Why Fian Champions are the Best Unit in Bannerlord

My opinion on why i think Battanian Fian Champions are the true chads of Calradia and why they deserve the spot of Best Unit

[@chrisbadger8684]

Ok, well you definitely convinced me that Fian Champions aren't as good as Khan Guards. First, to claim that they are the best without offering any comparison to any other units is a bit of a weak claim don't you think. It is just saying "oh, the boys did good, they must be the best". The first two battles were good situations for the Fians, flat and wide open battlefields. The third had a nice choke point the enemy had to come through, and in the water no less. In the first battle the fians had a shield wall that gave them protection also. In the last battle the Fians lost 11 of 87, that is horrible. You are impressed by a 2 to 1 ratio, that isn't even entry level for a Khans Guard army. You need to show 3 to 1 or 4 to 1 to get in the game. Khans Guards don't need a shield wall, they can just move. The battlefield doesn't matter, because they are mobile. In melee they are awesome and would just wreck the fians if it came to that. You either have never tried a Khans Guard army or haven't figured out how to use them. I've seen quite a few vids that claim Fians are the best, but not one that ever even tried to prove it. A few decent battles does not make them the best. It is like saying the Dust King is a monster, yes he is for early game characters, but a monster compared to what?

[@indigowells]

A complete counter to the Khan's Guard from my own experience and almost 1000+ hours of gameplay are actually the Fian Champion themselves. Khan's Guards are good but horses are expensive for them when ranking while Fians require no such expensive costs. They're great against melee, great against ranged and even great against horse archers, only counter from my own experience is a good charge and flank of lancing and shielding horsemen. I've seen Vlandians Banner Knight and Imperial Elite Cataphract destroy my own Fian Champions or even me opposing Fians on a realistic difficulty. The Cost, Easily place-able on battles and sieges, and barrage of death the Fians bring from my own experience vs a Purely Khuzait build with 100+ Khan's Guard where you gotta pay for the horses constantly which are never cheap in game and can be lanced well by other horsemen (I've seen it happen often) The Fians are just more practical, devastating and easily placeable units compared to a Khan's Guard which are mostly decent due to them being on a horse. You'll save thousands of money getting Fians and easier amounts of them from Bandits than I have with Khan's Guards. Don't get me wrong though. Khan's Guards are extremely good. But Fians in my own playthrough are more practical, a huge offense and defense during sieges, and in battlefields. Placement sometimes isn't even that necessary for them. But I always manage to find a great spot for Fians while Khans guard do mostly their own thing or charges which can be stopped by infantry.

[@chrisbadger8684]

@@indigowells I can build an army of hundreds of Khans Guards and never ever have to buy a single horse. Just don't start at low tier, and you can capture bandit types for free. You say that Khans Guard "do mostly their own thing". No, you can directly control them. If you are happy with your Fians, that is fine. My point is this video claims that Fians are the best troop in the game and never even tries to demonstrate that they are. He shows 3 battles that are not impressive. A Khans Guard army can easily win at greater than 2 to 1 troops and expect zero losses.

[@indigowells]

​@@chrisbadger8684 I mean. 400+ to 100+ is a pretty huge difference. Honestly I don't think there is a "Best Unit" In Bannerlord. Since theres just about a counter for each noble troop type which is how it's meant to be, especially if you look at all factions (Imperials are all centralized so its the same for each one but still Elite Cataphracts can be versatile in their own way.) Could also rely on his difficulty he has set for himself. But I have done a full Khuzait Realism run with Khans Guard only even, It was around 220 Units and I would frequently attack armies of 500-600 and would win. But always lost a good amount but that was expected against such odds. However during Sieges and all. They were Not as effective as I'd hoped for, But FIans both field and Siege were extreme versatile and didn't need horseback. Also getting Fians from Bandits were a lot easier when you can catch them and not have to chase around the map for them lol, Horse Bandits aren't always fun to catch. Fians can also Counter Khan's Guard and have also in my own game done the same feat of only having around 150-200 could taken on a 550 of Horse or Infantry, didn't matter to them, easily. I prefer a grounded option vs one that relies on the horse archery. You can command footman and archers far easier than horsemen. It is my own preference but whatever you wanna win with your battles that is fine. I think the video does demo a fair amount of how capable Fians are. Especially considering those numbers are absolutely valid in that equation considering those Aserai in the beginning weren't peasant level or low tier for most. The video has valid argument. Noble Unit vs Noble Unit.

