All Talk and No Mordheim Makes Joey A Dull Boy

[Koyote]

Well, Joey? When is this going to happen?

 

Captain Yuri and his dueling pistol 'Widowmaker' are eager to return to the benighted city of Mordheim.

 

 

I've already ordered the models that I need to resurrect my beloved Kislev warband that I auctioned off during leaner times. I should have all my models assembled and ready to go around the same time Sherbert's beep-beep vroom-vroom campaign finishes up.

[smashthedean]

Yes! My Beastmen are hungry for some raiding!

[Koyote]

Yes! My Beastmen are hungry for some raiding!

Beastmen you say?

 

Need more Cossacks.

[smashthedean]

Beastmen I do say!

 

[Koyote]

If Captain Yuri's Kislevites venture into Mordheim during the icy winter months, they should have little to fear from Beast Man.

 

[Koyote]

So far we have:

 

Joey - Ostlander Mercenaries

Jim -Witchhunters

Shawn - Kislevites

Beast Man - Beastmen Raiders

 

 

I don't know which rules Joey wants to adopt, but I do like this one.

 

 

In a previous campaign I experienced a couple of instances where players with lower warband ratings agreed to play a game, but then set up their warbands so that they could sacrifice the minimum number of henchmen for a bottle and then flee with the rest of their warband. This earned each of their heroes and henchmen groups a handsome underdog reward of 3 to 4 experience points, plus the cowardly warbands received their full allotment of dice for the exploration chart. I, on the other hand, felt cheated. I schedule time for the game, set up all my toys, but then within minutes the game was over. I didn't get an enjoyable game and my heroes missed out of an opportunity to earn extra experience points. Lame. :(

 

The table doesn't entirely fix the problem by itself, but it's a step in the right direction

[smashthedean]

That sounds good to me. I'm ready to dig in!

 

[JMGraham]

That sounds good to me. I'm ready to dig in!

 

Hairy, hairy indeed.

 

NSFW! And likely not safe for life.

[Sherbert]

im down, I might play my norse for old times sake.

[Koyote]

im down, I might play my norse for old times sake.

Sweet!

 

Sherbert Shield Splitter wasn't like the other Vikings. No, not at all.

 

[JMGraham]

Norse? Like the people who live near the Chaos wastes? the Witchfinder General does not approve.

 

[Koyote]

Witchhunters are really nothing more than just slightly less tolerant pilgrims.

 

Suffer not the turkey to live! ...

[Wiccus]

I like that chart. No Cowards! Also a gentleman's agreement to not spam ranged weapons. And 5 max heroes for Skaven to start. Rest is just try not to be a min maxing dick

[Ser Warwick]

I'd like to get in on this. Which warbands are available Joey?

 

I'm interested in some of the unofficial warbands like Shadow Warriors and Bretonnians but want to play like a gentleman. I could probably run either of those as flavors of mercs though or just avoid min/maxing and shooting weapons.

[Koyote]

I've read that the Shadow Warriors are the only warband booted off the list of official warbands.

 

All of the following Warbands were published by GW. The difference between official and unofficial warbands is that before GW stopped supporting Mordheim, the official warbands were allowed in GW Mordheim Tournaments and the unofficial warbands were not.

 

Except for Black Dwarves, Dark Elves, Lizardmen, Shadow Wartiors, and Tomb Guardians, I recommend permitting all of the unofficial warbands. I haven't seen the Nemesis Warbands in action, but some of them look pretty strong.

 

"Official Warbands"

 

Averland Mercenaries

Beastmen Raiders

Carnival of Chaos

Cult of the Possessed

Dwarf Treasure Hunters

Kislevite Warband

Marienburg Mercenaries

Middenheim Mercenaries

Orcs & Goblins Hordes

Ostland Mercenaries

Reikland Mercenaries

Sisters of Sigmar

Skaven Warband

Undead

Witch Hunters

 

"Unofficial Warbands"

 

Amazon Warriors

Black Dwarfs

Bretonnian Knights

Clan Pestilens

Dark Elves Warband

Imperial Gunnery School

Lizardmen Warriors

Norse Warband

Pirate Crew

Pit Fighters

Shadow Warriors

The Outlaws of Stirwood Forest

Tomb Guardians

 

 

Nemisis Crown Campaign Warbands

 

Black Orcs

Dwarf Rangers

Forest Goblins

GunnerySchool of Nuln

Hochland Bandits

Horned Hunters

Imperial Outriders

[JMGraham]

Shadow Warriors are pretty brutal - it's very easy to build a ranged crew that will wipe out any opponent before they can come to grips. A skinned merc crew would fit in well with the others. Are we sticking with official?

[Koyote]

Which Hired Swords will be available?

 

"Official" Hired Swords

 

Arabian Merchant -Town Cryer 22

Beast Hunter -Empire in Flames

Dwarf Troll Slayer -Rulebook

Elf Ranger -Rulebook

Freelancer -Rulebook

Halfling Scout -Rulebook

Highwayman-Empire in Flames

Imperial Assassin -Mordheim Annual 2002

Ogre Bodyguard -Rulebook

Pit Fighter -Rulebook

Roadwarden -Empire in Flames

Tilean Marksman -Mordheim Annual 2002

Warlock -Rulebook

 

Others

 

