So I'm a little late to the party on this one, but Burrows and Badgers now has a 2nd Edition. Normally I would try (and fail) to review such books, but by this point there are far better reviews of this edition out there that would far succeed to explain the rules and changes to them better then I could. Instead, I'm going to be giving a brief overview followed by some of the changes I have made to my own warband. So lets start with the basics.
What is Burrows & Badgers?
Burrows and Badgers is a narrative skirmish game featuring bands of anthropomorphic animal adventurers who battle and grow over the course of several or more engagements. As you play, your band members can earn experience and gain skills, at risk of suffering permanent injuries and even death, such is life in the lands of Northymbra and beyond. You can also purchase equipment and even expand your Den. With a variety of species with different stat types, there is a lot of options for you in the creation and growth of your band. Fate points (used for things like re-rolls and such) have changed to now being bound to each warband member as opposed to just being the warbands total for use, making it more about the models over the warband as a whole.
Changes to Band Creation
So there has been a somewhat overhaul and expansion to the process of creating a warband. There is some new species added, while a number of current ones had some cost changes, with some costing more while others costing less. They also now come with a level rating, which is used for determining the strength of your band, which will come up in a number of main quests (this games missions). There are now no longer any bonuses for single species warbands, but the number of magical archetypes have increased and a number of spells have had some tweaking to them for balance.
However, the biggest of the changes are to the Allegiances. In first edition there were a total of four and while three have returned, more have been added to bring the total to ten. These are:
- Royalists (loyalists to the Kingdom)
- Rogues (bandits and thieves)
- Freebeasts (a meritocracy that has flaws)
- Kindred (woodland defenders who travel light)
- Witch Hunters (fanatic zealots who despise magic users...except their own)
- Wildlings (wild beasts who despise the technological advancements)
- Arcane Conclave (magic-users only faction)
- Undead (the restless dead, either led by a Necromancer or by strong Stable Ghasts)
- Routiers (a mixture of grizzled veterans and inexperienced youth)
- Hillfolk (think Scottish clan highland warriors)
The Wildbeasts allegiance has sort of semi split between the Kindred and Wildlings, though thoses existing warbands could easily pick which of those two best represent them. On top of that, it's not just an expanded roster of Allegiances, but the changes within them. In first edition, an Allegiance came with three things: A specific allegiance starting bonus, a pick of one of two Dens and an allegiance specific Den upgrade and a list of Magical Archetypes that the allegiance has access too. These have had some alteration to them as well as an expansion.
Now an Allegiance comes with:
- Starting Bonus - a specific set of starting stat or skill buff for (mostly) two models of your choice.
- Special Rule - a rule which will effect creation and/or limitations to your warband.
- Den - Your starting Den upgrade.
- Allegiance Archetype - Which chart you roll on when leveling up a model.
- Magical Archetype - Which Archetypes you can pick from.
- Support Quest - A set mini quest your allegiance can uses when playing games.
- Rare Items - A list of rare items available only for warband creation, after which any future purchases for rare items must follow the normal rules and costs as part of after battle sequences.
So first off, you no longer can pick your Den. Instead, your Den is now a blank slate with the starting upgrade the only starting option, though at least two of the upgrades you can get later on are similar to the rules of two of the original Den choices. Likewise, the Allegiance starting bonus has been split into the Starting Bonus and Special Rule, and have had some changes to the original existing allegiances. This means that some warbands of old (like my own) will probably need to alter a few things to better adjust to these changes, but in no way do I consider this a bad thing. Support Quests I found rather interesting as they give a thematic option to earn experience and fate points that are in line with your allegiances style.
Changes to the Mosston River Defenders
So as stated early on, I was going to talk about how the changes effect on my own warband. A while back I started working on my own warband for 1st edtion, seen in both Part 1 and Part 2 respectively. Back then I was still fleshing out their story, so with 2nd edition I realised that I needed to make some changes to reflect both the new edition and the starting warbands members.
First off, the changes to the Freebeasts means that since the 'Fingers in Pies' rule has gone and so Brianna no longer has her original armour, she will replace her Light Shield for a Buckler and take up a suit of Very Heavy Armour. Since I'm an idiot who doesn't read the rules correctly, I only recently learned that the Special slot for items can be used for a weapon or shield, so will probably give her the Parry or Shield Master skill to help with her blocking (It is very important to read the rules, otherwise people can take advantage of that). Ghost still keeps his skill, but is down to a single one handed weapon, though I am still trying to decide whether to take a Camouflage Cloak or Light Armour for him. The great Gurrumarra is unchanged. Ginnette has had her weapon and relic replaced with a Mage's Focus item and has had her spell replaced with Delay from the Fate-weaving Archetype, but also now gets a Presence stat increase thanks to the Freebeasts starting bonus.
Miranda and Emrick have now stayed behind in the village (probably to be rehired later on, though Emrick may end up becoming part of a Kindred warband), instead we see two new characters with Ellanor (the third member to the band's own Hedgehog sisters) and Cindi (a grey Squirrel from a migrant family who's obsession with the finest of fabrics leads her to create a very clashing outfit). Ellanor will be the groups Archer, with a bow, one handed weapon and light armour who also benefits from from an Awareness stat increase from the allegiance starting bonus. Cindi will also start with a Mage's Focus with the spell Cure from the Natural Archetype, giving the crew a healer as I feel they will need it given how light they are compared to the armoured Brianna.
This gives my six out of the maximum of ten band members, giving me some choices for future band members, though after finally getting around to watching season 1 and 2 or Redwall and onto season 3, I now really want to add two mice characters to be a sort of Matthias and Cornflower like characters for the group. Always an excuse to add more to my ever growing Burrows & Badgers collection
Overall Thoughts
Having got over the various rules, allegiances, spells and skills, I have to say that I am really liking this new edition. I always feel like each new edition should always be an improvement over the previous one, changing just enough so as to make playing it more fun, while adding just enough that it doesn't overwhelm new players and I generally believe that this is just that. The added allegiances certainly add more play style options and I look forward to making more warbands in the future.
The fact this game has gone under the radar for so many wargaming channels is an absolute shame and I wholeheartedly recommend giving it a go. There will be some channels giving it a shot, so I suggest starting with watching them play and decide if its something you might be interested in. Heck, I'll even give you a head start by recommending this one here to start with.
Overall, I look forward to what adventures my merry band of noble defenders get up too and what stories they might tell in these games.
