Incline Battle Brothers + Beasts & Exploration, Warriors of the North and Blazing Deserts DLC Thread

[Murk]

I was under the impression that axes are good generalist weapons, so I have roughly 2-3 spears and 3-4 axe guys plus 2-3 archers/crossbows.

I'm assuming you're using 1handed axes? Early on I'd gear those guys with pole arms and have them poke from a distance. Polearms will do more damage, get +10% to hit which in the early game is huge, and let you concentrate more attacks on a single enemy to quickly whittle them down.

Later I'd only go with 1-2 axe bros. I don't like using 1handed weapons when possible, so with the 2handers I'd like them to be able to use their round swing (even if only to hit 2-3 people and not a full 6). Shield breaking can also be distributed to those using 2handed weapons since all of the short ranged ones can also break shields (including 2hcleavers, greatswords, greatmaces, and greathammers; tho not as effectively as axes).

I do think it's a good idea for you to have 1 hammer dude for armor breaking and 1 mace dude to cause stagger and/or knockout.

 

[Barbarian]

Dodge is key for nimblers

Dodge + relentless + overwhelm + backstaber. Shield expert is good, colossus too. Nine lives, contrary to what many say, is not a shitty perk and greatly increases survivability. Having it means the chances of being screwed over by bad rng is much smaller.

High initiative backgrounds work very well in this combination(thieves, ratcatchers, jugglers, killers, etc).

 

[Strange Fellow]

Also it's very important to have a few characters with indomitable (all my front liners take it but you don't need to go that hard with it) so you can soak orcs and unholds stun attacks (and also so you can stand surrounded by 6 people and basically take no damage).

This very much. Indomitable is amazing. IMO only Berserk and Student are better (Student is boring as fuck but I always take it). Maybe Rotate and some weapon perks are also contenders.

 

[tindrli]

why did i thought that raiding caravan is good idea.whyyyyyyy

Ok, it was not bad at all. those were jewish gays

 

[Jimmious]

I hope the dude with the two handed flail thing has really good defenses and/or HP... These two pikemen are ready to rip him a new one

 

[Covenant]

I hope the dude with the two handed flail thing has really good defenses and/or HP... These two pikemen are ready to rip him a new one

Yeah, why advance toward the raised position at the bottom? The safer play would probably have been to set a straight line going one tile forward from the line most of your guys are currently on, and stuck to it until the enemy engaged. That way your top couple of guys potentially get a height advantage, and your Bannerman gets one too. Their front line is mostly swords users, so it wouldn't be a big risk allowing their side to take the first round of swings. You'd have to send the Billhook guy to the bottom to counter the enemy Pikemen, of course, but given your guys' great morale I'd say you're likely to win without any losses, particularly if Flail guy can get behind enemy lines and start smashing the Pikemen in the head.

 

[Murk]

Why?

To assert your dominance.

 

[Darth Canoli]

Why?

To assert your dominance.

Survival > Pride.

I was under the impression that axes are good generalist weapons, so I have roughly 2-3 spears and 3-4 axe guys plus 2-3 archers/crossbows.

Axes are good but no more than the rest (2 handed wise).
A good party takes advantage of every weapon (well, i rarely use flails but i might next time to try something different)

For example, my last company used 2x 2H swords (it just happened, i didn't plan to have 2), 1x (2H Hammer, 2H Mace, 2H Axe, 2H poleaxe, 2H Pike), 2x Archers, 1x shield/cleaver/whip and 1x Fencer.

Since i have been mistreated by Schrats, my backpack is full of different axes, just in case.

 

[Reinhardt]

Survival > Pride.

Strange words from naked nimble men user.

 

[Darth Canoli]

I wouldn't do it if they were squishy, it's surprisingly good since you pump up all these fat points you don't need in HP and melee def, they climb and it's game over, you can't touch them.

 

[Strange Fellow]

How has this bro survived to veteran levels without getting picked off by pesky poachers? I don't know, but he has, and look at him now

 

[tindrli]

I hope the dude with the two handed flail thing has really good defenses and/or HP... These two pikemen are ready to rip him a new one

this is my f2H flail bro. he barely made that one. i made a stupid move to support that 2h sword bro. and then 2 pikeman came out from nowhere

 

[Zanzoken]

I've stabilized on my Ironman attempt right now. Thankfully the game gets easier once you leave the very early game behind. Those 5% extra hit/miss make more of a difference than one would think.

But there is a significant difficulty spike when you reach the late game heavily armored enemies

This is where I am right now. I thought I was in a pretty good spot with the following (Day 80-ish).

- 8 melee bros levels 6 to 8, 75+ matk, mail armor, 200HP helmets, heater shields and tier 3 weapons or pikes / billhooks
- Sergeant with 100+ res, battle standard, 200HP armor + helm
- 3 archers with 70+ ratk, mail armor, war bows

These guys breeze through bandits and have also consistently won against orc young & berserkers, goblin skirmishers and ambushers, nachzherers, direwolves, wiedergangers + necromancy, ancient dead, spiders, alps, hexen, unholds. Pretty much all low- and mid-tier enemies the game throws at you.

