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 WhiteRoo wrote:

So you cannot even build an army by not taking as many as you can and feel like you are doing something right.

Speaking as a Ribenguo Player, I don't take the Wanderers* in my two main lists. I either run a Kunoichi Fire and Smoke & Mirrors based list with a mix of Ashigaru, Samurai and Shinobi or a Nobuwari lead gunline with as many Otter Ashigaru as I can fit and a variety of Fortifications.

*The Nobuwari list sometimes contains Amamimoto to run around and smack anything that hides out of range of the gunline.


But anyway, Matt & I discussed a few options for the Wanderers/Experts and Exemplars in general over lunch and once we get ahold of Alf and discuss them with him as well we'll post them publicly.

The Aquatar has easy access to guns not like Vandalands, so I'll see how that works out.

For me the really OP ones were Amamimoto the Ronin, who deals a lot of damage, does a lot of attacks with a lot of armor penetration and moves 7 inches, and Kitsune Sarutobi who attacks 6 times from range and 6 times in melee, ignores body armor and has practically no drawback from rushing because of his heavy and light cavalry type.

The rest of them is gimmicky and fun to play against, but these two is sick.

Amamimoto's 7 movement guarantees him that he will strike first and let's him go cover-to-cover easily. If you rush him, he can reach you from bow range and his five strikes guarantees that he will hit with 3-3 at least once. Sarutobi is a one-unit critfarm basically.

If armor doesn't gained back between their activation why are the wanderers are soo good at burning out and/or ignoring armor? They either gain armor ignore, lots of AP or have multiple attacks.

We'll take a look at each of them, and see what needs to be done, I feel they need some tweaking, and the ideas we've got lined up should help fix it.

This week we’re discussing Army Building and Game Strategy, and as such, I’ll be breaking this into separate sections for Brushfire and Endless. Look for the Endless article next week.

Brushfire players have a lot of options in front of them when they start looking for an army. 8 Factions, optional Fortifications and Siege Weapons, Two customizable heroes per faction, and Style/Weapon selection for at least one core troop per faction. It can be a daunting process. Especially for someone that is unsure of their usual gaming playstyle. More experienced players generally have a guess as to the sort of army they’re planning, having settled into a style over the years.

In Brushfire, we have consistently found that ‘Death Stars’ are rarely successful against a more well rounded list. For those unfamiliar with the term, a Death Star is a lynchpin unit/squad in your army, where you invest most of your points to create an extremely lethal unit designed to just lay way to anything you point it at. Like Alderaan. Every player that sees a unit of Mouse Lancers leap across the field and sucker punch some poor badger, thinks the unit is broken, and a great way to exploit the game. Until they leap into a full squad of Fusiliers that reroll every miss and drop them even quicker.

Each unit in Brushfire is designed to fill a particular role. With the new Style system adopted for many basic troops, we feel this has become more flexible, without making any unit particularly well rounded. Your army as a whole should be a jack of all trades, not your individual models.

Lets break down the different roles each type of unit can fill and try to build an army out of what appeals.

Heroes
The most flexible of your units, Heroes really come into their own when you have fully invested into them, but as their stats do not increase with each level, sometimes hedging your bets, and mixing a number of hLVL 2 or hLVL 3 Heroes together, is more ideal than one hLVL 5 with no protection. Of course some Heroes can join up with squads, and that makes the higher level heroes a better choice, if you intend to spend resources on giving them bodyguards.

Tactician - The support hero, possibly okay in combat if they chain the ranged phase into the melee, but otherwise you are using them for their high KE/HM to resist your opponent’s effects, and the neat special abilities they have. If they cannot join a squad, the Tactician-type is best held in the back, possibly behind a nice gunline.

Bruiser - You’re taking this guy for the excellent equipment, or high combat stats, or a combination of the two. It is less important if this guy goes down, he’ll have done quite a bit of damage, hopefully, before he reaches 0VY. This guy is great with a squad to burn through heavy armor, or by himself charging into a ranged squad that has already attacked this turn, so he can avoid the barrage of Counterfire.

Hero - This is the Brusier ‘lite’. Best in a squad, you’re also using him for his high HM to support a frontline squad or a generally melee focused army. He’s also keeping any cheap ‘speedbump’ units from failing Shock tests with his influence range. It is less ideal for the Hero to charge off on his own, if he dies, you’re losing a lot of synergy that he provides. Keep him up front, but generally with a line of troops between him and the hard hitting enemies.

Harasser - This ranged or ninja type Hero usually has a high ES or gains great benefits from Stealth or Cover in general. These models are best against lone Heros/Exemplars, Elite squads, or any squad that makes few attacks per turn. Their high ES is keeping them safe from everything except Critical Hits. The more attacks made against them in a turn, the more likely the opponent is going to roll a Critical hit. Generally in low armor and low VY, the Harasser can easily lock down slow units by getting in their way, forcing Shock tests, or any number of other tricks in their arsenal, but a full squad of bows, throwing out 20 attacks, will bring the harasser down almost instantly.

These are just vague archetypes, and equally apply to most Exemplars, so when thinking about them, you can refer to these as well.

Exemplar/Adjutant
The Hero archetypes can also apply to the Exemplar, but they also fall into one of three subtypes

Support
This Exemplar is taken for their synergistic abilities, that boost the effectiveness of their squad. Juan of Brisica, or Aquicois Bazaine are better than their squad on an individual basis, but their cost means the abilities they use to benefit their squad are far more important.

Solo
These Exemplars either have a special squad they activate with, like the Wanderers or Experts, or simply work alone, like Pompadour Timmus. These are very much like Brusiers or Harassers, able to dominate a region of the table by themselves, or often get to a location quickly and back whatever needs help.

Protectee
The term is a bit misleading. This is a brusier or hero who would be a juicy target if not for the full squad taking ranged attacks in their place. The Protectee is usually a melee unit, that will tear up the enemy ranks...IF they get there. Here, the models you enlist with it are just brought along as extra VY for the Exemplar.

Troops
The meat and potatoes of your Army. Most of your resources will go towards enlisting and upgrading your squads of troops. Some quick advice before jumping into their archetypes: Enlist a full squad whenever possible. More attacks and more survivability. Once they’re on the table, you can choose to break the squad up if you’re facing an unarmored opponent, but with any unit, a full squad is a better choice, than a half squad of two different troop types.

Elites
I’m using this term here not to represent the squad limit, but to represent any of the heavily armored units, most often also costing 10+ Food to enlist. Higher VY is better on these units, as just from design, they are the ‘scary’ target, the one that receives that instinct to make it dead as quickly as possible. Sand Guard, Samurai, Badgers-at-Claw. Each of these plays a little differently, but they all engender that ‘oh crap’ feeling. Elites are best in melee, getting them there quickly and safely is a task that takes a bit of skill. Rushing into cover, cutting through obscuring terrain, and timing a charge to avoid Counterfire are needed to get them there alive.

Crit Farms
If the Elites are so scary, why do you need to be careful with them? What I call ‘Crit Farms’ are the cheap cannon fodder units, ideally the ones that come with a ranged weapon without needing an upgrade. These models, in full squads, are just ‘growing’ critical hits, relying completely upon a 1/10 chance per attack to hit, instead of their RS value. Ashigaru and Conscripts are the classic ranged Crit Farm. You can also utilize melee version of these, such as Rat Raiders and Devon Brigadiers, but these need to follow the same movement strategies as Elites to get the drop on their target.

Speedbump
This is more a strategy than a particular unit. Taking cheap, or heavily armored units, Speedbumps are placed around objectives, in front of choke points, or anywhere else you are looking to slow down the enemy. Fearsome models make great Speedbumps, especially against Cavalry Charges, able to lock down units that would otherwise just pass right through them. These units in any case are used mostly to keep attackers off your ranged units, especially your Crit Farms, so they can keep their dice rolling.


Fortifications and Siege
Enlisting these into your Army is a choice that often affects how you are designing your army. A melee focused army would need very few of either, except a barricade or trench to hunker down to avoid ranged attacks on turn 1 or 2. In a mixed or ranged focused army, there is a lot more choice. If you take a cannon, not only will you need models to operate it, you may wish to take some to defend it incase an enemy gets close enough to charge. The last thing a gunline needs is a once-friendly cannon turning to cut them down.

Now, those melee defenders need their own defenses, do you take a barricade? The cannon squad gets an ES benefit from it as well, but their attacks are also providing +2 ES to their target. A Trench? Now the cannon squad is unprotected from ranged fire.


