[MORDHEIM] Possessed and Warband Completion

 On this Easter Weekend I have finished my possessed warband before I go back up north for family visits and such. 

[MORDHEIM] Possessed Colours.... help.

Right I need an opinion on something.  I am unsure what colours to paint the possessed model in.  My first thought was a purple, as that is the themed colour of the warband but as the model doesn't have any cloth he'll be one big lot of purple and I don't know how well that'll turn out.  Then I have considered doing him flesh toned, with a purple wash/shading.  I want him to look good without the colour choice being too much.  Below is my conversion, I went for a more daemonic look about him rather than a daemon mutated human.  I hope.

[MORDHEIM] Magister

Been working on this guy for a couple of days, I am overall pretty happy with him.  The dagger is different to the axe due to it falling off and the little knife working better, he does however have a mace to protect himself if need be.  Unfortunately the highlights on the scroll and skulls have been washed out a little bit.

[Mordheim] Possessed Warband

An update on the Possessed Warband from a long time ago.  Trying to finish off some projects, here we have two mutants and a beastman.
 

More Possessed

The next three brethren are finished. Except bases of course. I added blood like the previous ones but... I had an accident. You'll see what I mean, but basically I got some blood mix onto the bare headed guy and it had dried. I had could not have fixed it without doing heavy repainting on the skin. So...I went the opposite. I gave him a lead of blood splatter. It looks OK, but I wasn't too happy with him or it - I liked him better without it. He's not terrible but nor is he amazing. Oh well...





Oh and the pictures aren't amazing of him either.










Let me know what you think. For now I'm going to put these guys aside and do a few Ork Objectives. Being as you can get D3+2 objectives I have decided to make some for my orks. I'll hopefully have some photos up later tonight.

Possessed Warband

I've done some work on the final three brethren today, just the skin and basecoated their robes. The skin is looking quite good, I have taken to a purple wash for the flesh - gives it a slightly tainted look and feel to it.

These three are the first; the Initiates as I've called them. I think I'll be doing a blood tutorial when I get around to it on these, it turned out quite well in general I think.

Possessed Warband

I have begun work on these, doing some converting and all. Now, I was looking at a friend's Necromundagroup, he had used the flagellant minis from the Empire set. A very interesting set that, I just had to get me some myself. I enjoyed them so much that I ended up ditching the metal minis and instead converting from plastic my entire warband! All I have left to do is the possessed. Currently my band looks like so:

magister - axe, bow
possessed - extra arm mutation
mutant - extra arm mutation, 2x hammer, axe
mutant - stinger tail mutation, 2x hammer

3x brethren - mace, axe
1x brethren - mace, axe
2x brethren - spear
1x beastman - mace, axe

I tend to have terrible luck when it comes to rolling for my henchmen injuries, always seeming to roll a 1 or 2 at least twice a game. =/ Anyway, there are also photos in this: Mordheim album.

Forgetfulness

Is something I fear I suffer from. I am always forgetting to update my little piece of the internet. I'll try and keep on top of this.

As you can imagine, for those in UK educations, uni has finished for the year, which means that the Mordheim campaign is on hold until the new term. Hopefully it'll return with renewed vigour. This summer holiday has given me chance to paint, and paint and paint. I'm using it to get at stuff, random minis or long term projects etc. Talking of projects...

I have a few new ones planned. The first one would be... BLOOD BOWL! I have always been curious about this game, played a couple of matches against another novice and loved it (we drew both). So, I have decided to start a Blood Bowl team. I actually happen to have a team already, a dwarf one with a star player as well. But, as with Mordheim, I find myself wanting to try something different. So, I have chosen Orcs as my team. Look out for blog entries dealing with my greenskined players.

Painting wise, I am once again running a LOCs project. A long story cut short, this is a group of painters off a forum painting and selling miniatures for a charity. This time, I have convinced at least eight painters! And the miniatures are fantasy ones, again, a future blog post for me.

