How do you deal with a loss later in the game?

[Sonic Boomer]

So, I'm in my ironman campaign, around day 120-130 I believe. During the earlier stages of the game, I couldn't care less when I lost a bro. If he was between level 4-7, eh, it sucks, but it's manageable. Now, most of my bros are closing in lvl 11 and losing a single one feels soooo bad.

I have to admit, I alted+f4 on a Necrosavant fight because I didn't really know how to fight them and felt pretty cheated when 3 of them succesfully managed to do 2 consecutives attacks on a bro with less than 50% chances to hit everytime, resulting in the bro getting 1-shotted in a single round. Because of their super high inititave, there was nothing I could do to save the bro, and I pick rotation on every one of them. I literally screamed "WTF IS THIS BS" and alted+f4.... I felt like I cheated... but man the game has some mechanics that feel super cheap. Another example are the Ancient dead at lower level, when you have lighter armor, they are super painful to fight.... I always try to rush a few of the back line because they are the biggest threat, but they can usually get 1 or 2 guys with unlucky rolls. Ironically enough, in my last 2 campaigns, they were my first late game crisis.

So back to my question. Losing a bro early in the game feels bad, but losing a lvl 11.... sucks so hard. How do you guys deal with that? I'm not taking lvl 30 bros that are literally walking gods, but lvl 10-11 bros that you spent a fortune on equipping and training. Losing all the gear is huge blow as well. Considering I'm still at a point where I'm buying equipment and rarely have more than 8k in bank, losing a single lvl 11 BF bro with 250/250 armor feels like GG to me. Also, training a recruit to a high level enough where you don't need to babysit the christ out of it later in the game is no simple task.

Anyway... please don't shame me for alt+f4ing in my ironman game.

[WastedTrojan]

Buy somebody, give them student and visit the training hall. Its about all that you can do. Its also good to keep a few reserves and cycle them in when somebody gets injured or just on easy fights. At least then if somebody goes down you have somebody that can at least fill the spot.

[turtle225]

It can be rough, but it shouldn't be the end of the world. By day 130 you should be in a pretty good position and have a few reserves such that a loss shouldn't cripple you, and should be rare in the first place.

On day 163 I lost a fencer and an archer in the Witch Hut. The archer was a huge loss for me, died with famed armor too. He was the only Hunter I've found all campaign and losing him left the Companion as my only ranged unit. How did I deal with it? I went around the world and hired Sellswords, Witchhunters, Bowyer, and Poachers until I found some decent guys because I needed more range units. Then you grind them up on easy contracts and roaming brigands.

The fencer loss wasn't a big problem. I have spare melee fighters.

So long as you aren't bleeding level 11 units on a consistent basis, losing one or two on a tough fight here and there shouldn't be gg. Campaigns are almost always salvageable. The real enemy is the human brain which wants to quit when we lose our favorite units.

[Sigi_Reuven [CH]]

I play on expert and had a fight against 10 necrosavants and this worked for me
1. ive used melee only bros with shields and good m-def.
2. most of them had a net, gives a good bonus for your hit chance
3. dogs on all bros. they killed 4 savants in a net ^^ and can be used as low-def decoys


im on day 180 and replace a bro with a fresh lv1 bro is extremly difficult. haven´t much low tier stuff, ends in 44 fatigue and less actions during battle. weaker armor results in a faster dead because the AI concenrates on him. Even 1 skull missions aren´t that easy to survive with them.

Student and traininghall is a must for them. i also put them in the backrow with a 2 tile weapon and hope for the best. it happens more than 1 time that enemy archers killed them in the 1st round, even with a kite shield and during the night.

Might be possible that the expert combat AI has a huge "too hit chance" buff

[Genyl]

My biggest problem is emotionally. The man has probably grown on me after countless battles and epic deeds. I will remind his kindness when he retrieved that ball for that kid :_)

I think your issue is that your roster is not deep enough. At day 150 I am running with 16 bros and always trying to recruit more.

The problem is that recruiting somebody on a hurry is suboptimal. I will fire bad recruits and it takes a while to find a good candidate.

