Mount and Blade Warband Easy Once You Become King

Empress can be achieved with either The Golden Throne or Manifest Destiny Just ensure you choose to play as a female when setting up the character.

*This achievement can be a little glitchy, as you can control every town and village in the game but have a non-surrendering king who will completely disappear from the game until one of their vassals conquer a town/village.
The best way to avoid this is to keep good relations with Lords or capture the kings and lords before taking the last castle/town.

There is no set way to achieve this other than the objective is to defeat all other factions.
This guide focuses on how I did it using the Swadian Knight, however it is possible with troops from any faction.
Note: I did this in the same playthrough that I used for the achievements Kingmaker & Manifest Destiny by making use of the extra save slots.
If you decide to go for Manifest Destiny in the same playthrough, ensure you make a back-up save just before taking the last faction. If you dont make a back-up save you will have to start another playthrough as the game will count that faction you assisted as the Rulers - even if you start your own faction and wipe them out.
On another note: The faction you side with will be a lot harder to defeat using this method - I sided with the Rhodoks and regret it as by the time I turned on them their main castles had a lot of Rhodok Sergeants and Sharpshooters.

A few tips:
- Recruit from at least 2 different factions. When you start a war with the faction, the troops you've recruited that are from that faction will take a heavy morale loss (-50) - leading to them leaving your army overtime. This morale will fix itself once you've either made the faction your facing disband or made peace.
- Before starting a war with another faction, check what troops you have to ensure you dont lose them due to the morale loss.
- Keep an eye on the amount of food you have and try to have a good variety
- Do not rush! start a war and try and take on one lord at a time, keep doing this until you see the majority of them have very small armies, which mainly consist of recruits. This is when you can easily capture castles and towns.
- Do not accept Vassals, over time they will leave other factions and join yours but its best just to leave them waiting. (prevents negative relations)
- Once you capture a Castle/town Recruit all the rescued prisoners and then garrison them in the castle/town.
- If while at war with more than one faction, try and make peace with one of them just to lessen the amount of attacks and so you can fully focus on one faction.
- If a War doesn't go to plan and you die, once you die Do Not Press Continue instead dashboard and quit game. This way you can keep your army and start back at the last auto-save.
- Make use of the save slots - you have 9 available slots (The most recently saved one will be the one the game Autosaves to, so ensure you keep a back-up which is up to date)
- When you defeat a lord and have the ability to capture them - Release them. This will improve your honour and relations with the lord.
- If a faction offers you peace, Accept it - unless they are close to abandoning - This will increase your right to rule.

Morale

*** Spoiler - click to reveal ***Morale is a very important part of this game, a low morale will mean no soliders = no army to conquer with.
A high morale will increase the movement speed (on the map (March speed)) and prevents troops deserting.
If your morale gets low, troops in your army will desert and your march speed will decrease
You can view your morale value in Reports section
How to improve Morale:
1) Winning Battles - This appears to be the best morale booster.
2) Food Variety - It always good to keep a good variety and it also shows the morale value - just keep an eye on Pork and Chicken as they will go Rotten after several game days.
3) Leadership Skill - A skill available in which improves morale by 5%
How to lose Morale:
1) Party Size - For every troop you have will count as -1 to morale (90 troops = -90 morale)
2) Losing Battles - You will lose morale if you're defeated in battle.
3) Starvation - if you run out of food in your inventory your troops will begin to starve.
4) Wages - Not having the money to pay the wages of the troops
5) Killing allies - This tends to only happen with archery as you'll most likely have the option turned off to deal friendly damage with swords.
6) Troop Factions - If you're at war with a faction, troops belonging to that faction will take a very heavy morale hit. (this will only affect those troops, not your entire party)

As long as you have a good food variety, money to pay the wages and win battle often morale should not be an issue. However, if you're not at war garrison all troops to prevent morale from dropping and the troops deserting .

Settings

*** Spoiler - click to reveal ***We can alter the settings to make the game as easy as possible - as their is no difficulty achievement.
Damage to Player: Set it to Reduced to 1/2
Damage to Friends: Set it to Reduced to 1/2
Combat AI: Set it to Poor
Combat Speed: Set it to Normal
Battle Size: This will depend on what you are doing (battle/Siege)
-Siege: Set it to 32 - 40
-Battle: Set it to 100 - only when you have a good size army and decent weaponry/armour.

