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AncientDeadConcept

Ancient Dead concept drawings

The world wasn’t always like it is now. Ruins dot the map, mass graves, sunken castles. But where did they come from?

Many hundred years ago, in a different era, an empire of man spanned much of the known world. What has fallen into ruin now, what was abandoned to nature and beast, what has long been forgotten, all this was that of man once. An empire, not of petty noble houses, but one of a dozen provinces, from the frozen tundra of the north to the blistering sands of the south, of a dozen peoples under one banner.

So many peoples, so many cultures and ideas under one roof, all vying to pull the empire into a direction of their own. Could those not be reconciled? Did they, in the end, just pull the empire apart? As remote lands became provinces of the empire, so could local cults become religions that swept across its entirety. Was the authority of the emperor lost to religion? Was it the gods that punished man for worshipping spirits that promised to give what they would not?

Does it matter now what brought it down? The ancient dead are rising again, not living and yet not dead. Long lost legions heed the call of their emperor. They march once more, tirelessly and without emotion, to claim again what was once theirs. What brought down the empire in the end, and what is bringing it back to unlife, is for you to piece together based on clues hidden within the world, if you want to learn more.

Military Tactics[]

The bulk of the ancient dead is made up of the ancient legions. They are what conquered most of the known world once, and they may well do so again. Legions that never tire, legionaries that know no fear, a cold machine that ever marches forward. What could stop them?

The legions fight like they did hundreds of years ago – in tight formation two ranks deep, with shields in front and polearms in the back. They rely quite heavily on the front row providing protection with their shields and locking down the enemy, while the second row uses polearms to inflict heavy damage on their opponents. A formation like this doesn’t charge like undisciplined rabble, but advances slowly and makes heavy use of shields to protect against arrow fire. They don’t possess any ranged weaponry and don’t do flanking maneuvers, preferring to simply walk through any enemy. Because much of their strength is in their formation, they’re at a disadvantage when fighting in difficult terrain, such as forests. They are also the missing piece of the puzzle that makes resolve an important attribute, as fighting them continually puts a test to the morale of the men.

The ancient legions come with a whole lot of unique armor, helmets and weapons. It’s old, it’s brittle and sometimes broken, but it can still be deadly.

Skeletons[]

Skeleton 01 orientation

Ancient Auxiliary[]

Recruited from local vassals was the light infantry, the ancient auxiliaries. Because Battle Brothers, at least for now, focuses on a pseudo-germanic region of the world, the equipment of these auxiliary troops is based on the look of ancient germanic and celtic warriors.

An auxiliary is armed with spear, short sword or falx – a new weapon unique to them. They’re lightly armored, often just with the remains of cloaks sporting the pattern of their ancient clans, and sometimes helmets passed down through the family. Time has taken a toll on both weapons and armor, and so you may find them attacking with broken swords seemingly unaware of it.

Skeleton 01 orientation Ancient Auxiliary
Hitpoints
45
Melee Skill
55
Melee Defense
0
Ranged Defense
0
Resolve
60
Initiative
65
Action Points
9
Experience
150
Perk 27 Fearsome
Perk 05 Shield Expert
Perk 23 Pathfinder
Perk 03 Battle Forged
Perk 09 Steel Brow
Perk 11 Rotation
Perk 32 Resistant to
Ranged Attacks

Active 08 Hand-to-
Hand Attack

Equipment

Skills

Icon Name AP Fatigue Description
Perk 32
Resistant to Ranged Attacks Resistant to Ranged Attacks Ancient Dead take only 10% damage from bows, 25% damage from javelins and fire lances' ignite, 33% damage from crossbows, slings and handgonnes, 50% from other piercing attacks.
Hand-to-Hand Attack
Hand-to-Hand Attack 4 5 Hand-to-Hand Attack does 5-10Damage with 50% Armor Damage and 10% Direct Damage (has -10Melee Skill)

Strengths

  • Mindless (no resolve checks)
  • Has no fatigue at all
  • Immune to bleed, poison and injuries
  • Unaffected by Night Nighttime debuffs
  • Can be reanimated by a Human 01 orientation Necromancer

Tactics

  • Can be stunned
  • Dont bring spears, bows, crossbows, javelins or slings since they arent as effective
  • They are a great source of early helmets (95)

Skeleton 02 orientation

Ancient Legionary[]

Ancient legionaries make up the medium infantry. Once professional soldiers, legionaries enlisted for several years to be trained and used in the empire’s campaigns in exchange for land they could settle at and call their own. Legionaries are well-armed with metal armor, sword and shield, or pike.

