In part two we introduced three basic unit types of the new barbarian faction that is to claim the north in the upcoming ‘Warriors of the North’ DLC. This week, we take a closer look at their more specialized unit types. As always, keep in mind that things are still in development and may change. With that said, let’s go!

As has been tradition for generations, larger parties of northern barbarians that go to war are often accompanied by drummers. In a sea of rhythmic tribal beats and chants, the barbarian mind will enter a trance-like state where there is only battle, and the barbarian spirit will press the body to its limit and beyond.



As mentioned previously, barbarians have a very physical and fatiguing style of combat, and they don’t pace themselves well. They’re especially dangerous in the first few rounds, but if you can weather this opening onslaught, barbarians will then often find themselves exhausted.

The rhythmic beats of the drummers will have barbarians press on to glory despite this, reflected in the game by reducing the fatigue of any barbarian on the field by a small amount each round. A barbarian can have their fatigue reduced only a single time per round, no matter how many drummers on the field, but it may be enough to give them the strength to use an additional skill, which makes them all the more dangerous. It’s worth considering, therefore, to make drummers a priority target – even if they themselves are unlikely to inflict any damage on your men with their wooden drumsticks.

Beastmasters are revered for their druid-like abilities to control the biggest natural predator of the north – the unhold – and lead them into battle as living and breathing war machines. They wear ceremonial helmets with long horns and decorate their armor with animal bones, but their most useful tool is a thorned whip with which to exert dominion over their beasts.



In battle, the beastmaster will always appear with one or more unholds. These mighty beasts can wear anything from a simple metal harness and chain, to be controlled more easily, to having metal plates nailed right onto their hide – something possible only due to the unhold’s uncanny ability to quickly heal any wound, even during battle. A beast armored like this can be impossible to bring down if you’re not equipped both for handling massive amounts of armor and health at the same time.



Every turn, a beastmaster cracks the whip to direct their beastly warmachines to do his bidding. However, a beastmaster can not do so if anyone is in their zone of control. And they very much can’t do so, if they’re dead. If an armored unhold doesn’t get directions from any beastmaster, they become confused, and every round there is a chance that they become feral, change to the beast faction, and attack player and barbarians alike in a mad rage of befuddlement.

The registration to "COOPERATING CAPITALISTS!" is over. So many teams wanted to participate in the event that the tournament has been expanded to 32 teams instead of 16!

The schedule for the tournament together with the teams seeding can be found through this link.

The first round of the tournament begins tomorrow! You will be able to spectate the tournament sessions directly from the game or on the stream on the game's main page.

Good luck to the teams and let the strongest and the luckiest team wins!

---

Current results:

full details here.

Before venturing further into the northlands, let’s set the mood this week by taking a closer look at fresh music accompanying the new faction of northern barbarians coming with the “Warriors of the North” DLC. Yup, Breakdown Epiphanies are on board again to add to the game’s music. Let’s see what they have to say in this week’s dev blog!

As those of you who have been following Battle Brothers since they days of Early Access know, as composers we ourselves took an RPG approach when it comes to orchestrating soundtracks for the various factions in the game. The undead are accompanied by an orchestra solely comprised of dark string instruments and percussion that is supposed to resemble the rattling of bones, the orc music is dominated by dark and menacing brass as well as sounds of metal, for the brigands our theme was „instruments you can carry around with you“, and so on. The signature sound of each faction in the game grew from imposing limitations upon ourselves, which in turn lead to a very distinguishable tonal landscape that could even give away what the player is fighting the first time they do so.

You may be happy to hear that for the upcoming “Warriors of the North” DLC we got on board again to expand the soundtrack with new music accompanying the player’s battles against their new adversary, the northern barbarians.

