CarrionCrow: Okay, it's question time. (And yes, it's actually game/sale-related. Shocking, I know.) I've never had much exposure to Mount and Blade, but that bundle keeps calling to me. What do people think of the series overall?
I really enjoy Warband. I've never played any of the others. As far as I know, warband is an improved version of the original with multiplayer thrown in. If you have warband, I don't think there's any reason to play the original. I'm a Linux user, so Warband is enough for me.
One of my favourite parts of warband is that it can be played pretty casually. You can fire it up for a few minutes, or a few hours, and either way it's fine. I can also not play it for awhile, and still pick right up where I left off.
If you want a colourful review of With Fire and Sword, just ask Sachys (not-good).