Heroes: Well, when starting off get all the heroes: Vampire,
Necromancer, and 3 Dregs. Your Vampire is one of the toughest units in the
game! He can easily handle most opponents due to his great Wound stat. He is
also immune to psychology, poison, treats all Stunned results as "Knocked Down" and causes fear! Not bad at all for the points he costs.
The Necromancer is a nice Spellcaster. You can, later on, he can provide
you with the nicest ways to get a good Henchman. Cast the spell Spell of
Awakening of one of your opponents' killed heroes and watch the horror
in their eyes when you re-animate his dead hero to join your band! The only
drawback is that your new Henchman will no longer gain any experience and
can not use any other weapons or armor and can no longer run... just think
of him as a super Zombie now!
Dregs are not really great hero choices but they are cheap. I dislike
their poor BS skill (2) and WS (2). They have a lousy Initiative so
two-handed weapons are a no-no if you want them to last in hand-to-hand
combat (unless everyone else is playing human warbands). Remember!! You need
as many heroes as possible when you start your band in order to get as many
exploration rolls as possible so...You may be tempted to bypass Dregs for
Ghouls but don't as you can purchase more Ghouls at a later time. Try to get
Dregs on horseback, warhorse preferably, to get you speed. If you get your
Dreg "Knight" in good Gromil armor, a shield and lance (you'll need
Combat Master skill) he would have a 2+ save, and with a lance a
powerful punch, alternatively you good give your Dregs long-range support,
and on horseback it’ll allow them to quickly get to firing position. You may
be wondering, undead on horseback? Well horses are for humans only, but
Dregs are humans... and undead warhorses would be an alternative!
Henchmen: Ghouls are a bit of a mixed bag. They have nice
Toughness (4), you get 2 attacks and cause Fear. Ghouls start to
shine if you can get one promoted with "The Lad's Got Talent" skill. Then
you can finally get some nice skills. These Ghoul heroes cannot use weapons
or armor of any kind so you are very limited in the equipment department,
but Ghouls have a maximum of 5 attacks (the only other Hero capable of this
is The Possessed) so you can potentially create a very nice killing machine.
You can easily substitute on of this Ghouls for a Dreg.
Dire Wolves are nice BUT, expensive! They have the best Movement rating
in your warband (M 9") The spell Call of Vanhel will let your wolves move
into combat quickly. Wolves also cause fear, are immune to psychology and
poison and they treat all "Stunned" results as "Knocked Down".
Last, the Zombie. Do not underestimate them. Zombies are cheap, cause
Fear and are easily replaced. Sure they are slow and get no experience,
but if one dies it is no great loss. You could cast Re-animation or
Awakening and you could bring some of those fallen in battle. Your band will
be hampered by a lack of speed. The spell Call of Vanhel will help increase
your range of movement, but it only works for Zombies or Dire Wolves. If you
face a more mobile band you may be at the mercy of missile fire.
If you feel your band to be lacking fill it out with a Hired Sword, such
as a Warlock or an Ogre.
Fighting Style: Undead warbands are more divided than any other
warband: the Vampire and Necromancer really standing out, henchmen as an
undead mass, and Dregs mostly just messing about, licking the Vampire's
heels.
As a typical formation, you'll keep your frail Necromancer well covered
by the undead henchman; that way he can make the best of his spells to aid
the warband. Keep enough space so he has line-of-sight to cast offensive
spells too. Note that Zombies and Dire Wolves are immune to psychology, so
they rarely need the leader's Ld for tests. Place the Vampire a bit back,
along with Dregs and Ghouls, to pounce the enemy once they are engaged.
With this in mind, form a wall of Zombies, and put your Necromancer an
inch or so behind them. Put the Dire Wolves along a side, to ward of flank
attacks. Put Dregs and Ghouls along another side, and the Vampire behind
them. Alternatively, you can put the Vampire with the Dire Wolves, allowing
him to quickly survey the battlefield while the Dire Wolves cover him.
When approaching the enemy, protect the heroes by placing them so they
cannot be charged without a Zombie intercepting. Use the Zombies also as
cover against missiles. Though your Dire Wolves can charge an amazing 18",
you shouldn't send them up front without backup, for they will easily fall
once surrounded. Use them to attack the flanks or stray warriors, or keep
them back as a quick-response force. Use the Vampire to finish off fallen
warriors.
