Watch Your Paymaster!
When you start out in the game, especially if you're diving into a campaign, it's important to know that you have a budget to work with. You start off needing at least three characters in your warband with a maximum limit of ten. This then divides down even further with you being allowed no more than six of these models being Large and no more than three being Massive in size. All of this is contained within a starting pennies limit of 350.I won't run through all of the different prices for animals in your warband but to give you a rough guide a Mouse comes in at twenty-four pennies whilst at the high end a Badger is sixty-five pennies. Most warbands are going to come in around the five or six model mark.
You need to balance this budget working in the cost of the different animals you want to hire, the weapons and armour you want to give them and also additional elements like spells and magical ingredients.
A lot of your money will get plunged into costing our your Leader who is likely to be well-armed and armoured so he or she has some good staying power. Another good chunk of change will go equipping and hiring your Magic User who will need to pay for each of the spells you give them plus ingredients and foci which make casting spells easier or provide you with additional effects. It's well worth sometimes costing out these elements of your warband first to then work out what you have left to work with; you can always come back and tweak things later.
Now we've got the very basics of what you have to work without the way we'll look towards a rundown of the races and how they might affect building your warband.
Make Your Mark
A key thing to remember is that there is a vast array of different races in Burrows & Badgers and the world of Northymbra and each has their interesting qualities and tweaks to their statistics which make them viable.
Other races are a bit more specialised. Hares and Wildcats, for example, are deadly with a weapon in hand and most of the Large creatures come with Strong which makes them prime candidates for melee-focused forces. Massive creatures like Badgers, Hounds and Raptors also normally come with additional rules and usually Tough which makes them very survivable. The flip side to this is that they are a massive sink in terms of resources and are likely to make your warband small but effective even if you are going to get swarmed an awful lot.
Therefore if you're looking to make a balanced warband you need to try and pick animals which are suited to particular roles. If you want a big tanky character to go toe-to-toe with almost anyone then you're better off with any animal that has Tough or Fearsome to hand. If you want a good archer, look for someone with good Ranged, Concealment and Awareness as you'll get the most out of your ranged ambushes.
On the Magic User side of things, you can pick anyone but Toads make good spellcasters because their inherent Tough and Strong helps to counteract the Weak and Delicate conditions they get from choosing spells. If you're looking to mitigate things as best you can then this is a tip to keep in mind.
Beyond that, you'll want to consider if you fancy exploring a Single Species warband. These warbands have downsides of course in that you can only that particular species across every member of your warband but you do get to then pick extra starting skills for your warband, making them more specialised. This is something I've seen done with Mice for example where you take a well-armed, well-armoured, and skilled set of individuals and offset their weaknesses with specialities which can make them a headache for your opponent.
From a personal point of view, I've always found there to be some standout races to pick. I like Mice because they can be turned to any task. I also really like Weasels and Stoats because of their Fearless ability and Hares because they have both Leap and a damn good Strike stat so they usually have the upper hand in close combat. Otters (beyond being one of my favourite animals) are also a good pick because of their above-average statistics which make them adept at turning their hand to most things whilst also being able to hold their own.
My favourite animal in the game is the Badger, however. I love these big, lumbering fellows and with both Strong and Tough they are formidable. Clad in heavy armour with big weapons they are tough to shift but if your opponent gets lucky and surrounds you they can be brought down quickly.
Embracing The Fluff
Forgiving me for the obvious pun there beyond all of this help there's one rule which still holds true. Just pick whichever models you like. You'll find that the game rewards you for being balanced, sure, with maybe two small beasts, two medium beasts and two large ones with perhaps a massive one if you have the coin, but I genuinely think you get the most out of Burrows & Badgers by simply picking a theme and working to that.
The warband I'm planning for next year is all based around the Highlands of Scotland. So, I'm looking at the range for their Clan models and working up a warband based off of that. I then try and keep as WYSIWYG as I can (what you see is what you get) on the models, giving them the appropriate weapons they are armed with.
Other examples include someone who did an entire warband themed after Mouseguard and another who built a Pi-Rat crew which was absolutely awesome to see.
It feels cool to work towards a theme and whilst it won't be the most optimum warband for your games it will feel like you've told a fascinating story and your miniatures will all have an extra dose of character.
Remember that Burrows & Badgers is a campaign game at heart so being able to tell stories and explore the tale of your group as they develop against your friends is part of the fun. You might want to win games but actually embracing the narrative is key for those who want to really get the most out of Burrows & Badgers.
Beyond that though just remember some of the key rules and mechanics I've mentioned here and snag the models you like!
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