The Brotherhood Without Banners has been almost fully revealed by CMON for The Miniatures Game. Whilst we wait for the last few models to have their rules shown off, we are going to continue the deep dive into the Brotherhood Without Banners for ASOIAF:Tactics.
Background
The Brotherhood Without Banners started their quest with banners, King Robert Baratheon’s banners to be precise. This quest was issued by Eddard Stark when he acted on behalf of Robert as his Hand of the King in the A Game of Thrones book. The quest was to bring the false knight Ser Gregor Clegane to hee.
However, we learn later in the same book that this warband walked into an ambush at the Mummer’s Ford where Gregor and the Mountain’s Men slaughter the warband. Beric was killed but thanks to his squire, Edric Dayne, and the red priest, Thoros of Myr, he was revivified. Since this scattering of their warband, the remaining forces continue the fight as a guerrilla group under the guise of The Brotherhood Without Banners. The feature across the rest of the books in the ASOIAF series and in splinter.
Lady Stoneheart is a big name for the group but never appeared in the show. She was the resurrected corpse of Catelyn Stark who could not speak and led the forces in a campaign of vengeance against all that orchestrated the Red Wedding. She was brought back to life when Beric gave his to resurrect her, and this fractured the warband.
Other names such as Lem Lemoncloak, Harwin, Tom Sevenstreams, Anguy, and Gendry, are some of the bigger names that are integral members to the Brotherhood Without Banners, and not all of them appear in this box which is exciting to theorise for a future set to expand the Brotherhood.
Beric Dondarrion – The Lightning Lord
Model Design – As one of the most anticipated models for the game, Beric does not disappoint. What an incredible model for the lighting lord and leader of the Brotherhood Without Banners. My favourite part of the model is the face sculpt which has a damaged eye from one of the many deaths Beric has faced. We are missing the shield and lighting bolt on the chest plate but perhaps this is a later version of Beric where who he was before has degraded away.
Rules Design – First rule that caught my eye was Beric’s cost. At 2 Gold he will not see play alongside Lady Stoneheart outside of the larger gamemode since Small Games are 2 Gold, Standard Games are 3 Gold, and Large Games are 4 Gold. This makes so much sense considering Lady Stoneheart was only brought about from the traded death of Beric Dondarrion. He dies, she lives. That was Beric’s purpose in the end.
Following this is the incredible base statistics of Beric with the best Morale Stat in the game at 2+ which does synergise with his Melee Ability which seems to have him take a Will check to dish out a Shaken Token. 3 Wounds is not too bad and is needed with the 7+ Armour Save, he may be one of the more fragile models, but this usually balances out with the damage output, alas we cannot see the details of this at this. However, we can see there is an Aftermath ability and seems to roll something more for the attack with some copper. So, he could be a beast in combat.
Motivation Design – Hand’s Order sees Beric pick a target to become their Nemesis, and when the Nemesis is destroyed you gain 2 VPs. Immediately I love it, the order of Ned Stark sending Beric to bring someone to the King’s justice fits so well for their motivation, but I think having it be when the Nemesis is arrested instead of destroyed would have made more sense. Or were they sent to kill The Mountain and his brigands? I had always believed it was to drag them back in chains.
When Beric dies, he can come back through his Motivation. You spend a Gold and place him next to another Hero and then lose VPs. So, this wouldn’t work in a Small Game as you wouldn’t have another Hero, but in a Standard Game you could have the likes of Thoros or Petyr, maybe even another Faction’s Hero if they are 1 Gold. Beric coming back to life could be a very powerful ability for so many reasons. He could act as a speed bump blocking enemies from getting into the fray and forcing them to deal with him only for it to result in his return in a better position.
It is very thematic as mentioned before due to how many times he comes back to life which have turned into myths and fables. But also explains why he isn’t that impressive for one of the headlining Heroes. If he was really good, then he would be broken similar to how Coldhands has played out with his revive mechanic. So, making him somewhat decent but having him revivable is an interesting deal.
Catelyn Stark – Lady Stoneheart
Lore – We all know who is Catelyn Stark is, but for what becomes of her, many may not know. During A Feast For Crows, we learn that after the Red Wedding Catelyn’s body was thrown into the river and it was dragged out by Arya’s direwolf Nymeria. The direwolf was then chased away by The Brotherhood Without Banners and Beric Dondarrion recognised Catelyn; he begged Thoros to revive her which he refused, and thus Beric give his life to revive Catelyn.
Just like how Beric was scarred from his previous deaths, Catleyn did not heal the wounds she suffered which results in her unable to speak. She then seeks only vengeance against those who orchestrated the Red Wedding and takes charge of The Brotherhood Without Banners in an effort to seek out all those that played a part in the grand betrayal.
Model Design – Whilst CMON has a longline of zombie models, the game has been missing this component for a while, and it is a great place to introduce them with Lady Stoneheart. I do appreciate the detail gone into the face and neck of Catelyn to show the injuries she suffered during the Red Wedding; I can’t wait to see how people paint the injuries. I also like the stance Stonheart has taken almost as a coven witch to represent the darkness that has taken over this character.
