In one of my last campaigns before the perk/injury updates, I’d managed to loot so many rare/named swords and shields that everyone in the company had one, and sometimes another in reserve. With that level of availability, it did seem feasible to base a strategy around those items. Still, I haven’t seen them as much since the updates, so we’ll see.
Personally, I’ve been finding crossbows and longbows both highly useful against all enemies except orcs and undead. I find crossbows better against direwolves, since there’s always a chance that they’ll engage you before you can fire, and then you can still shoot a bolt before taking out a melee weapon. But, generally, against most enemies, longbows are more useful than they were before, and the crossbowmen tend to be more vulnerable after moving forwards, since they no longer have another couple of loaded bows in their pockets to punish anyone who engages them in melee.
Against orcs, I think you can’t beat having everyone in the heaviest armour available and armed either with hammer/axe and shield or having super-high melee skill and going nuts with AofE attacks with a 2-hander. The new Adrenaline perk is good for avoiding getting stunned and for drawing first blood. Previously, it was difficult for someone with a greataxe or greatsword to move into prime position without getting stunned before having a chance to inflict damage. If everyone in the band has Adrenaline, you can wait turn and then position everyone ideally for an en mass assault at the start of the next round. This is especially good combined with the new Backstabber perk.
The only trouble is: I want it to be possible to beat all enemies, including orc warriors/warlords, just through skill and tactical cunning. I don’t want it to depend on putting on a massive suit of armour.
