Battle Brothers

Double Deuce · August 20, 2016, 05:06:49 AM

I know this game has been mentioned before but its been a pretty long time. Does anyone have it/still play it? It's open access and still being developed and I have been thinking about getting it. Seems a fun little game with a lot of potential.

Jarhead0331 · August 20, 2016, 07:11:58 AM

I have it and play from time to time. The combat is very enjoyable and you can become quite attached to the members of your company. However, I still find the world pretty empty, and unless i am playing it wrong, I have trouble finding much to do, and making money is very difficult. I usually end up roaming he map aimlessly, finally finding a town and having to choose between one or two contracts and more often than not, I'll take heavy losses and not make enough money recover, so game is pretty much over.

Still, lots of potential here.

Nefaro · August 20, 2016, 10:54:07 AM

It's a good game, but still deep in Early Access.

They've been regularly adding new content & features. So it's practically still in a late Alpha stage, or early Beta at best. Which is why I've not played it much and don't plan to until it's finished.

I check on it somewhat regularly. Looks like they've been working on adding to the world/enemies and overhauling core stuff like the damage system in recent months.

glen55 · August 20, 2016, 11:22:35 AM

Quote from: Jarhead0331 on August 20, 2016, 07:11:58 AM
I have it and play from time to time. The combat is very enjoyable and you can become quite attached to the members of your company. However, I still find the world pretty empty, and unless i am playing it wrong, I have trouble finding much to do, and making money is very difficult. I usually end up roaming he map aimlessly, finally finding a town and having to choose between one or two contracts and more often than not, I'll take heavy losses and not make enough money recover, so game is pretty much over.

Still, lots of potential here.

Describes my experience to a tee, except I'll also throw this in: goblins are overpowered. I love the game, but the world needs work, the play balance needs work. It seems that patches are infrequent, but they do come.

I actually haven't played it in a while, but I do check the patch log periodically. Great potential.

Double Deuce · August 20, 2016, 03:05:53 PM

Thanks for the feedback. Yeah, the tactical stuff looks pretty good but the videos I watched seem like the world itself and backstory is still really underdeveloped. I'll definitely be keeping an eye on it.

DennisS · August 21, 2016, 07:24:23 PM

I stopped playing this. It's just too difficult. One bad battle, and they are many, and you're done. Restart from scratch.

W8taminute · August 21, 2016, 08:01:55 PM

My experiences with this game have been similar. At first making money and getting gear for your battle brothers is fairly easy. Later in the game the difficulty in getting money and surviving battles increases explosively. I've restarted quite a few times and have shelved this game for now as a result. I think it's still in development so we'll see but I have a feeling the money I invested in this game was wasted.

Double Deuce · August 27, 2016, 02:08:15 PM

Looks like they just released a pretty substantial update (it's a Beta at the moment though).

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This update started out with two major goals: reworking the perk system and introducing more complex injury mechanics. Both are included in this update, and while we were at it, we've also included lots of other changes and additions. Here's the shortlist of features.

A new contract
25 new illustrated events
18 new and detailed mercenary banners to pick from for your company
3 new character traits
2 new character backgrounds
An ironman mode
A reworked perk system, less constricted and with more perks to choose from
New injury mechanics with different types of injuries and usable temple buildings
A talent system whereby more talented characters regardless of their background can reliably reach high skill
More powerful but also more rare named weapons, armor, helmets and shields of every type hidden across the world
More tools to use in combat, like bandages and poison
Changed shield mechanics in combat
Changes to weapon progression and balance
New sounds for humans; every character uses one of six different voices now to shout and scream. More sounds for all voices incoming.
Various bugfixes and smaller improvements, such as to AI

Update released to Beta Branch!

Steelgrave · August 27, 2016, 02:14:35 PM

Awesome! I picked the game back up recently and have been enjoying it, but the update should make it much more playable, especially the addition of some rare items and the reworking of the perk system. I think I'll take my Sons of Anarchy band back into the field!

DennisS · August 27, 2016, 10:53:55 PM

Quote from: Steelgrave on August 27, 2016, 02:14:35 PM
Awesome! I picked the game back up recently and have been enjoying it, but the update should make it much more playable, especially the addition of some rare items and the reworking of the perk system. I think I'll take my Sons of Anarchy band back into the field!

Let us all know if they balanced the difficulty into something more reasonable.

glen55 · August 27, 2016, 11:01:45 PM

Quote from: DennisS on August 27, 2016, 10:53:55 PM
Quote from: Steelgrave on August 27, 2016, 02:14:35 PM
Awesome! I picked the game back up recently and have been enjoying it, but the update should make it much more playable, especially the addition of some rare items and the reworking of the perk system. I think I'll take my Sons of Anarchy band back into the field!