My personal army is a Mare Civitas, a Conquistador themed army. 100 Resources, hLVL 5
hLVL 5 Conquistador - Glory R2, Gold R2, Landing Party
5x Civitan Marines (50 FD, 25 LR) - Macuahuitl (Axes) + Pistol
14x Mouse Conscripts (70 GD) - Arquero
6x Mouse Conscripts (30 FD) - Rodelero
4x Mouse Conscripts (20 LR) - Rodelero
4x Mouse Conscripts (Gold R2, Free) - Rodelero
4x Mouse Lancers (20 FD 20 LR)
1x Mouse Lancer (Gold R2, Free)
Juan of Brisica (35 LR)
Cannon (30 GD)

In there I’ve got my elite unit, Civitan Marines, dual wielding Axes and Swords. Its already in Medium Armor, so they’ll be able handle a lot of what comes their way, but thanks to Macuahuitl and 10 Rodelero Conscripts, that elite unit got a lot bigger. With the lower ES, the Marines will drag down the Conscripts a bit, a few more will get hit, but the Conscripts are there to buffer the Marines, taking hits so they can get into combat and wail on things. They’ll be performing Cavalry Charges, so quite a few Conscripts will get lost along the way from any Charge Reactions, but enough will survive the first few combats, to make the unit, as a whole, successful.

Three Arquero will be able to operate the cannon, but not very well. The rest of the Arquero will focus on ranged attacks with bows until the operators go down, and then take up operating the cannon as need be.

With Juan, the Lancers are held in reserve, and act as my harassment unit, either taking burning charge reactions before I perform a cavalry charge, or locking down an exemplar/hero that is cutting into my ranged unit.

Landing Party allows my Conquistador to join the 4 extra Rodelero. As a ‘hero-type’ the Conquistador is getting up there just to use his Glory ability, and ruin the day of some squad hoping to take down the Marines, or the Arquero. This is particularly useful against a Crit Farm, keeping them from getting those critical hits means your armored units are safer.

Q&A

On Topic Questions
Do you try to take a balanced list? or do you intentionally focus on all ranged or all melee?

In a game with heroes, do you prefer taking the tactical/support type, or a frontline fighter?

How much do you worry about the survivability of your heroes? This question is more directed at games where its not a win/lose situation for losing a hero.

How much flexibility do you want/expect in a troop? a hero? unit attachments?

When you make up a character for your hero, or a theme for your army, how much do you let that take control of your army building process?

EG, My Army focuses on a mostly ‘pre-gunpowder’ sort of army, but taking a cannon and pistols helped fill out my army, and provide additional options, so I overrode my theme to take them.

Off Topic Questions
Would you prefer similar discussion on the Endless version of this topic? Or would you prefer a ‘How to deal with X army’ sort of discussion?

Would you like to hear such a ‘How to deal with X army’ discussion on Brushfire?


Loxodon arrived along with the Endless Knight, and once we've got space in the pressure pots, he'll get a mold. This guy is a giant, and will be available as a 'cast on demand' model direct from us.


The great beast is defeated by a number of models used to show scale.


The Lioness doesnt even come up to the height of its leg.


Within this spoiler you will find the horror of what packing and shipping kickstarter orders does to your living room. Also cats.

I love your thoughts this week. I found it very interesting. Its good to know that there are uses for basic/weak infantry in Brushfire.


On Topic Questions
Do you try to take a balanced list? or do you intentionally focus on all ranged or all melee?

Yes, and yes? The longer I play a game the more varied my lists tend to get. I gravitate towards balanced lists, but occasionally mix it up to try to catch my opponents off guard. My “go-to” lists tend to try for balance, with a slight emphasis on ranged firepower and survivability/attrition. Then once in a while I’ll run something completely different and go for all out speed/alpha strike, or whatever.


In a game with heroes, do you prefer taking the tactical/support type, or a frontline fighter?

I definitely prefer support type heroes, or a combination of the two such as a frontline hero that is only slightly above average in combat, but buffs his squad instead of doing all the work himself. I like the concept of exemplars/adjutants in Brushfire like Hassan Kusuuf, or the Cheetah Tracker. I’ve never been a fan of heroes that can take out whole enemy squads by themselves. The uber tough melee monsters have never appealed to me.


How much do you worry about the survivability of your heroes? This question is more directed at games where its not a win/lose situation for losing a hero.

This is not a direct answer to your question, but I tend to avoid games where losing your leader loses you the game automatically. I prefer a game where losing a hero is a detriment but does not spell doom for the rest of your battle plan. If a hero is lost early the remainder of your army should still have a chance to win if played intelligently. I try to keep my key pieces safe, whatever they may be, but stray artillery or assassin/ambush units should have a chance to threaten most hero/character models.


How much flexibility do you want/expect in a troop? a hero? unit attachments?

I gravitate towards armies with highly flexible troop choices. I like my basic units to do a little bit of everything and then use unit upgrades, unit attachments, or elite troops to tip my force in one direction or another. For heroes I really like ones that can do more than one thing well. Looking through the Brushfire heroes today the Dynastic King stood out. At first glance he appears to have excellent survivability, a respectable heroism score, and should be effective in melee.


When you make up a character for your hero, or a theme for your army, how much do you let that take control of your army building process?

I must admit that I don’t get overly concerned with theme, or story when building an army. At most I will regularly include a specific unit or unit/hero combination in all my games to tie my varied lists together. When I play a game regularly I tend to switch up my lists a lot, to try a wide variety of units or options.

Do you try to take a balanced list? or do you intentionally focus on all ranged or all melee?

I find I only realy make Shooty lists, or melee lists supported by shooty.

In a game with heroes, do you prefer taking the tactical/support type, or a frontline fighter?
I like to changer it up in all honesty. I play Aquitar because I want heros who support the troops, I play Ribengue when I want to smash faces.


How much do you worry about the survivability of your heroes? This question is more directed at games where its not a win/lose situation for losing a hero.
I generaly try not to put them into no-win situations since loseing them can be a huge lose to alot of armies. But I'm also willing to put them in situations were they presence might turn a bad situation around.

How much flexibility do you want/expect in a troop? a hero? unit attachments?
I usely prefer the core of my army to be general, with more specialized troops packing a punch.

When you make up a character for your hero, or a theme for your army, how much do you let that take control of your army building process?

I like to come up with Charaters and themes after I build my army. "Why is this army here? Who is leading it? ect". I don't want thows concerns to write me into a corner with my unit choices.

 miskatonicalum wrote:

My personal army is a Mare Civitas, a Conquistador themed army. 100 Resources, hLVL 5
hLVL 5 Conquistador - Glory R2, Gold R2, Landing Party
5x Civitan Marines (50 FD, 25 LR) - Macuahuitl (Axes) + Pistol
14x Mouse Conscripts (70 GD) - Arquero
6x Mouse Conscripts (30 FD) - Rodelero
4x Mouse Conscripts (20 LR) - Rodelero
4x Mouse Conscripts (Gold R2, Free) - Rodelero
4x Mouse Lancers (20 FD 20 LR)
1x Mouse Lancer (Gold R2, Free)
Juan of Brisica (35 LR)
Cannon (30 GD)

Yikes! This force looks like it would be daunting to face. 40 models and a cannon. Most of the lists I've tried to throw together end up with between 15-20 models in 100 resources. I might have to tweak some list ideas and post them up just to compare.

Thanks for the replies guys!

My army is definitely focused on Crit Farms/Speedbumps, with two smaller 'backbones' in the Lancers and Marines. Its unique in that some of the speedbumps go along with the Marines, making them effective against shooty in addition to melee.

As a counter to such a list, you're looking for decent ranged units, such as Mongoose Legionnaires or Bull Regulars. Something that will pretty much always get their shots in, ignore armor, and one-shot kill a conscript. With the Arquero, each dead conscript is two attacks I'm not making. So even the elites, like the Legionnaires are taking out about 5 mice each turn, quickly reducing the amount of havok I'm producing.

I on the other hand like beefed up models, I'm also going mostly with what I own. My Aquitar army is a control army to use a TCG term. I Ambush when I can, and I prevent you from Ambushing as much as possible, and hopefully lockdown a a key piece or two with a Tactician General and his charm ability. Then I prefer solid ranged attacks from my Mongoose and Weasels, forcing you to pick between them... OR the max unit of Badgers with Iron Claws .