Legions from all the different eras of the empire answer its call, so you’ll find legionaries that died a hundred years apart, all with different armor, helmet and shield design, to march together.

Skeleton 02 orientation Ancient Legionary
Hitpoints
55
Melee Skill
65
Melee Defense
0
Ranged Defense
0
Resolve
80
Initiative
65
Action Points
9
Experience
250
Perk 27 Fearsome
Perk 05 Shield Expert
Perk 23 Pathfinder
Perk 03 Battle Forged
Perk 09 Steel Brow
Perk 11 Rotation
Perk 32 Resistant to
Ranged Attacks
Active 08 Hand-to
-Hand Attack

Equipment

Skills

Icon Name AP Fatigue Description
Perk 32
Resistant to Ranged Attacks Resistant to Ranged Attacks Ancient Dead take only 10% damage from bows, 25% damage from javelins and fire lances' ignite, 33% damage from crossbows, slings and handgonnes, 50% from other piercing attacks.
Hand-to-Hand Attack
Hand-to-Hand Attack 4 5 Hand-to-Hand Attack does 5-10Damage with 50% Armor Damage and 10% Direct Damage (has -10Melee Skill)

Strengths

  • Mindless (no resolve checks)
  • Has no fatigue at all
  • Immune to bleed, poison and injuries
  • Cause harsh resolve checks through Fearsome
  • They usually form a shieldwall to protect their polearm-backline
  • Tend to use Knock Back to occupy a better position
  • Will rotate the pike legionaries out of danger if possible
  • Unaffected by Night Nighttime debuffs
  • Can be reanimated by a Human 01 orientation Necromancer

Tactics

  • Very good at keeping your front line occupied whilst their backline deals the most of the damage
  • Overlapping bonuses from shieldwall mean they are strongest in the center
  • Ranged and piercing weapons - spears, bows, crossbows, javelins, etc - deal little damage to their HP, but may be useful in breaking down their armor as they approach
  • Can be stunned
  • A gunner brother with overwhelm will chip away at their armor and make them have a harder time hitting you
Skeleton 02 orientation Ancient Legionary With Polearm
Hitpoints
55
Melee Skill
65
Melee Defense
0
Ranged Defense
0
Resolve
80
Initiative
45
Action Points
9
Experience
250
Perk 27 Fearsome
Perk 23 Pathfinder
Perk 03 Battle Forged
Perk 09 Steel Brow
Perk 11 Rotation
Perk 32 Resistant to
Ranged Attacks
Active 08 Hand-to
-Hand Attack

Equipment

Skills

Icon Name AP Fatigue Description
Perk 32
Resistant to Ranged Attacks Resistant to Ranged Attacks Ancient Dead take only 10% damage from bows, 25% damage from javelins and fire lances' ignite, 33% damage from crossbows, slings and handgonnes, 50% from other piercing attacks.
Hand-to-Hand Attack
Hand-to-Hand Attack 4 5 Hand-to-Hand Attack does 5-10Damage with 50% Armor Damage and 10% Direct Damage (has -10Melee Skill)

Strengths

  • Has Perk 58 Polearm Mastery after day 100
  • Mindless (no resolve checks)
  • Has no fatigue at all
  • Immune to bleed, poison and injuries
  • They attack from the 2nd row behind the shieldwall with fairly high hit-chance
  • Cause harsh resolve checks through Fearsome
  • Unaffected by Night Nighttime debuffs
  • Can be reanimated by a Human 01 orientation Necromancer

Tactics

  • Priority target
  • Ranged and piercing weapons - spears, bows, crossbows, javelins, etc - deal little damage to their HP, but may be useful in breaking down their armor as they approach
  • Can be stunned and disarmed
  • Use dogs to distract them from brothers in emergency or pull backliners (with less melee defense) closer as a bait
  • A gunner brother with overwhelm will chip away at their armor and make them have a harder time hitting you

Ancient Honor Guard[]

Recruited from the ranks of veteran legionaries are the ancient honor guard, once used as personal bodyguards and as heavy infantry to tip the scales of battle. The highest honor a common legionary could hope to achieve, joining the honor guard involved a symbolic death to shed the weakness and frailty of man, and being transformed into a tool of the emperor. No longer a man, but the manifestation of the emperor’s will, the honor guard was encased entirely in armor that did not show any flesh, becoming essentially a living, moving and fighting statue.

Honor guards make use of heavy weaponry from all corners of the ancient empire, such as the warscythe, the rhomphaia and a two-handed cleaver. They were once among the finest and most dedicated warriors of their time, and although now but bones in rusty armor, their skill still echoes through their every swing of the sword.

