Editing Mordheim/Tactics (section)

== General Tactics ==

In the game, you create a warband of assorted models, gear them out and go on a happy adventure within the cursed city of Mordheim, collecting Wyrdstone, unique weaponry and fighting the other warbands over the spoils. It's not particularly balanced, but it sure is fun, and can be fukken great with a good band of friends, which might be the most important thing to remember - While the game, and the tactics on this site can be focused on winning and doing the absolute best, don't forget that the game is a friendly game and can easily be broken, if you're not careful... And by being careful, we mean 'be careful not to buy twenty Clanrats with Slings', so it's not that hard to keep yourself from making your campaign into the most hatefilled war of attrition ever to grace your gaming boards.

That said, Mordheim is a game meant for fun and games and for making your own band of heroes to adventure with, while creating stories about how your warriors fought over a stash of Wyrdstone, or how a Youngblood slew a great Possessed, or how you miraculously found that Hochland Long Rifle within the ruins. Mordheim is a game that creates stories, both fun and '''FUN*'''.


=== Creating your Warband ===

Making a Mordheim Warband in this day and age can range from being very expensive relatively to the size of the warband to be something you can do with the bits you have left around for Warhammer Fantasy. For some factions you have no choice but to go for the original models (Sisters of Sigmar and to some extend the Cult of the Possessed), while others can be made easily with existing kits (Mercenaries in particular, but Dwarves, Skaven and Undead can also be made with existing models from the modern day plastics). No matter what though, you'll certainly be doing a lot of conversion, unless the weapons the models come with suit you perfectly - For complete WYSIWYG, many models need to be scratch build in a way that no other game requires of you - Orcs with shortbows, Sisters of Sigmar with slings, Skaven with a Blunderbuss, all can be seen in the Mordheim, and often it's better to not accept the static nature of the models given. Especially ranged weapons are important, and if you can, sculpt some bows or slings on as many models you can - You never know if you'll need to fell an Ogre at range, 'cause close combat with such a beast ain't no good!

When starting a campaign (and playing Mordheim out of campaign is not really the what the game's for, so you're making one for a campaign), you start out with 500 Gold Crowns (or whatever currency your faction uses), which you'll then need to buy new warriors, new gear, pay upkeeps for big units and so forth. Gold is also what'll keep the Warband hummin' along during the campaign, and it's smart to have a little bit of Gold in your Treasury at all times, since it will help you get new warriors, if a battle doesn't go in your favour. A Warband must start with a Leader, who is the most powerful warrior in the Warband, and can buy more warriors from there: Heroes, who can gain equipment and have special abilities, and Henchmen, who can only gain experience. During the course of the game, the different models can move around the roster - Henchmen can become Heroes and gain special equipment, while Heroes may become Leaders for a time, if the Warband's Leader bites the dust.

A few notes to remember about Mordheim:

