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,

Matter of Survival: Skills Part one

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?!






In this article i would like to share some of my wisdom regarding choice of Skills. I wrote 'wisdom' but let's face the facts: most experienced players already have their own opinion and here is my humble judgement of skills. Gamers new to Mordheim may find my thoughts useful and veterans may always try to persuade me wrong. If you are brave or stupid enough to try - that's what the comments section is for.

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. 

'Combat Skills'

Strike to Injury: Must-have
A very useful skill that gives edge to every capable hand to hand combat oriented Hero. The more A and S there is, the more the chance for Strike to Injury doing its job. In a case of a single succesful attack usually this skill takes the 33% chance to OOA up to 50%!

Combat Master: Bad
Just one additional A for a skill slot and that only if the Hero fights a hand to hand combat against more than one enemy. Even immunity to 'All Alone' tests won't make it worth taking. In the dire situation where you will find yourself with a Hero on total S value with all the advancements used up except one and you will really need this single A - pick the Pit Fighter skill instead.

Weapons Training: Bad (special)
This skill is rather bad. Not many interesting weapons and not many warriors who can benefit from using them.
special: Yet there are some for whom this skill is a big buff. Weapon Training skill especially useful to Henchmen who happens to become a Hero as usually they have limited weapon options.

Web of Steel: Mediocre
Higher Critical Hit effect means a bigger chance at taking the enemy Out of Action, usually in an explosion of blood and gore. However this skill depends on scoring a Critical Hit in the first plase so it should be taken only if a Hero has a lot of A and a good weapon to use.

Expert Swordsman: Mediocre (special)
Expert Swordsman works only for hand to hand combat specialized Heroes with more than 2 A in their profile.
special: The bonus provided by this skill is powerful but only if the Hero is the one to charge. Keep in mind to take this skill for a Hero with a lot of A whose M is 5 or higher in which case he will be the one to choose where and when the combat begins. 

Step Aside: Must-have
This skill is a Must-have for all the hand to hand fighters. 33% chance to cheat death is just worth it!

'Shooting Skills'

Quick Shot: Must-have
The effects of a Crossbow or a Bow are buffed by this skill to 200%. Damn it multiplies one shot into two - nothing to add to this statement.

Pistolier: Good
Most players think Pistols inferior to Crossbows if both of these are available. Remember that Mordheim is all about mobility and acquiring objectives. A Pistolier Hero with high BS will fallow the main body of the Warband and win the game in case of a choke point showdown. A Pistolier Leader will hit some scores in almost each game if you decide to keep him close to action which would be the obvious choice if Warband is to benefit from his Leader ability .

Eagle Eyes: Mediocre (special)
Most Missile weapons will benefit from this skill but not as much as from Quick Shot or Trick Shooter.
special: There's an exception to this rule and i recommend to chose Eagle Eyes if the Hero has a brace of Crossbow Pistols / Duelling Pistols / Pistols.

Weapons Expert: Bad (special)
This skill is close to useless in the early Campaign game.
special: Weapon Expert skill lets you take a Blunderbuss in a warband where there is none in the equipment list. A Witch Hunter or a Dwarf Thunderer Hero with a Blunderbuss... you know what i mean ;)

Nimble: Mediocre
Mobile Crossbow is ok but not as much as immobile one with two shots instead of one. Quick Shot will always be better than Nimble.

Trick Shooter: Bad
I highly preffer +1 BS than this.

Hunter: Bad
Handguns are expensive and do not reward you for using them. A lots of gold and a skill to use a tweaked Crossbow which never shoots twice per round. No thanks.

Knife-Fighter: Must-have
Not many Heroes can use Knives but those who can should and this skill is a Must-have! It gives a lot of edge at short distance enabling the Hero to eliminate up to three targets in one go.

'Strength Skills'

Mighty Blow: Bad (special)
This skill is inferior to +1 S in almost every every way.
special: Sometimes you will find yourself at the end of the road with a capable fighter who against the odds did not evolved his S value. A Double-handed weapond is not enough and he has all the skills you wanted him to have. This is the right moment to take Mighty Blow which otherwise sucks.