Rules Design – Catelyn is still a support piece from her counterpart in the Stark Faction. She gives an aura of extra damage to all friendlies without needing to succeed with an attack, which means you can chip kill targets by swarming them. This might be a bit too strong, for anything with multiple attacks especially. Catelyn must be a priority for the opponent, and it is not difficult to kill her with 8+ Armour Save and 2 Wounds. She does have an ability that haemorrhages the opponent’s resources which is also a part of her Motivation.
Motivation Design – Stoneheart’s Motivation sees three enemies become a Nemesis and when they die you score a VP and have them do a Morale Test, on a failure they must spend some money. This can severely limit the tools the opponent has to play with in dealing with the outlaws. Stoneheart is interesting, and I don’t think she works well with Thoros, who is someone you are likely to play. However, she is a Neutral Character which everyone can bring, you could see many forces rocking Stoneheart for the damage ability alone and the haemorrhaging of money is a bonus. So, bring something with a ranged attack to snipe her early.
Thoros of Myr – The Red Priest
Model Design – Thoros looks fantastic; whilst I wish he was carrying a wineskin or goblet to show his drunkard ways, the design shows how the outlaw priest is someone to fear from his legends. The many swords that he used in Tourneys is a nice touch since they would often become very damaged from the wildfire he would use to light them. I also like the bracers that mix well with the leather on the arms, and the face sculpt shows the ageing of this warrior excellently.
Rules Design – Thoros’ rules are mostly covered in terms of his abilities, with one of them looking like it might meddle with targeting and the others being expensive abilities to boost the melee action. It could be something relating to his flaming sword which he would use often in Tourneys to unnerve the opponent. The melee attack is not great but at least he has a decent defence. From what we can see it is not that all impressive, but you are likely to have the space for Thoros in your lists due to his cost, and his Motivation is the true power of the bard.
Motivation Design – Thoros can kill a model for free. It will be hard to set it up as it relies on the opponent making a mistake for it to go off. He must be within three squares of a model that has arrested a friendly model. You then spend 2 Gold and kill both. Here is how it works: you get Beric captured, you use Thoros to kill both Beric and the captor, then you bring back Beric with his own Motivation, now you are a model up against the opponent, but had to spend 3 Gold to do so. Likely, a model sent to deal with Beric is a valuable model, and you could skew this to be someone worth removing such as The Mountain.
3 Gold is quite expensive to pull this off, but without Beric 2 Gold for this is a lot to ask for considering you have to get within three squares of a enemy model that has captured one of your models. It is unlikely to happen so you may have Gold you won’t use. This would mean Thoros is a bad choice, but it works well with Petyr Baelish.
Gendry – The Bull
Model Design – Gendry’s model concept is awesome but it kind of looks off. Some people have expressed how the helmet looks disproportionate and not usable in combat. He keeps the blacksmith look and has arms like Marcus Fenix from Gears of War. A model we should have had sooner, and with us getting the Neutral Arya, we just need Hot pie to complete the trinity, and this was recently revealed to be on the way in Brotherhood Without Banners Heroes 1.
Rules Design – Gendry is super tough to chew through due to the massive 4 Wounds he sports, although his defence save is low, you will need multiple attacks to bring down the bull. He has a great combat statistic hitting on 4+ but if you do not charge it looks like you gain a bonus of a debuff to the opponent which could be the hammer concussing and that could stack with the Shaken effect. But there is also an Aftermath that can cause additional Wounds.
For a silver, Gendry is a no brainer in any Neutral force, and perhaps in any Faction. He is looking to be very useful and could be a thorn in the side to most opponents not prepared for the young blacksmith to suddenly counter big names.
Edric Dayne – Beric’s Squire
Lore – Edric Dayne is Beric Dondarrion’s squire and we meet him through the eyes of Arya in A Storm of Swords. He idolises Ned Stark and is quite honourable. He has seen his fair share of combat at a young age even pulling Beric Dondarrion’s body out of a river to be revived. Edric has taken half of the Brotherhood Without Banners south from the Riverlands after Lady Stoneheart took leadership that fractured the group.
Model Design – Edric’s inclusion in the Martell Heroes 2 box was a little farfetched considering he never came close to interacting with anyone from the Faction throughout the story. But his attachment of being a squire is correct for Edric, just not with any of the Martells. Here he stands with the correct Faction and with a great design for the young squire. If I were to imagine Ser Arthur Dayne in his youth then this model would be what I would see, I love the sword and the clothing that has been made for the model.
Rules Design – Edric is bad, but we only have half of the picture. For the same price as Gendry, he brings a lot less to the table with half the wounds and half the chances of succeeding in combat. However, if you have a Silver spare, and manage to put the finishing blow against a model, Edric levels up to a new version that we have not seen yet. It is hard to determine how useful Edric is until we see the levelled-up version.
