Manor Lords – Grow Stronger: Perfect Start Guide

How to Easily Take Over

Intro

All the supplies you gather get moved to the storage buildings first before being used elsewhere. So you want to build your industries and production zones grouped nice and tight around those storage spots. Like, grain goes from the fields to the farmhouse, then the granary, before hitting the windmill and bakery.

Smart move is centralizing your whole town layout around granaries and storehouses from the start. That way, you minimize travel time and maximize efficiency across all your production chains. Don’t sleep on this strategy if you want those numbers climbing high!

The three best development I would say are:

• Forest Management (Unlimited Berries)
• Sheep-breeding (Unlimited Money)
• Charcoal-Burning (Efficient Firewood Production)

An Alternate path for development is:

• Sheep-breeding (Unlimited Money)
• Trade Logistics -> Better Deals (Cheap Items to import)
• Using this way you won’t really need a home production you can just buy everything.

Day 1 Strats

First things first, get that logging camp going. You’ll run outta wood quick without it. Assign like one villager to get that timber flow rolling. But keep that camp away from the berry bushes and hunting grounds – chopping trees messes those up.

Second, food. Gotta get either a hunting or foraging cabin built right away. One or two villagers collecting grub. Foraging berries is way more efficient early on, so maybe go that route for now.

Third, plan ahead and plop down a granary and storehouse. These should go right in the middle of where you want your town. Supplies get dumped there first before other buildings use them. You can assign some workers to keep resources flowing if you want. Otherwise oxen getting blocked by piled up supplies can slow construction.

Finally, throw up some houses and maybe a well if needed. Don’t sweat approval rating too much right now, it drains slow. Get the essentials first before housing a ton of folks.

Follow these rookie tips and you’ll be crushing it in no time! Let’s get this bread!

Let’s Take This Town to the Next Level

First up, build that Church. You’ll need planks though, so throw up a Sawmill too. Assign some Oxen to the Logging Camp and Sawmill to keep that wood supply flowing. More Hitching Posts may be needed.

Once the Church kicks population growth into gear, food’s gonna be an issue again. Time to enact that Forest Management policy – berries for days! They’re like the best food source, so stock up. With tons of berries, start building out those Vegetable Gardens next. The bigger the backyard plots, the more veggies. Don’t be stingy, go big or go home on these plots. Way more efficient than a bunch of little ones. If you want eggs too, a few small backyard coops is an option, but veggies are superior.

With resources stockpiling, your next big move is throwing down that Manor. Don’t tax the peasants just yet though – wait until you hit 100+ houses before milking them. That early taxation hits approval hard.

Speaking of houses, prioritize upgrading them ASAP when able. More taxes from fancier homes! Use that income to build a Trading Post for the real money moves.

Final policy – get that Sheep-Breeding unlocked! Infinite money courtesy of those woolly cash cows. Just need to buy your first flock after building that Livestock Trading Post.

Follow these steps and you’ll be rolling in resources with a booming population in no time! Gonna be a economic powerhouse!

How to Deal with Bandit Attack

Those bandit scum are gonna come knocking sooner or later, so we gotta prep for war. Here’s the battle plan:

First off, get those iron mines fired up ASAP. We’ll need that black gold to forge weapons at the bloomery. No iron = no slaying bandits.

Second, upgrade one of your tier 2 cribs into a blacksmith and a joiner. Don’t even worry about armor – we just need a massive infantry force. I’m talking walls of spearmen as far as the eye can see. The key is overwhelming numbers.

To pump out that many units, your plank game has to be on point. Make sure that sawmill is cranking at max capacity. If need be, build a second one. We’ll be burning through that wood stockpile churning out load after load of fresh recruits.

Follow these steps and when those bandits show their ugly mugs, we’ll be locked and loaded. They’ll meet the business end of a thousand spearpoints! Glory to our humble village! Death to the invaders!

