| Question / Complaint / Moan - Large Creature Henchmen | |
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HornedRat Elder
Posts : 365 Trading Reputation : 1 Join date : 2008-12-19 Age : 51 Location : Culver City, California
Personal Info Primary Warband played: Skaven Achievements earned: none
| Subject: Question / Complaint / Moan - Large Creature Henchmen Wed 14 Jan 2009 - 3:34 | |
| So I really have a multi-part question / complaint. So I have been playing a Beastman warband, and FINALLY save up to buy myself a Minotaur, but my first battle finds him surrounded by no less than 1/2 of my enemies warband! 3 hits and 2 crits later my Minotaur is out of action. So come the post game sequence, and much to my horror it dawns on me there is no special table for large creatures that they roll on the same table as henchmen! And as fate would have it I rolled a 1! My beautful creature is no more!! and with it my 200GC Q. Is this really the case?? Q. Does anyone else find it a bit disturbing that Creatures such as Minotaurs, RagOgres etc that cost so much have such a high % chance to kick the bucket?? Q. Has anyone seen house rules that make this a bit less harsh? After this brutal loss, I started thinking of house rules that might make the 200GC seem like more of an investment in my warband and less of a gamble, and yet still be fair to other players. Something like: For large creatures 1-3 roll on henchmen table, 4-6 roll on hero injury table. OR something a bit more drastic .. Allowing warbands with large creature henchmen to sacrafice one of their Hero slots in order to allow the large creature to roll on the hero injury chart. The creature is still considered a henchmen for the purposes of exploration and expierence etc.. Any feed back on the quesions or rules?
Last edited by HornedRat on Wed 14 Jan 2009 - 3:36; edited 1 time in total (Reason for editing : Typo) | |
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catferret Venerable Ancient
Posts : 508 Trading Reputation : 0 Join date : 2008-08-10
Personal Info Primary Warband played: Orcs & Goblins Achievements earned:
| Subject: Re: Question / Complaint / Moan - Large Creature Henchmen Wed 14 Jan 2009 - 4:27 | |
| That really is the way it's played. Large creatures become a target and it's a huge loss if they die. Trolls seem to be the most worthwhile big guy simply because they can't die. Hired Sword ogres aren't so bad because you can always hire another one, plus the initial fee can sometimes be ignored by getting the 666 result during exploration. Aside from that, big guys are mainly there to scare people and look cool while doing it.
Rather than having multiple tables to decide where to roll for injury, why not have your house rule as follows:
Iron Constitution: The monster can shrug off wounds that might kill a lesser creature. If the beast is take Out of Action, they only die on a roll of 1 rather than the usual 1-2.
Horses in barding only die on a 1 so it's not so difficult to believe you could apply it to a monster. | |
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Ethlorien Ancient
Posts : 475 Trading Reputation : 0 Join date : 2008-09-04 Age : 43 Location : Calgary, AB
Personal Info Primary Warband played: Marauders (BTB) Achievements earned:
| Subject: Re: Question / Complaint / Moan - Large Creature Henchmen Wed 14 Jan 2009 - 4:32 | |
| Yeah - he's dead unfortunately. It's the price for being the biggest and the baddest, I guess. I've had some sweet misadventures myself in Mordheim. Honestly, if you look at it the way your opponent's are seeing it, it can come off pretty funny too - something to laugh about later on. That's what I've always liked about the Orc Mob Troll - it can't be permenantly killed. As far as house rules go: do whatever your friends allow, I guess. Your first option's not a bad idea - but I don't much care for your second option. If the creature was meant to be a hero, he would be given a hero slot. But that's just my opinion. The problem with playing around with stuff like that is you can get into situations where other players want that kind of protection too: "I've invested X amount of gold, gained X amount of XP, and now my hero/hencman died. Can I get a bonus roll?" Perhaps, as a third option, your friends will let you buy one at a reduced rate? 100-150gc? | |
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Da Bank Rules Guru
Posts : 1927 Trading Reputation : 3 Join date : 2008-01-26
Personal Info Primary Warband played: Marienburgers Achievements earned: None
| Subject: Re: Question / Complaint / Moan - Large Creature Henchmen Wed 14 Jan 2009 - 4:40 | |
| [
Q. Is this really the case??
Yes, it is.
