ASOIAF: Making Themed Lists for the Brotherhood

The Brotherhood Without Banners is now available on the War Council App to build your forces for the rag-tag band of outlaws. With them finally being at our fingertips I wanted to make some lists based on some big clashes in the books, and see how thematic you can make lists. 

Everyone is discussing the Brotherhood and what is the best way to run them. From NCUs, Neutrals, Bara/Stark allies, and Attachments, there are countless discussions on what is the right way to play the force when it comes to competitive play. But, this is not my favourite way to play the game.

Thematic clashes on the battlefield representing events from the show and books is why many people picked up this game. So gaining the Brotherhood allows us to enact the conflicts their small force found themselves in across the War of the Five Kings. 

However, is it even possible to construct a force that can represent the battles they fought? Is there enough diversity in the list building to make the varied combatants levied at the foes of the forgotten fellowship?

List 1 – Battle at the Mummer’s Ford

Catelyn Tully sparked a conflict in the Riverlands after arresting Tyrion Lannister on suspicion of hiring an assassin to murder Bran Stark. This resulted in Tywin Lannister commanding Gregor Clegane to raid the Riverlands but in disguise, but the Mountain is famed brute resulting in several Riverland Lords seeking the King’s justice for the brigands’ attacks. 

In A Game of Thrones, we learn about this with the Hand of the King Eddard Stark as he sits the throne in the King’s stead. Ned commands Beric Dondarrion to bring the false knight Gregor Clegane down whilst also summoning Tywin Lannister to court to answer for his bannerman’s crimes or be found a traitor to the realm. 

Beric assembles forces from the Crownlands, and Stormlands, but is also given some of Neds household guard to deal with Gregor Clegane. They go forth until they meet their quarry in the Battle at the Mummer’s Ford. An event that birth’s the Brotherhood.

List – Beric Dondarrion – Mummer’s Ford 

Men-at-Arms (6pts)
     – Beric Dondarrion (C)
Men-at-Arms (6pts)
Brotherhood Archers (6pts)
Hedge Knights (7pts)
     – Glory Seeker (0pts*)
Winterfell Guard (7pts)
     – Edric Dayne (0pts*)

Thoros of Myr (4pts)

Petyr Baelish (4pts)

Above is the list I believe best represents what the forces under Beric Dondarrion would be using the Brotherhood Faction. If you wanted to take it a step further, you could ask your opponent if you could use some non-loyalty Baratheon Units instead to better represent this moment in the story. Wardens, Sentinels, Knights, Champions, and Halberdiers, could all be great picks instead of the Men-at-Arms, but within the Brotherhood these are perfect to represent forces from House Dondarrion and House Wylde, both are representing Stormland troops. 

Brotherhood Archers help breakup the melee focused army, and in this instance will be representing the forces from the Crownlands in House Mallery. The Hegde Knights represent the Riverland House Darry as Raymun Darry joined the force and was later killed by Gregor Clegane when he cleaved both Raymun and his horse in one blow. The Glory Seeker represents Raymun in this instance, which is reduced by a point thanks to the Brotherhood’s special rule reducing one Attachment by 1. 

To represent the Household Guard from the Starks we pick the Winterfell Guard, plus it is a more elite Unit to represent Harwin and Alyn which we don’t have Attachments for yet. This also allows us to bring a 1pts Attachment since the Unit reduces it by 1, and in this instance I have chosen Edric Dayne. Edric saves Beric Dondarrion’s life in this battle by dragging him out of the ford after he becomes wounded, furthermore, when Arya meets Edric in A Storm of Swords, he goes by the alias of Ned due to his admiration of Ned Stark, so he fits nicely in the Stark Unit. 

Thoros of Myr is present in the battle, but with limited options for NCUs due to the rest not being around at this stage, we have selected him as a NCU. It works nicely since he is about healing in this form and he heals Beric at the end of the conflict. Following Thoros is Petyr Baelish. Since we can’t add Ned Stark or Robert Baratheon here, another Small Council member will work. Since Petyr Baelish was present when Ned gave Beric his orders, I believe he is the better choice than Varys in this instance. 

List 2 – Battle at the Burning Septry

In A Storm of Swords, we get a glimpse at what the Brotherhood are doing through Arya chapters. The Battle at the Burning Septry is a small-scale fight between the Brotherhood and the Brave Companions (Bloody Mummers) but gives Arya (or the reader) insight into what their day to day life is like. During this fight Arya notes how Beric and Thoros seem to be everywhere at once with their flaming swords, and post fight both tell Arya about how many times Beric has been brought back to life. 

For this list I wanted to make a typical Brotherhood list with the featured characters, whilst also building it around the discussion Beric and Thoros have about bringing him back, playing into Thoros’ cards. 

