Disciples of the White Tower

The White Tower of Hoeth, also know as the White Tower of Saphery or simply as the White Tower, is a huge edifice of gleaming marble and white stone, inlaid with shining silver and gold and High Elf runes. The White Tower is in the Kingdom of Saphery in Ulthuan and soars hundreds of feet into the air, serving as the repository for all the arcane knowledge of the High Elves, and as a training ground for both the Mages and Archmages of the Asur and the Swordmasters of Hoeth. During great times of need, the White Tower will send its students out across the world to protect ancient relics and uncover forgotten tomes.


Warriors of Choice:

A Disciples of the White Tower Warband must include a minimum of 3 models. You have 500 Gold Crowns which you can use to recruit your initial warband. Maximum number of warriors in the warband is 12.

Blade Master: Each Disciples of the White Tower warband must have one Blade Master. No more, no less.
Mage: Your warband may have up to one Mage.
Sword Masters: Your warband may have up to three Sword Masters.
Initiates: Your warband may have up to seven Initiates.
Scholars: Your warband may have up to five Scholars.
Apprentices: Your warband may have up to five Apprentices.


Special Rules:

Distaste for Poison: The use of poisons and various drugs is a Dark Elf specialty. As such, it is frowned upon by all High Elves, Disciples of the White Tower are no exception and never use any Poisons of any kind.

Hate Dark Elves: All warriors in a Disciples of the White Tower Warband (excluding any Hired Swords) have an unyielding Hatred for Dark Elves.


Starting Experience:

The Blade Master starts with 20 experience.
The Mage starts with 12 experience.
Sword Masters start with 12 experience.
Henchmen start with 0 experience.


Disciplines of the White Tower's Skill Table.

The Blade Master may choose skills from the Combat, Academic, Speed, and Blade Dancing lists.
The Mage may choose skills from the Combat, Academic, and Speed lists.
Sword Masters may choose skills from the Combat, Speed, and Blade Dancing lists.
Henchmen who become heroes via 'lads got talent' may choose skills from the Combat or Academic skill list.


Disciples of the White Tower Equipment List:

Sword Master Equipment list:
Hand to Hand Weapons:
Dagger 1st free/ 2 gc
Sword 10 gc
Double Handed Weapon 15 gc
Ithilmar Weapon Cost x2

Missile Weapons:
None

Armor:
Light Armor 20 gc
Heavy Armor 50 gc
Shield 5 gc
Helmet 10 gc
Ithilmar Armor 60 gc

Scholar Equipment List:
Hand to Hand:
Dagger 1st free/ 2 gc
Staff/Club/Mace 3 gc
Sword 10 gc

Missile Weapons:
Silver Wand 15 gc
Saphery Staff 20 gc

Armor:
Light Armor 20 gc
Mage's Robes 25 gc

NEW EQUIPMENT:

Silver Wands: Silver Wands are given to those who are not fully grasped the complex workings of the winds of magic. Inside the staff is a bound spell, most commonly is a fire ball or lightning bolt that hurls out of the wand after a quick few words.

Range: 12", Strength: 4; Special Rules: Charged Shot, Hand to Hand, Burning.

Special Rules:
Charged Shot: The bound spell inside the staff needs time to recharge, a Silver wand may only fire every other turn.
Hand to Hand: The Silver Wand is a effective weapon in close combat. In hand to hand combat a Silver Wand counts as a Mace/Club.
Burning: Silver Wands always deal fire damage in hand to hand or in ranged combat.

Saphery Staff: A Saphery staff is similiar in conscept to the the Silver Wand, but requires two hands to use. The spell bound to the spell is some-what weaker but allows the spell to be fired more often and at a greater distance.

Range: 24", Strength 3; Special Rules:Two-Handed, Hand to Hand, Burning.

Special Rules:
Two-Handed: A Saphery Staff must be held in both hands.
Hand to Hand: The Staff of Saphery is a great weapon for blungeoning opponents. The Saphery Staff coutns as Club in close combat that requires both hands to use.
Burning: Saphery Staffs always deal fire damage in hand-to-hand or ranged combat.

Mage Robes: Mage Robes are made from silk cloth and weaved with enchanted strings. A Wizard wearing Mage Robes gets +1 to all casting rolls (this stacks with other items and skills). In addition anyone wearing Mage Robes have a 6+ sv that cannot be modified by strength. If a model with Mage Robes is hit by an weapon or attack that ignores armor, then the wearer has no save.


Heroes:

1 Blade Master; 80 gold crowns to hire.
Blade Masters are swordsmen without equal, they have spent countless hours practicing with swords of all shape and form.

M 5; Ws 6; Bs 3; S 3; T 3; W 1; I 6; A 1; Ld 8
Weapons/Armor: a Blade Master may choose weapons and armor from the Sword Master Equipment List.

Special Rules:
Leader: Any models with in 6" of the Blade Master may use his Leadership instead of their own.
A Cut Above: Blade Masters are so skilled with a sword that they may re-roll any failed hits when charging.