Pit Fighter: Mediocre
Most of the bloodiest combat happens to take place in the open :( It helps for the skill to agree with the players that wooden bridges are also 'inside buildings' areas.

Resilient: Good
Most models cannot evolve their T more than once. T is the most important for all the fighters in the game and can even keep them from receiving a Critical Hit! Resilient is a good choic and a Must-have choice for a Vampire or the Possessed as it Tanks them into monsters!

Fearsome: Bad
Wasted skill slot if you ask me.To much items and buffs that can help your Hero to charge against Fear, and Fear itself is powerful but more easy to counter as Campaign goes on.

Strongman: Bad (special)
Most models will not benefit from Strongman at all as their I value is just sad.
special: Most useful for a Vampire with Double-handed weapon od a Tank Champion with I4 or higher. That i can tell you from my own experience ;)

Unstopable Charge: Bad
+1 WS does not always mean you will get +1 to Hit and this makes a skill that requires a charge to work a bad skill. +1 WS is just so much better and simpler to get.

Next time i will break down Academic and Speed skills so stay tuned!


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,

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: Renown

There are a lot of warbands that search through Mordheim. Some of them are known for their numbers, while others are famous of martial prowess or cruelty. It all comes to renown. Renown provides influence, which can be used as an advantage to beat competing bands and in this find more Wyrdstone. More wyrdstone means more gold and gold is what rule in the Empire. More gold the better, yet as I said 'it all comes to renown'...

Fellow gamres, I hereby provide you with set of additional campaign rules called 'Renown'. You can use them throghout the campaign to determine the winner. This set of rules is far more reliable than determining the winner via Rating. Hope you will enjoy.

THE RENOWN: The Renown is an additional parameter of the Warband just like Rating or Wyrdstone shards in the stash. The Renown represents not only how the Warband is being feared and known, but also a magnitude of it's influence. In a campaign's game terms the Warband which accumulates the bigest amount of Renown becomes a winner.

Remember to make a note on the Warband's roster each time it gains some Renown Points.

Renown Points (RP) falls into two categories:

          ***         

 

LINKED: A player may count these each time his Warband fills or looses any of the requirements listed below.

Rating ratio. Each 3 points of Warband's Rating are worth 2RP.

Lead by example. Each advance on the Warband's Leader is worth 2RP.

Duel of spellcasters. Each spell/prayer known by a Warband's member is worth 5RP.

Wyrdstone keeper. Each Wyrdstone Shard hold by the Warband and above 5 is worth 3RP.

Chest full to the brim. Each 100gc hold by the Warhband is worth 5RP.

Raging monsters. Each Warband member that has more than 2 Wounds and 4 Toughness is worth 20RP.

Monster under the bed. Each Warband member that cause fear is worth 2RP.

Know no fear. Each Warband member that is immune to fear (models that cause fear or are immune to psychology do not count) is worth 3RP.

Tough lads:. Each group of fully advanced Henchmen is worth 2RP per member.

Bunch of dudes. A Warband with maximum number of warriors reached is worth +7RP.

Raging Heroes. Each full 30 Experience points on a single Hero is worth 3RP.

          ***         

RESULTING: A player must permanently add/substract these each time his Warband fills any of the requirements listed below.

Proud victor. Each time the Warband wins a game it gains +1RP for each defeated opponent.

Leaders slayer. Each time the Warband's member takes enemy Leader OOA it gains +1RP.

The Duelist. Each time the Warband's Leader takes enemy Leader OOA it gains +2RP.

It's time to play a hero. Each time a Henchman advances to be a Hero the warband gains +3RP.

Big Spender. Each time the warband spends more than 100 gold in a single Exploration Phase it gains +1RP.

Sorrow looser. Each time the Warband looses a game it looses -1RP.

Run for your life. Each time the Warband looses a game by voluntary failing the Rout Test it looses additional -1RP.

Uncaring parent. Each time the Warband's Leader is taken OOA it looses -1RP.

Inevitable end. Each time the Warband's Leader or a Hero dies (HSIC roll 11-15) it looses -10RP.

          ***         

The rumour is loud about those who spilled blood and shown no mercy! Much is told of those who have chests filled with gold and Wyrdstone shards! Those which avoid good fight are soon forgotten...



Nazroth,