Koyote

Leopold von Drak's namesake died at the hands of Vlad von Carstein almost 200 years before the Witch Hunter's birth. Carstein's new bride, Isabella took mercy on her uncle's widow and young children, and so she arranged for the last of the von Draks to flee to the neighboring county of Ostermark. To combat the darkness that has enveloped their homeland, the exiled von Drak family developed the tradition of sending their second sons to the Temple of Sigmar for training and indoctrination into the Order of Witch Hunters. And so, for two centuries von Drak witch hunters have been infiltrating the benighted county with the mission of destroying vampires, necromancers, and their servants. Leopold von Drak - Witch Hunter (hired sword) This mini is the Inquisitor Captain Xander Thule, sold by Gorgon Miniatures. It's a very cool model, but it wasn't cast very well, so it took a fair amount of work with the hobby knife and greenstuff to get it prepared for paint. Leopold will join my Kislevite warband as a Witch Hunter hired sword.

That’s great news. What warband did you decide on? The campaign's primary purpose is to give people an opportunity to play Mordheim, so anyone who wants to join the campaign, certainly may. The more participants, the easier it will be for players to schedule a game. People are free to join at anytime during the campaign. If I run out of Sylvanian Scout models, I will figure something out.

So, how did everyone's games go? I played against Brenden's Dwarf Treasure Hunters. I won the game (Brenden voluntarily bottled after his Noble and 2 Slayers were taken out), but the dwarves escaped with more treasure (wyrdstone) counters than I did. Dwarves may be short and slow, but they are a devious folk, so watch out for them! My MVP of the game was, ironically, one of my Youths. Natasha took three models out-of-action with her hammer and dagger: a zombie, a Dwarf Warrior, and a Dwarf Slayer. She took the Slayer out-of-action by rolling a crit with her dagger (2 wounds +2 to injury roll). The Slayer had a full recovery, but the Dwarf Warrior died from his wounds. In return, the Dwarves took out Sergeant Ludvig and one of my Cossacks. Ludvig will live, but the poor Cossack is now riding across the grassy Ungol plains in the afterlife. Most of the game was a ridiculous slap fight in which Brenden and I couldn't roll much higher than a 2. In post game I rolled 5 exploration dice (4 Heroes + the Beggar). Three of those dice were sixes, so Captain Yuri ended up testifying on behalf of an old friend who was accused of being a vampire. Yuri passed his leadership test, so his friend was set free and Yuri was rewarded with 1 XP and D3 treasures. I traded in all but two of my warband's treasures for enough gold crowns to replace my dead Cossack and recruit a Witch Hunter hired sword. Why a Witch Hunter? Well, not only does it seem to appropriate for the setting, but I have a cool witch hunter model that I really want to paint. Per the campaign rules, all heroes that begin the campaign with XPs get one free roll on the advance table. This, I feel, gives these heroes a bit more character going into the campaign. My Bear Tamer's 'free' advance roll provided him with a second wound. During the game he earned 1 XP for taking out a zombie and 1 XP for surviving. This gave him a second advance roll, which resulted in another additional wound. Crazy. After my first game I have a hero with 3 wounds. He shall now be known as Oleg 'Ironside'. OLEG... OLEG... OLEG...

Tuesday night, 7 out of 15 (potential) players showed up and, I hope, had a good time. If you weren't able to make it, don't worry. As I've mentioned before, it's two game per month so you have lots of time to play those games and (hopefully), lots of people to play those games with. Games can be played anywhere at any time. The only caveat is that you must play against another campaign participant. I will be at DT next Tuesday (Oct 16) with my Mordheim stuff, including the unclaimed Sylvanian Guide models, so if you need a game, I'll be there. RINGERS: If you've played both games for the month and someone needs a game, you should feel free to play them as a 'ringer'. In a Ringer match, the ringer warband doesn't gain or lose anything from the scenario. For the ringer player's warband, it's as if the the game never happened. SECOND WARBANDs: If you are a Mordheim diehard who just can't get enough of the game, please feel free to create and play with a second warband. In our last campaign I ran my Averlanders and a Dark Elf warband. The Averlanders were my primary warband, but when I encountered someone who needed a make-up game, I'd offer to play them with my Dark Elves. My Dark Elves didn't get a lot of games, but it was fun when they did.

Remember, there a number of campaign packet and setting packet rules that affect your warband's post-battle sequence/activities. These include the Distrust and Land of Little rules found in the setting packet. Additionally, item #10 in the campaign packet permits players to purchase items from the Opulent Goods and Ye Olde Curiosity Shoppe articles. Item #10 also states that during this campaign, the cost and rarity of Lucky Charms and Rabbit's Feet have been increased, while the cost of lanterns and torches has been decreased. Lastly, item #19 in the campaign packet states that warbands may avail themselves of the Sawbones rules, so if you're feeling lucky and you have the gold crowns to spare, you can attempt to heal your heroes' injuries.