0-1 Mage; 50 gold crowns to hire.
Mages are highly trained in the various lores of magic is the great spires of the White Tower.

M 5; Ws 4; Bs 4; S 3; T 3; W 1; I 4: A 1; Ld 7
Weapons/Armor: A Mage may choose weapons and armor from the Scholar Equipment List.

Special Rules:
Wizard: Mages are wizards and use one of lore from the list found here.
(https://boringmordheimforum.forumieren.com/t5458-storm-of-magic-winds-of-magic)

0-3 Sword Masters; 45 gold crowns to hire.

M 5; Ws 5; Bs 3; S 3; T 3; W 1; I 5; A 1; Ld 7
Weapons/Armor: Sword Masters may choose weapons and armor from the Sword Master Equipment List.

Special Rules:
A Cut Above: Sword Masters are so skilled with a sword that they may re-roll any failed hits when charging.

Henchmen (In squads of 1-5)

0 - 7 Initiates; 40 gold crowns to hire.
Initiates are fresh recruits into the Sword Master monestary. They are excellent swordsmen but no where near to the skill and wisdom of a Swordmaster.

M 5; Ws 4; Bs 3; S 3; T 3: W 1: I 4; A 1; Ld 7
Weapons/Armor: Initiates may choose weapons and armor from the Sword Master Equipment List.

Special Rules:
Blade Mastery: When a Initiate becomes a Hero via 'Lads got talent' that model may choose skills from the Blade Dancing Skill List.

0 - 5 Scholars; 25 gold crowns to hire.
Scholars tend to the countless scrolls and tomes within the White Tower. Over the years of reading and studying these arcane writings they have begun to understand the winds of magic, although cannot harness its power.

M 5; Ws 3; Bs 3; S 3; T 3; W 1; I 3; A 1; Ld 7
Weapons/Armor: Scholars may choose weapons and armor from the Scholar Equipment List.

0 - 5 Apprentices; 30 gold crowns to hire.
Apprentices are young high elves who have a talent for the arcane, they do not have the skill or deep understand of the Winds of Magic that the Mage has, but with time and training they will one day reach that level.

M 5; Ws 3; Bs 3; S 3; T 3: W 1; I 3; A 1; Ld 7
Weapons/Armor: Apprentices may choose weapons and armor from the Scholar Equipment List.

Special Rules:
Affinity for Magic: If an Apprentice becomes a hero via 'Lads got Talent' that model also becomes a Wizard and follows the same rules as the Mage. The model also does not suffer from the -2 when attempting to cast a spell.
Practice Makes Perfect: Apprentice spend most of their down time practicing spells over and over until it has burned into their minds. When a squad of Apprentices roll for and an advancement roll, you may elect to not take an advancement roll and instead randomly generate a spell from the "Lesser Magic" List. This spell maybe only used by a single model within the unit and the model casting the spell suffers -2 to all attempts to cast it. This special rule may only be used once per squad of Apprentices. Note that the squad must keep the same spell, they do not roll a random spell each game.



Blade Dancing
Blade Dancing is the art that all Swordmasters practice and master over years of training. Blade Dancing involves elegant and fluid movements, not wasting a single swing or step as they slice into their enemies.

Power of Chrace: The Sword Master gains +1 to his strength in close combat.
Wisdom of Saphery: The Sword Master's attacks are aimed for the vital points in the enemies armor. The Sword Master adds +1 to Injury Charts with all Melee attacks.
Fires of Caledor: The Sword Master adds +D3 attacks on a charge.
Tangles of Avelorn: The Sword Master may re-roll a single failed parry attempt per round of combat.
Speed of Ellyrion: The Sword Master triples his movement when charging.

Information used to write this warband was taken from the Original Shadow Warriors Warband, Lothern Seaguard Warband (written by myself), The Original Dark Elf Warband, and Winds of Magic (written by Styrofoamking).

An elf band without any bows... daring! Overall, I'd say it's a fun concept.

Thoughts:

-5 Heroes. To beat a dead horse, I'm REALLY opposed to any elf band iwth 5 heroes. If a human band had 5 champions/heroes all worth 40+, it'd be considered broken. Drop the Sword masters to 0-2.

- Swords - may I suggest you use the "Swordsmaster Blade" that Master and I came up with?
Swordmaster's Blade - 25 gc
+2 Strength, Strike Last, Parry. Counts as a sword.
Allow the swordmasters (and other non-mage heroes) to learn a version of Strongman as a special skill.

-Initiates - The one-spell per group is WAY strong... May I suggest?:
Practice Makes Perfect: For each Iniatiate's henchmen group, roll a random spell from the Lesser Magic list. That group knows that spell. Once per Shooting Phase, you may have ONE Initiate cast a spell. He casts it as normal, but is at -2 on all Difficulty rolls. No other Initiate may cast a spell this turn.
Focus: If an Initiate is within 12" of a casting Initiate, he may focus his energies to aid the caster. The Initiate adds +1 to the Intiate's difficulty roll. An Intiate may not Focus if he is casting a spell, shooting, in hand to hand combat, is knocked down or stunned, or shooting a missile. Up to 3 initiates can add their focus in any given turn.
Graduation: The Initiate is now a full fledged caster. He may cast his spell without the -2 to cast, and does not prevent other Initiates from casting. He may no longer focus or be aided by focusing.

