Battle Brothers Tactics

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Battle Brothers
Setting: Grimdark Future
Games: Grimdark Future,
Grimdark Future: Firefight
Species: Human
Version: v2.50

Note: as v2.50 is in constant development the following might not be accurate.

Why Play Battle Brothers

The battle brothers are a very powerful army that offers few weaknesses. Each member is resilient and has access to plenty of weapons to cover any situation. Each of them can be relied on to pull off their assigned role without issue.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

  • Heavily armored. Outside of your Pathfinders, your troops have universal Defense 3+. All of your units are pretty tough to crack and you can make them even tougher by giving most of them Regeneration, especially if you play Blood or Wolf Brothers.
  • Elite Quality. Together with your armor you have also (almost) universal Quality 3+. Your units won't have too many problems to hit with their weapons, especially Watch Brothers.
  • High Morale. All of your units have Fearless, even the vehicles. Coupled with your high Quality values, your morale checks are at 2+ and Dark Brothers further boost this by giving you a failsafe for those rolls of 1.
  • Multiple Unit Choices. Your army can be fit for any playstyle you desire the most as you have every single type of unit available. Melee units, scout units, shooting units, bikes, beefy units with Ambush and Tough, every single vehicle type, aircraft, walkers. Couple this with your heroes' diverse buffs and you have no trouble in building the right list for the battle plan of your dreams.
  • Multiple Weapons and Upgrades Choices. Adding to the previous point is the fact that you can pick up almost every possible weapon, especially the heavy ones. Not only you can choose between multiple units, but those units can be retrofitted to fit even more specific roles. To go even further, units can pick specific upgrades as well that can improve their general capabilities or give them more keywords like Fear and Ambush + Flying.
  • Detachments. While you can generalize in terms of focus, if you want to specialize in a specific thing Battle Brothers got you covered with their detachments. Units in a detachment are the same normal units, but with detachment-specific additional keywords, units and Psychic spells. Moreover, said keywords can be a more powered up versions of already existing ones or completely new ones, making the Battle Brothers one of the most diverse army ever.

Cons:

  • Very Expensive Units. All of your units are practically elites and can bring almost everything they want. However, all this comes at a very high price, as your units cost a ton of points. Some weapons and especially upgrades (looking at you, Veteran Infantry) will bleed you dry and you need to seriously consider if they are worth the cost. Given the fact that the detachment buffs (rules that are now mandatory) can make some of your units very costly, it's very unlikely you will have more activations than your opponent.
  • Low Model Count. Together with the low unit count, Battle Brothers suffer from a low model count problem as well. All your infantry units have at most 5 models and while you can bring specific weapons with a high number of attacks, unless you combine your units (which, again, is pretty costly if you also add buffs and detachments to the mix) you might find yourself lacking on this regard.
  • Weak against Heavy Weapons. Outside of heroes, Destroyers and Bikes, all of your infantry has no Tough. While this normally shouldn't be a problem as your Defense is nothing to scoff at, it also means that high AP weapons like plasma and Energy Fists can easily decimate your troops. Add this to the fact that you won't have too many units and that those units won't have too many models as well and you get a situation where every single causality will hurt you hard. Your Tough units can mitigate this, but your general army tankiness means that an army skewed towards high AP weapons will spell trouble.
  • Limited Spell Casting. You only have two Psychic models, which are also your heroes and the Psychic upgrade blocks you from getting the other buffs. Knight Brothers can field more Psychic choices, but they are also the most expensive Battle Brothers detachment as well.

Army Special Rules

The following are the rules available to all Battle Brothers. Each detachment has a few unique rules to further distinguish their specializations and they are introduced in their own sections.

  • Advanced Tactics: Upon activation, one unit within 12" of this model can immediately move 6", letting you slightly offset your activation disparity.
  • Medical Training: Gives the model and its unit Regeneration. Given your general Defense values, this adds a further layer of tankyness.
  • Repair: When activated, you can heal d3 wounds on a nearby Tough unit if you roll a 2+. Its 2'' requirement means you'll find yourself using it mostly for the Tough models in your unit with the upgrade.
  • Shield Wall: Units with shields are harder to hit, with enemies shooting at them taking -1 to hit. Note that this only works if every model in the unit has it, meaning that even attached characters have to obey this rule.
  • Veteran Training: Models with this rule get a +1 to hit in both melee and shooting. This makes them very strong. This also tends to be an expensive upgrade for any unit that takes this.
  • War Chant: This model and their unit gain +1 attack when they charge. Standard upgrade for when you want to focus on melee.

Psychic Spells

Battle Brothers / Dark Brothers / Watch Brothers

  • Blurred Sight (4+): Two enemy units within 12" take -1 to hit with shooting. Vital for protecting your troops from heavy weaponry of any kind.
  • Psychic Terror (4+): One enemy unit within 6" takes three AP(2) hits. Decent for taking down a tanky unit that wouldn't otherwise collapse.
  • Cerebral Trauma (5+): One enemy model within 12" takes two single AP (4) hits. Limited in use, but it can take down a special model in a unit or kill a weak hero.
  • Cursed Ground (5+): Two enemy unit within 6" suffer -2" to their Advance moves and -4" to their Rush/Charge ranges.
  • Lightning Fog (6+): Two enemy units within 6" take eight hits each, making this hell for mobs of grunts.
  • Time Passage (6+): One friendly unit within 12" gains Impact(1) on their next charge, which can make this devastating on bikers.

