^^ In concern to Mount and Blade, run the game, click options, where it says "Control block Direction" make sure that it's set to AUTOMATIC. And under that the attack direciton to Inverse Mouse movement (works 10x better then regular mouse trust me, this is a first person swinger, not a first person shooter)
Now what this means is, when an enemy attacks you, right when you see his hand lift in the air to swing at you(if your using a two-hander, or a one handed weapon with no shield) Quickly hit your right mouse button and your character will block, when you hear the swords collide indicating a successful block quickly counter but doing a left to right swing by moving your mouse to the right, while at the same time hitting, or holding and releasing the left mouse button, or you can do any direction, move mouse up for overhead swing, down for gut stab, etc etc.
Also when using archery, the longer you hold the arrow within the notch, the less accurate your shot will be.. So it's best to aim high above your target if hes far, quickly draw and fire and repeat until an arrow goes through his/her brains.
Best tactic to do when out numbered? Get a horse, being on foot is almost suicidal as their multiple attacks will interrupt yours leaving you in an endless bout to defend your life with getting less swings in. Horses you can ram them, slit their throats from a riding pass, or Coach a lance into their chest with a spear.