Q. Does anyone else find it a bit disturbing that Creatures such as Minotaurs, RagOgres etc that cost so much have such a high % chance to kick the bucket?? It is tough try to keep them protected with cannon fodder.
Q. Has anyone seen house rules that make this a bit less harsh? No, but would be interesting to see what they would be.
Any feed back on the quesions or rules?[/quote] Try them out in your campaign and give feedback on how they are going. | |
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MagnoliaFan Warlord
Posts : 221 Trading Reputation : 0 Join date : 2008-12-19 Age : 39 Location : Netherlands, Rotterdam
Personal Info Primary Warband played: Sisters of Sigmar Achievements earned: none
| Subject: Re: Question / Complaint / Moan - Large Creature Henchmen Wed 14 Jan 2009 - 10:00 | |
| I have the same problem as you have! 2 weeks ago I played a small campaign with a few friend, My starting kislev warband had a bear, 2 of his heroes charched my bear and a bunch of lucky 6's later the bear was out of action . At the end of the battle I rolled a 1 and it was dead, the bear tamer was a lonely guy the rest of the campaign... I had this same problem with my skaven every time. I think its a good idea to give them a sort of save (lets say the monster dies, you get a 4+ save?) I also think its quit a investment in your warband to buy a big monster, but you shouldent underestemate the fact he causes fear and kickes a lot of ass, I think its always a good idea to acompagnie him with some friends (giant rats are a cheap solution for this) so they can intercept charges. | |
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Mushroom Youngblood
Posts : 12 Trading Reputation : 0 Join date : 2009-01-13 Age : 36 Location : Iceland
| Subject: Re: Question / Complaint / Moan - Large Creature Henchmen Wed 14 Jan 2009 - 11:14 | |
| I bought an Ogre the last time we played. It did good, but those skaven just wouldn't fail their leadership tests Then It died... and I rolled a two. But these things happen. Large henchmen are a gamble. | |
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cianty Honour Guard
Posts : 5287 Trading Reputation : 5 Join date : 2007-09-27 Location : Berlin
Personal Info Primary Warband played: Monks (BTB) Achievements earned: Silver Tom
| Subject: Re: Question / Complaint / Moan - Large Creature Henchmen Wed 14 Jan 2009 - 11:15 | |
| Big monsters like Rat Ogres and Minotaurs simply aren't worth it. Same as most Dramatis Personae and Hired Swords. "Economically" it doesn't make sense as the money is better spent on a suit of Gromril armour or even one-shot drugs and poisons. This is not true for the orc's Troll of course as he cannot die.
Maybe it is a good idea to have these kinds of monsters die only on a roll of 1 instead of 1-2. This could be combined with the Large Target rule to make these creatures more useful. If I were to implement this, this is how I would do it:
Large Target: This creature counts as a large target as defined in the shooting rules. In addition, when rolling for Serious Injuries the warrior dies on a roll of 1 instead of 1-2.
Simplicity is key here. I don't think you should make this rule too complex and on paper it looks pretty fine to me. It includes all the monsters that it should address (Rat Ogres, Ogres, Minotaurs,...) and it does not affect the Troll or the Bestigor. Note that while mounted warriors count as large targets for shooting purposes, they don't do so for rolling Serious Injuries because you roll separately for the rider and the mount.