*'''Combat is very dangerous and risky:''' While all tapletop battle games will make you remove models left and right, Mordheim isn't messing around - Few models have more than one wound and more than T 3, and armour is, as we'll cover later, both expensive and easy to negate. Therefore, you don't want to make your warriors too expensive, and you want dedicated models to go directly to combat - Anyone else should mostly stay at arrow-point and pepper the enemy for as long as possible. Most importantly though, your models are not necessarily made to withstand any hit, so expect your combat people to be as much at risk as those they charge. For this reason, many like to outfit regular dudes with little to no armour, maybe a helmet if they are important and two weapons, since it'll net an extra attack. Also remember that a downed model isn't necessarily out of the game, as they might just be stunned or crawling about instead. Still, that's not the best place to be, so try and keep your guys from falling over. 
*'''Don't go overboard with equipment:''' This shit ain't 40k - There's no way to make your guys so heavily armoured or give him so large a gun that nothing might stop him - All you get is a guy with a big sword at best, and he's only marginally better at punching people than if he were completely naked. Regular Henchmen are usually glad with just a weapon or two, and maybe a ranged weapon if they can take one, while Heroes can take some better gear, since they have a harder time dying and can use a lot of gear better than Henchmen. They also tend to have special abilities that are better to focus on rather than their weapons. Just remember to rein in you desire to go wild at the market - That Hochland Long Rifle might look nice, but it's 200 gc. Thats 40% of a starting Warband. Just... Don't.
*'''Fear the Rout Test:''' When 25% of your Warband are down and counting, you'll need to roll a Rout Test on the Ld of your Leader, and if you fail the test, you lose the battle automatically. As we've already seen, losing models isn't hard, so this isn't just an unfortunate happening that comes around once in a while, it's the way the game is lost most of the time. This is the main reason why you don't want to risk models, unless you know you can force a Rout test on the enemy instead. For the Warband who wants to explore and survive, it can be quite easy to keep the Rout away, since a Mordheim board is very cover-heavy, but for those who want to see blood, be prepared to run for the hills.
*'''Don't be a doof - Flee:''' When things don't go your way, or a battle simply doesn't seem like it can be won, give up. Rout voluntarily. Don't risk healthy warriors for the right to search for treasure, when said warriors can lose their healthiness very quickly. Sometimes things just doesn't go your way, sometimes your luck turns on you, sometimes you are just weaker than your enemy, or the enemy has the bonus of being Super Effective against you, and when that happens, don't sweat it - Just walk away calmly. Do mind though, that while this won't damage your Warband, it will definitely damage your growth, so if it happens too often, you might have problems later in the campaign.
*'''Money is Everything!:''' Unlike many wargames, Mordheim isn't about winning battles and making the meanest mother-hubbard of a Warband - It's about makin' those sweet mons. Before EVERY action you take, ask yourself: "How is this going to benefit me?". Will it save an expensive model from dying, or maybe secure a piece of Wyrdstone? Well then, then it makes perfect sense for you to go do something about that wouldn't it! But don't stay in a battle that will cost you more in the long run to replenish from. If you want to have some fun and risk your high-Experience Troll Slayer against a Vampire or something that is fine, but always remember that every action in Mordheim can cost you; and for every thing you have to pay for, you get less gold to pay cool shit with.

And last, but not least...

*'''Mordheim is supposed to be both fun and FUN*:''' If you wanted to play a wargame where every choice must make 100% sense and be optimized, Mordheim isn't for you. Mordheim is about creativity, stories your models make through game after game and loads of fucking random bullshit that'll make just wanna laugh at how stupidly awesome it is! When your Goblin charges an enemy Rat Ogre randomly and is made into pinkish paste, when your entire Warband is addicted to Crimson Shade and race across the table like an even-more shambling and bloodthirsty cover of Michael Jackson's Thriller (I mean what the fuck Kasper), and when a random critical hit causes your favorite Hero to bite the dust and have his eye gouged out so he won't be any use to you even though you gave him a Rifle, ''that's'' Mordheim - and it's fantastic. However, if that sort of thing infuriates you, maybe Mordheim isn't for you. Take the game lightly and laugh a lot, and Mordheim is some of the greatest fun you can have on the tabletop.

===Movement===

===Shooting===

===Melee===

===Special Stuff===

====Magic====
Being a spin-off of [[Warhammer Fantasy]], [[Mordheim]] naturally features [[magic]], which is actually a lot more forgiving than in any other iteration of the Warhammer multiverse.

Spellcasting characters can cast a spell in the Shooting phase instead of using a missile weapon - they can cast a spell and then run away, however. To cast a spell, they roll 2d6 and compare it to the chosen spell's Difficulty value; if you roll equal to or higher than Difficulty, the spell goes off. If you roll under Difficulty, then the spell fizzles and nothing happens. Damage from offensive spells is resolved like any melee or shooting attack; you roll to wound with armor saves allowed unless the spell specifies otherwise. Spells don't cause Critical Hits.

Note that a spellcasting character ''cannot'' cast a spell if they are wearing armor or using a shield or buckler. The universal exception are characters using Prayers of Sigmar or who have the Warrior Wizard skill; individual spellcasting Heroes may also be exceptions to the rule.

Spells are divided into Lores unique to certain Warbands. When a spellcasting hero learns a spell, they roll a d6 to determine which spell they get.

