The Brigade

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

Creation
The Brigade was created on the first day of the season. The four alliance members met in Hayden's HOH room, with Enzo assigning positions for each to play in the game.

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 Brain."

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 2 HOHs, Matt winning 2 HOHs and a Diamond Power of Veto, 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.

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.

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.