Chugoku I'm still figuring out, Ideally I'd like them to run with pikes/pole-axes (one or the other) and crossbows and heaters. But then they start becoming expensive, something that does sort of change for me in 2nd Ed. I also try to stay fluffy with them, preferring to use them as Red Claw. In 1st ed this was easy, but in 2nd edition this became a little more distilled as Red Wu became Chugokan Color Guard, etc... And I still need to figure out what a good weapon combination is.

 miskatonicalum wrote:

My army is definitely focused on Crit Farms/Speedbumps, with two smaller 'backbones' in the Lancers and Marines. Its unique in that some of the speedbumps go along with the Marines, making them effective against shooty in addition to melee.

With that one big central Capi unit, a hero with a powerful tactical action could also really mess with your plans. Taking that main unit out of the equation for a turn or two could be all it takes to turn the tide of battle.

Ok, here is a list I came up with, ignoring most of what I wrote earlier about my usual lists. It is an attempt to make a similar list to Misk's with a large melee-centric center with a bit of support. In building a 100pt list I always seem to end up wanting a couple more points. It is really hard to cover all your bases.

Zabar -

Zabaran Chieftain Lvl4
-Welcome to the jungle: Rank 2
-Rumble in the Jungle: Rank 2

Pride Lioness Lvl1
-Maternal Instinct: Rank 1

10-Shaka Warhogs - 50F/50L/0

10-Shaka Warhogs (Mercs) 0/0/60G

10 Hyena Witchdoctors 50F/0/0

2- Ballista 0/20L/0 for the Hyenas to man

Tariq ibn Ratel 0/0/35G - to join with my chieftain

Pompardour Timmus 0/30L/0

Total- 100G/100L/95G

I'm not completely happy with the list, but the Hogs can be split into 2-3 units until thier numbers are down and they can be combined into one large squad. The Lioness could help man a ballista or try to pick off a few key models.

I'll try to add at least two variantions to the list tonight.

 Galen wrote:
In building a 100pt list I always seem to end up wanting a couple more points. It is really hard to cover all your bases.

I think thats actually why I like playing at that size game. You have to work with what you've got, rather than just trying to fill out your army.

You might find that the Veldt Hounds make a good alternative to the Hyenas to man the ballista with their higher RS. They cost twice as much, but you're getting double the bonus to your rolls.

The available choices to an Endless player may be a little more daunting than a Brushfire player, as there are no factions limiting your range. With the smaller model limit, each choice you make has a lot more impact. Unit Type, Abilities, and Items. Choosing these matters not just for the individual party member, but as well as their companions.

Today I’m going to cover each of the classes and any roles you should consider filling in your party. Depending on space, monsters will be covered.

1C Classes - Best used in a pairs, in early alpha, 1Cs were ‘1/2 C’ meaning you only took them in pairs, compared to the regular 2C classes all being 1C. This mentality remains even if the half crystal concept was dropped.

Adept
A Mage-lite, the current version only has two elemental attacks, but they can easily be taken to cover the gaps of a Sorcerer’s ability selection. Concentrate can restore mana to the low MP model, but requiring 6s to get MP back means its not a guarantee. Consider taking mana potions or solving their low MP another way, such as with a chemist backup, or another model that restores MP.

Setup Ideas
Shield Casters
An alternative use, is to treat them as support units. Mana Shield makes the Adept, essentially, have 7 HP. Combined with Circle Casting, the adept is not casting any spells. Stack several of these Mana Shield Adepts around one that took Ray Arrow, giving them a huge boost to MAG. Just watch out for Line of Sight and AoE attacks.

Learning Adept
For each 2C MAG using model you take, take an Adept. Pair them up, and the Adept expands the list of abilities the 2C model can ‘use’. For the 2C model, give them their passives and/or any spells that use higher MP, so the Adept can focus on casting the low cost spells. An Adept paired with a Cleric is a great way to get more healing spells cast per turn.

Bandit
Somewhere between an Archer and a Thief, the Bandit is great as a support attacker, just getting into the side arc gives flanking, and they can still keep a bit of distance with their Crossbow. Bandits are a great choice to group up if they take Camouflage, keeping them safe from Multi-target attacks. Their low defence encourages filling their ITM with health potions, but you could also treat them as cannon fodder, giving them gloves of striking for a quick boost in attack, just to let them get cut down on turn 2 or 3. Who cares about their henchmen anyway?

Setup Ideas
Procurement Officer
Steal requires no roll to use, making it very easy for a Bandit to ruin a Chemist or other high ITM value model’s day. If you’re opponent took abilities that require an item, such as Improvised Weapon, or Alchemical Bomb, just taking their items is a great way to shut down their abilities.

Blackjack Blackguard
Each bandit gets two uses of Sap, putting a model to sleep for two turns. Though their ATK is low to guarantee a hit, a couple of the cheap Bandits can make sure you lock down an enemy for a while. If you go whole hog, just make sure you get your Saps in when you need them, so your Cleric or Chemist can heal up your damaged models, before your opponent is up and running again.

Squire
The Warrior-lite, the Squire has a number of weaker versions of Knight abilities along with some other support options. If you are taking knights, or other melee focused models, Battlecry is a better option for the Squire than Armor Crack, the -1 DEF from the attack will be drowned out by the better versions taken by Knights, while Battlecry is a great defensive boost for any frontline fighter. If you put the Squire into this type of support position, a mana potion is the best choice to allow two more battlecries. If you’re going for more of an attacking role for the Squire, ring of defense, gloves of striking, or health potions are a better choice.

Setup Ideas
Personal Assistant
Training and Assist provide a great near-permanent Attack or Defense buff to the Squire and the model they are supporting. The buff lasts for two turns, so the Squire can move into an attack position and back without losing the effect. If combined with Unwieldy Strike, the Squire can jump to ATK 5, at the cost of DEF 0. Pairing more than one Squire with a 2C model gives you several ATK 5 models at once, and those 1C models are suddenly fearsome. Of course, don’t forget the 2C model’s bonus, consider choosing a model to assist that does not give itself any beneficial effects, as Training will overwrite any such effect, minimizing the point of this setup.

2C Classes

Archer
This ranged unit has a great selection of passive abilities. If you’re looking for just a straight up basic attack unit, the archer is an excellent choice. Picking between Burning Arrow and Silencing Shot can be a difficult choice. If the rest of your party is lacking in MAG for defense, consider taking Silencing Shot to keep those mages from cutting you down.

Setup Ideas
Objective Runner
Pairing Dodge and Fleet, turns your Archer into a fast moving, 5 DEF objective claimer. Toss in Elven Ancestry, and once you’re on an objective, The Archer will be very difficult to take out, as long as your rerolls are used wisely.

Chemist
For those that prefer a Support/healer that is not mana reliant, the Chemist will be the better selection, over the Cleric. With the high ITM value, you have a lot of options to choose from to make a good healer. Consider taking at least 2 health potions, in case you fail a Last Drop roll. This pairs well with Scrounge to keep the Chemist in items. Flask Belt may seem to make Quick Swig redundant, but they work really well together, helping the Chemist catch up on self-heals if they are getting ganged up on.

Setup Ideas
Mad Bomber
Some chemists just want to watch the world burn. The two discard abilities do not work with Last Drop, so if you plan to make an offensive Chemist, do not bother taking that ability. Scavenge on the other hand works just as well for a support or attack chemist. Magical Concoction can get a great MAG value, if you discard the right item, but should be used in moderation. If you plan to throw down ITM 3 cards, you’ll get two uses out of it, leaving Alchemical Bomb out of the picture, and only two Toxin Clouds, or Mad Mixture left to use. If you’re short on poison, or playing a defensive game, Toxin Cloud is the better use of that MP, but Mad Mixture will give you three turns of and ATK 5 chemist, with great defenses.

Cleric
The go-to healing unit, the Cleric has a huge MP investment. Its best heal requiring 5 out of 8 MP. To keep them going as a healer, Faith is a needed Passive. For use in a support role, It is of less use, as Bless and Holy Shield and Bless require no rolling. Restore is a tough spell to decide on taking, with an ALL MP requiring at least 5 MP to cast, a Holy Feather equipped on another model is generally a better choice. Consider using Restore if you have a party with high HP, as the spell will start the Resurrected model back at full, keeping you from wasting that MP to heal them anyway.

