Matter of Survival: Skills Part two

Now shut that mouth of yours and listen: You want to live through this boy? You want to feel the stench of moist, rotten wood and decomposed flesh on your stupid prinkled face once again? You think you've got IT in you? That which really matters boy? Do you have the skill that will keep you alive in the hellish sreets of Mordheim?!






This is a second part of a Matters of Survival: Skills article. You can check out all the Combat, Shooting and Strength skills in the first part link> here <link. So now i will focus on Academic and Speed skills but first i will remind the rules.

In this article i would like to share some of my wisdom regarding choice of  Skills. To make things simple i grouped the skills into ffour categories.

* Must-have skill is a skill that is good in almost every build regardless of most circumstances.
* Good skill is useful and, probably, will benefit the game but you should always regard it as inferior to the Must-haves.
* Mediocre skill may come in handy but will be useful only occasionally and i wouldn't recommend to take it above Good and Must-haves.
* And there's a Bad skill which is just really bad and most of the time you wouldn't want to pick it.
Some of the skills are also marked as Special.
* Special skill is useful in some situations which depends on the warband, model, scenario or even a strategy you choose to play. A Special skill tag overrides even Must-haves so keep it in mind to check if you are able to benefit from it. If i find a particular skill useful i will mark and explain why and when to take it. 

'Academic Skills'

Battle Tongue: Bad (special)
Not many Warbands will benefit from this skill if there's Hunch, Tacticianor a Combat/Shooting skill to be taken by the Leader.
special: Except for Skaven where against all the expectations for the Assassin Adept to be a Death Incarnate his LD is needed all around the warband. 

Sorcery: Mediocre
+1 to Cast is a nice buff but it looses to Scribe skill. Still you should consider this skill Good if your caster is not a born fighter or a Bow master.

Streetwise: Bad
Please do not ask why... You really had to ask?
In Mordheim street wise means that a Hero is capable of immense feats of strength or marksmanship. If it won't help you kill enemy models or take objectives then it's probably useless and Streetwise skill will stop working after couple of battles when there will be no new items to seek out for.

Haggle: Bad
Why would you favor this one above a Combat/Shooting skill?

Arcane Lore: Bad
Most of us think 'my Leader is a badass and now he will also cast lightning from the tips of his fingers or the middle of his ars! Tremble mortals - Doom has come to this world!' but this skill is such a waste! The Leader is either hand to hand brawler or a marksman  and it means that he already has some tricks up his sleeves. To forfite the rest of his skills so that he can use some fancy spells instead of firing a Crossbow/Pistol or using Magic he already knows is wrong!

Wyrdstone Hunter: Bad
Rabbit Foot is better and won't use up the Advance.

Warrior Wizard: Bad
Armour sucks most of the time and even as i find it useful to protect the Possessed Magister with Heavy Armour i'd rather take more game changing skill.

Scribe: Good
If the Hero is a Caster then this is the right skill. All the magic comes to this single, important moment where you either show some powerfull trick, defeat Voldemort and win the day - or you will become a heap of cold, dead meat...

Mind Focus: Must-have

Must-have for all the Casters who have the right spells to cast.

Tactician: Must-Have
Ability to win the game before it starts is a good one. Hide and do not be shoot at or reposition your own shooters. Get closer to the objectives and the enemy with your fighters. This is a priority regardless of a warband type.

Hunch: Must-Have
Once again win the game before it starts. Imagine the face of your opponent when your warriors appear from a ruined building to 'Sprint' the closest Wyrdstone Shard out of the way. Sweet thing this skill. You may also position your Snipers in some cosy ruins.A lot of 'win the day' options indeed.

Magical Aptitude: Bad (special)
No caster will benefit from this skill before obtaining some new spells and the chance to get the right ones is low.
special: A very good skill if the Caster has some T and there's nothing good to choose from but Spells. After that you may be tempted to double-cast and it is very rewarding. Especially with Necromancer who happens to be close to useless most of the tame he does not cast.

'Speed Skills'

Leap: Must-have
Leap gives you so many options. You can jump with it, charge with it, leap than blast the enemy with a Blunderbuss or leap for objective. This skill is a Must-have.

Sprint: Must-have (special)
Must-have for all the models that you want to get into hand to hand combat or outmanoeuvre the enemy with. It will give the edge over your oponent to have a fast picker or a lightning-fast charger.
special: It is wise to pick speed skills for a Ghoul Hero via The lad's got talent and then choose this skill. A Vampire is a one man army but sometimes he needs backup and to catch up with him is close to impossible without the Sprint.

Acrobat: Bad
This skill is OK if used by a powerfull model that must get into the middle of the enemy warband fast. It just looses to all the Mediocre and better skills there are.

Lightning Reflexes: Good (special)
Good skill for all the human hand to hand fighters with advanced I. Treat the I advance as a signal that Lightning Reflexes should come next. 
special: Must-have for a Vampire, Skaven Assassin Adept or the Possessed. 'In your face' to all the charging Humans and Dwarves out there :) Otherwise it is still a Good skill.

Jump Up: Good
In the case of dense hand to hand combat this skill will probably save the life of your Hero.

Dodge: Good
Step Aside against Shooting. Good for both the hand to hand combat fighters and shooters.

Scale Sheer Surfaces: Bad (special)
Most of the time you won't have time and need to climb up or down and later in the Campaign there will be ropes and hooks to help. 
special: A Vampire, Skaven Assassin or a Black Skaven with this skill is a predator beast!

 'Warband Exclusive Skills'

I leave this one to other players. Each of us has some favorites. Where would be joy of picking a warband if not for the choice of equipment and skills available exclusively for this warband?! If you have any insight into the exclusive skills feel free to share in the Comments below.


Nazroth,