Prepping For My Local Mordheim Campaign

I’ve begun setting up a Mordheim campaign for when I return to Spokane. Talking with a few friends back home, I’ve been figuring out what house rules will be used, what factions are allowed, and how we’ll be playing each game.

Mordheim is 20 years old, and there are a lot of problems with the basic rules people have had over the years. One is that a player going pure Skaven clanrats with two daggers in each hand will just slaughter anyone they come across. I’ve heard a lot of different arguments over the years, including the unhelpful “GET GUD”, but I’ve got a solution I think works.

For those familiar with Mordheim, you know that equipping a second weapon gives you a second attack. To combat the dagger-dagger problem, our house rule will be that an additional attack made with a second weapon suffers a -2 penalty. Some heroes get additional attacks, but only the extra attack from the second weapon will do that.

Other rules are that Blazing Saddles, Chaos in the Streets, Opulent Goods, Power in the Stones, Random Happenings, Sawbones, and Ye Olde Curiosity Shoppe are all allowed, and Settlement Rules are in effect.

Another rule is that Giant Rats count as half a model for purposes of warband size, rather than being unlimited for Skaven. It was another really broken rule that made it impossible to stop the Skaven in the late game.

I’m putting together a list of warbands available, but I’m trying to keep it pretty broad, to allow people to play with any models they’d like. I’m also working on implementing rules that encourage players to paint up and model their minis to match the game.

The big question is: Do I make this campaign open-ended and neverending? Or do I have a set conclusion? There’s a great scenario that has Mordheim burning around the warbands as Magnus the Pious razes the city to the ground. That might make a good conclusion, but I’m just not sure when it should conclude.

In addition, we’ll be playing at all the different game stores in town that have tables for wargames. My old FLGS doesn’t do wargames, but Uncle’s, Gamer’s Haven and Hobbytown do, so we’ll be rotating between them to spread around the love. I haven’t decided how often we’ll play, either every other week, or once a month. I know I couldn’t keep up with a weekly game, but I could do every other week. It’s still up in the air what my schedule is when I return, so dates will be decided when I get back.

In all, I think it’ll be a really successful campaign, so long as we can get a good number of players. Our once-a-month Mordheim campaign we held in the past didn’t do so well, as we ended up with just me and one other player in the end. This time, there’s a lot more interest.

I’ve created a page for it here on Dice Monkey. I’m still updating it, but you can check it out here. If you’re local, we’re definitely interested in having you join us! If you’re not, I’ll be posting up lots of battle reports as it goes.