King of Dragon Pass Wiki
Register
Advertisement


The war screen (War icon) allows you to set your defenses, recruit weaponthanes, build fortifications and launch raids on your foes.

On this screen, your advisors will give you valuable information, such as whether it is a good time to raid, which fortifications you should build next, and if you have enough patrols or weaponthanes.

For more information about the battle system itself, please visit the Battle page.

Definitions[]

Before we proceed the dissection of this screen, here are some definitions of commonly used terms:

  • Weaponthanes are your full time warriors, they are the ones charged with patrolling, guarding the tula as well as your explorers, caravans etc.
  • The fyrd is your army, composed of footmen (all your adult male farmers, hunters, and nobles of both genders taking up arms to defend the tula). Note that in order to enable women to also fight in the fyrd, one needs to activate Vinga's blessing: Fyrdwomen.
  • Auxiliaries are farmers (mostly women) charged with healing and cheering your warriors on during the battle. They may heal some of your injured warriors, pull some back from the brink of death, and provide encouragement to warriors that would otherwise flee. Unfortunately, they aren't good at fighting and are susceptible to being captured and taken as ransom or thralls. (You may be able to get them back by raiding the clan that took them, or paying a ransom, though)


Warriors[]

On the top left of the screen, you can check at a glance how many weaponthanes and footmen your clan has at its disposal.

The Short-Call[]

The Footmen number may seem low compared to how many farmers you have that can fight. If you have 300 farmers that can fight, you may only see 100 on the top left of the war screen. This is because on this screen, not all your footmen are listed, only the Short-Call footmen, the ones that can be gathered quickly enough to fight off cattle raids (which require an extra quick response time), or to out on a raid or mission.

Your short-call can be increased with war blessings.

Recruiting Weaponthanes[]

Recruiting weaponthanes

To recruit more weaponthanes, press the "weaponthanes" button under "warriors" (alternatively, you can also recruit them from your Clan screen).

You can recruit weaponthanes:

  • From promising carls: Choosing this option will lower the number of your farmers and increase your number of weaponthanes.
  • From outside the clan: Choosing this option will add to your overall population, but there is no guarentee you will recieve the number of weaponthanes you asked for.
  • Offer additional gifts worth 1 cow: This option, in combination with recruiting from outside the clan, will give you a better chance at getting the number of weaponthanes you asked for.

You can also dismiss your weaponthanes. You can choose to give parting gifts worth 1 cow, which will show your generosity and appease your remaining weaponthanes, after all, no one wants to be worried about loosing their job at any moment.


Patrols[]

You weaponthanes are the ones that patrol your tula, looking for signs of trouble, ready to spot any incoming raids and cattle raids.

There are two types of patrols:

  • Outer patrols: Weaponthanes circling the far edge of your tula, that can spot incoming raids and cattle raids earlier than the inner patrol, giving your fyrd time to gather. But the outer patrol may be too far away to respond to the attack right away.
  • Inner patrols: If an enemy slips past your outer patrol, chances are they will be spotted by your inner patrol. The inner patrol weaponthanes are ready to fight off the enemy and make sure nothing gets stolen without a fight.

Note that there are many advantages to not assigning all your weaponthanes on patrol at once:

  • Off duty weaponthanes will rest and practice, making them relaxed and happier, but they won't be able to spot any threats.

Another thing to keep in mind is that injured weaponthanes, or warriors coming back from a mission/raid prefer to rest and practice their combat skills, and they unfortunately don't decide to go back on patrol unless ordered to do so. This is why you will have to check and ajust your patrol sliders regularly.

Launching a Cattle Raid[]

Launch cattle raid

Cattle raids are the stealthy stealing of cows. They are expected in Orlanthi culture, even between allied clans.

To launch a cattle raid, press the "cattle raid" button. You will now see a list of the clans of Dragon Pass to the left, a map of the region in the center, and siders on the right that let you choose who to send.

Select your target clan from the clan list, the map will center on their tula, and a description of the clan will appear under the list. Next, choose how many weaponthanes and footmen you wish to send, keeping in mind that sending too many people will hurt your chances of success, because they may be spotted by the target clan's patrols. Sending too few people might also cause you some problems if you are detected, because cattle raids can easily turn into full on raids.

If you are confident about winning a battle, sending the maximum number of weaponthanes and footmen will result in larger spoils as there is more men available to steal the cattle.

Launching a Raid[]

Launch raid

Contrary to Cattle raids, raids will hurt relations with the target clan. But they are quite lucrative if you are plundering.

To launch a raid, press the "Raid" button. You should find yourself on a new screen, showing to the left a list of neighboring clans, at the center a map of Dragon Pass, and to the right sliders that will allow you to choose who to send.

Choose the clan you wish to raid from the list (avoid raiding clans you are allied with, and go for feuding clans, unless you want to lower your reputation with them) and you map will center on their tula. Then decide who to send on the raid, and click Raid.

Past Raids[]

On either side of the central blessing stone, you will be able to see:

  • On the left, a list of the latest raids you've performed,
  • On the right, a list of the latest raids you've suffered.

The icons represent:

  • Sword: A raid you won
  • Broken Sword : A raid you lost
  • Full Cow: A successful cattle raid
  • Empty Cow: A cattle raid that failed

Fortifications[]

You can build fortifications to in order to enhance the defence of your tula.

Most fortifications have the side effect of reducing the amount of deaths among your army when you choose the defensive survival tactic, and reducing the amount of loot stolen by raiders. The effects of the fortifications are cumulative.

Fortification Description Cost*
Ditch Causes raiders and their horses to stumble. 25
Ramparts Earth ramparts to make attacking us harder 50
Stake Perimeter Impales raiders on horseback. 40
Stone Wall Rock wall to make raiding us more difficult 150
Watch Tower Helps spot incoming enemies, giving the fyrd time to respond. 10
Wooden Stockade Protects from attacks

75

* Cost in goods.

Advertisement