Setup Ideas
Warrior Priest
Pairing Symbol of Numina with Holy Shield gives the Cleric 5 DEF. With Divine Intervention, they can reroll a failed defensive die, making it very difficult to take down the cleric. Casting bless on an ally, the Warrior Priest can be ATTACKED by their ally, getting healed by the Holy Element attacks. The opposite can also hold true, Blessing themselves, and Holy Shield on an ally. This trick takes a turn or two to set up, so consider using it when defending an objective, or some other point when there might be lulls in the battle.

Crusader
As one might expect, the Crusader’s skill set lies somewhere between a Cleric and a Knight. Sacred Relic is an excellent Core ability. Ignoring the Unique limit is perhaps the best part. Prime choices: Instruction Book, provides flexibility to your Crusader; Hero’s Sword, ATK 5 turns the Crusader into a great offensive unit; Wizard’s Staff makes Healing Aura almost a guaranteed success, and helps Warrior Mend turn into a decent heal.

Setup Ideas
Paladin Mage
The Wizard’s Staff also boosts Righteous Wave, Consecrate, and Cry of Devotion. Paired with Numina’s Light, your Crusader is moving around the table as fast as a Teleport Sorcerer with better stats in every case except for MAG. The lack of an element on any of those attacks, ensure the Crusader won’t have to worry about the target’s Blood like the Sorcerer.

Holy Flagellant
Numina’s Light and Hallowed Blade, allow the Crusader to self heal, unlike Warrior Mend which can only target others. Throw in the Hero’s Blade item, and the Crusader is making ATK 5 heals against itself. This is an excellent way to wear down your opponent, who would need to gang up on the Crusader to get through their 5 HP in one round.

Dark Priest
The Synergy provided by most 1C models pairs well with a Dark Priest. Though thematically intended to pair with Risen Warriors, Demonites, or Miasma Thralls, you will find that the Class 1Cs, or Gels work equally well. The Gel Imprint ability spreads Miasma Infusion, forcing your opponent to either burn MP making basic attacks, or other abilities they may not wish to use at that moment.

Setup Ideas
Wicked Healer
Shadow Walk followed by a Profane Touch, allows the Dark Priest to move quickly across the table and heal a target. Though their ATK value is not very high, the low cost and high MP pool allows the Dark Priest to keep healing for a decent time. The Shadow Walk also allows the Dark Priest to support models spread out across the battlefield, moving up to 7 squares when in range of an ally.

Unholy Vampire
Profane Touch also works well at the forefront of an anti-mage role. Piercing, makes sure even the lucky defense roll won’t mean much, and is particularly effective against a Cleric or other model with holy blood, dealing x2 damage. This can be backed up with Drain, which works well against either the same targets as Profane Touch, or against the mundane, low MAG members of your opponent’s party. This only heals a small amount, but can keep the Dark Priest up when other mages would go down.

Dragoon
As the Crusader is part Knight, part Cleric, the Dragoon is part Knight, part Sorcerer. The Dragoon is one of the few models with ATK+MAG commands that are not ALL MP, allowing it to dish out some great damage before burning out. The limited AoE of these abilities reduces their strength, but is a great way to really hurt a few 1C models. Jump may look like the end all command for the Dragoon, but consider that the Dragoon is out of the game for a round. This keeps the Dragoon out of harms way, but focuses your opponent’s attacks on fewer models, along with the Dragoon getting one attack per two turns. Treat it more as a utility to get the Dragoon quickly across the table, and less as the sole use of the model.

Setup Ideas
Mobile Armor
Your dragoon is only sitting at DEF 3 and MOV 3, but with Guardian Strike, Stalwart, and On The Bounce, this warrior can become a speed demon and roll 5 DEF (with extras on a 6) while boost its overall Move to 6. The Dragoon can easily put itself in front of allies, and hold its own, even with only 5 HP. Just watch out for mages.

Lockdown Lancer
Fend Off, Lance Sweep, and Leviathan’s Deluge each provide great opportunities to ruin another model’s day. Against slow movers or bad jumpers, Fend Off can keep them off your allies for a while longer. Lance Sweep flat out stops Melee attackers, and Deluge will shut down mages for a turn, a necessity with the Dragoon’s low relatively low MAG. Taking the three together will give the lancer a good tool set to shut down most any threat, in an AoE no less.

Gunsmith
This ranged unit is one of the more flexible, able to jump to a RNG of 8, do x2 in Melee, or getting a Cone basic attack on the Dwarf variant. Three different No MP status effect dealing commands, and Augment Bullet can keep the status effect up for a long time. These work great in pairs, cover the abilities the other doesn’t, or following up one Gunsmith’s status effect with an Augment bullet from the other. As Covering Fire only has a [1] duration, Augment Bullet will make sure it stays beyond one turn.

Setup Ideas
”I Never asked for this” Augment
With an ATK of 3, the Gunsmith is not a sure bet as a damage dealer, or to even trigger its status effects against an opponent, especially the heavy armored. Consider taking Hero’s Sword on your Gunsmith to give it ATK 4. Now, you could leave it there, and just get a more powerful Gunsmith, or run it with a model that has stronger, shorter duration Status effects, and fire off Augment Bullets after the other model puts something particularly nasty on the target.

Monster Sniper
Dragon Blast and Freeze Volley are great AoEs, but they will flat out wreck any Large Models. Even with only a MAG of 3, lined up right, you’ll get 3 or 4 attacks against a Large Model, if just one of them hits, your Status Effect (Blind or Stop) gets put on them, which are great against particularly bruiser-like baddies. You’ll only get so many attacks, with the Gunsmith’s Low MP, so make them count, make sure to hit as many squares of the Large Model as possible.

Knight
With 5 DEF and 7 HP, the Knight is a great tank unit. With a Mag of 2, any mage is going to tear them up. The Knight needs to pick its battles wisely, but should still take the hits before your weaker models. Ring of Arcane is a great way to protect the Knight right before a bad Spell, or if you plan to use Heroic Beam.

Setup Ideas
Shield Wall
This is similar to the Mobile Armor idea for the Dragoon, but in a far less mobile position. Stalwart and Shield Block give the Knight DEF 8 in the Front Arc with exploding dice. Shield Bash is a great way to stop an enemy, but you’ll give up the extra 2 DEF dice by using it. Consider Weapon Break as a 4th command, reducing the effectiveness of physical opponents. Getting the hang of facing is also a needed skill for this concept. If an opponent gets into your flank, all your bonuses go away on top of them getting a Flanking bonus.

Brave Breaker
Against magical opponents, Your DEF value matters little. This is a perfect time to abuse Brave Strike, bumping your ATK up and maybe knocking out a weaker mage, like the Gel Wizard, or Sorcerer in one go. Heroic Charge will get you across the field faster, reducing the number of attacks the ranged attackers get in before you start brave striking. Mana Break is also effective, cutting the MP out of their diet, before they can cut you to ribbons.

Pugilist
The Pugilist is an alternative to the Knight, for those looking for something with a little more damage dealing and a little less defense. Cross Counter is a great deterrent/retaliation tool to keep the Pugilist safe while fighting. This of course is neutralized by ranged attacks. Pugilists need to stay close to their target, or focus on other melee units.

Setup Ideas
Drinking Master
With a bit of tweaking, the Pugilist can make a great tank and be very self reliant. Arrow Catch plus Bob and Weave gives the Pugilist a DEF 5 x2. This of course locks up the Pugilist, and your opponent could choose to ignore you, unless the Pugilist is claiming an objective! Tossing in a use of ‘Nother Round every once in awhile can heal, over the course of the game, 12 HP to the Pugilist.

Rhapsodist
Here we have the very definition of a support class. What songs you select for the Rhapsodist should be determined by the rest of your party. If your party is low in MAG or other ways to defend against MP commands, Out of Tune is a must to stop any mages. Did you build a defensive party? Pyrotechnics can wear down your enemies as they wail uselessly against your high DEF units. Taking Characters or other 3C+ models? Encore can make a powerful unit even more devastating.

Setup Ideas
Acoustic Axe
With a low ATK, Kabong can simply burn MP, unlike the AoE Songs which hedge their bets by attacking multiple targets. To help this along, bring a 1C model up next to the Rhapsodist, and take Accompaniment. Now at ATK 4, Kabong will put Stop on the target and keep them there. The Rhapsodist has now shut down a melee model. Of course, the Rhapsodist can no longer use any Bardic Songs, or the effect goes away. Your Rhapsodist has now become a mediocre Melee unit, using basic attacks only. Of couse, if the target gets free, or is taken out, El Kabo-err, the Rhapsodist will be ready to strike again.