Let us all know if they balanced the difficulty into something more reasonable.

Exactly. Especially the goblins. I know very difficult games are some people's cup of tea, but why not have a difficulty slider? We're not all into pain.

Steelgrave · August 27, 2016, 11:10:27 PM

Honestly, I've had no trouble playing at the normal difficulty and I doubt that I'm more than a casual player with 75 hours logged. I'm not afraid to turn down the more difficult missions until my company starts to get their feet under them. After all, the game is not on rails, you can pick and choose your missions. And frankly, if I miscalculate a mission and get wiped, well....that's why there are saves. ^-^

It's worth mentioning that some standard tactics, such as forming a shield wall with your archers standing behind on higher ground, can turn a battle against a strong opponent. There is also a forum and wiki that discuss certain builds, such as creating effective captains and sergeants to hold your company together. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it's the most amazing game I've ever played, but it's entertaining enough I feel I'm getting my money's worth.

Jarhead0331 · August 28, 2016, 10:07:13 AM

Quote from: Steelgrave on August 27, 2016, 11:10:27 PM
Honestly, I've had no trouble playing at the normal difficulty and I doubt that I'm more than a casual player with 75 hours logged. I'm not afraid to turn down the more difficult missions until my company starts to get their feet under them. After all, the game is not on rails, you can pick and choose your missions. And frankly, if I miscalculate a mission and get wiped, well....that's why there are saves. ^-^

It's worth mentioning that some standard tactics, such as forming a shield wall with your archers standing behind on higher ground, can turn a battle against a strong opponent. There is also a forum and wiki that discuss certain builds, such as creating effective captains and sergeants to hold your company together. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it's the most amazing game I've ever played, but it's entertaining enough I feel I'm getting my money's worth.

But how are you actually making enough money to upgrade your equipment, maintain your force, replace loses, recruit new troops, etc. when I stroll into town, I'm lucky if there are two contracts to choose from, each one usually nets only a few hundred coins which is hardly enough to compensate my company for its costs in moving around and fighting to fulfill the contract. I just don't see how it's possible at this point.

ludi1867 · August 28, 2016, 01:20:34 PM

Hi Jarhead

Longtime lurker here. I have been playing Battle Brothers for about 50 or 60 hours. I find that there is enough money (barely) to upgrade equipment, etc. My current campaign is almost 100 days long, and I had one (with a previous upgrade) that was just over 100 days long. I am finding Battle Brothers much like others have reported - a good (but not great) game.

Steelgrave · August 28, 2016, 05:23:30 PM

Quote from: Jarhead0331 on August 28, 2016, 10:07:13 AM
But how are you actually making enough money to upgrade your equipment, maintain your force, replace loses, recruit new troops, etc. when I stroll into town, I'm lucky if there are two contracts to choose from, each one usually nets only a few hundred coins which is hardly enough to compensate my company for its costs in moving around and fighting to fulfill the contract. I just don't see how it's possible at this point.

I think the game is easily the most difficult and frustrating in the beginning stages. It only takes a few mishaps or bad fortune before you are considering a travelling minstrel show career instead of being a sell-sword company. I really haven't stumbled onto any killer strategy, I just kept slugging away until I had a competent core group and was starting to recruit a few ringers here and there and take on tougher contracts. Like any start up, my margins were thin in the beginning, with my rag-tag group scrounging battlefields for better weapons and armor and selling everything I didn't have an immediate need for in order to survive. Like Ludi1867, about a hundred days in the Sons grew a bit more bad-ass and I could spend a few coins on wardogs to chase down runners and do more than window-shop the better armor found in town. The Sons were starting to live large and even buy a few rounds in the ale-houses!

With the new patch, I created a new company and put a few hours in yesterday. My results? Early on, I lost a third of my men to either death or serious wounds after a particularly difficult battle, I headed to a decent sized town to lick my wounds and take on a new contract...and the only contract available was the equivalent of working at McDonalds, far too little for my needs. The last I saw of my group, they were heading down the dusty roads hoping to make another town before the food ran out.....

There are definite play balance and risk/reward challenges issues with Battle Brothers, most especially in the earlier phases of the game. I think when it's complete, it could be a gem if the balance issues are fixed. As it stands, I'm looking at it as almost more of a beer and pretzels kind of game....light entertainment covering a genre' that isn't over-saturated with competing games.