Mordheim: day zero

Two posts in a day? WTF?

Yeah, I have time and if I don't do it now when I have time, I won't do it.

So our local group has been playing Mordheim for a few months and just decided to restart the campaign. My Halflings were just murdering people. At last count, I had seven BS 5 henchmen, my Elder had BS 5 with Quickshot & Trick Shooter, and both my Youths had BS 4 and Quickshot & Trickshooter. I'd received a Pit Fighter for free, had purchased and Ogre, and was starting to purchase melee Halflings. And my band wasn't the sick-and-broken one. That honor went to the Amazon list with a model with Frenzy, Str 5, and 3 base attacks.

Like all groups, we struggled with armor. Essentially it's more worthwhile to buy an extra guy than armor. So the first thing we did was reduce the cost to 40% of list price (light armor is 5 gp, heavy is 20 gp).

It still didn't fix the problem, so I came up with a radical idea: in addition to be 40% list price, we increased the body armor by +1. So Light Armor grants a 5+ save, etc. We tested it out with a Gromril-heavy Dwarf list. In essence, if a shield+gromril armor (a 2+ save) isn't broken, then the idea had merit.

Turns out, it worked. I mean, it does make guys more survivable (which is the point), but not excessively. Suddenly people are looking at double handed weapons, morning stars, flails, axes, etc. People aren't just putting 2 maces on every model. People are considering "crazy" things like light armor and shield.

And its having positive ripple effects. It sounds weird that 7 gp could get someone a 5+ save, but the cost point vs the benefit makes it a viable option. So models are now only making 1 attack (since they have a shield), which means parrying suddenly seems like a better idea.

So its not that 2 maces are going away (it's still a decent option against light armor & shield). It's more that its one possible option among many. Warbands are starting to have a mix of axes, double handed weapons, swords, etc. Which is cool.

I ordered a box of Empire Militia to recreate the Marienburger warband I did when I first played 10 years ago. Scott is borrowing my Dwarves, so I picked up a box of Dwarf Warriors (because all I had for henchmen was Thunderers with crossbows).

I spent a couple days designing Dwarf warbands and I started thinking it'd be fun to build a Gromril'd up Dwarf warband. Scott felt 6 models was too few. So in the end, I built 15 dwarves out of the box of warriors so we could both have enough.

Then I saw these: Yaar! Me Mateys!

Dwarf pirates.

Dwarf. . .pirates.

DWARF. PIRATES.

Sveeet...


So here's my warband:

"Captain" (Dwarf Noble): Brace of Pistols, 2 Dwarf Axes (the cutlasses 'count as' Dwarf Axes)

"Master Gunner" (Engineer): Brace of Pistols, 2 Axes

"Bosun's Mate" (Slayer): 2 Dwarf Axes

"Bosun's Mate" (Slayer): 2 Dwarf Axes

"Midshipman" (Clansman): Brace of Pistols, 2 Dwarf Axes


Yep, 5 models. And no armor. I fully expect to be murdered each and every game. But it's gonna be fun, and I'll document it here.