Battle Brothers LP - Slayin' With the Boys

[Kalarion]

Queue
@Oyster Sauce : "this game has handgonnes. That's clearly what my son specializes in."
@Hauberk : "an archer."
@OnTilt : first available
@1998 : "a bro throwing javs."
@WhiteShark : first available
@Acrux : "a beggar or have a lame leg or something like that."
@maidenhaver : "a bro with net and mace. If you find a barber, make him fat and stupid-looking."
@gerey : "ugliest bro you can get your hands on."
@Irenaeus : "javeliner, skirmisher, scared of melee type."
@Boontaker : "a halbardier or a support/leadership unit."
@Nemesis : "a high-damage sword-and-board swordsman."
@Eyestabber : "a frontline 2H Sword user wearing heavy armor."
@asf : "where's my axe-wielding barbarian"
@Gregz : "a Wildman of any stripe."
@Cogemeister : "perhaps the first person you come across who is decent with spears (never played this game) and a shield"
@boot: "Make me a disowned noble duelist. Give me a buckler and sword until I get duelist perk."
@DemoGraph: "Sign me up as a pikeman/spearman. My shaft shall reach heavens!"
@CSM-101: "Prefer a tank build/character."
@Finarfin: "I'd play a monk or swordmaster, but I saw that @maidenhaver would also play a monk, so I might play a swordmaster or historian."

TABLE OF CONTENTS
First Session - BEGINNINGS
Part 1
Part 2

Second Session - GROWING PAINS
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Third Session - THE BREWING STORM
Part 1
Part 2

Fourth Session - FULL METAL JACKETS
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Epilogue

Fifth Session - DOGS OF WEILBURG
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Intermission
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8

PERKS
Wiki page (fake and gay, only GIRLS go here) - https://battlebrothers.fandom.com/wiki/Perks

My perks descriptions (a MANLY table with MASCULINE notes), I'll be adding new tiers as the bros unlock them.

► Descriptions

Tier 1

Name	Description	Notes
Fast Adaptation	Each time you miss, you gain cumulative +7% chance to hit. Resets on a hit.	Very useful early, not needed late.
Crippling Strikes	Lowers the threshold to inflict an affliction on hit by 33%.	I almost never get this because I rarely care about afflictions, I want to kill as fast as possible. Useful on big monsters that take several rounds to kill (Schrats, Unholds, Lindwurms).
Colossus	Increases HP total by 25%.	Very useful all through the game. If you can get a shield bro with 80+ base hp, he becomes basically unkillable unless the company suffers a TPK (he'll usually die last).
Nine Lives	Once per battle, survive a fatal blow with 1-4 HP, and all afflictions are cured.	Very useful for dodge bros, who have a high likelihood of surviving subsequent attack attempts. Also clutch if you're closing out a fight and an enemy gets a lucky hit in (this would have saved OnTilt's life, for example).
Bags and Belts	Doubles available bag slots from 2 to 4, and negates the fatigue penalty for carrying items in the bags.	Very useful for archers, who can stuff a couple extra quivers of ammo. Also nice for loading up on consumable items such as nets and grenades. Good all-around pick for non-dedicated bros and archers.
Pathfinder	Negates the penalty to AP and fatigue for movement over difficult terrain. Also negates the penalty for one height change per round.	I always get this on my bros 100%, without exception. Others don't. I just really enjoy being able to utilize full movement in forests/mountains/snow, I think it's incredibly valuable.
Adrenaline Rush	You are guaranteed to go first the round after you use this skill, for a hefty fatigue cost.	Useful for charging. Enemy barbarians come standard with this perk and make full use of it, charging as a line and then immediately attacking on the next turn. Good for high-fatigue bros and stabbers.
Recovery	Spend all AP to immediately cleanse half of your fatigue.	Incredibly useful throughout the game, and near-mandatory for bros using 2h and archers, as they quickly go deep into fatigue debt on long fights.
Student	+20% xp earned. At the soft cap (level 11), get two Perks instead of one.	It's free real estate.

