Mordheim
Encyclopedia
Mordheim is a tabletop game
produced by Games Workshop
. It is a skirmish variant of the company's popular Warhammer Fantasy
game set on a smaller scale with players fielding 15-20 models each, rather than the 150-200 models allowed in Warhammer Fantasy.
Mordheim was chiefly written and developed by former Games Workshop
employee Tuomas Pirinen.
', based on their different characters. For those who play Warhammer 40K, Mordheim is often cited as the Necromunda
equivalent for the Warhammer Fantasy Universe. However, the warriors in Mordheim tend to have far more protections than those in Necromunda, therefore granting Mordheimers a much higher survival rate.
More recently, fan groups have released several "Alternative Settings," to allow players to fight in other locations, such as Araby
(Relics of the Crusades), Cathay
(Border Town Burning), Karak Azgal (Battles Underground), Khemri
(Land of the Dead), Lustria
(Cities of Gold), Mousillon
(City of Lost Souls) or Sylvania
using the basic Mordheim gaming rules. Also, fans continue to develop new warbands, and revise old ones; however, at this time there is no official news of a major revision. That last official revision was published in the Mordheim: Annual 2002.
Having gone almost a full five years with only marginal support, fans around the world have begun to revise the original rules for Mordheim, fixing old oversights, and updating armies to be more in line with Warhammer 7th (Mordheim was designed under Warhammer 5th).
, which he would restore the land to its former glory and usher in a new golden age. Everybody traveled to Mordheim, filling the city well beyond its capacity. Such were the times that lawlessness soon grew out of hand. The citizens of Mordheim quickly degenerated to moral debauchery, giving themselves over to their own worldly temptations, living in an increasing state of anarchy. As time drew closer to the comet’s arrival, more and more people made the journey to Mordheim, and the situation became worse. As people gave in to acts of depravity, demons walked the streets like men, the seeds of Chaos and corruption long since having claimed the souls of the pitiful thousands who now called Mordheim their own.
The comet fell on New Year's Eve, but it was not to be the coming of Sigmar as predicted. The comet smashed into the city, instantly killing those who had gathered around it. Word got out that Sigmar had passed his judgment, that he had smote those who he deemed unworthy. The place of Mordheim became a place of fear and paranoia. Soon after, word spread of a mysterious stone that lay scattered about the city, known as Wyrdstone
, which had all manner of reputed qualities. It was discovered that factions would pay incredible amounts for this precious stone, whatever their motivation. So warbands began traveling to Mordheim, now dubbed The City of the Damned, hoping to find this precious stone and make their quick fortunes…
After the Great War against Chaos, Magnus the Pious razed the remaining ruins, and had the name of Mordheim stricken from every history record available.
OFFICIAL WARBANDS
Any warband published and recognized as an official and allowed warband by Games Workshop. These warbands can be used in official Mordheim Tournaments.
UNOFFICIAL WARBANDS
These warbands have been published through some Games Workshop-controlled medium but are not allowed in tournaments. Some may only be appropriate for certain settings.
There are also a number of Experimental Warbands circulating online. These are warbands never published or recognized in any way by Games Workshop, also called "Homebrewed" warbands.
Hired Swords are specialized mercenaries that are hired to boost the fighting power of the warband. Some, such as the Halfling Cook, can also provide the player with special abilities not otherwise available, such as the potential to include more warband members.
Official Hired Swords
Printed Rulebook:
Other Sources:
in the Warhammer Fantasy
game and are typically more powerful than simple Hired Swords.
Official Dramatis Personae
Printed Rulebook:
Other Sources:
Although the element of random chance is high enough that any warband from the original rules can beat any other warband most players agree - as they have ever since the games release in 1998 - that the core rules are unbalanced. It should be stated that fans do not agree on the extent to which they think that the original rules are unbalanced, but the main points of criticism are as follows:
In September 2007, one of the game's foremost supporters described the state of the game as "Knocked down, but not stunned" in an article written for the largest Mordheim E-Zine, called "Letters of the Damned" http://redclawgaming.com/cs/files/11/letters_of_the_damned/entry1259.aspx. Despite these crippling circumstances, Mordheim continues to enjoy a cult following over most of the Western world with fans working to compile all of the hard-to-find material released 1998-2006 http://www.mordheimer.com/, to expand the rules and report of matters of general interest to the game http://redclawgaming.com/cs/files/11/letters_of_the_damned/default.aspx or to re-write the now dated 1999-rules to facilitate smoother play http://indadvendt.dk/mordheim/.
