Adventures in Mordheim for 2010

Hooray for Dark Elves!

Let it be stated that the Karond Kar warband's leader, Natel Chillhand, executed SEVERAL incompetent warriors after this little foray into Mordheim. Following this culling, the House Chillhand warriors made another expedition into the cursed city...

The Chillhand Elves found themselves facing off against the Beastmen and a group of their hated foes, the Shadow Warriors of Nagarythe! Natel Chillhand decided that, since the numerical superiority advantage belonged to his foes, it would be smarter to turn that advantage into a disadvantage. The plan was to use the Beastmen as a weapon to crush the High Elves mercilessly. Completely disregarding the central building objective, they moved around the city in order to herd the Beastmen into the Shadow Warriors. Once battle was joined between those two, the Chillhands then moved to occupy the building and use the higher ground to rain crossbow fire onto the remaining Beastmen who had destroyed the High Elves. Much to their surprise, once the building was captured, a High Elf Shadow Weaver was discovered hiding out on an upper floor just standing around drooling on himself! While Eredori and Akiridin Heartslayer, the two Chillhand Fellblades, were debating whether it would be more entertaining to continue watching the Elf make a fool of himself or to put him out of his misery, the Weaver proceeded to simply walk off of the building and nearly plunge to his death! Thinking the time was nigh, Sylaris, the Corsair Sorceress, proceeded to mercilessly execute the fallen Shadow Elf while berating the Fellblades on the floor above for their laziness.

With a dozen Chaos Hounds harmlessly baying at the Dark Elves from the ground outside the building, the remaining Beastmen decided not to chance the deadly crossbow fire coming from the building and fled the field with a small cadre of elves in pursuit. Most escaped, but one unlucky Ungor was taken down with accurate fire while another was captured in the Dark Elf nets. The day was won with the Dark Elves proceeding to loot the buildings nearby and return to their vessel in order to plan another raid in the Cursed City.

Participants Final Standings:
1. KAROND KAR -190 (Dark Elf Corsairs) Kevin O'Born
2. Un-named -140 (Shadow Warriors) Matt Coughlin
3. Un-named -100 (Beastmen Raiders) Jeremy Potts

Great stuff! Thank you!

Rob

Thanks for posting the reports gents. Photos? (I do understand if none are available but it never hurts to ask.)

Yes pictures are in the works! I just need to get camera that is digital. I am a little behind the technology power curve. Keep looking here!
Thanks for the interest. More are joining our campaign!

You are welcome. I'm always interested in others games of Mordheim. Glad to hear more players are joining.

As for being behind in the technology I am there with you. Out of up to 11 players we have only ever had one digital photographer among us and I am not the one. Good luck with the search for a camera.

Cheers.

02 JAN 2010
* This is a short story to retell a campaign battle that was fought on Saturday. There were three warbands present for the fight: Marienburgers (Me), Dark Elves and Beastmen. The story is told from the point of view of Captain Maarten, my warband leader.


