Zamula Tribe Hunting Pack (Updated 22-Feb-2011)

Dark Ones: Zamula Tribe Hunting Pack

v 0.2a 22-Feb-2011 by Balrog the Buff, reviewed by Redhammer and Tom Boring’s Mordheim Forum people!
v 0.2 19-Feb-2011 by Balrog the Buff, reviewed by Redhammer from Chaos Dwarf Online
v 0.1 18-Feb-2011 by Balrog the Buff

The Zamula are a peaceful group of tribes located in the jungles of the Southlands. They have an unofficial peace with the Lizardmen who live in the jungles and tame animals to make life easier. In times of need the Zamula gather into hunting packs and reluctantly go to war. However simply because they do not want war does not mean they are weak or untrained. They are excellent hunters and have learned their craft in the dangerous jungles of their homes.

Designer Note: the Zamula are a mostly original team based off the Dark Ones mentioned briefly in existing Warhammer fluff.

SPECIAL RULES
Jungle-Born: All Zamula heroes and animals may reroll any failed test against Jungle hazards.

Skilled Hunters: When attempting to locate hidden enemies Zamula models add 1 to their initiative, up to human maximum. Animals do not gain this bonus.

Choice of warriors
An Zamula Tribe warband must include a minimum of three models. You have 500 gold crowns which you can use to recruit and equip your warband. The maximum number of warriors in the warband is 12. Note that Animals do NOT count towards this limit!

Packmaster: Each Zamula Tribe warband must have one Packmaster: no more, no less!
Medicine Man: Your warband may include up to one Medicine Man
Beastmasters: Your warband may include up to two Beastmasters
Stalker: Your warband may include up to one Stalker
Tribesman: Your warband may include any number of Tribesmen
Bonded: Your warband may include up to Five Bonded


Starting experience
A Packmaster starts with 20 Experience.
A Medicine Man starts with 8 Experience.
A Beastmaster starts with 8 Experience.
A Stalker starts with 12 Experience.
All Henchmen start with 0 Experience.

Skills:
Packmaster: Academic, Beastmastery, Combat, Strength, Speed
Medicine Man: Academic, Beastmastery, Shaman
Beastmaster: Beastmastery, Strength, Speed
Stalker: Combat, Speed, Shooting

Zamula equipment list
Hand-to-hand combat weapons
Dagger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1st free/2 gc
Club . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 gc
Axe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 gc
Spear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 gc
Sword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 gc
Beast Lash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 gc
Two Handed Weapon . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 gc
Jungle Claws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 gc

Missile weapons
Shortbow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 gc
Javelins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 gc
Nets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 gc
Spear Thrower . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 gc
Throwing Knives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 gc
Blow Pipe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 gc

Armour
Buckler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 gc
Shield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 gc
Light Armor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 gc

Miscellaneous Equipment
Hide Cloak (Wolf Cloak) . . . . . . 10 gc




HEROES
1 Packmaster – 60 gc
Packmaster is the title of the warriors that lead the Zamula Hunting Packs. They are accomplished hunters and warriors, and have earned the respect of their tribe.
M WS BS S T W I A Ld
4 4 4 3 3 1 4 1 8
Weapons/Armour: Weapons and armor chosen from the Zamula equipment list.
Special Rules: Leader

0-1 Medicine Man - 45gc
(Medicine Man Fluff)
M WS BS S T W I A Ld
4 2 2 3 3 1 3 1 7
Weapons/Armour: Weapons chosen from the Zamula equipment list.
Special Rules: Healer, Shaman Mask, Shaman Magic
Healer: The Medicine Man starts with the Shamanistic Healing skill.
Shaman Mask: These special masks vary greatly in appearance. Regardless of looks each mask causes the Medicine Man to Cause Fear. It also provides a 6+ save against stun similar to a helmet.
Shaman Magic: The Medicine man starts with a randomly generated spell from the Shaman Spells.

0-2 Beastmasters - 30gc
Some Bonded achieve a deeper level of understanding with their animal companions. These individuals are known as Beastmasters and highly honored in Zamula society. They train young Bonded and help protect the tribe from dangers.
M WS BS S T W I A Ld
4 3 3 3 3 1 3 1 7
Weapons/Armour: Weapons and armor chosen from the Zamula equipment list.
Special Rules:
Beastmaster: Beastmasters begin with a Mark of the Beast of their choice. They must purchase a pet at recruitment, or have a suitable pet already in the warband waiting for a master.