Blood Brothers

  • Fear (4+): Two enemy units within 6" suffer a loss of -1" to Advance moves and -2" to Rush and Charge moves. While easier to cast than Cursed Ground, it's also got a lot less use due to how minimal an impact it has.
  • Lance (4+): Enemy model within 12" takes an AP 2 hit. Compare with Psychic Blast.
  • Blood Curse (5+): Two enemy units within 6" take six hits each. Essentially Lightning Fog.
  • Quickness (5+): Friendly unit within 6" gains Impact, making this a godsend when you get it off on that pack of very angry Death Brothers.
  • Break Shields (6+): Two enemy units within 6" take a -2 to their next defense rolls, giving an extra AP(2) to any attacks you make. Especially useful if you want to guarantee death.
  • Rage Burst (6+): Enemy unit within 6" takes five AP(3) hits. It's essentially a focus-fire Cerebral Trauma.

Knight Brothers

  • Cleanse (4+): Enemy unit within 6" takes three AP(2) hits. Decent for taking down a tanky unit that wouldn't otherwise collapse.
  • Ward (4+): Enemy unit within 12" suffers -1 to hit with melee on their next turn. Important since you're only protected by a mere 2+ save for the most part.
  • Doom (5+): Enemy model within 12" takes two AP(4) hits, making this a prime sniping spell.
  • Warp (5+): Two enemy units within 12" take -1 to defense rolls, which you'll want if you're struggling to turn the tide.
  • Purge (6+): Two enemy units within 6" take six AP(1) hits each, making it comparable to Lightning Fog.
  • Strike (6+): Two friendly units within 6" gain +12" to their guns when they next shoot.

Wolf Brothers

  • Fury (4+): Two friendly units within 6" gains Furious. You definitely want to set this off whenever possible.
  • Hurricane (4+): Two enemy units within 6" take four hits each, making it a diet Lightning Fog.
  • Storm (5+): Two enemy units within 18" take -1 to their next shooting rolls. You absolutely want this to protect a vulnerable unit as they make their attack.
  • Thunder (5+): Enemy unit within 4" takes four AP(2) hits, a better Psychic Terror but a bit harder to cast.
  • Lightning (6+): Enemy unit within 12" takes three AP(4) hits. The inverse of Thunder, making it better for blasting brutes.
  • Wrath (6+): Two enemy units within 6" take -3" on their Advance moves and -6" on their Charge/Rush moves. While devastating, this does require setup so that your psychic doesn't end up getting rushed down themselves.

Unit Analysis

Heroes

  • Master Brother: Your gold standard when it comes to Heroes. He's heavily customizable to fit out any mix of shooting or melee without any issue while maintaining the Battle Brothers standard of 3+ to quality and defense. They can also grab Veteran Infantry for a very costly but extremely powerful 2+ to hit.
    • Shooting: The basic heavy rifle provides only one shot, but it's at a good range of 24" and has AP(1) to handle most infantry. If you stick with the default assault rifle, you can buy it an short-ranged attachment for a Gravity-Mod (for Rending), Flame-Mod (for a bunch of attacks), Plasma-Mod (for good AP) or Fusion-Mod(for tank-popping). If you instead go for a Heavy Pistol (half the range but just as powerful), you can replace that with a Gravity Pistol (for Rending), a Plasma Pistol (for good AP) or a Storm Rifle if you just want a rapid-fire Heavy Rifle. If you're going all-in on melee, you can instead replace that with a Shield for Shield Wall, though this will only work if you go solo or stick him with a unit that also has shields.
    • Melee: If you just don't care at all about shooting or defense, you can buy either a heavy chainsaw sword for a bunch of attacks at AP(1) or twin energy claws for a good number of Rending attacks. If you're taking the pistol+CCW loadout, you can then replace that CCW with either an Energy Sword (for a reliable AP(1) and Rending), Energy Fist (to tear through armor), Energy Hammer (To grab Blast(3) and smash crowds) or Chain-Fist (letting you kill most enemy Heroes in one hit with AP(2) Deadly(3)).
    • Mobility Upgrades: Battle Brother leaders are quite capable of going into multiple roles. The Destroyer Armor gives very blatant defensive boosts with +3 to Tough and Ambush so your captain won't immediately get shot up. The jetpack gives Flying and Ambush so terrain won't slow you down. The combat bike is more mobile in the traditional sense, as it grants Fast and Impact 1 (good for melee) while also carrying a twin assault rifle so you can go all in with melee weapons and still have some sort of shooting.
    • Special Rules: These rules will likely define what you use your leader for. Preacher provides War Chant, making it the most useful on units focused on melee for cheap. Archivist gives you Psychic(1), letting you access your spells. Engineer offers Repair, often relegating the master to the backlines to tend tanks if not acting as a medic for the attached Destroyers. Advanced Tactics, while costly, also is one of your few ways in offsetting your limited activations.
  • Elite Pathfinder: For 10 points less, you can take a hero with Strider in exchange for 4+ quality and defense. While this allows this Pathfinder to pick all the weapon options and special rules, they're stuck with footslogging. Fortunately, you can pick up Stealth for extra protection and Scout to set yourself up in a prime position.
    • If you intend on adding extra upgrades, do consider gearing them more towards ranged combat instead of going the Preacher route by equipping a Storm Rifle. If you want to spec him for melee consider putting him and his unit in a transport to provide reliable delivery.