Rune Fencer
Runeblade and Riposte are great tools to discourage your enemy from attacking the Rune Fencer. Throw in Wizard’s Rune, and the Fencer has little to fear from mages. As a foil to the Dragoon’s ATK+MAG commands, the Fencer’s is cheaper, but hits fewer targets. Providing more flexibility, Healer’s Rune is a great cost effective healing spell, but its limited range, means the Rune Fencer will mostly use it on itself.

Setup Ideas
Not Today, Death
Combine Riposte, Main Gauche, Healer’s Rune and Water Dancer. Alternating use of Water Dancer and Healer’s Rune, keeps the Rune Fencer topped up in HP, running around with a 6 DEF, and still getting to throw out melee attacks. Healer’s Rune can also be swapped for Lunge to get 10 squares of movement in a turn, and close the distance on your opponent. Toss in the Piercing effect, and the ATK 3 basic attack has a better chance of hitting even high DEF foes.

Sorcerer
The most flexible mage unit, a Sorcerer has the most options for Elemental attacks. When playing blind, select one spell per elemental axis. If you’re fighting all Air foes, and you took just Air Elements, you’d be in trouble, but one air and one fire at least ensures the Sorcerer will use their full MAG value with the first spell. The low DEF and HP means the Sorcerer is a juicy target throughout the fight. Taking Teleport will allow the Sorcerer to keep their distance with little hassle.

Setup Ideas
Synergymancer
With no MP regeneration and an entire command list consisting of MP using abilities, the Sorcerer is in desperate need of Mana potions, but the low ITM gives them only 2 potions; or they need back up in some form to survive. This is especially true in long battles. Adepts provide a great pool of mana utilize. The Sorcerer can use Earth Armor to protect the Adepts, or Ice Blast to take down anything harassing them. Just be careful with the multi-target commands, both those cast by your party, and those targeting you. The Adepts’ command list shrinks drastically if they have to move away from the Sorcerer, but it’s a better option than getting nuked.

Summoner
The basic design of the Summoner’s command list encourages only choosing one Summon, and taking the other support commands with it. Of course, doing so makes it very difficult if the Element you chose is rebuffed by your opponent’s selection. To avoid that fate, you’ll have to pick 2 of the support commands, and 2 of the summons. Like the Sorcerer, you may want to pick unrelated Elements instead of two sides of the same coin.

This results in, essentially two setups for the Summoner, regardless of element selection:
Twin Evoker
Attuned Call and Demonite Blast pair augment your Summoner, providing a decent ranged attack with no MP cost. If you’re lucky, one of your chosen Summons will result in some MAG bonuses against your enemy’s party for Demonite Blast, garnering either a MAG 6 attack, or MAG 4 x2.

Master of Monsters
Charged Spell and Arcane Focus make the Summoner rely almost entirely upon their Summon. A casting of Arcane focus or two will allow the Summoner to forget the duration of their monster, and Charged Spell puts the creature out in front of the Summoner, providing some quick movement toward the enemy, or buffer range between the Summoner and the enemy.

Thief
Backstab is a great ability that defines the Thief through and through. Paired with Stealth, the Thief doesn’t need to worry about their own Facing Arcs when flanking their target. Thieves are great to take out weaker opponents, especially those with lower DEF. If the Thief is going to be near enemy’s with high MAG, but not deal with them quickly, Con Artist will provide some survivability to the low MAG Thief.

Setup Ideas
Assassin
When dealing with several weak enemies, hitting each with a Toxic Blade before going in for the final kill. Bringing along Fleet will let the Thief chase down stragglers or those running in fear. Cunning will make sure that final attack will be a killing blow. Against stronger MAG opponents, Con Artist is a must, or a Ring of the Arcane if you prefer a different command.

Harasser
Like the Bandit, the Thief can shut down models using Skull Crack causing Sleep, or disable a Chemist or other item user with Mug, but dealing damage. Unlike the Bandit, Skull Crack doesn’t require MP, and Mug allows the Thief to use the item at a later time. Copy Command goes well with these, turning an opponent’s commands back at them.


Wow, got through all the Classes, but it looks like Monsters and Characters will have to wait for another time.

On Topic Questions
When your army/party makeup is forced to make choices about what to leave behind, what do you sacrifice? Ranged? Support? Heavy hitters?

Do you prefer models with high mobility or long range?

Once you’ve found an army/party list you like, do you stick with it, or continue to experiment? When you experiment, do you start from scratch or just tweak your original list?

Off Topic Questions
We’ve just announced a Digest version of the Brushfire Second Edition rules, compact with just the rules. This is not a Question, I just felt like mentioning it.

Also, here are some pictures of the prerelease Endless books along with some great art by Heath!

When your army/party makeup is forced to make choices about what to leave behind, what do you sacrifice? Ranged? Support? Heavy hitters?

I try to leave ranged behind, there are so many ways to cross the board in this game that I feel as if something has to go, it is going to be dedicated non-magical range. Granted, without a "melee" range, ranged can be good because you never have to worry about hitting your own models, unless you've got an AoE. I feel like you need to construct an Endless party similarly to how someone might construct a DnD party. At least that has always been my though process behind party building. During early playtesting last summer, I took a balanced party of like 10 models. My opponent took 6 sorcerers and a few extra pieces. He obliterated me during that game. Now before people start wondering, "Well why don't you guys have a class limit?" When I was playtesting at that point, Magic abilities exploded on 6s. So if you took 5 or 6 dice and rolled three 6s, chances were what ever you just attacked, was just decimated. It was rough. Thankfully that was a concern I brought up, and just removing the exploding 6s meant that a party of all sorcerers wasn't as viable as they had been. Glass cannons had never been more apt a name for them, as the remaining models I had wiped the board with them.

Do you prefer models with high mobility or long range?

I prefer mobility. I think moving around on the board is beneficial to a player because it allows you to set up for flanks, etc... With that being said, my own personal favorite model in the game has the longest range, so I can't be completely for high mobility

Once you’ve found an army/party list you like, do you stick with it, or continue to experiment? When you experiment, do you start from scratch or just tweak your original list?

I stick with it in so much that I have something to fall back on, I may change abilities or try new things, but once I find something I like, I stick with it

I love the item shop artwork. It makes me think of the plucky shopkeeper from Azure Dreams (a fairly obscure video game reference.)


When your army/party makeup is forced to make choices about what to leave behind, what do you sacrifice? Ranged? Support? Heavy hitters?

If I had to pick one I’d say heavy hitters get the boot first. In reality, when resources are limited I drop the ‘dedicated’ units first. Dedicated melee, dedicated ranged, dedicated support, if they can’t do something else at least half well they aren’t staying in my list. For better or worse I choose versatility/utility over pure offense/defense. I’ll try to keep the battlefield under control and slowly whittle away the enemy if that’s what it takes.

In Endless I look for units with both ATK and MAG offensive commands and the ability to apply status effects, such as the Gunsmith, Dragoon, or Crusader. I have a mental checklist of things I want my party to be able to do and if I have fewer models each one needs to do a wider variety of things.

Do you prefer models with high mobility or long range?

I look at both and take whichever of the two has the highest survivability. I default to long range, because in most games mobility units are glass cannons and crumple at the first focused attack. EFT, on the other hand, has some really durable mobile options such as the Pugilist and the Barghest with certain Command options.
When in doubt you can always go for both Mobility and Long Range. The Archer, and many Sorcerers I’ve seen, have both above average mobility, solid range, and high power attacks. These models will almost always get the first strike and make it count.


Once you’ve found an army/party list you like, do you stick with it, or continue to experiment? When you experiment, do you start from scratch or just tweak your original list?

I continue to experiment ad nauseam. I will often throw out my lists and start over. I challenge myself to use a specific model or combo just to see if I can make it work. I will stick with or tweak a list when I don’t feel like I got the full potential out of the list. Once I’ve succeeded with a list a few times I will set it aside and move onto something new.

Here are more of my thoughts on party building


Endless Party Building –
I don’t know why, maybe it’s because I obviously can’t take everything I want, maybe it’s that I don’t feel like I can ever screw things up that badly, but building a party in Endless has never felt particularly daunting. I think the process is fairly forgiving, and that poor party composition will rarely ruin the battle. The best advice I can give is “have a plan.” Know how you want your party to perform before battle. Know which of your models is going to deal with enemy MAG units, and which will be taking objectives. Are you planning on keeping your party close together or splitting into 2-3 smaller clumps? This might seem daunting at first, but much of it just takes a little game experience to figure out.


