Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord was an amazing addition to the series but now with the War Sails DLC released you can get stuck into naval combat and explore Calradia from a whole new perspective.
I’ve been playing the Mount and Blade series for some years now and have always enjoyed the amazing combat within each of the games, as well as the unique DLC that comes with them. With the release of Mount and Blade: Napoleonic Wars for Warband, I expected something great to come out for Bannerlord, and I was not disappointed as War Sails opens up the new Nord faction: a sea faring nation that excels in naval combat as well as expanding the existing continent.
Ship combat is oddly not new to the series with some ships featured in previous iterations as well as the modding scene having taken a stab at trying to create functioning ships over the years. But, now, with full functioning controls both for your ships and troops it’s nice to be able to pillage and raid along the coastline in complete cohesion with your men.
The combat itself is, admittedly, a bit rigid with you needing to line up and board enemy vessels or attempt to destroy or ram your way into them and drown the opposing troops instead. However, once your hooks are into an enemy ship and the melee begins it’s all out slaughter as both crews hash it out to the death in classic Mount and Blade fashion.
Archers and missile units have never been more important as in War Sails, as they can really be the difference between a complete victory and a dismal defeat. Thinning numbers before boarding, covering angles as troops try to scramble across the nets and picking off those that fall into the briny deep are all extremely helpful when trying to take on other vessels.
It’s not just your standard missile units that can tip the scales in your favour as all new mounted weapons can be added to ships to make them that much more devastating and destroy ships before they even have a chance to close the distance.
If you’re looking to jump back into Calradia the War Sails DLC is the right time to do it with plenty of opportunities to try all new things and take part in a new questline specifically focused around the ships and naval combat and with the new customisation options you can dress to impress with the all new Viking themed hair styles and warpaints.
If you want to set your seafaring sights on the new War Sails DLC you can find it on Steam.
