The Golden Company have landed on the shores of Westeros and march to war. With Sword, Crossbow and Elephant, they engage in the practice of war in honour of their contract. They are a brotherhood of exiles and the sons of exiles, united by the dream of Bittersteel. It is home they want, as much as gold. How do they fare as a solo force against the many other factions within the game? Do they already need to be tweaked in the next balance patch? Are the rumours of their prowess or lack of even true? Let us dive in and understand this enigma.
“Ghosts and liars. Revenants from forgotten wars, lost causes, failed rebellions, a brotherhood of the failed and the fallen, the disgraced and the disinherited. This is my army. This is our best hope.” – Jon Connington
The Heirs of Bittersteel
The Golden Company are renowned for being the finest and most powerful sellsword company of the Free Cities, whilst also maintaining the title of the most honourable due to them being notorious for never breaking a contract. Their words echo this “Our word is as good as gold.”
Commanded by Harry Strickland, and now sworn to Aegon Targaryen, they have broken their contract with Myr for something they desire more than gold and honour, Home. At the end of the last book, they took several holds including one of their new Commanders Jon Connington’s family hold of Griffon’s Roost. In the pre-released chapters for the Winds of Winter they have achieved a feat no one in history ever has and had taken Storm’s End. We also know that this invasion is so serious that Mace Tyrell is now leading his host from King’s Landing down to meet them.
Do the rules for the faction match their background?
As They Stand
Short answer? No. Playing against the faction a few times now I have come to understand they are not as bad as I initially thought. Now bear in mind we are talking about a pure Golden Company force; we do not want to be using other units in the faction as then the Golden Company nature of the army becomes lost.
Golden Company Crossbowmen – At 8-point this unit is lackluster, just by comparing the stats to the Lannister Crossbowmen you can see they need a change. Perhaps if the Sentinel Order could do a Ranged Attack, they would be worthwhile. It could be as simple as improving the Armour Save and Attack Dice to be more aligned with their skill and prowess when compared to other Crossbowmen Units in the game. No matter what happens, they need to drop to 7-points at the very least or push it a bit more and make them 6 points.
Golden Company Swordsmen – 7-point units are hard to consider balanced in this game. There are some amazing 7-point units like the Sworn Brothers for Night’s Watch, and then some terrible 7-point units like the Mormont Bruisers. I would say that the Golden Company Swordsmen are middle of the road. The Swordsmen act as a consistent unit throughout the game when you hold the Letters Zone, as a pure Golden Company army you have limited NCU choices to a point where Baelish is an auto include which often results in you having the Letters controlled quite often. Iron Resolve is essentially an auto pass for the force, you must stack a lot of modifiers to get anything out of a morale check. Overall, I do not need a change.
Golden Company Officer – An amazing attachment that is well balanced. His rules are amazing and if it were not for the 2-point cost, they would be everywhere. Because Golden Company Units cost so much you will more than likely never see Attachments in the lists which is a shame. Perhaps there should be a rule that reduces the GCO by 1-point if he is in a Golden Company Unit? This Attachment will not see play as it stands right now.
Golden Company Elephant – A brilliantly designed unit that I believe may mathematically do the same as the Free Folk Mammoth but just in a different way. The only thing holding this unit back is the number of restrictions on the model. Being restricted by list design and then also needing to be in Long Range of a Golden Company Unit sucks and is not necessary. I think one of these should be removed and the Unit becomes perfect.
Incomplete Faction
Going against the forces multiple times has shown the best Commander right now is Daario and it is almost perfect. I do believe we will see the complete picture once we get the Golden Company’s Commander which could very well be several people. It makes the most sense that it would be Harry Stricklance but considering they are fighting for Jon Connington and Aegon Targaryen, these Commanders should be in the works also. Which would also mean they would need to be Neutral. Imagine a third Heroes Box with Harry Strickland, Jon Connington, Aegon Targaryen, Tyrion Lannister, Illyrio Mopatis, Haldon the Tutor and Septa Lemore. That could be a series of new Commanders, Attachments, and more importantly for the Neutral Faction, NCUs. I do believe it is plausible.
One further release I could see for the Golden Company, is one that represents their sigil. Their logo on their shields is of a pile of skulls with a spear poking through them. I do believe we should see a Spearmen Unit for the faction, or this would be like having Night’s Watch without Sworn Brothers. This could be a good opportunity to add a cheaper unit by making them similar to the Highgarden Pikemen; strong in combat weak in staying power 5-point units.
The army is almost there. A few tweaks of units and the Commander will be enough to make them stand on their feet. But an addition of a few more characters and perhaps another unit might elevate them to a serious threat to the throne just like how they have become in the books. Only time will tell. How would you improve the Golden Company?
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