Don't bother about shooters too much: once in close combat, they can't
target you anyway. When close combat is finished, chances are they will have
to start taking rout-tests, and they probably aren't worth going after. You
could try using spells against them.
If your Necromancer has the Reanimation spell (difficulty 5), he has a
5-out-of-6 chance to immediately recover any Zombie that just went Out Of Action in close combat. This is an awesome spell, making your Necromancer
likely the most important warrior in your army, and your opponent will
definitely want to take him out, so protect him well.
Despite their extraordinary toughness, undead warbands have some really
weak spots that need attention.
Fearless opponents: The Fear-causing effect of your
undead warband is perhaps your single most important strength. Warriors
that are fearless can really mess up your strategy. Beware of all
opponents that are Fear-causing themselves, or fearless in some
other way: Ogres, The Possessed, Darksouls, Flagellants... they will
certainly play a crucial role in your opponent's strategy. Much worse is
a warband grouped closely around a leader with high Ld, as they will
pass almost all fear-tests; try to take out the leader ASAP. But worst
of all, is a warband drunk on Bugman's ale...they are all fearless no
matter what, and you'll better adjust your tactics accordingly! At least
they spent a lot of gold on buying the stuff.
Ranged attackers: They can target Fear-causing
creatures without taking a fear-test. Once a warrior is down, opponents
no longer need to take a Fear-test to engage him. Your best
defense against archers are the necromantic offensive spells, and your
Vampire once he can acquire some speed skills. You can strengthen your
anti-missile defense more by hiring a warlock who can use lesser magic.
Sigmar: The prayers of Sigmar are particularly potent against
undead, and any priest is a major enemy. Sisters of Sigmar may well
present the biggest threat of all, featuring many skills and the holy
Sigmarite Warhammers that make them much stronger against undead. Any
battle against them will prove quite a challenge.
Garlic: Enemy heroes may carry garlic to prevent your Vampire
from charging them. The effect is minor though, and your army should be
strong enough to handle them even if your Vampire can't.
Leaders: Undead have little need of the leadership
characteristic, yet if both Vampire and Necromancer are gone, the
warband is entirely lost! If either of them leaves the mission, make
sure the other one stays safe; consider taking a voluntary rout rather
than risking everything.
Campaign Tactics: Undead make some of the strongest starting
warbands. Make your way through cover, and trample your opponent in close
combat. Take special care of the Vampire and Necromancer: they can use every
point of experience they can get. Search-type missions are more challenging;
speed is critical here, and the zombies are too slow to protect your
scouting warriors. The fast Vampire can do an excellent job in scouring the
field, but it's risky to let him go about on his own, so send some dire
wolves along to back him up.
Skills: Choosing advances for undead shouldn't pose much
difficulty, as the options are limited. Dregs must concentrate on Combat and
Strength skills. The Vampire has a wider selection, including Academic and
Speed skills. Which skills you choose depends on your own taste, and what
plans you have for these warriors. The Weapons Training skill may be
an attractive option for Vampire or Dregs, should they come across better
stuff than their limited equipment list allows them to use.
Now after a
few games as you get levels, the first thing you need to do is get you
Vampire:
Jump Up: Treats "Stunned" as "Knocked Down" and
ignores "Knocked
Down"! may ignore Knocked Down results when rolling for
injuries, unless he is Knocked Down because of a successful save from
wearing a helmet or because he has the No Pain special rule. See
FAQ Section 11.4 Skills.
Thanks to Eric
for the heads up!
Strong Man: enables the ability to wield a double handed weapon on his
initiative.
Sprint and Leap: if you also buy a tome of magic, get the
academic ability Arcane Lore and hopefully you'll get Flight of
Zimmerman or The Sword One. It will take quite awhile to acquire
these, but with Sprint, Leap and Flight of Zimmerman your
Vampire could move up to 36".
The Necromancer should try to get as many spells as possible. The
Warrior Wizard skill will allow him to wear
armor, so this may be a good choice if you can afford it. Sprint
skill will allow him to move around
more easily (remember he can run and cast spells the same turn).
Promoted Ghouls should take the strength- and speed-skill-lists; the
combat-skills are of little use, as Ghouls can never take equipment (not
even with the weapons training skill).
Advanced Tactics
By Archeonicus,
Edited by The Mordheimer.
PDF at
Downloads!
