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So my local gaming club has been running a Mordheim Campaign for a few weeks now. I'm joining as a latecomer, and have never played before.

Given that i'm thinking of starting a Wood Elf army in Fantasy, I thought i'd give them a go. We're playing the Border Town Burning Campaign, and i've used rules from the "Mordheim Rulebook (Updated)" .pdf i've found. I can't place the site I downloaded it from again, but i've got approval from the players to use the Warbands therein.

Special rules for this Warband are;
+6 range and -1 armour when using long bows
Excellent sight (double range when spotting hidden)
Movement, Leadership, Hidden bonuses when in woodland terrain.

So here's what i'm taking;

War-Leader - Saerath (+1 attack/str in combat), light armour, helmet, dagger - 140
Waywatcher - Longbow, dagger - 70
Spellsinger - dagger - 60
Youngling - longbow, spear, dagger - 50

2 Glade Guard - Bows, Daggers - 80
2 Archers - Longbows - 100

Any thoughts on this warband? I'm wary of it being too strong. I've read about people's complaints of Elven shooting being OP. I figure my model count is pretty low, so it shouldn't be a big deal.

I've heard that armour is a waste early on, but my War-Leader model is clearly wearing armour and a helmet, so I figured i'd equip him as such. My first purchase will be a shield for him so he'll be somewhat resilient. Then i'd look to get a 2nd Youngling to bump up my hero count.

Any advice on skills/upgrades to go for after the first few games? I'd like to get the double shot skill for the way watcher, the dodge/step aside skill for my leader. Maybe get a couple of swords for my Glade Guard.

they say elf shooting is OP and early on it is very op. in my experiance though if you are playing a campaign(which is the only way to play mordheim) it will not even be a threat halfway through. Elves have a 12man cap on the warband and still fragile. What should happen is elves should pay an "awesome at shooting" tax and their bows cost 5-10 gc extra.

For those guys that struggle in the campaign you will crush them but wait until you fight a tooled up vamp or possessed who moves 18" and comes with 4 str 5-6 attacks ect. CC wins mordheim shooting is very much secondary.

if you havent check this out
http://mordheimer.com/warbands/experimental/wood_elves.htm

Model count is very important early on, unless your shooting affects the knocked, stunned, out of action roll, I wouldn't worry too much about it being OP. It's easy enough to use terrain and use the hide ability to avoid enemy shooting.

I play witch hunters, who have a low model cap, and focus on crossbows. The key is to have fast moving, disposable henchmen to engage enemy shooters or assaulters quickly.

Had my first game last night.

Warband rules are definitely not overpowered. I didn't kill a single thing to shooting.

We played 2v2, Myself and an Orc player against another Newbie Brettonian, and the Campaign leader with some highly tooled up Dwarves.

We just lost having been unable to flee with the treasure before both warbands routed.

My shooting was pretty woeful, and I managed to knock down only a single Dwarf all game to it. My War Leader got a couple of knock-downs in combat, but that was it. I spent all game kiting around a Dwarf Lord, and hiding from his guy with a Hunting Rifle.

All my gold went to rebuying a dead henchman, and buying a 2nd Youngling, who is now armed solely with a dagger.

My experience netted me increased BS on pretty much everything, and my Way Watcher getting Quickshot. Spellsinger got a spell giving nearby Elves +1 to hit, and +1 injury rolls. Making my gunline pretty formidable for the coming games with BS5/6+ on EVERYTHING.

I'll post another update after next week - it's a great fun game to play, and easy to learn.

I had another two games last night. I've really been getting into Mordheim. We've got a good 4-6 regular players and some great terrain.

My first game was against a Skaven warband. Thankfully not too many slings. We played Wyrdstone Hunt, and I figured i'd use my new naked Youngling as a courier to run around and pick up the loot. He went to far forward and got charged (promptly losing 1WS after the fight). My Way Watcher managed two kills, firing twice at BS6 is pretty good. My War-leader got stuck in and got another two kills. The skaven routed after that. I also lost a Glade Guard to combat. This was the same one I replaced last week. Ended up with 5 Wyrdstone, and enough money to buy a Hawk for my decent Youngling. Not to much else gained. I rehired my dead Henchman. I did buy a few Helmets, Charms and a Shield for my War Leader.

Game two was against another new player, and some Brettonians. I had to roll an additional 4+ to be able to shoot any of the Heroes, so my shooting was Nerfed pretty good. The Scenario was chance encounter, and I rolled 3 Wyrdstone, to my opponents 1. He lost an archer on turn 1. My Ws1 Youngling spent the game hiding with a Wyrdstone, as he was still naked and couldn't do ANYTHING. I set up a tower with my archers, way watcher, and spellsinger (who can now buff BS for nearby models). They were charged by a couple of knights, and I lost an Archer. The rest held for a turn. I sent the Hawk up there, who succeeded in killing a Knight, having knocked down an archer on the previous turn. Money well spent. My War-leader was duking it out against his Mounter Knight (Errant?) combat lasted 5 rounds, with both sides whiffing. I eventually knocked him down, taking him out of action in the next turn. He chose to run once this happened.

