I mentioned in recent blog posts that we were getting ready to play a Mordheim league at the local club, after putting together my warband, I managed to get in a learning game, and the first two games as part of the league are done and dusted.
First off, I should talk a little about the game itself. Mordheim is a small scale skirmish game that focuses on a couple of warbands fighting over the ruins of the city, looking for treasure, particularly Warp Stone shards, which can be sold for gold pieces, which in turn can be used to expand and equip your warband.
The game engine itself is simple, and while there can be a few gray areas in play (like Line of Sight), the game functions remarkably well. With the core engine revolving around the roll of single 6-sided dice, the game can swing quite wildly, and a string of good or poor luck can significantly impact the game. In this respect the game shows it's age, a more modern design would, I think, feel more balanced internally, but by the same token, the swings of fortune also help to make the game cinematic.
Ahh, the cinema, this is where the game shines. While games only take about 40-60 minutes to play through, players could spend an equal amount of time outside the game table, buying new equipment for their force, rolling to see what happens to them after the battle, seeing how they develop and grow. This campaign aspect of the game is thoroughly excellent, and something no other game companies have quite managed to capture so succinctly and successfully since the glory days of Games Workshop. This game oozes story, with injured characters able to make a full recovery, go mad, suffer debilitating physical injuries, learn new skills, develop their statistics, get more equipment... and all of these have minor but useful impacts on the game.
Mordheim has some mechanical issues, that much is true, but the myriad of systems and elements combine to make the gestalt so much more than the sum of it's parts. It is truly wonderful game experience, best played as a campaign game. After a few games I rate Mordheim very highly, an engaging and immersive story based game that is oodles of fun to play.
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| The first learning game... My warband, the Scions of Erasmus, makes it's way toward an implacable Reikland foe... |
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| The Reikland marksmen move up to dominate the table with their deadly crossbows. |
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| A short archery battle ensues, my archers trying to clear some space for my soldiers to move forward. |
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| With bow fire having limited success, my men decide to rush the enemy... |
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| Charge! |
This learning game was brutal. Both warbands lost significant amounts of men, including both Captains. Luckily it was only a learning game!
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| First game of the league... |
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| The enemy is bottled inside the Inn. Good fields of fire make every approach deadly. |
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| Moving up under cover, getting close enough for an archery battle. |
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| All archers are exchanging heavy fire! |
This first learning game was tough. I had to move up and try and dislodge the enemy from a heavily defended building. I was just starting to make headway too, but my force failed a Bottle roll and decided that caution was the better part of valour!
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| Various tables at the club |
The second game was gruelling, I was facing a Dward force - tough opposition and hard to remove. I retreated slowly across the battlefield, eventually holing up in the second story building on the right. With a good view, the Dwarfs had to advance under heavy fire, but I couldn't roll to save myself. The dwarfs managed to get far too close before my lads AGAIN failed a Bottle roll and fled. They seem to be developing a habit...
With those games out of the way, I have had some time to add to my warband, two marksmen and another Moutainguard. I had to modify some spearmen to be archers, but I think they turned out well.
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| I cut away the spears, then used a candle to heat the plastic of some old sprues and 'pulled' them apart. Cutting these pieces up I glued them top and bottom on the hands of my archers. I think they look pretty good all told. |
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| My new Mountainguard |
Lastly, I have managed to get some painting in. He's not finished yet, but getting close.
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| My sergeant. An experiment as much as anything else, to see how the colour scheme ties together, and to have a go at painting yellow. Turns out my yellow paint is thin as water, and can barely cover white. I shall have to rectify. |