Then the Noble War starts and I took the "join a battle" contract or whatever it's called, where it was me and an allied noble house vs another noble house. And even though our side won the battle, I lost 6 guys and the allied house lost quite a few as well. In a hypothetical 12 vs 12 against professional soldiers, my bros would not be the favorite and even if we did pull off a win it wouldn't be without heavy casualties.

I reloaded to just before the war starts, but I'm a little shook because I thought we were ready and apparently that isn't the case. I know we definitely need better armor, and to start transitioning to 2H weapons. But other than that idk.

 

[tindrli]

how the hell you made with bro with 100+ res?

 

[Darth Canoli]

- 3 archers with 70+ ratk, mail armor, war bows

70 ranged attack and you call them archers ?
I guess their specialty is friendly fire ?

 

[Jrpgfan]

Why?

To assert your dominance.

Survival > Pride.

I was under the impression that axes are good generalist weapons, so I have roughly 2-3 spears and 3-4 axe guys plus 2-3 archers/crossbows.

Axes are good but no more than the rest (2 handed wise).
A good party takes advantage of every weapon (well, i rarely use flails but i might next time to try something different)

For example, my last company used 2x 2H swords (it just happened, i didn't plan to have 2), 1x (2H Hammer, 2H Mace, 2H Axe, 2H poleaxe, 2H Pike), 2x Archers, 1x shield/cleaver/whip and 1x Fencer.

Since i have been mistreated by Schrats, my backpack is full of different axes, just in case.

Swords are the most versatile though due to the attack variety(can AoE attack forward and in half-circle) and higher THC. I always have atleast 2 greatsword guys in my roster.

 

[Murk]

how the hell you made with bro with 100+ res?

My guess is he meant total res and not base res. That's not that difficult with perks + gear, even if you don't use someone like a Cultist, Noble or Squire.

Also, dude, ditch those godawful Lamellar armors -- their fatigue cost is heinous.

 

[Darth Canoli]

this is my f2H flail bro. he barely made that one. i made a stupid move to support that 2h sword bro. and then 2 pikeman came out from nowhere

For your 2H Flail, i would have picked colossus and head hunter instead of gifted and underdog (a 2H flail guy has no business being surrounded, specially with his mdef)

Swords are the most versatile though due to the attack variety(can AoE attack forward and in half-circle) and higher THC. I always have atleast 2 greatsword guys in my roster.

Sure, but it feels redundant, besides, it's a barbarian origin and the first 2H swordman is a barbarian while the second one is alright but not as good, lacking in mdef, mostly so they feel like Batman and Robin ...
And of course, Robin always gets it, he's almost the only one getting wounded.

Besides, there is an interesting 2H Axes variety, i'd rather have 2x 2H axemen, one with the circular attack and the other one with the 2 targets in straight line attack and the 1 target attack hitting both the head and the body (the one i'm using actually), it's insanely destructive.

 

[Zanzoken]

how the hell you made with bro with 100+ res?

My guess is he meant total res and not base res. That's not that difficult with perks + gear, even if you don't use someone like a Cultist, Noble or Squire.

Right. I got a noble with 3 stars in Res + Fearless and he's now level 8 with Fortified Mind + Sergeant Sash.

 

[Tigranes]

how the hell you made with bro with 100+ res?

My guess is he meant total res and not base res. That's not that difficult with perks + gear, even if you don't use someone like a Cultist, Noble or Squire.

Right. I got a noble with 3 stars in Res + Fearless and he's now level 8 with Fortified Mind + Sergeant Sash.

 

[Payd Shell]

I've stabilized on my Ironman attempt right now. Thankfully the game gets easier once you leave the very early game behind. Those 5% extra hit/miss make more of a difference than one would think.

But there is a significant difficulty spike when you reach the late game heavily armored enemies

This is where I am right now. I thought I was in a pretty good spot with the following (Day 80-ish).

- 8 melee bros levels 6 to 8, 75+ matk, mail armor, 200HP helmets, heater shields and tier 3 weapons or pikes / billhooks
- Sergeant with 100+ res, battle standard, 200HP armor + helm
- 3 archers with 70+ ratk, mail armor, war bows

These guys breeze through bandits and have also consistently won against orc young & berserkers, goblin skirmishers and ambushers, nachzherers, direwolves, wiedergangers + necromancy, ancient dead, spiders, alps, hexen, unholds. Pretty much all low- and mid-tier enemies the game throws at you.

Then the Noble War starts and I took the "join a battle" contract or whatever it's called, where it was me and an allied noble house vs another noble house. And even though our side won the battle, I lost 6 guys and the allied house lost quite a few as well. In a hypothetical 12 vs 12 against professional soldiers, my bros would not be the favorite and even if we did pull off a win it wouldn't be without heavy casualties.

I reloaded to just before the war starts, but I'm a little shook because I thought we were ready and apparently that isn't the case. I know we definitely need better armor, and to start transitioning to 2H weapons. But other than that idk.