Of course writing and using such house rules is down to personal taste but this is how I'd do it if I were to. | |
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Da Bank Rules Guru
Posts : 1927 Trading Reputation : 3 Join date : 2008-01-26
Personal Info Primary Warband played: Marienburgers Achievements earned: None
| Subject: Re: Question / Complaint / Moan - Large Creature Henchmen Wed 14 Jan 2009 - 12:28 | |
| The only big creature that seems worth the risk is the Troll as it doesn't die. Cianty is correct, all my large creatures are lighting rods and I always seem to get criticals on them by a bunch of bow happy models. | |
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Chad Venerable Ancient
Posts : 932 Trading Reputation : 0 Join date : 2008-11-07 Age : 31 Location : Poiares-Coimbra-Portugal/Exeter-Devon-England
Personal Info Primary Warband played: Pirates (Unofficial) Achievements earned: none
| Subject: Re: Question / Complaint / Moan - Large Creature Henchmen Wed 14 Jan 2009 - 13:05 | |
| Whenever I use large targets I avoid combat unless I'm almost bound to win - even if this means running as fast as I can in he opposite direction. They become great for wasting your opponent's time. | |
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catferret Venerable Ancient
Posts : 508 Trading Reputation : 0 Join date : 2008-08-10
Personal Info Primary Warband played: Orcs & Goblins Achievements earned:
| Subject: Re: Question / Complaint / Moan - Large Creature Henchmen Wed 14 Jan 2009 - 15:03 | |
| I don't like the troll being unkillable. I think I'd rather see it make death rolls as per the other big guys, but get to take it's 4+ regen save against death.
Now, with it being killable, should there be a reduction on cost and upkeep cost? Any thoughts on the matter would be appreciated. It's hard to playtest trolls as there aren't many orc players round my way. The one that does rarely buys a troll until late in campaigns. | |
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Asp Venerable Ancient
Posts : 659 Trading Reputation : 0 Join date : 2009-01-03
Personal Info Primary Warband played: Marienburgers Achievements earned: none
| Subject: Re: Question / Complaint / Moan - Large Creature Henchmen Wed 14 Jan 2009 - 16:54 | |
| For this very reason our group lets Monsters roll on the heroes serious injuries table. So much fun when a Rat Ogre rolls sold to the pits | |
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Chad Venerable Ancient
Posts : 932 Trading Reputation : 0 Join date : 2008-11-07 Age : 31 Location : Poiares-Coimbra-Portugal/Exeter-Devon-England
Personal Info Primary Warband played: Pirates (Unofficial) Achievements earned: none
| Subject: Re: Question / Complaint / Moan - Large Creature Henchmen Wed 14 Jan 2009 - 19:35 | |
| large targets using the heroes' chart sounds fun! | |
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HornedRat Elder
Posts : 365 Trading Reputation : 1 Join date : 2008-12-19 Age : 51 Location : Culver City, California
Personal Info Primary Warband played: Skaven Achievements earned: none
| Subject: Re: Question / Complaint / Moan - Large Creature Henchmen Thu 15 Jan 2009 - 4:03 | |
| I understand that there can't be an advantage without a disadvantage to balance it out and make it fair to all. Yes large Henchmen do kick a lot of butt, but 33% chance they are gone forever seems a bit steep when you consider the cost involved. It seems a shame to never see these guys in action because of that rule.
I like the idea of having these guys roll on the hero table because it makes more sense to me having them get badly wounded and having stats reduced gaining hatred etc vs just BLAM Dead or wanders off.
Even normal henchmen have and advantage that if one dies you can re-hire one that is exactly the same, something which these guys dont get. Sure you have to pay for them, but its an advantage none the less
I mean how do large creatures become legendary if they die so fast, with the hero table there is more of a chance to build character! But even on the hero table you can die so it is not like they are immune. Ideally adding a special table would be nice, but then you have the hassle of another table.
The Rule I proposed and am MOST interested in hearing feedback on is the one about forsaking one of your Hero slots in order to gain the advantage of allowing the creature to roll on the hero injury chart. Of couse this would be something you would have to declare at the time of purchase, or maybe even just make it a mandatory thing.
My reasoning is that this would gives your warband the following disadvantages to balance out the advantage of rolling on the hero table. This would in NO WAY mean your large creature is a hero. His expierence gains and all other rules would remain the same.