--
Tier 2

Name	Description	Notes
Executioner	+20% damage against injured targets.	Useful for 2-handed weapons that inflict a lot of injuries, such as Maces and Hammers.
Bullseye	Reduce the penalty to strike your intended target in a crowd from 75% to 50%.	Mandatory for archer bros. Everyone else can pass.
Dodge	Gain 15% of your current initiative as a bonus to Melee and Ranged def.	Excellent for bros with light/no armor, you can get to 60+ defense with this skill - for a couple rounds at least.
Fortified Mind	+25% Resolve.	Mandatory for bannerbros, as they give a bonus to others' Resolve checks based on their own Resolve. Others can skip.
Steel Brow	Negates the massive damage bonus from a headshot.	Excellent defensive perk, as un-negated headshots can be deadly and/or cause tons of afflictions.
Quick Hands	Negates the AP cost for switching items out of your bags, once per round.	I love this perk, it really opens up flexibility on your bros. Are you a 2-handed bro who sometimes needs to whip out a shield? Have I got the perk for you! Not necessary for everyone but I almost always pick it up.
Gifted	Immediately gain one levels' worth of stat rolls to choose from, with the maximum value for each.	Very nice throughout the game. I don't typically get it but others swear by it.

--
Tier 3

Name	Description	Notes
Backstab	The bonus for ganging up on an enemy is increased from +5% to hit per bro to +10%.	Very useful for armor hunting (I'll talk about this later), and for polearm bros with low melee skill (they can get behind a gang of 3 bros in melee range and get a huge boost to-hit).
Anticipation	Gain 1+10% of your normal ranged defense per tile you are from an attacker on a ranged attack.	Very nice against goblin ambushers and master marksmen. Good pick for shield bros.
Shield Expert	+25% bonus to the melee and ranged defense of your shield (typically this means +4 melee and +5 ranged, for a Kite Shield). Shield damage is reduced 50%. The Knock Back skill gains +15 to hit.	Mandatory for shield bros.
Brawny	Reduce the fatigue penalty from your equipment by 30%.	Very helpful for heavy armor, which can easily give -50 fatigue unmodified.
Relentless	reduce initiative by only 50% of your fatigue, rather than 100%. Wait no longer confers an initiative penalty.	I never get this, someone chime in for good use cases.
Rotation	Switch places with an adjacent bro for a hefty fatigue price.	Absolutely clutch in a lot of situations. I usually get this on my frontliners so they can move a backliner out of trouble.
Rally the Troops	Give every bro within 4 hexes a Resolve check, with a bonus dependent on the acting bro's Resolve, to enhance Morale state, up to Steady.	A bro with high Resolve can turn an entire fleeing party back around to fight. Absolutely mandatory against Geists.
Taunt	Force a monster to attack you on its next action, if it can.	I rarely get this but it's immensely helpful in several situations.

