Switch Theme:

Mordheim & Stuff  [RSS] Share on facebook Share on Twitter Submit to Reddit
  »
Author Message
Advert


Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you:
  • No adverts like this in the forums anymore.
  • Times and dates in your local timezone.
  • Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance.
  • Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely.
  • Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net.
If you are already a member then feel free to login now.




Made in jp
Crushing Black Templar Crusader Pilot






Hey all,

PoserMcBogus back at it with another "slow Friday afternoon in the office" thread.

So, I've been binging 28Mag stuff lately, and that issue that is practically a love song to Mordheim really piqued my curiosity, as someone who is tentatively thinking about a lil hobby project to have done ideally before whatever Old World stuff launches.
It got me thinking, so I tracked down the rules online. Tbh, it seems like a pretty fun system, and though I don't really have any real opportunities out here to play it, I was wondering about what the general vibe here is with Mordheim?
Like, feel free to share tips, anecdotes, whatever haha, I'm kind of curious to try to get a balanced impression of the game, and what people thought of it!

Cheers for stopping by!
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut







Mordheim is a mix of fun and frustrating. It's one of those games where depending on the campaign, you can either take pride in your warband going from hapless victims to hardened veterans, or you can laugh as they become a comedy troupe of stupid cripples.

That said, armor is overcosted and Skaven are infamous for their ability to spam slings. The blunderbuss is less a short-range shotgun and more like a oneshot laserbeam. Buildings look pretty, but exist as a deathtrap to cause your warband to kill itself via comedically splatting on the ground. Shields aren't worth your trouble, but dual-wielding and weight of numbers will help you overcome.

One of the main things to handle if you do start a campaign, is figuring out the 'endgame' so to speak, since the core rules didn't quite include them.
-First is the 'map campaign' option. Fanatic Magazine had rules for expanded campaign rules, while Tuomas Pirinen added 'territory control' rules on the Mordheim Facebook group.
-The second is the "campaign points" option; this is something found in Relics of the Crusades, but Border Town Burning essentially created the 'template'. Basically, each Warband is given a mission, which dictates how they gain Campaign Points as well as the bonuses the warband gains on levelling up. This could be anything from attempting to ascend to Daemon Princehood, to making a ton of money/acquiring magic items. Once the Warband reaches 40 Campaign Points, it usually has a secondary objective to complete, and upon completing it, the warband wins the campaign!

Another thing to note is that 'in theory', warbands should be internally balanced against other warbands from the same campaign. In practice, Mordheim is a game that was written by and supported by the fans.
   
Made in jp
Crushing Black Templar Crusader Pilot






 MagicJuggler wrote:
Mordheim is a mix of fun and frustrating. It's one of those games where depending on the campaign, you can either take pride in your warband going from hapless victims to hardened veterans, or you can laugh as they become a comedy troupe of stupid cripples.

That said, armor is overcosted and Skaven are infamous for their ability to spam slings. The blunderbuss is less a short-range shotgun and more like a oneshot laserbeam. Buildings look pretty, but exist as a deathtrap to cause your warband to kill itself via comedically splatting on the ground. Shields aren't worth your trouble, but dual-wielding and weight of numbers will help you overcome.

One of the main things to handle if you do start a campaign, is figuring out the 'endgame' so to speak, since the core rules didn't quite include them.
-First is the 'map campaign' option. Fanatic Magazine had rules for expanded campaign rules, while Tuomas Pirinen added 'territory control' rules on the Mordheim Facebook group.
-The second is the "campaign points" option; this is something found in Relics of the Crusades, but Border Town Burning essentially created the 'template'. Basically, each Warband is given a mission, which dictates how they gain Campaign Points as well as the bonuses the warband gains on levelling up. This could be anything from attempting to ascend to Daemon Princehood, to making a ton of money/acquiring magic items. Once the Warband reaches 40 Campaign Points, it usually has a secondary objective to complete, and upon completing it, the warband wins the campaign!

Another thing to note is that 'in theory', warbands should be internally balanced against other warbands from the same campaign. In practice, Mordheim is a game that was written by and supported by the fans.


Thanks so much for your input! That little part at the end is an excellent little addendum. I appreciate it. might never really get any games in, but if I ever do, I'll try to stick to that, along with the endgame idea. Fanatic wasn't on my radar at all, so I'll have a bit of a poke around to see if I can get my grubby hands on a version of that one way or another.
Yeah, the reputation of Skaven slingers has managed to proceed even the most basic mechanics of the game hahaha. Truly, the disciples of the horned rat are formidable foes...

