Battle Brothers LP - Slayin' With the Boys

[Gregz]

I would like to be a Wildman of any stripe. (I assume that there will be deaths and that replacements will be needed)

[Hauberk]

↑ Hitpoints, Fatigue & Initiative.

卐 We're going with Recover.

[Eyestabber]

@Eyestabber:


Don't forget to tell me your perk.

Colossus, Recover, Brawny, Rotation, Weapon Mastery (Sword), Underdog, Battle Forged, Beserk, Killing Frenzy, Reach Advantage, Adrenaline, Student (?).

[Kalarion]

GROWING PAINS, in which the Company is brought to full strength, and Kalarion tries to make money.

First things first: it's long past time for a visit to the barber.


@gerey is now the third member of Dumb and Dumber


Kalarion gets a trim

(Not pictured) @maidenhaver is now as fat as I can make him (not very )

: ahhhhh. Finally I'm becoming my true self!
: Gerey what the fuck. Did you get your lips pulled up?! And that hair...
: Ja, mein herr. Truly do I now look as AUS-getzeichnet as I deserve!
: <muttering to himself> he saved my life, he saved my life, he saved my life...

: <burps>
: For fuck's sake Maiden! Stop waddling or I swear on Anselm's name you'll be running scout duty for a month!
: FOOD.
: Sweet Anselm, why me?

After resting up in Salzfels the mob heads out to Riedland. I want to see if any new work is available.


Salzfels is still Well Supplied from our last contract there, and we have a 3-star and 2-star contract available. Kalarion checks the 2-star. It turns out to be a new caravan escort to a new town, with a bigger payout and more per head if we run into problems on the road:


We've never heard of this place before. Time to check the map and get a feel for how dangerous this could get. As Kalarion heads out of town to think things over, our next Ambition pops up!


This is the last of the two Ambitions I'll be picking with absolutely no input (unless deciding together on Ambitions is too inhibitory to gameplay in the future). Luckily Boontaker is already close to qualifying for the needed perk, and that's the role he wanted to take anyway.

: I've put this outfit together. But we can't be a mob anymore. If we're going to really take the world by the balls we need to be drilled and disciplined on the battlefield. I need a trusted subordinate to keep the men in shape and help control their actions on the field. It's time to pick and train a sergeant.

...

: Listen up you bunch of mongrels! Do you see this banner?! <points at the battle standard> We've fought together under it, we rescued the Captain under it, we bathed it in the blood of our enemies! So help me if any of you cunts ever lets its edges dip into the muck I'll flay you alive and wear your skin for a cocksleeve! Do I make myself clear?!
: ...
: <lowering the standard as if to charge> I ASKED A QUESTION!
: We got it, faggot!
: We don't fucking answer to you Boonie... but you're right. Our standard deserves respect. I'll watch more closely.
: I suppose Anselm would want it that way.
: Ja... Boonie is still a fag though.
: I guess if I'd die under it, I should want it clean and bright when the day comes.
: Fine. No belching or puking on it.
: SHEEEEEEIT, nigguh! What if we need us a tablecloth fo' a good dinner, what then?! Muhfuggas jez don' unnerstand good dinin' etiquette. This place goin to the DAWGS men.

:

We locate Hafnarsholm faaaaar to the West and slightly N of us. On the good side it's through settled lands, so a good chance of no fighting, or fighting with assistance from road patrols. And besides - maybe it's time we visited the North. The company could use a little experience fighting the barbarians, and who knows? Maybe we can pick one up to fight with us.

But first, Kalarion decides to check the other available contract. It's another camp clearance, but this time I have an idea. The general location is given as part of the contract screen:


Why not leave the contract hanging and go there ourselves? Yes, we lose the contract payout and the reputation. But camps used as part of contracts get a great deal of their wealth stripped away as part of game balance. That includes a chance at famed items (the equivalent of magic stuff). It's a 3-star so there's a decent chance good stuff is there.

Kalarion decides the Turtles will go do a little side-hustle hunting. We head S per the general directions given, and start wandering around looking for the place. We use the mountains near Salzfels to our advantage, but initial attempts to locate it are unsuccessful. After camping out in the local forest, we begin our search anew... still no luck the next day. At this point we're running low on food (mountains require massive amounts of supplies per day, and even small dips into/over them runs through supplies at an alarming rate). Kalarion decides to head back Salzfels to resupply.

: Back to town, boys. We'll get some grub and come back to find this place.
: <groan>
: We could just do the mission for the townsfolks' protection. The mayor would probably even show us exactly where it is.
: We can be goody-goodies when we're filthy rich. Right now we need to take every hustle we can get our hands on. Boontaker! Form the men up for march, have them ready in 20 minutes.
: Yes sir. You heard the man! Get off your asses, pack up your kit and let's get to town!
: <groan>

While in town we check on a new contract. It's a simple package delivery for a town called Jerstal. Another new one. In the meantime, the town's warehouse district had a fire roar through it, which means trade goods are being sold at a premium:


1000 crowns!
:
: <snarls>
: It's not bad if we do it, retard! Besides, look at all this money! Anselm has rewarded our fortitude!
: ...

Jerstal turns out to be far north of us, with no towns and lots of tough terrain in between:


Not an attractive contract at this point. Back to looking for the camp! As we move through the mountains:


: See?


: Remind me never to let you shop for us in town.

This event actually has a very interesting - and disturbing - outcome if you have a Cultist in the party.

We finally locate the camp:


Scouting report says a bunch of Raiders. We should be able to handle it. We move into formation.


a hill fort. With Raiders throwing javelins. Right.

: Easy money, I said to myself. Let's make it big, I said. Fuck me.

The fight begins normally enough, with us charging uphill into the teeth of a billman and a javelineer, protected by two shielded raiders:


The second round opens with the Turtles taking damage, first a javelin to the chest for Acrux, followed by a hammer shot to Gerey that completely destroys his armor. Boontaker takes a shot from the sword-and-board raider above him, followed by a solid bill shot to Kalarion. Luckily Kalarion's armor is so strong that he can probably take 5 or 6 of them before he'll start taking serious hits. Meanwhile, the unoccupied polearmers, Fodder and Whiteshark, move north to work around the enemy flank. Gerey casually rakes his falchion across the neck of the hammer raider, dropping him to almost no hp. Then Boontaker takes an action that will be all too common for him:


Then, not to be outdone by Gerey, Boontaker headshots the shielded raider above him! The tip of the battle standard rips a chunk out of the raider's ear, with Boontaker ready to follow-up immediately at the next round's start. Hauberk starts slowly gaining height and pops off a Quick Shot that tags the nearby axe-thrower for negligible damage. Acrux moves to assist Gerey and lands a hit on the nearly dead raider that does...

