Aserai

Aserai
Official Information
Capital	Sanala
Ruler	Sultan Unqid
Claimant	Aqir
Ruling Clan	Banu Hulyan
Minor Factions	Ghilman Jawwal Beni Zilal
Faction Location
Aserai in yellow

The Aserai Sultanate is a kingdom in Mount&Blade II: Bannerlord ruled by Sultan Unqid. It occupies the shores and the desert beyond the Perassic Sea to the south, below the continent of Calradia.

Overview

The Banu Asera, also known as Aserai, is a civilization that is comprised of numerous clans who all claim their descent from the legendary patriarch Asera. The clans have occupied the springs, oases, and coastline settlements of the Nahasa desert and its surrounding areas since ancient times. The Empire becoming weaker has presented an opportunity to the clans, who have formed a confederation in the interest of conquest.

The Aserai pride themselves on flexibility and their armies are the closest thing to a generalized faction within Bannerlord, with a reasonably balanced mix of archers, infantry, and medium spear cavalry, although the focus is greatest on cavalry. With a strong merchant tradition, their caravans are 30% cheaper to build, with a 10% reduction to trade penalties.

The Aserai are the ancestors of the Sarranid Sultanate from Mount&Blade: Warband. 173 years later, the Banu Sarran have supplanted the Banu Hulyan from within to rule the Sultanate.

Ruler

Sultan Unqid Banu Hulyan

Vassals

Emir Adram Banu Sarran	Emir Tais Banu Qild	Emir Suruq Banu Qaraz	Emir Iyalas Banu Arbas
Emir Talas Banu Atij	Emir Awdhan Banu Sarmal	Emir Hashan Banu Habbab	Emir Aqar Banu Ruwaid

Official Description

“

The Empire even at its heights preferred not to send its legions into the army-devouring wastes. Instead, it projected its power into the Nahasa by cultivating clients and allies among the clans, who competed in an endless dance of power. Those clans that could secure a hold on the oases won an imperial subsidy to protect passing caravans and grew rich. Those who could not were pushed into the desert, left to raise goats and camels and raid caravans until they could plot a comeback. Today, with the waning of the empire offering new opportunities and new risks, the Aserai have agreed to form a confederacy under a sultan chosen from richest of the clans, the Banu Hulyan. But everyone knows that the dance has only temporarily been stopped, and at the right moment it will begin again.

”

Lore

To the south of the imperial heartland lies the Nahasa, the Bronze Desert, ringed by mountains, hammered by the sun. A traveler coming over the passes from greener lands would first see fields of dunes broken by gravel plains and volcanic outcrops, shimmering under the heat haze. But there is water to be found underground, trapped in depressions or beneath the wadis where the occasional flash flood rumbles by. It is in these oases that people have settled. They are divided into dozens of clans and sub-clans, each with its elaborate genealogy, but are collectively known as the Banu Asera or the Aserai after the legendary patriarch Asera, whom they all claim as an ancestor.

Tactics

The Aserai usually depend on their archers and they try to swarm you with their infantry.

Strengths

• Versatile troops: Infantry and lancers use throwing weapons, horse archers carry shields.
• Low tier troops possess polearms, making them more effective when fending against cavalry.
• Aserai Faris noble troops possess Jareeds, the most powerful throwing weapon in the game, making them deadly in sieges.
• Powerful archer units with top-tier weapons and arrows.
• Mamluke Regulars and their upgrades are very tanky, making them very useful in sieges.

Weaknesses

• Situationally outmatched by more specialized units.
• Lack of reliable heavy infantry to hold the line - soldiers tend to have poor helmets.
• Mounted units require war horses to be made worthwhile - mounts are expensive in Aserai territory.
• Vast distances between castles make the Aserai struggle to recruit Faris, their noble troops.

Economy

• Very High (only Quyaz and Husn Fulq feel the brunt of wars most of the time, making other Aserai Towns very prosporous and easily reaching 6k wealth in early game)
• 8 cities
• 9 castles
• 40 villages
• Main products: dates (only producer), grain, horses, salt.