One less hero slot effects less income from exploration (1 less die), and the possibility that "Lads got Talent" may not have that Hero spot available to advance a normal henchman. | |
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catferret Venerable Ancient
Posts : 508 Trading Reputation : 0 Join date : 2008-08-10
Personal Info Primary Warband played: Orcs & Goblins Achievements earned:
| Subject: Re: Question / Complaint / Moan - Large Creature Henchmen Thu 15 Jan 2009 - 4:16 | |
| The problem with denying a hero slot is it means nobody would take big guys. I'd rather have cash to buy a replaceable hired sword ogre, and increased chance of exploration bonuses, than have a monster with an alternative injury chart. | |
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Mordheimer Venerable Ancient
Posts : 523 Trading Reputation : 0 Join date : 2008-06-22 Age : 50 Location : Cape Coral, FL
Personal Info Primary Warband played: Skaven Achievements earned: None
| Subject: Re: Question / Complaint / Moan - Large Creature Henchmen Thu 15 Jan 2009 - 4:20 | |
| I personally house-ruled (back in our little campaign) that Large Creatures rolled for injuries on the Hero Tables. As stated on the rules, Henchmen that roll 1-2 on the Injuries after OOA, are either dead or severely injured... they are not worthy of noting if they have injuries (i.e. a broken leg) so the Henchmen retires. The Heroes are worth to note those injuries, as they keep going on. Large creatures should be special (in the sense you want to follow what happens to them) so rolling as Heroes makes sense. | |
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StyrofoamKing Etheral
Posts : 1355 Trading Reputation : 0 Join date : 2008-02-16 Age : 39 Location : Chantilly, DC
Personal Info Primary Warband played: Pirates (Unofficial) Achievements earned: None
| Subject: Re: Question / Complaint / Moan - Large Creature Henchmen Thu 15 Jan 2009 - 13:41 | |
| How's this? (untested, I just came up with it):
IT'S ALIVE! If a large creature henchmen of yours dies, there is a chance that he is not ALL dead, but only MOSTLY dead. You may choose to visit a Reanimist in exploration phase. The reanimist charges 1 Wyrdstone counters from you, as both payment and source of reanimation.
Roll 1D6: 1 - The creature is ALL dead. He is permanently removed from your warband list. 2-3 No Spark. The creature remains dead. You may attempt to visit another Reanimator after your next game. 4-6 IT'S ALIVE! The Large creature is brought back to life! It is sadly a bit brain-damaged, however, and if it didn't suffer stupidity before, it now does. A Large creature cannot be reanimated more than once. | |
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Popmouth Ancient
Posts : 479 Trading Reputation : 0 Join date : 2008-12-10 Age : 37 Location : Gothemburg, Sweden
Personal Info Primary Warband played: Kislevites Achievements earned: none
| Subject: Re: Question / Complaint / Moan - Large Creature Henchmen Thu 15 Jan 2009 - 14:54 | |
| I've played some skaven with a Ratogre in my warband and I quite enjoy the gambling moment of investing in a large creature - sometimes it survives for quite some time; while as in your case it may die after only one game - is not this the charm of mordheim in a way? | |
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Imbued84 Champion
Posts : 44 Trading Reputation : 0 Join date : 2008-12-08 Age : 39 Location : Hässleholm, Sweden
Personal Info Primary Warband played: Undead Achievements earned: none
| Subject: Re: Question / Complaint / Moan - Large Creature Henchmen Thu 15 Jan 2009 - 23:42 | |
| I liked the Re-animation house rule. Kind of makes me think of Bonerippers fate at the hands of Gotrek in Skavenslayer. But personally I support both the "Hero-chart" and "out on 1s" alternatives. Have to discuss this with my gaming group. | |
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HornedRat Elder
Posts : 365 Trading Reputation : 1 Join date : 2008-12-19 Age : 51 Location : Culver City, California
Personal Info Primary Warband played: Skaven Achievements earned: none
| Subject: Re: Question / Complaint / Moan - Large Creature Henchmen Thu 22 Jan 2009 - 8:01 | |
| Sorry to dig this back up after a week of no posts, but I was thinking it and came up with this for a house rule. Tell me what you think Allowing Large Henchmen to roll on Hero injury chart, but every time they have to roll they must pass a Ld Test. If they fail, they decide its just not worth it and leave the war band. My reasoning is this. After reading the Henchmen injury chart the description of 1-2 says that they are dead or decided to move on to greener pastures etc.. | |
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Identity Elder
Posts : 368 Trading Reputation : -2 Join date : 2009-01-14 Location : California
Personal Info Primary Warband played: Lizardmen (Unofficial) Achievements earned: none
| Subject: Re: Question / Complaint / Moan - Large Creature Henchmen Thu 22 Jan 2009 - 8:27 | |
| It seems to me this house rule would drastically increase the likelihood of the large henchmen leaving the warband. To simplify things, you'd have to not roll a 1 on the hero injury chart (83%) as well as pass a leadership test (72% minotaur, 17% rat ogre) in order to live. That's a 40% chance to die for the minotaur and 86% chance to die with a rat ogre... I'd rather take the chances of 1 or 2 on a D6 to die (33%). I think the unofficial kroxigor is the only large creature which would benefit from this rule.
