Bannerlord Tactics: The Underrated Troops, Volume I: The Best Infantry Too Few Know About
Welcome back future Emperors, Khans, Jarls and Sultans, in this episode we continue our series covering some of the pre-battle strategy that is necessary for you to succeed in Bannerlord. I cover several important subjects that will help you with Kingdom, a summary of how I form my army composition, what troops I like, how much of each kind and then a little on army and noble management. I recommend the playlist for those who REALLY want to get better at the game and dominate.
This episode(and series) covers troops and units within Bannerlord that are generally unloved and(probably) incorrectly used. We'll cover these units, explain why I love them and show you how to use them to devastating effect.
Please comment, like and subscribe if you're interested in more of my ultra-late-game campaign, that may end up ending in utter despair, but that's the challenge of it. Any challenge where success is assured is no challenge at all.
My campaign is an extremely late-game campaign where I am resolved to give no peace to these scum Kingdoms attacking me - seven of the eight have been at war for years, with only Sturgia at a neutral stance. My family of warriors is now large though and with what remaining strength and valor we can must, we stand against the map of Calradia.
Join me on this adventure if you like huge battles, the use of advanced tactical maneuvers and intense Bannerlord gameplay, and subscribe to my channel if you want to follow along. This campaign is very lightly modded:
I use five to eight mods:
Reinforcement System Mod(highlighted in this video):
www.nexusmods....
Time Pass Mod: Realistic Lighting for battles and town scenes(the time CHANGES):
www.nexusmods....
RTS Mod(for better unit flag colors/overhead view and using other characters in battle):
www.nexusmods....
Immersive Battlefields:
A great mod that adds battle cries, roaring troops and more:
www.nexusmods....
Lord Retinue Uptier(Makes the enemy forces stronger, much less peasants and lower ranked troops)
www.nexusmods....
Improved AI Troops(Also makes enemy lords and their armies tougher by giving them a higher daily xp rate. This means you'll routinely face armies with HUGE numbers of the highest tier units, sometimes four or five times the normal amount in vanilla Bannerlord): www.nexusmods....
Death for all: This mod allows you to set the rate at which nobles die more often. I want both a harder challenging late-game but also a more realistic game. If you're cut down with a massive aserai two-handed axe, you shouldn't just be injured 99.9% of the time. It's a very customizable mod so you can just a little more death or set the death rate so high you get several deaths every battle. The number I often like is '10', some deaths but not a massacre of nobles...
www.nexusmods....
I also use the Dismemberment Plus Mod: It's highly customizable and works seamlessly with the new beta(and versions back to 1.28). I thoroughly recommend it if you enjoy carnage!:
steamcommunity...
I've also used Realistic Battle Mod in the past and highly recommend it for Ai and battle realism BUT I find the pace too slow for my taste and the AI is actually rather predictable after a half dozen battles. Still I wanted to put a plug in for it here, it's a GREAT mod and highly configurable. www.nexusmods....
Much of the music and inspiration for this and other videos in the channel are inspired by Epic History TV - probably THE best channel on youtube(and the internet for that matter) covering the Napoleonic wars. With amazing work Epic History TV takes you through the dramatic and incredibly story of Napoleon covering all of his most famous battles. I HIGHLY recommend it.
Epic History TV:
/ @epichistorytv
#bannerlord #war #medieval #bannerlordgameplay #bannerlordmod
Пікірлер: 82
Lets see the sharpshooter vs fian. Im all for that episode!
@HeadlessHorsemanProductions
2 ай бұрын
It's on the way :)
Acabe de ganar una batalla de 400+ vs 700+ se siente genial!! Aún hay mucho que perfeccionar pero ahí vamos poco a poco. Este canal ayuda muchísimo. En mi opinión es el mejor canal de BannerLord que he visto. Una obra maestra ver cómo tácticamente destrozas al enemigo. Excelente 💪🏻
@HeadlessHorsemanProductions
9 күн бұрын
¡Me encanta que mi canal Bannerlord cruce idiomas y fronteras para ayudar a los estrategas a mejorar y aplastar al enemigo! Aprecio tus amables palabras, amigo, me encanta hablar español cuando mi esposa y yo viajamos y es un honor para mí que veas mis videos. ¡Salud!
I know it's Hannibal at Cannae, it's not always easy to narrate well and produce advanced tactics, be gentle on me :)
@arrgylerawrgyle3784
2 ай бұрын
Lol, next up a series on all the major Cannibal armies!
