About a week ago Vincent and I were just chatting a bit about the Mordheim game. Our entire group agrees that Mordheim is held together a bit too much by random battles, and we’re planning to do something about it. One of these ideas is something I’d like to share with the Mordheim community, because a few opinions about it would be nice.

Ok, so the basic idea is to create a minimap to keep track of your warband’s travels, but to keep the minimap small and portable to be able to take it with you wherever you want. In order to achieve this particular function it is ofcourse required that the minimap consists out of a few separate pieces which you can put together. One of the most ideal forms in order to do that is the hexagon, which GW is also using for their ‘macro-battle’-like game called ‘Mighty empires’ (it’s called ‘planetary empires’ in the 40k game). >link

But instead of using this rather pricy format, I think it might be a neat-o idea to create a couple of hexagons of our own, and then put more and more of them on the field as each of our warbands explores more and more of the cursed city. By making pictures of our ‘war terrain’ for each hexagon on which we fight, we would be able to go back to previous terrain by simply putting our terrain pieces in the same way as the are on the picture. Doing so will create a bit more consistency in the campaign itself. The city will actually ‘exist’, instead of being random every time (As if you’re playing diablo 2).

Another cool thing is that because of this minimap you’ll be able to track the adventures of your warband. This way you’ll actually have a sense of time and effort that your little group of adventurers is putting into this perilous journey for wyrdstone, and you’ll be able to talk in a different way about your battles too. Rather than talking about ‘last sunday I had a battle with Jeroen’, you’ll be able to implement more fluff in the conversation (which we all love, ofcourse). This results in you talking about the battle you had in sigmar temple in the temple district against the mighty orc warband of Jeroen. Apart from that the other player will actually have the opportunity to *go* there, and meet someone else in the process.

Apart from ‘cooler ways to talk about your miniatures to your friends’ , the minimap also has a more practical use. Because the minimap exists, you’ll also be able to place down an encampment, or even allow certain hexagons to contain vendors or your own encampment, in which you can rest and refreshen yourself for the next battle. Unless another player finds your encampment first, ofcourse . These things can be easily implemented using a few simple house rules, and I think they will increase the depth and complexity of the game by a whole bunch, making the entire experience a whole lot more statisfying than just matching up guy A with guy B and fight until someone routes. You will actually somewhat less control over who you’re fighting, if you’re even fighting someone (I mean, you’ll even be able to use ‘empty’ squares for item searches or exploration).

This whole concept is only in a beginning stage. I haven’t given it too much thought yet, mostly because we’ve only started playing Mordheim and I’m already trying to design a whole new game around it before we’re even somewhat familliar with the rules of Mordheim itself. I was however hoping to inspire you, the reader, to enhance the Mordheim experience with more depth and fluff than it has right now. This because I seriously think all those stories around Mordheim and the warbands can be used in better ways than just a bit of background info.

I’d like for you to leave me a note in the comments section, saying what you think about this whole concept. Is it too much in your opinion? Or did we just thought about the coolest thing in Mordheim history?

Thanks in advance! Oh, and RATS RULE!

When the mysterious group arrives at the gates of Mordheim, they suddenly hold. Amongst the ruins a band of vile creatures appears.. The ghouls show up to meet their master.

The night belongs to the undead, and in Mordheim it is always night.

A couple of weeks ago when I was at Vince’s house he told me he and a couple of friends started creating and playing Mordheim.  As a (retired) Warhammer collector this appealed to me quite a bit. I decided to do some research on Mordheim and its possible warbands. Coming across the undead warband I got even more excited and decided I’d join my friends in their quest for wyrdstone.

I ordered some undead models from the UK, and now almost 2 weeks later, my models arrived. When I opened my package I was a bit disappointed, the company I ordered from seemed to have made a mistake on my vampire model. Instead of the Konrad von Carstein model, I received the Vlad von Carstein model. A minor setback I will just have to deal with.
I will post some updates when I find the time to start assembling my models.

Khahzgull

Also Kewn wrote an introduction to his warband and also posted an overview of his Skaven warband.

Go on, have a look.

Basically, I’ve taken an already assembled Gor model and fancied it up a little. First I made the base for the cape which was just a blot of green stuff. After it had set I applied detail to the cape by adding pieces of green stuff and giving them texture using a toothpick (for the fur) and a hobby knife (for the seams and stitches). I cut off the horns of another Gor model and affixed them using some more green stuff. I’m not really satisfied with the loincloth, maybe I’ll sand it down and try again. I’ve also added a potion made of green stuff to the Shaman’s belt.

As for the arms, I had to reattach them in order to put them in the position they’re in now. The next step is to model some fire in the models hand since I’d like to steer away from giving the model a staff. (I’d like to emphasize the beastliness of my Warband by refraining from adding ‘more developed’ magic casting tools like staves or wands on this model)

The model is far from done, but it’s a start. Let me know what you think of it.

- Vince

There’s a few reasons why the blog’s been low on new content:

• We’ve only just started playing the game and still need to spend a lot of time reading the rulebooks.
• Jerodar and Kewn live around 30 kilometers away from Artinam and me  and don’t have cars (which is a long distance for Dutch standard by the way)
• School stuff and work, you know the usual excuses
• I’ve spent/wasted a lot of time trying to get the site right
• We’re all kinda new at the whole blogging thing. (practise makes perfect I guess)

Well, I want you to know that I’ll be updating the blog more frequently from now on (and urge the other guys to help me out here).

My next post will be about a custom converted Bray Shaman for my warband of which the only thing left to do is take some pictures, so it’ll be online in half an hour or so.

Thanks for bearing with us..

