Released back in 2008, Mount & Blade won the hearts of players around the world. Even now, 9 years later, many of them spend another hundred hours in this interesting and realistic medieval world.
Mount & Blade — the game is truly phenomenal and, in my subjective opinion, is one of the best representatives of the genre Strategy RPG(in fact, the game can be divided into three specific ones: RPG, Action And Strategy, but that sounds less poetic). With this project I began to get acquainted with the genre of role-playing games and that is why I would like to dedicate today’s article to such an important product, whose legacy is still evident in current games dedicated to the Middle Ages.
Sharpen your blades and saddle your horses, young knights – we are going to Calradia!
WARNING: TOTAL IMMERSION
Welcome to the continent of Calradia – the home of medieval and harsh kingdoms, the abode of knightly tournaments and fierce battles. Here, on the continent, the territory is divided by 5 states, from time to time challenging certain borders through bloody battles:
Kingdom of Swadia
The continent’s central power, possessing the best cavalry in all of Calradia. Here is the heart of Christianity and Monarchy. A country ruled by someone King Harlaus, boasts an abundance of expensive goods in the market squares: shelves literally sag under tons of velvet, various paints, high-end tools and warm woolen clothing. Experienced warriors will also be able to find something to their liking, as local blacksmiths and artisans offer a variety of pikes, swords, strong shields and crossbows.
Being a militant faction, it often enters into military conflicts with such states as Kingdom of Rodok And Sarranid Sultanate.
Capital Kingdom of Swadia is a city Praven.
Kingdom of Rodok
A mountainous state, once long ago separated from the above-mentioned kingdom, now spreads across the southern part of the continent. Country, as in the case of Svadia, the monarch rules, but he is elected by a certain council, according to the old customs of the tribes. At the beginning of the story, the state is ruled by King Gravette.
In addition to the war withKingdom of Swadia And Sarranid Sultanate, Rodok suffers from numerous attacks from robbers, from whom the greatest damage is suffered by residents of mountain villages.
Without having a cavalry army, Kingdom of Rhodok accustomed to using polearms, as well as high-quality crossbows. This kind of army is designed to repel attacks and protect their fortresses. Even garrisons with a large advantage will have to work very hard to take the impregnable walls of the castles: while the spearmen do not allow the enemy to get close to the castle walls, the crossbowmen shower the surrounding area with a hail of bolts, striking countless numbers of unfortunate invaders.
Kingdom of the Vaegirs
Occupying massive expanses in the northeastern part of Calradia, Vaegir kingdom can rightfully be considered one of the most militant factions on the mainland. The soldiers of this country are well armed and well trained: infantry troops use two-handed rifles and represent a powerful offensive force, mounted troops, holding bows and arrows in their arsenal, can provide serious resistance even to the Swadian cavalry. At the same time, a distinctive feature can be called the complete denial of pikes, as well as the rare use of shields, preferring them to heavy two-handed weapons.
If we talk about the agricultural properties of the territory of the Vaegirs, then it cannot be called rich, much less fertile. Most of the kingdom is covered with snowy expanses, which makes the country dependent on trade with other major nations, with the exception of its main enemy – Kingdoms of the Nords.
Kingdom of the Nords
The most fearsome state of Calradia is certainly in the north. That’s what they called him – Northern Kingdom. Enthroned King Ragnar rules, perhaps, the best army, the power of which almost all rulers fear.
Born warriors, the housecarls inspire fear even in the most experienced knights of the southern and central parts of Calradia. The main combat unit is swordsman infantry, wielding shields, two-handed axes, northern swords (rightfully the best) is able to fight with anyone, anywhere and anytime.
One type of weaponry for the northern army is quite enough to successfully fight on several fronts at once, while suffering minimal losses.
Truly, the northern state, which worships pagan gods and organizes raids on neighboring villages, can be called almost the most powerful faction in Mount & Blade.
Sarranid Sultanate
The name of the country speaks for itself: before you is a southern power, which for centuries has ruled the boundless sandy seas, where great cities were founded, whose grandeur can give odds to the buildings of central Calradia.
The army, like Vaegir kingdoms, the most diverse; here you can meet soldiers on horseback, brave archers, and numerous squads of swordsmen. Despite this diversity, for the most part, the army of the sultanate is not distinguished by high-quality warriors, and in protracted, and especially losing wars, the Sarranids are taken by quantity, not by quality.
The problems of the country of the desert sea do not end there: large detachments of Bedouin robbers constantly move across the vast expanses of the state, plundering and burning already poor villages.
Kergit Khanate
The most unfortunate https://slotgardcasino.co.uk/bonus/ state of all, in my opinion. From the very beginning of the story, the eastern steppes of the Kergits – born nomads and warriors on horseback, were beset by many problems.
The first thing that shook the Khanate from within: death Yanakir Khan, great ruler of the steppe lands. His death was supposed to divide the state into two parts, as befits the ancient customs of the local people, each of which would pass to one of his sons: Sanjar And Dostum. But it wasn’t meant to be.
Through intrigue and other tricks, Sanjar single-handedly usurped the throne, thereby uniting the state and preventing it from breaking up into two separate parts, but by such an act he left his brother “out of work”. People still argue about the correctness of such a decision, but this is not the only thing that eastern nomads have to think about.
Due to the strife of neighboring states, willingly or unwillingly, Kergit Khanate gets involved in similar conflicts, which is why border lands constantly change hands.