--
Tier 4 - Weapon Specializations

Name	Description	Notes
Mace	Increases the chance to stun from 75% to 100% on hit.	Knockout is the mace's special attack. It stuns on hit. 2h mace's Knockout stuns for 2 rounds.
Flail	Lash and Hail ignore the defense of shields. Pound ignores an additional 10% of armor on a headshot. Thresh gains +5% to hit.	Lash and Hail are the 1h flail's special attack (Hail is the 3-headed flail version), which trades a to-hit penalty for a guaranteed headshot. Pound is the 2h flail's normal attack. Thresh is the 2h flail's whirlwind attack.
Hammer	Demolish Armor and Destroy Armor deal an additional 33% damage to armor.	Demolish and Destroy Armor are the special attack for 1h and 2h hammers. They deal almost no HP damage but massive armor damage, useful for heavily armored opponents.
Axe	Split Shield deals an additional 50% damage to shields. Round Swing gains +5% to hit.	Split Shield is a special attack that does massive damage to shields and is guaranteed to hit. Round Swing is the 2h axe's whirlwind attack.
Cleavers	Bleeding damage from whips and cleavers is doubled. The Disarm skill to-hit penalty is halved.	All cleaver-type weapons cause at least one stack of bleed any time they deal HP damage. 2h cleavers deal 2. So, 2 stacks for 1h and 4 for 2h. Bleed deals 5 HP damage/round for two rounds per stack. Disarm is the whip's special attack, which forces the target to put its weapon in its belt.
Swords	Riposte no longer has a penalty to hit. Split and Swing gain +5% to hit, instead of a penalty. Gash has a 50% reduction in the threshold to inflict injuries.	Riposte is the special ability of the 1h sword. It counterattacks anyone who misses on a melee hit until the user's next turn. Gash is the 1h scimitar's special attack. It has an increased chance to cause injuries. Split and Swing are the special attacks of 2h swords.
Daggers	All attacks use 3 AP, rather than 4.	Effectively allows 3 possible attacks per round (4 with Berserk), rather than 2.
Polearms	polearm skills cost 5 AP, rather than 6.	Allows an attack with two tiles of available movement instead of one.
Spears	Spearwall is not disabled after the first miss. Instead, each individual opponent must dodge the spearwall.	Useful if you're facing a wave and need to mitigate its charge.
Crossbows	Bolts ignore an additional 20% of armor. Handgonnes can be fired every round, and only require 6 AP to reload.	Crossbows already ignore a significant amount of armor, this can make them mini Punctures. Handgonnes are a special ranged weapon with an AoE attack that can cause the Daze status.
Bows	Firing and view range +1.	Skilled archers become snipers.
Throwing	Damage +30% at 2 tiles distance. Damage +20% at 3 tiles distance.

--
Tier 5

Name	Description	Notes
Reach Advantage	Gain +5% melee defense for each enemy hit by 2h weapon attacks in a round. Stacks.	Excellent for 2h bros using swords and hammers.
Overwhelm	Give a 5% penalty to-hit for each attack, hit or miss, on an enemy you attack before their turn	Excellent for high-initiative bros, notably bow specialists and 1h swordmasters.
Lone Wolf	Gain 15% to ALL combat stats (!!) if there are no bros within 3 tiles	Finding a bro that can make use of this perk is rare but it's incredible when you do.
Underdog	Completely negates the penalty to defense from all flanking. Enemies with the Backstabber perk still gain +5% to-hit per flanker (rather than the normal +10%)	Fantastic shieldbro perk.
Footwork	Allow 1 hex of movement that disregards ZOC for a hefty fatigue cost.	Absolutely mandatory for ranged bros, and a good pick for anyone using reach weapons.

--
Tier 6 - CORE BUILD completion abilities

Name	Description	Notes
Berserk	Gain a charge of 4 AP, up to once per round, upon killing a target.	You've already seen its potential on Kalarion. A great perk for any high weapon-skill bro. Absolutely incredible on 2-handed swords and hammers, bow ranged, and swordmaster/duelists.
Headhunter	When you get a headshot, the next attack that hits is automatically also a headshot.	Fantastic for 2-hand axe bros, for gamblers, and for polearm (specifically pike) bros. Inconsistent headshots is a big problem, this fixes it.
Nimble	Gain 60% damage reduction to HP damage. The damage reduction scales down drastically for every point of fatigue penalty you have over -15 (in other words, heavier armor quickly drops the damage reduction to negligible or no benefit).	Disgusting for duelists, who typically want high initiative and light armor anyways. If you can get a duelist with 70 or more HP he'll be nigh unkillable with this perk. Good for any class that wears lighter armor, such as polearm bros and archers of all kinds.
Battle-Forged	Gain damage reduction for armor equal to 5% of your total current armor durability. The more armor you have and the more intact it is, the bigger the benefit.	Mandatory for any bro wearing heavy armor. Standard heavy armor wearers can expect to see approximately 20-25% (400-500 total durability) damage reduction. The highest tier armor can give up to 35% (at 700 total).

