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I've tried a few solutions to the armour issue, and I've found that trying to buff armour directly can cause other balance issues as well. Personally I favour looking at the reasons why armour is crappy and working around those instead;

-Reduce base armour(not helms/shields) by 1/4 in price, rounding up(still somewhat expensive, but makes it slightly more common in conjunction with found sets).

-"Shift" the Strength modifier table so that the negatives to armour value start at Str5 rather than Str4(you'd be surprised how much this helps, have to discount crossbows slightly though).

Additionally:

-If a model is dual-wielding players must record which is their main and which their off hand on the character sheet, offhand attacks are at -2 to hit(can be reduced to -1 with a skill).

-Shields, in addition to granting 6+/+1 AS, cause offhand attacks to suffer an additional -1 penalty to hit.

From what I've seen those changes make armour more popular, but not to the stage it's an automatic decision(it's still supposed to be relatively rare), and you find a more balanced spread of weapon choices rather than everyone going dual-wield, as it ends up being somewhat rock-paper-scissors; DW beats slow-swinging two-handers, two-hander beats better armoured hand weapon & shield, HW/S beats dual-wield. You also find people having to think more about what kind of weapon to take; axes are more useful given many models will no longer negatively modify enemy armour saves with just their base strength, for example.

I think Yodhrin has hit the nail on the proverbial head here.

I found Str4 to be odd for the negatives to be odd as well as it is supposedly just a stronger human.

My only concern is Dwarfs are supposed to be well on average Stronger or more Durable than the average human or both would you advise boosting the base stats of those? To compensate?

Lastly I remember a Skaven Pestilen war and in a magazine but I can't seem to find it could someone help with this?

These look familiar!

Basically everything Yodrin said is widely considered to be the best way to buff armour. There is a PDF floating around with popular Mordheim house rules, I'll see if I can find it.

At any rate I think I will try the str save mod shift first. I think I'm okay with costs, except maybe Heavy Armour should include a helmet. 50gc and the merchant wants an extra 10gc for the hat? Lol, does the blacksmith know about this?

Even now I'm thinking that armour should be the mark of a good/profiting mercenary, but I can't imagine even the poorest chap would want to go out to potentially fight well, anything in Mordheim, without some form of protection! Even with the best hat 10gc can buy I'd still want some kind of body protection. So what about a cheaper alternative?

Basic Armour, 10gc. Gives the wearer a 6+ armour save against attacks str 3 or lower.

That could work for henchmen.

Just wanted to pop in and say what a joy its been painting Skaven for our warbands.

I'm on Space Wolfs crew just now and I'm noticing that these rats are very characterful!

Pics to come, once I have his colours down.

Got the rest of my package today. 20 zombies and a Wight King. I love the Wight King model. Its everything I hoped it would be. Kinda monopose, but really it's just too nice to mess with. Really loving the zombies as well. I made 3 Dregs and redid the Necromancer. I also couldn't resist using some darwi to make a ghoul.

Here is what I have so far for a Warband list.

Wight King/ Vampire w/ WYSIWYG. 185

Necro w/ club. 38

3x Dregs w/ sword & shield, spear & shield, and mace & dagger. 93

9x zombies. 85

1 ghoul. 40

Just under 500, unless I suck at maths. Which I do. Lol...

Anyways, the zombies are a blast to assemble, the WK is going to be fun to paint and the best part if the wife is excited to play the warband once its done. I'm pretty torn too, that WK Vampire is going to stomp faces and look good doing it. Kinda like Bruce Campbell!

As promised... Pics!

Heh... more darwi...

I love this stuff...

After stalking your nurgle plog I've finally got some. Lets see if it's as good as you say

Hey that's awesome! I'm glad you're taking the darwi plunge. It might not suit your tastes, but even if you don't use it on minis its still a great medium for basing or terrain or basically any other hobby need. Just don't eat it. I thought I dropped a bit of egg salad sandwich... Nope just crusty darwi. Bleck!


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Um.. About the ghoul... Does he look the part? Or does he just look like a zombie with a gut?

And how about the Necromancer? He's the one with the flaming Flagellant head. Does he look the part or is he too witch huntery?

I'm starting work on a few massive GUO that will stand in for chaos titans. Using GS for the whole model would be crazy expensive, so darwi it is!
The ghoul could use some work to be, well, ghoul-y. Maybe a more hunched position and hanging tatters of clothes? The weird mane thing might work too.
The necro is nice too, maybe more skulls . Cloaks are nice too!

 darkcloak wrote:
A close up shot of a mini I picked up a few days ago. Gonna paint him up, looks like a Marienburger for sure!

He's actually pretty nice, if anyone knows who made him let us know!

I'm seeing Sandra Garity's signature on the back, so I'm going to guess Reaper... Doh... just realized she's identified on P2 and painted.

I have been on a terrain kick tonight.

Got a bunch of work done on a crypt, another tower, plus I started a single story ruin. Pics tomorrow when its all dry!


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Ugh, forgot those pics. I hate mornings. Well, unless those mornings involve a certain thing followed by coffee, cigarettes and plenty of hobby time before the rat race claims my soul for a few hours!

