sublime

[@Strat-Guides]

Thanks for watching Jared!

[@lpseudonyml]

Would love to see another video like this, with the two parter, but with mods. Definitely Diplomacy, but maybe War & AI Tweaks, Separatism, Allegiance Overhaul, etc... It's so weird seeing a Bannerlord War without War Exhaustion.

[@tommaccarthy5954]

Shoutout to the Kingdom Come: Deliverance soundtrack. Love the vids Strat.

[@Strat-Guides]

Yeah!! The music in that game is better than multi-billion dollar budget movies I feel like. It's just too good not to use :) Thanks, I appreciate the support!!

[@walterlaten7662]

The khuzait speed is just so strong

[@koviknia2894]

Damn, these wars are absolutely mental. It might just be that I've never played long into campaigns but- The most vicious war I'd seen was between Vlandia, Sturgia and Battania, it was a free for all but...only a little less then ten thousand died, total. And yet, in this more then three times that happened in the first year alone. Draining the world of its people

[@unionvoluntad4651]

Looking for the next one! Really amazing way of test the game and its AI.

[@Strat-Guides]

Thank you! Yeah it's sad to see how the AI fumbles around a lot, but on the bright side there is a bit opportunity to improve once we take over :)

[@unionvoluntad4651]

@@Strat-Guides I think the Empire has been given some of the best and more diverse kind of troops just to overcome its situation on the map, right in the centre, and sourrounded by enemies... It's my Favourite faction and lore, but lastly I enjoy joining more peripherical factions in order to know peace from time to time, and build large high tier armies...

[@Strat-Guides]

@@unionvoluntad4651 That's a good point - nobody can stand toe to toe with the legionary troops! I know a lot of people hate on the Cataphracts but personally I really like them. I would rather have a tank than glass cannon like the Vlandians. So true - those edge of the map kingdoms get a nice break between wars at least.

[@benwatson222]

Valandia is absurd this patch. They pulled up on me with 1200 army of all tier 5 troops 😭

[@stillcantbesilencedevennow]

I hope to God you were defending with some decent troops. 😂

[@Strat-Guides]

Especially with a bunch of sharpshooters - those guys are soooo hard to beat once they get to that critical mass!

[@DemianX6x6x6X]

is that KCD music i hear in the background? great video mate

[@Strat-Guides]

Yes sir! I'm eagerly awaiting KCD2 and will gladly lock myself away for a week straight when it comes :) Thanks for watching!

[@ShummaAwilum]

I think the reason the southeast border held for so long (aside from castles) is because Danustica is a very tough city to take. It starts the game with most/all of its buildings complete. Several of its villages are located close to the city, making them hard to successfully raid if there are event parties in the city. It is wealthy, and it's relatively secure villages ensure it has a steady source of food. Almost every time I pass the city it has 600+ garrison plus friendly parties of all sizes roaming nearby. Unlike Marcy Lavenia Castle, which you can capture with a stiff sneeze, Danustica requires a massive army and a massive investment of time to capture. Any siege will naturally provoke a massive army to form in response. The defenders can almost always hold out long enough for relief. Even if it is captured the attackers usually take enough casualties that the relief army can wipe them out and immediately retake the city. If you can take it Danustica makes a fantastic capital city that requires almost no oversight.

[@Strat-Guides]

Interesting, I had not considered that. You make a fine point though. One thing I keep forgetting to test is how much of a difference the wall level makes for auto resolve battles. If it's a huge difference then maybe upgrading walls to 3 for all fiefs would be priority #1.

[@Lgnds_CBZ]

Bro I loved the intro

[@Chapdadddy]

Is this worth re-doing with the weather update? Maybe throw a custom empire in there if you need to mix it up idk

[@MarksmanGamingPk90]

Can't wait for next part

[@Strat-Guides]

Thanks Marksman! It pretty crazy how big of a difference there is between AI vs Player.

