I never played it before and there are so many difficulty settings to choose from. I am about to delve into it, but I wonder which settings. I don't want a pathetic easy game. Are the basic settings fine to have a nice game? A little challenge is okay. As long as it doesn't become hard.

You can always change it, so I'd recommend you to experiment a bit. The most important are damage to player&allies, combat AI and battle size (lesser = easier; all of them). Controlling blocking and attacking direction, targeting reticle and attack direction are also important, but a bit less. Other are really just up to you (I'd leave them on default for now).

Thanks for the tips! I've been playing for a couple of hours and I still suck. Though I did manage to be the last woman standing in this regular brawl. After horurs I discovered two companions and things are going slow but okay. I'm just scared my companions will die. I hope not... So far I'm quite enjoying myself. I'm still trying to learn how to swing my sword on a horse, despite battling so much, it's still tricky. Now I'm trying to practise with a lance as well.

I'll definately be playing it a lot more. I also bought Warband which I'll try once I get bored of the original. So far it's very enjoyable.

A tip: they can't. Just like you or lords. They can be only knocked unconscious. ;)

Oh that's very handy! I should invest in better equipment. Though I am always super paranoid that I can't afford my army. I just grind in the arena to get money to pay their wages whenever I run low on money.