It’s time for another scheduled gaming-related post, but since I haven’t got the time or energy to write a full-on review, I’ve decided to share an excting (and nerve-racking) story from my Mount & Blade: Warband save.
To give a brief overview, I’m a Lord in Sultan Hakim’s Sarranid Sultanate, and I’ve been rather instrumental in our acquisitions of Narra, Dhirim, Reyvadin, and Uxhal, plus a bunch of surrounding castles. Of the set of things we’ve taken, the Sultan has granted me the town of Narra, which I had personally sieged and taken after the Vaegirs weakened it, but were unable to break in and claim it, I own Uhhun Castle, the nearest castle to Narra, and I own Kelredan Castle, off in Swadia country, as well as a handful (5-6) smaller villages, all of which I collect taxes from. (map of Calradia, to reference for locations)
We’ve been at war with the Nords, the Swadia (who we got out of war with just before the siege), and the Khergit Khanate for some time, because all of them have things that we’ve taken from them at some point or another, and they want the stuff back. Anyway, the Khergit Khanate decided they wanted my city of Narra back while I was off at Kelredan Castle, and I get the notice that it’s happened, so I sent a message asking the Sultan to move over there, which he says he’d do, and I depart immediately to check out my town and break the siege… There are 900 men waiting for me… I’m starting to ramble alread… To the point, then!
Sultan Hakim of the Sarranid Sultanate left me hanging out to dry, and I had to fend off the king of the Khergit Khanate, their Grand Marshal, and a half-dozen or so lords, who brought a total of 920 men into battle against poor little me. The bastard… I take all this land for him, then when I send a message calling for aid, he leaves me hanging out to dry…So anyway, Sanjar Khan, the enemy king, is sieging Narra, a town that used to belong to his kingdom, but that my king has owned for a few years and has let me rule over and collect taxes from. Since it’s MY town, I thought “to hell with it. If it’s being taken, then he has to put every one of the defenders to the sword”.They try to assault the walls, and about 150 of 300 men (between the garrison and my 50 Sarranid Mamlukes and 20 assorted other men that I had with me to begin with) hold 400 back from taking the walls, and the Khanate has to regroup.They are sitting outside the walls for a few days, maybe a week or so, and a few of the Lords break off to harass Sultanate caravans for supplies. So since they are split, I take a risk and break through the siege lines with the strongest men I have at my disposal, leave the city fairly minimally defended, I swallow the smaller Lords with my 120 men (about 200 were not injured or dead – mostly just survivable wounds), so there are only about 90 men in the town. Then, I am met outside the walls by the Grand Marshal and the King, who have a combined 375-400 troops still available against my 120 in the field. And, it’s a calvalry-strong army, being the Khanate. I miraculously defeat them by keeping my army grouped and with me moving around the battlefield to scatter their men and hit them over and over while periodically letting the men separate to strike hard hits.Then, after a long battle (30 minutes real time, which is a good while), we manage to defeat the entire army, and we had a few Lords as prisoner, who I promptly threw in Narra’s prison to rot while I awaited a ransom from them. Then, I just sat in Narra with my army while I sent recruiters, and we have 350 recruits that I am taking into the field and quickly training while my Constable trains others to rebuild our garrison. But, at least I broke the bulk of the Khergit Khanate’s army, I’d say, so hopefully it will be a while before they try striking at Narra again.I swear, bards will be singing of that day. And, I imagine the men who survived all three major battles (the siege defense, the caravan defense, and the direct assault against the King) are doing a lot of praying, feasting, and baby-making after this one.So, to recap: 300-320 men vs. approx. 920-930, and about 100 remained combat-ready. Damn. I am still amazed it went so well…
Also, in case any Warband players ask, the recuiters and constable come from the Diplomacy module, which I love because it adds a lot of treaty options, it adds the Chancellor, Constable, and Chamblerlain, who help manage your affairs (keeping a treasury to put the income in, moving troops around, training troops, getting troops, you can manage your fief improvements there, send messages and gifts to Lords, etc). Google it for more information, if you feel so inclined. I am just pointing out that that’s where my two non-Native things I mentioned came in from.
