![mount and blade warband new expansion mount and blade warband new expansion](https://media.moddb.com/images/mods/1/44/43200/Untitled8.png)
Bandit Hideouts Bandit hideouts have been added to the map which serve as a hub for bandits. It makes for some really epic battles (at least with world map AI set to good). However, for the most part individual lords loot villages and marshal-led armies do everything else. The relative aggressiveness of the factions seems to vary in each game. I don't think I ever saw a faction take a town without my help in the original and now it happens frequently. Better Strategic AI The lords seem to have somewhat variable personalities and when an aggressive lord becomes marshal of a faction you will seem him gather a serious army and start sieging towns and castles. Overall they seem to be a good faction and add more conflict to the world map. I have not fought their infantry on foot much yet, so I don't know how they compare. I have not used their troops yet, but based on the few battles I've fought against them it would seem they have heavy cavalry (Mamelukes) that rivals Swadian Knights and incredibly strong archers. They are roughly based on medieval arabic territories with primarily desert landscapes. New Faction - Sarranid Sultanate The Sarranid Sultanate was added to the map with new towns, castles and villages. Overall, being a king seems to be a viable option now.
![mount and blade warband new expansion mount and blade warband new expansion](https://media.moddb.com/images/mods/1/27/26080/mb25.jpg)
Finally, you can recruit your companions to be lords, but then they won't be in your party anymore. Also, lords who hold no land might come offer to join you if they think you'll give them some land. In some cases you can talk lords from other factions into joining you and bringing their lands with them. You also get to recruit vassals for your kingdoms.
![mount and blade warband new expansion mount and blade warband new expansion](https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/191/images/3961-1-1364414567.jpg)
Of course, they may all eventually declare war on you anyway, but that's more a matter of how you pursue your kingdom. After that you can start and end wars with the other kingdoms the same as any of the AI factions. That automatically puts you at war with the kingdom you took land from, but not all of the other kingdoms. To start your kingdom, you have to take some land for yourself. I have not started my first kingdom yet, so I can't fully review it, but I have read up on it a bit to plan ahead. In Warband, player kingdoms are a viable path for players. Also, you could not earn enough money to pay for garrisons to take over much of the map without modding wages or income. Player Kingdoms In the original players could own lands without being affiliated to a kingdom, but if I remember correctly it automatically put you at war with all of the kingdoms. Unfortunately, I suspect the smaller player base for M&B hurts its potential as compared to something like the call of duty series. I've had a hard time getting into multiplayer games since I had kids because my time is too unpredictable. I haven't played any of these yet, so I don't know if they are fun or not. Multiplayer Multiplayer maps were added to the game that allow you to play a single character in a larger online battle. It helps that Steam had a good sale on Warband recently and probably will again for their Christmas sale. I think it does, especially for someone like me who only paid $5 for the original game. For those who already own M&B, the question is if it really adds enough new features to justify buying it. So, aside from finding the original at a bargain (I bought the original last year on sale for $5 from direct to drive), there isn't much reason not to buy Warband if it sounds like your kind of game. The map has been redrawn, but otherwise I can't think of anything that was in the original that is missing from the expansion.
#MOUNT AND BLADE WARBAND NEW EXPANSION SERIES#
Stand-alone Expansion As a stand-alone expansion, someone new to the series can buy Warband without ever buying the original. I'm sure I'm forgetting lots of stuff, but here are the main additions that I can think of at the moment. I think I will do my review in two parts, first a review of the new features in Warband for those already familiar with the game, then my actual review of the game (later, I'm out of time for now). It was discussed on this forum a few years ago (see link below), but that was before I had played it, so I have not posted about it previously. For those that aren't familiar with it, Warband is a stand-alone expansion to Mount and Blade. I was talking to Simon recently about Mount and Blade Warband and have been meaning to do a review here, but haven't hade much time.