@HeadlessHorsemanProductions
2 ай бұрын
@@arrgylerawrgyle3784 Terror is their weapon. They don't just beat you, they EAT you!
Damn that intro is good. I was learning about the brain, and learning that it is considered a fact that most people can only hold 4 - 7 'tasks' in their head at any time, depending on the individual's capabilities of course... and I thought "Where have I heard that before?". It was you, explaining that a commander can only meaningfully take care of that number of groups... you explained it in a way that just made sense to me, that's all. I wanted to give you a shoutout for that. I've kinda suffered a bit of a brain injury which makes things difficult, but still love the channel and hope to do more BL stuff when I am better. Keep it up, cheers.
@Arson_Welles
2 ай бұрын
P.S. I love that this one doesn't feature your character. It really allows the tactics, strategy, etc to shine. 'The enormity of the task' is really what mesmerises me watching these clips.
@HeadlessHorsemanProductions
2 ай бұрын
I'm very concerned bud and hope you get better. The brain is so key to a happy and healthy life, I hope you fight through and heal to full strength! I appreciate the heaps of love here and I'm glad that a lot of the key points make sense. I'll be making Bannerlord content as long as great guys like you enjoy it - or at least until my own brain slows down with life. Cheers and heal up!
@HeadlessHorsemanProductions
2 ай бұрын
Love a great challenge and I'm happy to say that every series is just getting more and more difficult and chaotic. 'Mesmerizing battles are still to come friend!
LOL well thank you pilgrim, im pushing 70 ( love to play games, 3rd childhood am now a dangerous kid :))and you called me young un, i like to ride zig zag when disrupting archers, yours works.
@HeadlessHorsemanProductions
11 күн бұрын
Never too old to enjoy a good mentally stimulating game, in fact I think there will be evidence some day that complicated strategy games DECREASE mental aging and things like Alzheimer, etc. Glad to find a fellow 'old kid'. Cheers!
The slow-mo and RTS mod was very useful to better see what you were doing and the impact. Appreciate you sir.
@HeadlessHorsemanProductions
Ай бұрын
Thanks man I appreciate that, I think I have just the right mix of personality someone who likes teaching, likes history, likes bannerlord, and likes making videos LOL. Stop by again sometime I'm sure they'll be some new stuff for you to check out!
@13:30 A steed worthy of honor and great praise! Whoever said Battanian mounts are weak is wrong as well
@HeadlessHorsemanProductions
Ай бұрын
lol, I thought it was pretty cool :)
I really love that Sturgians "skirmisher" is on a horse. Battania does have one of the most balanced armies. Especially with there fians on one end and their horsemen on the other end of the spectrum
@HeadlessHorsemanProductions
2 ай бұрын
I do think battanian has the worst cavalry in the game by a long ways but since cavalry are generally less valuable than they probably should be in vanilla bannerlord I think this makes Britannia my top choice if I had to choose a kingdom for a PVP tournament....
Great video thanks for the insight its really helping me get better at the game
@HeadlessHorsemanProductions
2 ай бұрын
You got it man, glad to help...
Amazing introductory video to tactics!
@HeadlessHorsemanProductions
Ай бұрын
Thank you hombre, glad to be helping people out there rip it.
Most enjoyable as always. Loved your Alexander-esq screening of your archers with cavalry to surprise the enemies archers. Its great to see someone using the individual units as part of a whole to achieve the win as opposed to playing some kind of Top Trumps game.
@HeadlessHorsemanProductions
2 ай бұрын
Thanks mate, I enjoy each act of the battle, there's a tactical decision every minute or two.
I'd say 'most people' use the wilding as a t5 heavy infantry, sending them into the face to face meet of infantry, just to let their javs fly into the front of the opposing and just hoping for a few jav kills before the formations meet. The jav skirmishers and archers as you point out are best used offset and able to shoot Into the flanks of the shield wall. And and skirmishers to charge in after the heavy infantry meet face to face. Which you pointed all out btw. Nice vid. I enjoy using the Faris in my games. They can do well enough toe to toe with other heavy noble cav and can also be managed into flanking into a hammer and anvil routine to charge into the backs of the opposing infantry as they close with mine.
@HeadlessHorsemanProductions
2 ай бұрын
You read my mind. One of these future episodes covers the Faris... Highly underrated...
@axinite2545
2 ай бұрын
@@HeadlessHorsemanProductions Heck yeah, neat. And with all jav cav, they can be assigned a captain that has unlocked the 2 perks that together boost their throwing skill by +50. Straight up turns them into snipers.