Skeleton 03 orientation Ancient Honor Guard
Hitpoints
65
Melee Skill
75
Melee Defense
5
Ranged Defense
5
Resolve
100
Initiative
70
Action Points
9
Experience
350
Perk 52 Cleaver Mastery
Perk 27 Fearsome
Perk 23 Pathfinder
Perk 05 Shield Expert
Perk 19 Reach Advantage
Perk 03 Battle Forged
Perk 09 Steel Brow
Perk 11 Rotation
Perk 32 Resistant to
Ranged Attacks
Active 08 Hand-to
-Hand Attack

Equipment

Skills

Icon Name AP Fatigue Description
Perk 32
Resistant to Ranged Attacks Resistant to Ranged Attacks Ancient Dead take only 10% damage from bows, 25% damage from javelins and fire lances' ignite, 33% damage from crossbows, slings and handgonnes, 50% from other piercing attacks.
Hand-to-Hand Attack
Hand-to-Hand Attack 4 5 Hand-to-Hand Attack does 5-10Damage with 50% Armor Damage and 10% Direct Damage (has -10Melee Skill)

Strengths

  • Mindless (no resolve checks)
  • Has no fatigue at all
  • Immune to bleed, poison and injuries
  • Well armed and armored
  • Causes very harsh resolve checks through Fearsome
  • Unaffected by Night Nighttime debuffs
  • Can be reanimated by a Necromancer, has high priority to be resurrected
  • Can become a Status effect 108 Champion (1% Chance)

Tactics

  • Can be stunned
  • Don't bring spears, bows, crossbows, javelins or slings since they aren't as effective
  • Use armor destroying weapons like you would on orc warriors; warhammers, fighting axes, billhooks...
  • Gunners with overwhelm can debuff them and chip away at their armor, though battles with Honorguard tend to go faster than the ones with legionaries due to their frontlines more offensive weapon choice
  • Axes to destroy shields

Other Notes

  • Game code contains Axe Mastery for Ancient Honor Guards, but this weapon type is never actually used, therefore is removed from the perk table.
Skeleton 03 orientation Ancient Honor Guard With Polearm
Hitpoints
65
Melee Skill
75
Melee Defense
5
Ranged Defense
5
Resolve
100
Initiative
50
Action Points
9
Experience
350
Perk 27 Fearsome
Perk 23 Pathfinder
Perk 19 Reach Advantage
Perk 03 Battle Forged
Perk 09 Steel Brow
Perk 11 Rotation
Perk 32 Resistant to
Ranged Attacks
Active 08 Hand-to
-Hand Attack

Equipment

Skills

Icon Name AP Fatigue Description
Perk 32
Resistant to Ranged Attacks Resistant to Ranged Attacks Ancient Dead take only 10% damage from bows, 25% damage from javelins and fire lances' ignite, 33% damage from crossbows, slings and handgonnes, 50% from other piercing attacks.
Hand-to-Hand Attack
Hand-to-Hand Attack 4 5 Hand-to-Hand Attack does 5-10Damage with 50% Armor Damage and 10% Direct Damage (has -10Melee Skill)

Strengths

  • Has Perk 58 Polearm Mastery after day 100
  • Will cause very harsh morale checks through Fearsome
  • Mindless (no resolve checks)
  • Has no fatigue at all
  • Immune to bleed, poison and injuries
  • Unaffected by Night Nighttime debuffs
  • Can be reanimated by a Necromancer

Tactics

  • Can be stunned
  • Don't bring spears, bows, crossbows, javelins or slings since they aren't as effective
  • Use armor destroying weapons like you would on orc warriors; warhammers, fighting axes, billhooks...
  • Use your archers to break down their armor as they approach

Other Notes

  • Game code contains Axe & Cleaver Mastery for Ancient Honor Guards with Polearm - but these weapons are never actually used, therefore are removed from the table.

Skeleton 04 orientation

Ancient Priest[]

Priest1Priest2Priest3

The empire had countless religions and cults, and each had priests spreading the word of their gods, performing rites and proclaiming miracles. The ancient priest was one such individual once. Now brought back to unlife, his very existence is making a mockery out of his faith. His work is turned into a perversion of what he once devoted his life to; no longer does he bless acres, he brings foulness and rot, and no longer does he bring comfort, he brings but horrible visions of a world beyond ours.

The ancient priest joins the ranks of the few spellcasters, and like all spellcasters fills a support role. He’s of little danger all by himself, but with ancient legionaries holding the ranks, he can slowly work to rout a whole company. And then, there’s always his ancient honor guard protecting him.