Infantry

  • Pathfinders: A cheap unit, but also your flimsiest at 4+ defense so you need Strider to get to cover quickly. Alongside all the basic weapon upgrades they can also buy either Camo Cloaks for stealth or Forward Sentries so they can save an activation's worth of prep time and start shooting.
    • Ranged Weapons: While one model can take any sort of melee weapon or rifle-mods like the heroes, any model can either swap their rifles for either Shotguns (Free for half the range and double the firepower) or pay a sizeable price for Sniper Rifles. In addition, another model can pick up either a Plasma Rifle (for cheap anti-armor), a Flamethrower (Rapid-fire at short range), Gravity Rifle (for mid-range rapid-fire Rending), a Heavy Machinegun (long-range firepower), or a Missile Launcher (Tank-busting but with Lock-On to take out aircraft).
  • Assault Brothers: Same cost as Battle Brothers, but now with two CCW attacks and a Heavy Pistol. These guys aren't as well-versed with their weaponry, but you can buy two Plasma Pistols or Flamethrowers. One model can also pick up special melee weapons without dropping their pistols. These brothers can also pick up jetpacks so they can get Ambush and Fly as well, giving them good mobility to go with their punch.
  • Battle Brothers: The baseline for your force, meaning a walking tank. Your brothers have the widest selection of weapons available, spreading almost any manner of weaponry. On top of this, you can also buy either a Banner for Fear or Medical Training for Regeneration. If there's any drawback on them, it's their size - five models for their price is limited, making any casualties keenly felt.
    • Ranged Weapons: While one model can take any sort of melee weapon or rifle-mods like the heroes, one single model can pick up either a Plasma Rifle (for cheap anti-armor), a Fusion Rifle (in case you need to pop a tank for cheap) a Flamethrower (Rapid-fire at short range), or Gravity Rifle (for mid-range rapid-fire Rending). For heavy weapons, you can pick up a Heavy Machinegun (long-range firepower), a Gravity Cannon (two Gravity Rifles slapped together), a Missile Launcher (Tank-busting but with Lock-On to take out aircraft), a Plasma Cannon (crowd control with armor crushing), a Heavy Fusion Rifle (Slightly longer range than a Fusion Rifle, and you now can guarantee that tank will blow up), or a Laser Cannon (good AP and Deadly, at long range). All these heavy weapons are quite expensive, requiring that you guarantee that they survive to make back their points. For the shorter ranged ones an APC or a Drop pod might be useful for delivering them as near as possible their intended target.
  • Support Brothers: These brothers lack the option for Veteran Training, but you do get Relentless and an entire squad filled with Heavy Flamethrowers where the base brothers only have one slot. That said, you can pick for whatever heavy weapon you want in case you need to take care of some major priority. Remember that Relentless triggers more often with high volume of fire weapons like Heavy Flamethrowers, Gravity Rifles or Heavy Machineguns.
  • Destroyers: Incredibly expensive and equally tough. Each one comes with Tough(3) to tank blows and you can use Ambush to protect them from heavy damage. Their weapons are no joke with a pair of Energy Claws for a flurry of Rending. If that doesn't suit your fancy, then you can buy the team Energy Hammers and Combat Shields for a well-protected pack of horde-crushers or quite costly Storm Rifles for some measure of shooting. One of those CCWs can then be swapped out for an Energy Sword, Energy Fist or Chain-Fist. You can also pick up a set of Cyclone Missiles for very long range bombardment, but this does cost a good lot to an already highly expensive unit.
  • Pathfinder Bikers: While Tough, these bikes remain as vulnerable as Pathfinders, defended by Scout and Fast. While the Pathfinders can only switch between either pistol+CCW or rifle, they do have bikes with Grenade Launchers for mob management. If you want something more capable of handling less mob-like foes that launcher can be replaced with a Twin Heavy Rifle.
  • Brother Bikers: A good bit more expensive, but you are getting the 3+ quality and defense of a Battle Brother and Twin Heavy Rifles. On top of the melee weapons and pistols for one guy, there's also the option for Heavy Rifles and up to two special weapons.
  • Support Bike: A bigger bike strapped with a Heavy Flamethrower and Tough(6). Honestly, you shouldn't be using this for close combat, because that means you can't be firing the big gun (and if flamethrowers aren't your deal, you can take a Heavy Machinegun for long range infantry-killing or the Fusion Rifle so you can have fun with Deadly).

