Battle Brothers: A Typical Engagement in Pictures

See how my hardended veterns engage and defeat a band of orcs in a series of annotated pictures

Fighting a band of Orcs in a Typical Battle from Standard Formation

Battle begins in good order: I have developed a standard formation of shieldwielders 6 wide in the front line alternating spears with other weapons to provide good spearwall coverage (the central guy starts with throwing axes and can quick-switch to his spear with enough action points to get spearwall up); all shield users are given the shield skill and most have pathfinder and collossus. The second line is flanked with two longaxe users, guys selected for their high damage and natural defense. I like to skill these guys with Berserk which provides double kills and good mobility. The center four of the back row are all crossbow users, who all have quick hands to make switching to longrange weapons more viable. I prioritized crossbow mastery as well to significatly reduce fatigue over the course of a battle due to multiple reloadings which can be a problem with crossbows initially. I rounded these guys out with the fear check skill to causes breaking as much as possible and critical attacks to inflict as many wounds as possible.

I begin the battle passing any melee units or moving single spaces to occupy high ground positions and waiting with ranged units for more enemies to come into range. I prioritize other ranged units as shooting targets, followed by guys with two-handers, no shields, and light armor. If enemies will be closing quickly in the second turn I put down spearwalls/ripostes. I usually don't shieldwall until after contact to save on fatigue. This first picture is taken after scoring a couple hits on the first orc, already starting to cause wavering.


Start of the scond turn after enemy phase: My shooters can still hit several targets, then switch to their secondard weapon for a second strike in the same turn now that the enemy has closed to melee or stay dedicated to shooting until there are no more good targets. My top man has suffered a stun, one of the big threats when fighting orcs. I find it's best to just absorb charges rather than break up the battle line trying to close with them before they charge, which can isolate your guys.


End of the second turn, I've cleaned up the bottom with my axeman and started to swing my line up to keep enemies engaged in combat. I used shield push to move the orc of the the highground before moving onto that spot myself. It's important to utilize order of combat as much as possible: Move as many guys into position and use the wait command (spacebar) before issuing any attacks to maximize hit percentages. Also wait after attacking if you have spare points to possibly reposition a guy at the end of a round; this is espicially important for gus using high-AP weapons where they can only move one square before attacking in the same turn.


I reposition some of my shooters to keep good firing lines and avoid a flanking charge from the top.


Continue to surrond targets as much as possible before beginning attacks, using shooters to pick off fleeing targets. Be careful during the middle of a battle to manage fatigue on weak characters, passing their turn if need be so they can act strongly later on. In long battles don't be afraid to only shieldwall with a guy or even pass his turn completely if he is really exausted.


I love axemen with Berserk, they really shine when they can move freely in the back line to take down two targets in one turn.


Continuing the mop up opperation. Take advantage of enemies fleeing to get free attacks and save on fatigue.


Finally one orc left, another skirmish concluded without friendly casualties.

[Aetini]

How far are you into the game? Day? I ask because you have some sick gear on those guys not to mention their stats .

[sush1monster]

@LowFatMilk (2/2)
A spearwall will stop a charge if it hits so that is still the best first line of defense in my opinion. It seems like an orc will only try a charge once so if you deflect that first one you are in much better shape. The problem after this is that spears are not effective so equiping men with picks/warhammers and maces is critical to get through the armor. Usually there are young orcs along with the warriors so focusing them down first can be a good way to check the warrior's morale, along with getting surrounds once engagement happens. Except for throwing axes most projectiles are crap against warriors so equiping your ranged with throwing axes and billhooks is probably best.

Aside from all that I think it's best to just focus the warriors down one by one and pray for no friendly casualties.

[sush1monster]

@LowFatMilk (1/2)
In my opinion there are several things that make Orc Warriors dangerous, so that fighting them is always a gamble even in the best situations. They have tons of armor and loads of HP behind it; they have better engagement range than you because they can walk forward and then charge, which even if it doesn't stun is going to put the units in contact; they do devestating amounts of damage with their weapons; they have great endurance; they can't be staggered back with a shield bash.

[LowFatMilk]

Solid battle line, but this battle looks to be only vsing Young Orcs. How does it go against Orc WArriors, who are MUCH better armoured and usually always shielded