Manor Lords: Mercenary Captain Achievement Guide

The achievement can be completed on ‘Relaxed’ difficulty which is strongly advised.

I only needed to construct two towns in order to achieve enough funding to maintain enough mercenaries. It would be recommended to have both of these towns in maps with ‘Rich’ Iron Deposits. It would also be helpful to have either Berries or Wild Animals as well. I also built double-wide plots to allow two families in one Burgage plot. I prioritized Vegetables also as you can get some very large harvests which allow you to grow very quickly.

The first year poses a challenge to beat the Baron to the first Bandit Camp. To do this is quickly constructed a Trader, started selling firewood. I prioritized building a Manor over a Church in order to open up taxation options. Set the tax to 100% for one month in order to afford the cheapest mercenary company. After that first month I would keep the tax rate between 10-15%. I never encountered any ‘Approval’ challenges, thanks to the relaxed difficulty. I also never upgraded Burgage plots past rank 2.

As for Development Points. I focused on unlocking discounted trading first. I then went to Charcoal and Deep Mines for unlimited Iron Ore. Because I never upgraded past rank 2 Burgages, I never unlocked more points. But also never needed them.

Once you have your first town humming with Iron, expand into a 2nd area with ‘Rich’ Iron deposits. You should have to worry about the Baron challenging you for the claim, unless he already owns the land. But he doesn’t expand since we are playing ‘Relaxed’. Build a similar setup to the first. Once that town is also churning out Iron and you have a monthly income of around 300-400 flowing to your treasury it’s time to take down the Baron.

As soon as you beat the Baron to the first bandit camp. Start going full steam into the Iron Mine. Iron ore sells for 3 coins a pop, you can quickly generate regional wealth and increase your tax rate as you see fit. I also quickly built a Bloomery to sell Iron slabs for 4 coins a pop. I never started making Weapons or Armor as the wealth generated from the Iron and Slabs was more than enough to fund my mercenaries.

You will want to ensure that the Baron never takes a bandit camp before you. You should have more than enough money to quickly hire mercenary companies and ‘run’ them over to the camps to beat the Baron’s troops. I also disbanded the mercenary companies as soon as I acquired the Treasury wealth as they were not needed. The camps generate between 100-200 Treasury wealth in my experience. So as long as you hire a mercenary company under that amount, it’s all profit.

“The Wayward Sons” company costs only 45 coins per month and comes with a double Archer contingent. I would move them just close enough to trigger the bandits to charge, while having them in an open area. The archers would drop them with ease. Sometimes they would make it to the mercenaries. They wouldn’t last long though.

The first fight is fairly easy. He will come at you with his 5 standard units. 2 light mercenary infantry, 1 retinue, 1 archer and 1 bandit type unit(sorry forgetting the proper name). You should be able to field 3-4 mercenary companies and dispatch them without much of a fight.

The 2nd and last fight is much different. For my final fight, the Baron came with 12 units. 4 light mercenary infantry, 2 shields and spear, 2 retinues, 3 archers and 1 bandit infantry. You will want to save before this fight. Lay claim and see where the battlefield will be. You might then want to reload to reposition your troops so they aren’t tired and have a high combat efficiency. I had 3 archers and 2 crossbows in my mercenary army, so I choose the end of a wide open field to the ranged units time to whittle down the Baron’s units and also to wear them out as they were charging me. I also set the ranged units to allow friendly fire, which will enable them to keep firing through your own troops with minimal casualties.

Hope that this guide is useful and you are able to take down the Baron and get the achievement! Good luck!