About the author:
Archeonicus is a living relic when it comes to gaming. Years of
knowledge, experience and love for the game have made him a great
Mordheim player. While he is the unofficial European Mordheim Champion,
he still is a humble avid player. If you visit the Netherlands or play
at the EuroGT, feel free to challenge him and take his title home! Many
thanks for all his kind words and collaborations!
I.Characters: Knowing the Gang
This is one of the warbands in the Mordheim setting which
draws a lot of attention because of the eye catcher and initial combat monster:
the Vampire. [insert Oh's en Ah's]
Then often they get played and the difficulty of play
repeatedly goes way beyond what a lot of people expect or imagine. Players have
also a vague feeling of insurance: you can buy back a vamp if his predecessor
dies. But do not think it is easy to round up the money. The average earning in
a normal warband will be around 45-65 gold crowns and often you have to replace
stuff or pay of hired swords. Also, if the vampire is staked and you loose your
necromancer before collecting the hefty fee to buy a new one, the whole warband
goes by-by… believe me it happens…
Undead are a quirky warband:
The only warband who is
allowed to buy back their, rather expensive, leader.
Warband with the least
attractive hero: the dreg.
A Spellcaster, of which
half its spells rely on a non-mandatory henchmen choice: The
necromancer.
The only warband that can
disappear in one fell swoop… (It happens).
These are great obstacles and yet the fun things which make
the undead worth playing. But first let’s take a glance at the characters in the
warband
Vampire
A combat monster per se. Starts with WS4, S4, T4
and to top it of 2 wounds… Do not forget he has M6 and BS4 and not to
forget I5… but more about that later.
Necromancer
A very important Spellcaster in the warband, though
rather restricted in his spells, which are in my opinion too specialized
in one direction. Later more on this…
Dreg
This is not a bad character and they fit the fluff,
but as far as other warbands considered the least attractive hero in the
lot. Youngblood stats for hero prices…
Ghoul
In fact the henchman of choice was it not for his
price. T4 and causes fear… yummy…
Dire Wolf
A good companion for accompanying the vampire, even
has 2 attacks when it charges… its full 18”.
Zombie
If there ever was canon fodder, it is this one and
then nice abilities to boot…
II.Starting Tips:
So how would
you begin with a warband, what is important to look at when you start?
If
possible buy as much heroes as possible! They are the
guys that actually bring in the money, after a battle. The money… I cannot
stress that enough! In one-time-only games
that fact does not matter, so then there is more room for experimenting.
III. Warband
Types:
So now you
know something about the characters and about important starter points. Now
let’s get to the warband designing. Of course there are a lot of options, but
often they come down to the following three types of warbands.
The "Fast Movers" warband
Here you make the most of
the M6 of your vampire. The ones that can follow are the Dire Wolves. Backup
then needs to be provided by your Dregs and Necromancer. These then are either
filled up with ghouls or zombies. What is very important here is how much money
you want to spend on your fast movers.
Vampire with
sword and mace
Necromancer with
a bow
3 Dregs
with a mace
5 Dire Wolves
This makes for 10 members
in total. This could easily spell victory in the first combat. By the way, there
is a great chance that your necromancer will have a useless spell
Pro: Very fast
warband indeed! Con: Replacement wolves costs 50 gc each, which is rather steep.
Strategy: You try
to make use of the speed of your vampire and dogs, though the surprise will only
work once against a same opponent… I guess.
The "Shambling Horde" warband
This is from the start in the hero
department equal as the sample above, but instead of Dire Wolves you go for the
zombies… so you should be starting with 15 members.
Vampire with
sword and mace, heavy armor, helmet and shield
Necromancer with
a bow, sword, light armor, helmet and shield
3 Dregs
with a mace
10 Zombies
Do not worry about the movement penalty (M
-1) for wearing heavy armor. It is absolutely of non-interest here. The
necromancer might even have a use for the spell he gets!
Pro: Maxed out
warband. Zombies are cheap and spells (necromancy) are there to bolster them and
make them really fearsome. Con: Lack of speed, as the “shamblers” are restricted to normal move
except when charging… This can opt you to move and hide, shooty warbands really
hates this and it is very very slow…
Strategy: This one
just overwhelms the opponent by hordes of creatures which almost only can be
Knocked Down and (if the necromancer has reanimation) keep coming back if they
are killed. Protect your necromancer, as he is the most important in this type
of play. The Vampire can concentrate on protecting himself and give assistance
where needed.
