Witch Hunters as they would have been...

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INTRODUCTION
Okay, so evil warbands are good in close combat and mercenaries are good at range. Where does that leave the Witch Hunters? As an impertious money making machine where all heroes have Wyrdstone Hunter and stay out of harm's way? Not very exciting. However, Witch Hunters have both pistols, wardogs and flagellants. Maybe Witch Hunters could work as an assault class warband, being best at short range shooting and charging in.

Their weakneses, accordingly, would be no polearms, and no 'staying power' once they are bogged down.
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WARBAND MAX SIZE: 15 MODELS
HIRED SWORDS: AS PER RULEBOOK

SPECIAL EUIPMENT

BRAZIER 10gc / common
(many of the official WH models have Braziers)
Clumsy: All attacks with Brazier has -1 to hit
Set on Fire: A model wounded by Brazier must
roll equal to or under his Toughness on a D6 or
suffer an additional S2 hit.
• This extra hit does not cause additional
‘Set on Fire’ hits.
Braziers cannot cause Critical Wounds
Hits are Flaming Attacks
(One Handed Weapon)

SIGMARITE GREAT HAMMER 35gc rare 10+
Strength Bonus: +2 Strength on all attacks
Great Weapon: Does not strike first when
Charging. (Compare Initiative unless opponent
has strike first.)
Crushing Blow: Uses the following Injury Table:
1-4: Stunned 5-6: Out of Action
Holy: +1 to Injury Rolls vs. Vampires, Zombies,
Dire Wolves, Mutants and the Possessed.
Two-Handed
(Two Handed Weapon, Great Weapon)
****Only usable by Arch Lector and Flagellants.****

SIGMARITE RELIC 10gc rare 8+
Magic Resistance: Owner gains a 6+ special save vs. the effects of enemy Spells. (Other warriors may still be affected.)
****Only usable by Arch Lector and Flagellants.****
(Special Equipment)

HEROES

0-1 WARRIOR PRIEST 70gc
- Starting xp: 20
- Skills: Combat, Strength, Academic, Special
- Priest: Starts with 1 random prayer of sigmar
- Stats: 4 4 4 3 3 1 4 1 8
- Equipment: Hammer, Great Hammer, Sigmarite Hammer, Crossbow, Light Armour, Heavy Armour. Helmet, Shield

0-2 WITCH HUNTERS 27gc
- Starting xp: 6
- Skills: Combat, Shooting, Academic, Speed
- Stats as per rulebook but with +1 I (Init 4) - (this makes their nimbleness felt, and prevents them from being 'just another human warrior' - as an added bonus, it gives +2 starting XP and so slows leveling, preventin the warband from being too strong)
- Equipment: Remove Crossbow Pisol / Add: Duelling Pistol (nb, they cannot use brazier - too stealthy)
- Remove Burn the Witch Rule (give it to Zealots, see below)

0-2 HANGMEN 27gc
- Starting xp: 6 (they pay 2 extra starting Xp for being able to use Blunderbuss)
- Skills: Combat, Strength, Speed
- Stats: 4 4 3 3 3 1 3 1 7
- Equipment: Club, Axe, Brazier, Sword, Great Weapon, Pistol, Duelling Pistol, Blunderbuss, Light Armour, Heavy Armour. Helmet, Shield

HENCHMEN

0-5 FLAGELLANTS 30gc
- Same equipment list as now (Morning Star, Flail, Great Weapon) but may also use Sigmarite Relic even though they are hechmen
- Stats changed to 4 3 - 3 3 1 3 1 5
- Immune to Fear, Panic, All Alone
- Devestating Charge: +1 A the turn they charge (This will underscore the 'assault' nature of this warband; you must get the charge, the M6 of Wardogs will help you do so but you are very vulnerable to shooting.)

0-5 WARDOGS 20gc
(Rules as-is, price +5 gc)

ZEALOTS 15gc
- Give them 'Burn the Witch!' rule (these are the ignorant rabble after all - not the academically trained Witch Hunters - also its more fun to give a slight boost to the underdogs)
- Remove Spear from their equipment list (An 'assault' warband cannot use Polearms)
- Equipment: Remove Bows, Access only to Slings and Short Bows
- Equipment: Give them access to Brazier (nothing like a frenzied mob with torches)
- Same stats as in rulebook, but -1 Ld (down to Ld 6)

SPECIAL SKILLS
**** Can only be taken by the warrior priest and by flagellants promoted to heroes****
**** As per official rules, Special skills counts as one of a promoted henchman's two skill lists****

PROTECTION OF SIGMAR
3+ Ward Save against Spells, both friendly and
hostile. Other models may still be affected.