Adding new factions to the soundtrack gets more tricky as time goes on: While from a gameplay standpoint, fighting the barbarians will play out differently than fighting orcs, there are certain aesthetic similarities (brute force, heavily armored higher tier units, show up in clans) that would also favour a similar approach to the music (which in case of the orcs translated to throwing all the brass instruments and war drums that we could find into the mix). Luckily, though, the barbarians also lend themselves well to going a different route, which is mostly inspired by their nordic and rus themed lore and background.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igumq922d3o
Avoiding brass (and the resulting overlap with the orc faction) completely, we decided to use vocals as the tonal backbone of this faction of northmen. Aside from more common singing styles, we incorporated mouth percussion, overtone and throat singing, which is a vocal style found in Norwegian folklore, Mongolian music and shamanist rituals leading back to the stone ages. As, from a gameplay perspective, the barbarians are a variant of the brigands, we also fell back on the brigands’ „instruments you can carry around with you“ philosophy. Only a single violin, a Swedish nyckelharpa (a medieval string instrument), a couple of drums and a choir of hardened nordmen come together to add new signature battle tracks to the Battle Brothers soundtrack. While production is still ongoing, we are happy to give you this sneak peek today.

The tournament is over and as always we would like to share with you some additional data as well as the list of the winners ːfireappleː

• Participants: 2,120 unique players participated in the tournament.
  
  
• Involvement: 541 players completed 8 or more sessions. 320 players received the "Facepalm" lobby icon for completing all 8 tournament sessions for the first time. 824 players completed more than half (5+) of their sessions.
  
  
• Sessions played: 3,996 tournament sessions were played in the course of the tournament.
  
  
• Average lenght of sessions: Amsterdam (3 players, 25 points) – 34 minutes / 40 rounds. Singapore: (2 players, 35 points) – 30 minutes / 54 rounds.
  
  
• Bans: 2 players have been banned for the breach of the Fair Play Rules during this tournament.
  
  
• Tournament chests: 3,753 tournament chests were distributed during the tournament (overall, including non-tournament sessions, 10,646 chests were distributed to players in this period).
  
  ːhypnoheartː Special prizes: all winners from top 10 of each server, Amsterdam and Singapore, receive the new track: Melody of the Mechanical Troika!
  
  ːhypnoheartː Top 3 players on each of the servers, Amsterdam and Singapore, receive by registered mail a set of 4 hard enamel pins "Gremlins, Inc.". The pins will be mailed to the winners as a registered letter to any country in the world, provided that we receive the mailing address within 72 hours after the announcement of the tournament's results.
  
  

  

  
  
  TOP-10 – AMSTERDAM
  1,419 participants
  
  01. JohnGalt (1264) – 8 sessions, 8 victories. ːfirstplaceː ːHoly_Grailetː x5, :ːgreengemstoneː x7, Bomb-o-mat, A Contraband Box of Goods x3
  02. 4nsZei (1232) – 8 sessions, 8 victories. ːHoly_Grailetː 4, ːgreengemstoneː x7, A Contraband Box of Goods x2
  03. VartLoccur (1191) – 8 sessions, 7 victories. ːHoly_Grailetː x4, ːgreengemstoneː x6, A Contraband Box of Goods
  04. redfish (1179) – 8 sessions, 7 victories. ːHoly_Grailetː x3, ːgreengemstoneː x6
  05. KoliaN (1163) – 8 sessions, 7 victories. ːHoly_Grailetː x3, ːgreengemstoneː x6
  06. Miskabacsi (1133) – 8 sessions, 7 victories. ːHoly_Grailetː x3, ːgreengemstoneː x6
  07. ohlokrat (1121) – 8 sessions, 7 victories. ːHoly_Grailetː x2, ːgreengemstoneː x5
  08. Fellow (1082) – 8 sessions, 6 victories. ːHoly_Grailetː x2, ːgreengemstoneː x4
  09. Vassago (1038) – 8 sessions, 6 victories. ːHoly_Grailetː x1, ːgreengemstoneː x3
  09. Fantozzi (1038) – 8 sessions, 6 victories. ːHoly_Grailetː x1, ːgreengemstoneː x3
  
