Return to Brotherhood – analysis of the army list

Last week I posted my first reaction on the Brothermark army list – I wasn’t that exited then. Still, as I played Brotherhood for the biggest part of 2nd edition, I felt that I owe the army a 2nd chance. This series of blog posts looks for ways to play the army of the Brothermark in 3rd edition. As I started out recently with my first impressions, this time it’s time for actual data. So without further adoo, let’s analyse the army list:

From Basilea

Brothermark is a theme list using the Basilean main list as its source. This means that a part of the army comes from the Basilean list. From the main list, the Brothermark has access to:

• Men-at-arms swordsmen
• Men-at-arms spearmen
• Men-at-arms crossbowmen
• Paladin knights
• Paladin foot
• Ogre palace guard
• Heavy arbalest
• Phoenix
• Banner bearer
• Dictator
• Priest
• Wizard
• High paladin on dragon

Let’s see

From the Basilean army list, most units except the angels, sisterhood units, gur panthers and -oddly enough- the palace guard captain can also be taken into the Order of the Brothermark army.

Generally (as the Brothermark has its own light cavalry and light infantry) the only omissions are the the gur panthers and the elohi. (both hero and large infantry options)

This leaves the Brothermark with a fairly large selection from its main list, especially as far as infantry and cavalry go.

Oddly enough, the only fliers to make the transfer from Basilea to Brothermark are both titans.

Brothermark unique units

The following units are unique in the Brothermark list:

• Villein penitents*
• Villein bowmen
• Villein skirmishers
• Order of the Abyssal hunt
• Villein siege artillery
• Exemplar paladin
• Exemplar chaplain
• Exemplar Hunter

Let’s go through them one by one

Villein penitents

Villein penitents are cheap (90/150/215) infantry with sub-par nerve, melee (5+) and defense (3+) scores offset by the crushing strength (1) of the unit. The unit represents non-trained farmers and are therefore irregular.

I really want to like this unit. It’s cheap (150 for a horde), has plenty attacks and CS(1). The fact that it’s irregular doesn’t matter in a brothermark list, as all other units do unlock and unlocks will never be a problem.

It’s just that the unit does not favourably compare to -for instance- a unit of men-at-arms swordsmen with veteran command. Let’s compare the two:

Villein Penitents legion: Cost: 215. Irregular. Takes on average 30 hits from a non CS-units before being routed. Deals on average 6.67 wounds on a def 4+ unit; 3,33 when hindered.

Men-at-arm swordsmen horde: Cost 190. Unlocks. Takes on average 32 hits from a non-cs unit before being routed (not counting iron resolve) . Deals on average 6.25 wounds agaist a def 4+ unit; 4,2 when hindered.

The men-at-at-arms are cheaper, more resillent (even more when the iron resolve is used) and does unlock. The villeins are marginally more effective in a non-hindered combat. As the role of this unit is to soak up damage, there is no reason ever to take them over men-at-arms.

Villein bowmen

These are a unique unit in Kings of War: cheap bowmen with phalanx that do unlock. Their cost (70/95/165) is cheap, partially due to their low nerve. Their shooting attack (8/10/20 @5+ ranged, 24″range and no Piercing) is the same as their kingdoms of men counterparts.

Their defense is 3+; but helped by phalanx. In melee, they really need to be helped, as their melee score is 6+!

In a meta where regular shooting is discarded over lightning bolts, these guys are actually worth taking. Their Unit strength is enough to defend a table quarter and their phalanx special rule ensures that cavalry and fliers will take a turn more than usual to kill them off.

That said, they still remain 5+ shooters, so do not expect them to kill off anything but chaff. And while Phalanx seems a decent rule, do not count on pinning cavalry and fliers. Also, rembember than in the 2nd turn of combat, calvalry is unhindered if you fail to do a wound, so your respite is only a single turn! (In fact, you’re usually better off disengaging and letting them charge again)

Vilein skirmishers

Brothermark’s light cavalry. Compared to the sisterhood lancers (main list light cavalry) they suffer 2 points reduced nerve, reduced attacks (7 /14vs 8/16) and lose vicious and 1 point of speed. For this they are 20/30 points cheaper.

The skirsmishers lose the light attack role of the panther lancers as they are a lot less hitty . This means their main role is to act as chaff for a serious reduction of points.

In fact, they compare to the gur panthers in the basilean army. Their nerve is the same, they gain one one point of defense for one point of speed. Furthermore, they are slightly more hitty than the gur panthers, with +1 attack and TC1 instead of vicious. They are ten points more expensive.

Having this kind of unit would be a good thing if the Brothermark had other units that can furfil the role of damage dealer. As it is, this role remains solely in the hands of the paladin knights and ogre palace guard.