ABSOLUTE FAITH
Warrior is Immune to Fear and All Alone.

UTTER DETERMINATION
Warrior may fight back in Close Combat even
while knocked down.

RIGHTEOUS FURY
Warrior Hates all members of Undead,
Possessed or Skaven warbands. (Excluding
Hired Swords.)

SIGN OF SIGMAR
Warrior causes fear in Vampires, Zombies, Dire
Wolves, Mutants and the Possessed even if
they are normally Immune to Fear.

Some nice ideas.

Questions:
(1) Why are your flagellants "Immune to Fear, Panic, All Alone" rather than simply "Fanatical" as they currently are?
(2) Why include morning stars for flagellants as still nobody will use them?
(3) Why would Sigmar protect you (with a ward save) vs. friendly spells?

Suggestions:
(1) If you want to mess with flagellants, I think you're better off giving a dual wield option (clubs, braziers) to give some viable choices i.e. +2S with a 2HW, +2S on the first turn with a flail, 2A. I also reckon S3, T4 would be preferable for tough as old boots types.

(2) How about making zealot casualties cound as 1/2 model for the purposes of rout tests (like goblins) to give the witch hunter player more choices to think about?

Citizen Sade wrote:

Some nice ideas.
(1) Why are your flagellants "Immune to Fear, Panic, All Alone" rather than simply "Fanatical" as they currently are?

Because with fanatical you need to add that they cannot become leaders and people are always confused as to whether they can be affected by stupidty etc. - This rule is clearer and simpler, and you can even have a flagellant leader if you want

Citizen Sade wrote:

(2) Why include morning stars for flagellants as still nobody will use them?

Just because if they weren't there, then somebody would as why I removed them. :p I totally agree; NO reason to take morning stars what so ever.

Citizen Sade wrote:

(3) Why would Sigmar protect you (with a ward save) vs. friendly spells?

that's just a standard magic resistance text i copy pasted from somewhere.
it might as well protect against only hostile spells if you want

Citizen Sade wrote:

Suggestions:
(1) If you want to mess with flagellants, I think you're better off giving a dual wield option (clubs, braziers) to give some viable choices i.e. +2S with a 2HW, +2S on the first turn with a flail, 2A. I also reckon S3, T4 would be preferable for tough as old boots types.

everyone dual wields in mordhiem its... so.... boring.....!

i actaully don't like giving them T4. this is how gw used to do it but even GW came around and now flaggies are T3.
(why would starving and torturing yourself give you T4 anyhow? it doesn happen in the real world)

but also, giving them T4 makes them less of a "glass cannon" http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=glass%20cannon and negate their obvious weakness. with T3 you have to work with Wardogs and other models in close support to get those devestating extra attacks in there. also with T3 flaggies are overall cheaper, which is NEEDED.

Toughened up and Inured to pain due to all the self-flagellation, endlessly wandering the highways and byways of the empire and the short rations perhaps?

Your T3 flagellants and 10 points cheaper for -1S, -1T, -5 Ld and +1A (if they charge) and much less value for GP IMO.

- 5 Ld doesnt matter as it will never come into play except for chaos spells anyhow. they could equally have Ld7
- i'd love to lower their price even more, or give them simpy A2 on profile

How about WS2, BS2, S3, T3. Ld6 & A2 at 30 GC then? Little skill, no stronger or tougher than anyone else, but fanatical (in the every day rather than the Mordheim sense of the word).

that's great!

Yeah i like your modifications.

They won'tturn the warband on the head, i think it will feel similar to what you now get.

But yeah it is nice. The zealots will be played more ( i play them now also because i have got some really cool models).

I think you have developed an in between warband of WH and the protectorate of Sigmar.

I might be missing something, but Arch-Lector seems too high a rank to be roughing it in Mordheim.

Otherwise, it's an interesting take on WH, certainly flavourful.

what would you otherwise call him? :-)

Why not warrior priest?

okay, sure thing =)

Interesting changes! I think it looks very playable and balanced.

just a thought on how to get the self harm aspect of the flagelants across could you give them the -1 to injury rolls like the dwarfs get to represent an increased resistance to pain so a blow that would put a lesser man out of the battle only stuns them?

yea but i just dont buy the "resistant to pain" design. if you became resistant to pain through malnourishment and torture, then inmates in russian prisons would be resistant to pain