--
Tier 7 - Final Tier, Capstones

Name	Description	Notes
Fearsome	Any time you cause HP damage you force a morale check on the enemy, rather than only when dealing 15 or more HP damage. In addition, bestow a penalty of 20% of your Resolve - 10 (minimum 1) to the target for the check.	This perk makes hammer bros with high Resolve an absolute terror to greenskins. Batter (the 1-handed hammer's primary skill) always does at least 10 HP damage on a hit, meaning every hit forces a morale check with a penalty. Orc Warriors (and other, fiercer Orcs) can be reduced to screaming panic in just a round or two, and Goblins of all types can be routed with ease. Swordmasters and archers love this skill as well.
Duelist	With a 1-handed weapon in hand, and nothing in the off-hand (except throwable tools such as grenades or nets), you gain an additional +25% armor penetration.	Incredible on swordmasters, who typically strugge with the sword's low standard armor penetration.
Killing Frenzy	Every time you kill a target, you gain a +25% bonus to all damage done for the next two rounds. Additional kills reset the timer but do not stack.	2-hand bros of all type love this ability, but especially greataxes, which already cause massive damage. Combine this with Berserk to get a kill on a weak target, and then decimate everything else on the followup.
Indomitable	For 5 AP and 20 Fatigue, gain 50% damage reduction to armor and HP, and complete immunity to all CC except charm (stun, knockback, pull) for the turn.	Makes tanks into Panzers. Great for both shieldbros and 2-handers. Orc charges and Noble troops' push/pull are worries of the past. Fatigue intensive, so your bro better have high base fatigue and preferably the Recover perk.

--
RETINUE

► Show Spoiler

Name	Benefit	Notes
The Cartographer	Pays 100 - 400 crowns for every location discovered on our own. Locations farther from cities pay more. Legendary locations pay double.	I've never had a use for this guy but someone else may chime in here.
The Lookout	Increases sight radius by 25%, and reveals specifics about who made footprints.	Very useful at all times.
The Scout	+15% overland travel speed, and prevents terrain-based bad events.	Mandatory in all my playthroughs.
The Negotiator	Prevents loss of faction from failed negotiations, and allows extended demands.	Never used this guy but I could see him making us very rich, especially during a Crisis.
The Quartermaster	Increases maximum ammo storage by 100, and maximum medical herbs and tools by 50.	Never had a use for this guy, maybe when setting up an exploration expedition.
The Recruiter	10% discount on the cost of new hires, and 50% discount on tryouts. Makes +2 - 4 additional hires available in every town.	Extremely useful in the mid- and late-game to increase high-class backgrounds.
The Scavenger	Recoups ammo from the battlefield, and gives a small amount of tools from destroyed armor.	Never bothered.
The Surgeon	Guarantees that a bro without a permanent injury will survive being dropped to 0 HP, if possible (things like a crushed head or decapitation can't be survived, obviously). Reduces injury recovery for all injuries by 1 day, to a minimum of 1 day.	Extremely useful, I get one in every run.
The Trader	+1 trade goods of each type available at every location with them.	Of each type. So if a location has Salt and Uncut Gems, +1 Salt and +1 Uncut Gems. This also means settlements with conditions that would normally prevent them from generating trade goods (mine collapse etc) will still generate at least 1 no matter what. Trader makes you rich very fast.

--
EDIT- OP will now be used for critical information. Added table of contents.

[gerey]

Would the Let's Play be in video format, or in the form of a thread?

Either way I'm interested in following along.

[Kalarion]

It would be a thread, where participants can make limited decisions for a single bro who will be named after them.

[Irenaeus]

I'm all for it! <3 Just make sure you shop some legs on those ridiculous tokens!

[1998]

Nice, would follow

[boot]

I hate Battle Brothers everytime I try it, but maybe you can show me a way to make it seem actually fun.

[asf]

put my name on someone with a a big 2h axe

[Nemesis]

Do it.

[Acrux]

Put my name on someone who dies in the first fight!

(I was never very good at this game. )

[maidenhaver]

I just rolled an Oathtakers campaign about two days ago and died in my first battle. It was my first game since the desert dlc.