Noble war is the hardest crisis if you don't know what you're doing. Noble armies don't have any particular strength, but they also have no weakness that you're able to exploit, they're just as versatile as your own company. That being said, the danger comes from their backline. Polearms and crossbowmen will wreck you if you don't take care of them first. Bring ample archers with good ranged attack (90+ ideally) so you can snipe their crossbows and billhooks. Your frontline needs 250+ gear in order to survive a few attacks. Their frontline isn't that dangerous, they're just there to keep you away from their backline. If you want to rely on melee only, it's much harder and the gear requirements go way up, you'd want 300+ gear / famed items to brutforce your way through the frontline.

It's a goldmine even if you aren't ready for it, though. You can raid caravans all day long and after the war, relations will turn back to 'cold'. Don't take contracts for sieges or great battles, just those for raiding settlements and caravans. If you do that, you also help the other houses and contribute to ending the war.

 

[Reinhardt]

Noble war is the hardest crisis.

Yes. It really fucks up your trade.

 

[vazha]

I've stabilized on my Ironman attempt right now. Thankfully the game gets easier once you leave the very early game behind. Those 5% extra hit/miss make more of a difference than one would think.

But there is a significant difficulty spike when you reach the late game heavily armored enemies

This is where I am right now. I thought I was in a pretty good spot with the following (Day 80-ish).

- 8 melee bros levels 6 to 8, 75+ matk, mail armor, 200HP helmets, heater shields and tier 3 weapons or pikes / billhooks
- Sergeant with 100+ res, battle standard, 200HP armor + helm
- 3 archers with 70+ ratk, mail armor, war bows

These guys breeze through bandits and have also consistently won against orc young & berserkers, goblin skirmishers and ambushers, nachzherers, direwolves, wiedergangers + necromancy, ancient dead, spiders, alps, hexen, unholds. Pretty much all low- and mid-tier enemies the game throws at you.

Then the Noble War starts and I took the "join a battle" contract or whatever it's called, where it was me and an allied noble house vs another noble house. And even though our side won the battle, I lost 6 guys and the allied house lost quite a few as well. In a hypothetical 12 vs 12 against professional soldiers, my bros would not be the favorite and even if we did pull off a win it wouldn't be without heavy casualties.

I reloaded to just before the war starts, but I'm a little shook because I thought we were ready and apparently that isn't the case. I know we definitely need better aarmor, and to start transitioning to 2H weapons. But other than that idk.

If you ve lost 6 guys and the noble ally less than half of their units, you re doing it wrong. Use them as screen / cannon fodder as much as you are able to and seeing as you only have mail shirts maybe give your frontliners polearms for such battles and keep them safe. Footmen can soak up damage pretty well, so a massive advantage in dps should easily turn the battle in your favour. Target enemy zweihanders with your polearms whenever possible but try not to get into the range of their "split" ability. Rotation works wonders for that. If you ve got a good archer, snipe their archers. In short try to achieve a superiority in certain aspect and then rely on said advantage to win the whole thing. After 2 battles you should have enough heavy armor to get involved in melee to your hearts pleasure.

 

[Darth Canoli]

I just tried the new Legends mod build on Legendary difficulty, 4 factions, 28 cities, solo Berserker beginning (he can expand his company later at the cost of perks but every second veteran level gives a perk, i think).

5 battles or so against few enemies (the berserker starts with berserk and gives berserk to allies in battle and 80ish melee attack but no def, of course also he starts with a retarded Orc two handed weapon flail or axe, yes, i tried my luck )
- 3 bandits + 1 bandit poacher -> the fucking poacher almost killed me, he had higher ground, had to run when he caught back, i barely had time to kill the 3 others to get to him.
- 3 Thralls and a Reaver, almost died
- 1 direwolf, this one was easy, not sure how i'd have fare against 4 ...
- 6 Thralls > Almost died ...
- 4 Nachos escorting a caravan > they killed one caravan hand and got me under 40% hp ...
- 3 Webnechts (Berserker lvl 6; levelling is fast; 95+ matak, 25/35 mdef with shield, 100+ HP) ... Was trying a mace + shield, didn't check my equipment >> Would probably have died, quit before it was too late, these fuckers have a tough skin, not sure they have armors on the vanilla version, well, i know why i hate 1H maces, that's really the worst weapon ...

TLDR
Legendary difficulty add perks to all the monsters and apparently adds champions versions of every mob.
Barely played and didn't expand the company yet but it really seems this legendary difficulty mode is for masochists. (It's probably meant to be played with the "party" beginning)
I know you're there, if you read me, that's the mod/difficulty for you.

 

[Tigranes]

Re. above on noble war - one easy and safe way to do it, if you're struggling, is use the first turn to see where enemies and allies go, and make sure that all the enemy polearms / nameds are up against your allies. You're targeting instead the weakest enemy units with least potential to fuck you up (e.g. surrounding and shivving shield footmen, instead of going up against a two-hander), fanning out very wide to circle the enemy if need be.

After all, the allies can generally hold their own quite well, they won't be steamrolled - so there's ample time to spread panic in the enemy with a few easy kills, or just whittle their numbers down. If you're higher level then your archers can also reliably take down their polearms / banner-bearers.

For me the main challenge is the visual clusterfuck. But the loot is worth the pain.