Battle Brothers

[bjornk]

If you're interested in something like a turn-based Mount&Blade, you might want to check this out...

 

 

Battle Brothers is a turn based tactical RPG which has you leading a mercenary company in a gritty, low-power, medieval fantasy world. You decide where to go, whom to hire or to fight, what contracts to take and how to train and equip your men in a procedurally generated open world campaign.

 

http://store.steampowered.com/app/365360

 

Launch trailer:

 

 

Some LPs (MathasGames & Marbozir):

 

 

 

 

 

[winny257]

you know actually that this game have developed three folks from Hamburg (Germany)? 

 

 

But it is not RPG, It is a round-based strategy game, although it has a few RPG elements, such as armor and weapons change.

[dewguru]

you know actually that this game have developed three folks from Hamburg (Germany)? 

 

 

But it is not RPG, It is a round-based strategy game, although it has a few RPG elements, such as armor and weapons change.

 

I'm under the impression that it has a full scale leveling system too, which also typically helps a game fit into the rpg genre (although my preference for that category are games where your choices impact the game world, but meh).

 

It's on my Steam wish list right now. I'm hoping that it gets around to adding some modding support/steam workshop like they've mentioned as long term plans.

[GrimReaper]

This game has really nothing to do with Mount&Blade, though.

[dewguru]

This game has really nothing to do with Mount&Blade, though.

 

No one said it did. When the OP said 'something like a turn-based Mount&Blade' - which can mean a whole lot of things.

 

Mount and Blade offers the opportunity to form a mercenary band of medieval soldiers of various classes, who take various jobs and do battle. The same can be said about Battle Brothers - save it's turn based instead of real time combat.

 

Of course there they've more differences than just the style of combat, but I'd agree that the someone who's both a Mount and Blade fan and a turn based combat fan, may find Battle Brothers to their liking, as there are conceptual similarities.

[GrimReaper]

Battle Brothers is much closer to games like XCOM, though. The only similarities to Mount&Blade are that you can travel around a world map and the medieval-ish setting. You start as a mercenary company and you end the game as one, you have no opportunity to buy land, enterprises or become a lord yourself - even if you eventually become the strongest force in the world. Your mercenaries are individuals with different stats, background and traits, whereas in Mount&Blade your soldiers are faceless goons with fixed stats and equipment.

[dewguru]

Battle Brothers is much closer to games like XCOM, though. The only similarities to Mount&Blade are that you can travel around a world map and the medieval-ish setting. You start as a mercenary company and you end the game as one, you have no opportunity to buy land, enterprises or become a lord yourself - even if you eventually become the strongest force in the world. Your mercenaries are individuals with different stats, background and traits, whereas in Mount&Blade your soldiers are faceless goons with fixed stats and equipment.

 

I must be thinking of Mount and Blade Warband then (I've played them all except for the Napoleon based one), because I know I can level up my soldiers and I also can obtain special characters that I can convince to join me, who I can also level and chose specific skills/traits and control their weapon/armor/mount selections.

 

And I'd have to say that outside of the turn based combat, it's less like XCom than Mount and Blade. XCom is simply the widely recognized 'standard' if you will for turn based combat. And many of my Mount and Blade play sessions were nothing more than operating as a wander mercenary band.

 

Of course we're nitpicking points of view though. As it really comes down to what one looks for. I play a lot of turn based combat games, and I wouldn't even think to compare it to XCom, since unless it has a sci-fi / alien element, it wouldn't even cross my mind. Sure, I myself wouldn't liken it to Mount and Blade, but I can see where the OP was going in painting the setting for it.

[GrimReaper]

 

 

I must be thinking of Mount and Blade Warband then (I've played them all except for the Napoleon based one), because I know I can level up my soldiers and I also can obtain special characters that I can convince to join me, who I can also level and chose specific skills/traits and control their weapon/armor/mount selections.

 

And I'd have to say that outside of the turn based combat, it's less like XCom than Mount and Blade. XCom is simply the widely recognized 'standard' if you will for turn based combat. And many of my Mount and Blade play sessions were nothing more than operating as a wander mercenary band.

 

Of course we're nitpicking points of view though. As it really comes down to what one looks for. I play a lot of turn based combat games, and I wouldn't even think to compare it to XCom, since unless it has a sci-fi / alien element, it wouldn't even cross my mind. Sure, I myself wouldn't liken it to Mount and Blade, but I can see where the OP was going in painting the setting for it.

