Battle Brothers - Get Rich or Die Trying

[rk47]

Ive been playing the crap out of this. It's quite unforgiving and I like that. One piece of advice to people, if you are delivering cargo and a gang of mercenaries ask you for the loot, just hand it over. These dudes are armed to the teeth and are tough as shit.

Had some cool experiences. For some reason I thought at first that you had to unequip things to repair them. So I would occasionally get caught with guys not having armor on , or weapons. One such time this happened...It was a knockdown drag out fight, with my sole survivor having punched the last guy to death since he was unarmed. Good times. I recovered the company from there for a short time before something wiped me. Ironman is the only way to roll.

The coolest part is underrated perks like quickhands being such a useful bag of tricks to the creative commander.
What quickhand does is that it allows switching of equipped gear at no AP cost once per round. This makes your backline more versatile.
Nothing is stopping you from firing a bolt for 2 AP and then switching to your polearm to smack from behind the frontline with 7 AP in one round.
Or starting with a throwing weapon and a kite shield to block incoming arrows at round 1, then switching polearm when the melee starts.
Be creative. If you really want to kill someone, it's best to shut down his defense - Net him and destroy him. Nets lower defense. And then you don't put your shield back on to get 25% double-grip damage boost with a one-hand weapon. Smash.

Also, be observant of each weapons properties:
Daggers - Underrated, lightest weapon with secondary attack that sacrifices accuracy to ignore armor. With Dagger Specialization, you can attack 3 times per round!
Spears - Lowest damage, highest accuracy, can employ spearwall to damage and knockback incoming enemies - a very useful tactic against charging enemies.
Swords - Accurate, can employ riposte to counterattack after dodging an attack. A very versatile weapon.
Cleaver - Each hit inflicts stacking bleeds.
Maces - Each hit causes fatigue, secondary stunning attack is great when you want to shut down high priority targets you cannot kill in one round. Maces are defensive in nature, do not go overboard since their damage is not spectacular.
Axes - Secondary attack damages a shield directly - this is your only way of shutting down defenses without a net. Otherwise, inferior to swords.
Hammer - Excellent Armor bypass/destroying property - essential for end game encounters. Just don't count on salvaging any intact armor when you employ the hammer.
Flails - This weapon ignores shield defenses when attacking - but it builds up the highest fatigue per swing. The upshot is that its secondary attack is a head-shot on hit. If someone forgets to wear a helmet, two swings from the flail is a guaranteed kill and you can keep his pristine, if somewhat blood spattered armor.

Two handers should be kept till mid-game when you can don high durability armor since you sacrifice shield for more damage.

[Slayerik]

Agreed, well done RK!

[Slayerik]

Gotta be careful carrying really heavy weapons in your bag slots though, managing fatigue in this game is fucking key. I'm finding high fatigue dudes way more useful than high HP guys for the most part. One of my first buys early on is a kite or heater shield. Not crazy expensive but can make you hard as hell to kill. Using mace and cleaver head shots can be nice early on for scavenging armor.

[rk47]

Gotta be careful carrying really heavy weapons in your bag slots though, managing fatigue in this game is fucking key. I'm finding high fatigue dudes way more useful than high HP guys for the most part. One of my first buys early on is a kite or heater shield. Not crazy expensive but can make you hard as hell to kill. Using mace and cleaver head shots can be nice early on for scavenging armor.

Yes, Fatigue is pretty important. 60 HP is sufficient. If you need more, try Colossus for 25% Bonus.
In the end, what's keeping your guy alive is high armor and the company's ability to deal high damage to start destroying the opposing team's morale. Once they rout, it's easy.
There's never a need to carry 2 types of weapon IMO if you're a main-hand + shield guy. Unless it's Net / Throwing Ax or Crossbow/Polearm
I did experiment with carrying 2H sword for the AOE attack but found myself wanting to just net > flail all day.
It's also perfectly fine to just surround the last panicking guy and spam headshots all day to guarantee an armor drop.



 

[Slayerik]

Veteran ironman sure ends up getting the best of me. Damnit. Another crew bites the dust! Low resolve started this demise! Sometimes it's not even worth it to add underequipped cannon fodder.

[Teleku]

This game is fun but possibly to fucking brutal for me.  I cannot even fathom attempting Ironman, though maybe I'll do better if I follow the advice in this thread more.

[rk47]

Veteran ironman sure ends up getting the best of me. Damnit. Another crew bites the dust! Low resolve started this demise! Sometimes it's not even worth it to add underequipped cannon fodder.

Cherry pick contracts and don't hesitate to abandon hopeless fights. When engaging, do not be so hasty to attack a target until the maximum 'surrounded' debuff has been achieved on the target. Surrounding a target achieves two things: imposing a negative resolve check on the target while increasing your chance to hit the target in melee.