=====Prayers of Sigmar=====
Used by the Warrior-Priests of Witch Hunter warbands and the Sigmarite Matriarchs of the [[Sisters of Sigmar]], the Prayers of Sigmar call upon holy powers from the godking of the empire. Due to their "clerical" nature, Prayers of Sigmar are unaffected by any spells, items or other effects that target magic.

1: The Hammer of Sigmar (Difficulty 7)
For 1 turn, the caster gains +2 Strength and inflicts double damage in hand-to-hand combat.

2: Hearts of Steel (Difficulty 8)
Any allied warriors within 8" of the caster become Immune to Fear and All Alone tests, and the whole Warband gains +1 on any Rout tests they have to make. This spell lasts until the caster is knocked down, stunned, or put out of action, and multiple castings don't stack.

3: Soulfire (Difficulty 9)
All enemies within 4" of the caster suffer a Strength 3 hit (Strength 5 if Undead or Cult of the Possessed) that ignores armor saves.

4: Shield of Faith (Difficult 6)
The caster becomes immune to enemy spells. Roll at the beginning of each turn in the recovering phase; on a 1-2, the Shield of Faith expires, on a 3+ it persists.

5: Healing Hand (Difficulty 5)
The caster or a model within 2" is restored to its full quota of Wounds and, if stunned or knocked down, returns to their senses, stands up, and can continue fighting.

6: Armor of Righteousness (Difficulty 9)
Until the beginning of the caster's next Shooting phase, their Armor Save becomes 2+ and they Cause Fear, which makes them Immune to Fear.

=====Necromancy=====
1: Lifestealer (Difficulty 10)
One model within 6" automatically loses a Wound, and the Necromancer gains an extra Wound for the duration of the battle, which can increase their maximum Wounds value. This spell doesn't work on Possessed or Undead targets.

2: Re-Animation (Difficulty 5)
One Zombie that went Out of Action during the last hand-to-hand or shooting phase returns to the fray at any point within 6" of the necromancer. The zombie may not be placed straight into hand-to-hand combat with an enemy model.

3: Death Vision (Difficulty 6)
The Necromancer Causes Fear for the duration of the battle.

4: Spell of Doom (Difficulty 9)
One enemy model within 12" must immediately roll equal to or under their Strength score; if they fail, they have to roll on the Injury table.

5: Call of Vanhel (Difficulty 6)
One zombie or dire wolf within 6" of the necromancer may immediately move up to its maximum Movement distance. If this brings them into base contact with an enemy, they count as charging.

6: Spell of Awakening (Difficulty: Auto)
If an enemy Hero is killed by rolling an 11-16 on the Serious Injury chart, a necromancy can invoke this spell to automatically raise that hero as a zombie warrior under their command. The zombie warrior retains its profile, weapons and armor, but gains all of the Zombie special rules and now serves the caster's warband as a Henchman.

=====Chaos Rituals=====
1: Vision of Torment (Difficulty 10)
Choose the closest enemy model within 6" - if the Magister is in hand-to-hand combat, they must choose a target in base contact. The affected model is immediately stunned (or knocked down if it can't be stunned).

2: Eye of God (Difficulty 7)
This spell may only be invoked once per battle. Choose a single model, friend or foe, within 6" and roll a d6. On a 1, the model is smote by spiritual wrath and taken Out of Action, but recovers unharmed after the fight is over. On a 2-5, the target gains +1 to one of their characteristics chosen by the caster for the battle's duration. On a 6, the model gains +1 to '''ALL''' characteristics for the rest of the battle.

3: Dark Blood (Difficulty 8)
One model in 8" takes d3 S5 hits. However, after casting this spell, the Magister must roll on the Injury table for themselves, treating Out of Action as Stunned. This spell hits the first model in its path.

4: Lure of Chaos (Difficulty 9)
The spell has a range of 12" and must be cast on the closest enemy model. Roll a D6 and add the Chaos Mage’s Leadership to the score. Then roll a D6 and add the target’s Leadership to the score. If the Chaos Mage beats his opponent’s score he gains control of the model until the model passes a Leadership test in his own recovery phase. The model may not commit suicide, but can attack models on his own side, and will not fight warriors from the Chaos Mage’s warband. If he was engaged in hand-to-hand combat with any warriors of the Chaos Mage’s warband, they will immediately move 1" apart.

