Braves - W'adrhŭn Guide (english)

The Braves embody the essence of W’adrhŭn tradition: young warriors who still have to earn their stripes. Their simple equipment reflects their status as newcomers and support units, but also shows that they are already trained warriors. Personally, I find this very fitting.

Cost

At 130 points for the regiment and 35 points per additional stand, the Braves offer a reasonable value for money.

Strengths

• High Number of Attacks: With 5 attacks, they are quite solid for line infantry, despite having Clash 2.
• Standard Bearer: The standard bearer is free and grants +1 Movement during the second movement action per round, as well as a reroll for the charge roll.
• Medium: As a Medium regiment, the Braves are capable of scoring and can be used flexibly.
• Chants: Generates a Chant marker, supporting the W’adrhŭn mechanics and providing access to many useful abilities.
• Battlefield Role - The Tribes: The Tribes keyword allows for synergies with the Chieftain, including the valuable Vanguard ability, which facilitates early scoring.
• Officer Aberration: For an additional 20 points, the regiment can gain an Aberration, which places two markers into the pool instead of one upon activation.

Weaknesses

• Moderate Defense: With Defense 2 + Shield 1, Resolve 3, and 5 wounds, the Braves are one of the more stable W’adrhŭn regiments. This isn't bad, but also not particularly great. With a Queen, their morale can be further boosted, and the affordable additional stands allow for large blocks, making them interesting due to their sheer number of health points.
• Slow Movement: With Movement 5, the Braves are limited in their reach, which is only partially offset by Chants. However, with a Mastery or the Chieftain, Vanguard can be unlocked for them, which is one of the top 3 rules in the game.

General Tactics

With the update, the Braves have greatly improved. Not only have they lost Bloodlust, but their profile has also been significantly enhanced, even though they were already frequently played.

In my opinion, there are currently three sensible ways to use them. What exactly you do depends on your personal preferences and specific tactics. I often play them as MSU (3 stands) to free up more points for dinosaurs. Especially with Vanguard, they are ideal for early scoring. This can be achieved with the Chieftain (Warlord or Warband) or the Mastery Drive (Famine Warlord). This configuration is inexpensive and provides enough resistance to light shooting. They can also hold their own against many enemies in their or a higher price range, so the opponent can't just send any cheap unit to eliminate them.

Another common variant is MSU regiments with Aberration. These are usually used for zone holding and additional token farming. In this configuration, they are often placed as the last card in the deck to prepare two tokens for a regiment in the following round.

The combat block is also very attractive due to the low cost. 5–7 stands with Aberration and a Queen, who grants the regiment Indomitable 1, healing, and possibly Tenacious 1 through Beads of Death, offers a lot of potential. Death’s Gaze can also be useful and is often seen to give the Braves Impact 3. However, it’s important to note that due to Clash 2, they typically land only a few hits. The 3 impacts from Death’s Gaze are cumulative with the Crushing Force ability of the Chieftain, meaning you can quickly reach 5 impacts per stand. 5 stands + character means 30 impacts, with a move-charge range of 10" + 1D6". This is quite easy, as when you place the attached character directly over the Braves in the deck, they can activate immediately afterward. One marker from the character, one from the Braves, and one from the Aberration, and voila – we have our Chant and plenty of fun. Personally, I find the range with Death not high enough, and Famine or Conquest are less often chanted with this block in this configuration. Therefore, I would rather rely on other items for the combat block. Nevertheless, it’s an interesting and frequently played variant in our group.

In short: The Braves are an extremely versatile unit that can shine in various configurations. Whether as an affordable zone holder, Chant generator, or resilient combat block, all these options are valid. And on top of that, the models look great too.