:

Maidenhaver makes a bold charge uphill past the axe-thrower, who has no ZOC while using throwing weapons. He ends at a height advantage over the axe-thrower. Kalarion tests the waters on moving through ZOC and takes another light shot for his troubles. Angered, he turns to the offending raider and slams his long sword on the raider's leg, crushing the bone. The raider is now in a breaking state. All in all, we open round 4 in a pretty good position:


Boontaker eagerly anticipates first dibs on the woozy, stumbling raider just above him on the hill. With a malicious gleam in his eye, he aims for the forehead and...


: <groans>

The raider farthest north moves to gum up Fodder's pikework, causing misses from both Fodder and Whiteshark. Hauberk lands a Quick Shot hit but again does negligible damage. This will be distressingly common until we can get either a much better bow, or a crossbow (which ignores a significant portion of armor on hit). Maidenhaver lands a solid smash on the axe-thrower (now with his sword out), destroying his body armor and causing him to drop to wavering state. Gerey once again lands two solid slashes on the south raider, finally finishing him off and opening the way to the javeliner. Kalarion stolidly endures yet another whack from the Billman, this time smashing his helmet. This is actually advantageous to us, as it preserves body armor and our helmet can still take another couple hits.

: I'm coming for you.

Acrux charges uphill, moving confidently past Kalarion to end right next to the billman. The battle is swinging our direction. Only one raider left to go this round, and he wastes his turn doing a Rotation with another raider!
Guess how Kalarion ends the round:


: Time to foign

A well-aimed Split guts both raiders, leaving the shield raider dead and the shieldless with a nicked artery.

Round 5 opens well, with the billman ineffectually swinging at Acrux for a comfortable miss, while Maidenhaver weaves around two slashes from the swordsman below him. Suddenly:


: Shit! Whiteshark, Fodder, finish your lollygagging and get over here!

A headshot followed by a vicious slash to his chest leaves Boontaker in a terrible situation. He's low on health and, what's worse, this wound will continuously damage him for 3 HP per round. Even if he never gets hit again he's on a timer. To top if off, Fodder suffers the same fate as Boontaker! Thankfully he's got more HP and didn't suffer an injury, so he's still in the fight. Cool as a cucumber, Fodder fully extends into his thrust and...


: Well done!
Fodder: Thanks! I -
: FODDER DOES NOT TALK! MOVE!
: ...

Gerey faces a tough decision. He still has good HP, and so far he's been a monster in this fight. But his body armor is totally destroyed, and the javeliner uses a sword. On the other hand:
: There is no running in krieg! BLITZ!


He charges headlong up the hill to flank the billman! This has the added benefit of helping everyone on the lower levels hit him.

:


Now Boontaker's up. He immediately psyches up with Adrenaline, then smashes the tip of the standard through the ribs of the swordsman that hurt him so badly.
:

Oystersauce strolls in to confirm the kill.
: YO DAS MUH BANNER NIGGUH! NO ONE FUCKS WIT MUH BANNER!

Kalarion calmly steps below the billman. Maintaining eye contact, he smashes his blade across the legs, once again crushing bone and causing a howl of pain from the billman. Gerey casually dispatches the billman with a contemptuous swipe. He doesn't even bother to put out a line.

The fight is over. The javeliner flees, alone and with no supplies, into the mountains.

: Don't bother chasing him. If the direwolves don't get him, the mountains will swallow him up. He's dead already, he just doesn't know it yet.

A hard fight, against tough opponents! The payout will be glorious! The Turtles eagerly rampage through the camp, finding...


: ...one measly stack of furs. Someone is going to die for this.
: Food. BEER!

So this was definitely a loss money-wise over just taking the contract. But, it wasn't totally worthless. Note the fat stack of gold, an almost full stack of tools, over 50 food supplies, and the hammer and rusted mail shirt. That's the best armor we've gotten so far. We'll be putting it to good use.

Whiteshark gets a level out of the fight:


Note the absolutely fantastic melee and ranged defense rolls, as well as the maximum +3 to melee attack. Eventually we're going to have to sacrifice those three for good rolls on HP, Fatigue and Resolve, but for now I'm very happy with how he's shaping up. He picks up Shield Expertise for his perk. Now we just need to get him a Kite or Heater shield, and we'll see his defenses truly skyrocket.

Acrux also dings:


He takes Shield Expertise as well. Not quite as fantastic, but still solid, and very satisfactory for a cripple. That fatigue is going to need some serious work though. I may end up giving him a handaxe and putting on permanent shield splitting duty.

We head back to Salzfels, doing some armor shuffling and upgrades along the way. In town we sell the furs for a cool 422 crowns. Respectable. We check the available hires but don't find anything exciting - a bunch of miners, an artisan and deserter. Time to head back to Riedland!

Interestingly, the caravan contract is still available but there's also a new 2-star. We check it out.


Hmmm. It's a 2-star so probably a bunch of nachs. Pay is 920. Not bad! The Turtles take it on. After checking to make sure no one needs the attention of the Sisters...
: Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?!
: N-!
: Quit whining you lily-livered faggots! We've got gold to earn! MOVE!
: Anselm shows me favor.

We take a quick jaunt to the town's graveyard:


The scouting report has nothing, so we charge in.


This should be good.


A sure indication we're not dealing with the usual brigands robbing graves.
Mood:


: This place makes my gorge rise. Something horrible is happening.
: Yes indeed. Hold steady men! Take a good look.


: What is this filth?! Go back to the Shadow!
: Steady... steady... keep it together... hold for the men...
: They're coming. Get ready.
: Alright men, they may be dead now, but we can make them deader just as easy as anything else! Boontaker, get behind those graves. Oystersauce, Acrux, take the far flanks! Maidenhaver support the north flank with me. Gerey, you've got the south with Acrux. And Boontaker, make those polearms sing!
: AYE!


Take a long look at what we're up against. You might notice something... different.

Wiedergangers are your standard zombie. They're one of the weakest enemies in the game, and the slowest. They can only ever attack once per round, and only the standard attack for the weapon wielded, except under special circumstances (we'll get to that later). But, they're resilient and they usually have at least some armor, meaning they take 2-3 hits to kill, even for people like Kalarion. Much, much later, Kalarion and others like him will be able to one-shot them sometimes. But not often.

They also have a chance to rise again the round after being struck down. The only surefire way to prevent this from happening is by destroying the head, either with a decapitation or a braining (from maces/hammers). All of which means, if you're not prepared, you could get ground down by an endless wave of cold, greasy meat.

Thankfully, we're prepared and we have a good position, with decent shieldbros on the flank and minimum exposure for those bros that don't have shields. We should be able to handle this.

Should.

