Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord Captain Mode

Mount And blade 2 Bannerlord. you can also play it on steam

If you've enjoyed playing Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord, you're probably interested in the online modes as well.

Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord has two types of online modes.

There's an online mode where users can join single-player campaigns in real-time, and there's the multiplayer mode provided by TaleWorlds Entertainment's servers.

https://bannerlord-online.com/

The online mode seems to be run by individuals who create and operate their own servers. Multiple users can join different factions and play single-player mode in real-time, forming alliances with users from the same faction to wage wars, capture cities, and defend against enemy attacks.

The multiplayer mode mainly includes duels (1v1), team deathmatch (16v16 or 32v32 on a single map where you win by capturing strongholds or achieving a set number of kills first), and Captain mode (where each user becomes a squad leader commanding anywhere from 8 to a maximum of 50 units in battle).

Single mode play screen

Single mode battle play screen

The difference between online mode and multiplayer mode is that online mode is more like single-player mode extended over a longer period of time, while multiplayer matches don't exceed 30-40 minutes per game.

Unfortunately, neither mode has a large player base. In the multiplayer mode that I play, there seem to be around 200 concurrent players...

For Captain mode, which I occasionally enjoy, sometimes there are no participants at all, so you have to wait endlessly for someone to join.

A critical drawback is that with the already small player base plus ping differences between countries, it becomes somewhat difficult to play from countries far from each server room.

For example, if a Captain mode room's server is in Europe, Asian players have to deal with ping over 200, which significantly affects win rates regardless of skill level.

Despite all this, the fun of commanding AI soldiers and participating in battles is definitely real.

"Captain mode doesn't have any set rules, but there do seem to be some unwritten rules among the players.

For example, the most important main unit type in this mode is 'heavy infantry.' They serve as the backbone of battles and act as the 'anvil' in the hammer and anvil tactic. If there aren't enough heavy infantry or they don't work together organically, you'll get criticized by other players or even face verbal abuse. In extreme cases, they'll start a vote to kick you from the match.

If 10 players are playing 5v5, and your teammates have already chosen 2 heavy infantry squads and 2 archer squads, and you pick another archer squad, one of your teammates will probably call you out.

'Hey, we have too many archers now.'

Archers are very useful, but for archers to shoot safely, your infantry formation needs to be solid, and you need at least one squad to protect against cavalry charges.

If the enemy team chooses 3 heavy infantry squads and 2 cavalry squads, they'll probably have a huge advantage. While there are many situations where you can still win with superior control and psychological warfare, it's fundamentally not a favorable matchup.

So let me share some tips for enjoying Captain mode:

1. Individual combat skill doesn't have much impact. There are ping issues, but AI combat skills are excellent - you generally can't take on 2 AI units simultaneously. This is quite different from single-player mode.

Command skills have much more impact on victory than individual combat prowess. If you lead cavalry to raid archer formations at the right moment, or act as the 'hammer' in hammer and anvil tactics by flanking enemy heavy infantry at the perfect time, you can become a hero.

Always keep track of your team's movements and adapt to their needs.

2. Unit Balance Archers generally cannot defeat heavy infantry and cavalry. Each unit type does provide various weapons to counter enemy heavy infantry and cavalry. For example, Imperial units include archers with swords and shields, and archers with long spears. However, this doesn't mean they can gain an advantage against heavy infantry and cavalry. Think of these as means to offer minimal resistance and hold out until friendly reinforcements arrive.

I have actually defeated cavalry using Imperial archers with long spears (Menavalon equipment), but that was only because the enemy stupidly charged in tight formation. Archers should basically maintain loose formation and only switch to tight formation when cavalry attacks are imminent to counter the charge.

If the enemy has a competent cavalry commander, they'll probably attack you before you can group up, or even if you do switch to tight formation, they'll find blind spots to break through.

However, if archer units attack the rear or flanks of enemies engaged in combat, you can achieve excellent results. Therefore, archer units need support from infantry or cavalry units that can protect them.

With spread formation + F1->F4, the archers on the right have moved away from the enemy and are shooting at them, while the archers acting as bait are fighting the enemy infantry (they keep retreating to maintain distance before attacking). Fortunately, there weren't many enemy infantry so I was able to win, but if I had committed all those troops to melee combat, the casualties would have been higher or I might have lost entirely.

If you're being chased by infantry, spread out your troops as much as possible until friendly reinforcements arrive. Press F1->F4 to make some of your troops move away, and while enemy infantry chase after them, have your other archers attack the pursuers from the side.

Light infantry can suppress cavalry with javelins or long weapons, or quickly approach enemy archers. Since they wear very light armor, they generally can't match heavy infantry. However, their weapons offer more variety or greater reach than heavy infantry, so they can serve special purposes:

1. Throw javelins at heavy infantry while continuously retreating to accumulate damage, then join up with your heavy infantry to defeat them. With javelin throwing activated, approach the enemy then move in the opposite direction - your troops will automatically move away from the enemy while throwing javelins. Since you move faster and enemy infantry slow down when raising shields, you can attack them efficiently.

Alternatively, equip spears with superior reach compared to cavalry to protect archers or support the rear and flanks of heavy infantry. Or use fast movement speed to provide support to squads in combat.

Heavy infantry are the core anvil of your army. Stay grouped with other heavy infantry squads, using tight and line formations to face enemy cavalry and infantry. A well-trained heavy infantry's tight formation combined with short spears can successfully block terrifying heavy cavalry attacks and defeat them instantly.

Conversely, even well-equipped heavy infantry can easily be surrounded and hunted by lightly armed infantry, cavalry, or even weaker archers if they're unfamiliar with formations or can't read situations well.

Heavy infantry support is needed for the most important battles. Always secure key battle positions and pressure the enemy.

Cavalry are this game's greatest attraction. That's why many players choose cavalry, but they often get disappointed by poor results that don't match expectations, or face criticism from other players.

The key to cavalry isn't frontal assault, but separating enemies and exploiting vulnerable points. Avoid dense enemy formations and break through the rear of exposed archer units or thinly exposed areas of units without long anti-cavalry spears.

The cavalry I command breaks through the linear formation of infantry. we can break through easily because enemies have no spears.

Basically, cavalry should focus on hit-and-run tactics and breakthrough charges rather than attacking the center. Just having horses charge through and knock down people can cause significant panic and damage to the enemy.

In other words, you can fulfill your role effectively simply by breaking through thin formations, disappearing from the enemy's sight, then reappearing to charge through their weak points again.

Infantry without ranged weapons cannot keep up with these cavalry archers.

Horse archers have fewer arrows and lower melee efficiency compared to other close-combat cavalry, but they're very good at picking off enemy rear lines. Once they run out of arrows, they can be operated like light cavalry, making it easy to hunt down scattered infantry or archer units.

Infantry units that stray far from the protection of friendly cavalry and archers are nothing more than easy prey for horse archers. Unfortunately, these unit types only exist in Aserai and Khuzait factions.

Since the unit composition and balance of Captain mode differs slightly between different servers, it's difficult to provide more detailed strategies. For example, in the Captain mode I play, horse charge damage is substantial, but in regular Captain mode, charging through people with horses does very little damage.

In some modes, javelins break shields very effectively, so the ratio between light infantry and heavy infantry becomes close to 5:5 (this mode has disappeared now, but similar servers still exist). Each of these servers can have different detailed tactics and strategies.