Battle Brothers - First Look @ RPS

Rock Paper Shotgun looked into the early access version of Battle Brothers and come back with positive stuff like this:

The stuff that’s already there is great, though. Each class of weapon has a unique attack rather than simply changing stats and combat is brutally tense, as a perfect blow can kill even the mightiest mercenary. You’ll spend a lot of time replacing fallen brothers, as well as gear that deteriorates over time, and even though you’ll see the same text cropping up again and again, the backgrounds and traits of your soldiers are just detailed enough to hang stories on. You’ll miss them when they’re gone.

All of this is to say that even in its current state, Battle Brothers is well worth a look and certainly one to keep an eye on as development continues. Hurrah!

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More information.

I'm really liking this one. Just got done playing it. Finding it more addictive than Telepath Tactics, which I also like.

And these guys really pump out the patches, putting out bug fixes nearly every day, even though it's really not that buggy, as far as I've seen.. I found a small one and emailed them. They had it patched by the end of that same day. Looking forward to the story they're supposed to add, although I could probably live without it. They're also supposed to add interior battlefields. Now, that I consider a must. My mercs are itching to get into a bar fight.

Fantastic turn-based strategy. Why not try out the combat demo? It's slightly outdated but gives a good feel for the overall experience.

My best turn based strategy experience since Battle for Wesnoth!

-Intense and addictive combat,
-Promising procedural campaign, in the opposite concept of Telepath Tactics terribly scripted for my tastes. Some people find it similar to Mount & Blade.
-Playable even for not very clever nor patient gamers like me (I have uninstalled Darkest Dungeon and Exanima for that reason)
-Beautiful paperdolls with WYSIWYG: you don´t need click to review enemy status. If you see a brigand wearing a helmet, he really wears one, and if you crush it with a hammer, the helmet dissapears.
-As Capt. Huggy Face states, the guys there are very receptive to players feedback. I have had a similar experience.

Very good, very German, very unforgiving game!

I'm going to wait for the full release but this game is really looking excellent.

Plus we're always kept up to date with all the awesome posts in the forum by Jaysen.

Some cool things may be implemented:

• Injury system. Including permanent effects as a result of battle, such as dismemberment.
• Goblin faction.
• A comprehensive banner editor.
• Reputation system with two different values. How much you get the job done and how humane you are about it.
• Event system. Includes a wide range of different stuff. One of them being the possibility of duels. Another being interaction between your mercs (getting along or not getting along). sser talks about it in this thread.
• Non-combat companions. Like smith, healer and hunter.
• More diverse contracts.
• Legendary artefacts.
• Some reworking of the undead (skeletons might either get buffed to make them an actual threat when encountered, or they get moved closer to starting locations).
• More units for beast faction.
• Iron man mode.
• More art stuff. So more skins to make all the factions more diverse.
• More weapons.
• Weather is getting implemented. Seasons possibly, but more uncertain.
• Other mercenary companies that you can interact with.
• Camping mechanics.
• More enemies that attack your resolve (charm, mind control, etc.).
• Polish stuff, like being able to click on a caravan so that you follow it.
• Systems to keep track of the achievements of your mercenaries. Like how many Orc kills, how many bandit kills, etc.
• Informant for finding locations of legendary artefacts.
• A menu that keeps track of your dead bros.
• Item quality.
• Mod tools.

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That list is all good stuff. The ones I would particularly like: injury system, camping mechanics and support companions.

Edit: Oh, and mod tools….and more-diverse contracts.

I'll just add a quick example of how well thought out the combat is. In addition to losing armor through damage (I think we all know how devastating losing your helmet can be. Have to protect that noggin!) Something neat happened my last fight. One of my guys lost his shield. It wasn't destroyed, just wrested from his grip. There it was lying on the ground for the rest of the fight. After winning the fight, it was available to be looted. And it wasn't someone else's. I was fighting orcs, who used a very different type of shield. Nice! I would have liked the option to move over there to pick it up during the fight, although I didn't try, so I can't say it doesn't already exist.

All those ravings about this game makes almost gonna buy the game, even though it is still version .4x.

Is it really already very playable, from the beginning till the end?

Well, it doesn't so much have an end yet, as far as I can tell. They are planning on adding a story later. Right now, you start with 3 mercenaries and equip them. (Gear is very important.) You can hire more, up to 12, I think, though I haven't gotten that far. Currently, there is a limited number of different types of contracts (Greater variety is planned.) you can accept in towns, such as protect a caravan as it travels over the sizeable world map or clear out this bandit camp or cave full of orcs. Things like that. That's about it right now. No real end game yet, just filling the ranks of your mercenary band, replacing your fallen mercs (There will be blood spilled amongst your men.) and taking contracts. The combat is already robust and fun, if you like a challenge. There's more to think about than most games. Think Mount & Blade on a smaller, turn-based scale. Or think Expeditions: Conquistador, only without the story (yet) and better tactical combat.

ikbenrichard said:

All those ravings about this game makes almost gonna buy the game, even though it is still version .4x.

Is it really already very playable, from the beginning till the end?

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Define end.

At the moment for me there is no end - just endless sandbox. 10 of my 12 guys are max level 11. (Wish there wasn't a cap btw). And currently I am going around trying my luck against some of the more toughest guys. And it's still tough, met an army of fallen heroes - had to run away.


One of my concerns is that I can't find any good armor at the moment. None of the towns/castles sells better than 70/70(which is quite bad), and no army drops them either. (I suspect perhaps Fallen Heroes do, but I never find just a couple of them). Maybe I have to do lots of caravan runs or something, but they are a bit tedious and boring.


The combat is really nifty, and you are in fear of losing guys all the time. No helmet means a risk of it getting cut off - unless you have the no crits on head talent.


Oh and I was pathfinding(on the world map) was better, right now your men just wanders in a straight line to your destination - meaning trying to cross whatever is in front of them -> i.e tallest mountains in history and all that jazz.

Capt. Huggy Face said:

Well, it doesn't so much have an end yet, as far as I can tell. They are planning on adding a story later. Right now, you start with 3 mercenaries and equip them. (Gear is very important.) You can hire more, up to 12, I think, though I haven't gotten that far. Currently, there is a limited number of different types of contracts (Greater variety is planned.) you can accept in towns, such as protect a caravan as it travels over the sizeable world map or clear out this bandit camp or cave full of orcs. Things like that. That's about it right now.

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Sounds real good, thank you for convincing me .

JTTH said:

Define end.

At the moment for me there is no end - just endless sandbox. 10 of my 12 guys are max level 11. (Wish there wasn't a cap btw). And currently I am going around trying my luck against some of the more toughest guys. And it's still tough, met an army of fallen heroes - had to run away.

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Very nice, just the way i like it.

Capt. Huggy Face said:

It wasn't destroyed, just wrested from his grip. There it was lying on the ground for the rest of the fight. Nice! I would have liked the option to move over there to pick it up during the fight, although I didn't try, so I can't say it doesn't already exist.

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You can indeed pick up objects that your enemies have dropped (due to deadness) during the fight. If you're standing in the right spot and you go to nventory, it's right there.

I'm pretty sure there isn't any "knock shield out of hands" perk though. Destroyed shields are displayed on the battlefield but are in fact gone forever. I suspect what you were looting was just a random human shield from the Orcs' store, or a shield left by a dead merc.