Order of Brothermark Army Review

Order of the Brothermark Army Review:

I am not trying to demean the recent /28 review for the Order of the Brothermark.  I simply mean to expound upon some of the ideas presented.  Please read  this article and I hope you enjoy my efforts. 

 The Brotherhood: Order of the Brothermark list is a Theme List. The Master List for this Theme is Basileans.

The following units may be taken from the Master List:

Men-at-Arms Swordsmen, Men-at-Arms Crossbowmen, Men-at-Arms Spearmen, Paladin Foot Guard, Paladin Knights, Ogre Palace Guard, Heavy Arbalest, Phoenix, Bearer of the Holy Icon, Dictator, Priest, War Wizard, High Paladin on Dragon.

Swordsmen and Spearmen: 

While the Swordsmen and the Spearmen are very average, there is a scheme to running them.  The first thing you do is to upgrade them to veteran command.  That brings their leadership up to a nice 23.  THEN have a basic Exemplar Paladin around for support.  He will need the Lead from the Front upgrade, but now you have an infantry horde that is leadership 24!  On the spearmen I would put the Hammer of Measured Force to beat on the big guys with high armor. An alternative is to give the Exemplar Paladin the Lute of Insatiable Darkness, and drop the Hammer of Measured Force

Crossbowmen: 

I haven’t really seen any good use for Crossbowmen regardless of the army they are deployed.  What they need is something to make them unique.  This pains me because I have a TON of crossbowmen painted!  I mean a troop here and there might be okay, but I think I would prefer the Villien Bowmen in this list.  At least their special rule is neat. 

Paladin Foot Guard:

PFGs are very similar to the Foot Guard of the Kingdoms of Men.  The main difference is that you cannot take a horde of them.  That limits their use a bit to more secondary troops.  You don’t want them taking a charge from an uber unit or even a horde.  The two handed weapons make them effective but vulnerable to almost everything.  I feel their best use is in the second line.  If you can trap the enemy fighting the swordsmen or spearmen, then the PFGs can come in and clean them up. 

Troops of them could be effective chaff with the Aegis Fragment. They will vanquish most other armies chaff units especially with two handed weapons.  However at  a 105 points though they would get a bit pricey. 

Paladin Knights:

Paladin Knights are pretty much the normal Kings of War knights. They all suffer from fighting phalanx units and the fact if they don’t break their enemy on the charge, they can flounder and die.  They are resilient though with the Aegis Fragment and Iron Resolve.  I feel you need something to help them grind such as the Brew of Strength or a dedicated hero with the Lute of Insatiable Darkness. 

Another thought is to take them as a horde.  The Horde works but with so much terrain on the most KoW tables it is problematic.  The thought for me at least is to give them the Brew of Strength and use them as an uber infantry unit.  Lots of attacks, good armor, resilient (with Aegis Fragment), makes them a great grind unit. 

I think the standard paladin knight regiment has either striding or caterpillar.  You simply must make their efforts “stick”.  You should hit between 10 to 12 times per turn.  On armor 4 you will do around 8 to 10 wounds.  That seems a lot, but the following turn they turn into elite infantry with no CS.  They are totally useless against KoM pikes, but most things are useless against them. 

Their obvious best use is to charge with something else in a multiple charge. That will let them shine and do the breakthrough they need to work. 

Ogre Palace Guard:

These guys are the basis of most Basilean lists.  Why not for Brotherhood?  They are excellent, probably one of the best large infantry in the game.  The only thing that is problematic is their speed. They don’t move any faster than your other infantry.  In troops they could be good support for an infantry line of Men at Arms or Spearmen.  I just think they need some sort of chaff to work or Brew of Haste to give them a little more speed. 

Heavy Arbalest:

These things are overpriced in my humble opinion.  On an open battlefield they are very good shooters.  I think you need to try and take three of them to be effective.  That is a LOT of points invested in shooting but they will change how your opponent moves. 

Phoenix:

The role of a phoenix is as a super support model.  Personally I would only use it in combat if I were desperate.  It has heal and fireball, and radiance of life.    Standing it behind a unit with Iron Resolve and/or the Aegis fragment makes them VERY tough to shift.  The fireball makes it nice for getting rid of chaff.  It is so tall it can spew fireball from behind your troops with no penalty. 

Bearer of the Holy Icon:

Bog standard ASB.  Give him the Lute for Bane Chant.  If you are need Bane Chant on your cavalry give him a horse to keep up.

Dictator:

Pretty standard foot general.  Crushing 2 native is unusual though?  Would be better if you could put him on a horse like every other general in the game! I really don’t see a great role for him, but my mind can be changed. 

The Priest:

This is a unique model in this army like a Cleric in Dungeons and Dragons.  I like the Priest.  He can be a healer for your army, fit the role of an asb, and would be a great companion to your knights with Bane Chant.  He is very versatile for not a lot of points.  Do you want a virtually impregnable infantry line?  Put a priest behind the line with Bastion!  That would boost your men at arms and spearmen up to an amazing 26 break value!  He has a reason to be in every Brotherhood army. 