  
  TOP-10 SINGAPORE
  701 participants
  
  01. Night flash (750) – 8 sessions, 8 victories. ːfirstplaceː ːHoly_Grailetː x5, ːgreengemstoneː x7, Bomb-o-mat, A Contraband Box of Goods x 3
  02. ohlokrat (642) – 8 sessions, 8 victories. ːHoly_Grailetː x4, ːgreengemstoneː x7, A Contraband Box of Goods x 2
  03. 陈年老酱 (636) – 8 sessions, 8 victories. ːHoly_Grailetː x4, ːgreengemstoneː x6, A Contraband Box of Goods
  04. 银鲧 (618) – 8 sessions, 7 victories. ːHoly_Grailetː x4, ːgreengemstoneː x6
  05. chance2015 (606) – 8 sessions, 7 victories. ːHoly_Grailetː x3, ːgreengemstoneː x6
  06. 蛮自在 (600) – 8 sessions, 7 victories. ːHoly_Grailetː x3, ːgreengemstoneː x6
  06. herrmann (600) – 8 sessions, 7 victories. ːHoly_Grailetː x3, ːgreengemstoneː x6
  06. 三倍ice cream (600) – 8 sessions, 6 victories. ːHoly_Grailetː x3, ːgreengemstoneː x6
  09. Kyo (576) – 8 sessions, 7 victories. ːHoly_Grailetː x2, ːgreengemstoneː x4
  09. Jianrry (576) – 8 sessions, 7 victories. ːHoly_Grailetː x2, ːgreengemstoneː x4
  
  ːHoly_Grailetː = Tournament Chest (limited, tournaments only)
  ːgreengemstoneː = Spring Chest (limited, Spring Season only)
  
  * the number of sessions played shows only the sessions that were played while they had impact on the overall tournament score of that player.
  
  ** if two or more players have equal number of tournament points, they share the same (highest) place and get the same rewards.
  
  We congratulate the winners and wish good luck to everyone in future events! Thank you for being such an awesome community! ːvotesː
  
  ______
  
  
  
  ːmaliceː Official Discord
  ːmaliceː Twitter (game updates)
  ːmaliceː Facebook (game updates)
  ːmusicː Original Soundtrack on Spotify
  
  
  
  ːsummer_magicː Spire of Sorcery (Steam)
  ːsummer_magicː Spire of Sorcery – Character Generator (Steam)
  ːsummer_magicː Official Discord
  ːsummer_magicː Twitter (game updates)
  ːsummer_magicː Facebook (game updates)
  
  
  
  ːnotebookː Charlie Oscar’s developer page on Steam
  ːnotebookː Twitter (studio news)
  ːnotebookː Facebook (studio news)
  ːhypnoheartː "Behind the scenes" Instagram
  ːfireappleː YouTube

Team-based community tournaments always have been popular in Gremlins, Inc. as they provide yet another great way to experience the game and demonstrate the top-notch skills that players have (alongside with some luck, of course).

To create this experience once more and to share it with everyone, we joined our efforts with some of the best and most knowledgeable players in Gremlins, Inc. in order to run a new 2v2 tournament.

Please allow us to present to you:


Details of this tournament were worked out by multiple people from all over the world. It is meant to be extremely fast-paced and strictly structured. From start to finish it should take no more than 2-3 weeks, with sessions that only happen on weekends.

Each weekend of the tournament some of its sessions will be featured on streams on the main page of Gremlins, Inc. on Steam so that the wider audience could watch them.

Through this link you can find the full details of the tournament: requirements, dates, prize fund, etc. If you and your friend think that you have what it takes to become the champions of such a tournament, we would be happy to see your enrolment for COOPERATING CAPITALISTS on our Steam forums or our official Discord server!


