Burn the witches... maybe

Hello, I'm being cheeky really, have only been a member of the forums for an hour or so and I'm already requesting help and opinions! So basically I'm trying to set up my first ever warband, a jolly group of witch hunters. As I have never actually played a game of Mordheim, I can only create my initial team based on my knowledge of Necromunda and Warhammer. The first thing I've realised is that 500 GC really doesn't go far in terms of gearing up your crew, so what we have here is my provisional list. Just to explain a few things, this warband is for a week long campaign which will probably involve at least 2 games a day, with that in mind I've edged towards more experience gaining options than having a solid accompaniment of wardogs. I'm not really sure how the funding works in Mordheim, but in Necromunda I did struggle heavily with recruiting additional folk into my gang throughout my last campaign. So far a few of the participants have confirmed their warbands as Dwarf treasure hunters, Middenheim Mercs and Posessed, there are still two more warbands yet to be confirmed.

So here is my provisional list, I've removed a lot of equipment in favour of more starters, although it does feel like my heroes are under equipped... (ignore the listed daggers it's for my own fluff purposes)


Heroes:

1. Witch Hunter Captain - 60 GC

- Sword: 10 GC
- Dagger: 0 GC
- Pistol: 15 GC

Total: 85 GC

2. Witch Hunter - 25 GC

- Double Handed Sword: 15 GC
- Dagger - 0 GC

Total: 40 GC

3. Witch Hunter - 25 GC

- Sword: 10 GC
- Dagger - 0 GC
- Pistol: 15 GC

Total: 50 GC

4. Witch Hunter - 25 GC

- Crossbow - 25 GC
- Dagger - 0 GC

Total: 50 GC

6. Warrior Priest - 40 GC

- Hammer - 3 GC
- Hammer - 3 GC


Total 96

Hero total ----- 271 GC

Henchmen:

1. Flagellant - 40 GC

Flail - 15 GC

Total - 55 GC

2. Flagellant - 40 GC

Flail - 15 GC

Total - 55 GC

3. Flagellant - 40 GC

Flair - 15 GC

Total - 55 GC

4. Zealot - 20 GC

Mace - 3 GC

Total - 23 GC

5. Zealot - 20 GC

Mace - 3 GC

5. Wardog - 15 GC

Henchman total - 203 GC

Grand Total - 474

Now the last 26... I don't know whether to throw in another zealot, wardog, equip my witch hunters or take a halfling scout.

Welcome to the forums!

Asking questions is why we exist. That and cool photos of cool minis.

Are you doing WYSIWYG? If not I would not take the Double Handed Sword as it will not benefit your offense until you roll a skill for that warrior. Striking last and one attack usually spell fail in Mordheim. If you are going WYSIWYG and like the model, I understand. Otherwise I'd give the guy a sword and save some gold.

(Another possible plan is to run that guy and 2 flagellants together at one target. The flagellants knock the target down and the hero bats cleanup. That works as long as you are not outnumbered.)

Even though you have a time crunch you are still going to play a good number of games. I like maxing flagellants to get the LGT hero as soon as possible. A zealot hero takes a long time to become worthwhile. So I'd recommend scraping the zealots and taking another flagy. Any leftover gold can be spent on war hounds. This gives you a fast strong close combat group.

I would also recommend that the expensive crossbow be given to your leader. He's your best fighter but he's also your best shot. Getting hits with the crossbow might thin your enemies before you fight them. Always good. I'd give the pistol to another witch hunter and send them off to back up the flagellants.

Hey thanks for the response!

Forgive my ignorance but was does WYSIWYG mean?

I think I'll take your advice on the Zealot swapout for another Flagellant, I can always pick up another zealot during the campaign if my funds are a little tight, would you say they were more worthwhile than the battle doggies seeing as they gain experience?

Just sat up in the early hours of the morning piecing together plastic Flagellants from the multi-part kit (well sticking my fingers together and to the models mostly) got a bit 'over zealous' with the zealots (get it?) and made three of them as well as three flagellants so after reading this post I better go fix up a fourth!