[maidenhaver]

Title. Any interest? I'm thinking of either a vanilla Lone Wolf, or a blind Legends playthrough, with viewer participation (think of something like Grimmy's LPs).

Please pick deserters, and choose undead as your midlife crisis.

[rusty_shackleford]

LP of a dice rolling simulator, interesting choice

[Shillitron]

It would be a thread, where participants can make limited decisions for a single bro who will be named after them.

That's a pretty good idea.

[Hauberk]

I've never played BB before but I say go for it! I want to be a dragon an archer if possible.

[Kalarion]

This is now the Battle Brothers LP thread.

Hello! Welcome to my Battle Brothers LP. This will be my first ever, inspired by the likes of our own excellent @Irenaeus, as well as Codex LP greats like Grimwulf, Lithium Flower, Reinhardt, and @DemoGraph.

This LP will be a hybrid of a watch-along and viewer participation. Viewers will have a chance to vote together on major company choices, as well as personally developing a member of the company.

BACKGROUND
Kalarion here, ready to guide you all through the wild and wonderful world of Battle Brothers, one of the best tactical combat simulators around. I have a smidgeon of experience with the game:


Playing a variety of companies and scenarios:


Ideally I would like to take on challenges I've never yet beaten (primarily the Kraken and the Black City) and just have fun slaying the Heretic, the Sorcerer, the Monster and the Undead with my bros!

SETUP
I will be playing a campaign of Battle Brothers until either (1) all three of the OG bros die, (2) the Lone Wolf dies in the case of a Lone Wolf scenario, (3) participants indicate they are no longer interested in playing, or (4) the Heat Death of the universe. This means that, so long as your honored Captain doesn't completely **** anything up, we can expect to make it through multiple end-game scenarios. There will be no save-scumming except in cases of game bugs which materially affect the campaign, or when I make a decision that I didn't intend to make (so for instance, if I mistakenly take on a fight I intended to flee where it would have been possible, that's grounds for a save-scum. If I take on a fight I thought I could win and get us slaughtered, no save-scum).

I will have personal control of the OG bros (or the Lone Wolf). Every other hire is open to a participant. Hires that no participant is interested in will be used ruthlessly until death or being forced into retirement developed by yours truly.

I reserve the right to immediately take certain decisions without input. This will hopefully be rare. Right now the only things I can think of where I won't take others' opinions on-board are the initial difficulty settings (I'm not interested in adding a lot of extra grind from harsh economic settings), and taking the Battle Standard and Sergeant's Sash ambitions as soon as they pop up.

I will deal with the general flow of the campaign (moving from town to town, taking minor/moneymaking contracts, trade considerations etc). Most other decisions (deciding to take on major contracts, ambitions, general direction of our movement, major decision points in a big/high-stakes battle or contract etc) will be made by you. Where a group vote is called for, I will give approximately 1 day for vicious arguments, backstabbing and other underhanded diplomacy genteel discussion followed by a vote. Majority rules. In cases of ties or other forms of deadlock, I will be the deciding vote.

Participants may sign up to take personal control of the development of one (1) brother each. If more participants want to take a bro than exist in the party, I will create a first-come, first-serve queue pending new hirings. If your bro dies you are more than welcome to sign up again for a currently open/new bro. You will be placed back in the queue if appropriate.

I will be playing through a scenario of HQser participants' choice. We can choose from any of the vanilla scenarios, or you may all elect to have me play (completely blind) the Legends mod. I have never played anything but vanilla, so be warned that a Legends playthrough will probably result in a lot more mortality and/or game restarts (as a result of early TPKs).

BRO DEVELOPMENT
Participants with a bro will generally be considered in sole charge of that bro's development. That means, you will be choosing: stats and perks on level up, general build path, kit (or desired kit if it's not available yet), whether your bro participates in a scenario when available, and personal decisions in combat when they are made available.