My orks are finished! At least to the degree in which I needed them to be. Now, after a short break I'll be expanding the army to include many other options. I realised that I want a huge ork army, and one that has enough elements that it could be played in various different forms. This will take time and money. One of them I have, for the moment. In addition, a rumour I knew of already has broken. The Space Wolves are coming! And I want to be part of that. I have always loved the Wolves but oddly enough never owned an army of them. So that'll be my second 40k army. A wolf army.

I also plan to, at some point, repaint my dwarf army to a better and higher standard. The colours I am toying with at the moment is red and charcoal grey. I'll have to have a play around, but I like them. This army will be done at a slow pace, ironically, as I want them to look good.

The warband

The minis I'm using will not really be touched until I am past all my ork minis and perhaps a few others. But hopefully over the duration of summer I'll be able to get them finished. Either way, this is a look at what they are - very WIP wise.




I am thinking of doing them purple, a mid-tone and each having a black hand print on their heads. Thinking of anyway. Will have to see how I feel in a few months. I have called them the "Dark Hand", hence the hand print.

In the past...

I forgot to mention my games a week or two ago now. I really need to write up some battle reports. (Damn you Fable II!). But I played a Witchunters warband, and well... it was quick and hurt a lot. A lot. I won't go into too much detail, but almost everyone in my warband were taken out of action in that game - including my possessed! Luckily my heros survived. However, now we come to the horror of my dice rolling. For almost every game I play, at least two henchmen are actually killed. I always end up rolling a 1 or a 2. Its horrid! I have had to buy back so much of my warband its near mind boggling. So I lost a few here and had to replace them, but luckily I had enough gold to do so, and bring in a new mutant! Wooo. Although, my existing one had a chest wound, so is now T2. >__<

My next game, vrs the Marienburg warband. This was a fun game, it was a treasure hunt; which I won! :D Admittedly that was because he routed, but still. My possessed again did the business - and now has W3 and WS5, S&T4, can charge 15" and a 5+ ward save. WOOOOO!

I have increased the size of my warband now, adding in some much needed support in the form of more brethren. This is how my warband looks now.

Magister - Axe, Bow.
Step aside

Possessed
Sprint, Step Aside, extra arm mutation

Mutant - Hammer x2, axe
extra arm mutation, step aside, jump up

Mutant - hammer x2
stinger tail mutation

beastman - mace, axe

brethren - mace, axe

brethren (2) - spear

brethren (3) - mace, axe


As you may see, I favour the mace/hammer. The reason being it stuns people much easier, and few people really have armour, and if they do its generally a max of 6+ so I don't have to worry too much about reducing armour.

For easy of playing...go plastic.

Who uses playsheets? I do. Who knows what a playsheet actually is? Well, it is simply a piece of paper with the main, most important rules on it. If this is the case, why do I value it so much? The simple fact is, because it speeds gaming up. The playsheets have on them the most important rules - "to hit", and "to wound" charts, armour modifiers, scenarios, exploration charts etc. Admittedly theses examples are for Mordheim, but there are ones for Fantasy and 40k out there as well - they are pretty much the quick charts in the back of the mini 40k rulebook.

I have printed and designed some of my own - or premade ones - for Mordheim and would be lost without them. Upon these plastic, laminated sheets are most of the main rules and post-game actions, which means that there is no need to go hunting through the rule book for the right pages for how much wyrdstone a warband gets etc. I love them, and have expanded my collection to now include the scenarios, the shop list and the skills lists. This is all for ease of use and speed. I have made a number of copies of these, they will be circulated at my gaming group when I'm there so that other players have the same resources available to them as I do.

In all, what I'm saying is... consider it. It works for 40k and Fantasy as well, and generally speeds things up considerably.

Words from the street

These are two battle reports from my first two games on Saturday. The first was against Marienburgers and the latter a Carnival of Chaos. I lost the first but technically won the second as he voluntarily routed, but had more wyrdstone.