Cheers for the reply!

   
Made in gb
Ridin' on a Snotling Pump Wagon






I’ve been rearranging my flat this weekend, and came across my old college folder. Lo and behold, it still contains dozens and dozens of printed pages of random Mordheim articles. Dramatis Personae, Khemri rules, all sorts.

I think I printed them off around 20 years ago, so no idea if they’re still out there in the internet.

   
Made in jp
Crushing Black Templar Crusader Pilot






Ooooh, that sounds like a real treasure trove, Grotsnik! If you come across any particularly dirty peasants who hate the undead, I'd be really keen to maybe be permitted to peek at thy forbidden tomes... Did you ever get round to playing the game much?

I've been using the "Mordheim; City of the Damned" Fandom Wiki to get most of my smart-thinkin' dice-calculatin' book-rules so far, and there's usually fun lil side illustrations etc. in them, which is nice.
   
Made in us
Stealthy Warhound Titan Princeps






Sort of on-topic but also slightly off-topic, I think, but I have a burning question of my own.

Can Orcs and/or Gobbos get black powder weapons in Mordheim?

I'm on a podcast about (video) game design:
https://anchor.fm/makethatgame

And I also stream tabletop painting/playing Mon&Thurs 8PM EST
https://twitch.tv/tableitgaming
And make YouTube videos for that sometimes!
https://www.youtube.com/@tableitgaming 
   
Made in gb
Ridin' on a Snotling Pump Wagon






 posermcbogus wrote:
Ooooh, that sounds like a real treasure trove, Grotsnik! If you come across any particularly dirty peasants who hate the undead, I'd be really keen to maybe be permitted to peek at thy forbidden tomes... Did you ever get round to playing the game much?

I've been using the "Mordheim; City of the Damned" Fandom Wiki to get most of my smart-thinkin' dice-calculatin' book-rules so far, and there's usually fun lil side illustrations etc. in them, which is nice.


Used to play it quite a lot, and had a crazy deadly Reiklander Gang. Ever seen a Blunderbuss with Superior Blackpowder misfire and get +1, hitting a good half dozen enemy fighter inadvisably left in a conga line? I have. It was.....messy. Actually, that’s a funny (to me anyway story) so I’ll elaborate.

It was quite late into the campaign. I think it was my last game, and he had one more after, and was looking to win the whole thing. He was also something of a rules lawyer and an exceptionally poor sport (hence his success). Now my Reiklanders were vying for first, second or third, depending on how the last games shook out. He was running Witch Hunters, and on paper his warband was harder than mine.

So I wasn’t really looking forward to it, but was determined to give a good showing all the same. Things looked pretty bad for me at first, as the scenario roll allowed him to choose. And for reasons I still do not to this day, he chose Street Fight. That basically limited the board to a fairly narrow corridor, with impassable buildings down either side.

That was.....pretty much ideal for a shooty warband. I deployed fairly conservatively all the same, figuring he was up to something. In the end, he came at me relative piecemeal, which again I’ll never understand. Anyone that broke cover got riddled with shot and arrows. And being a high rating warband, those counted. High BS across the warband, everyone that could have Elf Bows and Hunting Arrows had them. Everyone that could have superior blackpowder had it. I even had the “always hit on a 2+“ magic bow (downside if it could target a Dwarf, it had to do so).

The reason for the conga line is that he finally realised the piecemeal approach was pointless, and so broke cover with everyone that remained, pegging as fast as possible to my line. That of course is when the Blunderbuss came in. For those unfamiliar, the Blunderbuss was S3, one shot per game. It fired in a fixed corridor (something like 1” wide and 12, maybe 18” long?). The superior blackpowder upped it to S4. It also hit automatically. Normally, that would preclude it from misfiring, as that chart was an optional advanced rule (which my rules lawyering opponent had insisted upon) that only triggered on a certain hit roll. Again memory fails, but it’s akin to a Plasma overheat in 40K. Anyways, I’m placing the home made template (made by a staff member for convenience of the customers). And that’s when he pipes up about the chance of a misfire. I explained that with no To Hit roll, I couldn’t misfire. And yes, Dear Reader, realising his peril, he demanded that I roll a single D6 in lieu of the usual rule. I complied. Misfired. He started to gloat (right, straight away gloating). Only to see me roll the +1 Strength outcome (the best outcome!). One fine, red mist later and it was curtains.

Come the post game, and it seemed the Dice and Fair Play Gods were out to get him. I properly properly killed something like half of his warband. Another quarter ended up sold to the Pits, where they promptly lost their fights and....wound up dead. Memory fails on exactly how little he had left.