Sorry--What You See Is What You Get--basically the model you use has his equipment modeled on it (within reason). So if you say the warrior has a crossbow, a sword and a pistol, the model you use to represent him has all of that equipment.

The zealots are a poor henchman choice. At their best they equal another warband's worst warrior. Goblins and skinks are better shots.

Since the warband can have only 12 warriors I build to 5 flagellants, 5 heroes and 2 dogs. After I have 6 heroes I look for a Halfling cookbook and the Halfling scout and add zealots, but I prefer the dogs because they are fast and cheap. For increased power I recruit Hired Swords, especially the Elf Ranger.

Delectable Tea wrote:

Hello, I'm being cheeky really, have only been a member of the forums for an hour or so and I'm already requesting help and opinions!

Are you kidding? That's what EVERY player does within the first few hours. Ask all you want!

The cheeky ones are the ones who show and say, "I've only looked at one third of the rulebook, but I already know how ALL of you've been doing it wrong."

Although, I might have done that myself, years ago

StyrofoamKing wrote:

Delectable Tea wrote:

Hello, I'm being cheeky really, have only been a member of the forums for an hour or so and I'm already requesting help and opinions!

Are you kidding? That's what EVERY player does within the first few hours. Ask all you want!

The cheeky ones are the ones who show and say, "I've only looked at one third of the rulebook, but I already know how ALL of you've been doing it wrong."

Although, I might have done that myself, years ago

Haha I think I failed to take into account that a niche community of tabletop gamers is bound to be marginally less likely to have internet elitism syndrome... although I guess where there are opinions there will always be a troll nearby, although for mini collectors there may be more than one troll and it may or may not be in pieces in a box.

Von Kurst wrote:

Sorry--What You See Is What You Get--basically the model you use has his equipment modeled on it (within reason). So if you say the warrior has a crossbow, a sword and a pistol, the model you use to represent him has all of that equipment.

The zealots are a poor henchman choice. At their best they equal another warband's worst warrior. Goblins and skinks are better shots.

Since the warband can have only 12 warriors I build to 5 flagellants, 5 heroes and 2 dogs. After I have 6 heroes I look for a Halfling cookbook and the Halfling scout and add zealots, but I prefer the dogs because they are fast and cheap. For increased power I recruit Hired Swords, especially the Elf Ranger.

Ah! yeah my gaming crew are very strictly WYSIWYG which caused a few issues with the limited witch hunter models, the valuable mordheim weapon sprue can make up for the model shortcomings but at least all of us have the same disadvantage (well we are well into our campaign fluff).

I'll have a rejiggle based on your advise, it seems odd but the warhounds are clearly better game wise for my gold, I've got a halfling scout model ready and it looks like he is well worth the 15 GC to bring along another flagellant (if i'm getting a good income) at some point.

Now I just need to win the hounds i'm bidding on over on Ebay, I'm not a fan of the ones they released for Mordheim, in fact I don't know many people who are. Luckily I've already read a whole thread on hounds on this here forum!

I just started playing witch hunters myself, also in my first Mordheim campaign, so factor that in what I say As has already been said, hounds are awesome. It's nice to have fast moving fodder that I'm not afraid to lose because it's not like they lose xp or are expensive to replace. It kinda sucks that you're limited by WYSIWYG because wielding two 1 handed weapons seems to be the best way to go in the offensive nature of Mordheim. If possible I'd recommend dropping the pistols and finding a way to get crossbows. Especially early in the campaign I like to keep my heroes out of the fray and the crossbow range lets them contribute.

When it comes time to leveling up I recommend that you grab wyrdstone hunter on one or 2 of those guys it can really make a difference especially if you are able to sneak an elven ranger into the group. In fact if it were me I'd probably drop some flagellants early on, get a ranger and load up on dogs. Then as you get more money you can add your flags in. Also, depending on how you end up playing your heroes you will probably want to consider getting the quick shot skill early on.