Attributes & Skills

*** Spoiler - click to reveal ***Attributes and skills alter how well your character performs
I would recommend going for:
STR:10
AGI:10
INT:## - All skill points in to this after achieving 10 in each
CHA:10
Skills: Focus on the party skills, mainly engineer and the healing skills Wound Treatment and Surgery. You can also recruit another hero from a tavern to help with the party skills.

Attributes:

*** Spoiler - click to reveal ***- STR - Strength - This attribute increases your HP by 1 per level as well as increasing your melee damage.
It allows you to improve the following skills:
Ironflesh - Power Strike - Power Draw - Power Throw
Certain weapons or armour will also require a certain level to be able to wield.

- AGI - Agility - This attribute increases your attack speed, movement speed and awards you 5 weapon proficiencies points.
It allows you to improve the following skills:
Weapon Master - Shield - Riding - Athletics - Horse Archery - Looting

- INT - Intelligence - This attribute awards you an extra skill point.
It allows you to improve the following skills:
Trainer – Tracking – Tactics – Path-Finding – Spotting – Inventory Management – Wound Treatment – Surgery – First Aid – Engineer - Persuasion
Certain books require a certain intelligence level to read.

- CHA – Charisma – This attribute increases party size by 1.
It allows you to improve the following skills:
Prisoner Management – Leadership - Trade

Skills

*** Spoiler - click to reveal ***The skills are split into 3 groups: Personal, Leadership and Party.
- Personal:
Ironflesh – Increases Hit points by 2
Power Strike – Increase Melee damage by 8%
Power Throw – Increases throwing damage by 10%
Power Draw – Increase damage with bows by 14%
Weapon Master – Adds 40 weapon Proficiency points
Shield – Reduces damage to shields by 8%
Athletics – Increases running speed
Riding – Allows the use of certain horses
Horse Archery – reduces the penalties of using a bow/crossbow on horseback
Persuasion - Increases the chance of people agreeing with your view

- Party
Looting – Increases loot by 10% and decreases village looting time
Tracking – See where parties have been on the map, indicated by an arrow
Tactics – Increase battle advantage, which allows you to start a battle with more troops
Path-finding – Increases map movement speed by 3%
Spotting – Increases line of sight on the map by 10%
Wound Treatment – Increase party healing speed by 20%
Surgery – Adds 4% chance that troops are wounded instead of killed
First Aid – Regenerates 5% of a hero's health after a battle
Engineer – This changes how long it takes to create ladders/siege towers
Trade – Decreases the trade penalty by 5%
Trainer – at the end of every day XP points are added to every member of the party

- Leadership
Inventory Management – Increase inventory size by 6 slot
Prisoner Management – Increase the number of prisoners you can hold by 5
Leadership – increases party size by 5, while reducing troop wages by 5% and increasing party morale by 5%

Start
The way I've done this is by having an army roughly 90 - 110 troops consisting of about 60 Swadian Knights and 30 - 50 Vaegir Knights.
When you start the game start in or near Swadia and head to a town. (These are the biggest settlements on the map and the names are in Bold)
Go to the arena and ask about tournaments. They should tell you where the next tournament is and head there (It will always be in a Town)
Keep doing this until you have around 10000 denars.

Once you have the money, time to start building your army:
I recommend mixing Swadian Knights With Vaegir Knights (a very deadly combo)
But its up to you.
It is also worth hiring a companion or two from a tavern in a Town. When they are able to level up place skill points in the skills tagged as "party" to help speed things up.
Below are the Factions and troops available.

Troops & Factions

- Kingdom of Swadia

*** Spoiler - click to reveal ***IMO the best, this is the faction that you want to start hiring troops from.
This factions speciality is Heavy Cavalry - The Swadian Knight which is going to make up the majority of our army.
They are the dark Orange coloured faction found around the center and to the west of the map - in between the Kingdom of Rhodoks & Kingdom of Nords
To hire troops go to a village controlled by this kingdom.
Swadian Villages for recruitment:

*** Spoiler - click to reveal *** Amere - Azgad - Balanli - Burglen - Chide - Elberl - Ehlerdah - Emirin - Gisim - Ibiran - Iyindah - Nemeja - Nomar - Rduna - Ruluns - Ryibelet - Tadsamesh - Tahlberl - Tosdhar - Tshibtin - Ushkuru - Veidar - Yalibe - Yaragar