**********

Halibel gazed across the misty street, his head throbbed from the cudgel that struck him down. Groaning he squeezed his eyes shut as he tried to remember what had happened. The cult had been following a band of humans, not too shabby or worn by the looks of them, who had wandered past their secret hideout. Using his knowledge of the area, he planned for a number of 'road blocks' or accidents to happen that would funnel them into an area that was favoured by the chosen of the shadow lord. That was the plan anyway. Unsteadily he regained his feet, one of the brethren stood by to steady him. The carnage was immense. Dead lay scattered around the street, his possessed warrior Ulquiorra sat hunched over a number of dismembered body parts, of whom Halibel could only assume was the two brethren that were killed. It appears the humans had managed to survive, though judging from the bloody strains and drag marks, there were not entirely unscathed.

The ambush worked well at first, the archers were taken by surprise as Ulquiorra charged out of the light mist at them that they missed with almost ever shot. After that it was quite swift as his three clawed arms just raked down them, as well as their guardians. It was however, the right flank that Halibel had failed on. He had misjudged the intellect of his opponent, and they were not walking into an ambush unaware as they should have been, but rather walking in with full knowledge of it being a trap. The first signs of this being so was the bullet that tore through brother Hans' throat before they were in clear view. Then they came. Halibel had watched from afar, watching and praying for the Shadow's help and power. First the mutant, Ushōda, was one of the first to engage, receiving the brutal strikes of a large two-handed sword. His beastman ally, that was found wandering the ruins, was joint in a fight with a young, finely dressed lad – all bright silks and cloth, a small amount of dust had gathered, showing that he had travelled comfortably. Gripped in his hands was a halberd, the weapon was obscene in the youngling's hand, clumsy strikes were easily stopped by the bulging arms of the half man, half goat. That fop was finally dropped by the beast, a large welt bigger than the one on Halibel's head had formed quickly.

Yet, it was not the fop that interested Halibel the most. The human with the long coat and twin pistols was spotted among the brawl. The leader, Halibel had assumed. Not a very good one it seemed, for in an act of stupidity he stepped between a battle raged beastman and his death. The crushing blow from the blood matted mace was enough to see him off. Halibel scratched his head. Then again, he was not exactly infallible. So intent upon the fight ahead he failed to spot the warrior who had crept around behind him and brained him when his attention was elsewhere. The rest of the fight he was slowly being filled in with by the remaining groups. The main thing that happened was his fighters had bottled, fleeing into the hidey holes along the street. The humans had then grabbed their wounded and fled.

“This one lives my lord.”, a masked brethren stood behind him, one of his own hung loosely in his arms, blood streaked his pale flesh. Halibel limped over to the man, cupping his slack face in one hand, Halibel gazed into the stunned man's eyes.
“You failed. That will not be tolerated.” he growled. Quicker than expected of his frail, wounded form, he tore his axe across the brethren's throats, opening up his veins to the open air. The wound sprayed blood in a crimson fountain, something Halibel had found himself to enjoy. The blood coated him from head to foot, as the crimson fountain continued he found himself raising his hands to the sky and laughing. And laughing, and laughing and laughing...

**********************

Halibel caught his second glimpse of the putrid caravan as it rumbled down the ruined street, it wheels making a loud clacking sound. Turning away from his advantage point at a ruined window he looked to his group, it was smaller than before, but one of his initiates was ready for the final test. Again it seemed his plans were being spoilt. He had heard of a large number of the shards being in this area, but hadn't factored that another group would be so quick as to get there same time as he did. Cursing he gestured the band to spread out and find them, his head throbbed still from the previous battle – laughter bubbled to the top of his throat but he fought it down.

They were fast, Halibel had decided as a number of the Nurgle blessed beings ran forward to claim as much wyrdstone as they could. So fast were they that they were out of range of his slower band quickly. Cursing he noted that Ulquiorra held one in his spare arm, but rather than bring it to him he sprinted off into the distance, his blood lust raging inside him. To the left he watched as one of his spearmen shoved his weapon into the bloated chest of a large, fat man with a green tint to his flesh. A rather ill fitting dinner jacket was stretched across his bulk, a ratty looking top hat was balanced upon his head. The spear sunk into the decaying flesh with a slopping sound that Halibel could hear from where he was stood, the fat man wore a slightly bemused look upon his face as he slipped to the floor, tearing the spear from the brethren's hands. Halibel began to chuckle as he watched the cultist brace himself against the man's bulk, both feet off the floor, tugging at the embedded spear he grunted loudly. It tore free in a loud, slopping sound and in a spray of greenish blood which squirted from his body like a fountain. The cultist was pulling so hard that when it tore free he was catapulted to the floor, landing heavily on his arse. Halibel roared with laughter at the spectacle, tears rolled down his face – the rest of the battle was a blur.