Drayven wrote:

I just started playing witch hunters myself, also in my first Mordheim campaign, so factor that in what I say As has already been said, hounds are awesome. It's nice to have fast moving fodder that I'm not afraid to lose because it's not like they lose xp or are expensive to replace. It kinda sucks that you're limited by WYSIWYG because wielding two 1 handed weapons seems to be the best way to go in the offensive nature of Mordheim. If possible I'd recommend dropping the pistols and finding a way to get crossbows. Especially early in the campaign I like to keep my heroes out of the fray and the crossbow range lets them contribute.

When it comes time to leveling up I recommend that you grab wyrdstone hunter on one or 2 of those guys it can really make a difference especially if you are able to sneak an elven ranger into the group. In fact if it were me I'd probably drop some flagellants early on, get a ranger and load up on dogs. Then as you get more money you can add your flags in. Also, depending on how you end up playing your heroes you will probably want to consider getting the quick shot skill early on.

Ah how you finding them?

I just realised I haven't actually looked at any of the skill tables, just looked up the skills you quoted and I agree Wyrdstone hunter could have a great impact on a campaign.

Judging by a number of websites and the comments so far on here, it would seem their is split opinions on the starting situation of a witch hunter warband, some quote zealots with spears, some say load up on dogs e.t.c. but everyone seems to agree that hired swords are a worthwhile edition, I may invest in a nice shooty elf, especially to send a bit of firepower back at those stunty dwarves!

I'm really enjoying the witch hunters. i started the season with a Marienburg warband and they did not do well, alot of that was likely due to my knowledge of the game and crappy dice rolling. With the hunters I feel like I have a lot more flexibility.

Drayven wrote:

I'm really enjoying the witch hunters. i started the season with a Marienburg warband and they did not do well, alot of that was likely due to my knowledge of the game and crappy dice rolling. With the hunters I feel like I have a lot more flexibility.

That's odd, Marienburg were my initial choice, I was quite up for the idea of having a band of ultra fancy poncy chaps leading some dockyard scum they picked up for a few coins! What went wrong? I only changed my mind as I wasn't content with just having basic human stats throughout my warband, I like the mix up of the flagellants and wardogs with the witch hunters, adds a few other strategic options!

I think alot of it was just plain bad luck. For example I had one bad game where all 3 of my swordsmen got knocked out of action. On the injury roll I rolled 3 2's meaning they were all out of the game. That's an expensive thing to replace.

All I can say (as a long-time opponent of Witch Hunters) is take as many hounds/dogs as you can.

Played a game Sunday, and the same dog knocked out my magister and possessed; with a nice WS and S, they're no joke!

Drayven wrote:

I think alot of it was just plain bad luck. For example I had one bad game where all 3 of my swordsmen got knocked out of action. On the injury roll I rolled 3 2's meaning they were all out of the game. That's an expensive thing to replace.

Gah that sounds like my Necromunda luck, in the first campaign with my fresh set of Goliath I had dangerously opted for an Autocannon, amazing firepower but a massive risk financially... you can guess what came up on my first serious injury roll for him...

Ordo Septenarius wrote:

All I can say (as a long-time opponent of Witch Hunters) is take as many hounds/dogs as you can.

Played a game Sunday, and the same dog knocked out my magister and possessed; with a nice WS and S, they're no joke!

I'm not too sure about the logic behind a party member with WS and S 4 for 15 GC, even in a long campaign I can see how they would be a better purchase than a zealot... I guess the downside is they can't climb ladders or get any skills...

Yeah not being able to climb is harsh if you have a good set of buildings. Also it may not seem like it early game, but skills and the various other gear options available really add up once money starts coming in.

I was always a fan of playing the Witch Hunters as a shooty band. Giving my heroes crossbows keeps the risk to my income down, while letting my dogs charge with a follow-up flagellant charge works well on the ground.

Plus you get access to the crossbow pistol, the only pistol that ACTUALLY gives an extra attack in melee.