TEAM PLAYER, HONORARY CITIZEN + TEAM PLAYER, HONORARY CITIZEN

1. Watchdogs of Farron
   
2. What IF?
   
3. Attack the leader
   
4. Fashionable pear
   
5. Kaxet
   
6. Assassins of Topdeckers
   
7. Tricksters
   
8. Clockwork-town retrogrades
   
9. team of dog
   
10. BLACK MOON
    
11. team NF
    
12. Emerging Oligarch
    
13. cidanzi
    
14. OHAGI
    
15. Assault and Battery
    
16. Recursion
    
17. Just4lulz
    
18. The Clockwork Mischief's
    
19. IlBur
    
20. Double W
    
21. Swindlers
    
22. love revenge
    
23. May there be CHAOS!
    
24. ANIKI
    
25. rookie
    
26. A Terrible Accident
    
27. Greedy Gremlins
    
28. meme-police
    
29. The Dudes

TEAM PLAYER, HONORARY CITIZEN + TEAM PLAYER + CITIZEN

1. Ze!
   
2. The Krits
   
3. loli team
   
4. Old in place

TEAM PLAYER, CITIZEN + TEAM PLAYER, CITIZEN

1. RoKa
   
2. Darkheart

One team's application (Dark Matter) was rejected by the organising committee due to current bans held by these players, specifically for being aggressive and harassing other players. Mistakes are made to be corrected, yet in this case, the reason for the ban was in the fundamental lack of control and the committee felt that holders of active bans for such reasons should not be accepted into the community tournament.

Following the introduction of the barbarian faction in part one, this week we’ll take a look at the first three of their unit types and some general combat mechanics. All part of the upcoming ‘Warriors of the North’ DLC, of course. As always, keep in mind that things are still in development and may change. With that said, let’s delve in!

Northern barbarians are not born free, but as thralls in servitude to their elders, and ultimately their tribe. They have no say on tribal matters, and they may possess only what they can carry. On occasion, members of other tribes are also accepted into thralldom, either peacefully or after being captured in battle.

It is expected that a thrall seek the respect of their master, their ancestors, and the tribe as a whole, and ultimately earn their status as a free man or woman. Indeed, young folk are considered to have reached adulthood as they become free, and to have then earned their place and say in the tribe. One way to do so, but not the only one, is to prove their worth in battle.



Thralls are the light and nimble infantry of the barbarian tribes. Clad only in furs, and sometimes with nothing but warpaint on their bare chests, armed either with weapons made from readily available materials like bone, or looted from the battlefield, they rely on ferociously overwhelming the enemy. They’re quick and agile, making ample use of the ‘Adrenaline’ skill. And having both the ‘Anticipation’ and ‘Dodge’ perks makes them harder to hit, at least until they’ve exhausted themselves after a couple of rounds.

Like all barbarian infantry, thralls have a very physical combat style of wrestling with the enemy, throwing their weight against them, and jostling to put their opponent out of balance. Their ‘Barbarian Wrath’ perk makes them fight even harder as they get hit, and the next time they land a hit of their own, they confer a status effect which for one turn knocks their target out of balance to lower their damage and defense until they have regained their footing.

Reavers are the medium infantry of the barbarian tribes. They’re battle-hardened free men, yet not necessarily warriors by trade. Some may be bloodthirsty veterans of many battles that seek immortality through their deeds on the battlefield, and have tattoos on their skin tell the saga of their life. Others are merely hunters or craftsmen that join with the rest of the tribe to raid and ensure their survival in the upcoming winter.



Reavers are often armed with armor and weapons that have been passed down through generations and show signs of wear, but may also have claimed equipment in duels that settled disputes. Like thralls, they have an offensive and nimble combat style, but backed up with experience and skill. Like all barbarians, they don’t fear death the same as southern folk do, and so are not easily broken. They’re roughly comparable to brigand raiders, but may be more or less of a challenge, depending on your approach.

Warriors who show exceptional skill on the battlefield are said to be blessed by the ancestors, and those who also have impressive victories to show are said to eventually take a place beside the ancestors in the afterlife to watch over the tribe. These champions of the ancestors are the heavy infantry of the barbarians, and they wear weighty metal armor and heavy two-handed weapons – trophies from vanquished foes and gifts from invested elders.



Unlike thralls and reavers, champions rely on their heavy armor for defense. They can shrug off status effects more easily, and excel even when fighting against several opponents at once. Tougher enemies than any brigand, other than perhaps brigand leaders, they are mid to late game opponents.