Any bros that hire on with a surname or title will immediately have it wiped. Instead, at the level you choose your weapon specialty (typically level 5), you may choose a title or surname to be granted. If you don't choose one, I'll come up with one myself. You may change my decision at any time, but once you pick something that's final.

You may also request a change of face/hair from the Barber. Post a pic of how you'd like your bro to look and I will oblige. If it's just "I want to look different", with no further input, I'll make whatever decision I think best.

In the event a bro faces a major decision in combat, I will pause the fight to ask for input. You are the sole arbiter of the decision, unless you take longer than a day or so to let me know what you want to do. In that case, I will make a decision for you.

You may at any time decide to retire your bro (or suicide him ). If you retire your bro I will pay full compensation as long as the funds are available (including beggaring the company if necessary). If he dies he will be given a shallow grave and a gallows joke a proper burial with full honors.

Further rules as the situation warrants. For now, let's get started!

[Kalarion]

FIXED SCENARIO ATTRIBUTES
- Veteran combat difficulty, Beginner's Economy, Beginner's Starting Funds: Economy means that contracts pay more, and goods sell for more. Starting Funds means we start with a war-chest of 2,000 gold. Veteran combat difficulty is the standard difficulty. However note that it's old-school "normal", which means tough but fair. NPCs behave in understandable ways, follow tactics appropriate to their strengths and have full stats. There is also true RNG. Expect to be enraged frequently by bad miss streaks, and to feel a rush of euphoria as a bro with 2 hp miraculously dodges 5 swings in a row. I have zero interest in grinding 3x the battles to work up enough gold to achieve successful launch. I'm open to increasing combat difficulty but it will take a hefty proportion of bros to change my mind.

- Iron Man disabled: I reserve the right to save-scum where appropriate (see my last post). If this LP turns out to be a hit we could try a future run with Iron Man enabled. Not this one.

- Permanent Destruction disabled: with permanent destruction, cities and towns can be wiped off the map, never to return. Small bad decisions could find us quickly hemmed into a tiny portion of the world. Again, maybe on a future playthrough.

- Unexplored Map disabled: just the thought of playing through a random map seed without knowing what the map looks like makes me nauseated. Might be fun to enable if someone can suggest a VERY good seed (I'd be taking your word of honor on it).

INITIAL SETUP VOTES

Mood:


LEGENDS: decide whether play a scenario using the Legends total conversion mod. Legends overhauls equipment and perks, and adds "classes" to the game, as well as the use of magic (the standard game never allows you access to magic; only enemies use it). This comes highly recommended by a variety of trusted HQ bros, but I've never played it before. Be warned, mortality is likely to skyrocket.

Company Origin
Pick from the following:

