The Principality of Ostland is the most sparsely inhabited of all of the Empire’s Electoral Provinces. Its people have more ties with the land of Kislev to the north than they do to their countrymen to the south. This is because the Forest of Shadows and the Middle Mountains form two natural barriers between Ostland and the rest of the Empire. Within the Forest of Shadows are vast amounts of wild game but also darker creatures such as Chaos Beastmen and Forest Goblins. The Middle Mountains themselves are the highest point in the Empire and their peaks are inhabited by a large number of Ogres.

Ostland’s isolation has greatly shaped its inhabitants and they are a poor but hardy folk. Each small village lives barely above subsistence levels and is usually composed of one large extended family. The men of Ostland are tall and broad-shouldered while the women tend to either be tall and whippet thin or short and stout. Married men are usually dirt farmers who also gather roots, tubers and nuts in the forests, while unmarried men spend their lives as trappers and hunters. The worship of Taal, the God of Forests and Beasts, is very popular in the region although there is some worship of Taal’s wife Ryha and his brother Ulric in the more westerly villages.

While not warlike by nature, Ostlanders are never opposed to a good honest drunken brawl and with their love of dark ales these sorts of scraps are not uncommon. During the Great War against Chaos, Ostlanders rallied in great numbers to wield bow and spear in defense of their Kislevite neighbors. More than any other part of the Empire, Ostland has tasted the lash of Chaos and their hatred of the evil ones knows no bounds.

Choice of Warriors:

• Elder: Each Ostlander Warband must have one Elder, no more, no less!
• Blood-Brothers: Your Warband may include up to 2 Blood-Brothers.
• Priest of Taal: Your Warband may include up to 1 Priest of Taal.
• Kin: You may have any number of Kin.
• Ruffians: Your Warband may include up to 5 Ruffians.
• Jaeger: Your Warband may include up to 7 Jaeger.
• Ogre: Your Warband may include one Ogre. There isn’t enough food for more than one!

Special Rules

• Self-Sufficient: The men of Ostland have no desire to give their hard-earned gold to outsiders. As a result they can never hire any Mercenaries except for Ogres (who are not an uncommon sight in Ostland).

Starting Experience:

• The Elder starts with 20 experience.
• Blood-Brothers start with 12 experience.
• Priests of Taal start with 12 experience.
• All Henchmen start with 0 experience.
  

Ostlanders' Skill Tables

• Elder may choose from the Combat, Shooting, Strength, Speed or Special.
• Uncles may choose from the Combat, Strength or Special.
• Priest of Taal may choose from the Combat, Academic, Strength, Speed or Special.

Characteristic Increase

	M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld
Human	4	6	6	4	4	3	6	4	9
Ogre	6	5	4	6	6	4	5	4	7

Ostlanders' Equipment List

Heroes

In Ostland, the oldest (or more often biggest) man in the village is given the title ‘Elder’. His word is greatly respected and only at his urging would the manhood of an entire village pack up and travel to Mordheim to seek their fortune.

M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld
4	4	4	3	3	1	4	1	8

Weapons/Armor: An Elder may be equipped with weapons and armor chosen from the Ostlander Equipment list.

Special Rules:

• Leader: Any warrior within 6" of the Elder may use his Leadership characteristic when taking any Leadership tests.
  

Ostland villages are usually composed of a single extended family. Everyone is everyone else’s uncle, cousin or brother (and sometimes their own!). Rather than trying to keep all of these relations straight the most respected men in the village (aside from the Elder) are referred to simply as Blood-Brothers.

M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld
4	4	3	3	3	1	3	1	7

Weapons/Armor: Blood-Brothers may be equipped with weapons and armor chosen from the Ostlander Equipment list.

0-1 Priest of Taal; 45 Gold Crowns to hire

It is said that every priest of Taal is born during the darkest phase of the moon. Those who are accepted into the service of Taal are loners by nature and spend their time wandering the untamed forests of the Northern Empire. It is unclear why the priests of the forest have begun to join bands of Ostlanders in their delvings into the ruined city of Mordheim – for the servants of Taal keep their own counsel. Suffice to say that the Forest-God is clearly building a strong presence both in and around the darkened ruins as more and more animals begin to fill the surrounding forests...

M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld
4	2	3	3	3	1	3	1	7

Weapons/Armor: A Priest of Taal may be equipped with weapons chosen from the Ostlander Equipment list.

Special Rules:

• Prayers: A Priest of Taal may use the prayers of Taal listed below.
  
• Strictures: Priests of Taal may never wear heavy armor.

Most of the warriors in an Ostlander Warband are brothers and cousins of the Elder. Many are married men with children to support and the ruins of Mordheim are a lure that few poor villagers can resist.

