Faction Preview: House Stark

[Gampie]

House Stark

The blood of the first men runs fiercely through the Veins of these folk of the North. Direct Descendants of the Original Kings of Winter. Descended from Brandon the Builder, the architect of not only Winterfell, but the Wall as well, the Starks have a long and storied history. They remained the Kings in the North until Torrhen Stark bent the knee to Aegon the Conqueror. Since this time, the Starks have been the Wardens of the North and the Lords of Winterfell. Their house motto is "Winter is coming." Nothing could be closer to the truth.

Eddard Stark, Lord of Winterfell, Warden of the North and Hand of the King has been executed for treason on the steps of the Great Sept. The Kingdom is engulfed in struggle. In the North, Robb, now Lord of Winterfell rallies the great houses to his banner. Not only do all of the great houses of the North call their banners and sally forth to aid the Young Wolf, but the Riverlords, led by Robb's uncle Edmure Tully also call their banners.
What will the future hold for House Stark? With his father murdered and his sisters lost to him will the Young Wolf be able to defy all odds and defeat the Lannisters? Or will the Iron Throne and the Lannisters crush the uprising before it begins?


The Stark family

The late Eddard Stark leaves his widow, Catelyn Tully, and three sons behind. Robb Stark, the new lord of Winterfell, carries the heavy burden to avenge his father while keeping his subjects and the lands of his bannermen safe. Brandon Stark, Robb's younger brother, resides in Winterfell under the kind tutelage of maester Luwin. Rickon Stark, merely a child, is still too young to understand the struggles his eldest brother must face.




[note: Brandon's attributes will change]

Rickon Stark, a four year old boy.


Lord Robb's bannermen

Among the most powerful bannermen of the Starks is the sinister Roose Bolton, lord of the Dreadfort. He is an able commander and a sly ruler. Jon Umber, lord of Last Hearth, is every inch a northman while the fierce Rickard Karstark is not a man to be mocked. In Winterfell the loyal castellan, Rodrik Cassel, is in charge.










The territories of the Starks

House Stark's supremacy in the North is not contested by any other great houses. It is however the more destitute part of the continent, suffering from the harsher climate and less fertile lands compared to the South. Winterfell is the mightiest fortress, closely followed by the Dreadfort. White Harbor is the richest settlement the Starks have and it is their only starting port. On the other hand you have the Deepwood Motte, a minor stronghold and isolated in the Wolfswood. The Starks also start with Last Hearth and Torrhen's Square, two decent castles. Their southern border is guarded by Moat Cailin, which has been the gateway to the North for centuries.
















Neighbouring regions

To the south of Last Hearth you have the infamous Dreadfort, under the command of the cruel Ramsay Bolton. In Karhold castellan Arnolf Karstark administers the the day-to-day affairs. A secondary port in the North can be found in Widow's Watch. To the south of Torrhen's Square one finds Barrowtown, a small town compared to White Harbor. And then you also have Flint's Finger, which is located remotely from the rest of the North.


The initial set-up

Lord Robb and his most important bannermen (Jon Umber, Roose Bolton and Rickard Karstark) start near Moat Cailin. They are poised to go south and seek the confrontation with the Lannisters. However the player can choose to leave the Tully's to their fate and instead ship their forces to Blackwater Bay where they can mount a daring assault against the walls of King's Landing. Everything is up to his decisions...


[note that Moat Cailin will have the castle model of the previous picture]


The army of House Stark

House Stark has a fairly versatile unit roster. Boasting decent infantry and hardy men of the North they are a match for any army that does not have overwhelming numbers. Their elite unit are the Winterfell Guards, battle-hardened veterans who can pack a punch.

Here are some units. From left to right: Levy Northmen - Pikemen - Town Militia - Spear Militia - Men-at-arms - Dismounted Knights - Winterfell Guards - Scouts - Hedge Knights - Knights - General's Bodyguard



And some information screen pictures:





Their army in action

























[note that changes will occur here and there before the final release]
[castle models by Agart]

[Dreadking]

Holy shi... This is total unexpected. This looks really professionally done and hope you all the best to complete this mod.

Methinks i'm going to have fun killing me some Lannisters. Tywins head will adorn Riverruns battlements and Cercei will be locked away in the Dreadforts dungeons for some...