0-1 Stalker - 55gc
Every Zamula Tribe has at least one Stalker. Stalkers are recluses who are respected and feared in equal measure by their fellow Zamula. They do not live with animals but rather in conflict with. When a dangerous beast is spotted the tribe call upon the Stalkers to kill or drive off the animal. In times of conflict they bring their knowledge of stealth and poisons to bear on the tribe’s enemies.
M WS BS S T W I A Ld
4 3 4 3 3 1 4 1 7
Weapons/Armour: Weapons and armor chosen from the Zamula equipment list.
Special Rules:
Animal Slayer: Stalkers have the Animal Slayer skill.
Infiltration: This is the same as the Skaven skill of the same name
Loner: Immune to all alone tests.
Jungle Poisons: All of the Stalkers weapons are coated with Dark Venom (the one that is +1 S)


HENCHMEN
0+ Zamula Tribesmen -20gc
Zamula tribesmen are capable hunters, but not warriors by nature. Some volunteer to support the Hunting Packs when they go to war or on important missions. These tribesmen use the skills they acquired through a lifetime of hunting to fight on the battlefield.
M WS BS S T W I A Ld
4 2 3 3 3 1 3 1 6
Weapons/Armour: Weapons and armor chosen from the Zamula equipment list.

0-5 Bonded - 20gc
Bonded are tribesmen and women who have dedicated their lives to working and if need be, fighting alongside jungle animals.
M WS BS S T W I A Ld
4 2 2 3 3 1 3 1 7
Weapons/Armour: Weapons and armor chosen from the Zamula equipment list.
SPECIAL RULES
Bonded: Each group of Bonded must have a mark of a specific animal, for no additional cost. That group may only have animals of that species. If a Bonded dies their animal is not killed, but will not participate until a handler is made available. Each Bonded allows one animal of their Mark to be included in the warband.
Skilled with Animals: Bonded that become heroes MUST take Beastmastery as one of their skills.

SPECIAL EQUIPMENT

Jungle Claws – 20 gc – Rare 6 (Zamula only)
Strength: As user
Special Rules: Parry, Matched Pair
Matched Pair: Jungle Claws count as an additional weapon and they use up both hands in combat.
Parry: Jungle Claws allow the user to reroll their parry like a Buckler and Sword would.

Jungle Claws come in many varieties ranging from blades strapped to the warrior’s arms to elaborate gauntlets designed to mimic an animal’s claws. The Zamula use these in a savage fighting style involving quickly closing in and rapid strikes.

Beast Lash – 15 gc – Rare 7 (Zamula only)
Strength: As user -1
Special Rules: Whip-crack, Beast-Lash
Whipcrack: this is the same as the Steel Whip’s rule.
Beast-Lash: A model using the Beast-Lash causes Fear in animals.

Zamula are loath to use Beast Lashes but when enemy tribes use animals against them they understand the power of putting fear into an animal’s heart.

Spear Thrower – 5 gc – Rare 5 (Zamula only)
Strength: Special
Special Rules: Extra Range, Extra Punch
Extra Range: The Spear Thrower is not really a weapon in itself, but a tool for throwing javelins for greater range. When a model has a Spear Thrower their Javelin range is increased to 12” from 8”.
Extra Punch: The extra force from a Spear Thrower makes the projectiles more deadly as well. The projectiles gain the ‘cutting edge’ ability and therefore reduce enemy armor saves by 1.

Zamula use a mechanical leverage device to allow them to throw javelins farther and harder than by hand alone. A Spear Thrower by itself is useless and requires Javelins to throw.


Animals
Trained Animals do not gain experience and do not count towards the warband maximum size. However they do count for selling treasure and other exploration purposes. Each Pet belongs to a specific group or hero and should be identified as such. If taken OOA an Animal is treated in the same fashion as a henchman. Animals count as models for routing purposes.

Jungle Cat - 40 gold crowns to train
(Jungle Cat Fluff)
M WS BS S T W I A Ld
6 4 0 4 3 1 4 1+1 5
Weapons/Armour: Fangs and Claws
SPECIAL RULES
Silent Predator: When charging from Hiding a Jungle Cat may reroll one failed to-hit roll.
Extra Attack: The Jungle Cat has an additional attack that counts the same as a warrior fighting with two weapons.

Trained Monkey - 20 gold crowns to train
(Trained Monkey Fluff)
M WS BS S T W I A Ld
4 2 3 2 2 1 4 1 4
Weapons/Armour: Hands, Feet and Rocks
SPECIAL RULES
Rocks: Trained Monkeys may throw rocks. Rocks are Range 6” S3 and are Thrown weapons.
Monkeying Around: Monkeys have the skills: Dodge, Scale Sheer Surface and Acrobat.
Can Climb: Unlike most animals, Trained Monkeys can climb.