In February 2008 Games Workshop amended their mail-order indexes, removing numerous Mordheim models from their online store. http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=133905 As the miniatures for Mordheim were already reduced to "mail order only" this effectively meant that specific Mordheim miniatures were and are no longer available from Games Workshop.
In February 2010 Games Workshop stopped supplying the basic Mordheim rulebook for purchase as a physical book.
Border Town Burning is the biggest post 2004 development in Mordheim. It contains detailed expansionrules for campaigns in the Cathayan borderlands, detailing the merchant travels along the "Silk Road" from Cathay
to the Old World
.
Relics of the Crusades (refer to external links below) is another expansion set, this time set in Araby
during the Crusades
. The setting is very detailed and was originally published through official channels and so can be said to be semi-official.
The Coreheim rules modification that streamlines and balances the original Mordheim rules so that play progresses faster and more weapons options are viable. The name 'Coreheim' is a play on words which signifies that the designers thought that the setting, featuring the only a handful of warbands, had been diluted by the introduction of so many later warbands.
Tabletop game
Tabletop game is a general term used to refer to board games, card games, dice games, miniatures wargames, tile-based games and other games that are normally played on a table or other flat surface...
produced by Games Workshop
Games Workshop
Games Workshop Group plc is a British game production and retailing company. Games Workshop has published the tabletop wargames Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40,000...
. It is a skirmish variant of the company's popular Warhammer Fantasy
Warhammer Fantasy
Warhammer Fantasy is a fantasy setting, created by Games Workshop, which is used by many of the company's games. Some of the best-known games set in this world are: the table top wargame Warhammer Fantasy Battle, the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay pen-and-paper role-playing game, and the MMORPG...
game set on a smaller scale with players fielding 15-20 models each, rather than the 150-200 models allowed in Warhammer Fantasy.
Mordheim was chiefly written and developed by former Games Workshop
Games Workshop
Games Workshop Group plc is a British game production and retailing company. Games Workshop has published the tabletop wargames Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40,000...
employee Tuomas Pirinen.
The Game of Mordheim
Besides being a typical miniature skirmish game, Mordheim also features a campaign system. Warbands gain experience and equipment as the campaign progresses, in a similar nature to role-playing games. Accordingly, players can develop stories, or 'fluffFluff
Fluff is a noun for anything light, soft, or fuzzy and may also be:* Belly button fluff, also known as navel lint* A lightweight file manager using the FLTK user interface library and the default file manager in Tiny Core Linux-A brand or product:...
', based on their different characters. For those who play Warhammer 40K, Mordheim is often cited as the Necromunda
Necromunda
Necromunda is a skirmish tabletop war game produced by Specialist Games .In Necromunda, players control rival gangs battling each other in the Underhive, a place of anarchy and violence in the depths below the Hive City...
equivalent for the Warhammer Fantasy Universe. However, the warriors in Mordheim tend to have far more protections than those in Necromunda, therefore granting Mordheimers a much higher survival rate.
More recently, fan groups have released several "Alternative Settings," to allow players to fight in other locations, such as Araby
Araby
Araby may refer to:* Araby , a historic home listed on the NRHP* "Araby" , from James Joyce's 1914 Dubliners* Araby , a country in the Warhammer Fantasy setting by Games Workshop* Araby, LA, USA...
(Relics of the Crusades), Cathay
Cathay (Warhammer)
Cathay is a fictional nation in Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy universe. Cathay is the Warhammer equivalent of China, based upon Chinese History with an added mixture of High Fantasy and Chinese folklore. Cathay was actually the name given to northern China in the 14th century by Marco Polo...
(Border Town Burning), Karak Azgal (Battles Underground), Khemri
Khemri
An undead nation in the fictional world of the Warhammer Fantasy setting, Khemri is home to the Tomb Kings, an army composed of skeletons and various decayed creatures. The theme of the army is based on the culture of Ancient Egypt, with an emphasis on its more morbid tendencies such as mummification...
(Land of the Dead), Lustria
Lustria
In the Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy fictional universe, Lustria is a region located to the south of the Naggaroth, modelled in many ways on the pre-Columbian Americas.- Overview :...
(Cities of Gold), Mousillon
Bretonnia
In Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy fictional universe, Bretonnia is a country located west of the Empire, between the Grey Mountains and the Great Ocean in the lands that were once part of the domain of the Elves...