Suffice to say when he played his final game, against a rock hard Possessed warband, he lost everyone else. All dead. Wiped from existence.

Had he not offended the Dice Gods, and demanded i roll for an unnecessary misfire? Who knows what would happen. My chaps were pretty crap in a punch up, as I’d souped them up for shooting. So if he’d just taken the S4 on the chin, maybe enough would survived to give me a real kicking. And had more stuff to deal with the Possessed. Had he not started bellowing that someone pass him a rule book to work out his post-game sequence, the Fair Play Gods might not have got involved. Guess they don’t like fully grown, easily 50 something blokes shouting at teenagers to hand over their property because he’d come unprepared.

I’d spanked him so hard, I got the top spot. His next opponent took second. With...well.....no warband left, he came dead last.

Right, the tome of joys.

Will see if I can find somewhere that does scanning to PDF cheaply. If I was still working from the office, I’d do it that way.

I think I might’ve plundered them from a now defunct official GW source though. Might be able to wayback machine your way to them?

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/04/19 17:54:09


   
Made in jp
Crushing Black Templar Crusader Pilot






Damn, Grotsnik. I never pictured you dispatching justice in quite such a grizzly way... I won't be able to see that chuckling little skull the same way again

That was actually a really excellent write-up, especially considering that match must have been not super recent. Love the relish you pack into the blunderbuss shot, absolutely Tarantino-tier description. Just what I was looking for with this thread, cheers so much!

I was originally planning to stay away from any kind of gun, because my boyos are Sylvanian, and don't trust that new-fangled black powder them out-of-provincers be usin' - them Stirland folks think they're all that, only being covered in a thin layer of filth and misery....
...but after witnessing something like that in the alleyways of the City of the Damned, I think maybe one or two of the more forward-thinking (or maybe better, survival-liking) of them might have a little change of heart

Yeah, I've heard that the GW website did the rules for free towards the end of the game's lifespan, at least in terms of being sold (or something, idk, I'm like still sort of wet behind the ears
Spoiler:
and young, right? And devilishly good looking? Please? I'm still the 20 year old who found this hobby recently, and it's still the mid 2010s, right??? RIGHT???
and also eye-wateringly stupid.) - hence why that Mordheim Wiki has them, too - they've got a lil disclaimer about that, so I think it's all allowed...

Spoiler:
I am not a lawyer.


...but the wayback machine is a good shout - anyone know any rough years when that might still be up there? Of course, if anyone has any B sides or rarities, I'd love to see 'em!

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2021/04/20 03:39:10


 
   
Made in gb
Ridin' on a Snotling Pump Wagon






Well, they’re probably between 2000/2001(folder survived a house fire, started by idiot flatmates, which it wouldn’t have done being stuffed with lovely flammable paper), and 2003, when I left the job I would’ve printed them at. You’d think nearly being burned to death thanks to idiots would leave a distinct time stamp, but no. My Dad does have the newspaper cutting “Minutes From Death!”, so might be able to provide a definitive date later.

So that’s a rough three year window! And they must be official, as the Khemri rules include an acknowledgment page. And I seem to have two copies.

   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut







Another thing to note is that in addition to the optional misfire rules, there are optional critical rules. That is, any roll of 6 to-wound is treated as a critical hit, which means rolling a D6 to see what happens.

For missile weapons, one of the options was "Ricochet", meaning another enemy unit within 6" also gets hit.

So to get more Tarantino-esque, if you get enough models lined up underneath a Blunderbuss, it's possible to end up with some models getting hit multiple times as the shotte pingpongs around this way and that.
   
Made in gb
Ridin' on a Snotling Pump Wagon






I’m pretty sure we were using those as well, but can’t say if they had a specific impact.

I do remember he didn’t even get into combat with me. I’ve never before nor since enjoyed a one sided game. But that one I most certainly did!

   
Made in gb
Joined the Military for Authentic Experience





On an Express Elevator to Hell!!

Mordheim is probably one of my favourite GW games, at least in terms of the memories of campaigns and fun gaming events.