Ulquiorra had ripped up one of the blessed of Nurgle before the rest of them cowardly vanished back to their cart – the bloated body of their master being rolled away as well. The cult had won, but as he slowly wiped he tears from his eyes he realised he had lost the chance of a lot of wyrdstone. Nurgle would pay for this.

The fluff

Below is my fluff for my possessed warband. I still am yet to name them, but I aim to have one by the end of the week. I like the 'purple hand' but I think that is a GW cult already.

***********

The violent scene tore across his vision once more. A red sheet of slow, rippling liquid lapped at his naked feet. Before him a ruined city stood, burning and ripe with darkness – there were pieces of pure wickedness there. In the centre a sinister, impenetrable shadow hung, above the city. A pair of red, coal eyes peered from what might have been the head. The name “Mordheim” ricocheted around his mind forcefully. Halibel opened his eyes and was back in the small farm that once might have been prosperous. But now it was dormant and dead. The screams of those who once occupied it were now and forever silent. He missed them. In the distance he spied the city, a great spire of smoke still drifted from its ruined corpse. It had been nearly a month since the so named 'Judgement of Sigmar' had struck the city, it had quickly become a haven for those not wanting to be found or those serving a higher purpose. Like Halibel.

********

It had only been a week or two since he had entered the city, he had forgotten since time never seemed to flow here, but Halibel now had quite the gathering. His cult's den, as he called it, sprawled a single three story building. The ruined rooms were rife with debauchery that would make a servant of the pleasure god blush. Rough cloth died purple hung all over the building, the rooms used them as rugs or doors for the more private of events. Everywhere he walked the smell of the blue lotus clogged the air. The rare flower had some very interesting effects when burnt, the smoke became a powerful hallucinogenic and aphrodisiac. Something that helped him gather those needed. Nodding to two fully inducted brethren he picked out four females from a group in one of the rooms, each semmingly involved in an act more mind boggling than the last. The two robed figures wound their way past the profligate revellers to the chosen, and unceremoniously dragged them from the room. Taking one last look, Halibel took a deep breath and left, leaving the moaning and gasps to echo down an empty hall.

The drugged women were carried down to a darkened cellar, lit only by a dozen half burnt candles. The first female was lain across the stone tablet in the middle, a large arcane circle has be carved into its surface, deep channels cut into the rock. Pulling a curved dagger from beneath his robes, Halibel began to mutter a prayer. His words would bring his dark master's, the mysterious “Shadow Lord”, gaze towards his sacrifice. Plunging the dagger down, its highly polished surface cut into her pale skin with ease, in a moment of lucidity she arced her back, a tortured scream tore from her blood flecked lips as the blade gouged a rough circular shape in her chest. Her last, final gasp came as he ripped the vital muscle from her chest. Her corpse flopped back down onto the stone, the channels below filled with crimson, completing the arcane symbol. Turning, the bloody heart in his hands, Halibel dropped it into the burning brazier next to him. The hissing sound of meat being cooked filled the silence, the crackling of the coking meat suddenly gave way to roaring flames of black and white leaping from the brazier, forming a leering daemonic visage for mere moments before vanishing once more.

“Ulquiorra” he muttered. “Dinner”. From one of the darkened corner of the room a hulking figure emerged. It stood nearly a head taller than any other in the room, its hunched body was constantly racked with changes, as if the skin was being pushed at from inside. Its slack jawed face belied the possessed power. Halibel knew that either of its three arms could rip a limb off. As if illustrating his unspoken observation Ulquiorra picked up the heartless woman and in a sharp, vicious movement he tore her arm free from the body. Acidic saliva dripped from the creatures maw as its powerful jaws clamped hard on the necrotic flesh and Ulquiorra tore a chunk of pale flesh off, before gulping it down.