List – Thoros of Myr – Burning Septry

Barathon Sentinels (5pts)
     – Thoros of Myr (C)
Men-at-Arms (6pts)
     – Beric Dondarrion (2pts)
Brotherhood Archers (6pts)
     – Anguy (2pts)
Hedge Knights (7pts)
Peasant Levy (4pts)
– Lem Lemoncloak (0pts*)

Ravella Smallwood (4pts)

Ghost of High Heart (4pts)

Thoros, Beric, Anguy, and Lem, are all mentioned in the fighting. Lem Lemoncloak was on horseback, so to represent this I have included Hedge Knights and some Peasants to fit him in alongside a cavalry Unit. I wish I had the extra point to bring the Brotherhood’s specific cavalry, but this would mean Thoros is left with a Peasant Unit and I am not too sure that works well with his rules. But do try it if you think it will work. 

Beric is given some Men-at-Arms which can pack a punch on their own but with Beric they can do even more. After playing against them on the tabletop I do believe they are a far better Unit than I have given them credit for. Anguy is featured heavily in the fight with burning arrows and other named archers. We had to use him and he fits perfectly in the Brotherhood Archer Unit. 

I gave Thoros something that can play an interesting role on the battlefield. Whilst the Sentinels can double up on the Sundering, their Sentinel ability tied with Thoros’ Fiery Charge card, could be a lethal play. The other thing to remember is that with The Last Kiss card, you could see Attachments partnering up like Beric and Thoros or Lem in the Men-at-Arms. 

Before the fight, Arya travelled with Thoros around the Riverlands to places that offer support to the Brotherhood. They visit Ravella Smallwood and the Ghost of High Heart so they are ideal for the NCUs in this force. You could add in Gendry, and Arya, since they are watching the fight, however you would have to include Sandor Clegane who does show up in the same chapter to the Brotherhood. But you will need to find three places for Attachments. 

List 3 – Inn at the Crossroads

After the Red Wedding, Catelyn Stark’s body is dragged out of the Green Fork by Arya’s Direwolf, and is then resurrected by Beric Dondarrion who gives their life to revive her. A Storm of Swords is only the beginning of Catelyn’s new crusade of vengeance, and we get to see the true lengths she goes to with the Brotherhood in A Feast For Crows. 

For the most part, the Brotherhood becomes a shell of itself after the rise of Lady Stoneheart. It fractures the warband in two with half going south with Edric and Anguy, and the rest remaining such as Thoros, Lem, and Harwin. This is where the Brotherhood become more of the same cruelty that they were fighting against, and it is all due to the desire of vengeance from Stoneheart. 

List – Lady Stoneheart – Crossroads

Stark Sworn Swords (5pts)
     – Catelyn Stark (C)
Men-at-Arms (6pts)
     – Lem Lemoncloak (0pts*)
Peasant Levy (4pts)
     – Tom Sevenstrings (1pts)
Brotherhood Sworn Knights (8pts)
Brotherhood Archers (6pts)
     – Gendry (2pts)

Ravella Smallwood (4pts)

Thoros of Myr (4pts)

We follow Brienne of Tarth as she is travelling to find the two Stark daughters in the Riverlands. She stumbles upon the Brotherhood at the Inn at the Crossroads and gets into a conflict with Rorge and Biter with the remnants of the Brave Companions. During this, Gendry saves Brienne’s life and then brings her to Thoros to tend to her wounds, before presenting her to Lady Stoneheart who tries to hang them for wielding Lannister gold. 

Catelyn helms the army as she leads the remaining Brotherhood members. With Harwin remaining with the warband, I wanted a Stark Unit for Catelyn and settled on the Sworn Swords since they are a base Stark Unit. Alongside these is Lem in his Men-at-Arms, the Battle Scars ability is perfect with this Unit and keeps them in the fight for longer. 

Alongside this are some Archers for a ranged Unit in the force, Gendry fits quite well here since the Archers are quite fragile. Resilience may keep them alive for far longer, whilst Improved Defences might give them a small edge when you hold the crown. Finally we get to add some knights into the mix from the Brotherhood’s own cavalry Unit. These hit like a brick especially when they are paired with Tom Sevenstrings. 

Tom is working as a spy in the Frey and Lannister camps, even getting close to Jaime Lannister. He gives information on the Freys to Stoneheart resulting in an ambush that succeeds. So with that in mind, you can Taunt an enemy into Tom, as if you are giving information about where the Unit would be. Then follow up with Lady Stoneheart sending in a Unit to assassinate the target. Works just like it did in the book, plus Gang-up for the Peasants results in a nice synergy. 

Was It a Success? 

Three different eras in the Brotherhood’s history can all be represented quite well in their release. I enjoy the design of the force where you can bring Attachments quite effortlessly without it hampering your options for Units too much. A lot of people will be wanting to run a third NCU but it makes little sense thematically, but this could be a place to expand on in the future for CMON. 

There are a few names missing that we would love to see from Stark Household Guards, the initial lords and knights from the Mummer’s Ford conflict, and the other clandestine supporters like Lyman Lychester. Eitherway, CMON has focused on synergies and you can see how they reflect the story that they are based on and it gives a great idea of where they are going for the Brotherhood, and perhaps even the whole game. 

We aren’t too far from the next major update in March. Whilst the Brotherhood are very unlikely to see any form of change, others like the Night’s Watch and Boltons could get a great update focusing on synergy just like with this Faction. 

Let us know what lists you have come up with for the Brotherhood!

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