Party composition is only one part of the equation in Endless. Picking Commands and Items for each of your models is the other. I am going to demonstrate my thought process by using the Archer class and going through some of the builds I have come up with and why I make the choices I do. Similar to Misk above, I like to name my various class builds. Here are three Archer builds that I have played around with.

Sniper
Overview: built for extra long range combat. The goal is to hit the enemy before they hit you, be able to choose your targets, and possibly avoid enemy reprisal. Use Arcane Arrow as soon as possible on the most vulnerable enemy and then use items and basic attacks to recharge MP as quickly as possible for another powerful shot.

Key Commands:
-Arcane Arrow: This is one of the longest range powers in EFT. Combined with the archer’s excellent base speed this command allows you to threaten enemy models in their own deployment zone turn 1. The only downside is that being an ATT+MAG command it allows the target to use either DEF or MAG for a defensive roll. This means you gain little to no benefit using Arcane Arrow over a basic attack against MAG heavy models such as the sorcerer or gel wizard.

-Elven Ancestry: MP recovery is key to being able to get multiple uses of Arcane Arrow during a battle. With Elven Ancestry and an ally feeding you mana potions you have the potential for an Arcane Arrow every other turn.

Recommended Commands:
-Precise – If everything goes according to plan your sniper will be making basic attacks at least every other round. Why not get a bonus ATK die while you are at it?

-Camouflage/Dodge/Fleet: To round out the sniper’s command choices I would recommend sticking with the options that don’t use up MP. Your Arcane Arrow will drain all your MP, restricting your ability to use other MP cost commands.

Recommended items:
-Sky Crystal Sliver/Vial of miasma: Regaining MP without spending your turn is important for the sniper build. The sky crystal has the added benefit of adding one die to your already potent Arcane Arrow shot.

Mage Hunter.
Overview: This archer is built as a mid ranged shooter that focuses on neutralizing high MP enemy threats. Are you worried about that enemy Sorcerer, or Dragoon closing in on your party with its All MP command? How about that cleric supporting the enemy troops? Well the Mage Hunter is here to keep them from giving you trouble, at least long enough for the rest of your party to finish the job.

Key Commands:
-Silencing Shot: For many models silence restricts them to only basic attacks. This completely shuts down most high MAG classes. Check your opponents cards. Even melee classes like Crusader, and Dragoon can be built to heavily favor MP commands and therefore become excellent targets for your silencing shot.. At 1 MP a piece, you get 5 silencing shots in a battle will keep you going for a good while.

Tactical Note: Just a reminder, Silencing shot is unnecessary against an enemy at 1 HP because silence won’t mean much when their dead, so save your MP against any heavily damaged enemies.

-Camouflage: If your archer misses a shot there is a good chance that spellcaster will want to retaliate. Camo and a properly placed 1C ally can help restrict the enemy’s options against your hunter.

Other Commands: I would avoid choosing many more MP cost commands as there should always be something on the board worth silencing. Volley is always good for the flexibility it gets you. Precise and fleet are always get options, but I wouldn’t bother with elven ancestry.

Recommended Items:
-Soldier’s Boots/Bottle of Wind: Specifically for anti-sorcerer duty, these items help you get the first strike. A teleporting sorcerer with soldier boots has a 10 square threat range on their Deep Freeze/Fireball AOEs. These items give you an 11+ square threat range. Casters beware!

-Gloves of Striking: If you don’t feel the need for speed and aren’t giving this to another model it will help make sure you can consistently apply your status effect when you really need it.

Scout
Overview: Mobility, Mobility, Mobility. Being able to move to where you are needed during a battle is important and the scout is built to allow the archer to adapt to ongoing battle conditions. A number of scenarios require models to be in the right place. When in doubt rely on a scout to get wherever you need a model to be. Don’t be afraid to draw enemy fire.

Key powers:
-Fleet: There are plenty of fun tricks you can do with this command. You can start your archer far to one side of the board and effectively redeploy turn one with that massive movement. Run down a far flank to try to split the enemy’s party. Later in the game you can charge your scout across the enemy lines to get flanking shots, or goad the enemy into turning around to deal with the archer and leaving its rear exposed to the rest of your party.

-Dodge: The scout will often be on its own, out of range of healing/potion support. Dodge gives the archer more survivability. If you are using fleet you are already rolling 5 DEF dice and those rerolls can make you very resilient to ATK commands.

Other Powers: The scout can be a viable build without any MP cost commands, but Volley, and Burning Arrow can add a little more punch to your flanking threat. Precise is tempting especially the turn after a fleet move when you found a good position.

Recommended Items:
-Healing Potion X2: The scout tends to play further away from the rest of your party, so including a healing option is always good. In a pinch the scouts natural speed might allow it to get healing potions to your other key models.
-Soldier’s boots: this might be over kill, but being able to move 12 squares in one turn with fleet is amusing if nothing else.



Automatically Appended Next Post:
Basic Archer Thoughts:
I would avoid taking more than one of Scavenge, Volley, and Arcane Arrow. They each take over half your MP to use, so you can't using more than one of these commands without some sort of MP recovery. This is something important to watch with every class. Taking multiple high MP commands quickly restricts your choices as a battle goes on. Balance versatility with MP cost when choosing commands and be aware of what combinations of commands you can use before running out of MP.

Whoa, Lox is a big lad. Will you be painting one up for pictures? I'm really interested in what the detail is like and how he looks built.

 Casey's Law wrote:
Whoa, Lox is a big lad. Will you be painting one up for pictures? I'm really interested in what the detail is like and how he looks built.

I plan on handing one to Gavin Throne after Gen Con to paint up for us. I was hoping to have it done before the show, but I haven't had the time to make its molds just yet. (Endless has priority)

That's a great overview Galen! Thanks for putting the effort into sharing it.

I would also like to let everyone know, I will not be posting a Visiting Hours this week or next. Gencon prep-work and getting orders out for Endless are keeping us busy.

The Visiting Hours will start back up on the 24th.

 Cyporiean wrote:

 Casey's Law wrote:
Whoa, Lox is a big lad. Will you be painting one up for pictures? I'm really interested in what the detail is like and how he looks built.

I plan on handing one to Gavin Throne after Gen Con to paint up for us. I was hoping to have it done before the show, but I haven't had the time to make its molds just yet. (Endless has priority)

Fair enough, I look forward to it. A few unpainted shots would be welcome too, I'd like to get an idea of the stance as the art gave me a very strong image of it in my mind.

Can you talk about assaults, walls, gates and towers in Brushfire next time? I can't figure out what is the design thinking behind them.

Assault is too easy to perform, the wall, the gate and the tower gives different bonuses for being in the top of them, they are not defendable positions at all, and there are other weird things.

We're taking a slight vacation this week and have nothing but semi-crappy cellular Internet... So no visiting hours this week. Matt will do and extra large one next week.

Hey folks, sorry about the intermission, Gencon blew our expectations away, and we’ve been spending the last week recovering, both physically and in getting stock so we can finish shipping Endless Kickstarters, and have something to sell at The Warstore Weekend.

I’ve had Siege and Fortification brought up a few times over the course of the BF v2 beta period, and I thought I would discuss my thoughts on their purpose, and interesting ways to use them, along with special rules from troops/armies that can redefine your strategy.

Fortifications
Fortifications allow players to create defenses for their ranged units, choke points for melee units or a delaying feature to keep the enemy out of your table half. If you’re playing on a table with little terrain, Fortifications can be a great investment to help your melee units get up the field without taking fire.

As part of game setup, players alternate placing a single regular terrain piece. When someone says ‘pass’, their opponent only gets to place one additional piece before the game starts. This forces players to not simply rely upon terrain placed during this process, and consider investing in Fortifications to provide guaranteed defenses.

Off the bat, Fortifications are not as good as their terrain equivalents, and unless you’re Zabar, you are not placing additional water terrain on the table at all. But this is offset by the fact that you never have to worry about not having the fortifications you enlisted, and your opponent is only getting an equivalent number if they also invested their resources the same way.

Picking the right fortifications for your army can be difficult. Your army’s make up really determines which are most useful for you:

Barricade: As obscuring terrain, and providing an AR bonus that stacks, Barricades are great for your Melee units moving up the field. The extra AR will help soften the blow from weaker units, and are flexible in cost, allowing you to take a number of them to defend yourself. A siege attack or two could put a gap in your path, but your opponent should probably have bigger fish to fry.

