First off, if you play with the kingdom of swadia and expect to get a fine amount of loot and little resistance while playing with them, uninstall the game. Now you may be thinking, "But Walrus, they have one of the best troops!", well the AI doesn't consider that, and they base army strength off of size by default, so they often run away from battles where the could've saved you. The costs for swadian knights (One of the best units) is as high as ♥♥♥♥ with 50 or more troops, so most enemy armies will chase you constantly. Not only that, but usually all of the factions below will take a piece of the swadian pie for themselves so you can recruit troops from friendly swadian villages, completely removing the main good reason for joining them. Plus, games where Swadia actually gains sizeable lands are rare (Debatable).

Now then, onto the ranking of raiding factions

• 1. Nords, they are constantly getting into wars and have a nice array of soldiers who can massacare villagers
  
• 2. Khergits, they are also getting into many wars, and have some sweet ass ♥♥♥♥♥♥' cavalry
  
• 3. Rhodoks, they have some pretty big armies to help you when enemies come, and will occasionaly war with Swadia (the butter goldmine) and the Sarriands
  
• 4. Sarriands, if done right, you can earn a sizeable amount of butter from wars with it's neighboring countries, but watch out for some serious resistance
  
• 5. Vaegirs, pretty bad troops compared to the other factions and will wage war against the Khergits and the Nords, the 2 most sturdy ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ in the game
  
• 6. Swadia, just read the first part

As for good raiding areas, the Swadian lands near the Khergit Khanate are my favorite place to raid, as they are usually largely unguarded and have a good amount of loot most of the time. Other then that, other good spots are the Sarriand lands near the Khergit border, and the Swadian lands near the Kingdom Of Nords.

For places you shouldn't raid in, the Vaegir territory is a terrible idea, because they always seem to find you after a few seconds, due to the size of their kingdom. Another bad spot is near Praven (sometimes), as well as the entire area around Sargoth and Tulga.

When raiding, your party should be moderatly large, as you don't need a small, elite army to track down other parties. When you have a small, elite army enemies will follow you and fight you, and while you can beat them it's still very annoying when every 10 seconds in a raid some ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ comes along and stops the process for a 5 minute battle. My recommended army has 100+ soldiers, and consists of
~50 Nord Infantry
20 Vaegir Archers
20 Swadian Cavalry
10 Companions/Misc.

And remember, size matters.

Companions can be very useful, but often hate raiding and eachother, making players not want to raid. However, with a good party, you can go along without a care in the world, helping you raid more butter. I usually bring a party of 6, consisting of

Artimenner
Baheshtur
Nizar
Rolf
Lezalit
Matheld



Artimenner is often my Pathfinder, Spotter, engineer, and tactician. (INT)
Baheshtur is my looter and fighter. (AGI and strength)
Nizar is my Fighter. (AGI and strength)
Rolf is whatever you want him to be.
Lezalit is my Pathfinder, spotter, and tracker. (INT)
Matheld is my surgeon, first aid, and wound treater. (INT)

Everyone loses every now and again, but in Warband if you lose, its kind of a big deal. To avoid this, watch your surrounding very closely. The main reason I ever get beaten in Warband is because I was raiding a village carelessly, and an army 3x larger than me comes and wrecks my ♥♥♥♥. When you raid in a risky area always remember they can sneak up and kill your men if you don't have a good spotting skill. This is the main reason you should level your companion to a modest level of Pathfinding and Spotting.

Now you should have a steady income, enough money to hold a majority stake in the universe, and it's time to start thinking big for your army. It simple balanced army doesn't work too well late game, and the costs for high tier troops doesn't seem to much of a burden, so it's time for an improvement.

First off, you should be able to hold 150 or more troops, if not, you can adjust it as you need.



Replace a good ~100 troops with either Sarriand or Swadian cavalry, depending on your personal opinion, another 10 for companions, and 40 for either Sarriand or Swadian cavalry, depending on which one you left out.

Your companions should also be at least level 20 to be considered moderate for mid-late game as well. (If you have Floris installed, change your commander to a companion so you can level them yourself)
Artimenner: Should be 5+ on all skills listed before at least
Baheshtur: Looting 5+ or more, and 4-5~ on combat skills, if you want him to be a fighter.
Nizar: 5+ on all strength skills, ~1-5 on agility combat skills. (Horse archery, running, etc.)
Rolf: idk lel
Lezalit: 5+ on all map skills (tweakable)
Matheld: 6+ on all medic skills, with extra points go into combat skills.

Your party should be able to take on kings easily if you have your cavalry maxed out, so you can now raid any village you want, and become the king of looting butter.

In general, have a large army and keep an eye on your surroundings. Nords are the best faction to join for raiding, and Swadia is a goldmine for butter/loot. An army of 100+ is advised, and have good compatible companions that don't mind constant raiding.

This is my first guide, so if there is anything wrong with it or anything you think I should add please say so in the comments.