yep, sure, we “believe” you
Historically authentic Prague would be cool and all, but the population was around 40 000 and the city was large already. Good luck simulating that in the game. 
Kutná Hora still had something like 4000… Of course I know that the number of people could be lowered significantly in the game. I think a town like Kutná hora would be doable for future acts with maybe 400-800 NPCs and it would still feel very accurate? I’m sure nobody will go around counting 100s of NPCs to see if the population is right. 
Rattay looked pretty big in the videos and if there are two other locations like that that’s impressive!
Didn’t Crecy 1346 also feature early cannons? I know they had them along on the campaign but not if they were used on the field.
These early Pot de Fer initially used arrows which makes me doubt they were used for sieges that much.
The Loshult gun which also predates 1420 fired shot but the caliber seems way to small to be used for anything other than anti-personal purposes.
PS, I found it.
At the battle of Beverhoutsveld on 3 May
1382, Louis II’s force outnumbered the rebels by at least five to one, so the
army from Ghent took up a defensive position with a pond on one flank and
artillery on the other. Their artillery consisted of ribaudiaux – wheelbarrows
mounted with three or more small cannons, protected from attack by long
iron spikes on the front. Ribaudiaux provided both mobility and
concentration of fire. Seeing the Ghentenaars’ strong position, Louis II
wanted to wait them out, but his allies (militiamen from Bruges) got drunk
and charged the rebels in contradiction to orders. The militia had several
handgonnes of an indeterminate type, but in their intoxicated state they failed
to use them or any other weapon effectively. As they stumbled forward, they
were met with a volley of 300 barrels from the ribaudiaux, followed by a
flanking manoeuvre by the Ghentenaars around the pond. A second volley
from the ribaudiaux sent the Bruges militia fleeing in panic and their fear
spread to the rest of Louis II’s army. The Ghentenaars moved in and
slaughtered their foes, winning what might have been the first battle in which
a concentration of fire from black powder weapons played a significant part.
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I was quiet at first but now that the polygon article is out and I can see the pic of the castle, 30 seems as a significantly low number to hold that castle.
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I can’t really tell why other authors point to Kutná Hora. Maybe it is because at Beverhoutsveld the artillery was in place primarily to lay siege but was used in impromptu way against the enemy once the defenders left behind the city walls, as opposed to Hussites who made the firearms one of the primary tactical weapons of their army together with the wagon fort, and used them successfully in all subsequent campaigns…
Because European history is written in 10+ or so languages and no one bothers to learn to read or consult all of those sources.
Spanish historians writing about the evolution of the caravel ship don’t consult low German sources on the Hanseatic league.
Historians who write about increasing use of standing armies in the late medieval period often focus completely on the Western European powers such as Burgundy and France while completely skimping over the Black army of Hungary.
I try to read sources from other countries as much as possible but the simple fact is that half of all French sources have not been translated into English. The same goes for Czech history, I can read little bits translated into English but the vast majority of sources has been left untranslated.
PS, I am not really sure whether firearms were the primary tactical weapon of the Hussites. If anything the war wagons themselves were more important.
that depends whether the soldiers are all inside. if they’re patrolling, in neighboring towns, doing their own thing, 30 seems like an appropriate garrison for that particular castle.
it’s a rural area.
Yes, war wagons were important in that they didn’t allow the enemy to slaughter the Hussites behind them, but they still needed to bring the havoc back on the enemy. That is where primarily crossbows and firearms came into the game. Once the enemy had enough losses the Hussites broke through the wagons and went to finish them into the field with cold weapons.
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30 seems to the the high number, which is by far not enough to defend the castle against any siege.
Yeah I believe the war wagon was most important in this whole tactical setup, without it they would probably have been run over. On top of that the war wagon gives a psychological boost. But how many men were armed with crossbows and how many with firearms?
As for castle garrisons there is a difference between peacetime garrisons and war time ones, on top of that you have to consider the size of the castle. Peace time garrisons on small-ish castles can be as low as 5 soldiers + castellan + family
Game takes place during civil war. Civil war is not peacetime garrison.
30 was given as the upper limit, which suggests that this is what they have in when the SHTF.
doubtful. we’ve already seen snippets of battlefields with 100+ people in them, and they claimed to want to go for thousand man battlefields.
it stands to reason, that if sieges were to occur, they would be similar events to the battles, and more soldiers would be spawned for its defense, simulating either reinforcements or conscripts drawn from surrounding regions.
30 seems like the number of actual “real” persistent npcs that will be inhabiting that part of the castle environment during regular exploation and rpg gameplay.
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Guys I think actual castle garrisons depended a lot on the size of it.
Malbork might have a war time garrison of 2000+ men while your everyday castle might have something in the region of 50. Some researchers calculated the maximum number of soldiers required to completely man one wall of the castle Pierrefonds. They found that 60 men would be the maximum number employable on one wall and since the enemy couldn’t really attack the other three sides that was enough.
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Is it possible to make yourself a ruler/king of a castle and try have control on the region around the castle? and build up your own army to defend it?
Until those 60 start taking arrow fire and/or get exhausted from weeks long duty on the wall.
Non combat personal could take over. Throwing rocks and spanning crossbows isn’t rocket science.
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Yes good sir this is all possible. I would also like to add that you can play as a black gay moor Jewish women who can build castles 
No in all seriousness you will not be able to own land and become king, or lead armies into battle. You will pretty much be a common foot solider who will only (as far as i know) make some tactical decisions during a siege. You won’t be able to build a castle but, you will be able to make swords.
They would be pretty well protected from arrow fire and they would have some time to rest between assaults. Lets also remember these guys are fighting for their lives and know if the enemy get into the castle then they’re all goners that plus the adrenaline would be enough to keep them going.
They simple have to fire through the arrow slits and throw rocks and oil on the enemy as they attempt to scale the walls. Like @Dushin the civilians in the castle could help repel them this way.
Until the ladders/siege towers are in place, after that moment non-combat personnel is as good as dead.
Siege towers maybe ladders i doubt it. Anyone climbing up a ladder would be exposed to arrow fire, rocks, boiling water, oil. The siege towers i suppose all they could do is kill the people pushing them. But even then an untrained peasant can use a spear to some effectiveness.
What are you going to do with ladders? Cross three ditches/steep mountain face and climb through a firing hole?
(Windows were later additions)
Anyways building a siege tower takes time. Attackers would often negotiate with the besieged before they started the costly affair of laying siege to a castle.
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