Burrow Marker: For Aquitar, or any Ambush focused army, one or two burrow markers are an excellent choice to avoid disastrous deviation results. Give the Burrow Marker to the model with the highest TS that you plan on ambushing near your opponent, otherwise other units may ambush before your Burrow Marker does, making the point moot.

Castle Gate: Each of the Castle parts was designed to allow creating a complete castle, or the cross-section of one for playing out siege scenarios, but each part was designed to be useful outside such situations or in an incomplete fashion. Gates allow your models to move through, while stopping your opponent, and unlike any other fortification, can make attacks if upgraded with Oil. Placed at the right position on a field, say in front of an objective, Your opponent is either forced to move around it, or waste a turn or two assaulting it to move over it. The 1 AR shield that doesn’t stack, is not amazing, but for models in light armor trying to weather a siege attack, it can make a big difference.

Castle Tower: Allowing siege weapons to be placed ahead of your troops, and providing RS/ES bonuses to models on top, makes it actually better than a hill terrain. Additionally, as your opponent requires a Siege Tower to assault it, you’re in no danger of losing your Siege Weapons to the enemy in an early turn. The high Lumber cost discourages you from taking too many of them, but deploying them in the right position can provide a perfect line of sight to your enemy’s deployment zone, vital objectives, or nasty choke points.

Castle Wall: This fortification is also a hefty investment, but its bonus is well worth it if you are playing an army with low AR values. A non-stacking 3 AR Shield will transform your weak Crit Farms into dug in, heavily armored artillery. Only bother placing ranged units on the castle wall if you are relying on this benefit, as it is lost in an Assault. With their cost as high in gold as the Tower’s in lumber, Walls are a less flexible investment, and you’ll need three for any horde unit to occupy them. But 30 Gold vs the 5 GD or LR per model to upgrade to Medium Armor, which still won’t protect you against Siege? The choice comes down to flexibility vs value. A tough decision.

Trench: The ranged version of the Barricade, the Trench provides an ES bonus instead of armor, great for your assassins or ninja to guarantee they don’t take those hits that could one shot them. As they can be linked like Castle parts, a Trench could carry your high ES models right up to the front lines, or models like the Badger-At-Claw, who are not going to make a ranged attack ever. Like the barricades, the low VY means Trenches could destroyed easily by Siege, leaving gaps in your defenses, and Siege Weapons that do not target can still deal damage to models hiding in a trench, so watch out for those heavy hits!

Siege Weapons
Similarly to Fortifications, Siege Weapons have had a bit of a mix up with V2, including cost changes, rule changes, and many of the Army Siege weapon rules being changed to allow for interesting customization. As the special rules can send the concept for a loop, I’ll just by writing about how the basic siege can affect play:

Cannon: The most effective siege weapon out of the gate, The cannon hits for 4 DE, knocking out most small units, before doing an additional 1 DE, Ignores Body Armor, for another 6+ inches. If not necessarily killing heavy armored units, its an effective way to hit from up to 45” away. Against Castle Gates, cannons are slowed by the Shield AR, a Ram is a better choice to knock it open.

Ballista: The Ballista is a cheap way to get Siege on the table, and only requires 2 models to operate. Hitting the same target twice will ensure you do at least 1 DE to even the most heavily armored/shield laden foe. With this cheap Siege weapon, you’re not looking to to take down Fortifications, simply to get some damage against tougher foes or a conveient pack of low VY targets, and with only a 10 lumber cost, you won’t be too upset when their position gets overrun.

Trebuchet: With 1-2 Deviation rolls on attacks over 25”, the Trebuchet is best against large groups, or large targets, like 120mm units or fortifications. With the ability to select different ammo, your options are much wider, so lets break them down:
Rocks - Less damage than the boulder, but throwing out three templates lets the Rock ammo cover a wider area, hitting hordes or any widely spaced army. As you’re throwing out a total of 6 DE, Rocks can also be used against Fortification, but the deviation never gives you a guaranteed punch.
Boulder - This is your main Anti-fortification option. 4 DE will take down a Barricade or Trench in two Hits, or Castle Tower/Walls in 4. The Deviation is easily negated by the large template size, and the size of your intended target.
Corpse - Tossing out Shock Tests is a great way to stall enemies nearly upon you. With only a TD of 10, do not bother using this against enemies near your opponent’s heroes. Flanking units or stragglers can easily get tied up if they roll badly. To avoid problems with your own units downfield, try using Corpses within the 0-25” range, to avoid deviations shocking your own troops.

Siege Tower: For V2 we wrote up full Garrison rules to line up with the concepts set down by the Siege Tower in edition 1. Far more expensive than a Ladder, the Siege tower is a mobile fortification, much like the mantlet to follow. The drawback is that the Tower requires models outside it to move it up the field. Though it blocks line of sight, as you get closer to your opponent’s fortifications, these operating models will come into view at step angles, consider placing heavy models as operators, their combat stats are unimportant, only their top Speed.

Mantlet: A cheaper alternative to the Tower for moving up the field, but a more expensive defensive option than Barricades or Trenches. With their high AR value, only Boulders or Ballista are a threat, and only over multiple turns/attacks. The model behind it, is likely to die first, if the Mantlet comes under fire from template attacks. Deciding when to jump out from behind the Mantlet and make the final charge is a tough decision, but Mantlets can also be used for units with Tactical/Heroic Actions, protecting them as they move into line of sight with their targets.

Ladder: For those that cannot take Climbing Claws, Ladders are a clumsy alternative, but far cheaper than Siege Towers. The Low VY/AR of the Ladder means you will want to take several to get them across the field intact. The slow pace they are carried means Ladders are best carried by fast units. Using them to create paths across water is also an option, but not one that should be expected when enlisting your army.

Siege Ram: With 5 AR Shield, the Siege Ram is one of the most defensible objects you can enlist. Even a Boulder is going to leave no impact on it. Your operators on the other hand...The Armored Upgrade is a great option to reduce the need to rotate fresh operators onto the Ram and the Wheeled Upgrade will shorten the time needed to get some licks in. The Reinforced Ram is only necessary if you are operating the Ram with low MS units. A couple Badgers or other 5-6 MS models, will be doing over 20 Damage to fortifications. Though riskier to use than a Trebuchet, the Siege Ram will have no trouble destroying fortifications once it gets up field.


Siege Special Rules
Aquitar - Distilling the Solanum Toxin from Potatoes has allowed Aquitar to create S.T. Shells. These provide Aquitar with a Poison attack and equivalent damage to a regular cannon with a larger template. Overall a great upgrade, if you don’t mind being a war criminal.
Burrows - Also note that Aquitar gets a free Burrow as per their Army Rule. Placing it with a Tactician General will guarantee the rest of your army can ambush from it, but might place your TG out in the open for a turn, and one of the only targets on the table.

Axony - Axon Efficiency has translated into Axon Howitzers in V2. Though the damage has been reduced by 1 for the cannon template, you’re now pumping out 2 attacks per activation. Great for spreading the damage around, or pushing past the Shield AR of a particularly defensive hero or Castle Gate.

Chugoku - Traction Catapults are smaller than normal trebuchet/catapults, but reload faster, allowing Chugoku sieges to send a lot of destruction downfield. Unfortunately these smaller catapults cannot fire the heavy stuff, but Making two rock attacks will easily make up for losing the Boulder option.

Civitas - Bane of Jaguero represents weaponized tar extracted from pits in New Civitas, slung across the battlefield by your Trebuchets. Great for creating choke points of smothering models trying to reach an objective. Against 1 VY models, your opponent is pretty much forced to keep the effect on their units as removing the effect would kill them.

Ribenguo - Free mantlets provide great defenses for your Samurai or other melee focused units, and the reduced cost encourages taking more of them. Just don’t forget that other Siege Weapons are needed to take down the heavy fortifications or heroes.

Scyzantium - Not as big a change as other armies, but the +2 RS really encourages taking entire batteries of cannon or trebuchet. Even a handful of Mammaluke making 3 RS attacks with ballistae is not a bad option. Far supperior to their mighty rock.

Vandalands - Ah, the Battle Ball, part hilarity, part horror. The altered rule no longer requires your squad to be sitting next to the trebuchet, you hold them in reserve, keeping them safe from attacks. This is an excellent way to get your hamsters downfield, and softens up your targets. As they ambush following the attack, your Hamster squad will get the drop on your opponent as well. Just don’t aim too far, or the extra deviation rolls could ruin you.

