Bludgeoning vs. Bladed Weapons - The optional Crit Charts

When playing with the optional crit charts ...further subtle differences between the various weapontypes have been introduced. Until recently I had not really given much though to this exept that it was nice *fluff*...and weather or not to equip my guys with a spear, hammer, axe or sword depended much more on the "direct" spc. abilities of those weapons ei. first strike, cutting edge and so forth ...However there are some not insignificant differences between the crit tables - lets try to take a look at a couple of the tables.

Bludgeoning Weapons
1-2 Hammered...Opponent may not fight this turn if he hasnt already done so.
3-4 Clubbed...Ignores armor saves and helmets.
5 Wild Sweep...Opponent is disarmed one weapon.
6 Bludgeon...auto TOA.

Bladed Weapons
1-2 Flesh Wound...No armour save
3-4 Bladestorm...2 wounds.
5-6 Sliced...No armour save, two wounds and +2 to injury roll.

Studying the above tables ...well nice *fluff* aside what do we see?

Well when using a bludgeon weapon 2/6 results ignores armour! and 4/6 results only really matter if you strike before your opponent AND he has more than one wound!

Looking at the Bladed Weapons charts ...we see that 4/6 ignores armor and that further 4/6 causes 2 wounds.

....Now realising that most people, like me, probably dont pick weapons just for their crits ...but there is one weapon which is completely optional as to which crit to use! THE DOUBLE-HANDED WEAPON - Here you can pick for youself ...do you want a club/hammer using the bludgeon crit or a greatsword using the bladed crit ...? So *fluff* aside what should you choose and why?

What do you think ? ...YES YOU!

mmmh

to be honest we don't play with those rules. For ranged weapons there are some special critical hits like "ricochet" which allows your arrow/bolt/bullet to hit a second and maybe a third target after the first one.
We once played with these optional rules and I managed to kill 3 Skavens WITH ONE ARROW. A plasma grenade from Warhammer 40K would have done less damage...
Anyway, after this massacre we decided to forget about those optional rules because they really suck!

@Tortiou - While I agree the whole idea behind the "ricochet" is a bit farfetched especially for arrows !! ...You will however notice that the main effect of the optional crit-tables has been to downgrade rather than upgrade the power of a crit ! ...This being especially the case for missileweapons ! Lets take a look ....

Basic Crit-Table
1-2 double wound
3-4 double wound, no armour save
5-6 double wound, no armour save +1 injury roll.

Comparing the basic crit table with the missile shown below IMO there is just no comparison...the basic table is much more likely give an outright TOA and especially much much more leathal vs. models with multiple wounds! (So if you play Possessed with their beastmen etc. IMO you want to play using the optional crit ! )

Optional Missile Crit-Table
1-2 no amour save
3-4 ricochet vs. closest enemy model within 6''
5-6 double wound, no armour save

Boehm you are absolutely right. In theory, the optional critical tables are less devastating.
In practice however, I have made painful experiences to the contrary.

The 3 skavens that died by ONE arrow were mine... and I can't help to dislike those rule since they are too game altering for my taste.

I guess they can be a lot of fun for single non-campaign games though

We've always used the extended critical hit charts and we would never ever use the boring standard table.
Interesting question, Boehm. Actually I never thought about this. Maybe because if your model is wearing a double-handed sword I'd punch you in the face if you want it to count as a double-handed hammer simply because of the critical hits table. When I was still playing Beastmen (who can wield 2-handed weapons in one hand) it was obvious to simply "upgrade" the axes in their hands from normal to double-handed so the question never came up. If I'd get the chance to choose freely though, I'd obviously pick the bladed table. But who is assembling his models with THAT in mind?

Concerning my choice of the "type" of 2-handed weapon, I'd have to say I'd take the "hammer" I guess. Why? Because I am a person to whom the looks mean more than the rules and there are only few models bearing 2-handed hammers in Mordheim. I'd therefore pick the hammer to make my model stand out from the crowd i guess

I'm thinking: Magister with 2-handed hammer that emits a greenish glow... Dark Paladin style. There's something you don't see every day!

...

Aaargh! Thanks Boehm for putting that idea into my head! Now I'll have to make that conversion... damn!

Then let us see the mini as sonn as you did the conversion

I always play with the alternate crit tables, as they are far more interesting than the normal one.
To answer Boehms question, I would simply say the weapon the model has counts, so there shoudn't be any problems.