:Holy_Grailet: 15.03.2019 12:00 PM GMT – 18.03.2019 12:00 PM GMT :Holy_Grailet:

:steampunk: AMSTERDAM

:cards: players: 3
:score: victory condition: 25 points
:cursecard: Chaos Cards: allowed
:health_powerup: Character Abilities: allowed
:telegram: Impending Misfortune: visible
:cheatdice: Characters: from random set
:RatsClock: Timer: normal
:Location: Field: Clockwork town

Tournament points (place in session/points gained):

1. +139 tournament points
   
2. +26 tournament points
   
3. 0 tournament points

* Special rules:

None.

:steampunk: SINGAPORE

:cards: players: 2
:score: victory condition: 35 points
:cursecard: Chaos Cards: allowed
:health_powerup: Character Abilities: allowed
:telegram: Impending Misfortune: visible
:cheatdice: Characters: from random set
:RatsClock: Timer: normal
:Location: Field: Clockwork colony

Tournament points (place in session/points gained):

1. +60 tournament points
   
2. 0 tournament points

* Special rules:

The following cards are removed from the deck:

:cards: "Devil's Due"
:cards: "An Award Ceremony"
:cards: "False Testimony"
:cards: "An Honest Exchange"
:cards: x1 "A Set-up"
:cards: "Undercutting the Competition"
:cards: "The Accelerator"

:votes: RULES:

Sessions that count towards the tournament: :bh2coin::bh2coin::bh2coin::bh2coin::bh2coin::bh2coin::bh2coin::bh2coin: (8)

For each win, players receive additional points that depend on the strength of the opponents over whom they have won. Important: your tournament points will continue to increase with the increase in the tournament score of your past opponents, over whom you prevailed – even if you already have reached the limit of sessions for the tournament. What this means is that the tournament is never over for you as long as your previously conquered opponents continue to play, and win.

During this tournament, regular rating points will be frozen for all the players. Your tournament sessions will NOT affect your regular rating.

Players get tournament points for the first 8 sessions played in the tournament on each of the servers. Any subsequent sessions won't give any tournament points, and won't increase the number of defeated opponents who give additional points. Nonetheless, victories of all opponents who were defeated in the first 8 sessions will affect your final tournament rating.


Awarded: Top 10 players on each of the servers. In addition to the main prize fund, every player who finishes all 8 tournament sessions receives a special bonus player icon “Facepalm” (only if it has not been received before)!

:hypnoheart: Special prizes: all winners from top 10 of each server, Amsterdam and Singapore, will receive the new the new track: Melody of the Mechanical Troika!

:hypnoheart: Top 3 players on each of the servers, Amsterdam and Singapore, will receive by registered mail a set of 4 hard enamel pins "Gremlins, Inc.". The pins will be mailed to the winners as a registered letter to any country in the world, provided that we receive the mailing address within 72 hours after the announcement of the tournament's results.

Place / Prize –

1. :Holy_Grailet: 5, :greengemstone: 7, Bomb-o-mat, A Contraband Box of Goods x 3
   
2. :Holy_Grailet: 4, :greengemstone: 7 A Contraband Box of Goods x 2
   
3. :Holy_Grailet: 4, :greengemstone: 6 A Contraband Box of Goods
   
4. :Holy_Grailet: 3, :greengemstone: 6
   
5. :Holy_Grailet: 3, :greengemstone: 6
   
6. :Holy_Grailet: 3, :greengemstone: 6
   
7. :Holy_Grailet: 2, :greengemstone: 5
   
8. :Holy_Grailet: 2, :greengemstone: 4
   
9. :Holy_Grailet: 1, :greengemstone: 3
   
10. :Holy_Grailet: 1, :greengemstone: 3

:Holy_Grailet: = Tournament Chest (limited, tournaments only)
:greengemstone: = Spring Chest (limited, Spring Season only)

In the case when at the end of the tournament two or more players will have equal number of tournament points, they will share the same (highest) place and get the same rewards. However, the award list will not be extended, and we will still award only the top 10 players on each server.


