Which faction doesn't need castles?

[USSJ]

in kingdoms or vanilla, in terms of army comp

[lolIsuck]

Most factions need castles for cavalry and missiles, as well as decent infantry that can serve as the backbone of the army. The only factions where this is less so are the Italian factions, with their urban spear militia, pavise/Genoese crossbow militia and cavalry militia. Later in game they'd get broken lances as well to replace the cav militia as heavy cavalry as well as pike militia to add to their infantry. It remains a bit meagre and you'd miss out on some great units but it's a decent enough army.

In the late game many factions get some good units from cities, Spain probably takes the crown here with Portugal in second, rosters are similar but Spain has gendarmes, Portugal lacks heavy cavalry in cities (unless they go to the Americas where both have conquistadors). The French can field a pretty good army as well with the Scots guard, gendarmes, horse archers, voulge militia and pikes.

[Roman Heritage]

As already said, Venice, Milan and Sicily can field really adaptable and flexible armies from cities alone. Everything they can recruit in cities - spear militias, crossbow units, militia cavalry - is almost as effective as most of the units recruitable in the castle line before the fortress upgrade; plus, they enjoy the benefit of free upkeep in cities. This means you can establish a pretty powerful army with cities alone, with a large fraction of the army being no burden at all to your economy, which will already be incredibly florid because, you know, trade and financial activities you can build in cities. It's a self-perpetuating circle: good units recruitable in cities, with free upkeed -> no need for castles -> more money -> more units -> more cities you can conquer -> more money -> more units!

[USSJ]

what about france?

[lolIsuck]

In late game they can recruit quite a great army from cities, early on not so much though. You'd be stuck with town/spear/crossbow militia until you get a large city, where you can recruit voulge militia which is slightly better but still not a great unit. Only once you get to a huge city you get access to Scots guard, gendarmes, pikemen and French mounted archers. This is still a bit lacking in heavy infantry though and the only cavalry you'd have available, apart from the bodyguard, are merchant cavalry militia if you pick the merchant guild.

Now it doesn't take much time in vanilla to get to large/huge cities, you can upgrade Paris to large city before turn 50 in most cases.

[Gil-Gandel]

Got to say, Milan was the first thought that popped into my head. Last time I played a Milan campaign, I think I left the Sicilian fortress as it was when I nicked it, but otherwise went for cities just about everywhere. Anything that was missed out on by almost totally neglecting castles was more than compensated for by the sheer quantity of greenshirts I could get out of the cities and the huge piles of cash, and Genovese Crossbow Militia are almost indecently good (though unless someone else knows the secret, they really don't like shooting off city walls during sieges).

[BatGoat]

(though unless someone else knows the secret, they really don't like shooting off city walls during sieges)

Are you seeking to shoot folks outside the walls, or in the backs of those who have already entered your settlement? I think in the latter case, they can shoot at the enemy and are very effective. Though, I might be thinking of Stainless Steel in this regard because that is the Total War game I play 99% of the time.

[lolIsuck]

Crossbows can shoot off the walls to the enemy outside as well, you just have to aim at units further away. Units that are close to the wall the crossbows are positioned on are in the clear. Crossbows are absolutely deadly on the wall if positioned correctly. When the walls are U-shaped, with the gate at the bottom, you can catch the enemy in a crossfire. When they enter the walls the archers/crossbows shouldn't engage the enemy in melee but stay at the other side of the wall segment and keep on firing. This way they deal far more damage to attackers on the wall and the ones coming through the gates.

[USSJ]

this is my personal top ten for city-only armies
1. spain in americas
2. apaches in americas
3. milan
4. venice
5. pope
6. sicily
7. turkey
8. france
9. moors
10. russia
11. denmark

what you guys think

[♔atthias♔]

1 spain
2 portugal
3 all italians

[Amamamama]

Egypt. Mameluke archers and Arab cavalry destroy anything.

[krazyfilmer123]

All italian factions get the best city-only stuff. Speaking of them, Genoese Crossbow spam from the AI is annoying as hell

[Gil-Gandel]

Agreed. They're not even all that easy to stomp over with cavalry, which you feel like you can expect when you're confronting missile-heavy armies.

[NorseThing]

It is not really a question of needing a castle or town. They both have their uses. I have won without a castle with nearly every faction in a short campaign. Portugal was my favorite attempt the no castles ploy. Spamming inferior units and overwhelming the opposition is fine but not efficient. Balance is more enjoyable for me. I guess it really comes down to personal preferences.