okay, so on Friday I played Mount & Blade for the first time...

[Oly J]

Hi everyone, so as I've frequently stated in previous posts I acquired my first game-ready PC since 2001 around September/October last year, since then I have acquired 52 games on Steam (less than half of which I've actually played. and most of which I bought because they were cheap or free-to-play) but one game I did remember being recommended to me here, was Mount & Blade, a while back I bought a collection of 3 of them on sale, and thought on friday, an increasingly rare 3-day weekend wherein I had no pressing work to do, that it would be a good time to try it, I am after all a sucker for medieval settings.

As I type this I find myself struggling to remember what exactly happened to the weekend...in short, I liked the game, quite a bit in fact as I seem to have lost all sense of time playing it, and that hasn't happened to me for years.

I've only played the first one so far, still have yet to try "Warband" and "With Fire & Sword" but loving it so far, it took some practice but I from the moment I could finally hit someone at speed from horseback with a sword I've been hooked, seriously, knocking someone off their horse from your own, or running down a grounded enemy and hearing your attack hit is incredibly satisfying.

I haven't declared allegiance to anyone yet, I've basically just been raising troops and fighting in tournaments.

so yeah anyway, how do Warband and Fire & Sword compare to the first one? also people who played it, how did you go about it? because I haven't even engaged any kind of campaign yet and I've already used up the weekend

 

[Rayne360]

Warband is superior. It has better mechanics which allow you to have your own kingdom, not just serve someone.

Plus it has the best mods, but really all you need for Warband is Brytenwalda or A Clash of Kings mod to have fun for the rest of the year. I kid you not it blows the vanilla game out of the water. Having mods is a must to see its true potential.

I've never played Fire and Sword and don't plan on it so I can't really say much other than it just looks like more of the same with guns added (that I hear work poorly).Each game is standalone.

Taleworlds is working on Mount and Blade 2. I'm guessing it's going to have the things we loved plus updated graphics and hopefully better siege mechanics.

 

[BeeGeenie]

I never got the original, but Warband is awesome.
Early on, I try to do a little trading to raise money between tournaments. Swearing fealty to a King is a good way to get land (steady income) and access to more troops, and you can always betray them later if you want to. I use the Floris mod, though there are plenty more.

Never played Fire and Sword, I've heard it's not quite as good, but you never know, I might try it some time.

Can't wait for M&B 2: Bannerlord.

 

[The Madman]

Warband is basically just a superior version of the original game, so really there's absolutely no reason not to jump into playing it right away. Fire and Sword is more of a mixed bag but it's at least worth a try I'd say, but Warband is where it's really at especially when it comes to the mods. Once you feel satisfied with your accomplishments in the basic Warband campaign, here's a couple spectacular that are definitely worth checking out to enhance the experience:

-Floris Mod Pack, which basically just enhances the game with new features and whatnot to a slightly ridiculous degree.

-Brytenwalda, which is a total conversion that sets Mount & Blade in Dark Ages Brittania. Extremely high quality mod!

-1257AD, which predictably is another total conversion this time set in 1257 Europe. Absolutely huge, can crush older computers with its sheer size and scale.

-Prophecy of Pendor, which is yet another total conversion but this time with a fantasy theme. You can't be a wizard or anything, but it's still a damned fun mod in a neat setting.

And tons more. Then to top it all off there's a Mount & Blade 2 also in the works, Have fun!

 

[Rylot]

Hah,I just got done playing another marathon session of Warband. I've got to agree with everyone else, skip the original and jump into Warband. It's pretty much the same game just updated. As for Fire and Sword, it was interesting. It's set around the time of the Napoleonic Wars and has some interesting factions based on historical ones but my biggest problem with the game was it took forever to start out and get going and with muskets and rifles your units (and even your own character) die really easily. I remember one game I started out and within the first twenty minutes I was ambushed in town and immediately slaughtered by four or five enemies with guns before I could take down one of them. Basically the gameplay really turned me off of it, also Warband is just so much fun.

 

[The Madman]

Oh, forgot to ask but do you have Napoleonic Wars as well? Because that's actually great fun and totally worth giving a try. It's been out for quite some time now so the online isn't thriving anymore like it once was, but you'll still find consistently full servers with which to have a blast on.

Napoleonic has some of the most fun multiplayer I've had in ages actually. Very cool siege scenario, one of few games I've played online which genuinely gave the impression of holding out against overwhelming odds as defender and bravery in the face of almost certain death as attacker. Meanwhile even the field battles are just a ton of chaotic fun, plus every now and then you'll see organized groups working together and marching and fighting in formation, very entertaining.