The "The Living Undead" warband
This warband has only one undead member and that one only is
there because he is mandatory: the vampire. You start again with the 5 heroes,
as we know now. Then for the rest you buy Ghouls. Probably one of the best
henchmen around. They need (may not even think about it) no equipment have
toughness 4 and 2 attacks.
Vampire with
sword and mace, heavy armor, helmet and shield
Necromancer with
a bow, sword, light armor, helmet and shield
3 Dregs
with a mace
6 Ghouls
Pro: All move at least 8” when running. Con: Ghouls do cost 40 gc, not as expensive as a Dire Wolf... but very
close. It also means a lot of poison is effective. Do not underestimate that
fact… just think about weeping blades, or blowpipes!
Strategy: This is HtH with a knack. Most people do not
expect a T4 elf that hits with S5.
IV. Undead and
Skills
Vampire
The vampire is the one undead which can
combine all those nice special undead abilities and certain skills. He causes
Fear, which is very nice if your opponent has a low Leadership value. You
can count on 1 in 3 the your enemies will keep behind standing shaking in their
boots. This also makes the Fearsome skill useless, but who complaints…
The vampires are immune to many things. They
are Immune to Psychology, which officially means they cannot get
Stupid or Frenzied. Also, vampires are Immune to Poison, which
is nice as dark venom (or other poisons) and scorpion tail attacks add no bonus.
This also means that potions and drugs do not work. Vampires feel No Pain,
treating Stunned results as Knocked Down. This is very very nice, especially if
you give the guy Jump Up skill... Oh, no! This does not work anymore
since the last rules review. See our FAQ, section
11.4 Skills for details. Doesn’t matter is is just a free helmet that works all
the time instead of only 50% of the time.
Though obvious combinations are clear to the
most people (i.e. Resilient and T4 is always nice, as are Step Aside
and Mighty Blow.) There are other skills which are very handy for your
main fighter. If you are in combat, your goal is to take out the enemy. So how
this is best accomplished? You need to hit and wound first, which is not that
big a problem as the vampire is WS4 and S4. But after that it gets tricky. You
have 33% chance to take out a character, 16% if he is a dwarf. So to pull this
to 50/33%, think about Strike to Injure. Furthermore your vampire has M6,
so with Scale Sheer Surfaces he will be the bane of all people high up. A nice
one I noticed is the skill Leap, as this not only give you a random
distance advance, but also a way to avoid interceptors, as you are allowed to
jump over them. Of course if you then even add Sprint, you come very
close to that Skaven sorcerer with Black Fury spell.
Dreg
Now let’s get to the Dreg, the so-called
pitiful excuse of a hero. He has couple of advantages though, and should not be
underestimated. Firstly he advances rather quickly, gaining 4 advances within 8
XP. Secondly you are allowed 3 of them!
If they get killed, it is a bit sad for the earned experience, but they are
cheap to replace. But what skills are handy? First, a Dreg needs to survive, so
with their meager skill list I think Step Aside is almost mandatory. Then
extra skills will be added fast. From that point on they turn into small combat
monsters very quickly. Do not forget armor on these guys, though replacing them
gets more expensive then…
Necromancer
Finally we get to the Necromancer. A not so
unimportant character with rather specialized spells. The first thing to do at
warband creation is to see what spell the necromancer will get, as this
influences warband creation a lot in my opinion. I dare say it has the most
influence of all warbands. If the Necromancer gets a skill advance, most often
it is handy to choose a spell as a lot of spells have low difficulty rolls. But
let’s get to the spells and all relevant commentary with that.
V.Necromantic Magic:
Lifestealer: Difficulty: 10. This is actually a
great damage spell and it even gives your caster a nice bonus. Downsides are
there too: the high difficulty. This almost screams for the sorcery skill, a
familiar or Mind Focus. Furthermore it has only a range of 6”, which means
every model I know except for a dwarf with a leg wound, can charge you. This
is a very unfavorable situation… Better hand out weapons to the poor dude.
Re-animation: Difficulty: 5. I will say that this
is the zombie boost spell. Someone take them out, you take them back in.