Vehicles

  • APC: While your cheapest vehicle with 11 slots for Transport, it's far from defenseless with a Storm Rifle. For a not insignificant cost, you can also buy another Storm Rifle and Hunter Missiles, and the Dozer Blade gives you Strider to run through obstacles. The transport spots, while not easy to fill up by needing two different squads or else feel like wasting space, can prove especially handy if you have two squads with different weapons for different goals. Especially useful for delivering high-damage fragile units like Support Brothers, or melee units that need protection and faster movement. Being Fast and lightly armed means you can Rush without feeling too guilty of wasting its firepower.
  • Attack APC: Slightly more expensive than the APC, this tank trades some space (Transport(6) instead of 11) for Twin Flamethrowers that you can swap out for either Twin Heavy Machineguns for AP(1) at long range, a rapid-fire Twin Minigun with more shots at slightly shorter range, a Laser Cannon and Twin Plasma Rifle for all anti-armor issues, or a Twin Laser Cannon for long-range tank-popping.
  • Drop Pod: While Immobile, it also has Ambush just so you can just dump your squads into the thick of it. While it is cheaper than even the APC, it's hard to call this a vehicle as its use as a transport immediately ends the moment the troops exit. At that point, it's a Tough(6) piece of terrain with either a Death Launcher turret for blasting mobs or a Storm Rifle to handle some other infantry. Land near an objective to make your opponent waste firepower to remove it, since it still counts as scoring.
  • Battle Tank: Now we're talking about tanks, as this one comes with a more durable Tough(12) to better withstand attacks. While it still has the options from the APC, it comes with a more effective Twin Heavy Machineguns (Replaceable with Twin Laser Cannons to better handle enemy vehicles) and the more valuable big main cannon.
    • Main Cannon: By default, the main cannon is a Demolition Cannon, a devastating Blast(6) AP(4) piece of artillery with Indirect to offset its power. You can replace this with either the Spear Missile Launcher (Cheap vehicle-breaker with Lock-On to handle aircraft), Twin Laser Cannon (Long-ranged anti-vehicle), Rapid Autocannon (to handle high AP mobs at long range), Twin Storm Cannon (Rapid fire with Lock-On to ignore cover), and the Wind Launcher (Extreme range and cost with Blast(3) but Indirect and Lock-On to handle any hordes wherever they hide).
  • Heavy Tank: Your most expensive tank, but this thing's a massive thing with Tough(18) and Transport(11) to handle multiple roles at once as well as the basic APC options, including an optional Heavy Fusion Rifle. This comes with Twin Heavy Machineguns like the Battle Tank, but these can only be replaced with a Twin Minigun to better wipe out mobs. It also comes with Twin Flamethrower Cannons to handle crowds, which you can replace with either Twin Heavy Rifle Arrays or Twin Laser Cannons depending on what you plan on sending it against.
  • Artillery Gun: A rather fortified piece of Artillery with Tough(6), it comes with a Heavy Flak Cannon to take care of any enemies whether they're behind cover or in the air. While it also has some AP(2) attacks in melee, its limited attacks and Slow makes using that rather ill-advised.
    • Cannons: While powerful, the Heavy Flak Cannon can be replaced to some other special weapons. The Heavy Gatling Cannon gives you weight-of-fire advantage against crowds while the Heavy Thunder Cannon gives Blast for fairly cheap. The Heavy Crack Cannon provides rapid-fire AP(1) Rending at long range for a hefty price.
  • Attack Speeder: While more nimble with Ambush and Strider to get wherever you need it, the attack speeder is just as durable as your APCs. You can even give it Transport(6), allowing you to make it for a lightweight carrier to bring a squad over before letting loose.
    • Weapons: Taken stock, the speeder comes with a pair of Heavy Flamethrowers to take care of any crowds it encounters. One of these can be swapped out for a Twin Typhoon Missiles, letting you take care of armored enemies with Lock-On to avoid cover. However, either flamethrower can be exchanged for a Heavy Machinegun or Minigun for long-range firepower or the Heavy Fusion Rifle to destroy tanks.
  • Heavy Exo-Suit: Your lighter walker carries a Twin Fusion Rifle, equipped to handle tanks at close range. With Tough(6) though, it's not likely to stand up to any fire on its own without support. Its only melee defense are some AP(1) stomps, but you can buy either Dual Heavy Fists to slam hordes or Dual Combat Drills to rip through armor.
    • Ranged Weapons: In place of the Twin Fusion Rifle, you can instead buy a Twin Flamethrower for more crowd control. More expensive are the Twin Machinegun for long-ranged firepower or the Twin Gravity Cannon for rapid-fire Rending. Your most costly option is the Twin Laser Cannon, giving excellent range and tank-busting power. On top of this, you can also purchase either a Heavy Rifle Array for more heavy fire or a Cyclone Missiles Array for anti-armor with Lock-On.
  • Attack Walker: The bigger and badder version of the Exo-Suit, capable of doing a bit more with a more variable loadout. Even if it cannot shoot by default, its fists can rip apart armor alongside its more modest stomps. It also has its own Veteran Walker upgrade, giving it the equally powerful 2+ to hit.
    • Fist Add-Ons: For your cheapest means of shooting, you can strap on guns to your walker's fists so you can maintain its melee proficiency. Each fist can grab either a tank-busting Fusion Rifle, a horde-burning Flamethrower, or a Storm Rifle for anything in between.
    • Fist Replacements: While the add-ons can give you some decent firepower, you can only get some truly powerful guns by replacing the walker's fists. One fist can get you either a Missile Array with Lock-On to negate cover and harass aircraft or a Twin Autocannon for costly long-ranged heavy fire. The other fist can instead be used for a wider set of weapons. The Heavy Fusion Rifle provides you a more reliable means to destroy tanks at mid-range. The Heavy Flamethrower gives you enough shots to drown most hordes. The Heavy Rifle Array and Heavy Minigun let the walker shred infantry with armor. The Plasma Cannon gives you anti-armor and crowd-control power perfectly suited for dealing with Battle Brother-like armies. The Laser Cannon, while expensive, gives you extreme range anti-vehicle power.

