Mordheim Town Cryer: Breaking News! Mordheim on PC

Have you heard the news boy? Some warbands will venture into the city once more! Whole camp is going crazy about that. Grab your gear, we don't want to miss it!










Breaking news! Fellow gamers there have been many rumours about that in the passing months. Some of you may have already seen this, but for all those ignorant of the fact: Mordheim City of the Damned will be reincarnated as PC game!

Here are some brand new screenshots and information:
Official site: http://www.mordheim-cityofthedamned.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mordheimcityofthedamned

 

Don't know how about you all, but i'm going to enjoy this product up to it's limits. Long years have passed since something new came up with Mordheim in it's title. Let us all keep our fingers crossed for this game to be almost as good as the original!


Nazroth,

Rules: Alliances

Must say that our Dwarven friends have proved their worth. Standing here, basking in the sunlight and shooting to these pitiful zombies below is kinda fun. Hopefully these bearded bastars won't figure out that while we're here, having fun, our true comrades are plundering their stash...

Fellow warband leaders. Have you ever found yourself in a multiplayer game full of ridiculous, totally out of flavor alliances? Well i had more than once. Dwarves and Orcs as a team? Really? It's about time to do things right. Hereby i pronounce to you a set of rules that will ( i hope) once and for all clarify the alliances in multiplayer games. Remember that these rules are optional and experimental as well. 

ME - all Human Mercenaries,
WH - Witch Hunters,
SOS - sisters of Sigmar,
DTH - Dwarf Treasure Hunters,
UN - the Undead,
CU - Cult of the Possessed,
SKA - Skaven,
OG - Orcs & Goblins,
COC - Carnival of Chaos,

In multiplayer games two or more warbands may form an alliance using the rules introduced in the Mordheim Annual 2002, "Chaos in the Streets" article. Each time a player pronounces an alliance refer to the table above to see the type of the alliance.

 

No simbol - 'Almost friendly'

These warbands are friendly to each other as much as it is possible in Mordheim. The warbands probably hate but will not move against each other until provoked.

Members of allied Warbands:

- Do not count each other as enemies. 

- May freely run within 8" of each other. 

- Are not forced to charge enemy models due to some special rules. Note however that Orc or Goblin failing an Animosity test counts allied models as friendly Hired Swords, therefore will shoot or charge on a result of '1'.

- Will automatically break from close combat with each other as soon as the alliance is pronounced. Simply place the models 1" apart. They can move as normal in their next Movement phase. Models knocked down or stunned follow the normal rules for being knocked down or stunned, etc.

- Charging, shooting, throwing non-helpful spells at a member of an allied warband will automatically break the alliance with that warband. Note that this includes attacks caused by failed Animosity test. If that happens it is still possible to form an alliance once more, but this time it would have 'Not in a thousand years' status.

/ - 'Watch your back'

Sometimes these warbands will find themselves in an alliance, although they will never truly fight back to back. Alliance would be temporary and fragile so stay aware.

Members of allied Warbands:

- Do not count each other as enemies. 

- May freely run within 8" of each other.

- Are forced to charge enemy models due to some special rules.

- Will automatically break from close combat with each other as soon as the alliance is pronounced. Simply place the models 1" apart. They can move as normal in their next Movement phase. Models knocked down or stunned follow the normal rules for being knocked down or stunned, etc.

- Will be subject to the Animosity rule so long as they will start the turn within 8" from the 'Watch your back' allies.

- Charging, shooting, throwing non-helpful spells at a member of an allied warband will automatically break the alliance with that warband. Note that this includes attacks caused by failed Animosity test. If that happens it is still possible to form an alliance once more, but this time it would have 'Not in a thousand years' status.

After the battle that ended while in a 'Watch your back' alliance, test your warband leader LD. If the test is failed one randomly selected non-leader hero will miss the next game as he refuses to fight alongside suspicious ally.

X - 'Not in a thousand years'

These warbands hate each other so zealously that they will never form an alliance. Each form of cooperation will end drastically. Some circumstances may force these warbands to fallow the same goal and form an alliance for the purpose of the game (to eliminate greater foe and then split the treasure?), but i will not happen without consequences.

Members of allied Warbands:

- Count each other as enemies. 

- May not run within 8" of each other.

- Are forced to charge enemy models due to some special rules.

- Will continue to fight each other in close combat when and after the alliance is pronounced.

- Will be subject to the Animosity rule so long as as they will stay in the 'Not in a thousand years' alliance.

- Note that charging, shooting, throwing non-helpful spells at a member of an allied warband is OK so both players agrees to keep the alliance going. These warbands are not in an alliance as your warband leader sees it.