(City of Lost Souls) or Sylvania
Vampire Counts
Vampire Counts are one of the two factions of the Undead playable in the tabletop wargame Warhammer Fantasy Battle, the other being the Tomb Kings, from the sixth edition onward when Games Workshop divided the old Undead forces...
using the basic Mordheim gaming rules. Also, fans continue to develop new warbands, and revise old ones; however, at this time there is no official news of a major revision. That last official revision was published in the Mordheim: Annual 2002.
Having gone almost a full five years with only marginal support, fans around the world have begun to revise the original rules for Mordheim, fixing old oversights, and updating armies to be more in line with Warhammer 7th (Mordheim was designed under Warhammer 5th).
Background
The game is set in the Empire city of Mordheim, from Imperial Year 1999, some 500 years before the present day in the Warhammer Fantasy time line. (Translated from German Mordheim means "home of murder", -heim being a very frequent toponym ending. To avoid these connotations the title of the German edition was changed Mortheim.) The Empire was a place torn: it had been in civil war for years – there was no Emperor sitting on the throne, and various powers were vying for control. In the Imperial year 1999, a great comet was sighted in the sky – a twin tailed comet, the sign of Sigmar. Astronomers predicted that it would fall in the city of Mordheim, where his convent of Sisters stood. It was believed that it would herald the return of SigmarSigmar
Sigmar Heldenhammer is a fictional deity in the Warhammer Fantasy setting. He is the patron deity of The Empire. Before he became a god, Sigmar was a man, albeit an exceptional, perhaps even superhuman one...
, which he would restore the land to its former glory and usher in a new golden age. Everybody traveled to Mordheim, filling the city well beyond its capacity. Such were the times that lawlessness soon grew out of hand. The citizens of Mordheim quickly degenerated to moral debauchery, giving themselves over to their own worldly temptations, living in an increasing state of anarchy. As time drew closer to the comet’s arrival, more and more people made the journey to Mordheim, and the situation became worse. As people gave in to acts of depravity, demons walked the streets like men, the seeds of Chaos and corruption long since having claimed the souls of the pitiful thousands who now called Mordheim their own.
The comet fell on New Year's Eve, but it was not to be the coming of Sigmar as predicted. The comet smashed into the city, instantly killing those who had gathered around it. Word got out that Sigmar had passed his judgment, that he had smote those who he deemed unworthy. The place of Mordheim became a place of fear and paranoia. Soon after, word spread of a mysterious stone that lay scattered about the city, known as Wyrdstone
Warpstone
Warpstone is a fictional mutagen found in the Warhammer world, and also in the Warhammer 40,000 universe during the first and second editions. Humans and most other races in Games Workshop’s campaign game Mordheim refer to it as Wyrdstone....
, which had all manner of reputed qualities. It was discovered that factions would pay incredible amounts for this precious stone, whatever their motivation. So warbands began traveling to Mordheim, now dubbed The City of the Damned, hoping to find this precious stone and make their quick fortunes…
After the Great War against Chaos, Magnus the Pious razed the remaining ruins, and had the name of Mordheim stricken from every history record available.
Warbands
As Games Workshop expanded upon the concept of Mordheim over time without articulating a system to designate which warbands that were official and where to find them. Nonetheless, classifications do in fact exist as officially recognized warbands are listed on the Specialist Games Mordheim Rules Review.OFFICIAL WARBANDS
Any warband published and recognized as an official and allowed warband by Games Workshop. These warbands can be used in official Mordheim Tournaments.
- Averland Mercenaries
- Beastmen Raiders
- Carnival of Chaos
- Cult of the Possessed
- Dwarf Treasure Hunters
- Kislevite Warband
- Marienburg Mercenaries
- Middenheim Mercenaries
- Orcs & Goblins Hordes
- Ostland Mercenaries
- Reikland Mercenaries
- Sisters of Sigmar
- Skaven Warband
- Undead
- Witch Hunters
UNOFFICIAL WARBANDS
These warbands have been published through some Games Workshop-controlled medium but are not allowed in tournaments. Some may only be appropriate for certain settings.
- Amazon Warriors
- Black Dwarfs
- Bretonnian Knights
- Clan Pestilens
- Dark Elves Warband
- Imperial Gunnery School
- Lizardmen Warriors
- Norse Warband
- Pirate Crew
- Pit Fighters
- Shadow Warriors (The only warband ever to be taken off the list of official warbands.)
- The Outlaws of Stirwood Forest
- Tomb Guardians
There are also a number of Experimental Warbands circulating online. These are warbands never published or recognized in any way by Games Workshop, also called "Homebrewed" warbands.
