The most recent Battle Brothers expansion, Warriors of the North, is exactly what I want in an expansion for a great game; more of the same. I think the worst thing an expansion can do to a game you enjoy is really mix it up, because that always runs the risk of changing the stuff you liked into something new that you don’t.

WotN’s biggest addition is alternate starts. Prior to this expansion, every game of BB started the same, with the same ruleset. Now there are a bunch of different starts, with unique game rules and starting units. The start I have the most experience with right now is the peasant militia, which allows you to field up to 16 units in battle (vs normally 12), a roster of 25 total, but you can’t recruit higher-tier backgrounds.

The big change for that start is of course being able to bring 4 additional units to a battle, as that is HUGE. The drawback is that since you can’t hire the top-tier backgrounds, I’m expecting that late-game things might be difficult. On the other hand, 16 brothers with top-tier gear is still very powerful, and while you won’t get those ‘perfect’ recruits (Hedgeknight or Noble with great starting stats/stars), a lot of the lower-tier backgrounds can still turn out really powerful if you find the right hire.

Additionally, since you can’t hire the more expensive backgrounds, your wage costs stay low, especially at higher levels (high-tier backgrounds scale up faster in cost), which means more funds for buying better gear or hiring new recruits fishing for awesome stats/stars.

I’m very much looking forward to the other origin starts, especially lone wolf and the raiders.

The other major addition is the new enemy faction; barbarians. The have a very aggressive approach to combat, with most of their units being somewhat glass cannons. This makes them more dangerous than raiders, as raiders tend to be more balanced/random in their gear, while barbarians favor 2h weapons and usually don’t use shields.

What’s cool about the new faction is you can also loot their gear, which brings new options and looks to your band. I haven’t faced the higher-tier barbarians yet, but even the lower level thralls do drop some decent armor and helms to help you in the early game.

Much more as I continue to dive in, but if you enjoyed Battle Brothers, you absolutely must get WotN.