Aircraft

  • Light Gunship: Despite the name, this is still quite a dangerous flyer with plenty of guns. By default, it carries a Twin Minigun to handle infantry while the Twin Typhoon Missiles take care of heavier forces with Lock-On to negate cover. This can be further supplemented by buying either the Laser Talon for something better suited for anti-tank or the Storm Cannon for more long-range anti-infantry. The missiles can be replaced by the Heavy Machinegun to handle smaller forces, the Twin Laser Cannon to demolish tanks, or the Hammer Missiles if you want to destroy tanks and just cannot be bothered with cover.
  • Heavy Gunship: When you need a Light Gunship to do more work, you take this. This gives the flyer Transport(11) and Tough(12) as well as adding Storm Missiles alongside the base gunship loadout, making it a death machine suited for whatever situation it comes across, though you can buy a Twin Rifle Array to make it even harder for crowds to exist near it. The Twin Minigun can be replaced with either a Twin Plasma Cannon to crack armored squads or the Twin Laser Cannon to blast tanks. The Twin Typhoon Missiles can be replaced with either the anti-infantry firepower of the Twin Heavy Machinegun or the Twin Heavy Fusion Rifle to destroy vehicles even further.

Detachments

Blood Brothers

The Blood Brothers are remarkably choppy and fast, with Furious being available for only 5 points for most of your infantry. You lose access to the Exo-Suit and Artillery Gun, but you've got enough units to cover up that loss quite well.

  • Holy Chalice: A new upgrade available to your Master Brother and Elite Pathfinder (now with a big bold "Blood" on the title), though far from cheap. This provides the model and their attached unit the ever-powerful Regeneration for durability and a +1 to hit in melee. This is especially powerful for Assault Brothers and other melee-focused units, especially with the native Furious rule, though oddly not as much for the Blood Death Brothers, who already have Regeneration. Compared to War Chant (which is mutually exclusive with Holy Chalice) you sacrifice number of attacks for better to hit chances, but since your army already has Furious you're not really losing too much in the rip-and-tear department.
  • Very Fast: All of your tanks are now even faster, though not your bikes. This adds +4" to their Advance moves and +8" when Rushing or Charging, making them far more mobile. It also makes the units that get it costly when compared to their standard contemporaries.
Infantry
  • Blood Death Brothers: A good bit more costly than base Blood Assault Brothers, but you get Furious and Regeneration for a rather tanky squad that can also make their own assaults. While equipped with Heavy Rifles like normal Battle Brothers, you won't get any specialist weapons - The real gold comes from swapping to the CCW+Pistol loadout and getting 5 points back. Rather than limited weapons options, this CCW+Pistol loadout actually lets all models pick up special melee weapons as well as trade out their pistols for special pistols including the hilariously short-ranged Flamethrower Pistol.
  • Blood Guard Brothers: Even more expensive Blood Assault Brothers with jetpacks and Assault Pistols that exchange that AP for another shot, oddly cheaper than just buying jetpacks for the former. The tradeoff is that their loadout is rather stark in comparison. Pistols can only be swapped for Plasma Pistols or Fusion Pistols and CCWs can be made either Energy Swords or Energy Fists.
Vehicles
  • Blood Battle Tank: Essentially a Battle Tank with Very Fast, but it also has two unique weapons to replace the Demolition Cannon: The Flamethrower Cannon and the Twin Minigun. Both of these options not only give you means to handle most infantry but also drive down the price of the tank considerably. In addition, you can also replace the Twin Heavy Machineguns for Twin Heavy Flamethrowers if you seriously want to eradicate mobs.
  • Blood Attack Walker: Standing out for this version of the Attack Walker is the option between either the very powerful Death Pilot for Regeneration or the Archivist Pilot for Psychic(1). Both of these give you a whole new level of use for this brutal walker, the likes of which no other Battle Brother can brag. On top of that, you can actually replace a Walker Fist with another melee weapon, a Walker Claw that gives you more attacks at AP(1) Rending in case you felt too hassled by mobs.

Dark Brothers

The Dark Brothers don't specialize in any particular form of combat, but instead focus on holding on no matter the odds. They lose access to the Artillery Turret and Heavy Exo-Suit, but this is a loss that you are more than prepared to take.