I would say like Necromunda it definitely benefits from having someone that is a strong 'Gamesmaster' to run the campaign in an impartial way and players that are happy to go along with it. The GM can help set narrative events, slow down some of the stronger warbands and help the suffering ones. I also think it's a game that benefits from people playing it as a story rather than as a tournament; the game is way too imbalanced for the latter and I don't think that plays to its strengths. You can still be a GM and play: from memory I think the one time I did it I played as a generic weaker warband/monsters warband if someone needed a game and also played the 3rd party in games (we had one game where two warbands were trying to capture an ogre that was running around a ruined town, that had some packages of warpstone on it and had gone mad - so I was controlling that and almost RP'ing the approach of the ogre. Are you trying to grab the bag off it or try and calm it down and make it your friend etc so it gave you the warpstone? Meanwhile the two warbands were fighting each other, was quite fun).

From memory a few of the alterations we made to the rules were introducing a to-hit penalty for duel wielding (otherwise everyone gets armed with 2 weapons a few games in, and just to keep things more interesting for modelling) and we halved the price of armour as it's way too expensive.

 MagicJuggler wrote:
Mordheim is a mix of fun and frustrating. It's one of those games where depending on the campaign, you can either take pride in your warband going from hapless victims to hardened veterans, or you can laugh as they become a comedy troupe of stupid cripples.


Never have I read such a perfect summation of Mordheim in just a few sentences. Brilliant


Epic 30K&40K! A new players guide, contributors welcome https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/751316.page
Small but perfectly formed! A Great Crusade Epic 6mm project: https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/694411.page

 
   
Made in gb
Ridin' on a Snotling Pump Wagon






I agree it definitely needs a GM. Someone who’s happy to sort out rules questions before they become rules arguments, as well as providing some narrative fun.

I tend not to play in campaigns I’ve set up, unless it’s controlling wandering monsters or similar. Just removes as much bias from rule calls as is possible, as you’ve no real stake in the campaign outcome.

I do prefer the advance system to Necromunda though. Capping how much henchmen can improve was a good development, as was stuff like being able to choose between WS/BS increases.

The game really shone for me because the weapons were so limited in choice. I mean, there’s nothing wrong with a veritable smorgasbord of choice, but having everything a bit more limited stopped a gang getting quickly wealthy and having All The Best Kit to the point few could touch them.

Late campaign, that’s fine, but not early on. Skews it too much,

   
Made in gb
Joined the Military for Authentic Experience





On an Express Elevator to Hell!!

Yes for sure. I can't actually remember what handicap system Mordheim had, did it have one at all?

The original Necromunda was pretty good in terms of how it made the games playable, and also handicapped bigger/more expensive gangs by taxing them more. That being said, from memory I think we still ended up having gangs that were like small Imperial Guard armies by the end (and a few games of 2 vs 1 where you had gangs that had to re-start taking on the veteran ones!)

I think for Mordheim having someone that controls things like the bands of wandering monsters, or perhaps some militia in the town, are a good idea for the GM. You can play an 'easy' game for someone (I've found this is a good way of helping to keep struggling players with decimated warbands in the campaign and give them some interest and to get back on their feet) or even special narrative games for the tougher gangs to give them some challenge. Want to try and break into this vault? Oh look it's protected by a dragon..

Epic 30K&40K! A new players guide, contributors welcome https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/751316.page
Small but perfectly formed! A Great Crusade Epic 6mm project: https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/694411.page

 
   
Made in gb
Ridin' on a Snotling Pump Wagon






I think there was an underdog system, but can’t recall it off the top of my head.

The other joy of the Henchmen group was you could replace them with equally skilled new blood, but it cost you, provided at least one of the original mini-unit survived the battle.

This meant that provided my warband had some savings, I could come back from the odd disastrous game, and didn’t end up with a bunch of double hard characters, and some also-ran, only there as pincushion green henchmen.

In turn, that provided interesting choices for experienced warbands. New blood was often a good idea, as Henchmen groups could advance fairly quickly. But, if I brought too many on, I may lack the funds to replace experienced casualties.

Each warband also had a head count limit (which could be expanded with the right equipment and that).

   
Made in gb
Regular Dakkanaut



Derbyshire, UK

Mordheim seems to have a pretty active community still. All the rules, town crier mags, fanatic articles etc are collated at http://broheim.net/ and there's an active Facebook group where Tuomas Pirinen occasionally posts new rules articles etc.
   
Made in gb
Ridin' on a Snotling Pump Wagon






Ooooh! Nice share!

And it is a pretty sweet game, probably because weapon and item combos are pretty limited. Add in not being massively GW centric in model design, and it’s not at all reliant on sourcing the original models.

Compare to Necromunda.

Both are games where WYSIWYG is paramount. A spear needs to look like a spear, an auto gun needs to look like an auto gun.