Summary

Aserai recruits and tribesmen are more fragile than low tier infantry of other cultures, but once upgraded they become more flexible and solid all-rounders. Most Aserai units take full advantage of their loadout slots, carrying polearm, blade, shield and a throwing weapon. This allows them to pepper advancing enemy infantry with projectiles before engaging in close combat and to defend themselves against enemy cavalry at close range. Aserai forces are much weaker on defense, as their unreliable shields and outright terrible head protection of most troops makes defending against ranged attacks or enemy shock infantry very difficult.

Aserai cavalry is well-rounded and balanced, but the player should take into account that access to war horses is essentially required to make best use of them. Mameluke Regulars and Aserai Youths can be considered light cavalry at best and until they can be trained and equipped with war horses, they are ill prepared against most mid tier threats. Eventually Mameluke Regulars transform completely when upgraded to Mameluke Cavalry as they equip bows and arrows and their default troop formation changes to horse archer. Once the Aserai Youths and Horsemen are upgraded to Aserai Faris, the player has access to a cavalry-exclusive playstyle if they wish so, similar to if not outmatching the Khuzait mounted forces.

Geographically, Aserai face the same problem with Sturgia. The AI often Confused when being attacked by two side, an Aserai Army could take long time to respond attack from their west/east frontier, even with no dessert speed penalty.

Troop Tree

Troops of the Aserai
	Peasant
	Recruit			Recruit
	Tribesman		Bedouin Rover	Mamluke Soldier		Bedouin Rover		Youth
	Footman	Light Archer		Mamluke Axeman	Mamluke Regular	Nomad Bandit		Tribal Horseman
	Infantry	Archer		Mamluke Guard	Mamluke Cavalry		Harami	Faris
	Veteran Infantry	Master Archer		Mamluke Palace Guard	Mamluke Heavy Cavalry		Veteran Faris
							Vanguard Faris

Trivia

• The Aserai are based on the real life Arab tribes that existed before the Islamic conquests in the seventh century.
  • The Aserai clans all claim relation to Asera, a legendary patriarch. Similarly, early Arab tribes and families claimed a relation to Qahtan, a patriarch whose 24 sons would go on to begin many of the important Arab tribes.
• One of the clans, the Banu Sarran, will eventually supplant the Banu Hulyan ruling clan and form the Sarranid Sultanate 173 years later in Warband.
• Leaders of Aserai clans bear the title of Emir, a nobility title commonly used in Muslim countries.

Gallery

Aserai Recruit Troop Tree

Aserai Youth Troop Tree

Bedouin Rover Troop Tree

External Links

Bannerlord Dev Blog introducing the Aserai in depth

References

Factions
Classic/Warband Factions Khergits • Nords • Rhodoks • Sarranids • Swadians • Vaegirs
With Fire & Sword Nations Cossacks • Crimeans • Muscovites • Poles • Swedes
Napoleonic Wars Nations Austria • France • Prussia • Rheinbund • Russia • United Kingdom
Viking Conquest Factions Cultures Angles • Britons • Frisians • Gaels • Norse • Picts • Saxons Kingdoms Aileach • Alban • Alt Clut • Brycheiniog • Connachta • Cornubia • Danmark • East Engle • Friese Glywyssing • Gwynedd • Laigin • Laithlind • Mide • Mierce • Mumain • Northhymbre • Northvegr Osraige • Uladh • West Seaxe
Bannerlord Factions Major Aserai • Battania • Khuzait • Sturgia • Vlandia • Calradic Empire (Northern • Southern • Western) Minor Beni Zilal • Ghilman • Jawwal • Wolfskins • Karakhergit Forest People • Lake Rats • Skolderbroda • Brotherhood of the Woods • Company of the Golden Boar Eleftheroi • Embers of the Flame • Hidden Hand • Legion of the Betrayed