This is a good question. The rule book doesn't answer this question directly, but it does provide some clues. On page 116 of the rule book it states that calculating a warband's rating involves multiplying the number of warriors in the warband by 5. The next paragraph states that large creatures are worth 20 points plus its xps. My reading of the two paragraphs together is that large creatures are not included in the 'warriors-times-five' calculation. This treatment of large creatures combined with the fact that the rules for each Hired Sword indicates by how much that Hired Sword increases a warband's rating, suggests to me that like large creatures, Hired Swords are not included in the 'warriors-times-five' calculation. So... My answer to your question is "instead of". 😁

Very cool. What's the big beasty? A counts-as ogre?

OCTOBER CAMPAIGN SCENARIOS Since the campaign includes some novices and participants who haven't played Mordheim in years, I decided to start things off simple. This month we will play two basic scenarios from the Mordheim rulebook. Scenario #1: Wyrdstone Hunt This scenario can be found on page 87 of the Mordheim rulebook. This scenario will be subject to all of the scenario rules found in the Sylvania Settings Rule Packet. As per item #19 in the Mordheim Campaign Packet, if both players agree, the Random Happenings rules may be used (SEE Town Cryer #3, the 2002 Mordheim Annual, or downloads page of the Broheim website). Additionally, instead of rolling for the number of wyrdstone (treasure) counters, the players will place 5 counters on the board. Scenario #2: Chance Encounter This scenario can be found on page 89 of the Mordheim rulebook. This scenario will be subject to all of the scenario rules found in the Sylvania Settings Rule Packet. As per item #19 in the Mordheim Campaign Packet, if both players agree, the Random Happenings rules may be used (SEE Town Cryer #3, the 2002 Mordheim Annual, or the downloads page of the Broheim website). Additionally, instead of rolling for the number of wyrdstone (treasure) counters carried by the warbands, each warband will begin the game carrying 3 counters.

Those are some great looking warbands. I can't wait to see them on the table. I don't know if you two planned it this way, but your backstories work well together, the pursuers and the pursued. Which warband will prevail, the pirates or the pit slaves? While on the topic of nemesis warbands, Sherbert is using a vampire hunter miniature for his leader (works perfect for games in Sylvania) and Kasey has decided to change his warband from Beastmen to Undead. That'd be a fun match up. For years and years, the backstory for my Kislevite warband has been the same. Part of that story is my leader's enmity for Ostlanders, so there's no doubt that my Kislevites will be gunning for Joey's Ostlanders.

Sherbert texted me some questions that others may find useful. Q: Can a Warband start with rare items? A: Starting warbands can purchase only equipment from their Warband’s equipment list. However, due to our unusual campaign setting rules, starting warbands may purchase torches and lanterns (at the reduced cost found in the campaign rules). Q: Do torches or lanterns require a ‘free hand’ to use? A: No. To keep things simple, if a model needs both hands to fight or shoot, it either drops or sets down its torch or lantern. Before moving on again, the model retreives it’s light source. Note that a torch can be used as club (-1 to hit, causes fear in animals, and prevents regeneration - see Empire in Flames p.16). If a player wants to use a torch as a weapon the model must equip the torch in a free hand.

Just a reminder, each scenario will include, at minimum, D6+1 zombies (See Roaming Dead rules in the Sylvania Settings Packet), so don't forget to bring some zombie minis (or proxies) with you. These minis need not be painted or even war-gaming miniatures. For example, unpainted zombies from Zombicide or Zombicide Black Plague board games will work just fine. Skeletons, ghouls, or any other man sized 28mm will suffice as zombie proxies. If I remember, I will bring extras.

I've finished another reinforcement for my Kislevs. In time, she'll be added to my Cossack henchmen group. The model is an OOP Shieldmaiden Berserker, made by Bad Squiddo games. The model's heroic pose and eastern style trousers are what first grabbed my attention, but after closer examination I realized that its sword arm is a bit too long, too thick at the base, and juts out from the model's side in a way that doesn't look natural. Worst of all, the head and neck were not centered between the model's shoulders. To fix the arm I shaved down the arm and reshaped a part of the torso beneath the arm. The arm still didn't look right so I bent the arm at the elbow. Removing some of the torso required me to re-sculpt all of the rectangular armor segments on that side of the body. The arm still doesn't look quite right, but it is what it is. I replaced the straight bladed sword with a scimitar from the Frostgrave plastic Cultist kit. I had to saw off the head in order to reposition it. This required even more GS work to realign the hair and fix the top of the armored vest that was damaged by the saw.