[Antiochos VII Sidetes]

Looks very well done...

[karo]

They look awsome can't wait to play this mod

[kepper]

I love this books , i have the Portuguese version.

[LordSnow]

Great work on the preview, it really is nice to see that things are starting to come together.

[Antagonist]

Excellent work, especially the screenshots. You've done a very good job bringing resources like heraldry and portraits into the game, really makes a difference.

If I can make a small suggestion though, would you consider either adding a new HC unit, or changing the name, to reflect the fact that the majority of House Stark's armoured horse are not, technically, knights?

Antagonist

[Giovi]

great work

[TheKingSlayer]

Really awesome stuff. I'm fortunate enough to be helping out with the Mod, and let me tell you....Gamepie deserves a lot of credit. He was doing it all himself pretty much. Now there are four of us working on the Mod, with GamePie and LordSnow doing most of the important stuff and all of the modding.

@Antagonist:

You may be on to something. There aren't many Knights in the North, though there is Heavy Cavalry. Perhaps that's something to look at and address in the unit card/description.

[LordSnow]

Perhaps recruitment of knights could be set really low for the Starks?

[TheKingSlayer]

I think that would be a good idea, but supplement that with some other sort of heavy cavalry. Heavy Huscarls perhaps? Though they do use lances in the North as well. It's something to be discussed, to be sure.

[King Pietro]

Very good!

[the_mango55]

It was said that the heavy lancers of the north are just as good as knights, they just haven't said their vows to the sept, keeping the old gods instead. (although it was a northerner who said it, it may not be completely accurate).

So perhaps make them around the same stats as regular knights, but maybe an older style armor, and maybe a bit more impetuous (the old gods seem more "wild" to me).

But man, these look good! There should be perhaps a higher tier pike unit, pikes seem to play a major role in battles in this world.

I especially like the detail for the generals (and is it just me, or does the Dreadfort symbol look like a pair of panties ).

[TheKingSlayer]

It was said that the heavy lancers of the north are just as good as knights, they just haven't said their vows to the sept, keeping the old gods instead. (although it was a northerner who said it, it may not be completely accurate).

So perhaps make them around the same stats as regular knights, but maybe an older style armor, and maybe a bit more impetuous (the old gods seem more "wild" to me).

But man, these look good! There should be perhaps a higher tier pike unit, pikes seem to play a major role in battles in this world.

I especially like the detail for the generals (and is it just me, or does the Dreadfort symbol look like a pair of panties ).

No, it is accurate. There aren't many Knights in the North. It's a tradition for the Southron folk, and the Northern Lords keep/kept true to the old gods.

I'm sure there will be many a tweak to come before release, and this will be addressed.

[kaiz]

Yeah, I do recall that the books described knighthood as a religious vow that only worshippers of the Seven swore to. The northern heavy cavalry are functionally identical in tactics and armament, just without the oath. Their stats wouldn't need to be adjusted at all, just call rename them "Northern Lancers" or "Northern Armored Cavalry" or something to that effect.

The books do describe archers and crossbowmen playing a significant role though. Would it be possible to just take those units directly from the vanilla game?

I don't recall any instances of high-tier pikemen though (except maybe the Unsullied in the east). At least in Westeros, it seems the armored knight is still at the top of the food chain.

[Gampie]

About the knights, we'll see what we can do. Concerning pikemen, the Westerlands are reputed to boast the best pikemen in Westeros. Yet even they are no match for the good ol' knight.

[TheKingSlayer]

Gampie has the right of it. An armored charge in Westeros is top tier. Nothing can stand before it. Imagine in your mind Tywins host with 4k armored horse, most of them having Sers before their names. Talk about a serious charge. They broke Roose Bolton on the Green Fork and I believe his force consisted mainly of pike and foot. Lord Cerwyn as well as Fatty Manderly among others were taken captive in this battle.

Anyway....the moral of the story is: Heavy cavalry in Westeros > Everything else (sides maybe the Unsullied, tbd.)

[Raynn]

Isn't there mentions of Knights of White Harbor in the books? Perhaps a unique unit to the city(if its possible).

[LordSnow]

The Manderly's of White Harbour follow the Seven and do have a large number of knights. As long as their availablity is low, there is room for knights in the Stark's unit roster.

[Banfred]

DO WANT!