If you have a good roster depth you can replace your bro immediately without noticing. A good reserve is also needed to replace injured brothers or in back to back battles.

Levelling up a new recruit is easy with training , great armor and putting him in the backline. But add more than 1 rookie and you will suffer in battles. Until they get to a decent level they are there just there to suck xp

In any games with ironman / hardcore mode you can end being terribly unlucky and getting somebody killed. The strategy is to plan for it. This risk factor is what makes rhe game exciting instead of just grindy. The biggest risk is often overconfidence

[Johan]

Restart the early game is the most fun anyways 😛

[turtle225]

Originally posted by Sigi_Reuven CH:

Might be possible that the expert combat AI has a huge "too hit chance" buff

No, they don't.

[Badaab]

Make sure your bench is deep enough to cope with losses- sure there are some bros that will be irreplaceable to your style of play after they become high level, but keeping reserves who can fill openings (even when injuries strike) is paramount.
This is particularly useful for bros who perform key roles (wrecker, lancer, sergeant, flank tank, etc) as they'll all undoubtedly miss several fights through injury anyhow, and taking lower difficulty missions to coddle these injured bros will ultimately cost you in the later game.

[Sonic Boomer]

Originally posted by turtle225:

It can be rough, but it shouldn't be the end of the world. By day 130 you should be in a pretty good position and have a few reserves such that a loss shouldn't cripple you, and should be rare in the first place.

On day 163 I lost a fencer and an archer in the Witch Hut. The archer was a huge loss for me, died with famed armor too. He was the only Hunter I've found all campaign and losing him left the Companion as my only ranged unit. How did I deal with it? I went around the world and hired Sellswords, Witchhunters, Bowyer, and Poachers until I found some decent guys because I needed more range units. Then you grind them up on easy contracts and roaming brigands.

The fencer loss wasn't a big problem. I have spare melee fighters.

So long as you aren't bleeding level 11 units on a consistent basis, losing one or two on a tough fight here and there shouldn't be gg. Campaigns are almost always salvageable. The real enemy is the human brain which wants to quit when we lose our favorite units.

the last part is so true. I have little problem having a bro get a permanent injury and firing him. Having him straight up dying on the other hand... man, feels bad.

[Sonic Boomer]

Originally posted by Sigi_Reuven CH:

I play on expert and had a fight against 10 necrosavants and this worked for me
1. ive used melee only bros with shields and good m-def.
2. most of them had a net, gives a good bonus for your hit chance
3. dogs on all bros. they killed 4 savants in a net ^^ and can be used as low-def decoys


im on day 180 and replace a bro with a fresh lv1 bro is extremly difficult. haven´t much low tier stuff, ends in 44 fatigue and less actions during battle. weaker armor results in a faster dead because the AI concenrates on him. Even 1 skull missions aren´t that easy to survive with them.

Student and traininghall is a must for them. i also put them in the backrow with a 2 tile weapon and hope for the best. it happens more than 1 time that enemy archers killed them in the 1st round, even with a kite shield and during the night.

Might be possible that the expert combat AI has a huge "too hit chance" buff

That's what I found out as well. It's hard to get a new recruit going as their fatigue will be too low and their defenses too low as well. The AI just knows it and focus down that weaker bro. I wish there was some way you could train recruits in later stages of the game without putting them in the fights.

[turtle225]

Keeping new recruits alive isn't that hard. Give them some heavy armor and a Pike and put them in the back. Doesn't matter if they have 30 max fatigue because Pike is neutral. Heavy armor will keep them alive from stray bolts and even if they never land a hit your other bros should be able to carry. If for some reason he took 2 bolts to the face on the first turn just jump back 4 tiles and he's safe.

Keeping range recruits alive is a bit harder since you can't wear a heavy hat. Use a xbow until he levels a bit and wear 150 hat or 160 Zwiehander hat if you have those. As long as you don't take 2 bolts to the face in the same turn he is fine. If he gets hit once then jump 4 tiles back and wait it out.