Hired Swords
Besides the warriors employed in their core warbands, players can recruit hired help in the form of Hired Swords and Dramatis Personae.Hired Swords are specialized mercenaries that are hired to boost the fighting power of the warband. Some, such as the Halfling Cook, can also provide the player with special abilities not otherwise available, such as the potential to include more warband members.
Official Hired Swords
Printed Rulebook:
- Dwarf Troll Slayer
- Elf Ranger
- Freelancer
- Halfling Cook
- Ogre Bodyguard
- Pit Fighter
- Warlock
Other Sources:
- Beasthunter (Empire in Flames)
- Highwayman (Empire in Flames)
- Imperial Assassin (2002 Annual)
- Roadwarden (Empire in Flames)
- The Merchant (Town Cryer 22)
- Tilean Marksman (2002 Annual)
Dramatis Personae
Dramatis Personae is a type of special Hired Sword. Dramatis Personae are named characters who already have experience, skills and equipment of their own when first hired. They correspond to Special CharactersSpecial Characters
Special characters have been given pronunciations similar to letters and numbers in a radio alphabet. The most common pronunciations originated with users of Unix systems....
in the Warhammer Fantasy
Warhammer Fantasy
Warhammer Fantasy is a fantasy setting, created by Games Workshop, which is used by many of the company's games. Some of the best-known games set in this world are: the table top wargame Warhammer Fantasy Battle, the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay pen-and-paper role-playing game, and the MMORPG...
game and are typically more powerful than simple Hired Swords.
Official Dramatis Personae
Printed Rulebook:
- Aenur, The Sword of Twilight
- Bertha Bestraufrung, High Matriarch of the Sisterhood
- Johann the Knife
- Veskit, High Executioner of Clan Eshin
Other Sources:
- Marianna Chevaux (Town Crier #22)
- Nicodemus (2002 Annual)
- Ulli & Marquand (2002 Annual)
Criticisms
Although the element of random chance is high enough that any warband from the original rules can beat any other warband most players agree - as they have ever since the games release in 1998 - that the core rules are unbalanced. It should be stated that fans do not agree on the extent to which they think that the original rules are unbalanced, but the main points of criticism are as follows:
- The combined fact that there are no penalties for wielding two close-combat weapons and that armour isn't viable means that there is basically only one viable equipment choice for most models. This led the game's leading rules reviewer to state: "For example, two weapons are the norm in Mordheim and almost nobody uses a weapon and shield. This imbalance feels wrong to me: I’d much rather either was a viable choice, and one that was taken based on playing style, or perhaps warband type." [Reference: The MHRRv7 Document] It also led Games WorkshopGames WorkshopGames Workshop Group plc is a British game production and retailing company. Games Workshop has published the tabletop wargames Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40,000...
to release some experimental rules in an attempt to rectify that problem. http://www.sg.tacticalwargames.net/forum/index.php?PHPSESSID=b06f2778889e83e15b6212a7eebe37f7&board=21.0 However, the company stopped updating the game, and thus the initiative was never completed.
- Amongst the warbands in the original rulebook, SkavenSkavenSkaven are a race of man-sized anthropomorphic rat-creatures in Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy setting. They were officially introduced as a new Chaos race in 1986 by Jes Goodwin....
break significantly from the standard set-up of 5 heroes and 15 members in total, by allowing Skaven 6 heroes and 20 members total. These advantages confer Skaven a marked advantage in income and experience advances.[Reference: Official Rulebook, Skaven Warband]
- The internal balance of weapons is generally flawed: Even though it was supposedly fixed by the official MHRRv7-revision, the Sling is unequivocally cheaper and better than the similar Short Bow, Halberd is nearly useless, Blowpipe is fairly worthless, and so on.
State of the Game
As a Games Workshop "Specialist Game" Mordheim receives only very limited official support regarding both gaming products (such as models) and rules tweaks/updates. Preliminary suggestions for official rules were last released in 2006 though official moves in support of the game have been non-existent for even longer.In September 2007, one of the game's foremost supporters described the state of the game as "Knocked down, but not stunned" in an article written for the largest Mordheim E-Zine, called "Letters of the Damned" http://redclawgaming.com/cs/files/11/letters_of_the_damned/entry1259.aspx. Despite these crippling circumstances, Mordheim continues to enjoy a cult following over most of the Western world with fans working to compile all of the hard-to-find material released 1998-2006 http://www.mordheimer.com/, to expand the rules and report of matters of general interest to the game http://redclawgaming.com/cs/files/11/letters_of_the_damned/default.aspx or to re-write the now dated 1999-rules to facilitate smoother play http://indadvendt.dk/mordheim/.