The ancient priest’s first skill is to summon miasma, a thick mist of foulness and rot that is harmful to any living being. Miasma is created in an area of 7 tiles and sticks to these tiles for several rounds. Any living being ending its turn on a tile affected by miasma will lose hitpoints – it’s only a few each round (5, 10), but no armor does protect against breathing in the foul fog, and it does eventually add up if you don’t move out your men

The ancient priest’s second skill is called ‘Horror’, and as the name implies, it brings horrific visions to it’s unfortunate victims. It’s an area-of-effect spell, like ‘Miasma’, but targeted at people and not tiles. Anyone affected will have to make a morale check – the higher the resolve, the higher the chance that they won’t be affected at all. If a character fails the morale check, their morale will drop by one level. Additionally, if the character fails critically (meaning with a dice throw higher than 140% of their resolve, subject to change) they’ll be affected by the new ‘Horrified’ status effect for one turn and be unable to act.

While ‘Horror’ can be quite powerful against a company of weak-willed and deserters, it can be countered by investing into the resolve attribute of your men, picking certain perks, and making use of the ‘Rally the Troops’ skill.

Skeleton 04 orientation Ancient Priest
Hitpoints
65
Melee Skill
40
Melee Defense
0
Ranged Defense
5
Initiative
5
Action Points
9
Experience
450
Perk 27 Fearsome
Miasma Miasma
Horror Horror
Perk 23 Pathfinder
Perk 03 Battle Forged
Perk 09 Steel Brow
Perk 11 Rotation
Perk 32 Resistant to
Ranged Attacks
Active 08 Hand-to
-Hand Attack

Equipment

  • Has no weapon
  • Has an ancient priest attire (40)
  • Has an ancient priest diadem (50)
  • Has no shield

Skills

Icon Name AP Fatigue Description
Perk 32
Resistant to Ranged Attacks Resistant to Ranged Attacks Ancient Dead take only 10% damage from bows, 25% damage from javelins and fire lances' ignite, 33% damage from crossbows, slings and handgonnes, 50% from other piercing attacks.
Horror
Horror 6 0 Horror will cause a resolve check that can lower the morale and if the character fails critically (meaning with a dice throw higher than 140% of their Resolve) they’ll be affected by the Horrified Horrified status effect for one turn and be unable to act (targets 1 unit plus everyone next to that and has a range of 7 tiles)
Miasma
Miasma 6 0 Miasma does direct 5-10 Hitpoints damage each turn to a living unit that finishes its turn standing in it (targets an area of 7 tiles, has a range of 8 tiles and lasts for 3 turns on the ground)
Hand-to-Hand Attack
Hand-to-Hand Attack 4 5 Hand-to-Hand Attack does 5-10Damage with 50% Armor Damage and 10% Direct Damage (has -10Melee Skill)

Strengths

  • Mindless (no resolve checks)
  • Has no fatigue at all
  • Immune to bleed, poison and injuries
  • Always protected by 1 to 3 Ancient Honor Guards
  • Unaffected by Night Nighttime debuffs
  • Can be reanimated by a Necromancer

Tactics

  • Can be stunned.
  • Despite having resistance to ranged attacks, can potentially be sniped with Spiked Impaler/Heavy Crossbow (with assistance of Bullseye perk).

Skeleton conqueror

The Conqueror[]

Conqueror2

The Conqueror is the boss of the Black Monolith legendary location.

Skeleton conqueror The Conqueror
Hitpoints
350
Melee Skill
90
Melee Defense
20
Ranged Defense
10
Resolve
120
Initiative
70
Action Points
9
Experience
600
Fearsome Fearsome
Shield Expert Shield Expert
Pathfinder Pathfinder
Steel Brow Steel Brow
Rotation Rotation
Battle Forged Battle Forged
Reach Advantage Reach Advantage
Cleaver Mastery Cleaver Mastery
Resilient Resilient
Executioner Executioner
Crippling Strikes Crippling Strikes
Fast Adaptation Fast Adaptation
Underdog Underdog
Berserk Berserk
Perk 32 Resistant to
Ranged Attacks

Hand-to-Hand Attack Hand-to-
Hand Attack

Equipment

Skills

Icon Name AP Fatigue Description
Perk 32
Resistant to Ranged Attacks Resistant to Ranged Attacks Ancient Dead take only 10% damage from bows, 25% damage from javelins and fire lances' ignite, 33% damage from crossbows, slings and handgonnes, 50% from other piercing attacks.
Hand-to-Hand Attack
Hand-to-Hand Attack 4 5 Hand-to-Hand Attack does 5-10Damage with 50% Armor Damage and 10% Direct Damage (has -10Melee Skill)

