I don't get it. I switched from Beginner to Veteran since that's the :balanced: difficulty but the jump seems way too big. I really don't know how I'm supposed to last through the early game - The various starts give you 3 or so dudes with shit equipment and no money to upgrade to something reasonable asap, yet the one star contracts set you against 7+ thugs or undead or...
Your first few contracts should be against enemies that are easy to kill (perhaps they can also easily kill you, but that's unimportant). Thugs, Nachzehrers, potentially Dire Wolves - all of these should be appropriate for your starting guys.
I haven't got WotN yet so I can't speak as to the new starts, but the three companion one is pretty simple. You start with 2k or so gold, which is enough to hire at least three extra guys (go for cheap but effective professions like Brawlers, Farmhands, Caravan Guards) and give them enough armour to protect them from at least one hit from a tier 1 weapon. Buy damaged gear from the market, don't buy expensive new suits. It's okay if you can't find armour for everyone, just make sure you engage first with the guys that are actually wearing it, and focus fire on the enemy in a position to hit your unclad lads. With spears and swords (and their inherent to-hit bonus), you shouldn't have too much trouble killing your targets. Morale will do the rest of the work for you.
Once you've killed Hoggart and won a couple of basic Thug fights, you should have the gold for a couple more bros and their equipment. Shields are very helpful in the early game, obviously, and anyone without one should probably be hiding behind the other bros and wielding a pitchfork. Try to stay in the same relative area so you can build up a relationship with a couple of towns or cities. This is probably the trickiest part - if there's a formula as to when new contracts become available then I'm not aware of it, and luck plays a huge part in what's available where. The ideal is to buy a load of shit like amber or cloth or fine wood in a town you have an Allied relationship with (so you're getting it cheap) and then sell it in a large city that has the 'Raided Trade Routes' event, or whatever it's called. And if you ever see that event in a city, never complete the quest to eliminate a nearby bandit stronghold, as it'll solve the event and you'll lose the boosted selling prices. I think taking a caravan to the city might do the same thing, but I'm not 100% on that.
That's all pretty basic advice, but winning against 7+ Thugs in the earlygame is pretty basic too I'm afraid. If you're still struggling I'd just advise using chokepoints/terrain and focusing the enemy based on what weapons they have available. A Thug with a tier 1 flail or mace is rarely something to worry about, but spears can be dangerous when you have terrible armour, and two-handed weapons are always something to watch out for. And Marksmen will always ruin your fucking day.
Once your guys have reached level 3-4 and have bought a couple of nets or dogs, you should be able to take out mixed groups of Raiders and Thugs, and the gear you'll get from the Raiders will allow you to upgrade much more rapidly. Particularly if you stockpile a bunch of flails (T3 preferably but T2 might work in a pinch), they make mincemeat of most Raider and Ancient Dead groups.
) and the armour with them. Since I never have any money it'll take me hours to get back in decent enough shape to go exploring for wilderness locations again. I think I actually would've preferred a defeat, or a phyrric victory which would've let me retire in good conscience. Oh well, once more unto the brigand raiders, dear friends, once more...