Edit: My group currently plays using the hero injury table. I think a re-hire price reduction would be a good solution as well. Lets say the large creature goes OOA once every three games. Using the default rules, in an average of 9 games, it will die once. The troll will cost 135 over the course of this period, roughly 2/3rds its hire value, and it wont die. Perhaps the second hiring of a rat ogre or minotaur could be reduced to 2/3rds price (represented by trade relations with Clan Moulder or a minotaur tribe being already established). This still requires players to be cautious with the large creatures as they're still well over 100 gold to replace, but it allows for warbands which got very unlucky with a death to recover in 2-3 games. I would still consider the troll to be better, as players can (and do) throw them around with utter disregard to their wellbeing. I personally do not like any unit which is able to be used in such a capacity. (I'd like OOA trolls to have to roll a 3+ or sit out a game regenerating their injuries, but that's a different issue entirely.) | |
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Von Kurst Distinguished Poster
Posts : 7973 Trading Reputation : 3 Join date : 2009-01-19
Personal Info Primary Warband played: Achievements earned: none
| Subject: Re: Question / Complaint / Moan - Large Creature Henchmen Thu 22 Jan 2009 - 15:01 | |
| - cianty wrote:
- Big monsters like Rat Ogres and Minotaurs simply aren't worth it. Same as most Dramatis Personae and Hired Swords. "Economically" it doesn't make sense as the money is better spent on a suit of Gromril armour or even one-shot drugs and poisons. This is not true for the orc's Troll of course as he cannot die.
Maybe it is a good idea to have these kinds of monsters die only on a roll of 1 instead of 1-2. This could be combined with the Large Target rule to make these creatures more useful. If I were to implement this, this is how I would do it:
Large Target: This creature counts as a large target as defined in the shooting rules. In addition, when rolling for Serious Injuries the warrior dies on a roll of 1 instead of 1-2.
Simplicity is key here. I don't think you should make this rule too complex and on paper it looks pretty fine to me. It includes all the monsters that it should address (Rat Ogres, Ogres, Minotaurs,...) and it does not affect the Troll or the Bestigor. Note that while mounted warriors count as large targets for shooting purposes, they don't do so for rolling Serious Injuries because you roll separately for the rider and the mount.
Of course writing and using such house rules is down to personal taste but this is how I'd do it if I were to. I like to start a Beasts or Skaven warband with a Minotaur or Rat Ogre. The big guy is usually unkillable by a lone enemy hero and can take on groups of warriors as well. When he's gone the rest of the band has usually advanced to where I don't miss him and a Minotaur that lasts the campaign (14 weeks or so for us) is priceless. House rule--we have instituted the Nemesis rule that a Troll that is taken out by fire must roll to see if it dies. Did you mean Centigor? instead of Bestigor? I like the idea of Rat Ogres only dieing on a '1'. Or rolling on the hero chart. I don't like tying the rule to the Large Target rule because of the example given above of mounted models. This is mainly because of the blurb in BTB that a warband that includes a mounted model counts as +20 warband rating because of the Large Target rule. By your reasoning I only count as +20 when I'm being shot at? | |
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PitFighterTrainer Ancient
Posts : 414 Trading Reputation : 4 Join date : 2009-01-19 Location : Houston, TX
Personal Info Primary Warband played: Pit Fighters (Unofficial) Achievements earned: none
| Subject: Re: Question / Complaint / Moan - Large Creature Henchmen Thu 22 Jan 2009 - 16:36 | |
| Honestly, I like the Pit Fighter Ogre, and it's theme. Yes, it's a lot of gc to get him, BUT, you have other units to back him up with. If played right, the Ogre can last a long time, and possibly earn the Lad's got Talent roll.
