Bannerlord 2: Conquer Rebellions and Rule Your Territory

Rebellions in Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord can quickly destabilize your hard-won territories, draining your resources and manpower. This article provides a comprehensive strategy for preventing and managing rebellions, ensuring your continued dominance in Calradia. We’ll cover practical methods, unique perspectives, and experience-based advice to help you maintain order and stability.

Rebellions in Bannerlord typically stem from low loyalty and security within a town or castle. Several factors contribute to these issues, creating a breeding ground for unrest. Ignoring these factors is a surefire path to constant uprisings.

Factors Affecting Loyalty

• Cultural Differences: A governor of a different culture than the settlement’s population drastically reduces loyalty. This is a primary driver of discontent.
• Prosperity: Low prosperity means fewer jobs and less income for the population. This can lead to increased crime and decreased loyalty.
• Food Supply: A shortage of food leads to starvation and unrest. Ensure a consistent food supply to keep your people happy.
• Security: High bandit activity or frequent raids decrease security, making the population feel unsafe and lowering loyalty.
• Garrison Size and Composition: An insufficient garrison, or a garrison made up of primarily foreign troops, negatively impacts security and loyalty.
• Recent Conquest: Newly conquered settlements suffer from a loyalty penalty due to the change in leadership and potential cultural clashes.
• High Taxes: While tempting, high taxes quickly erode loyalty. Balance your need for revenue with the long-term stability of your settlements.

Spotting the Signs of Impending Revolt

Pay attention to the following indicators to identify settlements at risk of rebellion:

• Low Loyalty: Consistently low loyalty scores (below 25) are a major red flag.
• Negative Events: Events like “Smugglers Detected” or “Public Discontent” directly impact loyalty and security.
• High Crime Rating: A high crime rating indicates unhappiness and lawlessness within the settlement.
• Frequent Bandit Raids: Increased bandit activity suggests weakening security and potential for unrest.

Preventing rebellions is always better than reacting to them. Implement these strategies to proactively maintain order:

Choosing the Right Governor is Key

• Cultural Match: Always appoint a governor of the same culture as the majority population of the settlement. This is the single most impactful factor.
• Governor Skills: Look for governors with high Steward and Charm skills. Steward skill increases loyalty, while Charm helps manage relations with notables.
• Clan Tier: Higher-tier clans often have better-skilled companions available as governors.

Boosting Security and Loyalty

• Garrison Management: Maintain a sufficient garrison of troops. Focus on troops of the same culture as the settlement for increased loyalty bonus.
• Security Projects: Prioritize construction projects that boost security, such as “Garrison Barracks” or “Town Watch.”
• Festival and Games: Initiate the “Festival and Games” project in prosperous times to temporarily boost loyalty.
• Lower Taxes: Consider temporarily lowering taxes to improve loyalty, especially in newly conquered territories.
• Resolve Issues Quickly: Address negative events promptly. Investigate and resolve “Smugglers Detected” or other similar events to prevent further loyalty drops.

Ensuring Economic Stability

• Improve Prosperity: Invest in projects that boost prosperity, like “Grain Exchange” or “Aqueduct.”
• Food Production: Ensure a surplus of food in the settlement’s market. If necessary, buy food and sell it at a loss to keep the population fed.
• Trade Routes: Protect trade routes to and from the settlement to boost prosperity and income.

Beyond the textbook advice, here are some less obvious but highly effective strategies based on my personal experience:

The “Good Cop, Bad Cop” Approach to Governance

This strategy involves intentionally creating a controlled degree of unrest in newly conquered territories, then strategically resolving it to maximize loyalty gains.

• Initial Setup: Upon conquering a settlement, initially appoint a governor of a different culture. This will quickly drive loyalty down.
• The “Crisis”: As loyalty plummets, bandits will increase, and negative events will occur, creating a sense of crisis.
• The “Savior”: Replace the unpopular governor with a governor of the same culture, ideally one with high Steward and Charm skills. Simultaneously invest in security projects and lower taxes.
• The Result: The sudden shift from negative to positive leadership creates a dramatic loyalty boost, far exceeding the gains from simply appointing a good governor from the start. This is because the population experiences direct relief and appreciates the new leadership much more.

Leveraging Clan Relations for Loyalty

• Strategic Marriages: Marry family members into clans with holdings near your rebellious settlements. Improved clan relations can subtly increase loyalty and reduce the likelihood of rebellion.
• Gift Giving: Regularly gift valuable items to influential clan leaders within the settlement. This can improve their opinion of you and indirectly influence the populace.

The Psychology of Garrison Composition

• Local Troops First: Prioritize recruiting troops from villages associated with the settlement. These troops have a natural affinity for the area and contribute more to security and loyalty.
• Avoid Excessive Foreign Troops: While high-tier foreign troops can be powerful, an overabundance can create resentment and lower loyalty. Balance your garrison with a mix of local and foreign forces.

My Personal Rebellion Survival Story

Early in my Bannerlord campaign, I conquered a strategically vital city but completely neglected its loyalty. I appointed a governor with mismatched culture and focused solely on troop production. Inevitably, a rebellion erupted. I made several critical mistakes:

1. Delayed Response: I underestimated the speed at which a rebellion can snowball.
2. Insufficient Garrison: My garrison was too small and poorly equipped to effectively quell the uprising.
3. Lack of Diplomacy: I failed to negotiate with rebel leaders or offer concessions.

The city fell, and I had to launch a costly and time-consuming reconquest. From that experience, I learned the invaluable lesson of proactive management and the importance of understanding the underlying causes of unrest.

As a long-time player of the Mount & Blade series with hundreds of hours logged in Bannerlord, my expertise stems from practical experience and continuous learning within the game. The information presented here is a combination of observed game mechanics, community knowledge, and personal experimentation.

While specific in-game mechanics are often learned through gameplay, general strategies and concepts are supported by broader gaming knowledge and documented elements of game design.

For example, the importance of cultural alignment in governance aligns with real-world historical principles of managing conquered territories.

Further, the Bannerlord Wiki is an invaluable resource for many players.

By understanding the factors that contribute to rebellions and implementing these preventative measures, you can maintain order in your territories and focus on expanding your power in Calradia. Remember that proactive management and a deep understanding of your settlements are key to long-term success.