Most of the round is unremarkable. Oystersauce immediately has his spearwall broken, but doesn't get hit and manages to stab a wiederganger twice. Kalarion comes close to one-shotting a lightly-clothed ganger. Acrux puts on an impressive display, repelling two zombies before finally getting the south flank fouled up. Then...
: Wait a minute. No! Is that...

: Sir Merrimon?! ACRUX! GET YOUR SHIELD UP AND KEEP IT THERE!

This is a Fallen Hero, a super-wiederganger that usually comes with a Heater Shield (high melee defense bonus) and plate armor in degraded condition. They usually have decent weapons too. That axe in Merrimon's hands doesn't look like much, but it's actually deadly at this point in the game. Fallen Heroes are still as slow and unskilled as other wiedergangers, but they have increased stats, and can raise from the dead even with their heads chopped off. They're very difficult to deal with in numbers. Luckily there's only the one here, but even that could be a problem.

My strategy here is for Acrux to permanently Shieldwall and hope Merrimon doesn't smash him to flinders.

Whiteshark claims first... stringy dead flesh, dropping the ganger facing Gerey. Fodder and Maidenhaver follow suit, each dropping their targets. Here's what the end of the round looks like:


...and here's the beginning of round 3:


The round is pretty pedestrian, with a couple old kills reclaimed and a couple more gangers dropped. Now here:


We have a potential problem. Oystersauce won't be able to deal with 3 foes at once for a long time, and we're at risk of it happening.
: Oystersauce! Rotate with me!
: Here we go massa! DOSEY-DOE!
: Excellent. Now I can Sweep these gangers when they try to... gang, up, on me?
: <groan>
The Wiedergangers: <groan>
: <grumbling> no one appreciates my humor. ACRUX! KEEP THAT SHIELD UP!

Merrimon swings and misses, and Gerey and Maidenhaver close out the round with solid shots. Round 4 begins with their closing out the kills, but other places things are getting hairy. The two northern gangers manage to get around Kalarion and threaten Fodder. Oystersauce rushes to support, while Kalarion Sweeps two gangers. He only hits one. Meanwhile the gangers are chopping away with their axes, doing massive armor damage, including to Kalarion, whose body armor is now at half:

Note the massive headshot that Oystersauce suffered.

In other bad news, Acrux doesn't have the fatigue for a Shieldwall this turn. Pleas to Anselm can be heard coming from the south. Merrimon swings...


: Anselm be praised!

The rest of the round is pretty unremarkable, aside from a Swing by Kalarion that results in a ganger beheading! The next round goes decently, until...

: OWWWWWWW damn nigguh, why you do dat?! I's just playin wit you!

The Turtles manage to hold it together, with Acrux continuing to occupy Merrimon and Fodder taking out the gangers threatening to kill Oystersauce. Most of the zombies are now permanently dead (they only have a chance to raise once), and Oyster is able to withdraw from the melee in good order.

: Hut! Two! Three! Four!

It's just Merrimon now. He hasn't done much but no one has been able to hit him since the first headshot scored by Whiteshark. As everyone moves towards the last fight, Kalarion gets an idea:

: Everyone! Surround him!

Knives' special ability is called Puncture. We've talked about it briefly. It has a significant to-hit penalty but does damage straight to HP, ignoring all armor. It's great for causing huge morale drops if you can land the hits, but it's also great for armor hunting.

Equipment on enemies has a chance to drop based on its remaining durability. Destroyed armor and equipment will rarely be in a salvageable state after a battle. There are a couple ways to increase the odds of pulling armor off the field. One is consistent headshots, which save the body armor. The other, is to Puncture. Since it ignores armor, body armor will stay intact after you kill the target, greatly increasing the chance it can be salvaged. One of my favorite things to do in this game is surround a high-value target with bros that have knives out, and stab the shit out of him. That's what we'll do here.

Acrux pays a price for Kalarion's greed, taking a shot that almost destroys his armor. Luckily Maidenhaver steps in and headshots Merrimon to finish the fight. Loot:

YES!! Got it! Fallen Hero armor is less efficient than standard heavy armor, but it still has high durability, and best of all it's FREE! Good heavy armor can easily cost 8,000 crowns. We won't have anyone able to take that much of a fatigue penalty for awhile, but this is still a huge coup! We also got Merrimon's old Heater Shield:

It's not great, but again, better than anything else we've got right now. This, along with one of the axes we just picked up, will round out Whiteshark's kit for the forseeable future. All in all an excellent fight!

We do a round of armor shuffling, level Fodder, and head back for a nice payout in Riedland. 4,000 crowns in the coffers, not bad! We'll be spending a lot of it on recovery but we're still ahead overall. We restock on tools, sell all our junk, and Oystersauce finally gets his turn with the Sisters.


: MUH DIK!

Kalarion stands the men a round in the tavern.

: LO'CHAIM!
: Cheers!
: <whispering> Whiteshark. Get ze flammenwerfer.
: We don't have one

Kalarion goes on a sekrit errand:


Monsters have a chance to drop trophies. Some can be sold for a decent chunk of change, but most can be used at the Taxidermist or Alchemist and crafted into special items or potions. In this case, a Nach Trophy Necklace gives a small resolve bonus. We had just enough trophies to craft one, which goes to:

: Gerey! Get over here!
: <flint-eyed> was mochtest dir?
: No more "mein herr", eh? Too bad. I got you something.

: You've been fearless since day 1. Where other men walk with shields up, you've walked with sword out. Now everyone will know your mettle. Wear it with pride.
: Mein... fuhrer. JAWOHL!

: Oystersauce! Whiteshark!
: Sir?
: Sup boss?
: It's time you two took your proper places in the line. Oystersauce, give Whiteshark your armor and helmet. You'll take his in exchange, along with his warfork. Learn to use a 2-handed weapon until we can find you a suitable sledgehammer.
: YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
: Whiteshark, you've always been stalwart and dependable, even... before...
: No need to say more, sir.
: Now it's time for everyone else to see it. This is the best I can offer you now, but be assured, better is coming. Hold the line with pride.
: ...my Captain.

Look at that defense! And he's only level 4. I can't wait until level 11

And that's the end of this portion of GROWING PAINS. More to come soon (TM).

[Kalarion]

I'm going to try to post one more update today or early tomorrow. After that I'll be out on a family trip until next week, so nothing new until then.

@gerey, @Boontaker, @WhiteShark, @maidenhaver remember that you're all eligible for a title as soon as you pick your weapon specs.

[maidenhaver]

Maidenhaver Mace-Talker

[WhiteShark]

WhiteShark Ironwall
(sticking with axes per @Kalarion's recommendation)

[Shillitron]

@gerey snarling at merchants - I lost.

[gerey]

Gerey the Schnozz Cutter

[Hauberk]

Maidenhaver Mace-Talker

Hauberk the Pea Shooter. I have to get my hands on something with a bit more kick to it!