  • Dark Assault: An improved form of Ambush that lets your units be deployed at any turn rather than after the first. Very good to grab objectives and relevant map points on the get go. It is also however available only to your Dark Destroyers and your Dark Master Brother, although on this last guy it costs a whopping 140 pts (it comes at least with a Tough(+3) thou).
  • Grim: A rule given to all units, this essentially gives you Fearless plus lets you auto-pass a failed morale check at the cost of taking one unsaved hit. Considering the cost of losing a model and your already impressive quality, the odds of this coming up won't be likely.
  • Dark Shroud: Speeder-only. On activation, 2 units within 6'' get the Stealth keyword next time they get shot at. Useful against heavy shooting armies and to hold points.
Heroes
  • Dark Master Brother: Your chief hero unit remains as powerful as always, but they also gain an additional upgrade in the form of Interrogator. This provides Fear, which while less impressive than things like War Chant, does make breaking whatever you fight in melee much easier.
Infantry
  • Dark Destroyers: Insanely expensive compared to the standard Destroyers, but you get both Grim and Dark Assault, allowing them to Ambush in wherever and whenever you want. They have access to Heavy Plasma Cannons, giving them an answer to any Brother-tier squads out there. If you want to stick with melee, you can instead give them shields and Heavy Maces, each with AP(2) and Rending to rip apart armored infantry. One of them can even pick up a Heavy Flail when equipped like this, giving them a small measure of crowd control with Blast(3) in place of Rending.
  • Dark Brother Bikers: See those bikes? They're now Grim. They get some unique options compared to the norm, such as buying Twin Plasma Carbines to replace their Twin Heavy Rifles with something to crack armor. One model with these guns can also swap them off for a Twin Grenade Launcher for a bit of crowd control. Each model can also buy an Energy Sword or Energy Hammer based on what they plan on facing. Taking melee weapons is further supported by Black Bikers, which provides Scout so they can close in even faster.
Vehicles
  • Dark Attack Speeder: Pretty much a standard speeder, but you have the option instead of the Typhoon Missiles to grab a Twin Plasma Battery for large blasts that can wipe mobs.
  • Dark Shroud Speeder: Your speeder traded off a weapon for Grim and Stealth, with a Dark Shroud to share that gift with two friendly units within 6". While your lone weapon is the Heavy Machinegun, you can replace that with the Minigun.
Aircraft
  • Dark Light Gunship: Your Light Gunship comes with quite a few special weapon options, turning it more into a gunship without having to shell out for the heavy one. You can now buy Dark Bombs for crowd control or Sword Missiles for long-range firepower as add-ons, while the missiles can be replaced with a Twin Dark Rifle Array for a minor discount and heavy infantry control. The Twin Minigun can now be replaced by either a Dark Rift Cannon to destroy armor or an Avenger Minigun to rip apart anything smaller.

Knight Brothers

The Knight Brothers are a drastically different and more elite breed of Battle Brothers. Gone are all your bikes and Pathfinders, forcing you into stock brothers and Destroyers for infantry. Your forces are also all capable of tanking spells, giving you a powerful means to offset your limited casting powers.

  • Aegis: Your universal rule grants a special 4+ Regeneration save against spells but a 6+ Regeneration against anything else. Fortunately, this can stack with any normal form of Regeneration.
  • Combat Master: Your Knight Champion rolls a d6 when it fights in melee and depending on the result his attacks have either +1 to AP or Rending.
  • Teleport: An optional upgrade for you Knight Brothers and your Knight Nemesis Walker. Unusually distinct from Ambush, this allows a unit to instantly move anywhere within 6" before shooting, ignoring any intervening terrain. Can be considered akin to a stronger version of Advance Tactics, which can also stack with said upgrade.
Heroes
  • Knight Champion: A very costly hero, but you get quite a bit. Alongside Aegis and Psychic(1), you also get Combat Master, which gives you one of two random buffs in melee to bolster your Relic Blade's power. This champion is a through and through beatstick with psychic powers. If you want support, pick the generic heroes.
  • Knight Master Brother: This particular version of the Master Brother comes with a few unique tools available to them. While they lack the option for a Heavy Chainsaw Sword, their Dual Energy Falchions functionally serve the same purpose. Similarly, they lack options for the Energy Hammer and Chain-Fist, but have the Energy Halberd and Daemon Slayer Hammer to serve those same purposes with the former being cheaper. The one unique weapon they possess is the Energy Staff, which grants Poison for the chance at extra hits.
    • Personal Upgrades: Alongside all the other upgrades, of which there are a LOT present, you also get an option between three mutually exclusive buffs. Purifier grants Impact, which works best for assault-focused heroes, while Striker grants Ambush for surprise attacks, and Inceptors grant Teleport for improved mobility.
Infantry
  • Knight Brothers: Each of these boys has a Storm Rifle and a Regeneration-buffed Aegis, which is plenty worth the price hike. They have a very unique selection of weapons. Their guns are now an Incinerator (a Flamethrower with AP (1)), a Psychic Silencer (a minigun-lite with Rending) or the Psychic Cannon (A crowd-breaker). In melee, they can buy pretty much all the same melee weapons available to the Master Brother aside from the Energy Fist and Energy Claws. On top of that, they can also pick between getting either Impact(1), Ambush or Teleport to support your Master Brother. Oh, and these guys can be Psychic too, oh joy.
  • Knight Purgation Brothers: Knights with Relentless, serving as improved Support Brothers. While all of them carry special weapons, you can still get special melee weapons and Psychic. While helpful, you're likely not going to take these as the front liners.
  • Knight Destroyers: Destroyers are already dangerous, so you know for sure that stacking all the benefits of Knights makes them deadlier as well as obscenely more expensive. Their weapon choices mirror the base knights, but they can also grab a standard (for Fear) and extra-costly Destroyer Medical Training for Regeneration. If you have an urge to throw these guys into the fray, you have the ability to give everyone Impact(3).
Vehicles
  • Knight Nemesis Walker: This walker is a veritable behemoth, toting Tough(18), Ambush and Psychic(1) as well as a bevy of melee attacks (Between the armor-ripping AP(4) fists and AP(2) stomps) and Heavy Psychic Cannons to pop mobs from afar. The cannons can be swapped out for Heavy Incinerators (An AP(2) Flamethrower) or Gatling Psychic Sliencers (Rapid-fire guns with Rending) while one fist can be swapped for either a free Knight Daemon Slayer Hammer to smash monsters or a Knight Great Sword for a barrage of attacks with AP(1) Rending. In addition, you can provide the mighty endurance of Regeneration and the costly and shocking power of Teleport, making this very visible target surprisingly nimble.