Using 3rd party models for Necromunda is trickier, because WYSIWYG is that much harder to do. Mordheim? Barely a stretch at all, because pretty much any 28ish mm fantasy models will do.


   
Made in us
Pragmatic Primus Commanding Cult Forces






Southeastern PA, USA

We had a healthy MH group running for years. We had someone nominally in charge as a league commissioner of sorts, but not a GM per se. We set up our campaigns with a regular season (where you play as much as you like) and a bracketed single-elimination 'playoffs'. Sometimes the campaigns were themed. We designed our own tie-in to Storm of Chaos that included outdoor settings and a light/darkness meter that affected games depending on how each side was performing. But otherwise we played it pretty competitively and it worked fine. The problem areas in the game come to light pretty quickly and can be easily house-ruled. And it was only a handful of house rules IIRC. We never viewed things such as the weakness of armor or the strength of dual weapons as being 'wrong'. We saw it as a swashbuckling game and not a pitched battle of armies. Those warbands are scrambling through ruins to hunt wyrdstone...think it makes sense that they would travel light. *shrug*

As far as warbands go, the farther away you go from the rulebook armies, the more imbalanced they become IMO. That doesn't necessarily mean 'better', just less balanced. For instance, Dwarfs are durable to the point of being broken, but their ridiculously poor movement makes them a big liability in any scenario that requires them to MOVE. And if you have a campaign that concludes with games that you have to WIN...not just survive and gather up wyrdstone, well... Orks are unmanageable in a bad way. I tried to make them work and they had their moments. But MH is a game where you micromanage individual models, and when those models just randomly choose to...do things...it can blow a huge hole in your battle plan. Shadow Warriors in their original incarnation were straight busted. The additional human merc warbands were fine though, IIRC. Averlanders were a hidden gem.

With the rulebook warbands, Skaven are really good, but they aren't tough and they rout quickly. The only broken thing with Sisters is their whips. Fix that (and they did later get amended by GW IIRC) and they're fine. With Undead, the vamps can get pretty crazy, but that's what critical hits are for. Cult of the Possessed tend to be smaller -- and numbers tend to rule in MH -- and go boom or bust based on the performance of their Possessed, IME. The merc warbands are all solid...think Marienburg is probably the weakest for a campaign since its main advantage (extra starting GCs) is less of an issue as other warbands build their own wealth. Witch Hunters are tricky to play, but can be kinda nasty if cultivated properly. I did some WH tactica stuff here years ago...it's probably still findable if anyone digs for it.

My AT Gallery
My World Eaters Showcase
View my Genestealer Cult! Article - Gallery - Blog
Best Appearance - GW Baltimore GT 2008, Colonial GT 2012

DQ:70+S++++G+M++++B++I+Pw40k90#+D++A+++/fWD66R++T(Ot)DM+++

 
   
Made in gb
Ridin' on a Snotling Pump Wagon






Undead were always more vulnerable after a fashion, as take out their Characters, and they lost an awful lot of hitting power.

It was a foolish Necromancer (lovely soft, squishy knifeable Necromancers!) that didn’t have some Zombies handing around like a bad smell to get in the enemy’s way.

I usually tried to cripple their Direwolves, reducing their speed somewhat. But then, one also had to look out for the Ghouls!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Thinking on the games weak points for me?

To be fair, it wasn’t so much a weak point inherent to the game, but to the market at the time. And that was finding suitable scenery.

Ruins might seem easy to build, but you had to think about it carefully, lest they be too unstable to position models upon.

The card stock GW offered was fine to a point, and that point was metal models.

Since those days, the market has thankfully expanded, and 3D printing seems ideal (the resin being rigid enough to hold weight, and light enough not to need props and spars and stuffs.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/04/29 15:42:00


   
Made in us
Pragmatic Primus Commanding Cult Forces






Southeastern PA, USA

Yeah, we had a lot of the cardboard stuff and some DIY terrain also. But the options now with MDF and 3D printing...and heck, mats too...are just awesome. Modern MH tables could look SO much better.

