Hari ni aku nak review satu mini-mod yang aku rasa worth it untuk direview dan of course ianya melibatkan game favourite aku iaitu Mount & Blade: Bannerlord.
Serve as Soldiers or SAS merupakan sebuah mini mod developed by LL Muse. Why mini? Sebab ianya berlainan dengan total conversion mod yang pernah aku try such as TOTSK, ROT or EU1100 that revamped the entire gaming experience from vanilla to tema mod itu sendiri. Mini mod cuma tune a bit sahaja module game without revamping base game. Ni apa gambar mod Realm of Thrones pulak? Yelah SAS ni mini mod je so nak lagi sedap aku pair lah dengan satu total conversion mod yang jadi favourite aku ni. So as its name suggested, SAS allow player untuk berkhidmat sebagai seorang tentera didalam army's faction leader or vassal. Mod ni memang ideal untuk those player yang tak nak jadi vassal terlalu awal, or untuk those yang takde hala tuju. Yelah, kekadang bila kita start main game ni agak clueless jugak. Nak formally join faction, perlukan clan tier more than two baru boleh accepted. If tak cukup syarat, kenalah start as mercenary clan first. But apa-apapun kedua-duanya memerlukan player untuk control their own party at the early stage of the game which sometimes agak payah untuk newbie. Since dalam game ni - no money, no talk.
So, being a soldier kita dah tak perlu risau benda-benda tu. No party upkeep to monitor. No party morale to maintain. Cuma dah jadi askar tu kena follow order je lah. Kita akan start dengan low rank dulu, kat sini korang boleh choose class mana yang korang nak enlist, samada nak attach dalam infantry, cavalry or missile unit. Macam aku sudah tentunya cavalry, dapat naik kuda. Huhu
Lagi banyak battle kita join, lagi banyak XP kita collect dan lagi cepat kita promoted. Secara amnya ada tujuh level yang kita kena achieve before kita boleh honorably discharged from perkhidmatan. Of course, by the time of this entry, character aku ni dah sampai tahap paling tinggi iaitu army officer dimana kita boleh memimpin unit/squadron depending on class yang kita pilih.
In term of survival, if korang attach dengan king or marshal yang biasanya ada large army, so possibility untuk dikalahkan tu very low unless kena gangbang. Haha. Tapi kalau sebaliknya, memang susah sebab once army defeated, kita akan terpisah dengan our general and we need to find way macam mana nak regroup with them. If jeneral korang tertangkap, korang boleh pilih samada deserted the army ataupun tunggu jelah dia balik mostly dekat castle or town owned hy him/her. But kalau korang nak improve relationship dengan dia, korang boleh try untuk stage prison break and save them. In Sha Allah memang cepatlah korang naik pangkat. Huhu
Dalam army, kita boleh jugak push rank dengan buat beberapa duty such as scouting, stewarding, training etc. Aku memang purposely stay bertahun-tahun dalam army untuk polish skills yang bmight be useful once ready untuk jadi vassal nanti such as steward, leadership, charisma etc.
Ohh ya, untuk equipment dan gear pulak akan gradually improve. Lagi tinggi rank, lagi better equipment yang kita boleh dapat. Once promoted, our general akan reward kita dengan barang-barang tu dan kita boleh claim it from army's quartermaster. Equipment termasuklah helmet, body armors, bracers, boots, weapons/shields dan juga horses, if applicable.
During freetime dan if general kita rest the army dekat town, kita juga boleh join tournament dan melepak kat tavern.
Of course, bila korang dah sampai higher rank or ada relationship yang baik dengan general, kita boleh request for leave. Kat sini korang boleh roaming the map untuk melawat town, castle and villages or pay visit to other lords in the realms.
Once you all dah sampai final rank, the general akan approached korang with option. First option dimana korang boleh honorably discharged dan jadi freemen. Second option pulak korang boleh terus berkhidmat sebagai as an army officer where we will be rewarded an impressive bonus of 25,000 denars!
Tu yang aku request leave and invest dua businesses terus, at least ada continuous money..:-p
Aku pick second option. Buat apa nak discharged. Better aku served in army and bila sampai clan Tier 3 then boleh request untuk join the kingdom as vassal. Baru nampak perfect sikit our lordship's ascension from low tier soldier sampailah jadi lord. Macam biasa, ada sikit short story buat raso-raso. Huhu.
298AC - an eighteen year's old Fredrik Hill arrived at the city of Lannisport, hoping to pass the Westerland's army recruitment. Concealing his true identity, Fredrik is actually the last surviving member of House Reyne that was presumably extinct some forty years ago after their failed rebellion against their liege-lord, the Lannister.
At the age of two, he was raised by former castellan of Castamere, Ser Lyman Vikary after the untimely death of his parents who secretly lived as commoner in the aftermath of Reyne-Tarbeck Rebellion. As expected, Fredrik passed the army trial with flying colour and enlisted under Lord Paramount Tywin Lannister's scout division. Despite his grudge against the Lannister, he loyally served the Westerland's army due to his zeal towards his motherland.
299AC - Westeros is at war! The war of the Five Kingdoms has begun. As a scout, Fredrik served with distinction, often providing a valuable intel during his scout mission and even met Tywin himself to provide his first-hand report.
In the same year, Tywin mobilized the Westerland's army to invade the Riverlands. The army rapidly advancing into the heart of Tully's holdings in a brutal campaign against the Riverlords, in retaliation of their alliance with Robb Stark of the North.
Fredrik participated in at least three major engagements during the conflict, his first taste of battle was during the Battle of Green Fork in which the Westerlands defeated the Northern army under Lord Roose Bolton.
The second one came shortly after Jaime's crushing defeat at Whispering Wood followed by liberation of Riverrun. Fredrik was a part of Westerland's vanguard that intercepted a larger Northern force and successfully captured Robb Stark's plan. This allowed Tywin to devise an orderly retreat from Harrenhall back to Crownlands.
His final engagement of the campaign happened at the very gate of the capital, King's Landing where he was involved in the cavalry charge against the Dragonstone's army under Stannis Baratheon. Fredrik earned his first promotion and transferred to shock-cavalry division, a combat unit which much suited to his swordsmanship ability.
300AC - With the death of Robb Stark and Balon Greyjoy, the balance of power shifting to the Lannister side. The Westerland's army completed their control over northern Westeros with capitulation of Riverrun, and installation of Lord Roose Bolton as the new Lord Paramount of the North.
The war ended and just like other common soldiers, Fredrik was posted for a garrison duty at Riverlands, mainly to maintain the public order and thwart the guerilla activity staged by Brotherhood Without Banners. After the murder of Tywin Lannister in 304AC, Fredrik continue to serve the Westerland's army up until a point of Targaryen's invasion of Westeros. He saw an active combat in the defense of Casterly Rock against the Unsullied and later participated in the Sack of Highgarden where he finally commissioned as senior cavalry officer, leading a squadron of around 200 horsemen. Soon, he and the entire Westerland's army will engage toe-to-toe with the fearsome Dothraki's screamer lead by Queen Daenerys Targaryen. Will he survive?
So yes, cerita aku habis sampai situ je. Short kan, maklumlah nama pun mini-mod. So takde benda sangat nak explore. Huhu. Sebenarnya ada dua lagi mini mod yang aku rasa quite interesting untuk direview iaitu Diplomacy and Bannerking, but unfortunately these two mods tak compatible dengan Realm of Thrones yang aku main sekarang. Banyak benda nak kena adjust, kena revert and verify to base game, download and install mod tu lagi, itu pun belum tentu can run smoothly. If tak boleh main, satu hal pulak nak kena redo. Haha.