Q. Where do Tournament Chests drop?
A. Only in tournament sessions, which are available via Multiplayer Lobby.

Q. If I've finished all my tournament sessions, can I get more tournament chests?
A. Yes, as long as you will keep playing tournament sessions.

Q. Are the tournament items limited to this tournament only, or to tournaments in general?
A. The tournament items are available via tournament chests, which drop during every official tournament in the game.

Q. Is there a full list of tournament items available via tournament chests?
A. Yes, please see below:

• Message – No need to thank me. (uncommon)
  
• Message – Nothing personal. (uncommon)
  
• Emoticon – Winner (uncommon)
  
• Emoticon – Thief (uncommon)
  
• Lobby icon – Darbl fon Murblenton (rare)
  
• Player profile – Trophy shelf (rare)
  
• Main menu background – The Champion (rare)
  
• Governor frame – The Governor of Governors (contraband)
  
• Blueprint – Blueprint: "The Ruffian" (contraband)
  
• Special item – Bomb-o-mat (contraband)
  
• Token trail – Champion's trail (illegal)

______




:malice: Official Discord
:malice: Twitter (game updates)
:malice: Facebook (game updates)
:music: Original Soundtrack on Spotify



:summer_magic: Spire of Sorcery (Steam)
:summer_magic: Spire of Sorcery – Character Generator (Steam)
:summer_magic: Official Discord
:summer_magic: Twitter (game updates)
:summer_magic: Facebook (game updates)



:notebook: Twitter (studio news)
:notebook: Facebook (studio news)
:hypnoheart: "Behind the scenes" Instagram
:fireapple: YouTube

Today marks the third anniversary of Gremlins, Inc. on Steam. In that time, we released almost one hundred updates with new features and new content, and ran dozens of tournaments. It’s been a great adventure!

We’d like to thank the international community of players, who come from over 100 countries, for the continued feedback and suggestions. Your support is the reason why we keep improving this game month after month! What started as a niche board game became a club with its own weekly discussions and community tournaments, while the game’s official multilingual Discord server became our true family.

Over the last three years, more than 500,000 people played Gremlins, Inc. on Steam. While we’re incredibly happy with this achievement already, we plan to continue adding more content and more features to the game, so that one day the population of the Clockwork Town may hit one million users!

Thank you for all that happened – and we look forward to another great year ahead!



To celebrate the game's third anniversary, we prepared a few gifts:

:malice: A special main menu background "The Mechanical Troika";
:malice: A special music track "Melody of the Mechanical Troika".

Both of these items are be available for everyone for the next month, and also can be received as drops from the free chests.



:malice: A new player icon "3" with a cool special effect (just click on it);

This icon is given away for free to every player who logs into the game at least once during the next week (March 11, 2019 – March 18, 2019). After that, it will only be available from "boxes of goods" (that are crafted from free drops).



:malice: Today, a special medal is released to all the veterans of the game – it's called "Veteran" and is issued to every player who first logged into the game on March 11, 2016 or earlier.



Besides that, additional gifts await everyone who visits the game in the next few days – those who log into the game in the specific day listed below, receive one free item to keep.

March 11, 2019 – The new main menu background "The Mechanical Troika"
March 12, 2019 – The Miraculous Magnet of Dr. Brooms
March 13, 2019 – The Warping Seeker
March 14, 2019 – The Automatic Dice-roller
March 15, 2019 – A Supercup
March 16, 2019 – A Smart Plug
March 17, 2019 – An Uncommon Box of Goods

______



:malice: Official Discord
:malice: Twitter (game updates)
:malice: Facebook (game updates)
:music: Original Soundtrack on Spotify



:summer_magic: Spire of Sorcery (Steam)
:summer_magic: Spire of Sorcery – Character Generator (Steam)
:summer_magic: Official Discord
:summer_magic: Twitter (game updates)
:summer_magic: Facebook (game updates)



:notebook: Charlie Oscar’s developer page on Steam
:notebook: Twitter (studio news)
:notebook: Facebook (studio news)
:hypnoheart: "Behind the scenes" Instagram
:fireapple: YouTube