My AT Gallery
My World Eaters Showcase
View my Genestealer Cult! Article - Gallery - Blog
Best Appearance - GW Baltimore GT 2008, Colonial GT 2012

DQ:70+S++++G+M++++B++I+Pw40k90#+D++A+++/fWD66R++T(Ot)DM+++

 
   
Made in jp
Crushing Black Templar Crusader Pilot






Wow! Cheers for the ongoing input, fellas! Some very interesting reading indeed. It's really interesting to see how you all handled your balance issues, too, seems like a decent gaming group is required a little, and if ever I'm lucky enough to get 'round to playing, I'll be sure to try and have some kind of GM involved!
I'm really interested in any of the mechanical tweaks you'd all make to the rules - Grotsnik, I'm dead interested in that comparison to the cap in increases from Necromunda - if anyone has any other suggestions for tweaks to the core rules, they'd be super interesting to hear about!
Loving this thread so far, boyos!

pgmason wrote:Mordheim seems to have a pretty active community still. All the rules, town crier mags, fanatic articles etc are collated at http://broheim.net/ and there's an active Facebook group where Tuomas Pirinen occasionally posts new rules articles etc.


Wanna echo others and thank you for that info! Really excellent resources, cheers so much!
HOLY MOLY THEY HAVE SYLVANIAN RULES????? Excellent my man, this is brilliant!

Pacific wrote: You can still be a GM and play: from memory I think the one time I did it I played as a generic weaker warband/monsters warband if someone needed a game and also played the 3rd party in games (we had one game where two warbands were trying to capture an ogre that was running around a ruined town, that had some packages of warpstone on it and had gone mad - so I was controlling that and almost RP'ing the approach of the ogre. Are you trying to grab the bag off it or try and calm it down and make it your friend etc so it gave you the warpstone? Meanwhile the two warbands were fighting each other, was quite fun).


Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:I agree it definitely needs a GM.
I tend not to play in campaigns I’ve set up, unless it’s controlling wandering monsters or similar. Just removes as much bias from rule calls as is possible, as you’ve no real stake in the campaign outcome.


OhhHHHHhhhhHHHHHhhhHHhHhHHHHhhhh....
Oh no, fellas, now you've all got me thinking about slapping together a merry gaggle of goblins to interfere with everyone and cause chaos (in a purely objective, responsible GM kind of way, of course, Poser McBogus? Being a little gak head and causing trouble just for the sake of it? Never! Not I!
If anyone has any anecdotes or tips for GM stuff, I'd love to hear it. Whenever I've met a bump in the road in tabletop stuff, if it's RAW not a cut and done solution, usually we just roll off, as the will of the dice gods is indisputable but I am totally aware that that's far less nuanced than the amount of work it would take to run a campaign, esp. in the even that parity between warbands needs to be achieved, or conflict resolved.

In terms of in-game events, anyone have any more examples of what they've experienced? I love the warpstone carrying Ogre! And indeed, what does a good GM warband look like?

Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:

Ruins might seem easy to build, but you had to think about it carefully, lest they be too unstable to position models upon.

The card stock GW offered was fine to a point, and that point was metal models.

Since those days, the market has thankfully expanded, and 3D printing seems ideal (the resin being rigid enough to hold weight, and light enough not to need props and spars and stuffs.


Ahh, man, I've been thinking about this too! Due to lack of (stable) living space (jaunting about on opposite sides of the planet makes that tricky), I'm a bit cautious about any particularly ambitious projects relating to terrain and gaming boards, but between the LoTR River town houses, 28mag, playing a bunch of Dark Souls and seeing Zorpazorp's INSANE tabletop build videos, ideas have been fermenting in my magpie-like brain... Maybe one day. Been chewing over how to make something modular...

Again, can't thank the posters in here enough for your insight, this is super interesting, and very useful for me conceptualizing the practical realities of playing Mordheim! Cheers so much boyos!

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/04/30 03:29:51


 
   
Made in gb
Joined the Military for Authentic Experience





On an Express Elevator to Hell!!

There are some seriously amazing terrain options available now if you have hobby time and some money. Old-world still ruins and buildings, taverns etc. I would love to go absolutely to town (literally), go mental and make a really good board for the game.

Posermcbonus - if you're enthusiastic enough (which it sounds like you are!) then I think that's probably half the battle!

Gorgon - totally agree about Dwarves. Think I remember the guy who played them in our campaign found them quite dull to play just because of the slow movement (and the fact that they are so tough). Orks & Goblins think did fairly well, but our campaign was literally the least competitive possible and we were just messing around for most of it, so that probably skewed results somewhat.

Yep the Undead were a pretty mixed bag. You had the vampire, who could become ridiculously powerful, but then his two companions (was it thralls?) who had an awful stat line. You had to basically try and hope they survived a few games and got some XP. But, I remember them being almost comically bad.

For campaign games, is the old Town Cryer website still going? That used to have a full list of game and narrative ideas, both those officially printed and unofficial versions, fan-made warband lists and the like.


