The great thing about this game is that it lets you roleplay as some kind of martial arts-demigod as you go around seeding the fields of whatever in-game universe you choose to play in with the blood and bones of your 'enemies'; some of these guys will be barely-clothed peasants and looters which really give you the feeling of blending cold steel with raw vulnerable flesh as you slice and stab through them, even with your basic starting level of fighting skills and weapon proficiencies and standard issue pig-iron shiv or rusty sword; some of these guys will be knights clad in full plate whom your attacks will just bounce off of without dozens of hours of levelling or upgraded gear first. Some of these guys will be very menacing chads who somehow manage to heave an axe into your forehead from 20 metres away one-shotting you as you eagerly try to kickstart the flesh moshpits which are both a bane and boon of this game, but trust me you'll probably be pretty impressed with this if it does happen.
Now I know different mods have different parameters and ways of dealing with damage and armor points. I usually play the ACOK mod because I'm a fan of the asoiaf universe, and most of the stuff above is more relevant to that. In native I believe the highest-tier armor is actually comparatively less protective than in ACOK, so you will still be able to damage knights even in the beginning.
There are several combat playstyles you can develop your player character around. I guess the most straightforward one would be to aspire towards becoming a knight-like creature on a warhorse, both of you encased in steel plate, shield in one hand and sword in the other in a perfect balance of offense and defense. Personally I've had fun with a more lightly armored agility and athletics focused character armed with just a long(ish) spear, you can really outrun and outmaneouvre and outreach most heavy goons this way, and have fun poking away at them while remaining flighty at a just-out-of-reach distance. Of course this does leave you vulnerable to arrows and getting mogged by horse guys.
Also you can just be a horse archer, this is like the warband equivalent of skyrim's stealth archer, once you get to a good level you can one shot or two shot most guys while riding around to get them from an exposed angle, and shooting down the horses of any one chasing you.
The combat is really fun once you get the hang of the basic skills. I'm pretty sure there are a lot of nuances and intricacies hiding beneath something that looks simple at first glance. Feinting, chambering, kicking all exist and can be employed even against bots. One thing that seems to be more dynamic and flexible is weapon matchups actually, since each weapon has its own range and swing speed, when you combine this with the weapon proficiency rating of the character, direction of attack, rotational delay/acceleration done by moving the camera against/together with the direction of the swing, and the actual bodily mobility of each of the two combatants, you can create some interesting situations especially in multiplayer (admittedly I haven't played much of this though). You could, say, end up with a situation where one guy can relentlessly close in and rabidly swing without much concern for blocking at all because the other guy's weapon is so slow that he wont even be able to manage a counterattack even if he successfully blocks each swing because by the time that happens the next swing is already coming again. Alternatively taking off all your clothes and equipping a greatsword longer than your opponents weapon means you can really deploy the juke and flail and kite tactic to its fuller potential.

Multiplayer is pretty crazy and I wish it were more active than it is.

The great thing about this game is that it lets you roleplay as some kind of martial arts-demigod as you go around seeding the fields of whatever in-game universe you choose to play in with the blood and bones of your 'enemies'; some of these guys will be barely-clothed peasants and looters which really give you the feeling of blending cold steel with raw vulnerable flesh as you slice and stab through them, even with your basic starting level of fighting skills and weapon proficiencies and standard issue pig-iron shiv or rusty sword; some of these guys will be knights clad in full plate whom your attacks will just bounce off of without dozens of hours of levelling or upgraded gear first. Some of these guys will be very menacing chads who somehow manage to heave an axe into your forehead from 20 metres away one-shotting you as you eagerly try to kickstart the flesh moshpits which are both a bane and boon of this game, but trust me you'll probably be pretty impressed with this if it does happen. Now I know different mods have different parameters and ways of dealing with damage and armor points. I usually play the ACOK mod because I'm a fan of the asoiaf universe, and most of the stuff above is more relevant to that. In native I believe the highest-tier armor is actually comparatively less protective than in ACOK, so you will still be able to damage knights even in the beginning. There are several combat playstyles you can develop your player character around. I guess the most straightforward one would be to aspire towards becoming a knight-like creature on a warhorse, both of you encased in steel plate, shield in one hand and sword in the other in a perfect balance of offense and defense. Personally I've had fun with a more lightly armored agility and athletics focused character armed with just a long(ish) spear, you can really outrun and outmaneouvre and outreach most heavy goons this way, and have fun poking away at them while remaining flighty at a just-out-of-reach distance. Of course this does leave you vulnerable to arrows and getting mogged by horse guys. Also you can just be a horse archer, this is like the warband equivalent of skyrim's stealth archer, once you get to a good level you can one shot or two shot most guys while riding around to get them from an exposed angle, and shooting down the horses of any one chasing you. The combat is really fun once you get the hang of the basic skills. I'm pretty sure there are a lot of nuances and intricacies hiding beneath something that looks simple at first glance. Feinting, chambering, kicking all exist and can be employed even against bots. One thing that seems to be more dynamic and flexible is weapon matchups actually, since each weapon has its own range and swing speed, when you combine this with the weapon proficiency rating of the character, direction of attack, rotational delay/acceleration done by moving the camera against/together with the direction of the swing, and the actual bodily mobility of each of the two combatants, you can create some interesting situations especially in multiplayer (admittedly I haven't played much of this though). You could, say, end up with a situation where one guy can relentlessly close in and rabidly swing without much concern for blocking at all because the other guy's weapon is so slow that he wont even be able to manage a counterattack even if he successfully blocks each swing because by the time that happens the next swing is already coming again. Alternatively taking off all your clothes and equipping a greatsword longer than your opponents weapon means you can really deploy the juke and flail and kite tactic to its fuller potential. Multiplayer is pretty crazy and I wish it were more active than it is.