The trip was sort of a present for me from my parents for me graduating in Communication & Multimedia Design. We flew with Ryanair from Maastricht airport. After an affordable, yet bumpy ride we arrived at Pisa with our kneecaps for the most part intact. We spent the remainder of the day in Pisa watching cultural stuff like the leaning tower and the Baptisterium and Cathedral of Pisa, which where really impressive.

Then we took the train to Florence (Firenze in Italian) where we visited a lot of Roman and Italian cultural heritage. Among all Judeo-Christian and Greek-inspired paintings and sculptures where actually a lot of Beastmen! Yeah, that’s right, I spotted several of them sitting in plain view all over Florence. Take a look at the pictures if you want what I mean.

Anyway, now comes the really good part. The third day in Florence I coincidently stumbled upon a Games Workshop store in a street near our apartment. According to Francesco, the manager of the store, it’s actually the only official GW store in all of Tuscany! Francesco turned out to be a really nice guy, he even invited me to lunch (read: pizza) with the rest of the store’s regular clients. He told me about his band; Stazione Centrale of which he put on a record in the store and we had a lot of fun.

Also, feel free to take a look at the other pictures I took in the  Games Workshop store or at my other holiday pictures.

Cheers,

- Vince

For my warband, I have some updates planned, but I haven’t had the time to write any proper posts yet. School seems to be getting the best of me lately :S.

Okay, I’m off to bed. See you in a few days, guys!

I figured Beastmen mostly live in the woods so I wanted to give them forest related bases. I’m not sure about my Warbands Chaos affiliation and which God they worship yet. I am thinking of either Nurgle or Slaanesh. This will also dictate my painting colour scheme so it’s something I have to decide on soon. Perhaps you can help me out here since I’m somewhat new to the whole world of Warhammer / tabletop wargaming.

Investments for this project:

• Green stuff (Kneadite) £4,8 (around €5,5) for 18” on Ebay
• Some pieces of wood
• Some filler
• A spatula for applying the filler
• Super glue
• Modelling (PVC) glue
• A toothpick or another sharp, pointy utensil for making grooves into the greenstuff
• Pliers for cutting the plastic and aluminum
• Some paperclips
• A file
• Optional: tweezers

I started out by filling the slits in the bases of the models with filler. Then I removed the support beam from the feet of the models using pliers. I then used a file to buff out some of the production irregularities like excess plastic. (I still have to fill in some of the gaps with a bit of green stuff though)

I have to say that I bought my beastmen models second hand so they where already assembled when I received them. This actually turned out to be kind of a pain in the ass since their previous owner drowned them in PVC glue, so some of the detail is lost on the models. Also, I had to remove the limbs of a lot of models since they where stuck on in rather awkward positions. I guess it’s my reward for being a cheap-ass.

I glued the piece of wood to the base using super glue. I then cut some pieces of the paperclips to make the stems of the ’shrooms and glued them to the base, again using super glue. After that I made little ’shroom hoods from small cone shaped pieces of green stuff and stuck them on the ’shroom stems. At this point I also glued the stones and decorative sand to the bases.

After the preparation of the bases I cut of the head, leg and arms of the models and reattached them using greenstuff. I then very gently put them in a pose I liked. I used the toothpick to create a furry texture in the green stuff.

That’s it basically, not at all that much work. I still need to decide on my Chaos affiliation though. Tough choice :/

Last weekend our group (except Koen), met up and worked on our Warbands. First off, my apologies for the quasi bad pictures, I am still finding out how the camera works best and I made some pretty decent pictures while some lack enough light (playing at night doesn’t help).
Vince made some great progress on his Beastmen. he has made some great bases and a very good looking Shaman.

Jerodar finished painting his warboss (Grimgor model),

and I finally (semi-)finished my Questing with Great Weapon on foot.

Furthermore, Jerodar and I played a ‘campaign’ battle. This is our first campaign and is more a lot of random battles so we can learn the rules better. Check the Standing Stone Bar for the Battle report!

Unlike the great loremaster Artinam, I have never played Warhammer before.
So what got me to play this game? Why would you, our dear reader, play it?

What attracted me the most was the fact that you take your characters with you to the next game.
Why would you pour your soul into making these great miniatures when they are just gonna be Soldier #163? In Mordheim, every single model will be a character of itself, even the grunts (well, most of the time). For example, my goblin warrior “Lucky” Skystabbah, earned his name by recklessly jumping down a 5 inch tower. And he didn’t just survive, he managed to make a lunging strike at the black skaven standing below, finishing him in one blow! Now these things motivate you to put just that much more effort into your miniatures, because what would you rather be painting? Soldier#163 or “Lucky” Skystabbah?

Also, there are a lot less miniatures. That means amongst other things that it’ll be less costly. As a poor lil’ student, I simply can’t afford a 2000 point army. But a starting warband of 13 orcs is very doable, even if a lot of them are metalmodels. It’s a lot less to paint as well, so those few you do have to paint can get your full attention.

Then there is the time. A full-blown warhammer battle can take up hours, while most Mordheim skirmishes are a lot shorter then that. This makes it perfect for a nice evening together with friends in Limburg. When my orcs make an especially crushing defeat, we might even be able to squeeze another game in!

And finally, the setting. Mordheim is the perfect sandbox for almost every Warhammer character. There is an easy reason to be there, the wyrdstone, but nothing that bind you down to why exactly you need it. And with your characters travelling from battle to battle, there is a lot of opportunity for character development. Now I just need to learn the fluff to be able to actually do it, but ah well…

So what are you still doing here? Go make yourself a nice warband and start playing!
We’re showing here that at least the scenery doesn’t need to be expensive, so go wild.