Epic 30K&40K! A new players guide, contributors welcome https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/751316.page
Small but perfectly formed! A Great Crusade Epic 6mm project: https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/694411.page

 
   
Made in us
Pragmatic Primus Commanding Cult Forces






Southeastern PA, USA

 Pacific wrote:
Gorgon - totally agree about Dwarves. Think I remember the guy who played them in our campaign found them quite dull to play just because of the slow movement (and the fact that they are so tough). Orks & Goblins think did fairly well, but our campaign was literally the least competitive possible and we were just messing around for most of it, so that probably skewed results somewhat.


The way I got O&G to work best was to flip what seemed like the obvious strategy. Gobbos were my melee cannon fodder, while my heroes were shooters (except the Shaman, who was melee support). Gorgon's rule #1 of MH -- if your heroes can get shooting skills...you take them. They're just too good, and that keeps your heroes out of harm's way and healthy for wyrdstone searching.

This also works for O&G because gobbos are great cannon fodder -- they're cheap and disposable, count as half for rout tests, and armed with two weapons they can fish for crits pretty well. With gobbos taking the beating -- maybe paired with the orc leader skill to reroll routs -- the warband tends to stick around. Gobbos also help beef up your numbers. While high numbers may not be good for wyrdstone purposes, they help ensure that you still have a healthy number of your greenskins doing what they should be after 16.7% (but always seemed like more to me) go bananas.

Squigs were pretty good too...also cheap and hit harder than gobbos. I think I always sprinkled a few in. Although the Troll's survivability is great and it might be the best of the game's 'big' henchmen in many ways, I found it to be an expensive boondoggle. And creating a fanatic through the ball and chain equipment just seemed crazy wasteful even if it was wonderfully cinematic. Boyz were okay...usually I handed them bows and let them plink away and serve as a reserve in case something came through the gobbos and headed for my heroes.

This basic plan worked fairly well, although battle plans still could go awry. When I first tried it the other way around (heroes and boyz crumpin', gobbos shooting), my important stuff took a beating while the runtz contributed next to nothing with their short bows. After I flipped it, I started getting moderate traction.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2021/04/30 15:16:13


My AT Gallery
My World Eaters Showcase
View my Genestealer Cult! Article - Gallery - Blog
Best Appearance - GW Baltimore GT 2008, Colonial GT 2012

DQ:70+S++++G+M++++B++I+Pw40k90#+D++A+++/fWD66R++T(Ot)DM+++

 
   
Made in gb
Ridin' on a Snotling Pump Wagon






If memory serves, if you’ve hired a Troll, it’s actually cheaper to just buy a Gobbo to feed it, rather than pay for its food?

   
Made in us
Pragmatic Primus Commanding Cult Forces






Southeastern PA, USA

A quick check confirms that it's 15GC upkeep, OR two gobbos/squigs (@15GCs each). So the upkeep is cheaper, but you have the other option when you're out of cash. Which is nice.

The fact that it never rolls for injury is pretty great and does protect your investment. Catch for me was that I did better with numbers early on. Later on, if you're pretty stacked and have a big gold reserve...sure, it'd potentially be a nice add. But I never seemed to have the gold because I was spending often to replace my duders.

My AT Gallery
My World Eaters Showcase
View my Genestealer Cult! Article - Gallery - Blog
Best Appearance - GW Baltimore GT 2008, Colonial GT 2012

DQ:70+S++++G+M++++B++I+Pw40k90#+D++A+++/fWD66R++T(Ot)DM+++

 
   
Made in jp
Crushing Black Templar Crusader Pilot






Pacific wrote:if you're enthusiastic enough (which it sounds like you are!) then I think that's probably half the battle!


Cheers very much man, planning to give it a decent try, haha.

Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:If memory serves, if you’ve hired a Troll, it’s actually cheaper to just buy a Gobbo to feed it, rather than pay for its food?


That's hysterical absolutely love it as a rule.

While I mentioned gobbos before, I've been eyeing the Hobbit Goblins (god I wish they weren't more than twice the price here, I'd happily part with ¥3000 for them), and it's got me thinking about awful flesh monstrosities and blood cults and stomach-churning rituals.
Does anyone recall (or indeed, have any resources for) any rounds of Mordheim they played? So far there has been a lot of mention of the role of the GM, and campaigns - MagicJuggler in particular brought up the end game.
I figure, if hell freezes over, and I actually manage to play the game in anything more than bullying my boy trephines into a game or two (this is the most likely outcome, as he is a lovely lovely handsome and kind young man) if I get back to the UK for a minute, that I may have to take the initiative rather in running a campaign.
What were some of the better campaigns you played, and how did that roadmap kind of play out? Should I go heavy on events, and have trolls and other high power foes show up? Should the GM have a warband of their own trying to usher in some awful apocalyptic event? Should I knock up a map to some kind of end goal, but give the players plenty of opportunity to clash and try to trip each other up?