Tom Sevenstreams
Lore – Tom Sevenstreams is the bard of the Brotherhood, we are treated to several songs from the world that did make it into the show. Bear and the Maiden Fair is one we are introduced to in A Storm of Swords and is a popular one for fans of the show. But it is not until the end of this book and then A Feast For Crows that we realise he is not an innocent singer but a cunning spy.
Model Design – We don’t get many models with mediaeval instruments and the Harp looks fantastic especially with its little holster. The facial design is something very advanced for the modellers of the game and showcases how far they have come from the early days. You get a sense of who Tom is by the way he smiles and furrows his brow, like he is running circles around like a fox. The many knife holsters would be enough to make John Wick smile. My favourite model from the whole set.
Rules Design – Tom will be a useful piece for a player to use. He has a small, ranged attack that has a lot of dice but is a free Action every turn, you could spend 9 Copper and do the attack three times, which would be one way to clear out a lot of people or mow down a tough opponent like Robert Baratheon. However, he does have a counter ability which can remove the Routed condition from all models in short range, this could be a very useful ability since there are a lot of models out there that can put the condition out. You will need to set Tom up but when you do, his actions may turn the entire game. Just like how his information saw big players for the Freys crossed out.
Lem Lemoncloak – The Lemon
Lore – Lem has been with the group from the start after leaving with Beric on Ned Stark’s orders. There isn’t too much interesting stuff that Lem get’s up to since he is more of the average joe that is capable in several situations. Whilst he finds the magical side of the Brotherhood to be a charade he still follows the Lord of Light. He is also loyal to Catelyn Stark when she fractures the warband. Just a capable ordinary dude.
Model Design – Lem’s model is imposing and gives off Robert Baratheon vibes. Some artwork depicts him as a rugged veteran of the Crownlands to which the model does achieve, and with the right paintjob it could shine as focusing on Crownland design to give it some representation although we do not know where he comes from even though it is heavily theorised, he is a Lonmouth. One nitpick, his nose isn’t nearly as messed up since Arya breaks it and it heals incorrectly, especially since it is always mentioned.
Rules Design – Lem’s rules have him working together with other models in your force. You can give out an additional move and gain a formidable attack when flanking. Lem on his own is nothing to shout home about sporting nothing impressive, but combined with another he can stand against even the mightiest of opponents. 4 dice on 6+ could be enough to remove almost anything. Use him wisely, and use both his abilities in tandem with each other, and you will have a big problem for the opponent to think about, which for the Brotherhood may be one too many problems for them to face.
Brotherhood Man At Arms
Model Design – There are three different designs for the Men-at-Arms and they are all very distinctly not related to other Factions. It would be easy to make a Stark looking member, or King’s Landing member, but the designs have tried to be their own thing without definitive aesthetic relating to something else. The woodcutter model looks brilliant and could be for many smaller locations across the Riverlands like Acorn Hill or the Isle of Faces, the mace wielding model looks to have found themselves some unique weaponry since maces are not that popular in the model range, and the final one keeps up the flaming look that the leaders bring. They all look great and would blend effortlessly into the Men-at-Arms box for the main game.
Rules Design – I am glad the Men-at-Arms are not worthless soldiers and have some decent statistics that make them shine. Whilst slightly more expensive than other standard soldiers, they have some great defence and combat stats that can make them a menace. They also get to move after their attack which would be very useful in getting past the opponent or out of danger if needed. So, you could move into engagement, attack, then move out, so the opponent doesn’t spend their actions doing a double attack and must move to you. They do have another ability, but we cannot see what this is.
Brotherhood Archer
Model Design – Again the models look so different from other Factions to make sure you are not shoehorned into painting them in a specific way. They look like outlaws and have different types of bows which is interesting for how they utilise bowmen. They do make me wish for more archers in the game with some different rules depending on the type of bow you use like short bows and recurve bows. When Crossbowmen dominate the scene and have the exact same rules for almost all of them, it would be nice to gain some flavour here.
Rules Design – The Brotherhood Archer may show up in almost all forces, which is a common saying for the Brotherhood box. One of the main problems with ranged attacks is line of sight, and so closing the distance is important to have the model be active throughout the game. The trade-off is usually missing out on some damage in trade of better positioning. However, the Brotherhood Archer has an Aftermath ability which allows them to move 2 Squares after the attack. Having them not lose momentum whilst moving about is crucial to giving them a place amongst the ranged units. But, they are easy to take down if you can tie them up.
Summary
It has been a long time coming for the Brotherhood Without Banners to join the ASOIAF: TMG and it is nice to see that the first taste of the Faction will be in the skirmish game mode providing more character to the members of the Brotherhood. With the new reveal of the Faction in the main game, these models will actually come later. The models look fantastic, and they all have some interesting mechanics that will make them a force to be reckoned with and not a blunt sword like the Neutrals were for a while.
Neutrals are getting a lot of love in the Tactics game with four different boxes of new models. We have one more box to go through for the Neutrals and it is the main one for a Neutral player: Secrets and Whispers.
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