Order of the Abyssal hunt

for +15 points over paladin knights: gain CS (1)/TC(1) over TC (2), gain fury and vicious (against monsters and titans only) at the cost of headstrong.

I really like the CS1/TC profile. Fury is a good addition and though the vicious will not come into play that often, it’s not bad either. That said, 225 points for a regiment of cavalry is a lot of points; only 25 points shy of Soul reaver cavalry.

Villein siege artillery

For +5 points over the Basilean heavy arbalest, the siege artillery loses one point of ranged (from 4+ to 5+), but gains ignore cover. The siege artillery gains blast d3+1 at piercing (3) over blast d3 at piercing (2). The siege artillery has one less nerve and loses the heavy arbalests’ iron resolve.

The math shows that for heavy defense units (5+ or more) and units in cover, the damage of the siege artillery is roughly 40% higer than the heavy arbalest’s. Against defense 4+or less units in the open the damage is comparable.

As these are the prime targets of any war machine, generally you’re trading off a bit of survivability for better damage. In my book this is an improvement.

Exemplar paladin, Exemplar chaplain,

The hero and lord level character of the Brothermark mirrors the Basilean heroes with a few minor differences. They gain “elite” and a few unique options at the cost of 10/5 points (paladin)

The paladin can buy duelist at +10 points and rally-infantry (1)for 10 points if not buying a horse. The chaplain has rally (vileins) and can buy an aura (fury -vilein only) at 5 points.

The heroes are better than their basilean counterparts. Elite alone is more than worth the points and they both have additional benefits -situational as they may be.

The rally-infantry rule on the exemplar paladin is actually a very good rule. (pity one has to sacrifice the horse for this one, but alas). With nerve levels on basilean units already being high, this little benefit pushes a regiment of paladin foot to 16/18. With the aegis fragment healing 2 points of damage after the first combat it’s comparable to 18/20, horde level nerve on an infantry base. Men-at-arms can rise to 22/24 alongside this guy.

That said, it’s an expensive route to go, but it might be fun to explore.

The chaplain @ 60 points is a steal too. His aura is not that useful and the rally might come into play once or twice (in particular supporting villein skirmishers) , but 3 attacks @ 3+ with elite @ Cs(!) suddenly become very reliable. Combine with a horse and amulet of inspiring and the guy is a support/inspiring individual character that can reliable do a wound or two to any flier or cavalry that threaten your battle line. All-in, he’s only 105 points!

Exemplar hunter

A new assasin-type hero for the Brothermark. 4 attacks, elite and CS (2), he doubles his attacks against monsters and titans (edit: including hero-monsters and hero:titans) and gains vicious against them. Furthermore he can buy duelist at 10 points. The guy is 90 points clean, but with a horse (which you want) he’s 125.

I really want to like this guy. The idea of a knight-dude killing monsters is a great picture which does scratch my “knight in shining armour” itch. 8 attacks @ CS2 with elite AND vicious is also really reliable. Give him the duelist option and he can hunt individuals if your opponent forgets to bring heroes and titans.

Most armies will feature either a monster, titan (including the hero varieties of these) or several individuals. While 8 attacks will not slay these outright, elite, vicious and CS (2) will do quite a bit of damage. That said, when not facing these enemies, he’s just a 4-attack hero with no inspiring @ 135 points.

Unless your Exemplar will be facing his nemesises most of the battle, you’d better take an exemplar paladin over him any day of the week. If no other character has the inspiring talisman, giving him inspiring will make him a more all-rounded, but his cost will skyrocket to 155.

An overview

First of all, the list has a large overlap with the Basilean master list. There will literaly be some basilean list that can be ported to Brothermark without having to change a thing.

That said, the loss of the Elohi, Sistershood units, panthers and living legends do limit the options somewhat. What the Brothermark gains in return is rather limited:

• A unit of vilein infantry that is worse than the Basilean master list
• A unit of bowmen that is more useful than other shooters in the game due to low cost and phalanx; but then again shooters are rather useless this edition. That said, a horde of them might hold a flank for a turn or two.
• Light cavalry that is between the basilean gur panthers and sisterhood panther riders in terms of price and combat effectiveness. It’s got some use, but I don’t think its better than either.
• better cavalry at a really high price tag, so maybe worth adding to an army. That said, I’d prefer a unit of Kingdoms of Men knights with Brew of Strength for the same price.
• The war machine is an improvement over the Basilean heavy arbalest. They can be combined, too.
• A chaplain and paladin that are marginally better than their Basilean counterparts, but furfil the same roles.
• An interesting assasin-hero, which I have to try out to value.

All-in, I still am not too exited about the Brothermark list. That said, I see some options that may actually make a viable army.

next time

I’ll be trying out some army lists. If there’s something I’m really exited about, I might even try it out on the battlefield!