[@GuyontheInternet525]

Lavenia Castle was besieged so many times, I'm surprised it still has battlements

[@Ozcogger]

Amazing quality video. You got a new sub in me.

[@Strat-Guides]

Thanks Sean! I appreciate the support :)

[@areyoufcknkiddinme]

you missed the Rhaegaea's hair color, its more blackish one! But amasing intro and setup, very well done work!

[@Strat-Guides]

Ah rats, I should behead the hair dresser who recommended that color... ;) Thanks for watching, I appreciate your support as always!

[@commissarkordoshky219]

The issue of the Southern Empire; The Khuzaits and Aserai can be pushed out and using the other empire factions as regretful meatshields we focus on reaching the edges of the maps for one very important reason; avoiding multiple front wars.

[@timlordgaming2383]

I need to do my essay but this is a fire vid

[@LocalDiscordCatgirl]

I’ll never forget when my ruler’s party of 1500 marched *through* the army sieging my castle with me inside and with not enough troops to defend it

[@micgil4193]

You can see just how beautifully well balanced Bannerlord is when you look at huge time lapses like this.

[@Strat-Guides]

Haha it's like those chaotic systems that should collapse, but they don't because everything is perfectly imbalance enough to make it... balanced? Thanks for watching Gillanator!

[@ESFAndy011]

Tell that to Battania

[@ibnebadr367]

damn! the story mode is sick 🔥

[@Strat-Guides]

Thanks for watching! The episode for Friday has a fun intro as well :)

[@cagobaba31]

Amazing content

[@Strat-Guides]

Thank you for watching!!

[@The_Very_Tall_Midget]

There should totally be a mod where this map shows up if you zoom out enough

[@thisguyagain7857]

Leaving 50 starving troops is kinda like Sun Tzu death ground philosophy possibly?

[@FabianusMeridius]

Wow!!! Amazing like always my friend! Its sad when you let the IA conquer casttles and towns and then they go away to nowhere (like you said) and they lost AGAIN the town! ITS SO FRUSTRATING! hahah Anyway! Thanks for the video!

[@bladfadsfblaadsfsadf900]

I think the problem is the troop donation system is broken. For some reason, until a fief is rewarded to someone other than the ruler (which is default until about a day later during elections), the AI refuse to leave troops behind, sometimes leaving 0 in my experience for castles. Since armies typically move out before that point, you’re left with just a day’s with of militia to hold the settlement until another party passes through.

[@Strat-Guides]

Yeah it's so much back and forth! I'm happy with back and forth, but not when it makes no logical sense. I imagine people would have defended their conquests pretty heavily, at least for a while until they were stabilized. I appreciate that :)

[@Lgnds_CBZ]

With only 180 troops I took the khuzaits from 3450 to the 1600s and they still won't pay tribute :(

[@Gaming-Enthusiast]

Great video , massive inspiration to us smaller creators 👍🛎

[@Strat-Guides]

Thank you!! Just gotta keep pushing forward :)

[@jamesrahe5287]

Just wondering strat- did you get this idea from my comment a while back? Epic Video!

[@Strat-Guides]

Possibly! I honestly can't remember - but I get a ton of really good comments and I appreciate it :) I'm not all that creative on my own so I can just the help!

[@gustavmeier1953]

crazy vid ma dude here is a comment for the algorithm

[@Strat-Guides]

Thanks for the help Gustav! I appreciate that

[@zacharysplain2944]

Just an overall excellent vid

[@Strat-Guides]

Thank you!! Episode 2 should be ready by Friday and it's going to be interesting to see how different the map will look with a tiny bit of player input :)

[@kommissarantilus3742]

Lageta rebelling is such a meme

[@kainobaino]

How do you get that overview you showed? What tool or program allows that?

[@langeweileonline4720]

It's a perfect video but I have a question: with wich mod can u change all these things at the start

[@Strat-Guides]

It's mix of Character Reloader and using the console commands!