In February 2008 Games Workshop amended their mail-order indexes, removing numerous Mordheim models from their online store. http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=133905 As the miniatures for Mordheim were already reduced to "mail order only" this effectively meant that specific Mordheim miniatures were and are no longer available from Games Workshop.
In February 2010 Games Workshop stopped supplying the basic Mordheim rulebook for purchase as a physical book.
Post 2004 Developments
Since Games Workshop stopped supporting the game in 2004, all further development has been left in the hands of fans. Amongst the Post 2004 Mordheim modules, the biggest three have been:Border Town Burning is the biggest post 2004 development in Mordheim. It contains detailed expansionrules for campaigns in the Cathayan borderlands, detailing the merchant travels along the "Silk Road" from Cathay
Cathay
Cathay is the Anglicized version of "Catai" and an alternative name for China in English. It originates from the word Khitan, the name of a nomadic people who founded the Liao Dynasty which ruled much of Northern China from 907 to 1125, and who had a state of their own centered around today's...
to the Old World
Old World
The Old World consists of those parts of the world known to classical antiquity and the European Middle Ages. It is used in the context of, and contrast with, the "New World" ....
.
Relics of the Crusades (refer to external links below) is another expansion set, this time set in Araby
Araby
Araby may refer to:* Araby , a historic home listed on the NRHP* "Araby" , from James Joyce's 1914 Dubliners* Araby , a country in the Warhammer Fantasy setting by Games Workshop* Araby, LA, USA...
during the Crusades
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...
. The setting is very detailed and was originally published through official channels and so can be said to be semi-official.
The Coreheim rules modification that streamlines and balances the original Mordheim rules so that play progresses faster and more weapons options are viable. The name 'Coreheim' is a play on words which signifies that the designers thought that the setting, featuring the only a handful of warbands, had been diluted by the introduction of so many later warbands.
Mordheim Resources
- Mordheim: City of the Damned - Basic starter Campaign Boxed Set. Includes 10 Skaven, 8 Human Mercenaries miniatures, rulebook, lots of card and plastic ruins terrain pieces, counters, range rulers and dice.
- The Living Rulebook - This is the updated version of the rulebook that comes on the basic box set. It is available for free download (in PDF form) at the Games Workshop website's Mordheim Resources section at no cost.
- Mordheim: Blood On The Streets - A building expansion pack for the basic Mordheim game system.
- Mordheim: Empire In Flames - This supplemental expansion rulebook allows players to take the fighting from the narrow, cramped streets of the ruined city and out into the untamed wilderness of the Empire. Out of print, hard to find. It is also available for free download (in PDF form) at the Games Workshop website's Mordheim Resources section.
- Mordheim: Annual 2002 - This supplemental expansion rulebook contains new warbands and rules for the Mordheim game system. It is based on new rulings by the Mordheim Rules Review Committee. Out of print, hard to find.
- Town Cryers - Original publications on the White Dwarf Magazine (issues 1-6) and later partially re-printed in a single book ("Best of Town Cryer"), later compiled into a short booklet (issues 7-29). They contain many optional rules, warbands, Alternative Settings, etc. Many of the articles were approved by the Mordheim Rules Review Committee and were included on either the Empire In Flames or the Annual 2002. While they are out of print, they continue to be sought by players and collectors alike. They can be found on Online Auctions and prices range from US $4 to US $10 per issue.
- Fanatic Online - This is a free monthly online magazine once published by Games Workshop's Specialist Games. It is the current form that the old print magazines (such as Town Cryer) has taken form. While it encompass articles, rules revisions, ideas, etc., for their many "specialist's games", you can find Mordheim specific articles.
- Fan Sites - There are many fan sites for Mordheim in existence and the best way to find these is via an Internet search.
External links
- Mordheim Official Specialist Games site. Contains Core Rules available for free download.
- The Mordheimer's Information Centre The largest fan-based site, include lists of all official skills, weapons etc.
- Tom's Boring Mordheim Forum The largest online community.
- Border Town Burning: The homepage for Border Town Burning which is a new, balanced supplement for Mordheim
- Relics of the Crusades (part 1 & part 2): a supplement set in Araby during the Warhammer Crusades.
- Coreheim: A smooth and competitive Rules Modification and a large gallery of Mordheim miniatures and terrain.