Mount&Blade - With Fire and Sword Preview @ Hooked Gamers

Hooked Gamers has a preview of Mount & Blade: With Fire and Sword. A sample:

Another welcome addition in With Fire and Sword is the new army system. This time around, instead of recruiting peasants from villages and training them through battle, you hire professional mercenaries from mercenary camps and buy every piece of armour and weaponry they have through the camps. This allows the player full control of the outfitting of his army, but does mean that when a unit levels up, it will not automatically get better equipment. Having a well equipped and powerful army is an expensive undertaking, and amassing the funds needed to get there usually requires a well equipped and powerful army. You'll need to be smart about your finances if you want to keep a strong force in this game.