Zabar - The poisonous spore, a horrid fungus turned into a terrible, infectious weapon. Using the Spore can create artificial choke points, discouraging your opponent from moving through the area to avoid the -2 penalty. Of course, once they’re infected, they can purposefully spread it to your troops when they die. Make sure you kill any infected long before they reach you, or you’ll be suffering the same fate.


I hope everyone is enjoying the changes that have been made for V2, we’re very happy to finally be at the point where we can get a digest version of the rules out to new and old players alike. To tide you over till next week, here are some sneak peaks of a few new items coming from OTL.
Spoilers for huge images:
WIP Renders for Plastic Ashigaru Kits, render by Bob Naismith.



New Art for Endless of Alfindrate the Low Elf Ranger, design by Heath Foley

I have several problems with the siege play of Brushfire. I apologize if this sounds like mean or insulting. I indeed want to point out the ridiculousness of the siege play but I do not intend to insult anyone.

What are the rules of leaving an assault terrain? I suppose going down from an assault terrain is just normal movement.

An empty wall doesn't really stops anyone. I would think it should be easier to go around a piece of wall than climbing trough it, but that is not really true. Since the walls are neutral pieces and climbing up has no restrictions, assaulting an empty wall piece is more favorable than going around it even if it's just stands in the middle of nowhere. A unit moving trough a wall can end it's activation on the wall piece and gain extra armor while it is off-turn and continue next activation. it's much more better than stopping next to the wall piece or front of it.

Unless the wall is full, it doesn't stops anyone who is interested of things behind that wall. I can completely ignore that few under-equipped models(noone is going to put his heroes to guard walls) if my elite well-armored troops have business in the other side. Even if it's full, I just hack space on it and because the wall is narrow, the assaulting group will be hit by two attacks from either side from units that suck at melee because they are primarily ranged. And gain armor against the rest of it while my units are on the wall piece.

Since Assaulting is now not a Melee phase and Assault is not a charge, units on the top of the wall are trapped and cannot react because they are not being charged, they cannot even flee from the wall when Valkyrs climbing up and start making a mess.

On the other hand, towers are now immune to assault, so there is no way you can move your units to your tower unless you also have a siege tower. No? (As far as I know you have to assault your own walls and towers to get up) You can deploy five units at the beginning of the game to the tower -if you can -, but if you would like to move more troops up later... Which means a tower only ever going to work as a solitary piece if it is on your deployment zone. If it is part of a wall, well, you can climb from wall to tower without penalty and you can generally ignore the walls anyway. So putting a wall next to it is like giving stairs to the enemy.

Gates are also weird. First, they are by far the most powerful defensive pieces -which is really funny in it's own way because those are usually the weakest part of a wall- and they are also useless. You can move your own units trough a gate at least. Well, this looks useful, but if you are moving units in your castle, that means you are fleeing. When you have five turns to act - as in this game you usually have that many - fleeing is a really bad idea. You either never going to use it or you are using it to flee from the enemy, hence you are loosing. Your walls will not help on that either. But the 2 inch area of your gate will be a safe zone because if someone has to get into your fort he will sooner start siege ramming the walls than touch the gate because of the burning oil. No unit will go near fire unless it's immune to it. That is a total of five units in the Historia Rodentia book. And also, you don't have to destroy the walls, you make normal attacks against units in the wall. Like there where no wall there at all.

And why is it that the wall the gate and the tower give different bonuses? The gate and the wall doesn't have the same battlements? The tower doesn't have battlements at all? The top of a wall is not an elevated position to grant RS to ranged attackers?

Remember that there are other fortifications other than the Castle parts, those are intended to be linked together creating larger portions, not simply individual 2x6 sections. If you are not intending to invest heavily in fortifications, barricades or trenches are a better option.

An empty wall 'stops' models in the sense that they have to spend a turn moving all of 2 inches onto the wall, then on the next turn end their movement in B2B with it. (last line of Assault Terrain definition) So those models are wasting 2 turns going through instead of going around. This is where having multiple castle parts really slows down the enemy.

On the other hand, each castle part can only hold 5 models, squads above five trying to assault a castle will take damage to the stragglers who cannot make it onto the wall, this also discourages simply assaulting through instead of moving around.

Assaults are supposed to trigger Charge Reactions, It was in one of the defiintions but got lost, It'll go in before the digest goes to print.

Towers are immune to assault from ENEMY models, they must use a siege tower, destroy it, or move onto it from a linked terrain. Your models may assault it without issue.

For Castle Gates, remember that fortifications may be placed anywhere on your table half not just deployment zone. If you've invested in fortifications, your castle parts can take up a large portion of the table, and being able to move back and forth without wasting two turns assaulting terrain is really helpful. If an enemy ambushed inside your castle grounds, near an objective say, getting someone back there to stop them could change who wins the game.

The castle parts are abstract, in the real world, yes Gates and Towers would have the same bonuses as walls, but if we gave them the wall's bonus, we would need to increase the cost of Gates and Towers to compensate. As the Castle parts are already a heavy investment, increasing their cost further would make walls the only part worth taking, they'd be longer than towers, cheaper than either, provide a great shield bonus, So the benefits become a choice, are you taking siege and need that extra bonus? take a tower, it'll never get taken over and can start up field. Taking a highly mobile army? A gate will let you move through an area and make attacks at anyone who tries to chase you! Making the enemy come to you as you rain hell down on them? Walls. Taking a bit of everything? Mix it up.

Many things in Brushfire are 'weird' and it comes down to keep the rules simple so you can get on with playing the game.

This means gates and towers have team colors. I think you cannot take over a tower or a gate then?

What if I want to put a tower to the middle of the map that is not part of either army?

You can go up a wall wile fighting defenders only by the cost of your charge, but you have to sacrifice your movement to get down? This will still make walls useless against units with ranged and melee capabilities(like sky marines), as they can move into b2b with the wall, unleash a ranged phase to the defenders, assault the rest, and then they have unblocked view on whatever is beyond it. The wall only block them for one turn.

But I still don't get why the gate is stronger than the wall.

You cannot 'take over', changing the 'assault restriction' or 'pass through the gate' benefits to your side, but you still get the AR and RS/ES bonuses.

If you're putting a tower down by enlisting it as part of your army, it's yours. If you're putting a tower down as a terrain piece, than both sides are treated as 'the enemy', I suppose. Placing fortifications as terrain pieces is not really in the rules, but the final decision on something like that would be left to the players or TO.

Assaulting is only at the cost of your movement in the sense that your movement phase can get cut short by ending in B2B. If on the previous turn you ended at...2" from the wall, you only get to move 2", end your move, and then assault. Not a lot of movement gain. Unless your full movement brings you EXACTLY to the the wall you are still losing a portion of momentum having to go through the wall.

They have an unblocked view, but I was referring to the 2 turn slow down being movement. Yes ranged units are only 'slowed' for shooting purposes for one turn. IF you're trying to claim an objective, or put warm bodies between your weak hero and a gang of badgers, that extra turn getting down can make a big difference.

If by stronger you mean the VY/AR stats, Gates have 10 AR 2 AR shield, but only 10 VY. Walls have 10 AR and 15 VY. The difference is minor. Attacks that ignore all armor will take down a gate faster than the wall, or squads stacking attacks regular/ignore body armor attacks will take down the gate an attack or two before they would level a wall.

In my mind, the Gate is representing a reinforced gate/portcullis combination. Something that might delay siege attacks simply by being double layered, but will still go down when attacked by enemy troops.

I was referring to the burning oil. That mostly means the gate is immune to assault or attack.

I haven't seen many games that let you buy fortifications. It is a neat option since cannons and the like are all over wargaming.

I went through some of my minis just to see what I could come up with for siege weapons: 2 Cannons, 4 ballista, 5 Trebuchet/Catapults, from 8 separate armies in 6 different games. I feel like an old gamer now When I first looked over Brushfire I really glossed over the fortification/siege rules, but now I would absolutely keep them in mind during army creation.

The mantlet, trenches, siege tower, and barricades all sound like fun, but I don't know any good ways to represent them on the board. I guess just cut up card works to designate trenches. Barricades can be built or purchased from some minis companies. Has anyone come up with creative ideas for modeling these?

 Galen wrote:

The mantlet, trenches, siege tower, and barricades all sound like fun, but I don't know any good ways to represent them on the board. I guess just cut up card works to designate trenches. Barricades can be built or purchased from some minis companies. Has anyone come up with creative ideas for modeling these?

Lockark made a great list of companies that make these various things:

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/539463.page