5: Wings of Darkness (Difficulty 7)
The Magister can move 12". If they move into base contact, they count as Charging that target. If they move into a fleeing opponent, they score an automatic hit on the foe, who then flees.

6: Word of Pain (Difficulty 7)
All models within 3", friend ''and'' foe, suffer a S3 hit that ignores armor saves.

=====Lesser Magic=====
1: Fires of U'Zhul (Difficulty 7)
The mage blasts a single target within 18" for a Strength 4 hit.  This spell hits the first model in its path.

2: Flight of Zimmeran (Difficulty 7)
The Magister can move 12". If they move into base contact, they count as Charging that target. If they move into a fleeing opponent, they score an automatic hit on the foe, who then flees.

3: Dread of Aramar (Difficulty 7)
A single model within 12" of the caster must pass a Leadership test or flee 2d6" directly away from the caster. A model that succumbs to Dread of Aramar must repeat this "flight test" at the start of each of their movement phases until they pass the test. This spell does not affect Undead or any model Immune to Fear.

4: Silver Arrows of Arha (Difficulty 7)
The wizard summons d6+2 magical arrows that can target a single foe within 24". Make a Ballistic Skill attack for each arrow, using the wizard's BS value, but ignore movement and cover penalties. Each silver arrows that successfully strikes its target inflicts a S3 hit.

5: Luck of Shemtek (Difficulty 6)
Until the beginning of the caster's next turn, they can re-roll all failed dice rolls, but must accept the second result.

6: Sword of Rezhebel (Difficulty 8)
The wizard summons a magical sword that grants them +1 Attack, +2 Strength, and +2 Weapon Skill whilst they are armed with it. They must pass a Leadership test at the beginning of each of their own turns or else the spell ends.

=====Magic of the Horned Rat=====
1: Warpfire (Difficulty 8)
Target a creature within 8", hitting the first model in the path. The first creature struck by this spell takes D3 S4 hits, and all models within 2" of the initial target take 1 S3 hit each.

2: Children of the Horned Rat (Difficulty Auto)
Before the game begins, the skaven warlock may summon d3 Giant Rats that will fight alongside the warband for this battle only.

3: Gnawdoom (Difficulty 7)
A single model within 8" takes 2d6 S1 hits.

4: Black Fury (Difficulty 8)
The skaven warlock may immediately charge an enemy model within 12" (ignoring terrain and interposing models), gainin +2 Attacks and +1 Strength during this turn's hand-to-hand combat phase only.

5: Eye of the Warp (Difficulty 8) 
All standing models in base contact with the Sorcerer must take an immediate Leadership test. If they fail, they each suffer a Strength 3 hit and must run 2D6" directly away from the Sorcerer, exactly as if they had lost their nerve when fighting against more than one opponent.

6: Sorcerer's Curse (Difficulty 6)
Target a single model within 12". During both the skaven's hand-to-hand phase and their own next shooting and H-t-H phases, the trarget must re-roll any succesful armor saves and to hit rolls.

====Mounts====

====Skills====
The thing that separates your Heroes from your Henchmen, fundamentally, is that as they accumulate experience, they can gain '''Skills''', which are special abilities that provide all kinds of helpful bonuses, modifiers and special rules to your elite characters. There's a set of "Common" skills that are universal across the Mordheim range, but many warbands, especially the non-human ones, often have unique skills that only they can accrue, to better represent unique cultural aspects or biological attributes.

Precisely what Skills a Hero can learn is dictated by the type of Hero; your Warband Leader usually has the broadest array of possible skills, allowing for maximum customization, but other Heroes tend to have much more focused Skill options that will generally mesh with their combat archetype.

Whilst Warband-specific skills will be analyzed in their warband analysis below, we'll break down the common skills here, since they can be applied so diversely and are the most likely to affect your game.

There are five Common Skill tables, each with six skills on them; '''Combat''', '''Shooting''', ''Strength''', '''Speed''' and '''Academic'''.

