Gaming | Welcome to Mordheim

I like efficiency, and in my quest for efficiency, this post will contribute to 4 of the 5 goals I set out for myself at the start of the year, all of one post ago. You see, I have found a group of folks in the local area who are starting up a Mordheim campaign. I was introduced a bit late to the hobby for Warhammer Fantasy and it's various offshoots, but with the return of the Old World, it seems that renewed interest is springing up in the hobby-verse. So I decided to dive right in and I actually played a test game. 

The game was set up with a very dense coverage of terrain, which looked quite lovely. Most of it was Warcry terrain, with a smattering of parts from other AoS kits. I commandeered one of the trail warbands on offer, the undead. The commander was a mighty vampire leading a necromancer, 3 dregs, 4 ghouls and 4 zombies. My opponent had his Osterlanders warband, and he was smart enough to set his crossbows and archers up high to create some firing lanes right from the get go.

Luckily for me, I didn't lose much on the slog up, as some choice use of the hidden mechanic kept me alive. The zombies took an eternity to move up as they couldn't run, so I didn't get very much use out of them. Eventually the game turned into a melee scrum between my vampire and 2 ghouls vs his captain and henchman. 

This is where the (to me) archaic mechanics of the game really came to the forefront. I'm used to the easy to hit and to wound rolls in AoS, but here I had to refer to tables and different model characteristics and weapon stats to math it all out. And then, and this was my least favorite part, when you did finally score a hit on a model, there's a chance that they get either stunned or knocked over. At least with stunned, they can be killed straight out by another model, but with knocked over they can just get right back up at the start of the turn. Which means damage doesn't stick. I had 3 turns in a row where the vampire simply knocked over the opposing leader. In AoS or Warcry, they're at least left with some damage to reward you for your efforts.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, the dice can swing to just instant death. A lucky shot from a bowman essentially one-shotted the vampire, who after his 3 turns of wailing to no avail to simply be plucked off the field felt like a feel-bad moment. No knock down or stun, from full health to dead. I don't know if it's just cause I'm soft and pampered by modern game mechanics, but it just feels swingy and is something I'll have to get used to. Thankfully, it turns out he was an ineligible target so back on the board he went. But it's something I'll have to keep an eye out for and strategize around. 

After finally dispatching the captain and another 2 troops, the mercenary team failed it's leadership test and broke. The undead had won the day! Since this wasn't part of a campaign, no after action stuff was permanent, but the mechanics were explained to me and honestly this sounds like the best part of the game, getting to create a shared story with all of your fellow players. I'm looking forward to cheering on a favorite model only to watch them die an ignominious death. 

On that note, the warband I've decided to go with are the Skaven, who in this game are represented by the sneaky Clan Eshin. I already have most of the models I need and to fill the gaps I have some Warhammer Underworlds models on the way. I'm looking forward to looting in the City of the Damned! 

-The Space Dinosaur