After the battle that ended while in a 'Not in a thousand years' alliance, but before genereting income test your warband leader LD with a -2 modifier. If the test is failed the warband revolts and land frustration on the warband leader. If the leader went OOA during the battle roll for the infury table with a -1 modifier to both dice, otherwise threat the leader as OOA instead.

Multiple Alliances.

In the multiple alliance treat the alliance status as the worst possible status between allied warbands. For example an alliance between Marienburg Mercenaries, Dwarf Treasure Hunters and the Possessed will have the 'Not in a thousand years' status. 

If an already allied warband join another alliance all members of the previous alliance are considered to be in the new alliance and must accept or leave it at once. If they decide to stay in the alliance they will be counted toward the new alliance status with all it's consequences.

I hope these rules will make your games more realistic and more funn as well. I will test the rules and probably change them a little bit in the future. 


Nazroth,

Hired Swords: Part two

We have earned quite a bunch of coins at our last raid. As we have all the gear we need for now, it would be wise to use an additional pair of fighting arms. Let's head back to the Cutthroat's Den and see what remarkable new alliances we can buy with this gold... 

This is the second part of my link> Hired Swords article <link. Last time i have introduced to you what is in my opinion the best fighter, best tank, best shooter and best caster among all of the 'legal' Hired Swords. Today i'm going to fulfill my announcement and describe the best seeker, best sneak, best trickster, and best buff that you can hire. Please remember that this is my subjective opinion. If you disagree with my choice, just feel free to share your wisdom in the comments below.  So let's get to business.

Elf Ranger

The Elf Ranger has the keenest sight of all the Hired Swords. The 'Seeker' special rule allows him to spot hidden enemies at twice the distance of his impressive Initiative of 6. Armed with Elven Bow with BS 5 and M5 he is a mobile detector that will shoot your foes right after uncovering them for the rest of your warband. He will also lend some help in exploration so be assured that money spent on this nimble fellow would not be wasted.

As the elf comes with a specific role to fulfill, he appears in the third wave of recruitment.

Imperial Assassin

Death from behind, the Assassin is the best sneak in Mordheim. Starting with a decent equipment and two powerful skills he already is a capable fighter, but after advancement he becomes a real threat to all shooting warbands. Backstabber skill is an overkill with which you will be able to eliminate entrenched enemies while Hide in Shadows will provide you with all the means to outmaneuver your opponents. He will be able to hide almost everywhere and will provide a magnificent support to all close combat warbands.

"Valar Morghulis". The Imperial Assassin is my second wave choice. 

Halfling Scout

This funny looking little dude is my favorite buff in the game. Cheap to hire, economical to use, thirteenth starting member of a warband that increases the maximum number of models you can field. This means that he will be useful throughout the enitre campaign, right from the moment when you spent your first golden crowns and until the very end. And if that was not enough, he is a damn Luck magnet - call me superstitious but i know it. I just do. 

Zero wave choice, always from the start.

Arabian Merchant

He knows the best tricks. He's a two models in one. He will acquire the best items for you and in the end he will fill your chests with gold. All of which he does for free. Oh maybe not literally free but he will earn his own upkeep and leave something for the rest of the warband too. If you are thinking about a long campaign and wish to excel yourself in the exploration phase then this is your 'must have' choice. 

First wave choice on my private Hired Swords list. Sooner the better. 

Here's where the second part of the link> Hired Swords article <link comes to an end. Next time i will present you the best sniper and the best to leave alone Hired Swords.

Nazroth,

Matter of Survival: Trading

Here's your gold lad. You've made through your first encounter in one piece. I say these crowns were earned. Now listen to me boy. There's plenty of whoresons awaiting you and your gold. They will try  to beguile you with all those fancy knives and shiny armour. Do not let them get into your hed, you hear me? Spend some coins on Lucky Charm and keep the rest...

Hello there fellow Campaigners. If after the first battle you've found yourself in possession of some gold then here are some trading hints you may find quite useful.

First of all priorytise your purchase starting with warband members (if needed) then acquire less rare, cheap and most important equipment. It is of a great importance to spend your coins on things that will instantly boost your warbands fighting and exploration abilities.

Recruit heroes.

The heroes will search for wyrdstone after the battle and each one of them will drastically increase the warbands income. If you haven't recruited max heroes at the start of a campaign, or one of them died in the first battle - it is most important to recruit up to a maximum ASAP.

Recruit henchmen.

If it takes your number up to 9, 13 or 17 do not hesitate to recruit new warband members. The number of models OOA required to take Rout Test depends on it. Some scenarios offer great awards to the winner in which case you do not want to loose by failing Rout Test.

