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

[Prime Junta]

Orc warriors/warlord should be really fun for you, at least if the warriors spawn with plate and helmet.
Necrosavants as well... Pikes and such just don't do enough damage and only get 1 hit per turn without a berserk trigger.

Far as I can tell, the real difference between your party and the standard thing everyone runs early game is that your frontline kind of sucks at hitting stuff or what?

That plus more archers, and really good archers really.

Until now I've gone with three or four archers, two or three pikemen/axemen. Thing with archers is that good ones are expensive (for the early game) -- you pretty much have to hire hunters who have a base ranged skill near 60 and they cost about 1500 a pop.

My usual strategy is to hire cheap and Darwin them out. It's pretty common to find beggars/refugees/cripples/vagabonds with melee skill well above 50; then I keep building that up plus taking Ranged skill whenever I get a 3 or 4, and giving them the Quick Hands perk + thrown weapons (but otherwise defensive skills for the frontline -- Colossus, Steel Brow etc). Then once I've got the business running, start hiring hedge knights, veterans and what have you.

Difference now is I built up my cheap goons exclusively for defence -- only defensive feats, Melee Defence whenever I get a 2 or 3 in it, and not neglecting Health like usual. And then I bought hunters as soon as I could afford a new one.

Necrosavants shouldn't be too big a problem, they hit like a freight train but aren't that hard to hit and go down quick. With six expert archers I should be able to take them down as soon as they hit my back line, RNG fun notwithstanding.

Orc warriors/warlords will be nasty. Usually they hang back though so I ought to be able to wipe out the young/berserkers at range while keeping my axebros fresh; I ought to be able to take them down six-on-one, at least with a net. But we will see.

 

[vota DC]

That's what I want to find out.

I'm theorising I should be able to stick them full of pins effectively enough, even while they still have shields. By then I should have archery skills pushing 90, and with war bows they ought to make a mark. We will see if it works though. I am suspecting this may not be an optimal strategy but eh, it plays differently.

(I'm also thinking that once I have the funds I'll train up a bunch of pikemen/longaxemen for damage, for those special ancient legionary fights.)

Maces are good against those unstoppable undead: they stun them. Pikes do only half damage, longaxes are better.

 

[Zanzoken]

I think the strategy I'm building toward right now is pretty similar. Here is what I am going for:

2OOOOO2
AASAA

O = Shieldbro
2 = 2H bro
A = Archer / Reach weapon
S = Sergeant w Banner

I think this is pretty balanced for different enemy types but idk.

 

[Jimmious]

With that lineup you will soon notice that enemies will try to target your squishy flanks unless of course the 2H bros are good at their job. I prefer to try to "lure" them in the middle of my formation for maximum bro mayhem - if possible. That means having some bros that the AI prioritizes as targets in the middle like lower level bros or no-shield bros

 

[Zanzoken]

Yeah that is my main concern. I wouldn't start rolling 2H until I had the necessary armor and skills though. Probably level 8 at the earliest.

I have also wanted to try all 2H melee since you guys are keen on that approach. But I feel like it would take quite a while to gather the weapons and armor necessary to make that work.

 

[Jimmious]

I'll be honest with you, I also keep reading about this approach but I never actually did it my self either. I just can't avoid having shieldbros - who in high levels are actual tanks. Sure, they take a bit more time to kill stuff I guess but...

 

[Zanzoken]

You know what I really really really wish this game had? The ability to hand place your bros before the battle starts.

Gets old being thrown into a random clusterfuck and having to spend 2 or 3 turns just getting everyone into a decent formation.

 

[RK47]

If you want to minimize casualty in early game. Go fishing village and buy nets.

 

[Prime Junta]

Archer bro update. The strategy isn't panning out. When faced with bigger mobs, I get outflanked which puts a huge dent in my offensive power. Also my defence bros don't survive as well as attack bros when going toe-to-toe: eventually somebody gets a crit in and they go down, and if faced with a mob, there goes my back line again. I've got a few archers past 70 by now which is enough to hit fairly consistently at fast attack, but I still get overwhelmed.

I.e. my usual "balanced" strategy is clearly more effective overall. At a minimum I need meleebros of some kind at the flanks.

 

[Celerity]

Oh, we're pretending this is a real game still? Fine.

