Be warned: Combat is EXTREMELY difficult in Warband, but it is very well made. By default the player only receives 1/4th of the actual damage and that is easy but I prefer to play so that I receive all of it. Your men receive %50 of the damage by default but I like to set it so we all get 100% and then you have to strategize.
eh, i wouldnt recommend it that heavily. I played it around 13 hours, and i have to admit that while the demo left me wanting more actually playing the game was boring as hell. although i never reached the politically interesting aspect of the game, endlessly throwing your dudes against other dudes was fun at first got it got old quick.
You gotta have an objective. I've played the main campaign for over 300 hours and modded versions of the game for hundreds more. Personally I enjoy mods that change the world so that you are playing in Westeros and stuff like that, but the main mode is still great.
I mean Skyrim is boring if you just run around and kill monsters and level up. You need to be questing or roleplaying or trying to beat the game or doing literally anything.
The game
is pretty slow paced, I'll admit. It could take 25 hours before you are actually a lord and 40 before you have your own nation. Taking over the world would take upwards of 150 hours on a standard difficulty. But you can fast forward time, and honestly I just like to watch it develop.
Very few things are more interesting than collaborating with a dozen other lord about overthrowing the king and then launching the nation into civil war. Very few things are more satisfying than coming out on top as the king and watching every other royal gasp in fear, scared that their seat will be taken by an upstart warlord. Mount & Blade delivers an experience that no other game can.