War Wizard:

The primary thing in most of my Kingdoms of Men list is the “Gandalf” Wizard.  Take a wizard, substitute for lightning, give him a horse, take the Inspiring Talisman, give him Bane Chant, and VIOLA! The Gandalf Wizard!  He is very multirole much like the priest.  The Priest can do much the same role, but without the lightning bolt. 

The War Wizard with LB and the Boomstick gives you another credible threat in ranged combat.  Seven dice of Lightning Bolt will do a reliable 2 wounds per turn (perhaps more) If you can save him for the end game to pick on wounded models he can win the game for you. 

High Paladin on a Dragon:

I think the Basilean Dragon is the best dragon in the game.  Unbreakable 19, yes please? Iron Resolve, yes please? Aegis Fragment, yes please? Heal 4 if you want it?  I mean I might spring for a Blade of Slashing, but he doesn’t need much else.  He also has a native breath weapon that isn’t an upgrade!

Is he a must have? I don’t know for friendly games but in a tourney I think I would have to take him.  His ability to shed missile fire is fantastic.  It takes a LOT of killing to kill this Dragon.  It is perhaps the only “dragon” that might be better or as good, is the Ratkin dragon (just because of his role in that army). 

Unique Brotherhood Units:

Villein Pentients:

These guys aren’t bad since they have CS 1.  However hitting on fives is never good.  There are some things you can do to keep them around such as the Fury provided by the Exemplar Chaplain or the Rally provided by the Exemplar Paladin, but that is just adding more points to buff up a mediocre unit.  These guys would never hurt a Trident Realms army.  I just think if I need a unit to hold an objective or table region, I would just use Men at Arms for a few more points and more importantly with Iron Resolve.  So my opinion is hitting on fives is just too much to overcome. 

Villein Bowmen:

There is nothing wrong with these guys if you just want to have a unit to sit on an objective or cross the table. They are fairly priced.  Their phalanx makes it hard for some flyers like gargoyles to take them out due to the effect of the phalanx rule.  They aren’t good, but they aren’t bad either. You just need to have a role for them. 

Villein Skirmishers:

These guys can fill a valuable role in your army as chaff for your knights.  Their high speed and nimble makes them decent as chaff hunters or counter chaff.  A troop won’t stay around long so that is a good thing for chaff. You don’t want your chaff in a chaff fight and keeping your other units from attacking. 

The regiment could have a role, but without Iron Resolve and with low armor they are vulnerable.  I think I would rather have a troop of Paladin Knights with the higher leadership and the Aegis Fragment versus a regiment of these. 

Order of the Abyssal Hunt:

I love these guys! They are a great solution with the Gauntlet to take out those pesky mighty heroes.  They hit hard and have both CS1, Fury, and Iron Resolve. That lets them “grind” better than Paladin Knights.  Having vicious against the titans and monster is cool as well.  Personally, I think this is one of the few “must have” units in the Brotherhood army.  I take them every time.  You probably want Striding on them for 15 points so they can butcher the sissies in the woods.

Villein Siege Artillery:

This is a pretty standard catapult as per other armies that can use them.  At 90 points they are fairly priced.  Not saying you have to have them, but they can help your infantry line by encouraging your foe not to hang too far back. 

 Exemplar Paladin:

I really like this guy in a supporting role.  His ability to give Rally and Inspiring to your infantry line is very good.  If your infantry needs a little bit more power, you can give him the Lute of Insatiable Darkness.  He is also a “mighty” hero and can be sacrificed to keep your infantry from being double charged.  With Iron Resolve and the Aegis Fragment he is pretty had to kill, not to mention he has “Headstrong “.  He fills multiple roles and if you are taking a lot of infantry he is well worth purchasing.

Exemplar Hunter:

My favorite model in the list!  He is very good as an assassin or to put that one wound on a monster to keep it from flying.  I would tend to keep him in the backfield versus an army with flyers.  I would probably give him the Mace of Crushing to help with his damage output.  For sure he needs to be on a horse or with the Wings of Honeymaze.  I “wish” he had five attacks, but he is still pretty good.

Exemplar Chaplain:

Not sure he is much better than the regular chaplain.  If you are taking Villeins in your army he is essential.  He gives them both Rally and Fury, which are great abilities.  He has the unique ability of “cleanse” if his healing spell heals a unit. However, the Healing Spell actually costs more points (only 10) so there is a 25% chance that it won’t work anyway.  The only reason I would take him is if I were committed to using Villeins in the army. 

Summary:

I think the Order of the Brothermark can be good for fun games, but I am not so sure of its ability to win a tournament.  I do like the army, but it is another human army with a few twists.  I hope you enjoyed the article and my unit review.  Perhaps I will get inspired and do a tactics review and/or list review once I have played around with the army a little more.