I'm sure some of you know about these games.
It's really a story of how the internet is a good thing.
Many years ago, a turkish couple started Talesworld. and started work on Mount And Blade.
It's a non fantasy Roleplaying game, there is no magic, there is no healing potions. They started to sell the non finished product, basicly you could buy the Beta version of the game, and for all time get any updates and finnaly the finished product for free. This was great, the price became higher and higher the closer to the finished product you got, I bought it when it only cost 7 dollars.
The game is set in a non historic medieval land, with sevral factions, you ride around the map recruting soldeirs. joining a faction. When ever you meet some enemies on the map, you start a battle, were you fight with an army, that could be sevral hundred soldiers pr. side.
After many years the game was finished, and Paradox bought the publishing rights.
Then Mount % Blade warband came out, with improvments and most of all multiplayer,
Whole some peole play it online, most people play mods online, thats one of the big things with the whole series, ever since the beta of the first game, people have been making mods, lord of the rings mod, pirte mods, roman mods, viking mods ect.
The BIG mod for Warband is called cRPG, it's an online system, you go up on levels, make money by fighting online, you can then upgrade your character and buy better gear. There are hundreds of armors and weapons, English Bills, Katanas, Huge claymores, pikes, picks and axes.
Then came With fire and sword, the first historic game in the mount and blade series, it does have multiplayer, but it has a much bigger focus on the singleplayer campaign, set in eastern Europe during the 17th centuary, you can play as ottoman, swedes and polish to name a few.
This is the age of pike and shot.
And finnaly the napleoinc DLC, this isn't so much a new game, as a multiplayer mode for warband, changing the game into a napoleonic game.
The games are cheap less then $20 USD pr, game.