[Eyestabber]

Am I dead yet?

[Boontaker]

The Motivator

[Boontaker]

Maidenhaver Mace-Talker

Hauberk the Pea Shooter. I have to get my hands on something with a bit more kick to it!

Make sure to get quick hands as a perk. I think you can keep multiple loaded crossbows on your person so you can just swap weapons instead of wasting time reloading

[Cogemeister]

I’d like to join if possible, perhaps the first person you come across who is decent with spears (never played this game) and a shield. Also I’d like to say this is one of the coolest threads on the forums, we need more stuff like this.

[Acrux]

After that last showing, Lamecrux needs this:




So proud of my boy!

[Shillitron]

I’d like to join if possible, perhaps the first person you come across who is decent with spears (never played this game) and a shield. Also I’d like to say this is one of the coolest threads on the forums, we need more stuff like this.

I'm more surprised that an amazing thread like this came from @Kalarion .

[Kalarion]

Update: I have the next portion of this session almost completed, I just need to get the images pasted into my draft and so forth. It's short, I'll try to post it tonight before I go to sleep. After that the next update will be next Monday at the earliest (more likely Tuesday).

[Kalarion]

Time to head for Hafnarsholm.


Here's the approximate route. It's hard to see, but Hafnarsholm is directly behind the timekeeper. We're currently just beneath the contract tracker, leaving Riedland. We encounter a small band of brigands about midway to Waidhof - an ideal fight for a contract like this, easy win with low risk and pads out our payout - but they sensibly run the other direction when they see us.

We stop in Waidhof to check the available hires (I was hoping for a poacher, hunter or lumberjack), and see a barbarian instead!


This isn't actually a barbarian, which is an available background. This guy is a Wildman, an excellent melee bro background. I saw his title and had a brain short-circuit. Kalarion hires him on the spot:
@asf: where's my axe-wielding barbarian

Asf was actually one of the first to throw his hat in the ring, but I missed it, so I'm doing a skip to pick him up now.

: Fag
: Yes, but can you fight?
: <smashes a wall with his TREE TRUNK, yes I am serious>
: Hired!


Pretty damn good. I could wish for a star or two in fatigue and HP instead of ranged attack, but 2 in melee skill will do just fine. At first the 91 max fatigue threw me off and deeply disappointed me, but then...

: <slight huffing as he walks, "club" over his shoulder>
: I thought you forest folk were supposed to be hardy and stuff? We're not even walking fast. What gives?
: Forest folk...? Fag


For context, most decent-quality 2-handed weapons have a fatigue penalty of -12 to -16.

: <casually tosses the TREE TRUNK to the side of the road> Hmph. HEADMAN! AN AXE!
: We have this fine selection...


: Too small. I'll wait. Anything else?
: Captain, what about that massive cutter we got off the Nomads awhile back?
: Ooooooh! The Saif? I like that...


A saif is a type of 2-handed cleaver. It causes bleed stacks on its standard attack, and its special does scaling damage depending on how much hp the enemy is already missing. If an enemy is below 50% hp the damage gets massive, and guarantees a decapitate on kill. It also allows 2 attacks per round, rather than the standard one attack of most 2-handed weapons. Its only downside is its low armor penetration. Very useful against wiedergangers.

: <licks the edge> Acceptable. For now. But remember. An axe!
: We'll be on the lookout.

Asf works the kinks out and puts on some actual equipment. Now he's ready to rock and roll:


Halfway to Reinbruch we encounter a nice little event:


Just outside of Reinbruch we run into our first fight:


I have a hard time seeing what it is (the blur is not an artifact of the gameplay video, it's actually blurred like that on high speed unless you pause), and the scout report is useless. Time to see what we're up against the hard way.

Here's what each of the Turtles looks like right now:




Mood:


We're fighting Barbarians, in our first-ever night battle. Like most human factions they have a fully-developed tier system. At the bottom are Thralls. They're big, wield high-damage weapons, and don't have a lot of armor. Then there are Reavers, well-armed and -armored, usually wielding hard-hitting 2-handers or heavy javelins. Above them are... well, we'll get to that later. Barbarians make heavy use of the Adrenaline Rush skill. Their usual tactic is to charge as far as possible in the opening round of combat, and then pop Rush to get the first turn on the following round. Very nasty if you're not prepared for it.

We're seeing a Reaver here.

Night battles work as you would expect. Visibility is reduced, and ranged skill suffers heavily. Sometimes that's a big problem. Most times, since we have a ton of melee bros and enemy archers usually outnumber ours, it's helpful that they have a harder time shooting us .

The round opens with one of the caravan guards charging foolishly forward, immediately triggering 4 more Reavers to run up on him. Glad he did it for us!

: Acrux, Whiteshark, get north and "invite" that lad down to us. If he had throwing weapons they'd be out by now, and he's too stupid to force us to him. Fodder, Boontaker, on me. Boontaker, you're in charge of our heavy hitters.
: Aye, Captain. Gerey, Maidenhaver, asf, Oystersauce, stay right where you are. Those brutes aren't going to have any gas by the time they get to you. Take them down quick. I don't like to think of what those clubs will do.
: <breathing erratically>

Kalarion closes out the opening moves by stepping up and using Split to destroy the javeliner's armor and do some damage, as well as significant hp damage to Mr. Club.

We're in a decent position as the next round opens:


The idea is that to the maximum extent possible, the Reavers come to us or focus on the expendable caravan guards. We really don't want to risk hits from those massive clubs. They HURT, and they also cause the Daze condition on-hit. Daze reduces damage by 25% for 2 rounds. No fun.

So far, everything seems to be working. The northern barb walks off the high ground to do a Shield Split on Whiteshark. I admit I hadn't thought of that when I set the fight up. Losing the Heater Shield so soon will be upsetting if it happens, but it also means 3 attacks that can't damage a bro. We'll see.

The javeliner lets fly... but instead of aiming at the caravan guard as hoped, he plants a needle right through Fodder's ear! Fodder's hurt but not out or ineffective yet. The two southern clubbers charge forward and wait for our loving attention. Gerey opens with a headshot and a small chunk of body armor destroyed. Then, the caravan guard next to Kalarion actually headshots Mr. Club! It's not looking good for him. Maidenhaver pokes Gerey's target to destroy his armor and leave him totally open to subsequent attacks.

Then Mr. Club decides to demonstrate the power of these mauls on the cheeky guard:


A crushing blow to the guard's shoulder, dislocating it, dazing him, and dropping him to near-death. An object demonstration of why we've been so cautious so far. Asf swings twice and whiffs.

: Hrrrrrrrrrr-!

Reaver: Hmmm. You seem familiar.

Oystersauce has more luck, landing a headshot.
: Get yo' head in the game mr. Tree Trunk! Ain't seen you do shit but spit and huff so far, sheeeeeit.

