Everyone that has ever played either Mount and Blade: Warband or Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord has felt the inherent need to start/create your own kingdom.
This is the real reason most of us play this game. Being a mercenary or a loyal vassal is not enough sometimes to satiate our ambitions.
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Luckily, we have huge armies, castles that are waiting to be conquered, and a bunch of companions that will support us.
To start our own kingdom in Bannerlord will either require incredible brute force or a lot of political maneuvering and money. Here is how you can create a kingdom in Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord!
Table of contents
- How Player-Led Independent Kingdoms Work in Bannerlord
- How to Create a Kingdom in Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord
How Player-Led Independent Kingdoms Work in Bannerlord
To establish a new kingdom in Bannerlord, your clan tier will need to be at least 4. You can still conquer a town before reaching that tier, but you won’t be able to name and govern the territories properly.
Once the kingdom has been established, the new king will be able to name the realm and choose 4 starting policies.
The newly crowned king will also get access to the army mechanic, which lets parties join together to attack towns and castles.
Those are the basics of Kingdoms, but how exactly do you start/create one in Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord?
How to Create a Kingdom in Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord
Starting a kingdom can be very hard and grindy to do. First of all, having low levels in most skills will make you a horrible ruler. Second of all, getting a big enough army to actually protect the newly-founded kingdom is going to take a while.
There are 2 methods one can use to create a Kingdom in Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord:
- Play as a vassal and betray your faction
- Play as an independent clan and conquer a town/castle
Vassal Betrayal
This technique requires players to befriend and become the vassals of a faction they plan to betray.
For this to work nicely, think about a castle or town you would like to start your kingdom from (Preferably a castle, since it is easier to get one).
Select to start the game as the culture of the desired stronghold and, once you reach clan tier 2, join a kingdom that is fighting your chosen culture. So, if you choose to be Battanian, and Battania is fighting the Empire, join the Empire.
You will do this because you can conquer a castle or town in Battania due to the war and use influence to get it for yourself. This is great because you won’t suffer different-culture disadvantages for Town Loyalty.
Once you’ve got a holding, make sure to turn it into a prosperous, well-defended hub with extremely rich villages. When you are ready and have reached clan tier 4, find your faction leader and enter the Kingdom tab (bottom left corner of the screen).
In the upper right part of the menu, you will see a red button that says “Leave Kingdom”. After you select it, click the “Keep all holdings” choice and “Confirm”.
Doing this will result in you gaining independence and getting into an instant war with your old allies.
Since you are right next to your old liege, just approach him and negotiate a peace treaty. By giving them around 100k to 200k denarii, you will end any hostilities.
Now just head to your settlement, talk to the governor or person in charge of the city and create and name your kingdom!
Great Conqueror
This strategy is similar. It is just that you will be in an independent clan and have to fight for a settlement by yourself.
This is significantly harder, but it works the same way. Decide what you want to conquer beforehand and befriend the castle and surrounding villages.
One should choose a settlement at the edge of the map. Why? Because this way, they can avoid being attacked from more than two or three directions.
Make a fortune to be able to settle a peace with your enemies and build the biggest army you can get.
All that is left is for the player to conquer a town or castle (town will be almost impossible, but you can give it a go) and make peace with their new rivals.
Once that is done, try to maintain peace and build prosperity for the settlement. You can then start your Bannerlord kingdom and slowly conquer all of Calradia!
That’s everything you need to know about starting/creating a Kingdom in Mount and Blade: Bannerlord!
Have any input or suggestions for this guide? Let us know in the comment section below.
Another viable strategy is following the same precursor steps but rather than betraying the faction you’re a part of outright, get them to vote for debasement of currency for low loyalty, this will work especially well in different culture towns. After this is done and you’ve reached clan tier 4 just leave the kingdom you’re in when your desired town is very close to rebelling. When the desired town is around 5 loyalty or lower, leave the kingdom without keeping your holdings to avoid a war and less relation penalty, then prepare for a siege on the desired town by stacking your party with at bare minimum 100-150 tier 6 troops and make sure you’ve got around 30-50 days of food for the siege. When the town rebels they will have very weak vassals who won’t be able to defend very well. Wait until the town is empty (i.e. no parties inside) and start hostilities by attacking a weak lord or village. Then besiege the town. Wait until their food runs out while bombarding them with siege engines and watch as their garrison depletes. Once the garrison is dead of starvation the militia will be easy to take out with the support of siege engines and a bunch of tier 6 troops. End result: a town to start your kingdom in without needing to start a war with a major faction and minimal loss of troops or gold.