This is short guide on nations implemented in Strategus VIII.
Inspired by: English region
Fiefs: 13 in total. 2 town conglomerates: Praven (2 castles and 3 villages) and Uxkhal (3 castles and 3 villages)
Location in Calradia: West - North-West
Balanced offensive nation that keeps their strength during all stages of Strategus, starting from early game and up to late game. Suits well for a huge faction or an alliance of factions or alternatively can be divided to 2 separate factions each ruling 1 town conglomerate. Although nation is relatively efficient in siege defense and fiefs are decent to defend, their location on the map makes them easier targets for ambushing and occasional raids by bandits while main armies are on the crusade.
Strong sides:
- Cavalry. All the tools to dominate with cavalry - great lances, heaviest horses, powerful cavalry one-handers and two-handers, even Cavalry Crossbow giving an opportunity for horse crossbowmen.
- Plated armor. Access to plated armor makes this nation very effective in late stages and sieges.
- Ranged. Although Swadian ranged are not the best in Calradia, they still have access to both decent archers and crossbowmen, making Swadia versatile.
- Powerful against armors. Morningstars in all 3 melee weapon types make Swadia powerful against armored defensive nations. Both high pierce damage and bonus against shields destroy heavy armored targets, shielders and siege equipment.
- Balanced. This nation's gear and fiefs don't limit it much. Might be not the best in anything, yet decent in everything.
Weak sides:
- Vulnerable to cavalry. Swadia barely has anything to deal with cavalry. Only one weapon (English Bill) that can rear horses, which is relatively expensive. Also both ranged types are slow making them vulnerable to horse archers.
- No blunt weapons. Not a single one and not even in alt modes.
- No crushthrough weapons. Crushthrough weapons can only be blunt and Swadia doesn't have those.
- No cut weapons with bonus against shields. Early game shielders counter Swadia because the only tools against shielders are top tier morningstars.
- Lack of polearms. Lack of longer polearms and no balanced 4d polearms making Swadia very limited in this class.
Signature units:
- Swadian swordsman
- Swadian heavy cavalry lancer
- Swadian heavy shielder
- Swadian archer
- Swadian crossbowman
Inspired by: Italian and Spanish regions
Fiefs: 12 in total. 2 town conglomerates: Veluca (3 castles and 2 villages) and Jelkala (3 castles and 2 villages)
Location in Calradia: South-West
Defensive nation that is the most powerful in late stages of Strategus and weak during early stages. Suits well for a huge faction or an alliance of factions or alternatively can be divided to 2 separate factions each ruling 1 town conglomerate. Located in rough territories making it more difficult to trade but also more difficult for enemies to launch unexpected attacks.
Strong sides:
- Crushthrough weapons. Access to Great Maul and Long Maul: the best two-handed and polearm crushthrough weapons.
- Plated armor. Access to the best plated armor makes this nation very effective in late stages and sieges.
- Crossbowmen. Access to the most powerful crossbow and bolts combination making it very effective against both lightly and heavily armored targets. Combined with Large Siege Shield, can be extremely effective.
- Powerful against armors. Big variety of pierce and blunt weapons.
- Variety of melee weapons. Melee weapons for pretty much any situation for all melee classes.
- Knockdown weapons. Top tier blunt weapons with knockdown in all 3 melee classes, knockdown as well as crushthrough is extremely powerful mechanic in team fights.
Weak sides:
- No cavalry. Rhodoks have no real cavalry besides Plated Donkey which is more of a joke.
- Vulnerable to shielders. Unless Rhodoks bring in crushtrough weapons, they will have hard time breaking enemy shields/equipment with low raw damage blunt/pierce weapons with no bonus against shields. The only weapon with bonus against shields is Poleaxe which will most likely be absent in battles in favor of other polearms.
- No archers. It can be compensated by crossbowmen but if Rhodoks fail to dominate in the battle, their ranged will be barely any effective because Arbalest users are very vulnerable to pressure, especially on open field.
- Lack of villages. Lack of villages, especially combined with rough terrain, slows down Rhodoks' economy a lot during early stages of Strategus.