Swadian Troop Tree
For Knights: Swadian Recruit -> Swadian Militia -> Swadian Footman -> Swadian Man-At-Arms -> Swadian Knight
For Sergeant: Swadian Recruit -> Swadian Militia -> Swadian Footman -> Swadian Infantry -> Swadian Sergeant
For Sharpshooter: Swadian Recruit -> Swadian Militia -> Swadian Skirmisher -> Swadian Crossbowman -> Swadian Sharpshooter

- Kingdom of Vaegir

*** Spoiler - click to reveal ***This is the second faction we want troops from, once again focusing on vaegir Knights or Guards
This factions speciality is archers, however the Knights and Guards seem much more efficient
They can be found on the North-east of the map and are coloured grey
Vaegir Villages for recruitment:

*** Spoiler - click to reveal *** Ayyike - Bazeck - Bhulaban - Fisdnar - Hanun - Ismirala - Karindi - Mazen - Mechin - Rebache - Shapeshte - Shulus - Slezkh - Sumbuja - Tadsamesh - Tebandra - Tismirr - Udiniad - Ulburban - Uslum - Vezin

Vaegir Troop Tree
For Knight: Vaegir Recruit -> Vaegir Footman -> Vaegir Veteran -> Vaegir Horseman -> Vaegir Knight
For Guard: Vaegir Recruit -> Vaegir Footman -> Vaegir Veteran -> Vaegir Infantry -> Vaegir Guard
Both these units are also very strong and make up the shortfall for when taking on the swadians.
For Marksman: Vaegir Recruit -> Vaegir Footman -> Vaegir Skirmisher -> Vaegir Archer -> Vaegir Marksman

- Kingdom of Rhodoks

*** Spoiler - click to reveal ***A pretty good faction not to hard to beat. Dont bother recruiting these troops unless they are available as prisoners. They make for good castle/town defenders.
This factions speciality is Spearman and crossbows. which can lead to your death in battles very quickly if you lead a direct charge, so try and attack from all angles.
This faction can be found South-west of the map and are coloured green.
If you do want to recruit some Rhodoks to your army, you can recruit from these villages:
Rhodok Villages for recruitment:

*** Spoiler - click to reveal *** Buvran - Chaeza - Chelez - Dirigsene - Dumar - Emer - Epeshe - Fedner - Glunmar - Ibdeles - Ilvia - Istiniar - Jamiche - Pagundur - Reveran - Ruldi - Saren - Sarimish - Serindiar

Rhodok Troop tree
For Sharpshooter: Rhodok Tribesman -> Rhodok Crossbowman -> Rhodok Trained Crossbowman -> Rhodok Veteran Crossbowman -> Rhodok Sharpshooter
For Sergeant: Rhodok Tribesman -> Rhodok Spearman -> Rhodok Trained Spearman -> Rhodok Veteran Spearman -> Rhodok Sergeant

- Kingdom of Nords

*** Spoiler - click to reveal ***A faction that can be pretty dangerous for the first few minutes of a battle but ultimately one of the easiest factions to beat.
This factions speciality is Infantry consisting of archers and axeman - as well as axes and javelins being thrown at you (which do a lot of damage)
This faction can be found on the north of the map and are coloured blue.
If you want to recruit Nords to your army, you can from these villages:
Nord Villages for recruitment:

*** Spoiler - click to reveal *** Aldelen - Ambean - Buillin - Fearichen - Fenada - Haen - Jayek - Jelbegi - Kulum - Kwynn - Mechin - Odasan - Rizi - Ruvar - Vayejeg

Nord Troop tree
For Veteran Archer: Nord Recruit -> Nord Huntsman -> Nord Archer -> Nord Veteran Archer
For Nord Huscarl: Nord Recruit -> Nord Footman -> Nord Trained Footman -> Nord Warrior -> Nord Veteran -> Nord Huscarl
The Huscarl is a very strong troop and is very useful for sieges.