Trinkets over weapons.

Some items are especially useful. Assuming that all your heroes are equipped with weapon adequate to their role, i suggest to use this priority list:
- Rabbit foot for the leader,
- Rabbit foot for the rest of the heroes, 
- Lucky charm for the leader, 
- Lucky charm for any tough combat heroes, 
- Holy/Unholy relic,
- Rope & Hook for any agile wall climbers (Vampire, Skaven heroes etc,)
- Helmet for the leader and any combat heroes, 
- Armour and fancy weapons for the leader and heroes, 

As you can see - the first exploration will probably end with up to 5 rabbit foots and that assuming your warband will find all of them in one go.  As most of the warbands are highly leader-oriented, try to invest some gold in his safety and usefulness. Mostly becouse the Leader is an expensive, rating increasing, slowly leveling and difficult to replace member of a warband.

Hire sellswords.
Sooner or later there will come a moment of stability. The income will overcome the needs and you will wonder of what to buy next. Some players prefer to keep reserve gold for a rainy day. I suggest you do otherwise. Remember that when you gather resources, other warbands will make good use of gold and advance themselves. Invest the gold to hire Hired Swords. You can find the list of useful Hired Swords in the link> Hired Swords article <link.

Now go there and spend some gold!


Nazroth,

Rules: Footbridges (how to build and then destroy)

To move at the ground level is to ask death for a dance. If we're going to survive this mess we've got to use gangplanks. Let's head up and see if these wretches will follow our example...

Today i'm going to show you a fast & furious way to make your own footbridges. As for the reason of why you should be willing to create some gangways, it is obvious: they will present you with more movement options and strategies. Mordheim is all about simple rules and a lot of gaming options to choose from. Catwalks, gangplanks and footbridges will take your game higher and exert impact on the way you play.  Later on i will also present you with all the new rules for footbridges to use in Modheim.

For those of you who already knows how to make a Mordheim footbridge, please skip to the bottom of the post to see the rules and photos. 

Modellin footbridges

Here is what you'll need: wood / basing glue, super glue, sharp modelling knife, scissors, cutting line, brush, watter pot and some water, weights (or something heavy),

fruit basket, thin wooden planks,

Start with dismantling the basket using knife and scissors. Cut all the wood into large base* planks and a bunch of small texture** planks.

* Base planks will be used as a main body of the footbridges.

** Texture planks will be used to give the footbridges a wooden texture.

 

Prepare the base of a footbridge by adhering some texture planks to the lower parts of the base planks, so that they would look much more solid when looked upon from the miniature's eye of view. It will be quick if you use super glue for the task.

 

Now it is time to texturise your footbridges with a lot of texture planks. Fruit basket is made up of very thin planks, which are perfect to the task. Carefully apply the adhesive to the surface of the bridge, put some planks on it.

 

Now  quickly turn the bridge over so that the upper side is lying on the surface of your workbench. Texture planks are very thin and they will probably absorb some water from the glue and bulge a little. You can prevent that by putting some waight onto the drying bridge.

 

It won't take long before you will be able to relievie the completely dry footbridge. Now you can add some balustrade or ornamentation to it. Once more use the super glue to save some time. Remember to paint the complete product of your work with a mix of basing glue and water. It will harden the wood and prevent it from sheding splinters.

After all the bridges dry up, you can udnercoat and the paint them. The complete set of footbridges may look like this:

Rules: Footbridges

Footbridges and catwalks are a common sight in Mordheim as well as in the other cities of the Imperium. Some of these gangplanks are just a bunch of randomly placed planks while others are more like a full scale bridges. Whilst not a one have the same length or size, all possess a single common feature: they're all made from wood. 

For the purposes of the game please apply the following rules to all the footbridges:

Destructable object: 

It is possible to destroy a wooden footbridge. Any model able to fight in close combat phase may attack a footbridge which is in base contact. If the model is in hand to hand combat with enemy model, it may still redirect some attacks to the bridge if you wish. The hits against a bridge will auto hit and you will need a roll of '6' to wound. Models armed with axes or flaming weapons will need a roll of '5+' to wound the bridge. Small bridges (up to 6" length) have 3  Wounds, while Large bridges (more than 6" length) have 5 Wounds. You do not roll for the Injury, also Critical Hits do not apply to the bridges. Simply remove the bridge that has 0 Wounds left and perform 'Falling' for all the models that were on the bridge. 

Pit Fighter: 

The Pit Fighter skill applies to the model fighting in hand to hand combat while on the bridge. 