Cheers for the feedback, lads!
   
Made in gb
Ridin' on a Snotling Pump Wagon






On the subject of NPC hazards for a GM to play?

Found not only Aneur, Sword of Twilight the other day (Dramatis Personae Elf, a WD freebie if memory serves?), but also Orc Raider with Pig whilst moving my rooms around.

Had completely forgotten I had them!

   
Made in us
Pragmatic Primus Commanding Cult Forces






Southeastern PA, USA

I'd say get a good read on the players in the campaign and what they want. MH is pretty flexible. If you want to play it as a semi-RPG with a dedicated GM, you can do that. If you want to play it more competitively and just let players go head-to-head, maybe with the occasional scheduled multiplayer -- which is what we did -- you can do that also. But as I said, we did add themes to this format. For the Storm of Chaos tie-in, we also had scenarios in the wilderness outside of MH that adapted the rules from TC, and invented the light/dark power balance scale that had minor effects on the games being played that week.

I thought our way worked well for our players' busy lives...until X date play as many or few games as you want, then on X date the bracketed playoffs begin. We had a regular MH night, but people were allowed to schedule games whenever until the cut-off.

Regardless of your group, I think it's important to remember that 'leveling up' -- acquiring skills, gear, etc. -- is as much a hook in this game as any RPG, video game, etc. What's more, MH heroes and henchmen aren't as *nearly* resilient as paper RPG characters and their infinite number of ways to heal and resurrect. So while 'fighting a desperate battle against a horde of trolls' may seem fun from a narrative standpoint, you may have some feel-badsies on your hands when someone's warband gets pasted in said scenario, and then blows injury roll after injury roll. That last thing HAPPENS...and is painful to see even when it's not your warband. Obviously risk and deaths are part of the game...I'd say just make sure to manage those risks when setting up threats and dangers to the players' warbands, like any good GM does.

My AT Gallery
My World Eaters Showcase
View my Genestealer Cult! Article - Gallery - Blog
Best Appearance - GW Baltimore GT 2008, Colonial GT 2012

DQ:70+S++++G+M++++B++I+Pw40k90#+D++A+++/fWD66R++T(Ot)DM+++

 
   
Made in jp
Crushing Black Templar Crusader Pilot






Call the witchhunters, McBogus is up to some thread necromancy.

So continuing down a path of wild, heady dreaming, I've come across a number of terrain projects.

In my overly ambitious reptile mind, I'm kind of envisioning a modular board, with canals to help create as many levels as possible on which to play on, without having to have to try to hard to maneuver minis through houses or under archways from above, and hopefully create enough space to manipulate minis without having to stretch arms into nooks and crannies.

Anyone have any tips for scenery in Mordheim - or even better, anecdotes or photos?
Cheers again for stopping by!
   
Made in gb
[SWAP SHOP MOD]
Yvan eht nioj






In my Austin Ambassador Y Reg

 posermcbogus wrote:
Call the witchhunters, McBogus is up to some thread necromancy.

So continuing down a path of wild, heady dreaming, I've come across a number of terrain projects.

In my overly ambitious reptile mind, I'm kind of envisioning a modular board, with canals to help create as many levels as possible on which to play on, without having to have to try to hard to maneuver minis through houses or under archways from above, and hopefully create enough space to manipulate minis without having to stretch arms into nooks and crannies.

Anyone have any tips for scenery in Mordheim - or even better, anecdotes or photos?
Cheers again for stopping by!


I don't really have any tips or tricks for terrain building but I can share with you my Mordheim board - I got it (board + terrain) from a defunct gaming club here in the UK and I have to say it looks great IMO.







It could probably do with some modular buildings that allow you to take the roof off and place models inside/on the 2nd floor or maybe some half-ruined buildings that give the same effect but that is a project for another day.

=====Begin Dakka Geek Code=====
DC:80-S--G+MB+I+Pw40k95+D++A+++/sWD144R+T(S)DM+
======End Dakka Geek Code======

Click here for retro Nintendo reviews

My Project Logs:
30K Death Guard, 30K Imperial Fists

Completed Armies so far (click to view Army Profile):
 
   
 
  Forum Index » Other Games Workshop Fantasy Games

Go to: