Undead.pdf

Undead - Sempre Mortis

Tactics By The Mordheimer,

based on work at Archive Pestilen

& Mordheim Strategy Guide.

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?

1. 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.

A. 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

Plik z chomika:

Inne pliki z tego folderu:

Inne foldery tego chomika: