White Company (Apr, 2017)

The White Company

The White Company is my third and latest company. Named after the greatest mercenary company ever, this group of misfits lived up to the name having ended the Noble House War and Greenskin Crisis, raided a couple orc bases (warlord & co. Thanks Sarissofoi, your wedge formation rocks!) and on the 259th day raided the Black Monolith without retreating or losing a single man. (Poor Tornhelm the Sniper lost his nose tho).

As a teacher by profession, I can't avoid explaining things as thoroughly as possible. Old habits die hard, I suppose.

Company Set-ups

Early Company:

Early in the game you shouldn't be concerned about epic loot, raiding orc warcamps/goblin cities/Black Monolith. You're there to survive, slowly building up your company. Focus on small contracts and commerce. In time, build up towards something like the following:

• 2-4 hybrid Polearm/Archers.

Aim for the best possible Ranged Atk, Initiative, Ranged Defense and if possible, decent Melee Atk, in that order.

• 4-5 Shield Brothers. (damage sponges)

Aim for the best possible Melee Defense, Fatigue and Melee Atk.

• 2 2handed warriors for flanking and damage.

Go for high Melee Atk, Fatigue and Melee Defense

• 1 Sergeant

​ High Resolve is mandatory, Fatigue is a must-have and Ranged Defense is essential. So yeah, good luck finding one (mine used to be a beggar)

Lategame Company:

Whenever you have your 12-ish guys and decent armor (200-ish on frontliners is a decent landmark) you can start to shift your company towards a late game composition.

The White Company's lategame was comprised by:

• 1 Sergeant WITH BANNER.

​ Having a polearm is tempting (and I even fell for that), but the Resolve bonus is too good to pass. Keep the banner, he's not there to DPS

• 2 dedicated archers

​ Later in the game your 50 melee skill just won't cut it, so throw it off the window and go ham on Ranged Atk, Initiative and Ranged Def.

• 2 Shield Brothers

​ Archers and Sergeant require bodyguards as other people do their work. They're useless in most levels but mandatory on the hard ones.

• 7 2-handed guys (you'll see screenshots).

​ These guys are the bread and butter of any lategame company. High Melee Attack and Defense keeps them alive for a very long time. 300/300 plates keep them alive against arrows and crossbows and sky-high fatigue keeps them moving.

How to Fight with this company

In normal missions/ambushes/contracts run forward and slash the enemy to bloody pieces. Keep 1 or 2 tiles between your 2-handed fighters so they can swing away undeterred.

In harder missions/Orc Warcamps, try forming a Wedge Formation. It's the one that looks like a > , placing your archers and sergeant in the center but leave enough space for your 2-handed's swings.

Sarissofoi has a great example of it in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxsrPluqLec&t=392s

For the Black Monolith, i'll add a proper chapter with screenshots.

Who are you and what do you do?

As for each class they should be self explanatory but let's go !

• Shield Brother - standard defensive unit. Has no down or upside. Just a guy with a shield and a one-handed weapon protecting his brothers. Later in the game, their best use is to block line of sight to your archers and help keep them alive.
• Sergeant - back-line supporter. He's NOT there to fight or DPS. He's there to keep morale in check.
• Archers/Polearm - early in the game, archers suck and suck HARD. That's why moving them behind the frontline and poking with polearms is a good choice. Becomes irrelevant later on, tho.
• Dedicated Archers: Later in the game, archers are great shooters and rarely ever miss. Inflict as many wounds as possible. They CAN kill enemies, but are there mostly to cripple and/or rout them.
• 2-handed men - THESE are the guys doing the killing. Enemies softened/crippled up by archers equals a reset (berserk perk) making it quick and easy to sweep an entire battlefield.

Shield Brothers

As stated before, these guys are there for protection.

• Stats: Whenever hiring a new guy, aim for Melee Defense, Fatigue and Melee Attack. If possible, try to get a bit of natural ranged defense on him. The guy on the photo has been with the company for 260 days which means he was hired on day 1 !!!

• Perks (explained):
  • Student is an amazing perk. Faster exp and you get the perk back at level 11. Absolute godsend, absolute no-brainer.
  • Gifted - max rolls on stats, great early boost. No better option on that line anyway.
  • Shield Expert - He's called SHIELD brother. I won't dwell on this any further.
  • Brawny - Everyone but archers should have it. More fatigue to swing your weapons in battle
  • Sword Mastery - Swords have extra hit chance, so i went for them early on. Pick whatever you prefer tho.
  • Underdog - Being surrounded is a constant in mercenary life. Get it and you wont die (that easily)
  • Berserk - An extra hit whenever I score a kill. Not a bad choice. Not at all. You could also go Nimble here, but this perk is wonderful on goblins.
  • Nimble - I don't use these guys to run into enemies. I use them to protect archers. With Nimble and high defenses, they're nearly immortal, since the more fatigue you have in the pool, the greater Nimble's bonus is. Since they sit by the archers and play cards, Nimble is always active.
  • Battle Forged - Moar armor = less damage. Go for it. No-brainer.
  • Fearsome - if I knew better, I'd have gone for Pathfinder, to be honest. It does help on harder battles tho, especially orcs.
  • Killing Frenzy - There's no other option, really. They'll never rush w/o a shield and indomitable drains too much fatigue. Again, Nimble is an option since these guys are more def than offensive, but works quite nicely on goblins, once again.

• Optional perks (not tested myself yet):
  • Pathfinder instead of Fearsome. As stated above, if I knew better, I'd probably have done it.
  • Steel Brow instead of Killing Frenzy, so no more head-shots.
  • Taunt instead of Berserk/Nimble. Could be a godsend when saving archers. Did not test it myself.
  • Rotation instead of Nimble/Berserk. Same reason as above.

PoleArchers and Snipers

These guys aren't necessarily KILLERS. They're there to snipe priority targets and then cripple and rout your enemies. Also to soften them up so the other guys can reset off of them.

• Stats: Whenever hiring an archer, focus on Ranged Attack, Initiative and Fatigue. Good Ranged Defense is good, but not that mandatory since they'll have shieldbrothers blocking for them.

• Perks (explained):
  • ​Student. See above.
  • Pathfinder. Getting to high ground ASAP and having enough AP to flee enemies is a good option.
  • Crippling Strikes. As stated before, the more you cripple enemies, the better. Injuries just like on your brothers, can completely make an enemy useless for that battle.
  • Bullseye. The guys you REALLY want to cripple or snipe out are usually behind their own shield brothers. That's where it gets so good. Also reduces chances of hitting your own brothers.
  • Dodge. 15% of current initiative as bonus melee AND ranged defense. That guy has 136 initiative. That's + 20 Melee and Ranged Defense. Absolutely amazing !
  • Bow Mastery: Bows. Bows bows bows !!! Crossbows do deal more damage per shot and all that, but what you REALLY want is the synergy between shooting twice per round + fearsome + crippling strikes + Overwhelm. We'll get there.
  • Overwhelm: Amazing perk. If they attack after you, you get -10% Ranged AND melee defense per shot fired HIT or MISS !!! If you invest on Initiative, you'll "always" go first. -20% battle usefulness for your enemies.
  • Footwork: Sometimes you'll mess up. Sometimes you'll be knocked back. Then you take a quick step, get out of melee range and re-establish your line.
  • Berserk: Godly especially versus goblins. Extra shots = either extra kill or extra injury. At the very least, extra overwhelm stack.
  • Fearsome: Make them rout ! You're not paid to kill every single enemy. Leave one or two alive so they can tell stories about the evil men who devour little children if they misbehave. Making them flee is how legends are born! Also, lowers their combat effectiveness and your brothers can get extra hits whenever enemies flee.
  • Killing Frenzy: More damage whenever you score a kill. I do like it, but I question myself if Quick Hands wouldn't be better. Most fights I don't even get to spend a full quiver, but the hardest ones do. Could be useful in those, for every turn/shot counts.
• Optional Perks:
  • ​Quick Hands instead of Killing Frenzy. Reasons stated above.

Saaaaaaarge !

Sarges aren't supposed to fight. Like every good boss, they are amazing at giving orders and awful at executing them. I know some of you will relate. LOL

• Stats: This guy is there to keep morale up. Period. Don't fall for the polearm trap, get the extra resolve with the banner. In order to keep morale up this guy will need: Stupid high Resolve, endgame he'll need quite a high fatigue and Ranged Defense since he should never go melee.

Do NOT follow the stats on the picture !!! I goofed up on this guy and am leveling a new one. Will edit this page someday.

• Perks:
  • ​Student. See Shield bearers
  • Pathfinder. So you can move to needing allies more quickly and Rally them
  • Fortified Mind. Main stat = Resolve. This gives 25% extra Resolve. Duh.
  • Gifted. Max stat rolls. Hell yeah, more resolve !
  • Anticipation: The farther they are, the more Ranged Defense you get. Amazing for staying alive.
  • Brawny: Get him heavy armor, he'll never die and with Brawny he won't get as tired.
  • Rally The Troops: This is what MAKES a Sergeant. If he doesn't have THIS perk, he shouldn't carry the banner.
  • Polearm Mastery: Because why not?! I'd maybe swap this for something like Colossus. Nothing could be worse than a dead sergeant.
  • Quick Step: If the enemy ever closes in on the sarge, two things are certain: 1. you goofed up somewhere; 2. you gotta get him out ASAP.
  • Berserk: I did goof it up in him. Berserk is completely useless (at least the way I USE him, not the way I BUILT him). Would probably swap this one for Nimble.
  • Battle Forged: Since he uses heavy armor... less damage received. This is THE guy who can't ever die. Ever. Whatever it takes.
• Optional Perks:
  • ​Sergeants are too serious to leave any options. "Do as you're told or I'll have your skin flayed off you farkin lowborn lazy ass coward! Yarrrrgh! " - Sir Geofram, The Sarge, Apr. 2017

2 Handed badass

Now THESE guys are awesome. They're the ones pulling the real weight and dealing massive AoE all over the place. Try leaving a tile or two between each of them and the enemy will cripple in those holes and get slaughtered.

(Do note, in the picture how many kills and days this guy has. And he's not my best kill-to-day ratio, I chose him for the high fatigue and awesome beard)

• Stats: In order to chop heads off, you need strength. High Melee skills, fatigue and good melee defense. This is what you're looking for. Ranged defense is a good extra, but not mandatory.

• Perks:
  • ​Student. No brainer. Best perk in the game.
  • Pathfinder: You'll see why when you fight in swamps or snow. Trust me, get this.
  • Gifted: Perfect rolls for more Melee Attack, Fatigue and Defense? Shut up and take my perk ! (if you REALLY want, you can skip this for Executioner to further capitalize on your archers, but I'd still keep this one)
  • Brawny: mandatory. Heavy armor is heavy indeed. This perk helps with that.
  • Sword Mastery: Weapon of choice mastery, really. But I like swords. Lighter than the other 2 handed stuff and this mastery gives extra chance to hit. And scoring a hit is essential because ....
  • Reach Advantage: Whenever you score a hit, you get a stack of Reach Advantage, increasing melee defense by 20% per stack up to 6 stacks. In reality you'll get around 3. That guy has 48 Melee def. 48 + 60% = 77. Enemies rarely score a hit on him.
  • Underdog: You don't want to get hit, remember? Underdog helps with that. Being surrounded has no penalty (and you WANT to be surrounded)
  • Berserk: Brilliant when it procs. And your archers can set that up real nice. Whenever you score a kill you can basically attack again. Lovely skill, I'd say it's a must-have.
  • Battle Forged: More armor = less damage received. So you barely get hit and when you do, it's like they punched a brick wall. Hell yeah!
  • Killing Frenzy: Extra 25% damage for two turns when he kills someone. And he's there TO kill someone. Amazing perk to have especially later in the game.
  • Fearsome: I love making them rout. It's good, it's useful but dead allies have the same effect on enemies so maybe, just maybe, you can change it up for Executioner, Steel Brow or even Recovery.
• Optional perks:
  • ​Executioner could be a good perk to capitalize even more on your archers;
  • Steel Brow could make them nearly immune to head damage. I wouldn't go there, to be honest.
  • Recovery. Against undead hordes this perk would be incredible. The Black Monolith would've been easier (more like less hard) if I had this instead of Fearsome, since Undeads don't ever rout.
  • Colossus. You barely get hit, when you do it deals minor damage.... BUT well, what if you could also be immune to injuries? That's basically Colossus on a 2-handed dude.