In combat, aim for the enemy with least defense and lightest armor. If an opponent is fleeing, ignoring them for a greater threat is also a valid tactic - however killing them immediately will trigger a resolve check against opposing combatants while giving your party a positive resolve check in return. This could prove pivotal. A domino effect on the negative resolve check can trigger a rout and make a 10-man bandit gang turn tail from just 3 consecutive kills.

Read quest pop-ups more carefully - if the job is to retrieve a relic, you don't need to kill anyone therefore upon arriving at the site - read the pop-up again and make sure you actually got the relic THEN quickly retreat from combat by moving towards the edge of the map. Yay. Bloodless money.

[Slayerik]

All great pointers...I have picked up all these though through trial and error as well ;) I always grab the relic from those Ancient Auxiallaries and BOLT!

I need to be a little quicker to just say FUCK THIS, though. I've retreated unwinnable battles and recovered my company a few times, even with the wounds they ate.

I have found with my big twohander guy you have to carefully position him so that someone is blocking, then be one step away so you can jump in and still get an attack off. That is, until he is higher leveled and armored and can handle himself a little better. Otherwise, they just say ...Hey look a shieldless dead man! KILLLLL.  Sometimes I like giving him pathfinder and getting behind their lines cause a two hander will one shot light armored archers.

[rk47]

All great pointers...I have picked up all these though through trial and error as well ;) I always grab the relic from those Ancient Auxiallaries and BOLT!

I need to be a little quicker to just say FUCK THIS, though. I've retreated unwinnable battles and recovered my company a few times, even with the wounds they ate.

I have found with my big twohander guy you have to carefully position him so that someone is blocking, then be one step away so you can jump in and still get an attack off. That is, until he is higher leveled and armored and can handle himself a little better. Otherwise, they just say ...Hey look a shieldless dead man! KILLLLL.  Sometimes I like giving him pathfinder and getting behind their lines cause a two hander will one shot light armored archers.

Try the rotation perk to rescue low-health mercs. A little creative use of the rotation can also move your 2H to where he needs to be. Game's launch should come with decent updates. Might wanna hold off play until then.

[Teleku]

Yeah, they are adding in a bunch of stuff apparently, including end game crisis's. 

[Slayerik]

Having way too much fun dying to stop now!

[rk47]

Time to update your game and experience the full release.
I hope you're ready to kill Hoggart again. 

[Amarr HM]

Love this game, great radicalthon too.

It's a broad mix of two of my favourites, Jagged Alliance and Warsong for the SNES.

[Slayerik]

72 days into this ironman run....woot.

[rk47]

72 days into this ironman run....woot.

Grats,
What crisis event did you get?

[Slayerik]

Day 141 now. Not sure there is one....

[Amarr HM]

Watch out for them whores

[Amarr HM]

[Trippy]

Worth it!

[Amarr HM]

Well it certainly didn't dampen their spirits, normally an injury leaves a negative mark on their morale. But obviously this one balanced out.

[rk47]

I wouldn't call that worth it. 
I did went through that once and swore to myself never again.
2 weeks of unemployment, commodity hauls and just ganging up on bandits that were attacked by patrols for spare change.

[Slayerik]

Well, day 200 and I thought I'd celebrate by introducing everyone to the 'dielots' (I stopped making serious names after enough wipes)



Meet the dielots!



Ulfert the Outcast. Wildman with insane sword skills. The guy leaves someone's head on the ground in every battle, and though embarrassed at first, he got used to the swan helm we pulled off the dead Sir Konrad. Master of shields, swords, heavy armor, and headshots....he is a fearsome warrior since day 2 of the company. I always love it when it's finally his turn. His next battle wil lbe his 100th, with a whooping 129 kills to lead the company.



Heinrich the Savage. A wildman. He loves smashing people in the head. Solid warrior, strong as hell wearing some serious gear. A master of hammers and heavy armor, he wears down his enemies and holds the line.


Gottfried Ironjaw the Drunker Brawler. Been with the company since day 2. Has a nine lives perk he's never used! He holds back advancing hordes with his specialized spearwall ability, also has a headhunter perk to increase headshot chance. He gets drunk, fucks whores, and kills things. Cheers Gottfried, you bad ass!


Albrecht the farmer. Coming along nicely, besides him losing a finger in battle. Sports an axe to help deal with those pesky shields, an easy attack to land. His low morale has earned him the sergeants sash to help buff it. Strong as an ox though, already sporting some heavy gear. Will likely die soon.



