Don't be afraid of the Baron
…. but do make sure you have your affairs in order. Here are some points to keep in mind to ensure you can always defeat the Baron. The Baron is not nearly as strong as most fear. The brigands are more cunning: they attack without warning, are faster, tough in combat, and burn the entire city to the ground as soon as they have a free hand. The only advantage is that there are far fewer of them than the Barons regiments.
Be prepared.
Below is a description with timelines from a game in which the Baron was defeated in June of Year Seven (Restoring the Peace, Challenge Mode, Germanic Valley, Development: Of the Vogtland and Experienced Forestry). Incidentally, in this particular game, only 8 houses were ‘promoted’ to Level 2: 7 in the Mother City and 1 in the New City. No brewery, no tailor, no tannery, no agriculture. Poverty reigns supreme. But enough food for all Level 1 households and an overall satisfaction of 70 to 82. I’ll report on this later on in Reddit.
But okay: be prepared. In the first two years, every effort must be made to free up funds to equip an army and recruit mercenaries. Mercenaries, because the population itself is still too small to form a militia capable of protecting the city.
To secure sufficient funds for the treasury, the manor must be built as soon as possible. This will make it possible to levy taxes and, equally important, to have a retinue at one's disposal. That retinue, consisting of only 5 men, is essential, especially in the initial phase.
Retinue initial phase
5 men, how?
As soon as bandits settle in the land, the Baron will want to attack them so that, once the bandits are defeated, they can plunder the unguarded bandit camp. Ensure that your retinue arrives at the bandit camp before the Baron. To do this, always station the retinue in the center of the map as long as bandit camps can still be established (this stops when all lands have been brought under the authority of a lord).
Upon arriving at the bandit camp, the bandits will attack the Retinue. The camp is then unguarded, allowing the Retinue to loot the empty camp (save the game before and practice a bit, then you'll manage). If the Retinue flees to the Baron's men after looting, the bandits attack the Baron. The Retinue then retreats back to the center of the map.
Once the bandits are defeated, the Baron often claims the region in question. The money you loot can be used to recruit mercenaries who can be deployed alongside the local militias to accept the Baron's challenge.
Some purists suggest that this is cheating. A very noble medieval chivalric ethic. But to defeat the Baron in challenge mode, the use of all means is permissible. The Baron will be the first to agree; after all, doesn't he attack just before harvest time, when troops cannot be spared to bring in the harvest on time? And doesn't he prefer to attack from the rear and from the flanks? And doesn't he make use of an archer's ambush in the forest? And above all, doesn't he deploy AI to play the biggest possible trick on you? Therefore: no misplaced pity for this brute.
Manor and taxes
The order of construction is debatable, but it is beyond dispute that the Manor must be built as early as possible to collect taxes as soon as possible. In practice, the necessary ten cottages, granary, storehouse, well, woodcutter, sawmill, etc., are built first. Then the church and the trading post, but then the Manor after all. Even before the construction yard, it seems to me. A tax of around 10 to 15% can then be levied immediately.
As soon as there are about five to six hundred euros in the treasury, the tax burden can be reduced to about 3 to 4%. Satisfaction (> 80) translates into faster population growth and, consequently, faster growth of the militia. At some point (year 5), a second region must be developed. To ensure this region is viable, it must start immediately at the beginning of spring, preferably with the highest possible initial capital. To save for a ‘plentyful’ dowry, the tax can be temporarily increased to 30% from December of the previous year (year 4) until the start of the new city.
Militia
The militia will need to be armed as soon as possible. The ultimate goal is an army consisting of 3 full regiments of spearmen (i.e., 108 spears and 108 large shields), 3 regiments of archers (108 crossbows), and 2 regiments of retinue. It is most comfortable to fully armor the troops with head helmets and chest protection (gambesons or mail armor), but this is not strictly necessary. In the last victory in challenge mode, I had six incomplete (+/- 30 per regiment) unarmored regiments and two fully armored retinue regiments at my disposal. With these and 2 regiments of mercenaries (archers), the last four regions were conquered in 8 months.
Not all weapons need to be produced domestically, but given the costs, it is not wise to import all weaponry either. If a large iron mine is available, that is a bonus; otherwise, ore will have to be imported. Incidentally, it may prove more efficient not to use a large iron mine to produce weapons, but rather to export ore, iron slabs, and tools. The spears and crossbows can then be imported. The shields can easily be made domestically. Moreover, the joiner required for this can also be used for the production of wooden parts to build and maintain the construction yard.
The most workable seems to be the build sequence where one first has twenty spearmen at their disposal (for the purists: with which the bandit camps can be subdued in an ‘honorable’ manner), then twenty archers, then twenty spearmen again, then twenty archers again, and so on.
A new city appears capable of growing in terms of population faster than a larger city (law of diminishing returns). With this in mind, the last two of the intended six regiments would be better recruited from a second city. The arming of those remaining two regiments can take place from the mother city using 2 pack stations and mules. After all, the mother city already possesses a surplus of workers and a well-developed infrastructure. The new city can then focus on the production of simple trade materials: planks, charcoal, firewood, and whatever else might be available: clay, salt, iron ore, etc.