Equipment:

Don't fight naked. That's kinda all there is to it.

On a serious note tho, equipment is pretty straight forward.

Shield Brothers: heavy armor + helmet + weapon of choice + shield. (kite shields are better vs goblins, Heater Shields are better on a daily basis). Have DAGGERS as your backup weapon.

Archers: Light armor. Helmet that doesn't mess up their vision. Level a couple tailors (I had 4 early on), they'll eventually make wolf armors and that's all you'll be needing. Also, bows. bows bows bows. Bows are SO much better than crossbows (xbows are better early on tho, since they have extra chance to hit)

Sargeant: heavy armor + banner + heavy helmet. Never engage in battle, but when/if it happens, you gotta survive.

2-handed badass: Heavy armor, Heavy Helmet, Heavy underwear if possible. 2handed weapon of choice. AoE to victory. Have DAGGERS as your backup weapons.

The (damned) Black Monolith

The Black Monolith is a superlategame raid you can make and get a SEXY piece of equipment out of... If you can survive the 47 undeads, being 4 priests (AoE fear and AoE poison), several vampires (I believe around 6-8?) and the stupidly large horde of heavy armored and tower-shielded Ancient Guards.

I did explain how to use The White Company to achieve success, but this raid deserves more in-depth thought.

Screenshots proving I did it and didn't lose a man:

1. Pre-battle. Day 259.

Example of one guy in the party. Others are average lvl14.

Formation used during the battle.

Archers and Sergeant in the very center. Guys on the RIGHT hand on the screen have the highest Melee Defense on the Company. As you get left it gets lower. Also, they're the only ones allowed to Swing (2h sword attack #3), the other guys only used Split (2h sword attack #2).

This formation had as it's main objective to protect my archers and Sargeant from the Vampires. Everybody held the line while those engaged with vampires focused them hard. Archers are using bows because of high hit chance and 2 shots + overwhelm, making it easier for other brothers to score their own hits.

Downside of this formation:

• Had to endure several rounds of Miasma.

Pros of this formation:

• Impossible to hit my archers, so they can rain arrows on vampires.

• If ally routs (AoE fear Priests have) there's no empty space for them to run so they just skip turn (and don't get free-hit by enemies) until Sergeant can Rally again next turn.
• Enemies spawn East and North of you. Securing a strong Southwest can guarantee an escape route later on. I had 4 guys barely surviving in the very end, ran all 4 of them south while the rest cleaned up the fight. (wish I knew about retreating to thin numbers lol)
• Everybody is super-close to the Sergeant, so AoE fear fails often and Rally works almost every time on every member of the Company.

After their vampires died and the enemy army was still collapsing I began to spread the formation outwards until I had a clear enough field.

Used archers to strip Honor Guards from their armors (their health bars are nearly immune, their armor are not) setting up Berserk-chains for my fighters.

Ran south with injured/low health characters (4 of them, especially due to Miasma) since the rest of the enemies were coming from the north.

Clean up. Victory. Awesome armor and only (permanent) injury suffered below.

The End

And that's about it.

I do apologize if this guide got super big, but as a teacher I can't avoid explaining things. lol

Also, apologies if there are any typos or if something isn't clear. English is not my native language. Please do point out and I'll gladly correct it.

And finally, if you have any doubts, PLEASE do ask and if you liked this little guide, thank you very, very much !

Peace (or war, since we want more and more contracts!),

Rick.