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While the previous two expansions added to a few aspects of the base game, the Blazing Deserts expansion impacted nearly all aspects while also adding in a couple new gameplay mechanics. Blazing Deserts is undoubtedly the biggest Battle Brothers expansion so far and with its theme built around middle eastern culture it is clear the game world is expanding south. Blazing Deserts is centered around new lands to the south, meaning through exploration there are new factions and beasts to fight and new locations to discover. Unlike the north, the south is home to independent city-states which thrive in the middle of the desert. Geographically, the city-states can be easy to access via a port or what I’ve found more often is that they’re very remote. The desert is an expansive portion of the bottom of the world map and these cities can be dotted across it from the far east to the far west. I like that these hubs are geographically distinct from the clustered northern cities and villages. Making the decision to go south feel like a weighty one, almost like committing to a venture into the wilds just with a few checkpoints along the way. For an example check out the city-state of Azim Shab on the world map in the earlier section. I remember one trip I made out to Azim Shab where I had stockpiled trade goods from the north in hopes to turn a profit and then hire a highly skilled brother like an assassin, gladiator, or nomad. When I arrived after days on the desert road, the recruits available were all indebted slaves and a few low-borns, the disappointment was immense. I traded in my wares, bought a few potions at the alchemist but felt overall that the trip was a waste of precious company time and resources. Moving forward I knew I had to think more carefully before traveling out to Azim Shab, maybe taking a caravan job out that way could offset the cost of a future trip. One feature that can offset the cost of travel is actually also a new game mechanic and a very fun one at that. Turns out, these city-states are not only centers for trade and commerce but also are home to the gladiator arena. A new building that offers an arena contract, where a couple of your brothers can compete in gladiator combat to entertain the masses. Success in the arena can earn the company coin and unique gladiator armor, but also battle-hardens your brothers earning them arena related traits. The arena stands out because it offers a twist on the normal structure of combat in Battle Brothers. It is a more limited yet higher stakes format, where only three of your brothers may enter but none may leave unless victorious. Combat in the arena feels stripped down, there’s no terrain or elevation concerns, you know the enemy ahead of time, and with only 3 brothers weapon choice becomes critical. The impact of every attack that connects is amplified in importance as one unlucky blow to the head could turn the tides of the fight. I don’t know how flexible the Battle Brothers turn-based combat system is, but 3 vs 3 feels right at the lower end of what would be enjoyable and tactical. In contrast to the 12 vs 45 goblins on a hill fights, the arena is so much more fun and bite-sized. The city-states are also home to the city-state forces, a formidable faction well-equipped like the northern noble armies only utilizing very different tactics in battle. And that is a very strong theme throughout the opponents added in this expansion. The city-state forces utilize guns and mortars to destroy armor and shellshock your brothers from range while assassins creep around your flanks hurling grenades and dancing away from your attacks. The nomads in the desert are agile, able to dodge your attacks, and use cheap tactics like throwing sand in your eyes. Beasts in the desert like the hyena jump on your men before you know it causing a bleeding status effect, while serpents can wrap a brother up and drag him behind enemy lines, surrounding him in the process. One blemish is the ifrit encounters. They’re a sentient rock entity that when struck crumples into multiple smaller forms of itself. These fights are an absolute slog and provide little in the way of interesting decision making or tactics. They wouldn’t be so much of a problem if it didn’t seem like every day each city-state has a contract to go kill 30 of these things, but they do. All in all, the added enemy variety in the south is great with the new tactics being the icing on the cake. I’ll quick-fire a few more remarks before closing since there’s so much to this expansion. The new holy war crisis is super hard when fighting the city-state forces, ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. Awesome that another late game crisis was added. The new gladiator origin is very cool, having high paid but very high skilled brothers is an interesting challenge. All the new gear stemming from the middle eastern theme is beautiful. The retinue, a new feature where the company has non-combat followers, is a nice addition that adds some more customizability to your campaign. To wrap up, Blazing Deserts is an impressive expansion that touches nearly all aspects of Battle Brothers. While not necessary to the core experience and for beginners might be a little much to bite off in one go, I’d recommend it to anyone looking for more Battle Brothers or someone who simply wants the complete experience. Check out the full article HERE Sevastromo Station