Enraged by his disregard for his troops life I retire from my command with an honorable discharge (you get to keep your chestplate in addition to the money you've accumulated over your service). I have a meritorious career however my lord leads repeated disasterous excursions resulting in numerous defeats and hugely unnecessary losses. It's at this point I hoof it to Battania to escape the consequences of my actions in Valandia and enlist into the army for the first lord I find, Tegan. In my current campaign I started in Valandia got caught by some bandits and told them I'd join them (another thing you can do in freelancer) and I spend around a year terrorizing the locals with the gang until I finally make my escape with some plunder in my pockets and some experience under my belt.

Pretty neat way to start the game in that it makes your transition into commander after common troop pretty rewarding.

In the freelancer mod you can enlist into a lords army and move up the troop and pay tree by getting kills in battle.

Companions prophesy of pendor