Whiteshark calmly destroys the shield of the northern Reaver with a pair of Split Shields. Then Boontaker once again claims first blood, killing Mr. Club!
: Head's just as easy to hit on these bastards as anyone else.

Fodder lands another headshot on the northern Reaver. Then Kalarion steps forward and slams his long sword into the javeliner's chest. By the end of round 2, nearly half our opponents are dead. Then we see the something that drives fear into any bro's heart:


Shit.

: I seen eyes like dat befo'. Sheeeeeeit. Asf watch yourself!

Reaver: <sneering> I remember now. The tribe made the right decision casting you out. Enjoyed your soft southern living?

Asf, deathly white now, casually side-steps the vicious swing.

Boontaker steps up to help out with the northern Reaver, landing another headshot. The Reaver isn't injured yet, but he's lost a lot of HP and he's dropped to Wavering.

Unfortunately the other clubber has better aim:


One swing is all it takes to destroy Maidenhaver's armor, absolutely demolish his HP and crush his leg.
: ARGH!
: Fuck dat nigga!


: STURM!


: Should have finished the job, peck.

Maidenhaver puts his money where his mouth is, delivering the killing blow. Unfortunately his brand-new injury means he can't back out of the fight, but he should be safe here for a bit.

Meanwhile asf continues swinging wildly and ineffectually, whiffing again.

: Calm! Focus! BREATHE!

The only other highlight of the round is Acrux poking calmly at the northern Reaver, dropping it to Fleeing state. The battle is secured. Only one thing left-


: Awww, come ON!

This time, the Reaver doesn't miss:


Reaver: <leaning in close to asf> Look at you. Couldn't hit a tree. Using a woman's weapon. Maybe I'll use you as a woman when we're finished with the rest of these doughy pukes.
: No. You won't.


Asf can't close the kill because of his injury (his max AP is 6 instead of 9 until it heals).
: Fag- <clutching his shoulder> Hnnng!
: <speaking softly> forgetting something, Reaver scum?


: <spits> That's why you'll never amount to more than dogshit on the heel of the northern lords... can't even bother to see when you've been crushed.

Whiteshark finishes off the panicked northern Reaver.

: Oystersauce.
: Too easy boss.


: Boontaker. Get the caravan back on the road and ready to move. Bring the men to marching order. Gerey, Hauberk, Fodder, search these shitstains. They're savages but maybe they'll have something we can use. Asf... come with me.



Mostly useless junk, but the weapons (despite their ragged appearance) are pretty valuable and I can sell them in a Citadel for decent crowns. And now Maidenhaver is getting his weapon

Kalarion levels up, once again taking melee skill and both defenses, as well as the Reach Advantage perk:


I'm going to have to pause one of the defenses in order to work on fatigue immediately (operating in heavy armor with anything less than 120 base fatigue is asking for trouble, and you really want more like 130 - 140), but these juicy ranged defense rolls are too good to pass up. Eventually I'm going to need to drop a couple good rolls into Resolve too.

: You want to tell me what that was all about back there?
: No.
: Fine. But you'd better get it fixed and fast. That fight wouldn't have ended with you and Maidenhaver riding in the wagons if you'd been as focused in the beginning as you were at the end, with your shoulder hanging loose and blood everywhere.
: ...Aye. I'll remember. Having an axe would have helped.
: We'll see.

To be continued...

Like I said, short. More to come next week.

[asf]

need a bigger axe

[Oyster Sauce]

Does this game have a stats page that tracks who has the most kills/damage taken/etc?

[Kalarion]

No. I believe the closest to a stat tracker is the graveyard page, for your dead bros. It shows number of days with the company, level, total number of kills, number of battles fought, and the manner of death.

It is tracked individually though. You can mouse over each bro's token to see: how long he's been with the company, how many battles he's fought in, his salary, his total number of kills, and the most powerful enemy he's killed so far.

[maidenhaver]

Are we sitting pretty for our first crisis @Kalarion? As far as equipment, lvl, reputation, gold, etc.

We'll need a lot more bros won't we?

[Kalarion]

Are we sitting pretty for our first crisis @Kalarion? As far as equipment, lvl, reputation, gold, etc.

We'll need a lot more bros won't we?

We're currently at full strength (though my posts have not yet caught up to my play). Keep in mind that in a Lone Wolf playthrough, 12 is a hard cap on party strength. We're never going to have a reserve. Instead we can expect to be playing a significant portion of the game at less than full battle strength, while seriously wounded bros recover.

If you have a minor injury expect to see continued service. Torn ear? Too bad, pick up your kit and get ready for the next fight.

And yes, I do expect we'll have our first crisis soonish.

[maidenhaver]

[Kalarion]

Two seconds later


These guys were actually headed for the Peasant group behind us, but luckily we got pulled into the fight because of proximity. Which also means we'll have a hefty helping of meatsack shields volunteer heroes to help us pad our payout keep the roads safe from brigandry .


Thralls are the peons of the northern barbarians. Their weapons hit hard and they have lots of stamina, but they have no or shit armor and they don't fight very intelligently. Their favored tactic is a suicidal charge, occasionally popping Adrenaline Rush for an alpha strike.

: Hold steady, men. That includes the caravan. This chaff is nothing compared to our last fight. Let them come to their dea-



: ...that also works, actually. The Turtles will fight to the last peasant HAUBERK! Let's give those thralls something to think about, shall we?
: <breathing deeply and slowly>


I couldn't show it because the combat log doesn't expand automatically and I constantly forget to do it manually to start a battle, but Hauberk lands two Quick Shots on the Thrall and murders him. Impressive for his still-low Ranged skill.

: YEAAAAAAAAH!

: Axe-throwers? Nein.


: Hold fast on the back rank! Let the front-rankers move in to engage and make room for us. Our time will come.

The Turtles do exactly that. Whiteshark flanks the northern thrall and whiffs on his one attack. Not a problem, he's fulfilled his task of pinning down that side of the line, and his defense is so high he'll be close to impossible to dislodge or ignore. Acrux quick-marches through Whiteshark to foul up the javeliner. Finally, Kalarion completes the advance and finishes the job Gerey began:

: Axe-thrower? NEIN!


: Fodder, Oyster, on me.

Boontaker steps forward and thrusts the standard into the hand of the Thrall that survived Kal's Split. Oyster scores a glancing hit that nevertheless destroys his target's shitty armor.

: Snicka-SNACK, gon' poke that SNATCH!

The miscellaneous peasants and guards close the round out by finishing the full engagement of the Thralls, including forming a wall around the only Thrall to threaten Hauberk, allowing him freedom to continue firing and maneuvering. One of the guards opens round 2 in impressive fashion:


Meanwhile, the seriously injured Thrall from last round gives as good as he got, murdering one of the peasants who charged forward so stupidly BRAVELY! last round:


Gerey closes out the injured Thrall's life with a slash, then moves south to help keep the spear-wielding Thrall tangled up.

