Regarding 1)
The map is always randomly generated and therefore the results will vary a lot. The strength of the villages but also the strength of the bandits hideout can vary thus changing the outcome. More importantly, the guard towers and castles send out patrols to secure roads and fight off bandits and other evil-doers. If there is a tower or castle in the vicinity (and the men-at-arms that are stationed there are not under big pressure by other attackers) the bandits will have a really hard time messing with the caravans. To sum up, in this dynamic simulation and procedurally generated world even we as the developers can not say how things will play out ;)
Regarding 2)
The contracts in the video are very limited. I think its only 3 of them in the game at that point but we have many more planned. It is very viable to resort to non-combat contracts to start out but traveling the world is always very dangerous. Just like in the third video I walk through a forest just to get ambushed and almost wiped out by a bandit party. So there won’t be a free ride in the game no matter what you do ;)
Concerning your tactical combat question:
Yes, there will be perks that mess with your APs ;) Also other perks that greatly benefit 2H weapon wielders. We are currently doing a complete rework of all the 36 perks in the game to make them way more badass. I hope to show them off soon in a new gameplay video!