'''Combat''' skills directly contribute to the hero's melee prowess, and consist of:
* ''Strike to Injure:'' Add +1 to all injury rolls caused by this hero in hand-to-hand combat.
* ''Combat Master:'' This hero is immune to "All Alone" tests and gains +1 Attack in each HtH combat phase so long as they are fighting 2 or more enemy models.
* ''Weapons Training:'' This hero can use ''any'' HtH combat weapon, not just the ones in his equipment options.
* ''Web of Steel:'' This hero gains +1 to all Critical Hit table rolls in HtH combat.
* ''Expert Swordsman:'' When this hero charges into combat, they can re-roll all missed attacks. Only works for heroes equipped with normal swords or weeping blades, not with two-handed swords or any other weapons.
* ''Step Aside:'' This hero can make a second, unmoddifiable 5+ saving throw against wounds suffered in close combat.

'''Shooting''' skills, obviously, are the projectile counterparts to Combat skills:
* ''Quick Shot:'' This hero can shoot a bow or crossbow twice per turn.
* ''Pistolier:'' This hero can fire a single pistol on the same turn it was reloaded, and can fire a brace of pistols (Any type) twice in the Shooting phase.
* ''Eagle Eyes:'' This hero adds +6" to the range of any missile weapon they uses.
* ''Weapons Expert:'' This hero can use ''any'' missile weapon, not just the ones in his equipment options.
* ''Nimble:'' This hero ignores the "Move OR Fire" rule for missile weapons. This cannot be combined with Quick Shot.
* ''Trick Shooter:'' This hero ignores cover modifiers when using missile weapons.
* ''Hunter:'' This hero can fire a handgun or Hochland long rifle each turn.
* ''Knife Fighter:'' This hero can throw up to 3 throwing knives or throwing stars in a single Shooting phase, and can divide their shots between any available targets. This skill cannot be combined with Quick Shot.

'''Strength''' skills boost a hero's physical brawn:
* ''Mighty Blow:'' This hero adds +1 Strength for close combat weapons only.
* ''Pit Fighter:'' This hero gains a +1 bonus to Weapon Skill and Attacks when fighting in a building or ruin.
* ''Resilient:'' This hero reduces the Strength of enemy attacks by -1 for determining their "To Wound" value.
* ''Fearsome:'' This hero gains the "Causes Fear" rule.
* ''Strongman:'' This hero ignores the "Always Strikes Last" rule for double-handed weapons and instead fights in normal Initiative order.
* ''Unstoppable Charge:'' This hero gains +1 Weapon Skill when charging.

'''Speed''' skills augment agility and mobility:
* ''Leap:'' This hero can make a d6" leap as a bonus during their Movement phase in addition to their regular move, run or charge. A leaping hero can clear man-sized models and obstacles 1" high without penalty.
* ''Sprint:'' This hero triples their Movement rate when running or charging.
* ''Acrobat:'' This hero can negate damage from jumping or falling 12" or less if they pass an Initiative test, and can re-roll failed Diving Charge rolls.
* ''Lightning Reflexes:'' This hero always strikes first when charged.
* ''Jump Up:'' This hero ignores Knocked Down results when rolling for injuries, unless knocked down by a successful helmet save or because of the No Pain rule.
* ''Dodge:'' This hero gains a pre-emptive, unmoddifiable 5+ save against missile attacks.
* ''Scale Sheer Surfaces:'' This hero does not need to makle Initiative tests to climb up or down, and can climb a distance equal to double their Movement value each turn.

'''Academic''' skills are a grab-bag of "thinking man" skills:
* ''Battle Tongue:'' Non-Undead Warband Leader only. This hero increases the range of their Leader ability by +6".
* ''Sorcery:'' Spellcaster Hero only. This hero gains a +1 bonus to spellcasting rolls.
* ''Streetwise:'' This hero gains a +2 bonus to rolls to find rare items.
* ''Haggle:'' This hero can knock -2d6 gold crowns off of the price of a single item (minimum price 1 gold) once per post-battle sequence.
* ''Arcane Lore:'' Cannot be taken by Witch Hunter, Sister of Sigmar Heroine, or Warrior-Priest. This hero becomes a Spellcaster using Lesser Magic.
* ''Wyrdstone Hunter:'' This hero can reroll one dice when rolling on the Exploration chart.
* ''Warrior Wizard:'' Spellcaster Hero only. This hero can wear armor ''and'' cast spells.

====Vehicles====