OKANO SOFTWORKS

KingsBlade

Field Manual ▸
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Horsemen charging down a rocky valley under a triskelion banner The battle intro over an army drawn up in a wooded valley — “Battle of Surrey”, 27th of August, 1067 AD, Kingston, Surrey Knights riding out under their realms' standards A shield wall of red shields curving across a hilltop The intro's war card for the Mön Conquest of the Duchy of Brittany — the war score, and the realms of both sides under their arms KingsBlade's crossed swords on CK3's battle panel — the Battle of Girgenti, 9,295 against 10,279 The siege intro over a timber fort and its besiegers — “Siege of Syracusa”, 1st of June, 969 AD A horseman with the realm's standard raised at the siege camp's palisade Through the gate — Emperor Benoît ‘the Great’ of the Holy Roman Empire falls back to the keep Inside the keep — the Emperor holds it with 27 men. Take it. The scoreboard of the Siege of Quimper, 7th of May, 999 AD — every champion by name KingsBlade's crossed swords on CK3's single-combat event against Jarl Garðar Count Örvar of Provins against High King Ragnarr ‘the Brave’ of Mön & The Isles — a duel, to a knockout High King Ragnarr ‘the Brave’ before his duel — his age, prowess, skills and traits from CK3 KingsBlade's crossed swords on a CK3 tournament bout — “Duel: Riposte” ShōgunsBlade — the intro over a Japanese army: “Battle of Higo”, 2nd of July, 1200 AD ShōgunsBlade — a Japanese hill castle under the intro: “Siege of Saga”, 2nd of June, 1200 AD ShōgunsBlade — mounted archers loosing across dry plains ShōgunsBlade — horsemen charging across a river between autumn hills ShōgunsBlade's intro — the Kusakabe Family and the clans that joined it, each under its mon ShōgunsBlade — horsemen beneath golden ginkgo trees, white pampas grass in front ShōgunsBlade — foot soldiers advancing up a stone road through the pampas grass The KingsBlade app — the KingsBlade and ShōgunsBlade books side by side The KingsBlade book's battle chronicle — every fight kept, with its picture and its war The ShōgunsBlade book, its pages framed in cherry blossom The battle intro rolling over the army at Dundee — “Battle of Angus”, 26th of August, 974 AD The intro's war card for the Gaelic Uprising — the realms of both sides, each under its own arms The Kingdom of Mön's 7,924 men on the intro, its champions by name and its regiments by number, joined by the High Chiefdom of Moray The muster before deployment — Mön and Moray's 9,875 men against the Populist Uprising's 4,645, regiment by regiment A vast battle at the edge of a wood, the lines crowded with the banners of several realms and their vassals, large and small Horsemen riding into the fight under their standards Red-cloaked infantry pushing up through the long grass, shields and spears ready A line of horsemen charging across open ground beneath the mountains Mön's triskelion on the shields of a war band high on a ridge The melee at close quarters, standards above the press Horse and foot crashing together under a crowd of standards An army advancing in open order on a hill held by the enemy Bannerlord's scoreboard at victory — every named character and regiment with its toll CK3's own victory screen for the same battle, with the champions' kill counts carried home A siege intro's war card — Mön's conquest of the Theme of Sicily, the realms and bands of both sides under their arms, the castle and the siege camp beyond A siege assault on a stone castle, the attackers' standards up through the smoke The besiegers massing behind their palisade, the castle and its harbour beyond A siege assault — hundreds of men storming a hillfort, every shield carrying the triskelion of Mön On the castle wall, looking down on the assault at its foot Fighting on the timber walls of a palisade fort Archers and spearmen holding a stone wall walk The battle panel of an 1,884-man assault — King Hjálmar of Mön and his jarls by name against the garrison of Leinster The duel intro — “Duel at Reykjavík”, 15th of October, 930 AD, the two men facing each other across the grass Jarl Garðar of Ísland against King Hjálmar of Mön — a duel to the death, each with his realm, age, prowess and traits from CK3 A tournament bout at Hólmatún in Mön — the host's arms over the bout's title, its standards round the ring and the stands full Jarl Karl of Jórvík against King Ragnarr of Mön — a tournament bout to a knockout, with real weapons, held by the Kingdom of Mön The KingsBlade load screen — reading the battle out of Crusader Kings, over Jan Matejko's Battle of Grunwald

Download

Get KingsBlade

Two parts: the KingsBlade app and its Bannerlord module.

The app Coming soon Steam Workshop Coming soon

Included

ShōgunsBlade In development

Japan, as KingsBlade fights it — part of KingsBlade, in the same download.

Download ▸

Quick start

  1. Download the appRun the installer. It checks for the .NET 8 Desktop Runtime.
  2. Add the modulePut KingsBlade in Bannerlord's Modules folder.
  3. Run through the PrologueThe app's book opens on it: it finds both games, checks Harmony and your load order, and builds your realm banners and royal weapons.
  4. Start Bannerlord and CK3Straight from the app, in either order.
  5. Start your campaignLoad your save as usual. There is no CK3 mod, so Ironman and achievements stay.
  6. Click the button to fightThe crossed swords appear on CK3's battle, duel and tournament windows. Press them and you're on the field — and the result goes back to CK3.
KingsBlade's crossed swords on CK3's battle panel — the Battle of Girgenti, 9,295 against 10,279
The crossed swords on CK3's battle panel. Press them, and the Battle of Girgenti is fought in Bannerlord.

Every setting is explained in the Field Manual.

What it does

BattlesYour actual CK3 armies, regiments, commanders and champions fight in Bannerlord, in the campaign's proportions — opened by a cinematic intro and a commander's speech that lifts or sinks morale.
SiegesCK3's fort level, breaches, garrison and siege regiments shape the assault or the defence: gate pushes, ladders, a retreat into the keep and a last fight there.
DuelsCK3's single combats, fought by you with each character's real prowess, equipment and injuries. You decide the winner; CK3 tells the rest of the story.
TournamentsDuel bouts in arenas matched to the county's culture, with cheering crowds, the host's banners, and real or sparring weapons. Your result moves CK3's tournament on.
Commanders & championsYour campaign's own characters take the field with their prowess, health, equipment and wounds. Martial shapes how a commander deploys, fights and leads allies.
BannersYour actual CK3 heraldry on banners and shields, in each realm's colours — redesigned arms, titles created in play and Japanese clan mon included.
Troops through the agesCK3 regiments become culturally matched Bannerlord troops, armed by the campaign's date through six ages, from 867 — Tribal to 1380 — full plate.
KingsBannersEvery regiment carries a real standard, levies fly their vassals' arms and kingdoms field royal banners. Standards steady morale — and a fallen one can be raised again.
KingsGuardKings and emperors bring a guard sized by court grandeur and dressed for their culture and era — under your command, or as your bodyguard. Enemy and allied rulers field one too.
KingsArmsHigh prowess or court grandeur unlocks culture-specific royal weapons for kings and emperors — yours, your allies' and your enemies' alike. You set the thresholds.
Large-scale battlesArmy scaling and reinforcement waves keep big CK3 battles at their true odds — up to 6,000 on the field and 3,000 at a siege.
Formations & alliesRegiments keep their identities in battle lines, cavalry wings and archer positions shaped by their commander. Capable allies back your moves, commit reserves and pull back broken formations.
Combat options & soundsTune cut-through and friendly fire, for players and AI separately. Realistic Battle Sounds is built in: material-specific hits, weapons, wounded horses and battlefield voices.
ConsequenceLosses, deaths, wounds and maimings carry back to the campaign, at odds you set. Sieges, prisoners and war score tie every fight into CK3's wider war.
The chronicleEvery battle, siege, duel and bout you fight is kept in the app's book — its picture, its war, both sides and every champion's fate.
Adventure encountersCK3's adventurer contracts — criminal duels, raids, ambushes, escorts and prison breaks — fought in Bannerlord. All 65 are mapped, built on KingsBlade's duels.
ShōgunsBladeJapan's own troops in every age from 867 to 1380, its battlefields and castles, built on your PC from Shokuho — plus three duel maps, seven fight layouts and two Japanese tournament arenas. Part of KingsBlade, in the same download. Read more

