It’s an early spring in New Mexico, so I’ve spent the weekend doing garden prep in between convention prep for TokenCon in two weeks. As a result, this is going to be a little shorter blog than I intended, and I’ll be showing off two of the four Factions available to you in the Wasteland, along with their Heroes. Next up will be the remaining two factions: the Order of the Tellers and the Cult of Desmani. Till then!

The Bravo Battalion
The few, the proud, the badass. These rogue bikers have a heart of something that sort of resembles gold if you squint just right. They’re here to kill monsters and chew bubblegum, and all memories of bubblegum have long been lost.

The Bravo Battalion, as their name and demeanor suggests, serve as the offensive linemen of the Wasteland’s factions (though that role can be given to any player with a weapon and a plan). Their innate ability allows them to find more metals when foraging, which are integral to the creation of weapons and vehicles. They’re best utilized either on the front lines against the monsters themselves or helping their comrades get there.

The heroes for the Bravo Battalion are General Cameron Henri II and Buckshot Benji Black. The General has the power to use vehicles without paying a cost which allows for both increased movement and bringing the fight to you, since Monsters get drawn to the sound of a motorcycles or a jalopy screaming through the Wasteland. On the other hand, Buckshot is something of an explosives enthusiast, with a single-use power that’ll knock a Monster down and deal damage to it in the process. It’s effective in many situations, but specifically for clearing out a clogged map or tempering early-game pressure by taking out a weaker Monster in one go.

The Vernese Rangers
Hailing from the Forest of Vern (wherever that is), these shady characters are Wasteland veterans. They move silently and use the environment to their advantage, which balances out the fact that if you follow them, they might rob you blind.

The Vernese Rangers are the legally-distinct wood elves of the Wasteland, albeit a little more gritty and weathered. They serve as a sort of foil to the Battalion, finding organics when they forage that are useful in the creation of traps, camouflage, and creating distractions. The Rangers are vital both in resource gathering and in manipulating unit placement, and the player in charge of them will have to work strategically with the other Factions to help lure, skirt, hide from, or even ambush Monsters.

The two heroes from the Vernese Rangers are Ani Treestrider and Espen Nightcloak. Ani’s power ‘Shortcuts’ allows any Hero to immediately move to a nearby forest space without alerting the attention of Monsters. This is valuable both on the offense and defense – especially because Hero abilities can be activated at any time, even when a Monster is attacking. Espen, aside from being a hardcore cosplay enthusiast, allows players to temporarily hide from Monsters for an entire turn. This is an invaluable resource when trying to get an Objective done or build a Settlement without being disturbed, but as a single use power needs to be deployed with great consideration.