Regards,

Miscellaneous Equipment: Expand Your Armoury

With live ya stupid welps! Keep the edge bright and shiny... and sharp like a blood drinker's fang! Well maintained weapon will keep you all alive in this part of a shithole called Mordheim!

Fellow Wyrdstone seekers,

You may wander what do i mean by 'Expanding Your Armoury'. Well, in a game based on gaining experience, leveling models and purchasing new weapons and armour for a warband it is sometimes wise to prepare a backup equipment for the heroes. Some players prefer to represent weapon options with whole substitute models. I find it rather undesirable as i like to create a bond with some of my miniatures. Hours spent on painting and converting a model just to throw it away in favour of a new equipment option? It sounds to me like a betrayal. With use of some pins and magnets you will be able to switch weapons at a whim. More so, you will probably find converting more options for already painted heroes quite thrilling.

As an example here's one of my heroes: the Undead Vampire armed with different weapon options. Some of them classic, others you may find unorthodox but quite effective. 

 Classic Sword & Shield

Spear & Shield or Halberd

Two Handed Weapon or a Flail

 'King Kittan Giga Drill!'

Hope you found some inspiration. It is awesome to switch weapond between games depending on which warband you will face next and it's important to represent weapons as they are.

Nazroth,

Hired Swords: Part one

We have earned quite a bunch of coins at our last raid. As we have all the gear we need for now, it would be wise to use an additional pair of fighting arms. Let's head back to the Cutthroat's Den and see what remarkable new alliances we can buy with this gold... 

Playing in a Campaign usually leads to a moment when you have more gold than you can spend. At some point new weapons and armour are useless, you have reached the maximum number of fighters in your warband and the only good way to spend surplus gold is to buy a Hired Sword. There is plenty of Hired Swords to choose from. Some of them are powerful fighters while others are dead eye shooters. Some can even cast spells, earn gold or boost the number of warband members. The Hired Swords are too numerous for just one post so i will start with which is in my opinion the best fighter, best tank, best shooter and the best caster among them.

 Pit Fighter

The Pit Fighter happens to be a best bully there is. With medium hire fee and average upkeep we will get some potent stats including S4 (5), T4, A2 and a very good set of gear. In single combat this warrior will overpower almost any foe. He may recoil when facing a Vampire, Possessed or an Ogre Bodyguard, but will make a bloody pulp from all other enemies.I recommend that you unleash the Pit Fighter on to your opponent's thoughest models. In worst case scenario he will keep them busy for long time.

On my private list of Hired Swords he comes in the second wave of recruitment, as i prefer tricks over force. For those of you that would like to get eye to eye, the Pit Fighter should be a top priority.

 Ogre Bodyguard

Ogre Bodyguard is the best tank in the game. High Toughness of 4 comes in a pair with 3 Wounds. With 2A and Cause Fear special rule, the Ogre is a formidable wall of meat that would turns out to be impassable for most of fighters. Use this one to keep enemy killers out of your softer fighters.

Ogre Bodyguard is my wave one Hired Sword and joins my Warband each time i am able to afford it.

Warlock

There aren't many Spellcasters in Mordheim. That single fact puts the Warlock above other low stat Hired Swords. Once more for a medium fee we can hire a more than decent fighting force. Warlock's ability to use Lesser Magic will 'make a difference' in most games. Try to keep him close to your main force so that his spells would prove to be most effective at all times.

This Wizard comes in a wave zero, or wave one depending on which warband i'm playing at the moment.

Tilean Marksman

Best Shooter in Mordheim, threatened only by the Roadwarden's move and shoot 'sniping' ability. Tilean Marksman is a must have in all warbands which puts distance above close quarters. A 3+ hit is formidable and if you roll a +1BS advancement you will have a sniper like any other. Just put him in a good spot so that he can see most of the battlefield and won't be fired upon too often.

The Tilean Marksman is my zero wave choice. I always recruit him with my warband if possible. 

So now you know my choice of the best fighter, best tank, best shooter and the best casteramong Hired Swords. Next time i will present to you the best seeker, best sneak, best trickster, best buff that you can hire. 

Nazroth,

Warband: the Middenheimers

The land of Middenheim breeds warriors cold as ice. Personally i find their behaviour a little bit savage, yet do not mistake them for merely barbarians. Man of Middenheim are proud people that respect old ways. They venerate Ulric, God of wolves and winter. Watch yourself lad, try not to cross blades with them. Otherwise you may find yourself chased by a pack of angry wolves one day...  

Warband: Middenheim Mercenaries

Fellow Mordheimers. Today i present you the Middenheim Mercenaries: one of three basic Human Mercenary warbands. The Middenheim warband is flexible and possess all merits of a human band so i will concentrate on what makes them different from other warbands.