As you can imagine, the country in the east of Calradia is currently going through hard times.
And now, after you have become better acquainted with the five great powers, you become the forge of your own history, in which it is You you will decide what Calradia will become after your actions.
IN THE NAME OF THE KING!
Your journey begins in one of the capitals of the five above-mentioned countries. Where you first appear and what style you plan to play in often depends on the decisions you made during character creation. In addition to the fact that through simple questions and choosing his past, the player also influences the characteristics of his own hero. For example, if you were trained by a craftsman and then enlisted as a squire, then naturally your character would be better with a blade rather than haggling in the marketplace. And there are quite a few similar examples and nuances even before the start of the game.
But let’s discard these far from the most important details, and also having spared you the description of the training that you will already undergo, let’s move on to the most interesting thing – yours roles in this game.
NOW I AM A LORD
Earning a reputation, carrying out small tasks for other lords, and simultaneously accumulating your own army, you can enter the service of the sovereign of the country that is attractive to you. Naturally, if you are not so famous, the king will not accept your oath, so before that, you should at least level up, acquire a large army and participate in various tournaments and difficult battles with a particularly large advantage towards the enemy (the main thing here is to count on your own strength). It’s even better if your character captures a fortress hostile to your future king, thereby rewarding himself with his own castle and forcing the whole continent to talk about him.
Now that you have become a vassal in this cumbersome feudal system, you will have many different options available to you: participating in large military campaigns, capturing castles in the name of the king, as well as the opportunity to take them over for yourself. And besides, no one will give up the powerful state behind them, and who knows, maybe in the future you will be able to create your own?
SELF-proclaimed KING OF CALRADIA
You don’t want to depend on the lords, to be a pawn in the hands of your king? It doesn’t matter, because you can take a more slippery, but no less exciting and steep path! It is enough just to have a large and strong army (just that), large reserves of gold and other resources, and then you can start creating your own state – through bloody battles, intrigue and betrayal, of course. Moreover, no one forbids you to renounce your own oath to your king and separate from him at the most opportune moment for you!
There are a lot of options for how you can snatch a personal piece of this delicious and huge cake, but you will need good allies. As I said earlier, you can acquire them during the vassal oath, or go in a much more sophisticated way and help pretenders to the throne of a particular state stage a coup in the country, while simultaneously creating your own! I am sure everyone would like to see themselves on the throne of a medieval state, which, through long efforts, would rise as a high banner on the map of Calradia. Doesn’t sound that bad to me.
SAY YES TO THE SLAVE TRADE!
You are attracted to the idea of limitless capital? Then you will like this style of play! Just imagine: you and your gang of robbers attack large detachments and take hundreds of unfortunate soldiers captive, and sometimes famous lords, and then sell them to slave traders, or demand a particularly large ransom. Yes, this is a paradise for born pirates!
In addition, this style of play will allow you to get rich at the very beginning of a long adventure. The money will be used to create an army, and where there is an army, there is power and own possessions.
PRODUCTS FOR EVERY TASTE! NOTEXPENSIVE!
If you are disgusted by the very idea of selling “living goods”, then you can make a fortune on more legal things. Success in selling resources is very simple: buy a product where it is cheap, and sell it where they are ready to buy it at three prices. Knowing where to buy something and where to sell it will come with experience, but no one is stopping you from simply finding out about local prices in the store.
This style of play does not involve a huge army, but only a small squad of elite fighters. Remember: you are not fighting, you are trying to get from point “A” to point “B” as quickly as possible, without running into anyone.
THIS IS NOT ALL
I have only given the most common options for gameplay development, because about the little things Mount & Blade I could talk forever. Here is the opportunity to get married in order to acquire strong allies, and the opportunity to be captured. You can participate in tournaments, develop cities, build relationships with other lords, raid villages, and so on… There are countless options for all this action. Now let’s move on to the final part for today – the battles.
WALL TO WALL
Most often, battles will take place in the steppes, so to speak, on the high road. Everything here is extremely simple: one army on one side, the second army on the other. Your entire army is in your hands – you can order them to stand still, hold their positions, go into battle, or not order them at all. In any case, the battle will turn out to be notable: mountains of corpses, a real massacre, especially in a clash of large detachments. In addition, your or enemy allies can flock to the battle, which will make the battle even longer.
In case of victory, your squad will receive a mountain of various loot, experience, prisoners, the opportunity to capture the enemy commander, as well as a chance to glorify themselves.
If you lose… Well, let’s just say it’s better not to lose.
The most interesting part of the game, in my opinion, is the siege of castles and cities. If you want to completely burn out, then first you can plunder nearby villages, thereby cutting off your target from provisions. Then, besiege the fortress and wait until they run out of provisions and only then attack the exhausted army, or maybe simply avoid battle, forcing the defenders of the fortress to surrender.
If desired, you can arrange an epic battle, which will be divided into several stages: taking the wall by erecting a siege tower or installing stairs, fighting inside the city and destroying the last stronghold of resistance inside the main hall.
With each new stage, the enemy troops will thin out, and after capturing the wall, the remaining stages of the capture will not cause big problems.
CONCLUSION
I only talked about some of the things that are present in Mount & Blade, so if you like this kind of article, I will write a sequel in which I will thoroughly analyze the equipment system, leveling up, talk about companions and talk about the types of troops of each faction. I will try to touch on the topic of battles in more detail, and share the news of the upcoming continuation of this wonderful game
Thanks for reading!
