Mount & Blade: Warband

Mount & Blade: Warband drops you into Calradia, a land torn apart by six rival kingdoms, with little more than a horse and a sword to your name. From there the path is yours: sell your blade as a mercenary, build a company of hardened veterans, earn a fief in a king's service, or raise your own banner and claim the throne of Calradia for yourself.

A Sandbox Built on Steel and Horseflesh

Warband is the standalone expansion to TaleWorlds Entertainment's original Mount & Blade, and it keeps what made that game special: mounted combat that feels physical. Every swing is aimed in one of four directions, blocks have to match the attack coming in, and the speed of your horse adds real weight to a lance thrust or sword stroke. Couch a lance at full gallop and a single pass can decide a fight; misjudge the approach and you ride straight past your target into a waiting line of spears. New motion-captured animations, more detailed models with high-quality textures, and a graphical overhaul with HDR, depth of field and tone mapping bring the battlefields up to the standard the combat deserves.

From Mercenary Captain to King

The campaign is an open sandbox with no fixed story to follow. Where you end up depends on the battles you choose, the lords you befriend and the promises you keep.

Recruit and Train Your Warband Hire peasants from villages and lead them through battle after battle as they upgrade along each faction's troop tree, from raw recruits into Swadian Knights, Nord Huscarls, Rhodok Sharpshooters or Khergit Horse Archers. Soldier morale matters too: push a battered army too far and your men will break and run. Rule a Kingdom of Your Own Warband lets you do what the original never did and found a faction of your own. Take a castle or town, convince wandering lords to swear fealty as your vassals, and elevate trusted companions by granting them lands. Holding a crown is harder than taking one, and keeping your lords loyal becomes a campaign in itself. Politics, Marriage and Rivalry Court a lady of the realm through poetry and feats of arms, or arrange a match purely for the political advantage it brings. Back a claimant to a rival throne, build standing with the lords who matter, and watch the balance of power shift as kingdoms declare war and sue for peace around you.

The Details That Win Battles

• Pick up arrows, bolts and javelins from the ground in the middle of a fight and turn the enemy's own munitions back on them when your quiver runs dry.
• Most throwing weapons double as close-combat weapons, so a javelin becomes a short spear when the enemy closes the distance faster than you expected.
• Shields now stop incoming arrows even when you are not actively blocking, which makes your choice of shield and your positioning a real tactical decision on foot or in the saddle.

64-Player Multiplayer Battles

Warband takes its combat online with battles for up to 64 players across Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, Conquest, Battle and Siege, played on hand-designed maps as well as random ones. An in-match equipment economy rewards you with gold for fighting opponents and accomplishing goals, which you then spend on stronger arms and armor. The system is carefully balanced so the leading team gains an edge without running away with the match, and a well-timed cavalry charge or a disciplined shield wall still decides more fights than gear alone.

A Game Players Never Put Down

Steam Workshop support makes it easy to add community-created content, and Warband's moddability is a big part of why players are still riding into Calradia more than fifteen years after release. Steam Achievements and Trading Cards round out the package. If you have ever wanted a medieval game where every inch of ground is earned, starting as a nobody on a tired horse and ending as the ruler that lords bend the knee to, Warband is the one to play. Gather your men, choose your banner, and ride for Calradia.