Hallstein the Wildman. Averaging a kill a battle, Hallstein carries his weight and then some. Master of the mace and shield, he using his iron lungs trait (+5 stam recovery a turn) to be able to spam abilities and really keep that shield wall going. Wildmen have slow XP gain, but as you can see they seem to stay alive long enough to actually get nasty.



Hartmut the Brawler.
Cannon fodder. 3 battles, no kills. Has a fine sword however, and expect him to pop his cherry anytime! Or die horribly. Probably the latter.




Ivar the Farmer. This dude is tough as nails. Sporting a war hammer to smash opponents and heater shield to hold the line, Ivar has mastered both. He takes no defense penatly by being surrounded, and has reduced damage due to Battle forged perk (mastery of heavy armor). Ivar is one guy I never worry about holding the line, he smashes strong but is cursed by being a bleeder. Small price to pay for such a bad ass.



Emmerich the Wildman. Emmerich is a rather new arrive who has really meshed with the crew. After we killed the Hedge Knight, he had just leveled and I decided he was the best fit to take the 2 handed named axe we found. And he's put it to use. 21 battle and 21 kills, pretty solid numbers for a new guy. He has the stamina to sport some serious armor, making him less of a liability fighting without a shield. He can use rotation to swap spots at times when needed. ME SMASHHHHH



Hermann the Deserter. He deserted his old company for the promise of riches. He is one of my favorites. He starts out battles with an xbow and quickly switches to the 2 handed long axe to destroy shields in which he has specialized. After that, he lopes heads off kicking in both the Berserk and killing frenzy perks. On the downside, he's super slow to level and enter the fight due to some brain damage he took getting smashed in the head by an orc. Gives him more resolve, though! He always enjoys the telling of story of killing Sir Konrad.



Balon the Brawler. Ah, ole Balon. His career on the frontlines was shortlived after he broke his knee. Turned him into an excellent backline killer, though. He proudly stabs away with his banner, sneaking extra attacks with adrenaline perk and raises troop morale by carrying the standard into battle. His high attack rating combined with high level perks make him a straight up executioner.


Tobjoern the Militiaman. Ole Tobby is a sad tale of a front line warrior that went down and was saved by the 9 lives perk. Unfortunately, this left him with a weak heart and not enough stamina to fight in the front lines properly. He still carries his favorite dagger he once used, which is now basically as wasted perk. Took an arrow to the dome that would have killed lesser men, but leaving him an eye short. He's now a back line axe swinger, taking out opponents shields allowing the front liners and other backliners to kill easily.


Reimar the miner. A new recruit with shitty stamina that will be forever a backliner, or soon to be dead by missile fire. Gave him adrenaline so he could jump ahead and get another 2 tile stab in with his pike. Since he doesn't use stamina for shit else, it works out ok. With his top kill being a Caravan Donkey, he obviously isnt pulling much weight.

[rk47]

That 32 fatigue guy shd just be retired.  
That 88 Melee guy should start swinging greatswords for 2 tile/3 tile arc goodness.
And the lack of crossbow/nets for quickhand backlines is pr. gutsy
I personally employ nets on regular basis (avail. at all harbor city / villages near you!) and forgo axes' shield breaking moves that consumes a lot of fatigue.
My first hire of a swordmaster backfired horribly.

[Slayerik]

I build my guys so tanky and have strong shields and armor. I always attack brigands at night to counter their missile heavy ways and handle things pretty well.

[Amarr HM]

I use a lot of Archers and Crossbows in the backline, 4 in total. Get a lot of free kills against charging enemies and they're skilled enough to take out brigand archers before receiving damage. My spearmen stop anything but Goblin Riders reaching them easily. That said I'm playing on beginner mode, so I'm probably in for a world of pain in veteran if I take that approach.

[rk47]

I use a lot of Archers and Crossbows in the backline, 4 in total. Get a lot of free kills against charging enemies and they're skilled enough to take out brigand archers before receiving damage. My spearmen stop anything but Goblin Riders reaching them easily. That said I'm playing on beginner mode, so I'm probably in for a world of pain in veteran if I take that approach.

Quick hands for back line - Net, Crossbow, Polearm. Start fight with crossbow equipped.
Crossbow > Bows for non-range specialist.
Net the wolfriders to score quick kills.
Also selling at a harbor city that has its trade route plagued by bandits is VERY profitable.

[Amarr HM]

I tried using nets but found them too expensive and not always effective, especially against Orcs who can just rip them in one go. I have rarely been attacked by Wolfriders to justify using them.

[rk47]

I tried using nets but found them too expensive and not always effective, especially against Orcs who can just rip them in one go. I have rarely been attacked by Wolfriders to justify using them.