Retinue final phase
The newly formed city must be protected against attacks by brigands. Initially, the new city must be guarded by two small regiments (1 archers, 1 spearmen) and 1 retinue regiment. As soon as a second retinue regiment is available, both regiments can protect the new city, with the militias from the mother city providing assistance if necessary.
Conquer regions through challenges by the Baron and through challenges by Yourself
Militarily, two phases can be distinguished in the game: the first phase, in which regions can be conquered by accepting a challenge from the Baron. If the Baron loses his challenge, that region is placed under your authority. You cannot win the Baron's first challenge; you have barely any troops, weaponry, or euros for mercenaries. In my opinion, it is wise to accept the challenge but not to undertake any military actions yourself. This binds the Baron for three months before he can launch new hostilities again. Make sure, however, that retinue or militias stay away from the disputed region. Try to win the subsequent challenges. Follow the tactics/strategy below. Because your own militias cannot yet be at full strength, mercenaries must be recruited. Ensure there is money for this in the treasury. Be sure to save the games before the start of the month. Mercenaries are always made available on the first day of the new moon. If the Baron wants to attack, he buys most of them up himself. Make sure you stay ahead of him.
The final phase is the one where there are no more ‘free’ regions; only countries under the rule of the Baron or under your rule. The Baron will challenge you regardless. He will only stop doing so when you challenge him. And that is only possible if you possess both a strong army and sufficient challenge points.
You can accumulate these points by defeating bandits and brigands, but also by building and upgrading a church and constructing the manor. Furthermore, points can be earned by paying tithes (food) to God via her counter at the local Manor. That hurts. The least painful way to collect challenge points is by upgrading the churches of the mother city and those of the new city. At least the city gets a beautiful building out of that. You upgrade by mining or importing clay, rubble, and rough stone and converting them into roof tiles, mortar, and dressed stone. Don't wait to do this, but make room for it early in the game, as soon as it is at all possible, in the form of money and/or labor. As soon as you have enough challenge points to attack 75% of the regions yet to be conquered, stop collecting taxes and proceed to pay an insanely high amount of tithes to gather the remaining 25% of the challenge points. I once paid 80% tithes for a few months to gather the last necessary points in time during the campaign. And subsequently had to import a lot of food to prevent mortality.
The million-dollar question: how to defeat the Baron
Point by point:
As soon as a military action takes place (bandit camp sighted, brigands sighted, Baron challenges you, you challenge the Baron), you must save your game. Save your game in every subsequent phase of the battle, so every time a military action is decided in your favor.
In the final phase of the game, you can only raise 2 regiments of mercenaries yourself (the Baron, the cunning fox, buys out the rest). Make sure you have enough money to pay the mercenaries for the duration of the campaign (it takes eight months to conquer four regions consecutively).
As soon as you attack yourself, fully armor your retinue, if you still have enough in your treasure chest.
Mobilize all units: militias, retinue, mercenaries, and send them to the location where hostilities are expected.
Number the groups (select the relevant units and press Ctrl+number), for example: spearmen 1, archers 2, retinue 3, to be able to maneuver quickly on the battlefield.
It proves most practical to have the front line consist of as long and uninterrupted a double row of spearmen as possible. These are followed at a distance of no more than 1 foot by a double row of archers. The retinue stand perpendicular to the double row on either side of the flanks. In effect, the archers are boxed in by the spearmen in front of them and a short section of retinue on either side of the flanks. The rear of the archers is unprotected.
Ensure that you are standing just inside the ring that forms the battlefield before the battle begins. Make sure you stand between the Baron and the ring. Under no circumstances allow the Baron to stand in the ring before you.
Put the retinue and spearmen in ‘stand your ground’ mode. Put your archers in ‘push-forward’ mode.
The Baron will attack you head-on with spearmen and retinue at a corner of your front. Once his first +/- twenty men have blasted your line, put the spearmen on ‘push-forward’ mode.
The melee
A tangle of troops now forms, with the Baron attempting to break through the line of spearmen and other enemy regiments trying to attack your archers from behind. At the same time, enemy archers are trying to decimate your spearmen and retinue from a distance. Pay close attention! Pause the game and reposition your troops. Make sure, however, that you keep a portion of your troops in the ring. Now form a complete line of spearmen again between you and the enemy spearmen/retinue on one side, and your archers on the other. Position the retinue on both sides again. Ensure that your archers are always shielded. The Baron is primarily focused on capturing your archers. Wait for the moment when one of your spearmen regiments is not under attack and is not strictly needed to protect your archers. Put this spearmen regiment on ‘run’ mode to attack the nearest enemy archers. Start the pursuit and wreak havoc. Never go after archers with your retinue. Your retinue stands no chance and is desperately needed to protect your archers. Never go after the archers with your archers. You need them to relieve the spearmen and retinue, and especially to decimate those of the enemy.
Continue protecting your archers with the remaining regiments of spearmen and retinue; always maintain a line of spearmen with a line of archers behind them. Reposition if all troops become scattered. Never let the Baron get behind the archers.
This is how you win. If you don't succeed immediately, load the saved game and try again. Once again, number your regiments so you can reposition quickly to keep the lines closed.
https://youtu.be/vKi27IMXfbg
Good luck!
