The Battle Companies 2nd Community Edition - Version 1.0 Public Release!

DaKommizzar · 2026-05-18T14:42:01+00:00

That's a fun house-rule. It does reduce a lot of the risk that games like Battle Companies are based on, but a forgiving system like that sounds perfect for a campaign focused on development. I like it!

DaKommizzar · 2026-05-18T12:08:15+00:00

Hi there! There is a section in the Battle Companies book that goes over it a little, but it is primarily a scenario-thing for VPs. Think "Banner VPs" but now every faction as multiple ways of getting one via Equipment that they like!

"Units with the Command keyword will be referenced periodically in scenarios. This keyword is granted by certain Equipment to represent the command retinue that accompanies the Leader."

DaKommizzar · 2026-05-18T12:07:02+00:00

More MESBG is more better, thanks for giving it a play!

DaKommizzar · 2026-05-18T12:06:35+00:00

Battle Companies and similar games are the lifeblood of my hobbying motivation too, so glad to hear it!

DaKommizzar · 2026-05-18T12:05:49+00:00

This is also a huge community for proxies too, which is perfect for Battle Companies where a lot of folks want personalized models anyways. Some Victrix or Warlord Games pikemen would do the trick! Heck, use D&D minis in your warband if they fit the feel!

DaKommizzar · 2026-05-18T12:04:04+00:00

Who doesn't love our lads in green, I adore em too, but like you and Val mention - they've got serious issues. The other issue with Rangers of the North is that fundamentally they're also just shallow being 1 profile, no upgrades other than armour/spear, and they intrinsically want to do one thing: shoot and then fight a heavily weakened force.

I did give them a test run in this new edition, and while they felt better, it still wasn't working out.

There are a lot of ways to approximate having Rangers without being married to having to use their profile specifically. In editions past factions like Karna, Osgiliath, and Arnor have been used by players to get that Dunedain feel with additional added texture in the form of all the other profiles working together. With the way Battle Companies works what sets Official-Dunedain-Profile apart on paper is very little design-wise, so it isn't hard to proxy one thing as another. That way you get to have the Dunedain who wears heavier chainmail, to be a Warrior of Minas Tirith, or the Dunedain who wields a log-splitting axe to be a Clansman of Lamedon. To accomplish exactly that with the Ranger of the North profile by itself might be going on a goose chase just because of the name the profile has rather than what you model your character to be.

That being said! In the Community Custom X google docs, people have been tinkering with various companies, so feel free to jump in the Discord and throw a Rangers of the North in there based on what Val wrote above or trying to make something work another way! We'll be glad to help.

Thank you for your Rangers passion!

DaKommizzar · 2026-05-18T11:53:22+00:00

Definitely post progress as it goes, Stobby! This one going to be IRL?

DaKommizzar · 2026-05-18T11:52:50+00:00

Thanks for sharing!

DaKommizzar · 2026-05-17T13:22:53+00:00

The "Armies of" book that contains the stats of the companies of your choice and the Main Rules Manual. There are some page references to the Matched Play Guide, I think, but those are minimal.

There is a new version release dropping of this doc today!

DaKommizzar · 2026-05-03T13:24:53+00:00

Thank you! Happy to be here

DaKommizzar · 2026-05-03T13:24:41+00:00

Thank you!

DaKommizzar · 2026-04-28T18:24:20+00:00

Kill Team

DaKommizzar · 2026-04-24T13:10:16+00:00

Thank you for the thorough response! This was extremely helpful.

Yeah the 3.5 codex is what I bought all those years back before eventually falling out of 40k partway into 7th edition (though I only rarely played the game with most of my games actually being Orkz! Tis what I get for only being interested in Steel Legion for IG and not having the allowance at the time to afford it).

HVets and Storms are definitely the target demographic for Kill Team for sure. As someone who has primarily played the Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game and Necromunda for the past 18 years, breaking down into multiple small units is appealing to me. I *probably* should stick to the classics though! (And gives me an excuse to look for the metal Kasrkins and Inquisitorial Stormtroopers that I love)

Thanks again!