Make a v with the melees. 2 handed guys go in the middle, shields on the flanks. AI stupidly walks in your pincer if it wants your weaker melee defenders. If they stand back the archers pewpewpew. If they engage the tanks they have multiple options.

This is basic tactics 101, Git Gud.

 

[Ezeekiel]

Oh, we're pretending this is a real game still? Fine.

Make a v with the melees. 2 handed guys go in the middle, shields on the flanks. AI stupidly walks in your pincer if it wants your weaker melee defenders. If they stand back the archers pewpewpew. If they engage the tanks they have multiple options.

This is basic tactics 101, Git Gud.

Pretty much the only sensible way of playing the game most of the time as the a.i. tends to just fall for it over and over... Only thing that makes the later legion fights bearable haha

How do you think about this game compared to derpest dungeon, mechanics -wise?

 

[Ezeekiel]

Archer bro update. The strategy isn't panning out. When faced with bigger mobs, I get outflanked which puts a huge dent in my offensive power. Also my defence bros don't survive as well as attack bros when going toe-to-toe: eventually somebody gets a crit in and they go down, and if faced with a mob, there goes my back line again. I've got a few archers past 70 by now which is enough to hit fairly consistently at fast attack, but I still get overwhelmed.

I.e. my usual "balanced" strategy is clearly more effective overall. At a minimum I need meleebros of some kind at the flanks.

Yeah, there's a reason the 2h + armor frontline is popular... You can always rely on armor to be there and you can calculate how much damage it mitigates etc. Defense on the other hand is RNG.
Playing well in these games is all about mitigating the RNG (aside from the cheesy v-formation celerity mentioned)... Only thing to consider is tool cost of course.

 

[Sarissofoi]

Thing is one hand plus shield combination have also very low fatigue efficiency.
>shield is heavy - less fatigue
>one handers that hit harder have very costly attacks
>shieldwall cost a lot
On the other hand 2 handers have AoE attacks that make them very fatigue effective and can boost their defense well against multiple opponents. They not only bring damage - they also bring more damage the more enemies they face - plus 2H are solid option for tanking multiple enemies. Not even mentioning tactical utility of Split or Stagger.
2H>1H&S
Simply because they can kill enemy faster when being more fatigue effective and still hard to kill.
And sure specialized shield tank is hard to kill but they are not very effective at killing.
There is also problem with enemy simply outnumbering your company most of the time and when that happen 2H is much better as their DPS go higher when they face multiple enemies(as survival chances).
Not even mention that one of the best 1hand weapon - spear - is hardly usable against skeletons - the same goes for arrows/bolts - and there is no xbows shooting lead balls or slings to crush skeletons on range.

 

[Zanzoken]

Funny that this topic comes up because I just decided to ditch archers altogether in my current campaign (save the starting Archerbro who also can melee). It's just annoyingly difficult to find guys with good Ranged skill and growths. Also I have been able to recruit a surplus of melee bros who have the makings of legit killers.

It's gonna be eleven 2H berserkers and one Legolas type who can fight close in with both melee and bow. Will it work? Idk but should be fun to find out.

 

[Sarissofoi]

You still should carry some ranged weapons just for AI to think that you have ranged advantage so they will charge you instead of waiting.

 

[Celerity]

Oh, we're pretending this is a real game still? Fine.

Make a v with the melees. 2 handed guys go in the middle, shields on the flanks. AI stupidly walks in your pincer if it wants your weaker melee defenders. If they stand back the archers pewpewpew. If they engage the tanks they have multiple options.

This is basic tactics 101, Git Gud.

Pretty much the only sensible way of playing the game most of the time as the a.i. tends to just fall for it over and over... Only thing that makes the later legion fights bearable haha

How do you think about this game compared to derpest dungeon, mechanics -wise?

Still shallow as fuck so not interested. Devs might not be SJWs, but probably are because SJWs are shilling for them and only do so for those exactly like themselves.

Like the V thing for example, that was what I thought of instantly just from that one post. No real consideration, no actual play experience, it was just that obvious. And apparently it's cheesy shit that breaks the game entirely. So basically, Hellion damage spam. Except people are acting like this wasn't figured out on day 1 and are triggered I'm pointing it out. So congrats, the early Derpest community is smarter than this one. All the smart Derpests left or became trolls month 1 but still.

