History YMMV / MountAndBlade

* TierInducedScrappy: Nobody likes the Khergits as allies, because they're so utterly useless in sieges and in the field. The root of the problem is that most cavalry archers have the same A.I. as melee cavalry units, which translate into them [[ArtificialStupidity charging towards enemy ranks like how Swadian knights would do with their lances]] rather than performing hit-and-run tactics like a sensible person would do (some horse archers actually circle their targets while firing, and they're far more effective as a result), and as such they're easily stopped by a decent shield formation and easily obliterated with a barrage of arrows, even the Veteran Horse Archers. Veteran Horse Archers are the best when dismounted and put in the same rank as your other archers, but then again you're better hiring Sarranids Master Archers or Vaegir Marksman if you really want a reliable archer unit.
** Polearms, specifically when equipped in tandem with shield. Outside of horseback or used by an anti-cavalry unit, polearms are essentially outclassed by everything else that also allows you to use a shield since you can only use the thrust attack, which can be easily blocked even within short timing. They're best wielded with both hands since you can actually swipe off enemies with it and block in four directions, but their damage per strike is much lower compared to swords and maces.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: The much hated cattle jobs from the original ''Mount & Blade'' and ''Warband'' were finally changed in ''Fire & Sword'' by having the cattle follow you rather than herding them to the objetive.

* BrokenBase: Before ''VideoGame/MountAndBlade'' was picked up by a publisher, they were operating on a "buy now, get a fleshed out version later without added cost" deal similar to ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Terraria}}'' (which was after the two, it's an industry standard "Early Access" arrangement). However, once a publisher picked up the game, the promised improvements were never made to the original ''Mount and Blade''. The improvements were to include better combat, multiplayer, and improvements to sieges and management. Instead they were made into addons that had to be purchased. A segment of the original fandom who had pre-purchased the game were then less then pleased. There were vows to never buy or instead pirate the sequels as they felt they were cheated by the deal. As the game and sequels became cheaper, members of the fandom who felt this way changed their minds and just purchased the now notably cheaper sequels.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: The much hated cattle jobs from the original ''Mount & Blade'' and ''Warband'' were finally changed in ''Fire & Sword'' by '''simply having the cattle follow you''' rather than herding them to the objetive.

** "This thread receives an [[ContemptibleCover Official Frodogorn Seal of Approval]]" [[http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f230/TaleWorlds/official_frodogorn_seal_of_approval.png]]

* ContestedSequel: The political model and multiplayer are long-requested and popular features, but the changes to combat are divisive, and the "balancing" of cavalry and infantry for multiplayer purposes is ''very'' much hated.

** Also, arguably, deliberately invoked; the game was built ground-up to not just support, but encourage modding. As a result, there have been a lot of mods made for this game, ranging from all sorts of historical settings like Rome, Japan, Dark Ages Britain (Brytenwalda, which the devs later helped make the Viking Conquest official DLC), and more. There are also tons of mods transporting the game into fictional settings, from ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' (or, as you might know it, ''Series/GameOfThrones''), to ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' to ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' and even into ''Franchise/StarWars''. In short, if it's a popular enough setting, there's a decent chance someone has made a mod turning M&B into it.

** Castle Grunwalder, where in addition to there being a substantial run to the castle from your starting position, the single ladder given to you is covered by at least three angles of fire from the walls. It doesn't help that initial controllers of it are the aforementioned Rhodoks. Many mods fix this by adding several more ladders.

* TierInducedScrappy: Nobody likes the Khergits because they're so utterly useless in sieges. The root of the problem is that most cavalry archers have the same A.I. as melee cavalry units, which translate into they [[ArtificialStupidity charging towards enemy ranks like how Swadian knights would do with their lances rather than performing hit-and-run tactics like a sensible person would do]], and as such they're easily stopped by a decent shield formation and easily obliterated with barrage of arrows, even the Veteran Horse Archers. Veteran Horse Archers are the best when dismounted and put in the same rank as your other archers, but then again you're best hiring Sarranids Master Archers or Vaegir Marksman if you really want a reliable archer unit.
** Polearms, specifically when equipped in tandem with shield. Outside of horseback or used by an anti-cavalry unit, polearms are essentially outclassed by everything else that also allows you to use up shield since you can only use thrust attack, which can be easily blocked even within short timing. They're at best wield double handed since you can actually swipe off enemies with it and block in four directions, but their damage per strike are much lower compared to swords and maces.