Built for big battles

Bannerlord holds about 2,000 men and horses at once. Our own engine patch raises that to 12,240 — up to 6,000 soldiers on the field and 3,000 at a siege — and the rest of the work keeps it playable:

  • CPU relief takes idle work off the one core Bannerlord runs every soldier's AI on.
  • Head cuts from a prepared cache: Dismemberment Plus's pieces are built under the loading screen, not in the middle of the blow.
  • Lighter plants and shorter-lived blood marks — grass, trees and blood that cost less in a crowded battle.
  • Lighter large battles: loose horses cleared, distant soldiers and bodies simplified, your graphics settings put back afterwards.
  • Every frame drop written down, with what it was spent on.

All of it is explained in the Field Manual.

Bannerwork

Every realm's arms are built from your own CK3, just as CK3 shows them — titles created in play and arms you redesign included — and flown on the standards, shields and battle intro.

  • The arms of EnglandEngland
  • The arms of FranceFrance
  • The arms of the Holy Roman EmpireHoly Roman Empire
  • The arms of the Byzantine EmpireByzantium
  • The arms of ScotlandScotland
  • The arms of Mann and the IslesMann & the Isles
  • The arms of WalesWales
  • The arms of DenmarkDenmark
  • The arms of SwedenSweden
  • The arms of CastilleCastille
  • The arms of PolandPoland
  • The arms of JapanJapan
Knights riding out under their realms' standards
Knights under their realms' standards.
A vast battle at the edge of a wood, the lines crowded with the banners of several realms and their vassals
Levies under the arms of the vassals who raised them.
A horseman with the realm's standard raised at the siege camp's palisade
The standard at the siege camp.
The intro's war card for the Mön Conquest of the Duchy of Brittany — the realms of both sides under their arms
The war card — every realm under its arms.

System requirements

Required

  • OS Windows, 64-bit
  • Crusader Kings III 1.20.1 & 1.20.1.2 “Crozier”
  • Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord v1.4.8
  • Bannerlord.Harmony v2.4.2
  • .NET .NET 8 Desktop Runtime (x64) — the installer checks for it

Optional

  • Royal Court CK3 DLC — KingsGuard
  • Realistic Battle Mod supported, tested with v4.4.6
  • Dismemberment Plus supported, tested with v2.0.8.8
  • XIIIc Armory · Ben's Ultimate Armory the arms and armour of 1259 and of 1380
  • ShōgunsBlade Shokuho — Bannerlord Mod
    All Under Heaven — CK3 DLC
Origins & development

KingsBlade began as a remake of the original CrusaderBlade, which was discontinued in 2021. By mid-2026 we wanted to play it again — so we set out to rebuild it from scratch.

The first version never read CK3's memory at all. It worked from the game's logs alone, and it did work — but only with CK3's debug log switched on for good, and debug mode costs you your achievements and Ironman. A few versions later it still worked, and still never felt as seamless as the original. So we started again, from nothing, on the latest Crusader Kings III and the latest Bannerlord.

KingsBlade was born in July 2026. We contacted maty743, whose Early Troops CK3 and High Middle Ages mods gave the original its era-correct troops in Bannerlord, and built on that work with their permission: the troop mappings were extended and corrected, the levies of 867 — peasants by default — can now take the field armoured, and a new period, the Late High Middle Ages from 1178, fields the highest-tier troops and armour of the age.

During development CrusaderBlade was re-released as CrusaderBlade:Resurrection, and due to this we have been reluctant to release ours.