The Empire was a place torn: it had been in civil war for years – there was no Emperor sitting on the throne, and various powers were vying for control. In the Imperial year 1999, a great comet was sighted in the sky – a twin tailed comet, the sign of Sigmar. Astronomers predicted that it would fall in the city of Mordheim, where his convent of Sisters stood. It was believed that it would herald the return of Sigmar, which he would restore the land to its former glory and usher in a new golden age. Everybody traveled to Mordheim, filling the city well beyond its capacity. Such were the times that lawlessness soon grew out of hand. The citizens of Mordheim quickly degenerated to moral debauchery, giving themselves over to their own worldly temptations, living in an increasing state of anarchy. As time drew closer to the comet’s arrival, more and more people made the journey to Mordheim, and the situation became worse. As people gave in to acts of depravity, demons walked the streets like men, the seeds of Chaos and corruption long since having claimed the souls of the pitiful thousands who now called Mordheim their own.

The comet fell on New Years Eve, but it was not to be the coming of Sigmar as predicted. The comet smashed into the city, instantly killing those who had gathered around it. Word got out that Sigmar had passed his judgment, that he had smitten those who he deemed unworthy. The place of Mordheim became a place of fear and paranoia. Soon after, word spread of a mysterious stone that lay scattered about the city, known as Wyrdstone, which had all manner of reputed qualities. It was discovered that factions would pay incredible amounts for this precious stone, whatever their motivation. So warbands began traveling to Mordheim, hoping to find this precious stone and make their quick fortunes…

For those of you who are new or curious, Mordheim is an OLD Games Workshop skirmish game, based on their fantasy world. It is Necromunda (a WH40k derivative) with much more flavor. Mordheim was originally presented as a series of articles in White Dwarf 223 by Tuomas Pirenen. Such was the success off these articles that it was then commissioned as the game we know and love today, under Tuomas' vision. The Mordheim boxed game comes with 10 Skaven, 8 Human Mercenaries, a 176 page rulebook, lots of card and plastic ruins to build your own City of the Damned, counters, range rulers and dice. More information about the boxed set at the Games Workshop site.

Mordheim was a huge success! Avid fans, looking for a fast-pace-story-driven miniature game adopted this new medium pretty quickly and dominated the Games Workshop world, so much that a particular magazine (The Town Cryer) was created as a bi-monthly published. As time passed, the game fell down to obscurity. Tuomas has since left Games Workshop, but Fanatic Games (now Specialist Games) heroically took up the call to support this, and other games. With the aid of fans, Mordheim found new revitilized vigour with the addition of different settings, including Lustria (Cities of Gold), Karak Azgal (Battles Underground), Mousillon and Khemri (Land of the Dead.)

Over time supporting Mordheim was no cost effective... at least not apparently. This, evidenced in the Town Cryer itself, drew the fans further apart. Now Mordheim it's an almost forgotten game, a specialist game (see Games Workshop's official Specialist Game site) much like Necromunda, Blood Bowl and Space Hulk that only "seems" to attract selected advanced players. From a print publication, the Town Cryer ceased to be a print publication, and selected articles were printed in The Fanatic Magazine, which in turn evolved into an online 'zine.

A friend of mine introduced me to the rule book... I never got to play it, around May 2005. After reading it, I was hooked! I'm a fanatic WH40k player, but Mordheim captured my attention by being more stories driven than the "big armies" games. When I decided to bring it back to my gaming corner of the world, suddenly I found lots of players who liked the game, and eager to start a campaign. I believe that Mordheim, and its settings derivatives, have much potential that has not been exploited by Games Workshop. I believe it is an awesome starting platform for potential players to be introduced to the hobby.

Mordheim is a combination of several elements: Warhammer Fantasy Role-play (WHFRP), Necromunda and Warhammer Skirmish. It follows a small group, commonly 10-15 warriors, as they explore the ruins searching for Wyrdstone and fighting other warbands in a ruined city setting. The rules found in the back of the Warhammer Rulebook for skirmish battles, and again in the Warhammer Skirmish booklet later released, are toned down versions of the rules found in Mordheim.