Battle Brothers - Company Origins Part 1

A new devblog for Battle Brothers discusses Company Origins for the upcoming DLC 'Warriors of the North'.

Dev Blog #113: Company Origins, Part I



Welcome to our first dev blog on the upcoming 'Warriors of the North' DLC. One of this expansion's major features is going to be a little thing called 'company origins', and that's what we'll be talking about this week and the next. Let's dive in!

Introduction


Until now, there's been only a single way of starting out in the world of Battle Brothers. Because the game is otherwise designed for replayability, this is an area we really want to tackle with the upcoming 'Warriors of the North' DLC, both to further improve replayability and to accommodate different play styles.

The established way of starting out in the world, your company origin, you likely know well by now: your company is nearly wiped out by a brigand named Hoggart, and it's up to you to rebuild it. This origin remains available in the game, and it's a good way to start for new players, but it'll be just one of many possible origins to choose from. For starters, the free update coming with the DLC will introduce a second origin which immediately drops you into the world without having to deal with Hoggart. It's reminiscent of Early Access days, and it even has the old introductory text and music that some of you may remember.





The 'Warriors of the North' DLC adds greatly to the selection of origins. Each of those comes with a flavor introduction, different starting characters, equipment, resources, and special rules for your campaign. Some origins change the game more than others, but most of them impact it from beginning to end. Because the game is and always will be fundamentally about leading a mercenary company, all origins will ultimately lead to this - but they do add new challenges, accommodate different play styles, and provide roleplaying flavor. If you own the 'Beasts & Exploration' DLC, you'll also get a bonus origin centered around beast slaying.


Let's take a closer look at two origins that the 'Warriors of the North' DLC adds to the game - just keep in mind that things are in active development and might still change!

The Militia


If you prefer to overwhelm your enemies with superior numbers, or even just equal numbers in the late game, but still want a balanced game, then the peasant militia might be for you.





The militia starts not with three companions, but with a full roster of a dozen characters from various civilian backgrounds - daytalers, farmers, butchers, millers, and the like. With these kind of people, you'll want to rely on numbers, so you'll be able to field 18 men on the field at once, instead of the usual 12. The downside is that you'll never be able to hire any noble or high tier combat backgrounds to join your mob of angry peasants. You'll start with lower renown and crowns, but a home village that idolizes you and gives you great prices.

The Cultists


For a different experience, and some roleplaying flavor, you can also start the game as a wandering cult that worships Davkul.





You'll start with three cultists, and more cultists will join you without any hiring fee. Cultists can be found more often in any settlement, and they may also flock to you in new events. Your god will demand sacrifices, and you'll be expected to cull the herd and give lives to Davkul in bloody rituals. All cultists will rejoice upon this gruesome occasion, and Davkul may bestow upon them permanent boons. Of course, anyone not a cultist in your company may have a different reaction to the proceedings. Having a special relation to your god will also make certain late game cultist events much more likely to trigger.





There'll be plenty more origins to choose from, of course. Join us again next week when we explore them in part two of this dev blog!

More information.

Product is drifting a lot from original direction.

Those origins are more detailed than I thought they would be. Can totally change game play. I like it a lot and I would think one of the reveals next week will be a noble background, since they have a peasant one.

Would really like to see a bandit background and maybe a caravan one. It was a year ago when they said BB would not be updated anymore and look at all the sweet love they have been giving this game. Makes this old jaded gamer happy.

Originally Posted by ChienAboyeur
Product is drifting a lot from original direction.

Good with a 1000 hours I like to switch things up because I actually play the game.

A game, hard to see where and where. Must be the wrong thread.

I think the DLC's should have been free updates because the game is extremely bare bones and very shallow, the DLC's does add some much needed extras. I have the original game + the previous DLC and after 13h i felt quite drained and bored with it. It's a decent indie perhaps but there are far better similar games that are free, like Battle of Wesnoth, which entertained me for a lot longer.

I look forward to exploring all this extra new content when I do a replay of this fabulous game. That will likely happen the latter part of this year, or maybe early next, depends on what strikes my fancy.

Originally Posted by vurt
I think the DLC's should have been free updates because the game is extremely bare bones and very shallow, the DLC's does add some much needed extras. I have the original game + the previous DLC and after 13h i felt quite drained and bored with it. It's a decent indie perhaps but there are far better similar games that are free, like Battle of Wesnoth, which entertained me for a lot longer.

You're crazy Vurt I could play Wesnoth for about 10 hours. I tried it like 10 years ago and again around a year ago. Could not get into it. What you call bare bones and shallow, I call one of the greatest games of all time. We just have different tastes when it comes to strategy games which is fine.

BTW Vurt I love a lot of your mods so I'm just busting your balls

Battle Brothers is the only game I have bought 6 copies of and given to friends and have on both Steam and GoG. Also, have a couple of supporter editions. BB has really changed my mind on Kickstarter games. I would rather throw $$ at games that have been released and I know that I love.

Glad you enjoy it Hastar I think i'll wait a year or so before i try it again. With additional DLC's/patches i think it could go from a decent game to Great, at least for me personally.

Finally! We won't have to fight that stupid first battle for a 100th time, every time we start the game! Also multiple backgrounds is a must. Plus I already see save game editors with options to field 24 men in battle!

Seems like a decent addition. Hopefully there are more positive origins available, like well-intentioned crusaders, for example.

Originally Posted by mercy
Finally! We won't have to fight that stupid first battle for a 100th time, every time we start the game! Also multiple backgrounds is a must. Plus I already see save game editors with options to field 24 men in battle!

seriously, now that is nice, since the original max is a bit low for my taste.

Originally Posted by ChienAboyeur
Product is drifting a lot from original direction.

It's certainly expanded since the 1.0 release, but it hasn't drifted at all from the team's original vision.

Probably depends on what original means.