The streets were dark and still. A warm breeze blew through the empty streets as Maarten and his men made their first foray into the cursed city. As he looked to his left and right, Maarten was pleased to see that his men were dispersing to take advantage of every piece of cover and that his marksmen were seeking the high ground to better cover their comrade’s advance. Maarten and Jacco made their way through a rusty gate and found themselves in an old cemetery. Jacco began to mutter a prayer to Morr when Maarten suddenly hit him across the shoulder and motioned for silence. Somewhere, not too far off, they could hear the loud braying of several very large hounds. Maarten was about to turn and leave the cemetery when Jacco stopped him and pointed deeper into the cemetery at a large glowing green stone perched atop a grave stone. Maarten pulled his dueling pistols from his belt and motioned for Jacco to follow. Jacco quickly grabbed the stone and stuffed it into his pack. As the pair were about to leave two large, mutated hounds burst through the gate of the cemetery with thick ropes of drool dripping from their mouths and murder in their feral eyes. A surprised cry and more braying off to his right signaled that others in his band had made contact with more of these hounds. Maarten wasted no time and fired one of his pistols into the closest hound, the round hitting the beast in the lower jaw and exploding out of the back of its skull. The beast dropped instantly and Maarten allowed himself a grim smile. The second beast readied to pounce when it too was struck dead by a black fletched crossbow bolt fired from behind him. Maarten looked up at an old ruined monument and saw Tristano smiling at him as he reloaded. The crafty marksman could be counted on to be in the right spot at the right time. A sharp yelp of pain and the resulting cry of victory indicated that his men had fared well on the right. His excitement was short lived as he and Jacco came under a withering hail of crossbow bolts. Diving into cover he glanced out around a head stone and barely caught glimpse of a black clad figure high above him almost dancing across the rooftops. The dark figure moved with the deadly grace of an elf. As a plan formulated in his mind, Jacco suddenly fell to the ground with a shout. The grizzled veteran held up a crossbow bolt and showed it to Maarten. “It was almost a ringer! It glanced off my bow,” said Jacco with a bit of elation.

Maarten yelled, “Tristano, see if you can skewer that pointy eared bastard!”

The marksman took aim with his crossbow and fired but failed to hit the fleet of foot elf. As he was reloading he was struck by two bolts and fell from his sniper’s perch to the ground below. Maarten looked on in horror but breathed a sigh of relief as the marksman slowly got to his hands and knees shaking his head. Maarten and Jacco made a dash for an alley way just outside the cemetery and there they were joined by Tomas and Dirk. Tomas was a young lad, not much more than a boy but he had signed on for adventure and the prospect of wealth and glory. He held a pair a bloody war hammers in his gloved fists, his chest heaving with exertion and excitement. “We had a bit of a dog problem back there but it’s sorted,” said Dirk, a veteran swordsman whose skill with a blade could be counted on. As the small band regrouped, they could hear the sounds of a fierce battle being fought somewhere not too far off. “Sounds like someone’s having a bit of fun, eh?” said Dirk.

“We had best get back to the others before we run into something else,” replied Maarten.

The group of warriors made their way towards the street and got eyes on the rest of the band who were huddled behind a low wall exchanging shots with a small group of elves and a vicious looking creature that appeared to be half lizard and half canine. “Taal’s Teeth! What a hideous creature!” swore Maarten. “Let’s get moving.”

As the group sprinted across the road they were again assailed by a hail of crossbow bolts from the elf sniper on the rooftop. Dirk let out a painful grunt as he dropped to the cold cobblestone. Maarten looked back towards Dirk who lay unmoving in the street, blood flowing from a bolt protruding from his back. The roar of the lizard creature snapped his attention back to the battle at hand. Maarten darted to where Rutger sat with his bow looking out across an open field. “What’s the situation Rut?”

“Seems ta be a few pointy eared fellas settin over there wit some kind o’ lizard thing. Seems a right nasty bugger!”

As Maarten looked across the low wall he could see the elves forming up for a push towards him and his men. “Timo! Work your way around to the right and see if you can get a shot with your gun.”

The hulking warrior simply replied, “Right!”

Maarten watched as the elves advanced, the lizard creature being whipped forward by a feral looking elf in black mail brandishing a barbed whip. He took notice that these were unlike any elves he had encountered before. These lacked the noble character of those he had met back in Marienburg. These creatures seemed infinitely more cruel and ruthless and suddenly it dawned on him that these must be the dreaded elven corsairs he had heard so many ship captains speak of. But what were corsairs doing so far from the sea? A loud hiss followed by an even louder BOOM signaled that Timo had taken his shot. When the smoke had cleared the elf that had been driving the beast forward lay in a pool of blood next to his charge. The lizard creature’s hide was dotted with shot but it appeared to be unharmed by the blast. The creature simply lapped at the pooling blood.