Halibel tore his gaze away from the spectacle. He had work to do.

The first round!

So, week one of the campaign kicked off today. I managed to gain a win and a loss, facing a Marienburg mercenaries and a Carnival of Chaos. The humans were tricky, and I lost because my best fighter was well out of the fight! I left my possessed out on the left to chase archers, while the bulk of my group got stuck in with the rest of the warband. That said, the possessed did munch through four people that game! As a result he gained the "sprint" ability and now has a very scary 15" charge range. I failed due to a rout test.

The game against the carnival was capture the wyrdstone counters. I decided not to, mainly because he had all but one of them by the second turn. I did do a bit of damage, the possessed once more gaining a kill and the "step aside" ability for a save in combat. I won as he elected to rout, giving me the win.

I currently have five shards of stone, which can be sold. I lost two members of my band, but brought a solitary one back. My next game I am considering selling the stones before the game so I can afford another mutant. He's going to have two hammers and a stinger tail - giving me two bludgeoning attacks and a single S5 attack. Will cost about 71gc though. He does also give me an extra dice on the exploration chart though.

Possession in the ruins!

As I mentioned below, my gaming group is just starting a Mordhiem campaign. Mordhiem is one of those great Specialist games that GW decided to relegate to near non-existence. They have gone as far as to remove most of the warband miniatures available to play with. They do however have the rulebook on their website for free, which is very good news. It also has the built in usefulness of containing the major legal warbands available in the game - with "Town Crier" adding numerous others later on.

As I said, the game has no support at all. I believe they review the rules once a year, but there are no articles or other kind of support for such a fun skirmish game. I have played Mordhiem breifly before and found it to be a very fun game, and one of the few that works best with lots of terrain.

The campaign is taking place a month after the landing of the comet that destroyed the city. The warbands are getting the chance to investigate the ruins for the first time. The rules are basic, more stuff will be added later as we progress, but the main thing at the moment is that players must ally with one other player for the first three turns - as in, they may not attack one another. After the three turns, its up to them if they want to break the alliance. I had the choice of two races - my beloved Dwarfs or the dark worshippers - the Cult of the Possessed. I chose the latter.

Fancying something a bit different, I went with the chaos worshippers. They are looking to be a pretty good band - if a little small. The cost of the basic warriors is a little steep as is the cost of the combat hero, the possessed. He has the chance to be a combat monster, starting at WS4, S4, T4 and W2 makes him quite tough, especially if you give him the extra arm mutation like I did. He now has three S4 attacks. I'm hoping he'll be able to do damage quickly, as he has no armour - he's going to need to use cover and combat to protect him. Below I'll include my starting warband.

Magister - Axe (75gc)

Possessed - Extra Arm mutation (130gc)

Mutatnt - Axe, Hammer, Hammer, Extra arm mutation (76gc)

Beastman - Axe, mace (53gc)

2x Brethren - Spear (70gc)

2x Brethren - Axe, mace (66gc)

1x Brethren - mace (28gc)


You'll notice my list is small, that is mainly because of the possessed. He costs 90gc base, and must have one mutation. This makes him rather expensive, and removes some money to play with - I just hope he's worth it. The other thing, is that I am favouring hammers/maces. The reason is they stun on a 2-5 roll, this makes them ideal weapons in combat. I'm planning on engaging with multiple enemies, so hopefully he'll get to club someone down and either the possessed/beastman/mutant will get the finishing blow. The spear armed brethren are there to defend my weak magistar with their 'strike first' spears, allowing him to either step in with an attack or get to a safer distance.

As of yet I am unsure of a warband name, fluff or colours. I'm leaning towards something purple, but it will not be for a while yet as I have the priority of the Orks first. Then there is another plan I have, before I get around to doing these guys. I am also awaiting some bits to test out on my armless mutant, so I'm in no rush.