Proposed Mordheim House Rules

[ChaosGerbil]

My attempt to fix Mordheim! Feedback is encouraged.

 

New rules:
Offhand weapons are -1 to hit
Two hand weapons strike at Initiative -1 on the charge
After the first round of combat, tied Initiative warriors swing simultaneously
If the roll to hit first is tied, tied Initiative warriors swing simultaneously
Giving up a turn shooting reloads all weapons, but pistols do not reload automatically on their own
Warriors affected by Stupidity can attack back in combat, but only one attack at Initiative 1
Warriors affected by Stupidity can take an Initiative test to avoid falls
Nurgle's rot does not spread to other warriors

Wyrdstone selling chart is amended to be more consistent 
Elves wear panties

 

Armor saves:
Str 4-     base save
Str 5      -1 Save
Str 6      -2 Save
Str 7+    -3 Save

 

Equipment changes:
Sling: Str 2, +1 enemy save
Shield: +1 save vs. ranged, +2 save vs. melee attacks
Light armor: 15 GC
Heavy armor: 30 GC, no move penalty
Blackpowder weapons have a bonus -1 Save modifier. On a roll of 1 to hit, the weapon jams and cannot be used that battle.

 

New skills:
Combat / Dual wielding: Ignore offhand penalty
Combat / Shield expert: +2 save vs. ranged or melee

Combat / Armor expert: +1 save in melee combat when wearing armor and not using a shield
Shooting / Gun expert: Blackpowder weapons never jam

Academic / Healer: If the warrior did not go out of action, they allow one an out of action Hero to reroll on the wounds chart, and pick the best result. Alternatively, they can give one henchman a +1 on the roll to see if they die.
Strength / Grapple: Instead of attacking in combat, at Initiative 1, you and a target in base contact each roll a die and add their respective Strength. If you roll higher than the target, move the target up to half your Strength value in inches. The target must take an Initiative test or be knocked down.

[fluger]

This makes me think of our Mordheim League from Fire and Sword.  Here are the house rules we used.  Might spark some ideas for you:

 

 

1) A hero that starts out with experience gets to make one advance roll after you've created your warband.  helps out a lot and adds flavor

2) A combination of heavy armor and a shield incurs a -1 to initiative rather than movement.  The -1 to M is too strong, this keeps the basic idea though 

3) When fighting in CC with a hand weapon and shield equipped, a character may forgo his weapon's benefit (e.g. parry) to gain a +1 armor save.  Similar to what you're going for above, but means you don't get as many benefits overall.  

4) Two handed weapons do not strike last on the charge.   Still has a drawback, but less so.

5) Any attack made with an off-hand weapon has -1 to hit. You can declare what weapon you're using in your main/off hands at the start of the combat. Seems like you were going for this as well.  

6) Critical hits must be confirmed by rolling to wound again.  This was to stop the ridiculously lucky rolls that would crop up from time to time.  

7) A hero that is taken out of action may make an armor save (no shield bonus) to ignore the result on the injury table  Makes heavy armor more desirable.  

[Peanut]

Those look perfect Mr. Gerbil!

[Guest]

My attempt to fix Mordheim! Feedback is encouraged.

 

New rules:

...

Elves wear panties

 

Those look perfect Mr. Gerbil!

[cebo7590]

I do like the idea of the armor save modifier starting at one strength pip higher. It seems to me that strength is very easy to get and that minus one at strength 4 is just to good. Plus it might encourage people to buy axes and other items that increase the strength of their models. Have you tried any games using that ruleset yet?

[ChaosGerbil]

No, in fact I have never played Mordheim at all. I did some research, lifted a lot of other people's mods, and gave it some thought. I'm an amateur game designer so this was good practice. Unbalanced rule sets irritate me, which is inspiration for trying to make improvements.

 

I live in Maple Valley, but I could probably play in Bellevue or Issaquah sometime. I am also feinding for Necromunda or other skirmish games.

 

One of the warbands I am making features Skaven slingers, to enforce using more balanced rules!

 

Does anyone know of any other problem areas in Mordheim to address?

[Guest]

Does anyone know of any other problem areas in Mordheim to address?

As I recall, the main issue with Mordheim (and Necromunda) is that the game is set up where a losing team/warband will likely continue to lose, as their points/gold/value decreases with each loss. I always thought these games should have a balancing factor, which allows the losing player to gain enough to continue in a balanced capacity. Mind you, this assumes you intend to play in a campaign capacity, rather than playing in matches with a constant value to your team/warband.

 

For example, allowing the losing side to gain more experience from the loss, while the winners gain more gold/resources/gear, but less experience.

[Peanut]

In my experience Paxmiles, this isnt exactly the case. If you lose many times, you start to fall behind, but there are sacrifices you can make, for example you can sell wyrdstone off and buy new gear or new henchmen. And the scenarios can sometimes favor you regardless if experience and gear.

[Andrewgeddon]

My experience is, baring the death of a hero, most players stay around the same power level as long as they are getting the same amount of games in. Winning / losing doesn't really have too much of an impact in terms of rewards; an extra pip of exp for the leader, and sometimes some ok loot. As long as you have 5 or 6 dice for the exploration phase, that's what really matters. That being said, having multiple battles where heroes are put out of action can be rough. I think allowing all living heroes to roll on the exploration table, regardless of if they went out of action or not, could help balance things out, especially for a band like Possessed that start out with a low model count.

[rudra34]

The only thing I think is out of whack on here is the +2 save in combat from a shield.  With reductions to how strength works to reduce armor save, shields become the new broken.

Other than that it looks good.  Lots of changes, but small impact.