True, for early game 50-80 gold per net is a lot of money, but in mid game I rather spend the gold on a guaranteed kill rather than keep losing Lv3 frontliners in melee.
You use a net to shut down their defense in melee and kill them in one turn, not to delay their arrival.
One toss from the back, followed by 3-4 stabs from the front line = usually dead guy.
There will be no breaking of nets if they're dead.
Net. Killed. Repeat.
Net. Killed. Repeat.
A lot of fights are determined by fast kills, not a prolonged hit & miss between the frontline.
Breaking the resolve of the enemy with rapid kill speed is the key to bloodless victory.
With wavering morale their melee skill takes a penalty.
Focus on the lowest morale and create a domino effect with deaths and injuries.
By employing net you're creating a 'weakest' target scenario that is otherwise hard to realize when both combatants meet for melee for the first time, fully shielded and covered in armor.

[rk47]

Hey kids, ever paid attention to your initiative attribute?
Yeah, they're pretty underwhelming and seem to serve no purpose other than determining your merc's turn order or perhaps taking advantage of the Dodge Perk to gain defense bonus off it.

But now after playing some more I realize there should be an 'order' to your attack.
The order of attack should be:
1. Axes - Destroy Shield, increase chances for everyone to land their hit. Since this merc always has 100% hit rate, he does not need to have high melee rating, just a high initiative, I recommend Gambler background.
2. Hammer - 200% Dmg vs Armor. Landing a hammerblow against an unarmored target is a waste of AP. 1H Warhammer only deals 20-40 damage vs Health compared to a military cleaver (40-60) for the same amount of AP. You may not notice this at low-mid level, but Hedge Knights clad in 250 Armor plate will absorb a lot of hits before you could actually make him bleed.
3. Highest Damage weapons - Once the target's shield and armor has been stripped off. It's time to let the bladed weapon finish them off.

[Amarr HM]

I tried using nets but found them too expensive and not always effective, especially against Orcs who can just rip them in one go. I have rarely been attacked by Wolfriders to justify using them.

True, for early game 50-80 gold per net is a lot of money, but in mid game I rather spend the gold on a guaranteed kill rather than keep losing Lv3 frontliners in melee.
You use a net to shut down their defense in melee and kill them in one turn, not to delay their arrival.
...

Good advice there thanks, I just started a veteran campaign and first thing I've noticed is the AI is really ramped up.

[rk47]

Day 0 Dismissals
Ever wished you can get those high end mercs at cheaper price?
Actually, it's cheaper to just gamble on the lower tier mercs because the hiring fee tends to include their equipment that you tend to not need at mid to late game.
My advice is to hire cheap recruits and utilize day 0 dismissal if they're not up to scratch.
Do not worry, you suffer no penalty if you remember to tick the 'pay 0 gold in compensation' before confirming the dismissal.
Compensation upon dismissal takes account the number of days they serve with you.
Don't hesitate to dump unpromising recruits or cut away the Lv4 merc that has sub 55 melee and middling HP & Fatigue. There are better recruits that perform better at Lv 1.

Resist utilizing beggars on cheap deaths in the field, their death in the battle field will drag the team down in terms of morale and takes away EXP that could've gone to better recruits. However, there are some recruits you should keep in reserve - just in case. Deserters, Cowards, and the likes do not mind staying in reserves at all, and makes cheap warm bodies while the veterans recover from wounds.

There are also recruits with certain backgrounds that could be helpful - Peddlers allegedly improve buy/sell prices, while Minstrel has performance events that raises morale in the camp. Experiment.

I also highly recommend picking up every fisherman you can, as long as they carry a net. The net is such a useful commodity that spending 250 on potential fisherman recruit feels like the best deal ever.

Of course, do this only when you have reserve coin. Always keep 2000 gold in reserve.
Stay safe.

[Slayerik]

I hate long caravan quests. I seem to get jumped about 3 times per trip. Good pay, but almost never worth it.

I also have been having a lot of fun with inititative. Pass your first ones till the end, your opponent will likely move closer and you get better shots with your ranged. Give yourself the dodge ability, 15% of even 80 is still pretty solid to add on to your defensive rating. Later, get the overwhelm perk and a nice 2Her and inflict death.

Also, if I havent mentioned it...if you can find a village by the mountains with a salt and gem mine, and another city nearby with ambushed supply routes, dont you dare do the quest to fix that. Abuse it for like 200 gold per item and get you some shiny shit.

Also, for the Obtain artifact quests, put everyone in reserve except 1-how ever wont fit in reserve and just flee the battle. You will still get paid and its way faster, and less morale hit.

[Amarr HM]

Poor Hakon



I wish the fucker would die though.

[rk47]

dismiss that guy already lol

[Amarr HM]

But what sort of a life would he lead if we let him back on the streets!