- Khergit Khanate

*** Spoiler - click to reveal *** By far the most annoying faction in the game to battle against. These battles will last about twice as long as battles against any other faction.
This factions speciality is horse-archers and they can be pretty deadly too. They constantly try to avoid and have pretty good accuracy. Watch out!
Not only the horse-archers but also they have lancers. These guys can 1 hit K0 you or your troops if they're lucky.
This faction can be found to the east on the map and are coloured purple.
If you want to recruit the Khergit to your army, you can from these villages:
Khergit Villages for recruitment:

*** Spoiler - click to reveal *** Ada Kulun - Amashke - Bhulaban - Bulugur - Dashbigha - Dirigh Aban - Dugan - Dusturil - Kedelke - Peshmi - Tash Kulun - Tulbuk - Uhhun - Zagush

Khergit Troop tree
For Lancer: Tribesman -> Skirmisher -> Horseman -> Lancer
For Veteran Horse Archer: Tribesman - > Skirmisher -> Horseman -> Horse Archer -> Veteran Horse Archer

- Sarranid Sultanate

*** Spoiler - click to reveal ***The easiest faction to defeat by far. They pretty weak and overall useless.
This factions speciality is Cavalry and archers.
They can be found to the South of the map and are coloured Yellow.
If you want to recruit the Sarranid's to your army, you can from these villages:
Sarranid Villages for recruitment:

*** Spoiler - click to reveal *** Aab - Ayn Assuadi - Dhibbain - Fishara - Habba - Hawaha - Iqbayl - Mawiti - Mazigh - Mijayet - Mit Nun - Qalyut - Rushdigh - Sekhtem - Shibal Zumr - Tamnuh - Tazjunat - Tilimsal - Unriya - Uzgha

Sarranid Troop tree
For Master Archer: Sarranid Recruit -> Sarranid Footman -> Sarranid Skirmisher -> Sarranid Archer -> Sarranid Master Archer
For Guard: Sarranid Recruit -> Sarranid Footman -> Sarranid Veteran Footman -> Sarranid Infantry -> Sarranid Guard
For Sarranid Mamluke: Sarranid Recruit -> Sarranid Footman -> Sarranid Horseman -> Sarranid Mamluke

Once you've decided (I'll use Swadian & Vaegir Knights as examples) start training the recruits all the way to knights via killing Looters/Sea bandits/Mountain bandits. Pick up their loot to sell just for some extra income too.
Once you have roughly 30 knights you are ready to start a war. Keep recruiting and training though!

The order you take on the other Factions is up to you, but if you're following this guide by using knights I recommend this order:
Kingdom of Vaegirs - > Kingdom of Nords -> Kingdom of Rhodoks -> Sarranid Sultanate -> Khergit Khanate -> Kingdom of Swadia
Although we have an order, other factions will worry about your growing power and start a war against you. If this happens feel free to destroy them then and there - especially Swadia.
When you go to war with Swadia make sure you have plenty of Vaegir Knights to prevent your army from downsizing.

To start a war simply attack a lord, once defeated start a siege on a castle to get the other lords to head towards you. Either one at a time or as a group take on these lords to destroy their armies.
They will recruit new troops overtime, but before they have a strong force we will occupy most of their territory.
When you notice that most of the lords heading towards you have around 50 troops each or consist of mainly recruits you can set about taking their castles. They will continue to recruit and come after you but they will be incredibly weak.
Once you capture a castle, recruit the troops that were held prisoner and use them to garrison the castle.
Once you capture your first castle or town you'll be able to create your own faction which will be coloured red.

Make your way through the faction - Once you've captured every single castle and town a faction has as well as destroying their armies the lords will defect to the other factions (including yours) and eventually the king with disband the faction.
1 down 5 to go!

If you want you can recruit a few of the lords that defected to you, although their relation with you will drop if you fail to equally share out fiefs. The positives of having lords is they will help defend your territory and will also attempt to take enemy castles too.
However, if a lord who owns a fief defects they will take the castle/town with them to their new faction. So Beware!

Rinse and repeat with the other factions untill you get to the last faction.

This is where it can be a little glitchy. Before conquering the entire faction - capture their King and destroy all their armies then start capturing the castles.
If you capture all castles before capturing the king it can lead to the king disappearing from the game and they will not disband the faction.
If you have a very bad honour rating and bad relations with lords you can also get into a war of lords defecting and joining either your faction or the last remaning - inducing a sort of stalemate as the other faction wont disband.

Once all factions have disbanded and every Town/Castle/Village on the map is Red, Congratulations you have just achieved

and this one if you chose to play as a female:

The Empress achievement in Mount & Blade: Warband worth 345 pointsAs a female character, become queen of all Calradia.

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Source: https://www.trueachievements.com/a222669/empress-achievement

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