* AnnoyingVideoGameHelper: When a friendly lord sieges a fort/town, most likely they're attempting to wait out the defenders to run out of food, rather than building a siege weapon to assault the castle with. Unfortunately this also means you can't siege it yourself during that time, and can be particularly frustrating if it's the last one owned by an enemy faction. Fortunately, in Warband if you have decent relations with the sieging lord, you can ask him to attack immediately.

* BrokenBase: Before ''VideoGame/MountAndBlade'' was picked up by a publisher, they were operating on a "buy now get a fleshed out version later without added cost" deal similar to Minecraft and Terraria (which was after the two, it's an industry standard "Early Access"). However, once a publisher picked up the game, the promised improvements were never made to the original Mount and Blade. The improvements were to include better combat, multiplayer, and improvements to sieges and management. Instead they were made into addons that had to be purchased. A segment of the original fandom who had pre-purchased the game then were less then pleased. There were vows to never buy or instead pirate the sequels as they felt they were cheated by the deal. As the game and sequels became cheaper, members of the fandom who felt this way changed their minds and just purchased the now notably cheaper sequels.

* CultClassic: It's ugly, frustrating and has ''many'' {{Scrappy Mechanic}}s, but it has a die-hard fanbase and for good reason. There are no other games out there that combine [[RolePlayingGame role-playing]], RealTimeStrategy and third/first person melee combat as well as this one, making for an extremely engrossing experience despite the flaws.

** Vaegir Marksmen, the best damn archers in the game. They're insanely accurate, hit for a ''ton'' of damage even against high-ranking troops, and usually turn up in frighteningly large groups. As bad as assaulting castles are in general, trying to conquer Vaegirs is a fricken' ''nightmare''.

** Rhodok Sharpshooters, as well. See the Game Breaker entry down below for details on just how they'll murder anything that's not a Rhodok with impunity.
** You might have noticed quite a bit of praise for huscarls in the page. You can probably now imagine the sort of pain that it is to go ''against'' them. Oh, and don't think cavalry archers will save you, as just one thrown axe is more than capable of taking down anyone short of a steel-clad knight.
** Swadian Knights, there's a reason Heavy Cavalry is considered OP, and Swadian Knights are just the best of those. Instant-death couched lances, extreme durabliity, even more durable horses, and even if you ''do'' dehorse them, they're a good match for most infantry head-on anyways.

** Gunwielding enemies in general in WF&S. This is especially the case for those who have quality firearms and know how to use them like Swedish troops, but even the humble [[ButtMonkey low grade outlaw]] with a Shur Fine Homemade Gun can give you grief. They pack an amazing punch against everything, capable of One Hit Killing an unarmored target (including a starting player); and can even significantly wound a player with the ArmorOfInvincibility ; they're very accurate since [[EasyLogistics nobody has to worry about things like not seeing through gun smoke]], and they reload at a rapid clip. They make early game hard (unbearable for some) and in numbers can be a serious danger into late game.