Not pictured: Gladiators and Lone Wolf.
- New Company: standard start, with three bros, minimal equipment and 2,000 starting funds. The 3 bros have random traits, but are guaranteed above-average stats. Each bro is also guaranteed to have talent stars in appropriate stats to make one good fighter, one good bannerman, and one good shield bro.
- Southern Mercenaries: same as a standard start, but with southern equipment and starting in one of the southern city-states.
- Trading Caravan: start with an additional two bros with the Caravan Hand background (slightly better initial background and some good starting equipment), and gain 10% extra gold from selling trade goods. Start with no renown (affects contract availability and your ability to negotiate contract prices), and we gain renown more slowly than normal.
- Peasant Militia: start with a full party of 12 bros, and the ability to bring 16 bros to a fight (the standard is 12). Our bros have **** starting equipment and the lowest tier backgrounds, and we can never hire anything other than peasants. WARNING: this is deceptively harsh later. 16 bros is powerful, but they will never be really excellent fighters of any kind individually.
- Band of Poachers: starting bros are Woodsmen (a good starting background with the potential for either good fighter or archer stats). The company moves faster and gets detailed scouting reports at all times. We have a permanent party inventory space penalty.
- Oathtakers: start with 2 bros (rather than 3) with good backgrounds and excellent equipment. Must take Oaths (confer advantages and disadvantages until fulfilled) along with the standard Ambitions.
- Deserters: bros have decent equipment and stats, and the ability to act first in every combat no matter their initiative (useful for running away ). One of the starting Noble Houses wants us dead and we lose some starting funds.
- Northern Raiders: bros are barbarians (have excellent fighter stats including sky-high fatigue) and a higher chance to salvage enemy equipment from a fight. We'll have low reputation worldwide, which will take awhile to repair.
- Anatomists: start with increased funds. We can research different monster types for permanent bonuses. Our bros can never gain Confident morale (WARNING: also deceptively harsh, high morale is very helpful in tough fights and as a protection against certain enemies).
- Davkul Cultists: start with 4 bros with the Cultist background. Cultists are... they're interesting. They give a lot of good bonuses and are able to obtain the best non-legendary equipment in the game, but they also occasionally demand human sacrifice. Cultists also slowly convert the entire party to the Cultist background.
- Manhunters: start with 2 bros with excellent background, and 4 bros with the Indebted background (one of the worst stats-wise in the game). 16 bros can be brought to a fight. Indebted can be whipped by non-Indebted to reset their morale and give them a buff in combat. If there are ever less Indebted in the party than non-Indebted, suffer a mood penalty. Indebted cap at level 7 (rather than the standard 11) and earn experience faster.
- Beast Slayers: start with three Beast Slayer bros (a very good background) and some trophies (can be used for crafting or sold for high prices). Tracks can be seen from farther away. Beasts have a 50% chance to drop an additional trophy on kill. Suffer a 10% penalty to all contract payouts and selling prices (ouch).
- Gladiators: start with 3 Gladiator bros (one of the best backgrounds available) and excellent equipment. Each bro has his own unique trait (cannot be obtained in any other way). Each starting bro demands much higher daily wages, and the total roster can never have more than 12 men (rather than the standard 36). If all three starting bros die, the campaign ends.
- Lone Wolf: start with a single bro with the Hedge Knight background. This bro is a god of war, with excellent fighter talent stars, 4 free levels, and great equipment and funds. We can never have more than 12 men in the roster, and if the Lone Wolf dies, the campaign ends.

Company Name
The standard is Battle Brothers. Feel free to suggest anything, I'll go with group consensus. If there's no consensus I'll come up with something myself.

Late Game Crisis
Pick from the following:

Pretty self-explanatory, some notes.
- Nobles at War: noble soldiery have good equipment and stats, they generally fight in packs of 10+, and massive battles are deadly. But this is by far the best opportunity to get amazing equipment. Named Knights can drop famed equipment on death, and high quality drops means good sell price as well. We'll get rich, but probably lose a bunch of bros in the process.
- Greenskin Invasion: very very tough to participate in if we haven't developed our bros properly. Orcs and Goblins will team up during this crisis, which means the possibility of durable shock troopers combined with nets, absolutely enragingly good snippers, and poison. Lots and lots and lots of poison.
- Undead Scourge: the undead in the crisis make full use of formation tactics, with shielded skellingtons in the front, supported by pikemen and undead priests in the rear. EZ mode if we can build up a stash of Holy Waters.
- Holy War: the Great Crusades, the game. Southern armies are nasty. They have rudimentary hand-cannons (high damage to an area) and make extensive use of grenades of various type. Assassins have to be the absolute nastiest combatants in the game.

Banner
I'm showing here a selection of 5 that I think are good, but if anyone wants to suggest a different banner, I'm all ears.






Map Seed
Battle Brothers allows the use of seeds to call up maps. If you have a map seed you'd prefer we play on, post it here, with a quick write-up on strengths and weaknesses. Otherwise, I'll be choosing a seed with an eye to (1) good traits for the starting bros, and (2) a decent trade circle.

PLAYER ROSTER SETUP
Post the following:
- desired background
- desired talent stars (be warned, this can mean a very long wait to get an appropriate bro)
- desired combat role
- desired kit (weapons, armor, handbag items etc)
- desired name (otherwise I'll just give the bro your forum nick)

I'll also accept things like, "first available", "anyone with good starting [melee/ranged/defense/morale]", etc.

