Hmm, sounded very promising but that didn't work either - downloaded file is in the ...\Modules\Diplomacy\Textures folder and as per the readme in there the scan_module_textures setting is set to 1, but when I reload a save and become a vassal again, the banners I get the choose between are all the standard ones still.

Ok, maybe the banners_f isn't used in that module. As an experiment I would rename it banners_a and see if it shows up then.

Or you could browse the banner dds files and find one that you have definatly seen in your game and copy the RS emblem over that banner.

Aha, that did the trick, thanks.

New question! How do I marshall the stupid AI lords, or indeed can you at all?

I am marshall but the lords are fricken useless. They'll follow me around but don't seem to account for how many they are when they decide to bugger off - eg I've got 8 of them with me, each with 80odd men (some a bit higher, some a bit lower). We're at war with the perfidius vaegir and I want to set them on fire, so we roll up to their king whose got 200 men in his group. Howevr as soon as we get near, all the lords following me fuck off, all having gone "eek, he's got 200, I've only got 80!... RUN AWAY!", despite the fact that together we outnumber him massively. I'd rather not have to kill all slightly larger forces solo...

FURTHERMORE I had previously taken a castle and am miffed to see there is no option to tell the lords to leave some troops behind to make a garrison for it. This seems to happen when an NPC is marshall (after the siege all the other NPC lords lose 5-10 men who end up in the new garrison) but with me as marshall I have to make the entire garrison myself - except I can only have 100 in my own party so I can either have an army or a garrison, but not both.

Am I doing it wrong or what?

The guys following you is a bit random it has to be said. I've never had it quite as bad you have there though. I have found that actually talking to the lords in person and instructing them to follow me keeps them around for a bit longer than just issuing a call to arms. They do still seem to bugger off at the most inopportune though (having said that i don't play the native game I play the 1257 AD mod which is basically set in Europe in well 1257 AD ). I think they've used loads of different mods pooled into this one to change the ai etc so it may have helped when getting lords to follow you.

When holding a castle there is 2 things you can do (bare in mind im doing this from memory and that I hardly played the native game).

1) Send out recruiters. In the lords hall there should be an NPC who you can instruct to send out recruiters. You basically tell them how many recruits you want, give them a load of money, and off they trot. Be warned they can and will be attacked by other lords/bandits etc and being all peasants it tends to end badly.

2) When enemies look at one of your castles/cities garrison their decision to attack or not is based purely on numbers. In other words a garrison of 200 peasants is more effective that 100 Knights (unless he does actually attack then your borked ). I tend to dump half my army in the castle/city then make a round trip of all the villages and recruit as many peasants as possible and then take them back to my castle and swap them for the army I left behind.

Ah I didn't realise the initial decision was just numbers based, that's interesting. The king won't give me any more fiefs now though because I have a monstrous controvery score, thanks mostly to him promptly wardeccing the rest of our neighbours as soon as he made me marshall, so IMO garrisoning is no longer my problem.