That's awesome. Given the setting, it seems fitting that at least one player plays Undead. For the purpose of this campaign your Undead warband will not be native to the region, so the rules in the Sylvania Setting Packet (e.g. Distrust) apply to your warband. Is it just me or does this Carpetbagger vampire, headed south to Sylvania, look like a certain salt loving Warhamster we know?

Yup, the Beggar is pretty awful, but that's intentional. His Scrounge ability is pretty nifty, though.

While you are writing (or typing) your models' stats into your warband roster, don't forget to include your Sylvanian Scout (Beggar).

Download the packets, print the warband roster, assemble your warband, and show up at Dark Tower next Tuesday. I’ll be there shortly after 5. Most people show up between 6 and 7. What warband do you play?

1) The Pursuer gets both advantages. Under the standard rules being armed with a parry weapon and a buckler gives the model a re-rollable parry. Under the campaign specific rules, a model equipped with a buckler and either a sword, axe, hammer, or spear (a trident is close enough), then the model receives a +1 to its armor save. 2) An argument could be made for both, but because GW so loves to draw and model spiked gauntlets ending in a massive blade, I will say 'bladed'.

I finished painting my 3rd Streltsi. This fellow won't be part of my starting warband. I hope to have enough gold crowns to add him after my first (or second) game. The rules for Kislevite warbands was first published in Town Cryer Issue 16. In this first version of the rules, Kislevites didn't have access to crossbows, which is odd, because the Mordheim Kislevite miniatures sold by GW at the time included models armed with crossbows. If you look at the cover of Town Cryer 16, you'll see one of them. GW republished the Kislevite warband rules in 2002 Mordheim Annual. This version includes crossbows as an option for Streltsi. Better late than never.

You sir are down, but not (necessarily) out. Showing up for Campaign Nights is not a requirement. This campaign's schedule is designed to provide its player with quite a bit of flexibility. It's two games per month for four months. Since Dark Tower closes at 10 pm on Tuesdays, very few players will have enough time to play both of their games for the month on Campaign Night. As such, most, if not all of the participants will be looking for games at other times during the month. If you can find time in our schedule for two games per month you can participate in the campaign. BTW, love your gobbos.

Page 20-21 of the Mordheim rulebook answers this question. "If your model is armed with a buckler and a sword, you may re-roll any failed parries once. A model armed with two swords can still only roll once." This restriction may be why the Pit Fighter's spiked gauntlet counts as a buckler (and an additional hand weapon) rather than simply counting as an additional hand weapon with the parry ability.

In one short week's time, we begin our adventures in the benighted county of Sylvania. To prepare, you need to hire your warband, gather your minis (including a half dozen models to use as zombies), and reread the first post of this thread. I updated post #1 this afternoon. It now contains the final version of the campaign schedule and two important pdfs, the Mordheim Campaign Packet and the Sylvania Setting Rules Packet. If you downloaded my Sylvania packet pdf prior to this afternoon, please do so again. The version currently attached to post #1 includes some changes to the Sylvania Exploration Chart and a few other tweaks. Please read both packets. If you have any questions, please feel free to post them here or send me a PM.

The Infinity league ended last week, so moving forward there should be more available table space.

Henchmen gain experience and make advance rolls as a group. When a henchman dies, you can replace it, but it costs a bit extra if the henchmen group has earned XPs (see p.102 of the Mordheim rule book). You can even add additional henchmen to a group, growing it beyond its starting number. Once again, this costs extra if the henchmen group has earned XPs. In both instances, if you wish to add henchmen to an experienced group, you must roll to see how many XPs worth of experienced henchmen you can find after each game. If you roll too low, you may not be able to recruit the desired henchmen. Experienced Henchmen groups have the potential to becoming quite fearsome, but if the last henchman in the group dies, you cannot add replacements, so its gone from the campaign. On the other hand, the only way to increase your number of heroes beyond the limitations stated in your warband's rules is for one of your Henchmen groups to roll the 'Lads Got Talent' result on the Henchmen advance table. The more henchmen groups you have, the more rolls you'll get on that table and in theory, the more likely you'll get the desired result.

SAGA's creator said in an interview that all of images in the SAGA New Edition teaser video were put there for a purpose. From this we can assume that each will eventually become a new source book. These images include the 100 Years War, Norse Mythos, Greek Mythos, and Feudal Japan. Footsore Miniatures has recently released a new line of Feudal Japanese miniatures. In the past, Footsore has developed miniature lines and packaged its miniatures (i.e. in sets of 4) in such a way as to target SAGA players. I suspect Footsore's newest release is in expectation of a the Feudal Japanese/East Asian source book. Footsore may even has some inside info on the order of upcoming source books.

Of course. Mordheim has no standard base shape or size. I base my Mordheim models on square bases because, well, I’m old. In general, round bases are the norm for skirmish level games.