[@chrisbadger8684]

@@indigowells I'm not sure what you mean by 400+ to 100+, but I am guessing you mean that it may not be hard to get 100 KG without buying horses, but 400 would be harder. If that is what you meant then no, I can get 800+ without buying horses. And it is not hard. Sure, you recruit from castles what you can, but you hit the hideouts whenever you find them and bandit groups when you find them. That gives a constant flow of the tier 4's that you can recruit as they become ready. You say that you used 220 KG and frequently lost a good amount. There must be some tactic you are missing. At some point I could try to write out how I use the KG in battle if you are interested. I know nothing about siege defense. It is not hard to convince the games AI to attack someone other than me so I have no experience there. For attack, I always knock down the walls and when you have all tier 6 vs the random crap in most towns it is a massacre.

[@MongrelChad]

I see your point and thank you for the feedback. There are 2 things that i think win me over to the fians than the khans guard, their use and maintaining them. While khans guards have horses which gives them an immense boost in mobility, their loadout is easily outmatched by the fian champion. While their glaive hands down is one of, if not, the best weapons in the game, their bow and arrow cant really compete with the fian champion. They have a better bow, better arrows and higher bow skill. The 2nd point is maintaining them, while they cost the same as theyre both max tier noble troops, the khans guard is only viable late game due to their biggest strength being their biggest weakness, their horses. Khans guards need war mounts which can cost anywhere between 800 to 1200 denars each. In that video i had 120 fian champs that cost around 400 denars to level them up from tier 2 to tier 6. If you do the same with the khans guard, youre looking at least 150,000 denars to only build that army up. And what happens when you dont have any war mounts and youre stuck with unarmoured noble sons. I do greatly appreciate you commenting this as i like hearing from people who know about the game, but i still think fians are better. :)

[@NiskaMagnusson]

having horse archers is great and all until you're fighting a siege, then they're just fians without the melee ability

[@MongrelChad]

With worse bows aswell :(

[@marcos14223]

When playing Kuzait I have 40% cav 60% khan guard so... it isnt a problem and normaly at that stage I have an army, so im not alone

[@NiskaMagnusson]

@@marcos14223 well I mean Khan guards = slightly higher training than early Fian tree where the benefits would otherwise apply, but 60% of any top tier unit means the game typically plays itself unless highly outnumbered. (Not doubting your Sun Tzu skills of course)

[@marcos14223]

MMM I would say it shares spot with the Khan guard. Fians are for sure the best archers, but the Khans have a pretty good 2handed weapon to use as cavalry too, and i myself allways buy the long glaive to use when riding

[@MongrelChad]

Cant disagree with that :)

[@LthL-JJ]

"The best offense is a good offense" - Mongrel Chad, 2024

[@MongrelChad]

Am I wrong? :)

[@LthL-JJ]

@@MongrelChad Well the saying technically is: “The best defense is a good offense” ;)

[@MongrelChad]

@@LthL-JJ ah but ask yourself this, if offence is the best offence, then why need a defence?

[@LthL-JJ]

@@MongrelChad If it's the best offense then it cant also be good offense, it's already the best offense, so it doesnt make sense.

[@TheChimeraDude]

Well, I saw your Reddit post and now I’m here and subscribed 😂😂😂

[@MongrelChad]

Glad you’re here brother, planning to ask Reddit after every video, I like hearing peoples opinions :)

[@DiabloGoldSecrets]

Khans guard are the best AI unit partially because of horse archer AI but also because they counter the player. They will kill you at range or up close and have no counter besides terrain and cheesing the edge of the map. They are built like a player themselves. That being said, khans will also defeat fians in open battle every time when left to the AI because the fians will miss a lot while the horse archers will hit. Khans are the best unit in terms of fighting capability, but fians are easier to stack and when supported well can rack up insane kill feeds. Fians are not stronger but it is easy to build an army around them and win the game. For khans guard they need no shield wall support and could be your sole unit type. Fians at least need a shield wall because of slow fire rate or Calvary to hold units like horse archers still. Are fians plus other units with good tactics better than khans guards? Yes. But alone they are not. So the statement fians are better is false.

[@MongrelChad]

I agree with every point but the ai for the fians, when i play with them in my army, even on the hardest difficulty, they seem to nail down cavalry and horse archer charges with ease, the khans guards are beasts of their own though :)

[@DiabloGoldSecrets]

@@MongrelChad you are either vastly out numbering them or executing strats to prevent them from circling; if you position correctly they will turn around instead oh circling

[@goatman4690]

My favorite mongrel chad!

[@MongrelChad]

My favourite goatman:)

[@about10ninjas]

Very interesting.

[@MongrelChad]

Hope it changed your perspective :)

[@moraine2442]

What combat difficulty do you play at? I usually get at least some damage whenever I charge through a line of shields and spears alone.

[@MongrelChad]

Hardest difficult, bannerlord. It’s the most realistic and most fun as it keeps all the damage equal to the enemy :)

[@dontbetrippin4575]

Imagine playing bannerlord without RBM

[@MongrelChad]

Gotta appreciate the real vanilla experience :)

[@user-dj7ww8vc2b]

more please