Only thing I left out is make the shield ones on your flanks whoever has roughly the same melee defense and the most ranged defense. If less melee defense they flank you, same as the line. If less ranged defense the units nearest enemy ranged take an arrow in the ______.

 

[Sarissofoi]

Why people give negative marks to our local hero that we need but not deserve?
Sure he my be rather frank with his words but he is right.
V formation where enemy walk inside is the best in creating killing zones where you can attack multiple targets using 2H AoE attacks. And thus kill them fast enough before they can hurt you. The only problem is when AI do not close or have large number advantage while player have no superior quality.

 

[Celerity]

Because triggered SJWs, that's why.

 

[thesheeep]

I think the strategy I'm building toward right now is pretty similar. Here is what I am going for:

2OOOOO2
AASAA

O = Shieldbro
2 = 2H bro
A = Archer / Reach weapon
S = Sergeant w Banner

I think this is pretty balanced for different enemy types but idk.

This is the only true formation:

222222 222222

 

[Zanzoken]

I have hit a stall in my current run.

It is day 60ish, most bros around level 6, and fighting mostly raiders and gobs with numbers in the 12 to 15 range. Unfortunately it is quite difficult to win without losing any bros. I know we are supposed to be able to just roll with losses as part of the game. But with the amount of time it takes to replace an experienced bro I can't really be fucked to keep losing top guys all the time.

The issue is money, and by extension the one thing money is good for: gear. I am kitted out in chainmail, nasal helmets, and kite shields, with mid tier weapons. Mostly stuff I found or bought on the cheap and repaired.

Thing is the armor and DPS are not really cutting it. I take enough damage in each fight nowadays that by the time I pay to have wounds healed and buy tools, a lot of the ~$1k gold I got for the job is spent. My war chest lingers around $10k gold and won't go up, so I can't afford better armor, which would get us through fights with less damage and therefore more profit.

Thoughts?

 

[Sarissofoi]

Git gut weakling.

Spoiler

On serious note I started a campaign on veteran recently and get wiped by four raiders. My shame know no bounds.

You know how to lower up a enemy global level? Hire some beggars up to your limit and keep them in reserve at level 1. It make game easier as enemy scale back to your average level.
But its only if you really desperate.
How are your soldiers?
What backgrounds they have?
I bet they are still mostly farmers and stuff.
You should invest early in better backgrounds(med tier) like militiants, squires, hunters. They make big difference.
Also what formation and weapons are you using?

 

[Teut Busnet]

^^

Also, healing wounds usually isn't worth it. Buying Mail Hauberks (for <1200) could help, don't keep too much gold in reserve.

 

[Zombra]

Kinda wish I hadn't read these last few posts ... learning that the real way to play is to cheese the level scaling systems is very disheartening. Maybe I'll try the game on Beginner again so I don't have to resort to such bullshittery.

 

[Sarissofoi]

Nah. You can play normally on veteran. You just need to git good.
Playing normally on expert is suffering. Mostly because grind and lack high level recruits.

 

[Zanzoken]

Git gut weakling.

Spoiler

On serious note I started a campaign on veteran recently and get wiped by four raiders. My shame know no bounds.

Hehe

You know how to lower up a enemy global level? Hire some beggars up to your limit and keep them in reserve at level 1. It make game easier as enemy scale back to your average level.
But its only if you really desperate.
How are your soldiers?
What backgrounds they have?
I bet they are still mostly farmers and stuff.
You should invest early in better backgrounds(med tier) like militiants, squires, hunters. They make big difference.
Also what formation and weapons are you using?

I usually go for cheaper backgrounds since I have found the more expensive ones aren't really much better on average. But I will trust your judgment on that.

I think my guys are solid. At level 6 they average around 75 HP, 115 fatigue, 70 melee attack, and 20 melee defense. For perks I went Colossus, Steel Brow, Pathfinder, Brawny, Underdog, and Battle Forged.

I line them up with 7 up front and 5 in the back. Front line has one noble sword and a mix of handaxes and morningstars. Back line has two billhooks, two longaxes, and the battle standard.

Leaving injuries alone is probably good advice since they do heal up on their own most of the time.