Signature units:
- Rhodok plated mauler
- Rhodok crossbowman
- Rhodok heavy shielder
- Rhodok heavy pikeman
Inspired by: Mongolian Empire, Cuman-Kipchak and surrounding nomad peoples
Fiefs: 10 in total. 1 town conglomerate: Narra (1 castle and 8 villages)
Location in Calradia: Center - East
Offensive nation that is the most powerful in early stages of Strategus, especially field battles and weak during late stages, especially sieges. Suits well for an aggressive cavalry oriented faction or alliance. Located in central eastern part of the map, giving opportunities to organize various trade routes or caravan ambushes.
Strong sides:
- Cavalry. Khergits have access to most possible cavalry styles including the fastest horse in the game - Courser and the best horse archery items.
- The fastest start. Huge amount of closely located villages combined with Sumpter Horse that is the cheapest fast horse in game (twice cheaper than Rouncey) and central location in the map make Khergits grow economy and possibly troops (by converting fiefs' population into troops) faster than anyone else in Calradia.
Weak sides:
- Vulnerable fiefs. Lack of castles combined with low defense capabilities makes Khergits vulnerable to massive organized fief attacks.
- Weak against heavy armor. Khergits lack top tier blunt/pierce weapons (including ranged) to fight against plated enemies in late game.
- Weak infantry. Being a cavalry oriented nation, Khergits feel weaker in fights with no horses.
- No crushthrough weapons. Not that those could be used on horseback, but still a major downside during sieges.
Signature units:
- Khergit heavy cavalry lancer
- Khergit horse archer
Inspired by: Slavic regions
Fiefs: 12 in total. 2 town conglomerates: Curaw (2 castles and 3 villages) and Khudan (2 castles and 3 villages)
Location in Calradia: North - North-East
Balanced nation during all Strategus stages. Suits well for a huge faction or an alliance of factions or alternatively can be divided to 2 separate factions each ruling 1 town conglomerate.
Strong sides:
- High cut damage weapons. Access to Bardiche and Voulge types of weapons make Vaegirs very effective against medium and low armored enemies, especially shielders.
- Archers. Access to very versatile bows and pierce arrows make Vaegir archers one of the best in the game.
- Cavalry. Vaegirs have strong cavalry opportunities having good horses, Rus Lance and other weapons that can be utilized on horseback.
Weak sides:
- Weak infantry against heavy armor. Vaegir infantry lacks top tier blunt/pierce weapons to fight against plated enemies in late game.
- No crushthrough weapons. Vaegirs lack long blunt weapons in general and having no crushthrough makes it even weaker against heavy armor and during siege defenses.
Signature units:
- Vaegir archer
- Vaegir heavy infantry
- Vaegir heavy cavalry
Inspired by: Scandinavian region
Fiefs: 13 in total. 2 town conglomerates: Sargoth (2 castles and 3 villages) and Rivacheg (3 castles and 3 villages)
Location in Calradia: North
Balanced nation that is the most powerful in early Strategus stages. Suits well for a huge offensive faction or an alliance of factions or alternatively can be divided to 2 separate factions each ruling 1 town conglomerate.
Strong sides:
- High cut damage weapons. Access to high damaging axes makes Nords very effective against medium and low armored enemies, especially shielders.
- Archers. Access to the deadliest bows and arrows make Nordic archers the most damaging in Calradia.
- Throwers. Access to the biggest amount of throwing weapons including lances and spears compensate the lack of pierce melee weapons.
- Powerful in sieges. Having the deadliest archers and throwers in Calradia, Mallet with crushthrough, big shields and huge variety of weapons with bonus against shields make Nords effective both on defending and attacking sides during sieges.
- Hoplites. Access to variety of hoplite weapons and shields.
Weak sides:
- Weak infantry against heavy armor. Nordic infantry lacks blunt/pierce weapons to fight against plated enemies in late game.
- No cavalry. Nords have no dedicated cavalry.
Signature units:
- Nordic archer
- Nordic hoplite
- Nordic heavy mauler
- Nordic infantry