I will be generally taking every opportunity to take bros from events (yes, including Mr. Horsefucker), and I'll post their stats when we get them for any interested participants.

BATTLE BROS ROSTER AND QUEUE
Roster
Will be updated as appropriate.

Queue
@Oyster Sauce : "first useless ****** you find."
@Hauberk : "an archer."
@OnTilt : first available
@1998 : "a bro throwing javs."
@WhiteShark : first available
@Acrux : "a beggar or have a lame leg or something like that."
@maidenhaver : "a bro with net and mace. If you find a barber, make him fat and stupid-looking."
@gerey : "ugliest bro you can get your hands on."
@Irenaeus : "javeliner, skirmisher, scared of melee type."
@Boontaker : "a halbardier or a support/leadership unit."
@Nemesis : "a high-damage sword-and-board swordsman."
@Eyestabber : "a frontline 2H Sword user wearing heavy armor."
@asf : "where's my axe-wielding barbarian"
@Gregz : "a Wildman of any stripe."
@Cogemeister : "perhaps the first person you come across who is decent with spears (never played this game) and a shield"

[Oyster Sauce]

I want to be the first useless ****** you find

[asf]

did i get this right, you will wait for people input for each move in a combat? this will take forever

[OnTilt]

I would like a Bro to have my forum name. I don't want to manage it or anything, but it will be fun to see what becomes of him anyhow.

[1998]

Sign me up for a bro throwing javs

[WhiteShark]

I'd like you to make a WhiteShark bro, but I remand all further decisions concerning his appearance, actions, and fate to your discretion @Kalarion.

[Acrux]

Maybe Acrux could be a beggar or have a lame leg or something like that.

[maidenhaver]

@Kalarion I'd like to be a bro with net and mace. If you find a barber, make him fat and stupid-looking.

[gerey]

I call dibs on the ugliest bro you can get your hands on. If they are overly zealous/bigoted, all the better.

[Irenaeus]

I want my bro to be a javeliner, skirmisher, scared of melee type. A great chap with his bros, loves gold, ale and rape. You can take the combat actions based on all that.

[Boontaker]

I'll be a halbardier or a support/leadership unit if the game has any. I might pick this up. Recommended?

[Nemesis]

I'll be a nimble, high-damage swordsman.

[Kalarion]

did i get this right, you will wait for people input for each move in a combat? this will take forever

No. I'll run combat myself. Bros are free to tell me how they'd like me to run them overall (see for instance Irenaeus's post). The only time I'll pause a combat is if there's a crazy situation going on that I think deserves a chance for participant input ("major decision points in a big/high-stakes battle or contract"). If a bro is going to get slaughtered mercilessly on some nameless field, the train keeps rolling. If we're in the middle of a siege break contract and a bro faces three Orc Warriors with nothing but a polearm, I might pause combat to ask for input. The idea is to lean into the whole, "make our own story". Sorry if I was unclear about that.

[Kalarion]

I'll be a nimble, high-damage swordsman.

You're on the list, but be aware that nimble, high damage swordsmen are very difficult to come by. That basically means a very well-rolled noble background, a good sellsword or hedge knight, or a swordmaster. All of which are expensive as hell and not guaranteed to have the right talent stars (although the swordmaster has such incredible melee skill, melee defense and initiative that he can be built that way even without appropriate talent).

We've got 11 sign ups so far, I think that's enough to get rolling. Any input on the setup decisions? In particular if anyone has any good map seeds I'd love to see them.

Also paging @Eyestabber because I want him to watch and yell at me for my **** decisions.

[Irenaeus]

Any input on the setup decisions?

From my lack of almost any knowledge of how this game works other than vague genre awereness, here are my humble suggestions:

LEGENDS: Your call

Company Origin: Lone Wolf (you)

Company Name: Battle HeadQuarters

Late Game Crisis: Nobles at War

Banner: Sun with gauntlet