** Nordic Huscarls. 20 or more in a tight formation easily become unstoppable. Storming/defending a castle, holding against cavalry in the open plains. Odds that were once reason to run and hide are now reason to sit down and dare the enemy to bring a friend. They were absolutely ''insane'' in the original release, leading to them being nerfed in ''Warband-'' now they're "only" the best melee infantry in the game.
** Rhodok Sharpshooters[[note]]Even vastly more broken than the above-mentioned Huscarls.[[/note]]. They wield the powerful Siege Crossbow, which inflicts sixty-so damage (in a game that deals with HP in the 50-100 realm) per hit. On top of that, they're almost pinpoint accurate with it, hitting distant targets more than most other archers. At first, this seems alright, considering that cavalry or even infantry make short work of archers when they close the distance between the two. But this isn't the case with the Rhodok Sharpshooters. Oh, no. The Rhodoks are very well versed defensive fighters, as shown in their Anti-Cavalry/Anti-{{ZergRush}} Pikemen and other units. But what does this mean for the Sharpshooters? It means that they get a massive board shield that absolutely NONE of the other Factions' archers ever receive. This allows them to soak up damage to their shields while your infantry's swords ping harmlessly off of the largest shield in the game; all the while, the Sharpshooters are getting hits in between swings, cutting down the poor infantry that happened to charge them.

** Top-tier armor, specially the heaviest kinds like heavy plate, etc. You are slower (on foot) than a pregnant whale, of course, but how is that an inconvenience when 5 out of 6 times you are hit you won't take a single point of damage[[note]]Even under full-damage rules[[/note]]? There's a reason why they are the most expensive items in the game by a huge margin. Second best armors are way cheaper, and while they won't make your character effectively immortal, they improve survivability tenfold.
*** Playing without the handicap, both the player and their heavy infantry/cavalry in the game suddenly become MUCH more squishy, since the damage reduction handicap is applied BEFORE armor calculations which makes heavy armors MUCH more effective then they're supposed to be. In battles where 20 Huskys or Swadian knights could crush a 100+ man armor without a single loss, they'll suddenly find themselves being completely wiped out with usually 2 to 1 death odds in the enemy's favor. A no handicap game does require actually paying attention and using strategy, either by working around a factions weakness if you're playing straight faction or seeking out troops from other nations to cover those weaknesses (aka Huskys, Swadian knights, and Rhodok sharpshooters as the only units in your army).
** The Surgery skill. A 4% per point doesn't sound like much, but one must take into account that soldiers that live longer get more experience, which makes them stronger and much harder to kill. Strong soldiers make it easier to win battles, and gather more experience for themselves and new recruits thanks to LeakedExperience, which become harder to kill... Such snowball effect becomes noticeable as low as level 3 or 4 in the skill. (keep in mind, that 4% per rank is added to the passive 25% chance to be wounded you already had, ending up at 85%, if you manage to hit the full 15 possible party skill score (requires the use of the surgery reference book (+1 while in the inventory) and the PC with 10 surgery, since the PC gets an extra +4 bonus to skill checks on party skills they know themselves at rank 10, contrary to some other sources you do NOT need other [=NPCs=] with the skill for this to happen and it works even if completely solo and for any party skill that has a reference manual (or 14 if a skill lacks a reference manual like first-aid (which in the unmodded game they added 2 copies of Wound management instead of 1 of each medical skill...the WM books do not stack)).

* TierInducedScrappy: Nobody likes the Khergits because they're so utterly useless in sieges. While they're much better in open fields, mounted archery isn't exactly the best strategy when sieges don't allow mounts at all, and it turns out once dismounted Khergit units are pretty damned terrible.

* CultClassic: It's ugly, frustrating and has ''many'' {{Scrappy Mechanic}}s, but it has a die-hard fanbase and for good reason. There are no other games out there that combine [[role-playing RolePlayingGame]], RealTimeStrategy and third/first person melee combat as well as this one, making for an extremely engrossing experience despite the flaws.

* CultClassic: It's ugly, frustrating and has ''many'' {{Scrappy Mechanic}}s, but it has a die-hard fanbase and for good reason. There are no other games out there that combine TurnBasedStrategy, RealTimeStrategy and third/first person melee combat as well as this one, making for an extremely engrossing experience despite the flaws.

** Castle Grunwalder, where in addition to there being a substantial run to the castle from your starting position, the single ladder given to you is covered by at least three angles of fire from the walls. It doesn't help that initial controllers of it are the aforementioned Rhodoks. Many mods fix this by removing the ladder altogether and instead opening the gate.