I got 7 Wyrdstone for the game, and some extra GC from exploration. My naked Youngling fell down a well and will miss the next match. I did get quite a few ungrades and skills this game. My WayWatcher got Heavy pull, so can now shoot twice, at BS6 at Str4. War Leader got another WS, making him WS6, and my spellsinger is now a medic too. My WS1 Youngling got his WS back. No-one died, and I was able to hire an Eternal Guard with a Saerath to act as a bodyguard for my War Leader. I've also swapped out all my Bows for Longbows, and purchased a Sword and Longbow for my youngling of fail. I then purchased a few Charms and Helmets.

A few quick questions for those that might know;
Can I get special weapon types of Rare Weapons? ie. A cold Metal Saerath I can't find it anywhere in the rules, and another player seemed to think you can only get Common weapons in special weapon types.
The rules i'm using don't state if a Saerath is 1-handed or 2-handed. It's described as a double headed spear, and the rules states "Extra Attack: the Saerath acts like the user is armed with two swords." Wondering if I can pair it with a Dagger or a shield etc.
Can a model have two Animal Companions? I'd like to get a Panther for my Youngling with the Hawk. I imagine i'd have to take a 2nd version of Animal Handling to allow the care of Big Cats.

Belly wrote:
I had another two games last night. I've really been getting into Mordheim. We've got a good 4-6 regular players and some great terrain.

My first game was against a Skaven warband. Thankfully not too many slings. We played Wyrdstone Hunt, and I figured i'd use my new naked Youngling as a courier to run around and pick up the loot. He went to far forward and got charged (promptly losing 1WS after the fight). My Way Watcher managed two kills, firing twice at BS6 is pretty good. My War-leader got stuck in and got another two kills. The skaven routed after that. I also lost a Glade Guard to combat. This was the same one I replaced last week. Ended up with 5 Wyrdstone, and enough money to buy a Hawk for my decent Youngling. Not to much else gained. I rehired my dead Henchman. I did buy a few Helmets, Charms and a Shield for my War Leader.

Game two was against another new player, and some Brettonians. I had to roll an additional 4+ to be able to shoot any of the Heroes, so my shooting was Nerfed pretty good. The Scenario was chance encounter, and I rolled 3 Wyrdstone, to my opponents 1. He lost an archer on turn 1. My Ws1 Youngling spent the game hiding with a Wyrdstone, as he was still naked and couldn't do ANYTHING. I set up a tower with my archers, way watcher, and spellsinger (who can now buff BS for nearby models). They were charged by a couple of knights, and I lost an Archer. The rest held for a turn. I sent the Hawk up there, who succeeded in killing a Knight, having knocked down an archer on the previous turn. Money well spent. My War-leader was duking it out against his Mounter Knight (Errant?) combat lasted 5 rounds, with both sides whiffing. I eventually knocked him down, taking him out of action in the next turn. He chose to run once this happened.

I got 7 Wyrdstone for the game, and some extra GC from exploration. My naked Youngling fell down a well and will miss the next match. I did get quite a few ungrades and skills this game. My WayWatcher got Heavy pull, so can now shoot twice, at BS6 at Str4. War Leader got another WS, making him WS6, and my spellsinger is now a medic too. My WS1 Youngling got his WS back. No-one died, and I was able to hire an Eternal Guard with a Saerath to act as a bodyguard for my War Leader. I've also swapped out all my Bows for Longbows, and purchased a Sword and Longbow for my youngling of fail. I then purchased a few Charms and Helmets.

A few quick questions for those that might know;
Can I get special weapon types of Rare Weapons? ie. A cold Metal Saerath I can't find it anywhere in the rules, and another player seemed to think you can only get Common weapons in special weapon types.
The rules i'm using don't state if a Saerath is 1-handed or 2-handed. It's described as a double headed spear, and the rules states "Extra Attack: the Saerath acts like the user is armed with two swords." Wondering if I can pair it with a Dagger or a shield etc.
Can a model have two Animal Companions? I'd like to get a Panther for my Youngling with the Hawk. I imagine i'd have to take a 2nd version of Animal Handling to allow the care of Big Cats.

Well played so far.

If it says "like the user is armed with two swords" then he can't pair it with anything else. I imagine it'd be like a yari (think Darth Maul in Star Wars with the two side light saber).

For special weapons and rare weapons (e.g. ithilmar lance) I would say no. Each hero is only allowed to make one rare roll per campaign turn, so it'd be odd to have multiple rolls for the same weapon. But then again, if your buddies don't mind, and you can make the rarity rolls, and are willing to pay the exorbitant cost, then who am I to say.

 TheSilo wrote:

Well played so far.

If it says "like the user is armed with two swords" then he can't pair it with anything else. I imagine it'd be like a yari (think Darth Maul in Star Wars with the two side light saber).

For special weapons and rare weapons (e.g. ithilmar lance) I would say no. Each hero is only allowed to make one rare roll per campaign turn, so it'd be odd to have multiple rolls for the same weapon. But then again, if your buddies don't mind, and you can make the rarity rolls, and are willing to pay the exorbitant cost, then who am I to say.

It is similar to a Yari. One thing I did think, is that Eternal Guard in Fantasy are armed with them, and can still equip shields.

Your point on the Special weapon types makes sense. I guess i'll have to roll for Ithilmar armour from now on. Besides a Cold metal Saerath would grant; +1 attack, +1 to hit, +1 strength and parry. For 60gc. Probably worth it.