Cattle are small parties of neutral troops that can be driven or brought along with you.
Cattle can be bought or stolen from Villages, although stealing them will reduce your Reputation with the village. The price in that village will rise each time you buy cattle, but the cost will reset after some time. Cattle must be bought personally from the Village Elder in the village, you can't buy the cattle directly from the trade menu. The number stolen, and the chance to successfully steal them, is based on your Looting skill. Once you have acquired cattle, they appear on the overland map rather than going into your inventory.
Unit render.
Upon encountering a herd, there will be three options:
- Leave it. If you leave it, the cattle will eventually despawn.
- Slaughter a given amount of cattle, giving you fresh beef. Two pieces for every one you slaughter.
- Herd them, driving them toward the location you want to go. The best method is usually to move behind them and press space bar in order to wait. When they are far, then get close again. In With Fire & Sword and Viking Conquest, the cattle will follow you.
Obtaining and delivering cattle is a quest that can be given by village elders and marshalls.
Guild Masters may give you a quest to drive a herd to another town.
There is a glitch encountered by many Warband players where the ocean and oases (all water textures) have a cow graphic on them.
There is a way to make cattle follow you in the original and Warband, It is a simple task as you have to change a number in one of the game file text. Link: https://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php?threads/annoyed-by-cattle-herding-try-this-simple-modification-v1-003.45900/