Watch Brothers

The Watch Brothers are for those who are super spoiled for choice. This however comes at a cost with a shocking number of units being deemed incompatible. Pathfinders, Battle Tanks, not much is spared but what remains has so much available to compensate.

  • Disciplined: Universal for the entire army, this improves the close-range accuracy of the army by adding +1 to hit enemies within 12" of the enemy. This also makes your Brothers lean more on ranged upgrades than the other detachments.
  • Special Ammo: A special upgrade available only to your Watch Captain Brother, this gives an attached squad Rending and lets them ignore cover. Combined with your detachment's choices in terms of guns, it is a very potent buff and a very dangerous combination for a potential gunline.
Heroes
  • Watch Captain Brother: Essentially a Captain for all intents and purposes. Aside from the frankly obscene number of guns available to the basic watch brothers, you can also grab a Spear-Rifle from the Guardian Brothers and the choice of either a jetpack or destroyer armor. A surprising but ultimately niche option is the ability to sacrifice the CCW for a shield that can be used as a weapon, which can only see value for those that intend to camp with their gunline unit. Another special upgrade is Special Ammo, which is incredibly handy for a ranged unit in place of something like Advanced Tactics.
Infantry
  • Watch Brothers: Your base troops are given practically free reign on weapons. Whatever you want, wherever you want them, you can buy some and drop them wherever. You can also grab shields - both with and without the shield bash depending on what you replace - remember that everyone has to buy it.
    • Melee Weapons: Being the most elite of Battle Brothers, the Watch Brothers can all swap out their CCWs for special weapons. This list is further expanded by letting any model sacrifice their pistol and CCW for either a Heavy Hammer (providing high AP crowd control) or Dual Energy Claws (providing a barrage of rending).
    • Ranged Weapons: While equipped stock with the Heavy Pistol, you can replace that with a dizzying array of special weapons seen on other Battle Brothers. The list gets further expanded with one model being able to grab the Stalker Rifle (adding Sniper to a Heavy Rifle), the Frag Cannon (giving rapid-fire Rending in close quarters) and the ability to slap on a Heavy Flamethrower-Mod on a Heavy Machinegun for some short-range destruction. On top of that, you can also equip the close-quarters Shotgun or the super short-range Flamethrower Pistol on any model.
  • Watch Vanguard Brothers: Elite Assault Brothers with jetpacks. The firearms are limited to pistols, but the entire squad can choose to upgrade its standard sidearm for one of the special ones. In addition they have reign over melee weapons.
  • Watch Destroyers: Destroyers are already expensive, so why take these? Because these guys can slap extra guns (Gravity, Fusion, Plasma or Flamethrower-Mods) on top of your energy fists, providing short-ranged fire support bolstered by Disciplined. And this is on top of the rest of the guns any ordinary squad of Destroyers can grab, so you can have a fist loaded with Fusion-Mods while the other arm is loaded with Storm Rifles to handle anything that isn't tank-shaped.
Aircraft
  • Watch Deathstar Gunship: A souped-up Heavy Gunship that swaps out its Typhoon Missiles with Cluster Bombs for point-blank mob clearing. The loadout options are all limited, losing out on the Twin Plasma Cannon. The Storm Missiles can be replaced with Death Rockets, sacrificing lethality for more shots as well as Lock-On so it can take down enemy flyers and cover-campers.

Wolf Brothers

Where the Blood Brothers are for getting stuck in quickly, the Wolf Brothers are for getting as many attacks as possible. On top of that, they gain some unique units that more than emphasize their melee power.