Strengths

  • Reflects 25% of damage taken in melee back to the attacker
  • Does 35% more damage
  • Immune to disarm, bleed, poison and injuries
  • Mindless (no resolve checks)
  • Has no fatigue at all
  • Unaffected by Night Nighttime debuffs

Tactics

  • Can be stunned
  • Good target for nets
  • Dont bring spears, bows, crossbows, javelins or slings since they arent as effective
  • Use armor destroying weapons like you would on orc warriors; warhammers, fighting axes, billhooks...
  • Use your archers to break down his armor as he approaches
  • Axes to destroy shield

Vampire 01 orientation

Necrosavant[]

Savant1Savant2Savant3

As the ancient empire conquered most of the known world, so would foreign and remote lands turn into provinces. What was local custom or cult once, hidden away and not spoken of elsewhere, would suddenly find itself a part of the empire, and sometimes would creep deep into its very heart. From the blistering deserts of the south came a secretive cult that had its followers not worship fertility as they did in the capital, not strength, not humility and not compassion. They worshiped a perversion of death, the promise to transcend mortality, to exist beyond life and death, forever.

When you have nothing but misery, it’s easy to let go, to welcome the warm embrace of the gods that sets you free from all earthly burden and hardships. But it’s those who have everything on this earth, power and wealth, who cling to it at the end of their life, who clutch to it in desperation, who bargain, who curse, who would pay any price to stay. And it is those who would embrace not the gods, for their touch is not salvation for them, but whose touch would tear them away and apart from the earthly things they prize above all, the things that they have chosen to become. It is those who would forsake the gods and turn to the cult of death instead, who would die over and over again, and yet never leave this earth, forever bound to it, forever paying the price.

Whether an ardent cultist once, or a decadent noble seeking eternal life, they have long since become a being that measures time no longer in years but in lifetimes: a Necrosavant. It will wither away and die in time, again and again, but never leave this world as long as it is rejuvenated with the blood of the living.

The Necrosavant has the ability to turn into a flock of bats to quickly position itself on the battlefield, making it perhaps the most mobile opponent in Battle Brothers. However, it doesn’t wear any armor or shield, leaving it vulnerable to being attacked itself, especially if bereft of its major strength by being stunned or immobilized.

Vampire 01 orientation Necrosavant
Hitpoints
56 - 225
Melee Skill
85
Melee Defense
25
Ranged Defense
25
Initiative
130
Action Points
8
Experience
400
Perk 57 Crippling Strikes
Perk 15 Head Hunter
Perk 10 Anticipation
Perk 07 Nine Lives
Status effect 09 Vampire
Active 28 Darkflight

Equipment

  • Has a Khopesh
  • Has natural body armor (20)

Loot

Chance
50% To Get 1 Item per Kill
100% Inventory vampire dust 01 Shimmering Ashes

Skills

Icon Name AP Fatigue Description
Status effect 09
Vampire Vampire The necrosavant will be healed by the amount of Hitpoints damage dealt by its attack
Active 28
Darkflight 4 0 Darkflight Teleports the necrosvant to another tile (has a range of 6 tiles)

Strengths

  • Starts the fight with 56-225 Hitpoints
  • Mindless (no resolve checks)
  • Has no fatigue at all
  • Immune to injuries and poison
  • Unaffected by Night Nighttime debuffs

Tactics

  • Can be stunned
  • Good target for nets
  • Bleed can be very effective against them
  • They usually do a snake noise, so you won't be surprised even at night when they attack
  • Don't leave archers isolated more than 4 AP from a melee fighter, so that if a necrosavant teleports into melee with the archer, then your melee fighter can move into melee and attempt one hit before the necrosavant can teleport out next turn (Keep your units somewhat grouped)
  • Necrosavants hate being flanked
  • Put injured units next to 3+ brothers and a necrosavant will instead attack a brother on the edge of that group
  • Jagged pikes may be a good idea as necrosavants bleed, jagged pikes also cost only 5 AP to attack with, allowing you to attack from 2 tiles and have a bit of mobility
  • Once weakened, don't allow necrosavants to deal damage to hitpoints and thus heal themselves
  • Immobilizing necrosavants will rob them of their greatest strength
  • Netting or stunning a necrosavant will allow your brothers to focus on surrounding him
  • Give archers bludgeons as secondary weapons for the stun attack
  • Consider switching to a melee weapon and surrounding a necrosavant before attacking or consider not bringing archers at all
  • Use Taunt Taunt to make a necrosavant attack the taunting character over another potentially more vulnerable one
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