Johanna Heldenhammer
Johanna Heldenhammer, The Child Of Light is a character who was created for Warhammer Fantasy but never made it into the fluff. Since then she has become a homebrew favorite, with several designers making third party miniatures for her. She was created partially by Tuomas Pirinen, who was the Design Supervisor at Games Workshop in the 90's and early 2000's.
The Legend[edit]
The following is taken directly from this Facebook post from Tuomas.
"So it came to pass that the Sisters of Sigmar succeeded in the impossible, and gathered so many of shards of the Wyrdstone wounding the body of Sigmar’s realm that their quest was completed: for in the cataclysm that destroyed Mordheim, there were also seeds of salvation. As the dread Shadowlord descended with the comet to bring eternal night to the Empire, so came a ray of hope. A stream of light, the second tail of the comet, fell upon the Rock, the fortress convent of Sisters of Sigmar. Within the crater it left behind they discovered a hideous horned daemon, holding in its heart a glowing orb, which clearly caused it immense pain. Wisely choosing to bind the creature with blessed chains of gromril, the Sisters sought guidance from their god through their all-seeing Augurs. Their prayers were answered, and as instructed by their Augurs, the Sisters set out to free this servant of Sigmar from the skies above: they were commanded to gather the shattered pieces of the comet, seal them deep beneath their tempe in the Vault of Redemption to stop their corrupting influence from empowering the demonic creature holding the mysterious light.
After many months of most bitter struggles, and after losing dozens of Sisters of the Order in brutal street fights, one day the High Matriarch Bertha witnessed how the daemonic form around the glowing light shattered with a wail of utter despair and impotent rage, and from it emerged their long-awaited saviour: Within they found a child of unsurpassed beauty, a girl with unmistakable golden hair of the Unberogens tribe and blue eyes shining brighter than any star or gemstone, her laughter a peal of silver bells that was like finest wine on a parched soul. She was of Sigmar and yet her own person too: Both a girl of eight years and an emissary of the patron god of the Empire. They named her Johanna Heldenhammer, for her lineage could not be doubted.
Within hours of her awakening the girl spoke to the Sisters: Johanna told that she had been sent to find and crown the rightful emperor of men, not to rule herself: Sigmar, the wise Father of Men, wanted his people to grow up independent, proud and strong, not relying on supernatural help. Sigmar also knew that should he install an immortal, all-powerful ruler on the Throne of the Empire, his people would in the end be no more free than under a rule of a tyrant.
Despite the protest of the High Matriarch, Johanna insisted to start her search of the holy regalia of the True Emperor immediately, for she sensed that at least one of those treasures was hidden somewhere within the ruins of Mordheim. So with a heavy heart, Bertha sent the most trusted of her servants to accompany Johanna to face the immense perils of the City of the Damned.
THE GUARDIAN
From her birth, Johanna has been accompanied everywhere by supernatural Guardian, sent by Sigmar to protect her until she grew to her full strength. Most people see the Guardian as a great bird of light carrying a mighty warhammer akin to the the legendary Ghal-Maraz, others claim that the Guardian is a lamb of purest white with eyes like the blazing sun, while some see a fish with gleaming silver scales, a giant creature that swims through the air as if it was water. All agree that the Guardian moves with the swiftness of an eagle and allows no harm to come upon Johanna."
Canonicity[edit]
Johanna was replaced by the significantly weaker Valten, and if players want to consider alternate universes she'd be his Rule 63 self that would have won Storm Of Chaos.
On The Tabletop[edit]
Mordheim[edit]
The following is taken from the same Facebook post as above:
"Johanna increases the Warband rating by +150 points.
Johanna
M:4 WS:2 BS:2 S:2 T2: W:1 I:6 A:0/Special Ld:10
The Guardian
M:Special WS:10 BS:0 S:5 T5: W:3 I:10 A:3 Ld:10
Weapons and armor: none. The Child of Light does not fight in melee, but uses her other abilities. The Guardian can fight with full effectiveness without weapons.
The Guardian is deployed at the same time as the Child of Light, and normally stays within base-to-base contact with Johanna and moves with her. It automatically intercepts a charge against Johanna, though once it has intercepted one charge it cannot stop another.
FATE POINTS
Fate Points (FP): Johanna can call upon her divine origin to perform miraculous actions. She starts the game with 4 Fate Points, that she can spend to take Fate Point Actions as noted below. She regains 2 Fate Points at the start of her turn, up to the maximum of 4.