...Aaaaaaaaaaaaand Boontaker lands another headshot, dropping the last front-line Thrall on the top of the fight to Fleeing state.
: <exaggerated yawn> Too easy. Let's wrap this up boys.

Hauberk kills the Thrall that tried to close with him.
: thanks, plebs!
Peasants: HOORAY!

Oystersauce steps forward and finishes the job on the fleeing Thrall up top. If this is sounding like an absolute massacre, well...
: God I love the small of dead Thrall in the morning

Acrux then pulls off the impressive feat of smashing the forehead of the last Thrall standing up top, following up with a final thrust that kills him dead:


: They will learn to fear us, my Captain.
: They will indeed. Well done, Acrux!

The final round opens with the last Thrall venting his dying anger on one of the caravan guards, imitating Acrux with a headshot followed by a body pierce that kills his target. Boontaker steps forward with an impaling thrust that smashes through the Thrall's lung. Gerey finishes the fight.

Loot is nothing to write home about, but Hauberk and Gerey both ding.

: Pack it up. CARAVAN! Let's get on the road, we've still got a long trip ahead of us. We'll take a pit-stop in Reinbruch.

Reinbruch is currently suffering from Ambushed Trade Routes. We can't do anything about it right now (typically we can pick up a contract to cure it, but not while we're otherwise occupied). We take full advantage of the situation, offloading all our junk loot for elevated prices.

At this point, Kalarion remembers:


:
: MAIDENHAVER!
: <limping up> Food?
: No. Better.

Maidenhaver's eyes light up with glee.

: Hello, my lovely! I've been waiting for you! Oh yes, yes, you'll be replaced eventually but right now you're the only one for me! C'mere you lovely... <limps away crooning softly>

: ...it keeps happening



Whiteshark gets a new helmet:


: Iron without. Iron within... yes.

Kalarion goes to the town square to see who's available for hire. Not much to write home about, but we do get one pleasant surprise:


I'm trying to find someone who can go over to Codex, and ask Reinhardt if he wants to come take a bro. No luck so far, but if he does I'll come back and hire him for us.

Time to head out. Onward!


We encounter a few small groups of banditos along the route to Torvastorn, but none of them want a piece of us. We take a stop in Torvastorn just on the edge of dusk (after which shops and the town square would be empty):


Kalarion decides to take a look at available hires.


There are a couple good prospects here. Kalarion especially has his eye on the dirt-cheap Caravan Guard and Wildman.

: Alright, let's see what we've got here. Fingers crossed...
@Nemesis: "a high-damage sword-and-board swordsman."
: You won't regret this sir. I have extensive experience with the blade!


...wow. Holy shit. This looks to me like just about as perfect a lower-class build as possible for what Nemesis wants. Nice!

: Next!
@Eyestabber: "a frontline 2H Sword user wearing heavy armor."
: Just back from the whorehouse. Ask me anything.
: ...fag
: It can't be! asf?! Never thought I'd see you here.


Another minor jackpot! Melee skill could have started a tad higher but still good, and look at those talent stars! Turtlebros, I don't feel so- NO WAIT I FEEL FANTASTIC

And with that, for the first time, the company is at full strength.

: Alright boys, go get your kit from Boontaker over there, and get ready to march out. We're in the middle of a job. Welcome aboard.

Nemesis gets the scimitar that's been burning a hole in our inventory for yea! these many days, along with the Sipar shield. Eyestabber stays as is for now. We move out and finish the final leg of the route without further incident:


:
:

Kalarion strolls around Hafnarsholm, seeing what the town has to offer:


That building in the bottom left is a kennel. We can buy pets of various sorts here, including hounds and war hounds (can be released in battle to fight alongside the bros) and hawks (can be released to give a huge view of the map in battle). We don't have much use for it now. In the bottom right is a fletcher, where high-class bows and crossbows, and their ammunition, are sold.

In the weaponsmith we can see a demonstration of why Well-Supplied (and by extension, caravan contracts to citadels and big cities) is highly sought-after in the endgame:


The chance for Famed items to show up skyrockets, and in some cases (such as this) multiple Famed items may appear. Famed items are one of this game's equivalents of magic items (true magical items in this game are something like legendary/artifact items in other games). We can see here a famed dagger and a polemace:


Obviously they're far out of our ability to buy right now, but later...

A little more equipment shuffling is in order. Oystersauce ditches his warfork in exchange for Maidenhaver's old Goedendag (the massive +20% bonus to hit will help him a lot until we can get him to 75+ Melee skill), and Eyestabber gets the warfork. We buy a body armor for Eyestabber as well. Finally, we restock on food and tools. All that done, and no contracts available in Hafnarsholm (Citadels only give out Noble contracts), we start the long trip back to Reinbruch.

: Boontaker, give the men a marching song.
: Yessir. Alright men, after me!

A yellow bird! With a yellow bill!
Was standing on! My windowsill!
I lured him in! With a piece of bread!
And then I smashed! His little head!

:

(more marching cadences available on request )

Just outside Reinbruch we encounter another small group of Reavers:


: Time to reave the Reavers Bring them down, men!

Here's what our party looks like right now (keep in mind that both Maidenhaver and asf are still in the reserves, their injuries are some of the worst you can suffer and take a loooooooooooooong time to heal when untreated by the Sisters):




: Men! Take the hill!
: CHAAAARGE!
: Not that hill you moron! The one behind us! By Anselm, you'd think I hadn't taught you anything. Always let the enemy come to you if you can help it.
: <scarlet> Yes sir. RETREEEEEEEEA-
: SHUT UP! ...Men, move to the top of the hill behind us. Let's force these Reavers to us.
: Aye!

Everyone moves into position as ordered, and we're in a pretty good spot to start round 2:


As round 3 opens we're comfortably in position at the top of our hill, and the Reavers are charging below us as predicted. So far no battle has been joined. Hauberk let off a Quick Shot during round 2 but missed by a mile. The round has us jockeying for position, bringing the north contingent down to turtle up as the Reavers attempt to climb the hill to the south. The final Reaver pops Adrenaline, obviously intending to rush forward and hold the top of the hill to allow his friends up:


The shield Reaver climbs as predicted and whiffs his one attack on Gerey's shield. Unfortunately the next Reaver to climb the hill in the teeth of the Turtles has more luck, getting off a successful Batter on Oystersauce that puts him in a terrible position:


: Hnnng! Sheeeeeeeeit! I better get a visit to the SISTUHS outta this.
(asf would of course call him a fag here but asf is back in the wagons)

: ^fag!
asf calls him a fag anyways.