Advantages:

- All speed ahead,

Every single hero of Middenheim warband has the option to choose Speed skills. Imagine this howling ang powerfull mashine of war as it covers half of the table in a blink of an eye. Now imagine the look on a face of your opponent as he find himself facing a full compliment of hand to hand monsters in less than three turns.

- Strong arms, 

Other warbands need some fancy gear to start the campaign with S4 / S5 models, but not Middenheim. Middenheim Captains and Champions start with S4 and can be further pumped up to 5 or 6 with use of common weapons. After couple of fights you will add some Strenght skills and just unleash your wolves against the foe. They will do the rest.

Weaknesses:

- Lack of Shooting skills, 

Lack of shooting skills on most heroes sets up your way of gaming from the start. You will have to get close and you will have to get your hands dirty. Thank the Ulrik that there are Blunderbusses in your armoury so that your warband may still generate some punch while racing to bit crap out of your foe. 

Mercenary Captain

Champions

Youngbloods

Swordsman / Warriors

Marksman

Warband: Middenheim Mercenaries
Cost: 500gc,
Rating: 101,

Captain 70gc,
Sword, Dagger, 

Champion 45gc,
Halberd, Dagger,

Champion 41gc,
Hammer, Hammer, Dagger,

Youngblood 18gc, 
Hammer, , Dagger, 

 
Youngblood 18gc,
Staff, Dagger,

Swordsmen (2) 90gc,
Sword, Dagger,

Marksman 57gc,
Blunderbuss, Dagger,

Marksman (2) 76gc,
Bow, Mace, Dagger,

Marksman (2) 70gc, 
Bow, Dagger,

Halfling Scout 15gc,

Nazroth,

Miscellaneous Equipment: Random Encounters

Can you feel it? It's all in the air. Like a smell of something foul from afar. I have a bad feeling about this. Let's make haste lat. We don't want to bump into something are we?

Mordheimers! Most of you had already encountered 'Random Hapenings' presented in Town Cryer, and then once more in Mordheim Annual 2002. Each of thirty four events is a tribute to the randomness of Mordheim, and every single one of them is worth mentioning. To all of those that had never used 'Random Hapenings' rules before i must say that you have never truly played Mordheim up to now. Below you will find my representation of all twelve 'appearance' encounters that you'r band may bump into.

11 - Ogre Mercenary

Most players have one or more Ogre Mercenaries in their collection. Same goes for me so i choose this one to be at hand if needed. The miniature is from my Witch Hunters warband and is an allegory to marriage in addidion to it's main role as a fighter.

12 - Swarm of Rats (Ghosts?)

Six bases of rats are hard to get. I use six Spirit Hosts from my Warhammer: Vampire Counts army as proxy. It is easy to imagine the wave of wailing ghosts rampaging the streets of Mordheim and it looks cool too.

15 - Blood for the Blood God

This Hereald of Khorne miniature looks just like it would burst into action at any moment now. Model has been handpicked and prepared just for the task of being a Random Happening encounter.

21- Restless Spirit

As i used all of my the Spirit Hosts to replace Rat Swarms i just had to use the Wraith conversion to represent the Restless Spirit. The Spirit itself is almost harmless but the psychological effect this miniature exerts on my fellow gamers is worth the efort of converting it.

23 - Man Eater

This is the one that i'm most proud of. In the original plan the so called Man-eater is a tree but i couldn't stop to try something completely different. Can you feel the horror of a warband member captured unawares by writhing tentacles of a privy?

24 - Skeletons / 46 - Plague Victims

I do not like the concept of skeletons in Mordheim. There's just to many fresh corpses in Mordheim to even think about fielding bone shiny skeletons. I use these zombies to represent both the Plague Victims and the Sceletons.

26 - Spawn

Ever watched "The Thing"? I did and it had distorted my mind.

35 - Dog Pack

What can i say? Mordheim is a perfect game for those with a big Warhammer: Vampire Counts army. 

45 - Pit Fighter

I love this old school Warhammer: Quest miniature. With its bulky frame, overgrown musculature, big clown-like boots and nasty look on it's face. Damn, there was a time when miniatures looked so cool!

54 - Last Man Standing

In my opinion it should be named 'Last Maam Standing". GW made us the courtesy of sculpting not one but two astonishing Sisters of Sigmar Matriarch miniatures so there is always one to spare for the encounter. 

66 - Itsy-Bitsy Spider

My last addition to the collection of Random Happenigs miniatures. I was happy to paint this converted mini with use of a different colour sheme than most of my Mordheim models. Now it's an ugly, hairy, toxic spider.

Nazroth,