Development of your Town

First off, that sheep farm is the real money printer right now. Keep breeding and selling those wool machines like crazy to stack that cash money. Use those funds to buy up all the linen we need for upgrading those peasant houses to swanky Tier 3 joints. Don’t forget to cop some dye too for that extra fancy look. And if brewing ale is your jam, stock up on malt.

We should be closing in on 100 houses by now, so no need to waste resources on farms as long as we’re raking in berries every season. That’s food covered.

For taxation, stay dynamic and keep an eye on that approval rating. I’d say cycle between like 10-20% tax for a stretch, then 0% to let it recharge, just like crop rotation. Rinse and repeat.

Once we’re flush with cash and influence from all those ballin’ homes, it’s time to expand! Claim a neighboring region and plop an outpost. Could make it a specialized production town, military fort, whatever you want!

Speaking of military, we don’t need a massive force anymore. Maybe keep like 3-4 squads of spearmen around just in case, but no need to overinvest there.

Follow these steps and we’re about to be the lords of wealth and industry for this whole realm! Expansion and prosperity is headed our way!

Challenge the Baron

When you have the troops and 4000 influence, challenge the Baron. Claim two of his territories that are far from each other. He can only fight in one place at a time, and it takes time for him to get more troops. You only need one unit in the second territory to claim it. Use your retinue for that. Move all the mercenary troops to the battlefield for the first claimed territory and beat the Baron. Here are some tips for battle:

• Get to high ground. You don’t have to be in the battlefield to win.
• Put swords in front, pikes to the side, and archers behind. Keep them close.
• Send pikes to stop the retinue and brigand attacking from the side.
• Make all archers attack the same retinue unit. It does more damage.
• When the archers have the blind eye, move them back or change their target to troops attacking from the side.
• Use swords to push forward into troops attacking from the front. Keep the archers safe.
• Pause often to tell each troop what to do.

It’s simple, but it works.

Free Money From the Baron

Sometimes the Baron will offer money to give up your claim. If you win the territory before the offer ends, get that free money! To get to the communication screen, click on the MAP icon that shows the regions. Above that, you will see the Baron and the Outlaws. Click on the Baron to bring up the communicator. Accept his offer and use that money to upgrade your retinue.

Strategies for Treasury and Influence

Strategy One: Let them Eat Cake!

The amount of treasury you get when your manor is built depends on the time of year. A spring manor will give you a lot of treasury if you start with a 50-60% tax rate. You need your approval to be 80-100% for this to work. Lower the taxes to 10% when approval drops to 60%. This should give you enough treasury to buy mercenaries to fight brigands. You can time it so that hired mercenaries will go after the raiders that come in year 3. Defeating them will also give you influence. Hire the brigands first (15 treasury, two units of melee troops). This will help you build up treasury and influence at the same time without getting ahead of yourself.

Strategy Two: Be Good, Do Good

Another strategy that works is to build your spear militia (you start with enough goods to equip 20 men) and the 5-man retinue. Use these troops to attack brigands and go after the raiders in year 3. Once you have enough money to hire the brigand mercenaries, you can disband both and let them go back to their daily lives.

Save, Load, Fast Forward [Repeat]

This is where the Cheese Lord strategy really helps. Just beat the brigands, save the game. Load that saved game, and fast forward until you see brigands again. While you’re doing this, the Baron will try to claim other territories. Wait until the claim is almost done (the bar is 90% full), and then challenge him. Staying out of the battle area will stop you from attacking him before you’re ready, but will make it take longer for him to get more territories. Let the clock run out on that while you use this strategy. The Baron will probably get two more territories this way, which is okay.

Build your Mercenary Forces

The 15 Treasury Brigands go fast, but by now I had enough to hire the Flock of Crazy Geese, the Green Caps, and the Archer Units. That is 200 Treasury per month. You get between 110 and 180 Treasury for each brigand you destroy, if that helps you balance the costs.