Mordheim vs Warhammer ?

Subject: Mordheim vs Warhammer ? Thu 3 Jul 2008 - 22:08

Hey guys, I just met a guy who plays Warhammer, and I was trying to describe the differences between Warhammer and Mordheim...but I really don't know much about warhammer.

Please just post the differences you know, and I'll update this post:

Differences Between Mordheim and Warhammer

Mordheim Warbands are comprised of 5-20 models where Warhammer Armies have 100 - 200 models.
- This creates a large reduction in cost for the Mordheim player
Mordheim models each act individually where Warhammer models are grouped together into regiments of ~20 models who act as one group.
- Mordheim has lots of buildings and terrain where Warhammer is mostly an open battlefield.
Mordheim is a Campaign-based game:
- Mordheim Units gain experience and get better after each game - Warhammer armies do not.
- In Mordheim Out Of Action does not necessarily equal death.
Mordheim has more complex Close Combat rules because of the individual units
- In Mordheim each weapon has it's own special rules (ie. swords can parry attacks) as opposed to Warhammer which groups all "Single-Handed Weapon" into one category.
- In Mordheim you can get "Critical Hits" with an attack.
Mordheim is not frequented with as many large models as in Warhammer. Mordheim largest attacking unit is a Troll/Ogre-sized model. Warhammer has Dragons, Giants, Giant Spiders, etc.

Thanks for the help.
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-Ashton Sanders
-Mordheim in Montana Blog

Subject: Re: Mordheim vs Warhammer ? Thu 3 Jul 2008 - 22:10

Mordheim is cheaper. Well that is something which makes a difference to me
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Subject: Re: Mordheim vs Warhammer ? Thu 3 Jul 2008 - 22:12

Make the warhammer regiments ("unit" refers to a warrior type or class in Warhammer, which in turn make up "regiments") 10 - 40 rather than 60 -150 Smile

Although the latter happens, it is really more the exception than the rule.

A reasonably sized army may total around 100 - 200 models (=units) organised into regiments, but the typical regiment comprises 20 models.
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Subject: Re: Mordheim vs Warhammer ? Thu 3 Jul 2008 - 22:16

Another difference:

Mordheim uses more elaborate rules for combat resolution when it comes to individual models, i.e. OOAction does not necessarily equal death. This is crucial for RPG gameplay.
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Subject: Re: Mordheim vs Warhammer ? Thu 3 Jul 2008 - 22:27

Sweet. How's that?

Anything else?
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-Ashton Sanders
-Mordheim in Montana Blog

Subject: Re: Mordheim vs Warhammer ? Thu 3 Jul 2008 - 22:30

You already covered the important ones.

- warband vs army comprising of units (you could say it's one warband vs multiple warbands)
- Campaigns exist for Warhammer as well but in Mordheim they are a core feature. It's the experience that turns normal models into powerful heroes that really makes Mordheim interesting. It's the RPG factor, the personalisation.
- There's a lot that results from the skirmish vs armies point above. Besides money, of course, it's the scenery that varies a lot. Ruined buildings and lots of climbing action vs open battle fields with little scenery pieces.
- Tom made a good point about more detailed close combat: the concept of parrying does not exist in Warhammer, neither do critical hits. The weapon choices are much more detailed as well. In Warhammer many of our weapons would be listed under "one-handed weapon" instead of having so many different types. As Tom said, losing the last wound equals death (out of action) in Warhammer instead of rolling on the injury table.
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Check out the Border Town Burning supplement for Mordheim!
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Subject: Re: Mordheim vs Warhammer ? Thu 3 Jul 2008 - 23:38

Great Points. Thanks
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-Ashton Sanders
-Mordheim in Montana Blog

Subject: Re: Mordheim vs Warhammer ? Fri 4 Jul 2008 - 0:48

Another point is that Warhammer contains many different types of units that aren't available in Mordheim. Namely war machines and big monsters (giants, dragons, giant spiders etc). It wouldn't make much sense to try and drag a dwarf cannon around Mordheim. Smile

Tom makes a good point about combat resolution and how elaborate it is in Mordheim. It's still pretty fun in Warhammer, it's just aimed at regiment based gameplay and as such you get bonuses for attacking to the flank/rear of an enemy unit, outnumbering, having a banner, causing more wounds, etc.

Subject: Re: Mordheim vs Warhammer ? Fri 4 Jul 2008 - 10:19

In general terms...what I like about Mordheim...and which I think distinquishes it from WHFB is that (atleast in my experience) its more complex in the sense that ...

1 mordheim character maneuver in much the same sense as 1 WHFB unit ...from my experience this means that there will be more "units" moneuvering around in a mordheim game than in a WHFB game...which together with the fact that theres a lot more terrain makes the whole maneuver/tactical aspect much more interesting IMO in Mordheim than in WHFB.
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Subject: Re: Mordheim vs Warhammer ? Fri 4 Jul 2008 - 10:35

Subject: Re: Mordheim vs Warhammer ? Fri 4 Jul 2008 - 12:32

There are more things in Heaven and Earth and WHFB than are dreamed of in your philosopy, Horatio, er....Ash. Suspect

Some time this Autumn my old gaming buddy, Nhoj Reppelk, & I hope to fix up a place to game [& live]. We're going to game WHFB WITH A DIFFERENCE; i.e, we'll be using the 500 pt. War Bands rules for WHFB.

These appeared in the WD [American edition] a couple of years ago. They're somewhere in the ether between skirmish level [Mordheim] & the standard WHFB. The major differences are the units are very small: as few as 3 standard infantry types or 1 cavalry/monster; the War-Bands gain experience which translates into additional troops, better equipment, AND skills for the leader(s). Casualties are rolled for: a simple live or die for the rankers, but the Mordheim thingy for the leader(s).
The W-B rules are the simpler WHFB rules rather than the more detailed skirmish/Mordheim rules [much either for us enfeebled old guys confused

].

There Are lots of different ways to play the game. Much as I like dumping on poor old GW, they have a very versitile gaming system that offers tremendous potential for interesting, imaginative games with mini warriors. WELL DONE GW! Suspect

Note: I believe that you can still download the W-B rules from GW.
Addendum: Units can have command groups if they are of the minimum size for a legal WHFB unit [Goblins & Skaven minimum 10 minis rather than 20], and things like fanatics & detachements for Empire fall in this restriction. There is a maximum of 1 Artillery Piece[including Warp Fire Throwers & Ratling Guns (Love Rats with Machine Guns)] , OR Chariot [Tomb King can have 3], AND Large Monster, e.g., Tom's Treeman [OH BABY affraid

].

Subject: Re: Mordheim vs Warhammer ? Fri 4 Jul 2008 - 20:25

Subject: Re: Mordheim vs Warhammer ? Thu 17 Jul 2008 - 22:59