@HeadlessHorsemanProductions
2 ай бұрын
@@axinite2545 hadn't gotten that dialed in but I LOVE it...
"What them boys did twsant right.. That was some brutal porcupine-ness at the end
@HeadlessHorsemanProductions
2 ай бұрын
The SAVAGE battanian Wildling, ya!
Battanian infantry is probably the most versatile, they’ve got two good shock units that function slightly differently in the falxman and veteran falxman with two of the best weapons in the game respectively, the best pure javelin infantry, and a solid all arounder in the oathsworn id say they’re better than the khuzait, vlandians, and aserai and they’re more varied than the imperial infantry who don’t get a true skirmisher infantry, sturgians are generally my go to with infantry but i definitely do not mind having battanian also thanks for putting me on to the lake rat wreckers they do an awesome job
@HeadlessHorsemanProductions
24 күн бұрын
Yep, I completely agree. VERY nasty units and they span the gamut of each kind a commander wants to have access to. Battanians WITH lake Rats and NOW we're talking lol, although Sturgia plus lake rats is also f'in savage.
how about a series where you show the best tactics to take advantage of specific troops - e.g. how to use menavioltons or banner knights
@HeadlessHorsemanProductions
2 ай бұрын
That's kinda what this series will probably be, focusing in on specific units and battle situations and tactics where they can really shine.
I love watching your big tactical battles and you’ve definitely helped me get some great ideas with my company’s, but I wouldn’t say no one knows about them, I mean, I try all sorts of weird shit people don’t think about. As soon as I can I hunt down a jawaal and declare war, so they hunt me down and I can hire camel riders when they decide they don’t want to be prisoners anymore xD I even did it with the hand, I dressed in a scholar robe and got like 40 pawns following me around. It was useless, but they weren’t for fighting. They were my groupies as I travelled the arenas 😂
@HeadlessHorsemanProductions
2 ай бұрын
It's probably the closest thumbnail title to clickbait as I'll ever get. Plus it just doesn't work to write in their: Troops that very few but some people know about..." lol... And I love your groupies notion, having fun is all that matters, fuck what other people say...
@mrbritish6673
2 ай бұрын
@@HeadlessHorsemanProductions It was meant to sound more like a joke than being serious, I’m terrible with adding humour into writing >. I’m all about a theme 😊 The groupies were a spin off of my battle sisters. Started as a woman, only hired women and dressed them as the scholars with the hoods (closest I could get to nuns), then only sword sisters. We were executing the men folk at first, but that didn’t go so well 😅 The mother superior (Me), and the professed sisters (companions) sat at the back in a melee horse unit while the novices and below made god proud 😂
Always love a 2 video day! Could you do some runs for attacking tactics? I'm sure your approach is similar setting up enfilade fire but it would be nice to see the details. My attacks work but are just generally messier than a defense.
@HeadlessHorsemanProductions
2 ай бұрын
I can sneak you a video from next week that turns into a VERY offensive situation, but more often, because I am outnumbered so badly, usually we start off as a defensive battle and then transition to offense once the enemy is scrambling after our counter-punch. Anyways, for what it's worth, enjoy! (I like to sneak-peek videos to my most frequent, awesome contributers): kzread.info/dash/bejne/h6CMvLOjg9Srk6w.html
@blackamericannomad7500
2 ай бұрын
@@HeadlessHorsemanProductions Wow that was exactly the kind of episode I was hoping for. Thanks for the sneak peek and all the content.
Great video! Would’ve loved to see you play both sides of the Sturgian and Aserai battles to show off your tactics there, but I get it’s bigger time commitment. I’ve been rolling with a heavy armor/shield infantry block main(45-50 guys), an offset skirmisher core(25-30ish), and recently a combo polearm/archer group(20-25) as my three infantry units with more archers behind and two groups of cav, one mixed horse archers/javelins and one heavy cav. Started to use the heavy cav more defensively, kinda like in your guides. At what range do you have your skirmishers start throwing? I’ve been starting at like 75-80 yards. Keep the vids coming homie!
@HeadlessHorsemanProductions
2 ай бұрын
I often won't micromanage the skirmisher throwing range, keeping them on fire at will, but I think they do best at between 20-40 units... They can be pretty inaccurate at range, and yes, just like you suggest, offset and flanking is best. Behind is even better! I love that you're forming a mix of your own strategy and the things I've shown here - truly everyone has their own recipe to win and mine is not perfect... (and more videos coming brother!)