FATE POINT ACTIONS
Prayer (1FP): Johanna asks her Sigmar for a favour, talking to him as a child to a parent. She can choose any of the prayers of Sigmar from the appropriate list, and the prayer will be automatically granted by Sigmar with no roll to succeed needed. Shield of Light (1 FP): If Johanna suffers a wound for any reason, she can expand 1 Fate Point to make a special 3+ save against the wound on D6. There is no way to negate this save, as Sigmar himself extends his own shining shield to protect Johanna. If she fails, she can expend further Fate Points to take more saves against the same Wound should the save roll fail. Guardian’s Wings (1FP): Johanna’s Guardian soars above her, and plucks any missiles or spells targeting her out of the sky. In the beginning of any turn, either the opponent’s or Johanna’s, you may declare that the Guardian is using this Action. Remove the Guardian from the board. No enemy long-range attack of any kind (nor any spell) can hit Johanna or her Guardian until the beginning of her warband’s next turn. Note that while the Guardian is deflecting missiles and spells, it cannot fight in melee combat. The Guardian returns next to Johanna in the beginning of her next turn.
Guardian’s Wrath (1FP): By expanding 1 FP in the beginning of her turn, Johanna can move the Guardian 18” at any direction she wishes, including up or down without a penalty, and you can even move the Guardian away from melee. If the Guardian moves into base-to-base contact with any enemy model, the Guardian counts as having charged at the enemy, and can attack using the normal game mechanics. If the Guardian is defeated in combat, it has to miss Johanna’s next turn. It then materialises next to Johanna at the start of her following turn, and can act normally. This action can be done repeatedly during the same turn by paying the FP cost.
Touch of Redemption (2FP): In hand-to-hand combat Johanna can expand 2 Fate Points to try to make her enemies see the error of their ways. Johanna makes a single attack with her own WS. If it hits, the target must immediately take a LD test with -3 penalty. If the target fails, it will be overcome by remorse, kneel before Johanna, and immediately join Johanna’s warband until the end of the battle. This power does not work against Daemons, Possessed, Darksouls, or any Undead or other unliving target (though it works against Mutants, Magistrates, Brethren, Dregs, Necromancers and other evil creatures that are still human -as long as you are alive, Salvation is within reach!). If the Touch of Redemption misses or fails, Johanna can expand further Fate Points to try it immediately again.
Purifying light (2FP): This Action can be used in Johanna’s Shooting Phase, even if Johanna is engaged in melee combat. Johanna’s body emits holy light which burns evil creatures with indescribable pain, turning their own vileness against them. All Daemons, Possessed, Undead, Beastmen and Skaven (and other evil creatures as agreed before the game) Models within 8” suffer an automatic S6 hit. This can be done only once per Shooting Phase.
OTHER SPECIAL RULES
Tears for the Fallen: If any members of Johanna’s warband are taken Out of Action, Johanna will be unconsolable and cry with anguish that lashes the souls of those around her. She causes Terror on all enemy models until the end of her own turn, and for the duration of the next turn of the Enemy. Use a token to indicate that Johanna is crying. Terror acts exactly like fear, except any model failing it's Ld test will run 2D6" away from Johanna. It can take a new test at the start of its next turn to stop and act normally. If the model fails, it continues running away.
Sigmar’s favour: No Prayer of Simar will be granted to any warband opposing Johanna. All such Prayers fail automatically if attempted.
Sigmar’s promise: Upon the victory of the Alliance of Men and Dwarfs at the Blackfire Pass over greenskins, Sigmar swore eternal friendship with the Dwarf race. Johanna is also bound by this mighty oath, and she can take no action that would directly harm a Dwarf in any way, including using her Guardian against Dwarfs. She can, however, use her Touch of Redemption on such opponents to make them see the error of their ways, or use abilities that do not directly harm a Dwarf. Immune to Psychology: Demons, Undead and other horrors hold no fear to Johanna, and she is completely immune to psychology. This includes Frenzy or Hatred, for she is incapable of feeling such polluted emotions.
True Sight: Johanna sees through all plots, ambushes and shadows. Seeing her hidden enemies, she laughs at their silly antics of hide-and-seek, and points them out to her friends. No model in the opposing warband can hide while Johanna is present.
Walk on water: Johanna treats any body of water as open terrain.
Devout Following: Any members of Johanna’s warband will never flee any battle due a Rout Test: her life is more important to them than their own. In addition, they can use Johanna’s Ld for any tests they are called to take if they are within 12” of her. This applies even to the Leader of the Warband. Note that Johanna is NOT the leader: she is too young and innocent for the role, and Sigmar’s strict orders were that she was not to rule over the Empire, but to inspire and assist them."
She was intended to be the opposite to Archaon going from 6e to Storm Of Chaos and would have been introduced as her child self in Mordheim where she would fight, and canonically defeat, Be'lakor (due to her extreme power even as a small injured child she would only be permissible in the scenario where the fight occurs rather than standard play). Her adult Storm form would presumably have been able to faceroll a large chunk of an army by herself.
Gallery[edit]
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Her rules in page form.