Tree Snake - 30 gold crowns to train
(Tree Snake Fluff)
M WS BS S T W I A Ld
4 3 0 3 3 1 3 1 4
Weapons/Armour: Fangs and Venom
SPECIAL RULES
Tree Dweller: Tree Snakes do not suffer movement penalties for moving through terrain and have the Scale Sheer Surfaces skill.
Can Climb: Unlike most animals, Tree Snakes can climb.
Serpent Strike: Tree Snakes have the ‘whip crack’ ability, like a steel whip.
Venomous: Tree Snakes attacks automatically Wound on a to-hit roll of 6.

War-Beast (Wardog etc.) - 25 gold crowns to train
(war-beast Fluff)
M WS BS S T W I A Ld
6 4 0 4 3 1 4 1 5
Weapons/Armour: Fangs and Attitude
SPECIAL RULES
Keen Senses: War-beasts may reroll initiative tests to detect hidden models or to charge an out of sight enemy.

Wild Pig - 15 gold crowns to train
These are not the massive boars Orcs breed and ride to combat. These are noticeably more intelligent and can be trained by people to work and fight alongside them reliably.
M WS BS S T W I A Ld
6 4 0 3 3 1 3 1 5
Weapons/Armour: Tusks
SPECIAL RULES
Forceful Charge: Wild Pig add +1 to the S of attacks made on the charge. They also add D3” to their range when charging.
Thick Skinned: Wild Pigs have a 6+ armor save.

Combat Bird - 35 gold crowns to train
These are trained Hawks, Falcons or other birds. They are swift and dangerous, but difficult to train.
M WS BS S T W I A Ld
3 3 0 3 2 1 4 1 5
Weapons/Armour: Talons and/or Beak
SPECIAL RULES
Avian: Combat Birds may fly 12” instead of normal movement. This may be used to charge or move up or down in elevation. Combat Birds also never take damage from falling unless Stunned.
Small and Swift: Combat Birds have the skills Step Aside and Dodge.
Fragile Boned: Due to their hollow bones and fragile wings Combat Birds subtract 1 from their serious injury rolls if taken OOA.
Go for the Eyes: Combat Birds attacks have a -1 armor save modifier and always get a critical hit on a 6 to wound. Their attacks use the Piercing Critical chart if using Advanced Criticals.
Diving Charge: If the Combat Bird charges it is counted as a Diving Charge and is resolved at +1 Initiative.
Difficult to Train: Only a hero may train a Combat Bird.

If Tribal connection is a skill, it is pretty bad compared to streetwise. Streetwise gives +2, this skill only gives +1.

Jungle Claws should probably cost 20gc, they are slightly better than a pair of swords, and should be priced as such.

Monkeys should probably have a higher ballistic skill to be really useful.

Beastmasters are pretty expensive for core human stats. Even with a skill, they are worse than merc champions IMO, consider lowering their cost by 5 or 10.

Perhaps you should steal the whip from the dark elves warband. Can't remember the name, but look it up

I intended tribal connections to stack with Streetwise but yeah it does seem a bit weak. Maybe it could be changed to allow the Shaman to automatically pass Rarity rolls of 6 or less?

Jungle claws were supposed to be upped to 20 gc, that was an oversight!

I don't think BS 3 for the monkeys would be a problem.

30 GC for the Beastmaster could be good, but then force them to have to start with a pet?

I was going to use the Cat o Nine Tails rule for the whip, but I really like the rules from the Beastlash here:
Mordheimer's Info Centre Dark Elves

Although in the Southlands causing Fear in animals is very powerful, so it may need to get raised to 15 GC and only grants Fear when the whip is being used (not just held)

Quote :

I intended tribal connections to stack with Streetwise but yeah it does seem a bit weak. Maybe it could be changed to allow the Shaman to automatically pass Rarity rolls of 6 or less?

Nice idea, consider letting it stack with rarity enhancers and making it, anything that he would normally find on a roll of 6 or more he finds automatically.
Another option is to allow him to look for D3+1 instead of 1 rare item.

Beastmasters without pets do sound weird, as much as I hate forced composition, I like the idea of them having to start with a pet.

By the way, since pets are semi-equipment do they count for routing purposes?

Your notes on the beastlash seem correct.