Can somebody expand on the veteran falxman being a supposed downgrade of regular falxmen? Is this something that has been patched or is it even true at all? Just something that I have been seeing online. Also, love the channel and military history woven into the videos. Great narration overal and the tactical lessons are educational and visually clear imo. Keep up the good work big boss!
@arrgylerawrgyle3784
2 ай бұрын
Has to do with the weapon they carry. The higher tier has a weapon that is better suited to taking out cavalry while the tier 4 has a weapon better to take on infantry. Unfortunately the lower tier better at infantry isn't really that bad at cav either. So it's a bit of a wonky situation.
@Bubatz_braucher
2 ай бұрын
@@arrgylerawrgyle3784 I see, thanks for explaining :)
@HeadlessHorsemanProductions
2 ай бұрын
Mr. Arrgyle explained it as well or better than I could... The falxmen are savage for flanking and shield and shock, but indeed for cav destruction, the veteran falx...
@HeadlessHorsemanProductions
2 ай бұрын
And thank you!
Bannerlord fanatic truly. 🙌🏿
@HeadlessHorsemanProductions
2 ай бұрын
Guilty!
I like this series a lot! I'd really like to see how you take on fian champs with sharpshooters too. you shield wall and hold fire till they are out of ammo then spread and open fire as they charge?
@arrgylerawrgyle3784
2 ай бұрын
I'm picturing splitting into two groups where one shield walls and protects the firing line and they rotate. I think the devil is in the details there though.
@HeadlessHorsemanProductions
2 ай бұрын
You guys both have the right idea... I was pleasantly surprised... (stunned?) how things went. It will take some time to process, but I know you two visit regularly so I won't say stay tuned...
@angrygoldfish9607
2 ай бұрын
@@arrgylerawrgyle3784I hadn't thought of that. Good idea.
@angrygoldfish9607
2 ай бұрын
You could alternate which group shield walls and which group fires too. When the first group runs out of ammo just switch. Very crafty.
@HeadlessHorsemanProductions
2 ай бұрын
@@angrygoldfish9607 Mmhmm... Crafting the episode (and a sequel soon ) :)
i love fighting on foot next to my soldiers taking part in the shieldwall but the game is done for fighting riding a Horse
@HeadlessHorsemanProductions
Ай бұрын
I prefer a mix, and fortunately it works pretty well. In HUGE battles, I often switch between 4-5 times...
Just found u today great vids.. btw im planning a rbm run what mod should i have on my run in ur opinion??? Great narration. On ur vids
@HeadlessHorsemanProductions
2 ай бұрын
Thank you - I would recommend you check out the mod that adds breakable spears to it. I don't know it's name but it comes HIGHLY recommended by RBM players. And welcome!
Question, at 8 minutes you pull your infantry back and to the left and shift your archers to the right. This exposes the shield hand (left) of the sturgian infantry, you could get more damage from your archers had they gone to the left (the inf moves right) and shot the non-shielded 'sword' side, the rest of the first engagement the archers are primarily firing into sturgian shields. I understand the skirmishers are on the right flank and you are better off shifting to the side with the shock and cav (left) however what if you flipped the formation, shock and cav on the right and skirms on the left, to encourage leftwards movement of your archers to get better angles?
@HeadlessHorsemanProductions
2 ай бұрын
This might be precisely the type of advice I need to take in order to bring my tactics to the next level. I f****** love this kind of s*** bro. I don't think people often realize but I wasn't born a tactical instructor, I assimilated my skills and keep advancing them through the help of tactical enthusiasts like you. Thanks so much for this insight and suggestion!
@jackl4742
2 ай бұрын
@HeadlessHorsemanProductions I recently got back into bannerlord bc of ur vids; love goes both ways! I look forward to seeing u integrate this! Also the history bits r awesome and you should do more of those, I came for bannerlord but stayed cause of history
@HeadlessHorsemanProductions
2 ай бұрын
@@jackl4742 Great to hear, brother, since I love history as much as the next...
@arrgylerawrgyle3784
2 ай бұрын
Just wanting to add here.. I agree that moving archers to the left gives them better firing angles. One is already managing on keeping all formations just out of charge range, but I am worried that the AI sometimes goes for the side doing the most damage. This might mean moving the archers a bit more. Give it a go and just watch for this some if it is or is not helping or if you have to move a bit more... Not the end of the world as they have range! Fun fact Dan Carlin just dropped a history podcast today and mentioned that most infantry formations tended to drift to the right.. this was even accounted for in battle plans because it was so predictable.
