How to Make War
If you find yourself in a fief with another army, you may initiate a battle. However, you are advised to examine the other army first. If it is larger and led by someone known to have good combat stats, fighting is not a good idea. Moreover, a player can set his army to "Stand and Fight" or avoid combat ("Retreat".) If a player is set to avoid combat, it will simply move away (up to six fiefs in any direction) if you attack it. You can then spend a lot of time trying to find it, but it will likely retreat again. If you have a large advantage over the other army (manpower and combat stats) you can force the other fellow to fight. Note that, all things being equal, the defender always has an advantage. When there is a battle, and you lose, many of your NPCs (and even yourself) can be wounded, captured or killed.
Below are a veritable host of topics covering all aspects of combat.
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