Even from a relative save distance. This spell has only a big use if you
have zombies in your warband. This one only woks on that mindless canon
fodder. It can really stress your opponent, or it might bolster his
XP-earnings. Of course the shambling horde warband is the way to go for max
profit. The nice bonus of this spell is, that if you do not loose too many
heroes, route tests will be of the past, as all zombies turn up again…
Though this is made a bit harder after the rules revision. As the zombies
need to be taken Out Of Action in the previous turn.
Death Vision: Difficulty: 6. I started a warband
thrice now and every time this was my starting spell. I rather hate it at
the moment. In my experience it has almost no extra value, cause if they
charge your Necromancer, do not expect him to put up a great fight. In my
opinion this could have been a special skill for undead Heroes.
About the only advantage (yup there is one) is that it only needs to be cast
once in a battle. That is why my necromancer always have a bow and my last
also had Hunting arrows.
Spell of Doom: Difficulty: 9. The multi-wound
killer; doesn’t matter how strong, tough, skillful, or lucky a character is.
If your necromancer gets within 12” (very nice!) and the spell works… your
enemy is toast! Either he goes Out Of Action, or models that charged him take care of
the rest… I rather like this one as it gives the necromancer distance,
difficulty is not overly high and it can take out everything.
Call of Vanhell: Difficulty: 6. This is a rather
strange spell. The workings are clear, but the effects are strange in my
opinion. This one also works on the smelly wolves. Like they need that extra
move, or that Ol’ necro can keep up… This also makes it again one of the
specialized spells, only useful if you use zombies and/or wolves. But what
is the use? If you have several zombies and/or wolves it does not make the
horde faster. It does not make the model charge anything extra. If it
charges in the call’s move, it could have done it on its own too… Although
this is a mandatory fluff spell, I at least expect giving a model an extra
attack if the spell succeeds, or make a full march/charge move. Or at least
let you move D3 models or so… (Now you may guess what my second spell was
after I started with Death Vision and no zombies or wolves…)
Spell o’ Awakening: Difficulty: NA. A lot of
people think this is the spell of the lot; it always works and can give
great benefits. But remember the chance that a hero dies is about 14%. On
the upside is that I once fought beastmen and they lost 2 heroes,
permanently. I gained 2 zombies with great stats (both of course 2 wounds).
On the nice side is also, that you only need to have the spell, no further
testing etc. Of course if you have re-animation it is a beauty…
VI.Hired
Swords: It is difficult to find good help this days...
Now onto a rather important chapter for the
Undead. They are always in need of something that has own initiative, earns
experience and will move faster then 4”. In fact, up till now there are only 4
Hired Swords available for the undead warband:
Ogre Bodyguard: This one comes
with a hefty price and hefty upkeep - where is that Return Favor
(Random Happenings' event) when you need one? But his impressive stats are
worth it. 3 wounds, move 6 and Fear causing are just a few. There is
only one important question, do you go for two regular weapons, or for one
2-handed weapon. My personal favorite is the latter, as taking out enemy is
more important in my eyes. Though more attacks should give you more chance
on that. But say for yourself, do you like 3 rolls with 25-33% chance of
making an injury roll, or do you like 2 rolls of 33-40% of making your
opponent bleed (though you tend to hit last in this option, in the
beginning.)
Warlock: Always a good choice.
Not to expensive, although some bad rolls in the spell department and you
can end up with a rather less useful character. Though chances on that are
not so great. And with the arrows, you got a chance on probably one of the
best spells in the game.
Witch: What can I say, I think
she might even be better as a warlock. Prices are the same, but the “spells”
are inherently better. Mostly because they have more subtle effects. With
special mention to Scry and Age of Stone.
Imperial Assassin: Though a bit
more steep in price, this one is a definite catch. Cost can even go up more
if you want to equip him with other special things. He has some nice special
skills, of which the Hide in Shadows must be my favorite. The dwarfs
in my campaign hate it… :-) Though pricey, I would suggest giving him a
crossbow and using him as a canon. S5 hits are nothing to sneeze and there
are not many shooters that can fight too, or was it fighters that can shoot
too?
So I hope this helps starters a bit out, if
they like Undead. But remember this is a bit from my perspective. And half way
the campaign my warband fell to pieces...
Archeonicus
Warband's Tactics Development Progression
1.0 Initial document submission.
Designer Notes
If anyone has any other ideas or
suggestion,
please
email us.
We will be more than happy to include them!