The good news is that Oystersauce was positioned such that he can only take attacks from one enemy at a time, and doing so places the Reaver right next to a leering Kalarion. Meanwhile, the mace-wielding Reaver rushes to the top of the hill through the shield Reaver, again as predicted. He's now breathing down Fodder's neck. Gerey has a rare total whiff against the mace Reaver, making Fodder's position even more precarious. Then, the axe-thrower lands BOTH throws, uphill, on Oystersauce!

Note Oyster's Nine Lives kicking in. That undoubtedly saved him from getting dropped right then and there.

Both Fodder's Repel and Boontaker's attack also miss the mace Reaver. Not good at all. Eyestabber lands a shot at the Reaver who hurt Oyster so badly, but just damages armor for now. Nemesis moves south to help deal with the mace Reaver. Oyster himself gets some revenge with a massive headshot:


: You like dat nigga?! I got more where dat- hrrk
There is not, in fact, more where that came from.

Acrux lands both hits, but his light spear barely damages the Reaver threatening Oyster. Hauberk follows suit with a pair of whiffs on the mace Reaver from point-blank range. Thankfully, Kalarion takes care of Oyster's problem:


: Thanks massuh. I ain't feelin too good...
: Get back and stay back. You're out of this one. Move.

Kalarion steps in front of Oyster, then Whiteshark calmly advances forward, shields up, to deal with the incoming 2h Hammer Reaver.

The shield Reaver Adrenaline Rushes AGAIN. He opens the next round with a double shield bash on Gerey, pushing him down the hill and closer to the axe-thrower (I think if the first shield bash hit the Reaver would have walked up on Fodder):


Boontaker lands a solid hit on the mace Reaver, destroying his armor. But it won't be much help stopping him from attacking Fodder...

The axe-thrower whiffs two shots attempting to finish Oyster off. Then it's mace Reaver's turn. Everyone holds their breath as Fodder stares death in the eyes:


: WHAT?!
Reavers: WHAT?!
Mace Reaver: ...what? I hate shields!

The AI in Battle Brothers is designed to very occasionally take completely random actions, representing the mayhem of battle producing unpredictable results. This is one of those times apparently.

: You motherfucker! I loved that shield!


: Mein Schwert-bruder!


With the mace Reaver dead, Fodder lands a shot on the shield Reaver. It doesn't do much but it's a start. The round closes with Gerey moving back into position, pinning the shield Reaver in place once again. The axe-thrower, now hefting a cleaver, charges up the hill to take the mace Reaver's spot. It's a good position but he has no AP left, and is now open to about a dozen attacks. Fodder starts the party with a poke that takes about half the Reaver's body armor.

Meanwhile, Whiteshark calmly smashes his axe into the hammer Reaver's armor, significantly damaging it. Then it's shields up, daring the Reaver to strike.

: Iron within!

Acrux and Kalarion both land hits, nearly destroying the hammer Reaver's armor but not significantly harming him. Hauberk finally lands an Aimed shot at the cleaver Reaver, doing fuck-all. Boontaker, on the other hand, has returned to form:


Nemesis finishes him off with a Swipe.
: <spitting> Northern scum. To the catacombs with you!

Eyestabber steps forward but misses the shield Reaver. Boontaker pops another hit on the hammer Reaver, nearly killing him. Incredibly, the hammer Reaver goes after the one bro with sky-high defense and shields up:


: Iron without! I AM THE SHIELD OF MY BROTHERS!
: Whiteshark? You sound...
: Look to your foe, sir captain.
: What is...?

Fodder and Nemesis both whiff on the shield Reaver. Gerey finishes the job as usual, followed by Kalarion taking Whiteshark's advice. The battle is over. No dings and the loot is nothing to write home about.

: What was that back there, Whiteshark?
: All will be made clear in time, lord.
: Lord? What? I'm a hedge knight you idiot, what are you talking about?
: Thou art as I said, though thou know it not, MY LORD.
: ...I haven't got time for this. Keep that, "my lord", shit to yourself. I'd rather not start swinging from some Noble's gibbet because he thinks I'm getting ideas above my station.
: By thy command.
: <muttering> I hated jousting. I have to remember that. I never wanted to go back. This is what I wanted. Yeah. Now I have thee's and thou's. Yeah...

Oystersauce gets put in the reserves. There's another barbarian party nearby but Kalarion doesn't want anything to do with them right now. The Turtles limp into Reinbruch. They're still suffering from Ambushed Trade Routes, and now Disappearing Villagers. There's a 2- and 3-star contract. Time to clean this place up. Well... maybe not the 3-star. We'll see .

The 2-star is a camp clearing. Kalarion takes it immediately.


: Consider your problem solved.
: Are you sure sir? We've got three men in the wagons...
: This will be easy money, you'll see.

The payout on a contract is a good indication of how difficult it is. At full combat strength, anything below 1000 crowns is generally going to be a cakewalk. At 690 crowns, we're likely fine, even down 3 bros.


We head straight over. This fight looks pretty straightforward:


The fight begins with all Raiders charging forward, allowing us to set our battle lines at leisure. Whiteshark anchors the south, while Nemesis and Acrux hold the north. The polearms all move north. The intent is that all of them will concentrate on the longsword holder until he's taken out. We don't want to risk a bunch of massive hits, at least not until our armor is better. Most of our attacks this round miss, with the exception of a poke from Acrux and Fodder that take a chunk out of the longsword Raider.

The next round:


The hammer raider quickly switches to a Pilum (a type of javelin that can be used to do a high-damage Split Shield) and throws it at Acrux. Luckily it misses. The two Raiders in the rear of their line move forward on the south. One of the sword-and-board Raiders is now in a position to threaten Hauberk next round, we'll have to do something about him and soon. In the meantime, Whiteshark should have no problem holding the other two.

Then the longsword Raider imitates Kalarion.
Raider: time to foign


: Agh! By doze!
: What did you say?!
: ...by doze?
: Not you. YOU! WHAT DID YOU SAY?!
Raider: jealous you're fighting someone who can actually use his blade, joustling?
: Foigning is a knight's honor! You'll pay for your-


Raider: Nah
: RRRRRRRRRRRGAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

Most of the round is pretty boring, with the Turtles doing minor or no damage. Towards the end, Fodder headshots the Raider that the longsword Raider rotated with, gashing his neck and bringing him dangerously low on HP. Meanwhile the hammer Raider up top lands a shot on Nemesis, destroying his armor (hammers do massive armor damage) but not much else. Eyestabber smashes the same Raider Fodder did, bringing him to within an inch of his life:


Whiteshark lands a clutch shot on his target with a mere 15% chance to hit, heavily damaging the Raider's armor. Meanwhile, Acrux manages to finish off the badly-wounded Raider up top. Now only Kalarion is left in this round. He's so furious he actually tries to walk forward through ZOC, but the spear Raider pokes him and keeps him in place. Kalarion's retaliating Swing misses handily.

: HRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRNG!
Raider: you seem to have some kind of digestive issue, joustling

Round 3 opens with the axe Raider walking into Hauberk's face. Boontaker misses his shot, leaving the axe Raider in a dangerous position next round. Gerey meanwhile continues cooly slicing apart the spear Raider's body armor, hitting twice. It might seem like not much was accomplished, but swords are absolutely deadly against bare flesh. The spear Raider is in trouble:


Eyestabber kills the top Raider, and then starts moving south to support Hauberk.
: I'b cubbing, boys!
: <snigger>
: SHUD UB!

The longsword Raider amazingly switches to a Pilum and throws it at Eyestabber! He misses handily.
Raider: Shit!

Whiteshark lands another clutch shot! The Raider's armor is now completely destroyed (although Whiteshark still has very low hit chance, especially vs. a shielded Raider). Kalarion is completely useless at this point, so frothing mad that he can't direct the fight, and missing left and right.

: Sir! SIR! Shit. Nemesis! Acrux! Get down there and help Hauberk, now!

They do:


The axe Raider behaves as expected, swinging at Hauberk. Luckily he only lands one shot, but it's enough to destroy Hauberk's armor. Boontaker misses again. Then the sword-and-board Raider steps up and:


: <clutching his shoulder> AUGH!
: Oyster! Rota- FUCK!

Taking a look around, the longsword Raider sees the lay of the land and understands how the wind is blowing.
Raider: Time to go. Toodles, joustling! Another time maybe!

Fodder lands another shot on the spear Raider, dropping him to almost nothing and opening the hope Gerey can finish him off. Unfortunately he has an extremely rare round of whiffs. The spear Raider lives on.

: Back off. BACK OFF I said.


Meanwhile the sword-and-board Raider lands two minor shots on Whiteshark. Annoying but not much else. Acrux then enacts phase 2 of the shieldbros' plan.
: Get BACK.


Hauberk is free to back away! Acrux and Nemesis have managed to push both threatening Raiders off, an absolutely stellar teamwork maneuver considering their low chance to connect with Shield Bash. Acrux follows up by stepping in front of Hauberk, completing the rescue. Hauberk stumbles behind Boontaker and Fodder to finish the round.

Boontaker opens the round with yet another miss! He steps south to support Acrux and Whiteshark. The axe Raider lands two shots on Acrux, severely damaging his armor but not yet seriously threatening him.

The longsword Raider, smelling blood in the water with Hauberk, charges forward. Guess who he's next to now:


Fodder takes immediate advantage, smashing his spear into the longsword Raider's ribs and causing both top Raiders to panic. The tide has turned firmly in the Turtles' favor. Then sword-and-board steps up to Acrux and:


: nnnng!
: Acrux!

Eyestabber finishes off the longsword Raider. Kalarion is still so furious he's not even paying attention to Acrux yet.
: HE WAS MINE, WHOREFUCKER!
: BAY ADDENZION, 'ETARD!
: ...what?

Hauberk fires a couple feeble shots but predictably misses both. Gerey finishes the last Raider up top and then rushes to Acrux.
: Shield up Acrux! DEIN SCHILD, STANDHAFT!

Acrux raises his shield. Nemesis tries a shot on the sword-and-board Raider but misses. Kalarion, finally seeing Acrux's situation, rushes south and gets tangled up with Whiteshark's target. Whiteshark misses again. He's completely blown by the new, heavy armor he's wearing and only gets a single swing off.

Round 6 opens in a grim position, with Boontaker continuing to miss in his panicked attempts to aid Acrux:


The axe Raider steps up to Acrux, who is steadily holding his shield up. He grins evilly. He swings.


: ACRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUX!
: NO!

The other bros are thrown into disarray as Acrux crumples to the ground. Nemesis takes a massive shot from the sword-and-board Raider, nearly killing him and slashing open his arm to the shoulder. Fodder continues pulling clutch duty, landing another Impale on Acrux's killer. Eyestabber unfortunately misses his attack. Then Kalarion, thrown into cold focus by recent events, decides he's had enough.

: You are blocking my way.


Kalarion steps close to the axe Raider, breathing heavily, eyes ablaze. Whiteshark quietly moves into position in front of Fodder. Nemesis swings feebly at the sword-and-board Raider, missing both. Yet, it is Boontaker who finally regains his fabled skill:


: DIE.

Eyestabber drives his warfork through the cheek of the sword-and-board Raider, followed by Gerey landing a clutch slash that sends him into a panic. Kalarion moves deliberately to the Raider's other side. There's no way out. The Turtles take turns poking at him, and finally Nemesis ends his torment with another beheading:


Kalarion rushes to Acrux's side.

: Steady, old man. You're not dead yet. We've got our medical supplies, the Sisters will see you patched up in no time.
: <slowly craning his head at Whiteshark> does he... know?
: <shakes his head no>
: <turning back to Kalarion> I would have walked with you, my Captain. To the end. I would have liked to see-

He coughs up a massive gout of blood.

: ...goodbye, old cripple. You held fast to the end. Standhaft, indeed.



We took a ton of new injuries in that fight, including Hauberk's Split Shoulder, which takes forever to heal and is crippling. He goes straight to the reserves.
Oystersauce's ding gets taken care of:

He chose Recover for his 5th level perk, so we'll hold off on his chosen surname for now.

The Turtles troop silently to Reinbruch. Ambushed Trade Routes is healed, and we take our gold. While he's there the mayor offers Kalarion the 3-star, which turns out to be a hunt:


: I'll think on it.

The Turtles move outside town. They bury Acrux in silence. After a minute of standing quietly around his grave, Kalarion steps forward.

: Here lies Acrux. He was with us since the beginning. 14 battles he fought, and nine men and beasts he slew. He was old, a cripple, not much to look at to the rest of the world. But he was a Turtle, and he held fast to the end. We pay our respects, and we will honor his memory.

: We're done here. Boontaker, move the men back to town, we have work to do. Eyestabber!
: Chief?
: That bastard's longsword is yours. Use it to slaughter scum like he was.
: They will bleed. My word.
: Let's go.

The end of - Growing Pains - in which the Company is brought to full strength.

[asf]

take me to the temple

[Acrux]

It was an honor, my Captain.

[Reinhardt]

why you bothering me?

[WhiteShark]

why you bothering me?

I'm trying to find someone who can go over to Codex, and ask Reinhardt if he wants to come take a bro. No luck so far, but if he does I'll come back and hire him for us.

[Reinhardt]

it's some hobo with pickaxe. literally opposite of me.