M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld
4	3	3	3	3	1	3	1	7

Weapons/Armor: Kin may be equipped with weapons and armor chosen from the Ostlander Equipment list.

0-7 Jaeger; 25 Gold Crowns to hire

Some Ostlander men choose not to marry but instead to spend their times alone in the forests of the Old World. While these rangers do not share the close family bonds of a typical Ostlander Blood-kin they are well respected for their knowledge of the woods and their rugged determination. Poor Jaeger usually wield a simple home-made bow but it is every Jaeger’s dream to one day own a Blackpowder weapon and hunting rifle, especially double-barreled versions, as these are a sign of great prestige amongst the hunters of the deep woods.

M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld
4	3	3	3	3	1	3	1	7

Weapons/Armor: Jaeger may be equipped with weapons and armor chosen from the Jaeger Equipment list.

0-5 Ruffians; 25 Gold Crowns to hire

Although every Ostlander loves his ale, a few men in every village take this love to extremes. Never sober and rarely conscious these buffoons stagger their way through the streets of Mordheim yelling slurred insults at whomever they meet, committing petty acts of vandalism and generally making a mess of things. This comic behavior is often misconstrued into a false belief that they are harmless, a belief that many live to regret. Fuelled by vast quantities of booze these are very dangerous, unpredictable men indeed who will shove a broken bottle into your face as soon as laugh heartily and burst into song!

M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld
4	2	2	3	3	1	2	1	10

Weapons/Armor: Ruffians may be equipped with weapons and armor chosen from the Ruffians Equipment list. Ruffians never use missile weapons, as their depth perception leaves a bit to be desired, even if they gain an Advance roll which would otherwise allow them to do so.

Special Rules:

• Drunk: Ruffians are blasted out of their tiny minds on rotgut spirits and cheap ale. As such, they automatically pass all Leadership based tests they are required to take.
• No Respect: Ruffians are objects of a strange mix of pity and abject fear for their fellows and may never become a Warband leader.
  

More than anywhere in the Empire Ogres are most commonplace within the hilly, pine forested landscape of Ostland. These brutish creatures are very sought after by the rough mountain men of Ostland as muscle in the Warband. An Ogre’s strength is near legendary and their ability to sustain an awful lot of punishment during a fight make these the perfect shock troops of any Warband. Of course, an Ogre’s appetite is nearly as well renowned as their fighting abilities and so they are rather expensive to keep.

M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld
6	3	2	4	4	3	3	2	7

Weapons/Armor: Ogre-kin may be equipped with weapons and armor chosen from the Ogre-kin Equipment list.

Special Rules:

• Fear: Ogre-kin are large, threatening creatures that cause Fear. See the Psychology section for details.
• Large: Ogre-kin are huge, lumbering creatures and therefore make tempting targets for archers. Any model may shoot at an Ogrekin, even if it is not the closest target.
• Skills: An Ogre-kin who becomes a Hero as a result of The Lad’s Got Talent may choose from the Combat and Strength skills.
• Slow Witted: Although Ogres are capable of earning experience and bettering themselves they are not the smartest of creatures. Ogres only gain advances at half the rate of everyone else (i.e. they must accrue twice as much experience as normal to get an advance).

Special Equipment

Double-Barreled Pistol; 30 gc, 60 gc for a brace; Availability: Rare 10
Double-Barreled Hunting Rifle; 300 gc; Availability: Rare 12

Knowing Ostlanders’ penchant for impressive weaponry (and ready willingness to spend excessive amounts of money) a Weaponsmith from Hochland decided to weld two barrels together on a pistol and sell it for twice the price. The Warband was so impressed with their new weapon that they asked him to do the same to their hunting rifle. Since then the Weaponsmith has been flooded with orders from some of the most powerful Warbands in Mordheim.

A double-barreled gun (of any sort) is treated exactly like a normal version with one exception. Any enemy is hit by two blasts rather than one (i.e. a pistol causes two S4 hits rather than one for each successful hit). However, each barrel takes a full turn to reload (although if you reload only one barrel you can fire it like a normal pistol/rifle). If you own a brace of double-barreled pistols you may fire them every other round (rather than every round like a normal brace).