 

 

I'd compare it to XCOM because it's a squad-based RPG where you have to manage each individual soldier and give them their equipment and manage their level-ups, not because of the turnbased combat. Mount&Blade has you fielding an army - soldiers can level up but in M&B it is something that is a pre-determined path. Once a troop gains enough xp you can upgrade them to the next level which will increase their stats as well as their equipment. You have companions, yes, but the only redeeming feature they've got over normal troops is that they can't die.

 

M&B is also about carving out a path for you in a medieval society, the goal is to become a vassal and help your kingdom to conquer the world or become a king yourself and subjugate all other factions. Battle Brothers however is much more straightforward, there's no way for you to improve your standing in the world. Meaning that even if you kit out all your soldiers in legendary gear and your company becoming the most powerful entity in the game, you will still be begging for contracts in order to meet the daily costs.

[bjornk]

Both combat and economy balance in this game sucks balls.

[GrimReaper]

Both combat and economy balance in this game sucks balls.

 

Yes and no. If you know exactly what you're doing, the balance is okay for the most part. If you are new to the game, however, the game seems to be a complete clusterfuck. That's mostly because during the early access period, players came up with ways to trivialize some of the game and the devs then tried to come up with a solution to make that impossible. It was kinda like an arms race between devs and players.

 

That being said, the RNG part of the game can completely fuck you over. The devs bought into the 'difficulty' and 'losing is fun' memes without really understanding the principle behind it. Losing is only fun if you have multiple ways to tackle the challenges the early game throws at you to keep the game interesting, in Battle Brothers you only do one thing though, and that is spending way too much time travelling the world map in the search for suitable contracts for your group. Coupled with the pressure of having to earn money all the time because wages are paid daily and food that needs to be bought in larger quantities the bigger your roster is one fight gone wrong can mean the end of your playthrough at any given stage of the game.

 

Even if you have a nice reserve, it is going to melt quickly once you lose some of your men. Good recruits are expensive as is good equipment. But recruits die easily, even if it is a hedgeknight you paid 10k to join your company. But you need to complete higher level contracts to keep up with the high wages yet you lack the experienced fighter you'd need for these contracts.

 

And I didn't even talk about how map generation, RNG in looting items and the RNG when it comes to talents and traits can mean that it is better to simply start another game right after the unskippable tutorial fight. Which you can also lose because of RNG.

[windpl]

 

Both combat and economy balance in this game sucks balls.

 

Yes and no. If you know exactly what you're doing, the balance is okay for the most part. If you are new to the game, however, the game seems to be a complete clusterfuck. That's mostly because during the early access period, players came up with ways to trivialize some of the game and the devs then tried to come up with a solution to make that impossible. It was kinda like an arms race between devs and players.

 

That being said, the RNG part of the game can completely fuck you over. The devs bought into the 'difficulty' and 'losing is fun' memes without really understanding the principle behind it. Losing is only fun if you have multiple ways to tackle the challenges the early game throws at you to keep the game interesting, in Battle Brothers you only do one thing though, and that is spending way too much time travelling the world map in the search for suitable contracts for your group. Coupled with the pressure of having to earn money all the time because wages are paid daily and food that needs to be bought in larger quantities the bigger your roster is one fight gone wrong can mean the end of your playthrough at any given stage of the game.

 

Even if you have a nice reserve, it is going to melt quickly once you lose some of your men. Good recruits are expensive as is good equipment. But recruits die easily, even if it is a hedgeknight you paid 10k to join your company. But you need to complete higher level contracts to keep up with the high wages yet you lack the experienced fighter you'd need for these contracts.

 

And I didn't even talk about how map generation, RNG in looting items and the RNG when it comes to talents and traits can mean that it is better to simply start another game right after the unskippable tutorial fight. Which you can also lose because of RNG.

 

 

Most of mercenaries band were bowmen, later crossbowmen which despite any english says otherwise were cheap to train and cheap to equip. And most of "wages" came from looting than from anyone paying them. So it is not much of mercenary simulator?

 

[GrimReaper]

I don't know much about historical medieval mercenaries, but Battle Brothers features a typical mercenary band which you'd expect to find in any fantasy story. The daily wages and all that are probably just a gameplay mechanic to pressure you into taking contracts that might be a bit too hard for you and your guys.

[bjornk]

Cheating the hell outta this game, still quite fun.