A shout from behind him signaled Maarten to a new threat. He turned and saw a tall elf in black armor in amongst his men. The elf was death incarnate and wielded a sword of black metal that seemed to cut through leather and steel as if it were paper. In a blur two of his men, Marcel and Karel were down and bleeding from savage cuts. Maarten realizing that his men stood no chance against this creature of darkness signaled the retreat. To their credit his surviving men were able to carry away their wounded while his marksmen provided cover fire. Maarten conceded the battle to the elves this time but swore that there would be a reckoning. For now, he and his men retreat to their encampment to mend their wounds and plan their next foray into the cursed city of Mordheim.

O4 JAN 2010

It had been several days since the encounter with the Dark Elf Warband. There had been many other uneventful forays into the cursed city since then but so far nothing of significance had been found. Today, however, was a different story. While returning from a search of some ruins one of his men had uncovered a particularly large shard of wyrdstone. It would fetch a good price from Delaan, his primary buyer.

Since the last battle, Maarten had decided to hire a bit more muscle to help out and plucked a few men from the local talent to boost his numbers. He knew that feeding them would further drain his resources but in Mordheim numbers count for alot. The Black Fists were making good time across the city when Tristano called a halt and approached Maarten.

"Signor, I fear that we are not alone. The ratman is approaching from the east in great numbers. I can smell their taint!" Tristano spat on the ground to show his disdain for the creatures.

Maarten immediately shouted orders for his men to deploy and ready their weapons for the coming fight. Tristano and Arjan immediately took the high ground in an old ruined tower that provided good fields of fire. Tne rest of the warband spread out into three groups and prepared to meet the ratmen with courage and cold steel.

On the right, Jacco had a small team that included Timo and his blunderbuss. A group of ratmen had moved around to that flank and Timo smiled at the prospect of unleashing his beloved hand cannon into that mass of filthy rats. He took aim and fired. When the smoke had cleared Timo shouted with dismay as only a single ratman had fallen to the ground and even he was beginning to get back up. Timo gulped as the wave of giant rats swarmed over him and his companions. The fight was short but brutal with Jacco, Timo, Karel and Marcel fighting for their very lives. Over near the center, Tristano brought down a giant rat with his crossbow while Rutger and Tomas managed to fell another. It seemed as if as soon as one was struck down another surged forward to replace it. Rutger fell to the bloodied streets as a giant rat leapt to his throat. Maarten took his group and ran to reinforce Jacco in his desperate fight but they too were beset by a group of giant rats and in a flurry of tooth, claw and fur Rolain was left bleeding on the ground with savage bite marks all over his body. The fight between Jacco's men and the rat swarm was not going well. Timo was holding his own against the giant rats when an even larger rat that walked on two legs leapt into the fray and in a flurry of blows sunk his steel claws into Timo's chest. Timo fell to his knees, his precious blunderbuss slipping from nerveless fingers as his life ended. One of the new recruits, a man whose name Maarten had not yet remembered was also slain as he was overcome by two giant rats, one gnawing his face and the other disembowelling his with sweeps of its vicious claws.

Maarten could see that the fight was unwinnable and decided to conduct a fighting retreat before any more damage could be done. The ratmen didn't seem interested in giving chase, choosing instead to pursue their own diabolical agenda. It was only after they got back to their encampment that Maarten realized that the shard of wyrdstone that Rutger had been carrying was gone, no doubt taken by the ratmen. The battle had been costly. Timo was dead and with him was gone the firepower of his blunderbuss. One of the new recruits was dead and the other new men's morale was not good. To make matters worse, Rutger had survived the battle but was gravely wounded and would spend several weeks recuperating from his injuries. His sword would be missed.

Life is hard in Mordheim, city of damnation...

* So this was a pretty good butt whooping. Kudos to Orrlak for a game well played!

15 JAN 2010

The streets were eerily quiet as Maarten led his warband through the ruined warhouse district of Mordheim. He had learned from a Strigany merchant that a large deposit of wyrdstone could be found here. Figuring that he had nothing to lose he assembled his men and set off to investigate the merchant's claims.