Here is a question for you folks. I snagged a broken clipboard from work and currently its sitting under a mountain of glue, paint, foam, corkboard and sand and guess what? Its warping! I thought the sturdy mdf would prevent any warping of the base, but as it stands now I'm trying to rebend the base with weights as the slurry dries. How can I prevent this from happening? What exactly causes it? I think it's caused by glue and water weakening the board and when the glue dries it pulls the board out of shape. Am I correct? How do I avoid/repair this problem?

At any rate the crypt looks very crypt-like, if just a little wavy! Lol. I was inspired to make a sort of playable display board for the undead Warband when I realized the zombie kit comes with a handful of headstones.

Maybe what I'll do is make a mini display for each band and then when they are all complete I'll have a nice little Mordheim display that I can game on.

What are some good ideas for Warband displays? Undead have a crypt, that's pretty obvious, but what about Hunters? Maybe a ruined chapel that they have fortified? Mercenaries, well that's easy, Mercs of any stripe will hang out in a pub so there we go. Skaven will probably infest whatever ruin they happen to tunnel under but something a bit more themed perhaps? A granary or bakery maybe? A little mill with the stream and water wheel would look good, well, not if Skaven lives there I guess, but that's the idea.

So lets see we have so far...

A crypt
A fortified church
A tavern
A grain silo

I decided the rats would take over the town grain stores, and also this gives me a chance to build a nice big tower! Again! Lol

Skaven I'd go for some kind of exit pipe.

Well thanks to you guys I'm working on a Carnival of Chaos so I hope to make pictures soonish.

Ill probably make it more inclusive of other gods somehow.... not sure how to do it as yet though.

Here is the tower I made. Pretty rough, but that's okay. It serves the purpose. The lid comes off too so you can see better for pew pew-ing.

Here is that crypt, and elevated ruins.

And I had a better idea for the Skaven display. They won't be on display. Well... They will but you won't see them. They will be hidden away in that big Styrofoam packing case.

Let me explain.

Most people, in an effort to create vertical variety, implement some kind of elevated area on their game board. This usually is a town square or a particularly large mansion, or even a small keep that is raised up considerably from the rest of the game table. But what about that space underneath? Well my friends that's where the Skaven are. Underneath. Hidden in that packing case is a Skaven tunnel network. Its just going to take a lot of plaster to see it through! I'll make it look like your average stone dais, and when you lift off the lid it will be a game worthy tunnel system. The case is about 1.5 feet wide and looks like about 3 feet long, so the tunnels may be rather simple, probably a main chamber and a smaller one, connected by a tunnel. Maybe a sewer entrance and an exit.

Big project. Case smells like fish. Need more plaster.

Thinking about the sewer system while at work...

I'll make the lid in two parts, this way the sewer can be accessed without revealing one side or the other. Of course buildings on the lid will have to be modular, but that has always been the intention. As for materials, I'm thinking paper mache will be the best bet. Covering the entire interior in plaster will be expensive...

Also I started work on a 3 part tavern with removable levels.

I think you can pick up plastic pipe quite cheap. Maybe ask for offcuts?

I was thinking of using some kind of half pipe to make the tunnels but I still would need to texture them. With mache I can simply build a framework and then fill it in.

Here is a shot of the sewer case, more to scale this time!

Well that's certainly... Large?

I know right?

Lol

I think this plan may require some more thought. Perhaps more levels so its not such a huge leap from table to case?


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If I made smaller bits that could just be placed beside the main case I think that would work. At any rate this isn't meant to be a full time game piece, more of a once in awhile type thing or even as a setting for a narrative scenario.

After giving the sewer case some serious thought I've decided to just say screw it and dive in head first, in typical DC fashion!

Any problems I encounter will be met with stern countenances and grim resolve. So lots of smoking and drinking! PS: kids I do not endorse under age consumption. If you're an adult, then by all means! Grab a zag n a beer and get modeling!

Anyways, today I'm going to bring home some flour for paper mache and hopefully lay down some sewer!

More to come later, after I get done work!

Well this will be interesting!

Okay...

This is what I have so far...

Now to chew paper!


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LeCacty... Your support is invaluable.

Everyone I try to tell about this project looks at me sideways. Wait, Pacific salmon comes in huge Styrofoam cases? Wow. So tell me about this more dimes game you and your kids play! Oh you don't have kids? ... Weird. I think I just got an email, bye!

I just tell people its for nerd stuff and leave it at that now.

Holy paper mache Batman... My feet are sore. Here are some pics.

The inner workings are pretty simple, as I figured they would be. Wanna be able to fit minis in there so can't get too squirrelly!

Anyways there ya go. Paper mache needs plenty of time to dry so off to the storage room with it for the night! Hopefully tomorrow I can let it air dry a bit and maybe get painting.

The multi part tavern and ruined church...

Cool.
The new Frostgrave range will be excellent for Mordheim. Actually Frostgrave may be worth looking at if your interested anyway as sadly a backed game has many advantages over a killed game....

Hmm. Frostgrave you say?

Well one good thing about out of production games is no one can mangle the rules or setting, or charge too much money!

Well.. If you really want the Mordheim rulebook that's a $300 touch... But then again, you can also Google them for free.

You are a madman.