Mordheim(PS4)

[Guest]

Got a copy. I'm very happy. This is probably the best game I have on PS4 right now, and it's probably the best incarnation of the Mordheim Rules that I've played. Makes me sad that GW let fantasy die. 

 

Game is turn based, let's you fully customize a team of RPG characters, and doesn't require online play. I especially like that it allows me to name my own characters, their team name, and even has a blank "biography" section for those really nerdy creative writting types. 

 

I can't really vouch for the Mordheim table top, as my biggest issue in that was always in was that I couldn't get a regular group to play it. Being able to play against bots is a really nice feature of this game. There is online play, but I've never even considered doing it. Perhaps with one of the ordo guys....

 

Cons:

 

Game requires much loading/waiting on the PS4. And you can't save or exit during a battle, without hitting "abandon mission" which gives you penalties for your team. 

 

Game is very time consuming. I doubt it plays any faster than the tabletop version. 

 

Game is entirely urban set. So while this is a core to the setting, it is annoying for the game to have every battle be in basically the same type of map. I would really like to at least have some seasonal features, but it's basically a very limited assortment of maps and a day/night cycle of those. Garden, sewer, or roof top battle options would also be nice. And side from climbing on some buildings, you can't actually destroy anything like you could in most modern games in an urban setting. That said, perhaps when I get further into the game, I can see this addressed. 

 

As an aside, they have "maple" leaves floating around the terrain sometimes, but I have yet to see any such trees. It's a very out of place graphic. Terrain, despite being designed to look as if in motion with a screen shot, is entirely static. neither of these really matter, but those are my "aside" comments.

[Andrewgeddon]

I have Mordheim for the PC, and I love it. Mordheim is probably my favorite tabletop game, and I think the PC game does a lot to capture the essence of the tabletop. Gameplay has some large difference: the "fog of war" type system where you don't know where your enemies are until you run into them adds a lot of tension to a game that is largely played again the AI (in my case). Having initiatives that people go at instead of "you go, I go" is different, but works well. I think the best thing about the game is being IN Mordhiem though: the environment looks like what I image being in the City of the Damned would be like. It's weird and creepy and sometimes funny, I love it.

 

Not to say the game is perfect: character progression, my favorite part about tabletop Mordheim, is a lot less satisfying for the digital game (IMO). Also, the AI can be pretty dumb. If I can get my warband grouped up, the AI will often feed me the enemy warband piecemeal. Different deployments help to make that a little bit more challenging though. The game usually devolves into "grab wyrdstone, scrum in the middle," making secondary objectives kinda pointless... but that usually happens in tabletop Mordheim too, so I can't complain too much. 

 

Been playing the Undead recently, think I'll get the Necromancer soon! Looking forward to it :)

[Guest]

Not to say the game is perfect: character progression, my favorite part about tabletop Mordheim, is a lot less satisfying for the digital game (IMO). Also, the AI can be pretty dumb. If I can get my warband grouped up, the AI will often feed me the enemy warband piecemeal. Different deployments help to make that a little bit more challenging though. The game usually devolves into "grab wyrdstone, scrum in the middle," making secondary objectives kinda pointless... but that usually happens in tabletop Mordheim too, so I can't complain too much. 

 

Been playing the Undead recently, think I'll get the Necromancer soon! Looking forward to it :)

The AI is pretty dumb, but I have found that the factions are varied enough where you can't really prepare for all enemies, and in that, even a dumb AI can be fierce. 

 

I started with Undead. That is the most forgiving faction. Fear and terror on your main characters, plus a healing character (that human guy can heal vampires). Also those skeletons almost never get injured. Down side is that the entire faction is rather boring, in my opinion. Each battle seems very similar, and most guys lack tactical diversity. More or less, the best tactics for this faction involve moving around like a swarm of bees. 

 

Lately, I've been focusing on Skaven. Very Mobile. Best tactic I've found is to have all but the leader focus on warp stone gathering exclusively on one flank, while the leader whips around the opposite flank and steals their idol. Ideally, we win with only a few actual fights. Especially against undead, who we can't seem to pass terror checks enough to actually deal any damage and those same undead are immune to our poison. 

 

For skaven, one of the coolest options I found was that you can empty your character's personal inventory into the chest of your wagon, allowing fast, but low strength characters to accumulate warpstone quickly. This tactic didn't work when playing as undead, as they were just too slow to execute it. 

 

In the off-chance that I do play online, I named my skaven warband: "Obviously Undead"

[dkieft]

I have been playing on PC, I think it is really well done. I do wish there was a bit more flexible mobility for jumps and climbs but mostly it is good. I agree the AI is a bit weak... If you can keep your Warband grouped you can almost always win.

 

I like that you cannot save. It means my warband has people missing arms and legs like a real game of Mordhiem. If I could reload when I lost guys the game would mean a lot less to me.

@Andrewgeddon: The secondary objectives are hard, but if you pull them off you get a huge chunk of experience making it worth trying if  you can. But it does seem like once you are stuck in it is time to abandon them and fight full force.

[Andrewgeddon]

 

@Andrewgeddon: The secondary objectives are hard, but if you pull them off you get a huge chunk of experience making it worth trying if  you can. But it does seem like once you are stuck in it is time to abandon them and fight full force.

Thinking about it, I guess the "gather as much wyrdstone as you can" and "loot the enemy" secondaries are very much doable, but mainly because that's something you're going to be doing regardless. I've yet to take the other warband's idol from their wagon though.

[Guest]

Found out that the PS4 version has a language filter for naming things. Juggernaut becomes *****rnaut. Didn't like "horny" either, despite giving the name to a chaos mutant with the horn mutation. Kinda annoying, but not a big deal. Just means I need to get out the dictionary and learn some new words.

 

Regarding tactics, was working on the chaos warband the other day. I decided to go full bows with the chaos "khorne" forces. Actually kinda fun, but tactics are pretty limited - basically, if I can find a tall building and my guys can climb it and just shoot the enemy to death, I'll win. Makes wyrd gathering and secondary objectives a real challenge, but it's different. That chaos leader is pretty soft in melee, so the bow route seems pretty practical. 

 

Speaking of secondary objectives, the main challenge I've found is completeing the secondary BEFORE the enemy fails their rout test (or before I fail). I did find an interesting tactic I'm testing for chaos, where I have a minion with maxed leadership (and morale bonus skills) who basically sits next to my wagon all game, so that I don't risk being routed if a couple of key characters die prematurely due to lucky opponents. 

 

The hardest secondary objective so far, is the one where you loot items off specic fallen enemies. The challenge is that usually, they'll fail their rout test right after those characters die, so when you kill the last one, you just have to hope that he's got some free inventory space and movement to loot them before his turn ends and they are routed.

[Swan-of-War]

I plan on picking this up for Xbox One - glad to hear you guys are enjoying it.

 

Been testing a mobile version from Legendary Games and it sounds like it's a similar experience

[dkieft]

Thinking about it, I guess the "gather as much wyrdstone as you can" and "loot the enemy" secondaries are very much doable, but mainly because that's something you're going to be doing regardless. I've yet to take the other warband's idol from their wagon though.

I have picked up the idol... but only because I happened by their wagon, I have never done that objective. Grabbing the idol gives you a 3 turn move bonus so it is worth grabbing if you happen by it.

 

The other two are definitely in line with your other goals and way easier. Half the time though the enemy routs right before you can grab their item or wyrdstone they gathered, which is pretty annoying.