[@jacobterry2900]

I love Bannerlord, I love all the work that you put into this video. I can’t wait for part 2

[@Strat-Guides]

Thank you Jacob! I appreciate that :) I'm working on the intro right now - I'm going for something much more light and funny lol There will be plenty of voice acting so be ready!

[@Nerazmus]

Uuuuh. A colourfoul map. That pleases my inner Paradox gamer.

[@Strat-Guides]

Hahaha yes! That's exactly why I made the maps :) I'm an EU4 nerd and starting to really get into HOI4 as well. Painting maps is a life's pleasure one can never get tired of! Thanks for watching Nerazmus, I appreciate it.

[@ShummaAwilum]

Having owned Lavenia Castle in the past, I recommend against ever accepting it. I would use influence to vote for someone else to have that smoking ruin, or even give it back to the king rather than have the rest of the kingdom think I was ok owning it. The castle has few/no buildings in it. The villages are raided *constantly* wherever the owner is in a war. Because the castle is so poorly equipped and poorly garrisoned (because no one can generate any wealth under those conditions) *and* on the border it is captured constantly. No projects get completed because of the near constant loyalty malus from recent capture/siege/lack of food/small garrison/raided villages. Just don't ever accept Lavenia as your fief until it's safely behind the front line. It starts with nothing and can never get better so long as it's on the border.

[@Strat-Guides]

Yeah it's a crappy castle lol At least until it's no longer on the front line. You can actually accept the castle and give it away for free! That's what I usually do. Go into the fiefs tab under kingdom and find your fief on the list, there is a button at the bottom to give it back to the kingdom.

[@TheManofthecross]

if anyone does take lavenia castle and holds it for themselves then at least put a strong garason in there with a decent economic backbone to pay for the grason then you will have all the time in the world to build up the castle in to something worth while.

[@Strat-Guides]

@@TheManofthecross It's definitely a money pit for a while though! lol

[@TheManofthecross]

@@Strat-Guides apprentlly though i had not seen it switch hands that offten in my game plays that castle remains in imperial hands and remains stable there to build up such infastructure as much as the ai does there in either case helps that the clan that owns it has other estates to cover the costs as well. in either case a front line castle like that with long periods of peace can give it space and time to build up which helps nicely there. :) otherwise like you said it's a money pit though to be frank i never went for that castle out right i usually go for other places on the other side of the map first then make my way over to there eventually.

[@aumperialism]

Khuzaits suffer penalties for horse archers in siege battles so it's logical they'd go for towns than losing troops for castles

[@VictorianEra.]

So I'm just wondering how you managed to set up a custom nation at the start of the game. I've always wanted to do it but i don't know how

[@Strat-Guides]

There may be more than one way to do it, but I used the console commands to do this one. I used commands to take all empire forms one by one, then I teleported around the map to manually recruit all nobles (raise relations before, save scum each one because TW maths), then I have them all back to the nobles, then I used another command to kill off all nobles in ruler clan to eliminate them. Oh I forgot, another command to start a kingdom before that. Then if you want the AI to control everything, just abdicate the throne. If you want to keep control, then just start playing. It's a lot of work but it was worth it for the experiment! I'm considering posting save files like this, not sure how many people would want that though?

[@dillonschroeder985]

Alright that intro was well done and hmm, I think your live-stream of simping for Rhagaea has carried over as she was the only one to have a noble death. (Edit, I just realized this video is a year old nvm me lol)

[@Strat-Guides]

Yeah this was an older video, but Rhagaea seems to be the best of the 3 Empire factions (IMO)

[@alicesauter8231]

Incredibly high quality content. I’m amazed at how well put together this video is. The intro is great, and the map visuals are awesome too. Keep up this kind of content! Edit: It might look a little better to give the empire a color on the map. Also, cool to see notion being used for such a project like this. I use it for personal organization stuff but it’s nice to look at with all of these numbers to track.

