Oldie but goldie - found this propaganda material, not sure if anyone in the community has seen it before:
http://www.alteredgamer.com/mount-and-blade-warband/103115-the-top-5-best-warband-mods/
The Top 5 Best Mount and Blade: Warband Modswritten for: PC by: Justin Davis ; edited by: Michael Hartman ; updated: 5/19/2011 • Leave a comment
Looking for an online game that isn't a herky-jerky fps or boring mmo? The answer to your woes is the hack-and-slash masterpiece Mount and Blade: Warband. The best Mount and Blade Warband mods make the war even better. Check out this guide for the top 5 best Mount and Blade: Warband mods.
Mount and Blade: WarbandMount and Blade: Warband is the exclusive expansion game to the original Mount and Blade. Mount & Blade: Warband is a hack-and-slash action-adventure rpg much like the original, but Warband has improved graphics, AI, combat, animations and most importantly online play. But still, there are many bugs and issues with Mount and Blade: Warband. The answer to those issues is by modding Mount and Blade: Warband. But with so many mods to choose from, what is a lonely medieval warrior wannabe supposed to do? Thats why this handy guide was written, to show you the top 5 best Mount and Blade: Warband mods.
5. DiplomacySingle player Mount and Blade: Warband is much like the original Mount and Blade. With a detailed overworld map, engaging free-play campaign mode and epic army on army action, Warband still delivers an exciting single player campaign. However, the Mount and Blade: Warband mod Diplomacy makes the single player campaign much deeper than almost any other mod. You see, a new addition to Warband is a much greater emphasis on Kingdom Management, and diplomacy allows for a great deal of freedom in that department. Some improvements include an alliance/traitor system, a faction culture system that helps lord not choose bad troops, a choice between domestic policy, some economic options, and a host of other anti-enemy options as well. These improvements allow for an almost political warfare type minigame to emerge, deepening the addiction of many rpg lovers worldwide.
4. Blood and SteelDo you wake up in the morning and power down a Musclemilk for breakfast? Go base-jumping for meditation? Are you on a first name basis with Chuck Norris? Well if so, you will probably love Mount and Blade: Warband Blood and Steel. Blood and Steel says it perfectly, it is a "very hardcore tactical combat simulation with a lot of 'what-if' scenarios in it- for example, we get to find out what it might have been like if the Roman Empire had continued to exist, and continued to use heavy infantry tactics versus medieval shock-cavalry forces". Emphasis on the hardcore.
Blood and Steel improves Mount and Blade:Warband combat to make hitting someone actually mean something other than "22 damage!". Instead of normal sieges of 200-400 smelly Nords, think more like a calm hurricane of 1500+ vikings all aiming to pull an arm or leg off of your body. However, the best improvement in Blood and Steel is the completely satisfying enemy AI, gone are the days of horses getting stuck on rocks. Also appreciated is the focus on reworked equipment; an arrow actually kills people now. The fun in Blood and Steel is mainly in the challenge, and the satisfaction in simply surviving the most intense battles in Mount and Blade ever. That is why Blood and Steel is in the top 5 best Mount and Blade: Warband mods.
3. Prophecy of PendorOne of the most popular Mount and Blade mods, Prophecy of Pendor has now been ported over to Mount and Blade: Warband! While this alone would have been enough to vault Pendor into the top 5 best Mount and Blade Warband mods list, there have also been some improvements to the base Pendor mod.
First off, many textures have been reworked to fit into Warband's graphical changes, meaning that Pendor is even more beautiful and varied than before. Second, the enemy AI has been revamped completely, gone are the days of peasants charging headlong into 100 strong filthy Nord armies, now enemies can run away from battle. Also, there are new formations, such as wedge and column that help you annihilate annoying enemies such as dirty Nordic warlords. Lastly, the randomly spawning named enemies have gotten a tweak that makes them spawn at rates a little less absurd, making the single player campaign for Mount and Blade: Warband much more enjoyable.
2. Battle Sizer ModAh, the old standby best Mount and Blade mod; Battle Sizer Mod. Thankfully, this mod still works with Mount and Blade: Warband, although with the new graphical changes it can be slightly unstable if driven to extreme levels, such as 400+ unit battles. It also takes a little bit of technical know-how, or following directions to the T, as you do have to change the config.txt file in order to use the mod.
Still, Battle Sizer Mod is one of those once in a lifetime epiphanies, like trying a slice of real New York pizza for the first time. Once you see an epic battle of 200 vs. 200 you will never want to play Mount and Blade Warband the same again. This beautiful little mod gives us the warfare we all wanted to see. That is why it is the number two best Mount and Blade Warband mod ever.
1. cRPGI know that all of you are probably saying, "Why are there no multiplayer mods in this stupid list? Isn't that what Warband is all about?". And you are all correct. That is about to change now, because the only multiplayer mod for Mount and Blade Warband you will ever need is cRPG.
cRPG makes the inconsistent, buggy and hacker filled world of Mount and Blade Warband multiplayer mods take a 180-turn for greatness. This mod actually has several multiplayer overhauls written into its code, including more balanced weapons and equipment and improved matchmaking and server stability. While those are nice and certainly needed, the biggest reason why cRPG is on this list is because it adds a persistent multiplayer world, where your character gains levels and loot based on how well you kill other players in real-time. There is strategy, team-based play options and a deep and addicting grind. There is not much else to say about cRPG, other than this is the best Mount and Blade Warband mod available today.