Bard -Town Cryer 13

Big Game Hunter -Town Cryer 13

Bounty Hunter -Town Cryer 13

Chameleon Skink -Town Cryer 12

Clan Skryre Rat Ogre -Town Cryer 25 Dark Elf Assassin -Town Cryer 12

Duelist -Town Cryer 13

Dwarf Treasure Hunter -Fanatic Magazine 8

Elf Mage -Fanatic Magazine 5

Halfling Thief -Fanatic Magazine 7

Kislev Ranger -Fanatic Magazine 6

Mule Skinner -Town Cryer 14

Nomad Scout -Town Cryer 19

Norse Shaman -Town Cryer 12

Pathfinder -Town Cryer 12

Priest of Morr -Town Cryer 12

Shadow Warrior -Town Cryer 13

Snake Charmer -Town Cryer 19

Thief -Town Cryer 19

Tomb Robber -Town Cryer 19

Warrior Priest of Sigmar -Town Cryer 28

Witch -Town Cryer 13

Wolf Priest of Ulric -Town Cryer 8

 

Nemisis Crown

 

Black Orc Overseer Fanatic Online 91 -Nemesis Crown

Dwarf Pathfinder Fanatic Online 91 -Nemesis Crown

Human Scout Fanatic Online 91 -Nemesis Crown

Old Prospector Fanatic Online 91 -Nemesis Crown

Runesmith Journeyman Fanatic Online 91 -Nemesis Crown

Witch Hunter Fanatic Online 91 -Nemesis Crown

[Wiccus]

I haven't made any decisions on a ban list yet. I think it will be a case by case basis. Just message me or post here with your warband choice and I can look at it and see if anything should be done to tone them down or something. As far as I remember the only bands I've ever seen get close to overpowered are Skaven, Shadow Warriors, Tileans and old skool 2 wound beastmen. My fix for Skaven is just five heroes to start. I think their biggest problem was their ability to snowball early since six heroes gives you a consistently strong post game economy. Haven't thought of anything to do with Shadow Warriors yet but there may be a way to nerd them a tad.

[Wiccus]

Also I will say most of my bad games of Mordheim have come from 2 things. One is early retreat. Like why the hell did I even set up a board and models? And the other is ranged weapon spam. I know some bands are more reliant on shooting than others it just becomes un fun when every model has a sling or crossbow. As far as the first point goes I am cool with trying out the above chart. The second I don't want to put a hard cap on guns but just use your best judgment and try not to be a douche

[smashthedean]

Just had a look over the Brets and they seem fine to me. I would say that the "5 purchased heroes" rule should probably apply to them as well, but aside from that no complaints here.

[Koyote]

This is not a new issue, but before we dive in, I'd like to submit it for consideration.

 

Armor is too expensive and doesn't offer enough protection. Shields and bucklers are more affordable, but the scant protection of a shield or buckler without armor hardly seems worth it. With little to gain from shield or bucklers arming models with two weapons becomes the default choice. The preference for two hand weapons also makes certain categories of weapons (e.g. morning stars & spears) fairly uncommon. The net result is homogeneity and wasted rules.

 

In the Mordheim campaigns that I've run, I've addressed these issue by adopting the following house rules. My aim is to increase the appeal of armor, different categorizes of weapons, and weapon & shield combos.

 

Armor: A warrior that is armed with both heavy armor and shield suffers a -1 initiative penalty instead of a -1 movement penalty (dwarfs suffer no penalty). A hero that is taken out of action may make an armor save (no shield bonus) to ignore the 11-35 results on the injury table.

 

Shields & Bucklers: A model equipped with a shield receives a +1 to its armor save against close combat and ranged attacks. A model on foot, equipped with a shield and one-handed weapon receives a +2 to its armor save against close combat attacks. A model on foot, equipped with a buckler and one-handed weapon receives a +1 to its armor save against close combat attacks (this is in addition to the buckler's parry ability).

 

Two Hand Weapons: A model armed with two one-handed weapons may make 1 extra attack with the additional weapon. Before attacking declare which weapon is in the ‘off-hand.’ The weapon in the off-hand suffers a -1 to hit penalty. Otherwise, the normal 'Fighting with Two Weapons' rules apply.

 

Double Handed Weapons: A model armed with a double handed weapon does not strike last on the turn it charges.

[DuskSeer]

If there's still room for players I'd like to jump on. I have models for elves/dark elves and I'll look at the rules asap so I can make a decision.

[Koyote]

...And the other is ranged weapon spam. I know some bands are more reliant on shooting than others it just becomes un fun when every model has a sling or crossbow. ... I don't want to put a hard cap on guns but just use your best judgment and try not to be a douche

The effectiveness of shooting can be adjusted by the quantity and placement of terrain. The board should be densely populated with terrain and set up to limit long, unobstructed fields of fire. Smart players facing very shooty warbands will make good use of the Hiding rule. It is also helpful when players mutually agree to not to place objectives counters in the open.

 

Shooting gets really ugly when the warbands level up. The combination of high BS and the best Shooting skills can be really tough to overcome. This is one of the reasons that I prefer randomly determined skills, which is how it's done in Necromunda.

 

The elf warbands are especially ugly because of their starting BS and high racial maximums. Elf henchmen start with the BS that most other races' henchmen cap out at.

[smashthedean]

I like the idea of making armor/shields and two-handed weapons better, but dislike the idea of making paired weapons worse, largely because I already have all of my guys modeled up with paired weapons =\

[JMGraham]

If there's still room for players I'd like to jump on. I have models for elves/dark elves and I'll look at the rules asap so I can make a decision.

 

Of course! I reckon when this happens, the more the merrier!

 

I'm fine with the changes. So long as I know ahead of time, I'm good!

 

 

I ... dislike the idea of making paired weapons worse, largely because I already have all of my guys modeled up with paired weapons =\

 

As good of an endorsement for why something needs fixing as I've ever heard before! :) An extra attack is still pretty great, even at -1 to hit. Compromise: -1 to WS with the off-hand attack. Still works out to -1 to hit much of the time, but not always.