[@Strat-Guides]

Thank you Alice!! I appreciate that :) I usually spend way too much time on these intros lol but I think it's worth it. Thanks for watching!

[@guyfieriismyhero2445]

It’s important to imagine castles as fly traps for armies, especially border castles they’re the perfect distractions for countering armies

[@qwr818]

How does he create him own empire? When i am leave the kingdom i can't make policies of the fiefs i own.

[@It_Mackie]

How did you customize the map when people Invaded? Is there website?

[@celebrimborau6420]

you should incorporate line graphs for the demography statistics and some of the other long period view overs. 20 years of stats looks great in one graph that can demonstrate the rise and fall better visually.

[@Strat-Guides]

That's a good point, it would have much easier to visualize. I have most of Fridays video edited already as well but if I have time I'll go back in and add it. Thanks for the suggestion!

[@likeablekiwi6265]

King Lucon either hasn't invested in athletics and weapon skills or didn't have a weapon on his person at all times to be defeated by a couple of pheasants.

[@Strat-Guides]

Lol! A true king would have fought his way out of that :D

[@federicusv2139]

Love the storytelling

[@Strat-Guides]

Thanks Federicus! I had a lot of fun putting the intro together for this one :)

[@DEADCASTdragonuff]

this custom map is amazing

[@Strat-Guides]

Thank you! I spent way too much time making that damn map haha

[@beastoftheapocalypse3002]

Just gotta ask how did you get the vassals to become your vassals because whenever I try I can’t find a cheat or there just always happy with there liege’s

[@Strat-Guides]

For this test, I gave myself 100 relations with everyone, 1 billion denars and I took away all their fiefs. Once they have no land, they are very willing to leave :)

[@Hemdael]

Super random question: I notice in lots of your vids (such as companion videos) that you've created 'perfect' companions for the purpose of testing. What mod(s) do you use for that? Regardless, cool video and loved the intro

[@Strat-Guides]

Hey Kimmur! No problem, it's called the character reloader mod and here is the link: www.nexusmods.com/mountandblade2bannerlord/mods/3700 It's very helpful when trying to do these videos because you can adjust anyone on the map :)

[@myers4924]

Embarrassingly took awhile for it to click that this was a game. I love this style of story telling and visuals. Can't wait for more content :)

[@Strat-Guides]

Nice, that's exactly what I was going for! I try to make things a bit more interesting because a lot of my guides are packed with data, which can be very boring after a while :P Thank you for watching!

[@yernat.ali1453]

damn, I am watching this instead of preparing for an exam

[@Strat-Guides]

Lol uh oh, good luck on your exam!

[@peenplays4219]

I love seeing the overhead map like this. I wish the actual game had a toggle. Maybe you can make a mod 🤠

[@Strat-Guides]

I wish there was one too! I'm too stupid to know ho to mod haha This map was 100% brute forced - I screenshotted ingame map 20+ times or so and stitched them together, had to smooth each place where the borders met to make it look legit, then draw borders for each fief, then a layer for each fief. The video for Friday is going to be even better! This video only used 50 map changes or so, but the next one is already over 100 and I have a few more to go :D

[@Max-bg7oo]

Hi, what is the map you are using? If you made it yourself, how? Its really good!

[@Strat-Guides]

Hi there! Yeah I made it by hand - it took over 100 hours to make lol but it turned out okay :) I basically took screenshots in game from the same height and stitched them together in GIMP. Then I added layers for the names, borders and colored land. Thank you :)

[@Max-bg7oo]

Thanks!

[@hellomynameisjoao]

Awesome video

[@Strat-Guides]

Obridago Joao :D I had a lot of fun making this one so I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[@mw5549]

What mods did you use to get them to die. Everytime I kill someone, then kill their heirs, the original ruler comes back...

[@arrynroyce72]

Strat short-circuited at the end from so much content.

[@Strat-Guides]

Lol! It happens every time :) I only include a small bit of the gaffs, but I could probably fill 1 - 2 minutes more if I put them all!