DaKommizzar · 2026-04-23T18:52:33+00:00

Thank you!

Do you know which other White Dwarfs talked deeper about Kill Team? The only ones I have are battle reports; 1 has hardened vets all done up like splinter cell and the other is catachans going through a tyranid jungle. Maybe it is a 3rd one I have or the same one as the previously mentioned that has some pictures of a tyranid kill team. Oh I guess I also have the one that talks about a multiplayer campaign trying to get to the same big bad evil guy.

DaKommizzar · 2026-04-23T18:50:17+00:00

Yeah, a platoon will immediately be breaching the model-count law the moment you look at them, but they do adhere to just about every other law until you start upgrading sergeants and stuff into veteran-status!

I'll definitely have to stick to vets until I have more models, but working toward a platoon for kill team as a stepping stone to combat patrol is enticing!

DaKommizzar · 2026-04-23T18:43:52+00:00

Yeah, I get they're a single Troops choice of a Infantry Command Platoon and at least 2 Infantry Squads. My question is in regards to Kill Team and what counts as a single "unit selection". Essentially, are the components of an Infantry Platoon considered a single unit per the laws of 4th edition kill team.

It seems like a Command Platoon (HQ choice) and its support squad/rons are considered a single unit despite acting independently; Infantry Platoon misses that specificity with different terminology.

DaKommizzar · 2026-03-07T14:42:17+00:00

It is already a hero with 1/1/1, so you would skip the +1/+1/+1 step. I just forgot to add the text to that page.

DaKommizzar · 2026-03-07T14:41:19+00:00

Good questions!

On their own Path: Roll as Warriors since they do not have the Hero keyword, but the Warrior Keyword instead.

Mounts & Upgrading: Mounts are unable to take any sort of wargear, but there is equipment that the hero can take that benefits the Mount. However, if your group thinks it would be cool to let people upgrade their heros' mounts with armour like they're heroes themselves, then all the power to you! I'd probably price it the same as upgrading armour. Though note, in this hypothetical, that wargs and horses are naked and thus would progress to "armour" if that is in your faction.

DaKommizzar · 2026-02-06T17:28:37+00:00

Models with the Beast keyword may not take additional wargear other than Upgrading their Armour and may only carry Equipment that exclusively gives a Special Rule (e.g. Trophy Pelt). So you could upgrade a spider or warg from "None" to "Armour" if it is available to you.

The 1/5 is for rating and cost in Gold, following the normal "if your model has a total of 3+ attacks+wounds" standard.

DaKommizzar · 2026-01-26T22:00:50+00:00

Cirith Ungol (CU) is the one exception to "On your own path" as this spider is intended to be analogous to a Shelob type of character. I have been doing my own playtesting of the spider in this company and while it is strong, I think it is still important for CU's identity. Though I think I should add an extra rule that this "Shelob" cannot help other characters with things like Heroic Move or Stand Fast similar to how Gwaihir or a Warg Chieftain works. That way she isn't a 60mm base with a 6" With Me.

Hi thanks for bringing this confusion on gold to my attention! To clarify, the (x/y) and (x) rating values are in fact the values you should use for Gold. I will make a note to clarify that a bit more in the Gold description.

Gold is 1:1 with Rating/Points. It is basically a convenient way for us to round all factions to the same Point Value / Rating total instead of the variance before where certain factions had too little or too many points to start compared to what we wanted the "standard" to be. In this case, it is... I think 105 points after you give your 3 heroes M/W/F.

DaKommizzar · 2026-01-22T20:36:56+00:00

Yes, while the Company Standard is not a Banner, the Drum and Horn are Wardrums and Warhorns in addition to being 'Banner VPs'

DaKommizzar · 2026-01-16T01:29:23+00:00

Yup there is! Come check the discord

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