How to conquer your first Castle or Town solo in Bannerlord

Getting your first settlement in Bannerlord completely changes the game. Up until that point, you’re mostly fighting battles, making denars, upgrading troops, and trying to build a strong enough army to survive.

Once you finally own a castle or town, things become much more serious.

You now have:

Passive income
A place to store troops
Better recruitment options
A foothold on the map for your future kingdom

The biggest mistake most players make is attacking too early without enough preparation.

What You Should Prepare Before The Siege

Before attacking your first settlement, you should ideally have:

300 to 400 food supplies
Around 50k denars
Roughly 140 to 200 high-tier troops
40+ high-tier prisoners ready to recruit

Shield infantry is usually the best option for sieges because they survive much longer during assaults. Cavalry is still useful outside the walls, but infantry will do most of the work once the fighting starts.

If you’re planning to attack a town instead of a castle, expect larger militias and stronger defenses overall.

Why Rebel Towns Are The Best First Target

Rebel towns are usually the best first settlements to target if you’re trying to conquer something solo.

Since they no longer belong to a kingdom, you generally don’t have to worry about enemy armies showing up in the middle of the siege and forcing you to retreat.

That’s what makes them so much easier compared to normal faction settlements. When attacking a kingdom town or castle, reinforcements can arrive at any moment and completely turn the situation against you.

With rebel towns, it’s the opposite. The longer the siege lasts, the more the defenders weaken, especially once food supplies start running low.

Starvation Wins Sieges

A lot of players rush sieges by building battering rams and attacking as fast as possible, but starvation is usually what actually wins early-game sieges in Bannerlord.

Once the settlement runs out of food, defenders slowly begin deserting, and the garrison numbers keep dropping day by day. That’s why bringing large amounts of food is so important before starting the siege.

If your army can stay outside longer than the defenders can survive inside the settlement, you already have a massive advantage.

This strategy becomes even stronger against rebel towns since nobody is coming to help or reinforce them.

How To Use Trebuchets Properly

Trebuchets make sieges dramatically easier if you use them correctly.

Instead of rushing the assault immediately:

Build trebuchets one at a time
Place them into reserve as soon as they finish
Repeat until you have four ready
Deploy all four together

This prevents enemy siege weapons from destroying them one by one before the rest finish building.

Once the walls collapse, the battle becomes much easier because your troops can attack through multiple openings instead of getting stuck at gates and chokepoints.

Recruit Prisoners Before The Final Assault

Right before attacking, recruit every prisoner you possibly can.

Even if it temporarily pushes your party above the normal troop limit.

At that point, extra numbers matter more than efficiency. More troops means more pressure on defenders and fewer losses for your stronger units during the final assault.

Holding The Settlement Afterward

Capturing the settlement is only half the challenge.

Keeping it afterward is where things usually become difficult.

If you attack a normal kingdom settlement while remaining independent, that faction will often try to retake it almost immediately.

That’s another reason why saving denars before starting the siege is extremely important.

You’ll often need those denars afterward to negotiate peace, rebuild your army, and stabilize your new settlement.

This is also why rebel towns are usually the safest first option.

Final Thoughts

Conquering your first castle or town in Bannerlord feels difficult at first, but once you understand how sieges actually work, it becomes much more manageable than most players expect.

You don’t need the biggest army in the game. Preparation matters far more.

Bring enough food, enough denars, solid infantry troops, and be patient. If you let starvation weaken the defenders and use trebuchets properly, you can conquer settlements much earlier than most players think.

And once you finally capture your first castle or town, Bannerlord starts feeling like a completely different game.

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