Ostlander Special Skills

• Bull Rush: This warrior is huge, even by Ostlander standards, and can use his massive girth to overpower his opponents. When he charges, this Hero may attempt to knock down his opponent rather than making his normal attacks. Roll to hit once with a +1 to hit modifier, though no ‘to wound’ roll is necessary. Instead, if the warrior hits with this attack, the opposing model is Knocked Down. (Models with the Bull Rush skill should have a suitably large beer-belly modeled out of putty whenever possible.)
• Foul Odor: Ostlanders are one and all prodigious drinkers and none too hygienic! This warrior rises head and shoulders above the rest. After a lifetime of drinking, liquor has little effect on him any more... not that this stops him from consuming massive quantities! His unwashed clothes and sweat reek of alcohol and all living enemies (not Undead or Possessed) are at -1 to hit him in hand-to-hand combat. In addition, the warrior cannot carry any open flames (torch, lantern, etc.) and fire attacks made against him are resolved at +1 Strength as his beer soaked clothing burns readily.
• Taunt: After years of baiting opponents into drunken brawls the Ostlander has learned some of most vile insults in the Empire. During the shooting phase the warrior may choose to taunt one enemy instead of shooting with a missile weapon or casting a spell. The warrior must be able to see the enemy and taunting follows all the LOS rules for shooting (you must taunt the nearest opponent, etc.). The player should insult the enemy model in some manner whenever possible (perhaps his hat looks like a strangled parrot or his mother was a Bretonnian.). The enemy then takes a Leadership test. If he passes, nothing happens but if he fails he must spend his next movement phase trying to get into close combat with the warrior who taunted him.
• Animal Friendship: Having grown up amidst the animals of the forest this warrior exudes a certain charm to all ‘normal’ animals (i.e. warhorses, Warhounds, etc.). Animals will never attack him and up to two Wardogs (see Mordheim book, page 54) that the warrior owns do not count against the maximum number of models in the Warband.
• Blood Oath: The leader of an Ostlander Warband sometimes takes a Blood Oath never to leave any of his fallen ‘family’ members behind. Such is his determination to protect his fallen Blood-kin that it is extremely difficult to cause him to Rout from the field. Only a Warband’s leader may have this skill, which allows him to re-roll a single Rout test once per game.

Magic: Prayers of Taal

1. Stag’s Leap: Many of Taal’s priests wear a stag skull as a symbol of their devotion and the Forest Lord’s power can be used to emulate the speed and beauty of this magnificent beast. The Priest of Taal may immediately move anywhere within 9", including into base-contact with the enemy, in which case he counts as charging and gains a +1 Strength to his first round of attacks. If he engages a fleeing enemy, in the close combat phase he will score one automatic hit at +1 Strength and then his opponent will flee again (if he survives).  Difficulty: 7
2. Blessed Ale: Like his brother Ulric, Taal has a great appetite for the strong ales of the Northern Empire. During the summer equinox each village in Ostland opens one keg of ale (at least!) in Taal’s honor. Drinking a flask of Taal-blessed ale (the priest is assumed to carry as many flasks as are needed) may heal any one model within 2" of the Priest (including himself). The warrior is restored to his full quota of Wounds. In addition, any living enemy models (not Undead or Possessed) within 2" of the Priest will be lose 1 Attack during the next round of combat due to the potent fumes of the ale. Difficulty: 5
3. Bear’s Paw: Many an armored knight has been knocked to the ground by the surprising Strength of the followers of Taal. Although traditionally called ‘Bear’s Paw’ this spell is sometimes referred to as ‘Moose’s Breath’ by those Ostlander’s who have felt its power. The Priest invokes the blessing of Taal on himself or a single friendly model within 6". The target receives a bonus of +2 to his Strength until the Priest’s next turn. Difficulty: 7
4. Earth Shudder: Taal’s domain includes both the earth and the skies and his power can reach out even into the dark streets of Mordheim. When his name is invoked three times and the blood of an eagle is poured on the ground, the Lord of the Wild will cause thunder to rumble and the earth to shake. The spell is cast on a single building within 4". Any enemy models touching the building will suffer a single S3 hit. In addition the building will collapse and any models on it will count as having fallen to the ground (for example a model falling 5" to the tabletop must pass two Initiative tests to avoid taking D3 S5 hits.) Remove the terrain feature from the board for the rest of the game. Difficulty: 9
5. Tangle Foot: It is said that when Taal walked the earth, living things would spring up behind him as he passed. A portion of his power can be summoned by his followers to help re-grow forests and aid in the return of the land to its natural state. Plants, vines and even small trees burst forth from the earth, hindering all those who attempt to move through them. All models (friend as well as foe) with the exception of Ostlander Jaeger within 12" of the Priest can only move at 1/2 speed until the next shooting phase. Difficulty: 8
6. Summon Squirrels: Taal is the master of all beasts both great and small. Those who anger him may be mauled by a mountain lion or drowned in a flood caused by an angry beaver. With this spell the Priest invokes the wrath of the Lord of Beasts, summoning forth dozens upon dozens of enraged squirrels. The furious rodents assault one enemy within 12" of the Priest, crawling inside the warrior’s clothing and armor, pelting him with nuts and causing numerous tiny bites and welts. The target suffers 2D6 Strength 1 hits. No armor saves allowed. Difficulty: 7