The way I see it, is that you know beforehand that you can hire an ogre, or whatever large henchman your warband has an option for, and you have to equip him. Then, you battle. Like stated above, if he's taken out of action, he might die/leave. That's the choice you made when you bought him.
Trolls counter this by not being able to die. Oh well, just remmeber to bring some torches or something.
Most of the other Large Henchmen have the chance (yes, small, but this is what makes them worth it) to get to become a hero. I have lost my ogre a few times in past campaigns/battles, and yes, it hurt. A Lot. BUT, this campaign, I got him to become a HERO, and thinking back on the past ones, it is fitting. This one was better than the others, in that (thematically) he's more adept to fighting, surviving, etc. I like giving them a background and story, and what happens in the games defines that.
So, yes, it's tough losing a henchman like the Rat Ogre, Minotaur, and whatnot, BUT, if they became a HERO, would you complain that they cost too much? All I can say is take the good with the bad. | |
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Fallen Captain
Posts : 64 Trading Reputation : 0 Join date : 2008-12-16 Age : 33 Location : Australia
Personal Info Primary Warband played: Beastmen (EIF) Achievements earned: none
| Subject: Re: Question / Complaint / Moan - Large Creature Henchmen Fri 23 Jan 2009 - 2:11 | |
| What I see here is an argument that is similar to my brother's ranting at his Reiklander Marksman equipped with a Hochloand Long Rifle being killed permenantly.
It's just the price you pay for being awesome.
On another note, my rat ogres have a tendency to be the meatshield of my Skaven Leader, and 200gc to protect my one irreplacable guy is worth it in my eyes. Especially since he usually has Art of Silent Death and Fighting Claws... | |
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Pervavita Venerable Ancient
Posts : 728 Trading Reputation : 0 Join date : 2011-09-12 Age : 43 Location : Seattle WA (USA)
Personal Info Primary Warband played: Amazons (Unofficial) Achievements earned: none
| Subject: Re: Question / Complaint / Moan - Large Creature Henchmen Tue 7 Feb 2012 - 23:32 | |
| (closest I can find to a necro) I know it's old but I wanted to find/make a house rule on large models and thought i would look. The first thing I thought of was only "dead" on a roll of 1 (17% chance of death). This is the simplest and probably for that reason the best. Using the Hero Chart might be fun though. ON the "it's a risk that you know of when you buy it"; Ya it's a risk you know of, but the risk vastly outways the use you can get out of him. most just aren't worth the investment and as such are never purchused. So to me it's all about encouraging there use just as there is a reason to encourage the use of armour as in most cases it is useless. Getting more viable options for your warband only means more fun for all. Thats my 2GC on the subject. | |
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aviphysics Champion
Posts : 43 Trading Reputation : 0 Join date : 2012-02-02
| Subject: Re: Question / Complaint / Moan - Large Creature Henchmen Wed 8 Feb 2012 - 2:50 | |
| You could follow a house roll that we have been discussing over in the "making shields useful thread". Basically you either allow models with sufficient armor save or the use of an item like healing herbs to allow a re-roll on the injury chart.
I will say that you have to expect to lose some good units. Just the other week I got flanked and the enemy warband tore three of my archers to tiny bits. Each one cost 100 GP with their long bow, hunting arrows and blunderbuss! I got the odds and lost one of them. That is just the way it goes. Why should someone with a large mob get better odds than I do?
My advice is to either make or modify an item that anyone can buy for any creature or just live with it and don't buy creatures you aren't willing to lose. | |
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