As his men slowly made their way through the rubble a gunshot rang out from somewhere in front of them. The ground in front of Dirk kicked up with the impact and the wily swordsman dived into a roll behind some barrels. Maarten took cover and looked out over the battlefield to see if he could spot what he was up against. There, in the shadows, he could see a flash of blue and red. He recognized the man shouting orders as the leader of the Reikland warband that had arrived only a few days ago. He remembered that the man favored the use of guns.

"Stay under cover lads and work your way around the flanks. Stay out of the open!"

He saw Arjan take up position on the upper floor of a ruined warhouse and covered a large open area with his longbow. Tristano had already made his way up to the second level of a tower and had a good field of view to the approaches to the few shards of wyrdstone laying in the open yard below. Tomas and one of the hired thugs, Betz, made their way across a rickety gang plank to claim a second piece of stone. They immediately came under fire from a pair of handgunners but were able to duck into cover.

Rolain and Stolz were locked in a bitter fight with one of the Reiklander champions. The fight was vicious but short. The Reiklander thrust his spear at Rolain who barely managed to step to the side to avoid being skewered. Stolz swung his club at the Reiklander's head but it glanced off his helmet. Rolain saw his opening and with a feral war cry laid into the Reiklander with a flurry of blows from his warhammers. His first strike snapped the haft of the spear and surprised the warrior who was sent reeling back. Rolain pressed his attack and landed a powerful blow on the warrior's shoulder, shattering bones and tearing muscle. The injured man collapsed to the ground unconscious. Their victory was short lived as a hail of gunfire screamed towards them and Stolz took a bullet through the neck. The warrior fell to the ground and clutched at his ruined throat as the precious life blood spurted through his fingers. Rolain saw the shooters hiding behind a low wall, reloading. The young warrior, caught in a moment of fury, charged out across the small deadly space and realized that he wouldn't make it to them before they had finished reloading.

Tristano, ever cool under fire, continued to fire his crossbow and accounted for two Reiklanders dead or wounded. Arjan fired at a Reiklander spearman making his way through cover towards his position and took comfort in seeing Maarten and a group of warriors flanking the lone warrior. The Reiklander realized too late that he was doomed as Maarten took aim with his duelling pistol and ended the warrior's life.

Across the battlefield the sounds of fighting began to fade as the Reiklanders began to withdraw from the field. Once Maarten was sure that they had gone he set his men to searching for the cache of wyrdstone that the Strigany had spoke of. It was Jacco who uncovered the stash and his men were able to make it back to their camp with seven large shards. These would fetch a good price indeed.

Some FINE story telling there...EXCELLENT reads. While I hope you'll eventually be able to post photos, you're doing a GRAND job painting a living action picture in words.

Thank you for the compliment! I have intended to take pictures every time we have played but I usually get too caught up in the action to remember to take them! This is something that I will work on for future posts.

Lovely write-ups! I can't wait for the next installment. You could send photos of the various warbands and table set up after the action is over. It would be much appreciated by all I'm sure.

Rob

We have the technology!!! Here are a few "test shots" I took today after purchasing a digital canera. One shot is of the area of Mordheim where myself and crouching lictor last had a "street fight". The other is of part of Garife's Gang emerging from Mordheims sewers.

Hope I do this right

Well that didn't work?? I'll get the pics here as soon as I figure out how!??

SUCCESS! YOU DID IT! Nice looking street scene...the beginning of an EPIC!

Lets try another one...

Sorry crouching lictor.... I confused our "treasure hunt" with the "street fight" I had with my son last night. We'll get all the bugs worked out.

Orrlak, I'm very much looking forward to taking my Chillhand Slavers into that rotten cesspool of yours and scoring some Skaven to bring back to Naggarythe with us

Bring it on!! the slime and darkness await!

COOL! I LOVE a suspenseful build up to a game. HAVE FUN!