The Brigade

The Brigade or The Bragade was an alliance formed on Day One of Big Brother 12. Enzo Palumbo created the alliance, including Matt Hoffman, Lane Elenburg, and Hayden Moss.

Creation
The Brigade was created on the third day of the season. The four alliance members met in Annie's HOH room, with Enzo giving them nicknames and confirming the alliance.

Nicknames and Roles
Enzo was to be the ringleader in the operation, organizing the team together- nicknaming himself "The Meow Meow." Hayden was the competitor, nicknamed "The Animal." Lane was the brawn, nicknamed "The Beast." Matt was the brains behind the operation, appropriately nicknamed "The Brains."

Strategy
The Brigade played a quiet game, not becoming the center of attention, yet slowly picking off their threats and winning vital competitions. The Brigade survived undetected, with Hayden winning 4 HOHs and 1 Power Of Veto, Matt winning 2 HOHs, Lane winning 1 HOH, and Enzo winning 1 Power Of Veto. Each alliance members in turn selected a side alliance member, thus ensuring safety if one of the members were to be placed on Nomination Block. Hayden formed an alliance and showmance with Kristen, Lane formed an alliance with Britney, Matt formed an alliance with Ragan, and Enzo would have selected Monet had she not been evicted during Week Two. These strong alliances kept the spotlight off of any Brigade members until Andrew revealed Hayden and Kristen's showmance, causing them to go up on the block opposite of each other. Two members of The Brigade never sat opposite each other on Nomination Block until Week 6, when Brendon selected Matt to be Ragan's replacement nominee opposite Lane and pulled himslf out of the hole with the diamond power of veto which he got frompandora's box leaving kathy in his place.

Fallout
Enzo had told Matt that he would vote against him when Brendon ultimately selected Matt as a replacement nominee to sit opposite Lane on Nomination Block, not knowing that Matt secretly held the Diamond Power Of Veto. Matt suddenly discovered that he was the "low man on the totem pole" and wasn't sitting as comfortably as he thought. Matt ultimately used the DPOV to save himself and selected Kathy as his replacement, who was evicted. However, Matt realized his standings in The Brigade were crumbling and began to rapidly seek out solace in the form of a budding friendship between himself and Ragan. The Brigade, feeling threatened, realized it was time to target one of their own. Britney won Head of Household the following week, and in the end, Enzo and Matt were targeted for eviction. Due to the recent fallout, the choice for Hayden and Lane was not a difficult one, and Matt was sent packing. During Lane's reign as HOH, he nominated Ragan and pawned Enzo, justifying it by saying Ragan would 100% be leaving and that he didn't want to burn bridges with Britney. When Enzo won POV, he and Hayden tried to convince Lane to backdoor Britney, but instead, Lane placed Hayden on the block. During Diary Room sessions, he explained that he had a better shot at winning the grand prize with Britney sitting next to him than Hayden and that he fully intended to take Britney with him to the Final 2.

Detection
When Hayden was nominated beside Kristen in Week 4, he promised her that he would not campaign against her and encouraged her to campaign against him. Kristen's suspicions were aroused when she realized that if Hayden felt so comfortable with not campaigning, the only way he would be assured he had enough votes to stay was if he was in some secret alliance. Kristen was evicted before she could confirm her suspicions. When Matt was on the block beside Lane in Week 6, Hayden and Enzo explained that they would split the vote, even though their true target was to evict Matt. They told them that they would each vote for a different nominee, leaving Kathy to split the vote. A discussion of this was brought up in Week 7 while at the pool. Ragan suddenly realized that the only reason that would cause them to split their votes was if they were in some form of an alliance and were worried about being unfair towards one of their alliance members. Ragan confronted Matt that evening, telling Matt that he knew Lane, Hayden, Enzo, and Matt were in an alliance. Desperate to recover standing in his alliance, Matt reported Ragan's discovery back to The Brigade. Following Matt's eviction, Hayden won Head Of Household and targeted Ragan, who inevitably won the Power Of Veto. Brendon was collateral in a target to be a pawn against Ragan, and when Lane won HOH the following week, he nominated Ragan again for eviction before he could reveal their secret. After Hayden won the penultimate HOH and POV, they revealed to a heart-broken Britney, the only non-Brigade member in the house, their secret and that she would be evicted.

Success
The Brigade completed its goal of making it to the end. Hayden won the second-to-last HOH and the Final Veto, keeping his nominations of Lane and Britney in tact. With Enzo casting the sole vote to evict, he secured a Brigade Final 3, voting to evict Britney to the Jury House. Following Britney's eviction, Hayden won the Final HOH and took Lane to the Final 2, whom he narrowly beat by a vote of 4-3.