  • Counter: A rule given to the entire army, providing them an extra attack on one weapon when they get charged. While Furious is an easy enough get for most forces, this allows you to counteract it and even threaten those units that lack such melee prowess from charging, making your Brothers react more defensively.
  • Warning Cry: Enemies cannot Ambush on any location within 18" of a unit with this rule. Great for cutting off any ambushers.
Heroes
  • Wolf Master Brother: Your particular Master Brother comes with quite a few options over the basic. Just on their own, you can buy a Pet Wolf for Warning Cry if you need to keep the heat off a certain set of units. They can also buy a Great Wolf as a mount, an improvement on the bike by getting Strider as well as some extra attacks on its own for melee, though it won't provide any new guns to work with.
Infantry
  • Wolf Rookies: Angrier Pathfinders given Furious over Strider. This in addition to the option for jetpacks emphasizes that their position should be up in the enemy's face. On top of being able to grab one special weapon that the Battle Brothers would normally grab with exception to heavy weapons, you can also give one additional model a melee weapon on the cheap.
  • Werewolf Brothers: A pack of very angry brothers, their 4+ defense is offset by getting both Fast and Regeneration to improve their survivability. While stripped of any shooting short of the optional Backpack-GL for short-range, they come with some terrifying melee weapons. By default, they get two AP(1) claw attacks with any model being able to buy a Heavy Energy Axe to shatter armor or Dual Energy Claws for Rending. If you need something more durable, you can make the entire unit grab shields and Energy Hammers, providing a surprisingly durable Shield Wall and the means to eradicate hordes.
  • Hunting Wolves: Your cheap war beasts, a much faster distraction than the Wolf Rookies while being as dangerous as werewolves. Though only a 4+ in quality and defense and lacking Fearless, you do get Fast and Strider for unmatched mobility. Their only upgrade is Regeneration, improving their durability a little bit if you want them to stick around for more than a turn.
  • Wolf Riders: Take bikers and replace their bikes with angry wolves with Strider and some dangerous melee attacks with AP(1). Of course, this makes their focus almost entirely on melee - One model can grab Dual Energy Claws for double the attacks with Rending, while the rest can pick whatever melee weapon suits them and change their pistol with either a Plasma Pistol or a Combat Shield based on how much you want to dedicate to melee.
  • Wolf Destroyers: Uniquely to these Destroyers, you can replace their Storm Rifles with a basic Heavy Rifle - This can be incredibly helpful in managing costs though it can also open you up to the rifle attachments in the event that you need something with more of a punch.
Vehicles
  • Wolf Attack Walker: The biggest upgrade you can take for this walker is the shield and Walker Axe, giving this behemoth Shield Wall as well as a weapon meant to fell monsters. In case you need more crowd control, you can instead replace one of its fists with a Walker Claw for more attacks with Rending while still being able to equip a Storm Rifle and Heavy Flamethrower. One of those fists can also be used for a Twin Frost Cannon, providing a small blast that can potentially rip armor with Rending.
Aircraft
  • Wolf Heavy Gunship: This ship comes with two different options compared to the standard. The Storm Missiles can be replaced with the Twin Laser Cannon for another shot in exchange for Lock-On. The Twin Minigun can also be replaced for a Twin Frost Cannon to handle small crowds with Rending.

List Building & Tactics

General Advice

Basic Battle Brothers General Advice

Battle Brothers are A highly customizable army that can fill almost any playstyle, just keep in mind that your units rely on high quality and defense to be effective, leading to their higher costs, so weapons with good AP values will be extra brutal to fight against. Also, you will likely be outnumbered by most other armies that you play, so positioning is crucial to avoid getting outmaneuvered by opponents with likely more units than you.

For most battles your main goals should be to eliminate enemy units with high AP weapons, and then get your high defense units onto objectives where your opponent is going to be forced to chew threw your generally much better than average armor.

Wolf Brothers General Advice

Shield wall on a Wolf Destroyers unit is very expensive but is one of the more hearty units. Same is true with werewolf units.

Tactics

Keep your melee units out of the line of fire by using ambush and fast units. Walking melee units will get cut down

The wolf riders paired with a wolf master brother riding a great wolf makes a very fast close combat unit. If the unit can make the charge first it hits very hard but cannot take a lot of fire.

You can add shots by giving your walkers miniguns.

See Also

Battle Brothers
Overview - Tactics - Firefight Tactics - Miniatures - Quickplay Armies - Firefight Quickplay Armies
Grimdark Future tactics
List Building - Strategy - Special Rules
Alien Hives - Battle Brothers - Blessed Sisters - Custodian Brothers - DAO Union - Dark Elf Raiders - Dwarf Guilds
Elven Jesters - Eternal Dynasty - Havoc Brothers - High Elf Fleets - Human Defense Force
Human Inquisition - Infected Colonies - Jackals - Machine Cult - Orc Marauders - Prime Brothers - Ratmen Clans
Rebel Guerrillas - Robot Legions - Saurian Starhost - Soul-Snatcher Cults - Titan Lords - Wormhole Daemons
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