@HeadlessHorsemanProductions
2 ай бұрын
@@arrgylerawrgyle3784 Drifted to get out of bow range/damage? Pull of the equator? lol
You think the veteran falxmen are a shock troop for cavalry? Or for the inside of the square formation?
@HeadlessHorsemanProductions
2 ай бұрын
Both. Shield and shock is my preference(behind your own shield-walled cavalry) to mangle enemy cav, but they work pretty well spread out in huge melee scrums. Not great against shield-walls...
where would you put one handed shieldless troops?
@HeadlessHorsemanProductions
8 күн бұрын
is this a companion?? Or one of those not-so-good minor clan units? One handed without a shield is like a car without gas, not much use. If I HAD to, they'd be with the shock troops, behind shield walls.
Have you done a mad king series?
@HeadlessHorsemanProductions
2 ай бұрын
Nope, is that a mod or something else?
@Sir1Johnson
2 ай бұрын
@@HeadlessHorsemanProductions it’s basically something that I recounted from the game of thrones. Since we didn’t get to see how terrible he was from the show maybe this idea can interest you enough to configure a story line on how vicious a king can truly be/become.
@Sir1Johnson
2 ай бұрын
@@HeadlessHorsemanProductions it’s basically something that I recounted from the game of thrones. Since we didn’t get to see how terrible he was from the show maybe this idea can interest you enough to configure a story line on how vicious a king can truly be/become.
@Sir1Johnson
2 ай бұрын
Also, I wish you could invite live companions. Ex: you send me an invite to join your campaign.
@HeadlessHorsemanProductions
2 ай бұрын
@@Sir1Johnson That would be so awesome mate...
I definitely agree that most people are not getting the full benefit of their skirmish units. I feel there are some issues with this video. The issue comes from the battle you show first. It is one of the most open maps I have ever seen. Compared to the vast majority of Bannerlords maps, you have plenty of time to see the enemy movements and react to them. For an army composed of around 40% ranged units the map had almost no obstructions to unit vision. Your army spawned on a natural hill, which, while you can claim to be an intentional strategy, the fact you made little to no mention of the bonuses given to you troops from that is poor guidance. These bonuses give additional range to all ranged weapons, additional damage dealt with ranged weapons, and reduced damage taken from all ramged weapons. Combining the map, hill, and unit types, the Battanian Noble Archers is disingenuous to a "Underrated Troops Guide." You have used one of the strongest units in the game, in their ideal scenario. You can easily take 3 to 1 odds with these units alone. The enemy archers not moving with their formation is nothing you could control, although I must say, in my past 100 battles, the enemy archers always push in front of the main infantry block to skirmish, or stay besides the infantry until they get within range of Player troops. If you have other mods affecting AI behavior, it would be important to clearly state them out. For the last major, and I do mean major, offense from the first battle is the use of the RTS camera mod. It is completely unbalanced and allows the player to ignore their character in their entirety while focusing 100% of the enemy. You can make instant reactions to formations hundreds of meters away. Draw formation lines that are impossible to do from an angle, only possible through the Top Down camera. The biggest threat in Bannerlord battles is the player character dying and the very bad ai of the Sargeants killing themselves. You completely remove the chaos factor of battles while staring down at your units from complete safety. I feel playing the game on easy mode shouldn't be the difficulty to make guides. The struggle is what makes your guides so important to newer players. It shows that they can do it. It proves to them that playing tactically and using their head and real strategy can persevere over overwhelming force.
@HeadlessHorsemanProductions
2 ай бұрын
Much of the issues you point out were also elements I chose intentionally for: 1. demonstration of that units strongest situational advantage 2. a wide open space and top-down RTS mod because people often ASK for this on the channel, to more clearly see the tactics 3. I've almost NEVER won a battle in the custom battle style outnumbered 3 to 1 with the same strength troops. If you do, I imagine you probably could teach me, not the other way around... 4. I'm not using any mods that effect the enemy AI(not in this battle at least, it's a custom battle). 5. If you watch any more vids on the channel the VAST MAJORITY of the battles are fought from normal, player perspective and that's my preference too. I have used the RTS mod more of late because a lot of fellas here prefer it when it comes to instructional videos. I wholly admit it's easier to fight the enemy(not to mention it ruins the immersive effect). Lastly, because you were so thorough, while this guide is 'easy mode' as you say, the overwhelming majority of our videos are fought in some of the most difficult, brutal, underdog style and I still am able to offer instruction, and as importantly, entertainment. Hopefully you see more videos so you can judge for yourself, but I *want* difficulty, not easy mode and I think you'll be convinced of that if you want more...
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