--Thus, you have the number of henchman spells reduced to only 1 per turn, but with 5 initiates, you'll have a wide variety of spells to choose from, and a good chance that at least one is on his feet to fast. The focus ability gives them something to do, if you can't use or afford staff/wands. It also gives you a reason to buy more than one intiate - 4 of them working together cast a spell at +1 on your difficulty roll!



Wand and Staff - really like, only you should flip HTH abilities.
Wand - S3, 24", one handed flaming club.
Staff - S4, 12", two-handed, +1 S in combat (like a halberd.)

One is about range, the other about power.

Scholars - I'm not sure these fit. You have the Apprentices, so that part is covered.

What if the Scholars were replaced with Familiars? Use the Nurglings as a basis... small magical fodder that annoys and skitters.

I kinda think having both apprentices AND scholars is a bit redundant, I'd smack 'em together into one big group of demi-mages.

Also, almost all of what Styro says above is great. This is actually one of the coolest warband ideas I've seen, I'd love to play against it.

Theo

Well, I was thinking of adding a Strongman like skill but I felt that a WS 5 Str 3+2, I 5-6 attack is a bit to overpowered.

The Focusing special rule is a interesting idea, but the Mage Robes already give them that extra +1 to casting.

As for the -2 to casting, i do need to change it so that when a Apprentice does turn into a Hero he no longers suffers the -2 to cast aswell as rewritting it so its a random roll no a chosen spell.

Yeah, I felt the Scholars and Apprentices were a bit redundant, but I couldn't think of another name for a nerdy elf.

On Wands and Staffs, I know it seems a bit odd that the smaller wand has a higher strength but it is suppose to be a psuedo pistol for the warband while the staff is similar to a Bow.

Blade - I don't think it'll be much... so long as they don't have complete access to Strength skills, should be fine. If not, why not a parrying halberd? 20gc, +1 S, two handed.

staffs - in that case, make the wand the S3 /24" / club, and the staff the S4 / 12" / two-handed halberd.

Mages - focusing or not, "one per squad" won't work, because all you have to do is have each Intiate in his own group. Then you'd have 6 wizards in the warband.

Other possible nerfs:
Recharge - each mage can only cast every other turn
Set spell - they start with a weak spell (ex. a magic missile S3, Range 18")
Weak List - create a weak spell list just for the mages. Cantrips, really. Reroll a dice, S1 blunderbuss shot, make a second move, etc. They still suffer the -2 to cast the spells, but all of the spells have really low Diff settings, like 4 or 5, so when they become a hero, they can cast them super easy.
Winds of Magic - Only D6 of your casters can cast each turn. (Alt: only 1D3 Intiatiates), Mage can always cast.) this also helps keep things in check if you have a lot of Heroes.

Given that you have allowed 5 heroes to start with, I think you could merge the 5 apprentices with the 5 scholars and be done with it. 5 caster henchmen + 7 melee henchmen is your whole warband right there.

Rather than Affinity for Magic, consider just giving them the wizard speciality and something like Inexperienced caster: -2 to all casting rolls while a henchman. That way they already have wizard when they become a hero, they lose the penalty when they become a hero, and caster hatred will work properly against them etc. It will also let you make the wand/staff bound spell be able to be a spell in every respect (albeit cast from an item) and so mesh with the rules well.

I think Styrofoamking is right; Lesser magic is a bit too potent in it's current form. I too think some form of cantrips or bound spells is the way to go for them.

Is the staff and the wand intended to be a ranged weapon that rolls of BS or is it intended to be a bound spell that has a difficulty and counts as a magical spell?

Is Wisdom of Saphery intended to stack with Strike to injure? +2 to injury rolls is pretty potent.

Given that there is no access to Strength skills I don't think it would be too powerful to make a Strongman equivalent.

I think you are on the right track only giving them a normal DHW sword and then skills to make them better.

You might be able to steal some ideas or background or something from this warband. My GF uses this one and it doesn't seem too powerful to play against. In particular, they have a good rule that reflects their adversity to dark elves, but doesn't go as far as hatred. After all, it is really only the Naggarythe high elves that are supposed to *hate* the dark elves per se. Or that is my understanding of the flavour text anyway.

http://redelf.narod.ru/mordheim/wb_he.html

That being said, we have a house-rule that elves are T3 max and that the Seaguard henchmen start with 5 xp, so that could have something to do with it.

To help out wizards that didn't get a blast spell as their first spell we made the following item:
Glyph of Blasting
Rare 10
Price - As weapon +25 gc
Every different kind of wizard has their own name for the arcane marks and signs that imbue simple weapons with the power of magic; glyph of blasting is simply a generic term that encompasses all of these. Any melee weapon may be purchased with a glyph. The wizard can use the staff to channel magical blasts at their enemies via a spell that may only be used so long as they are equipped with the melee weapon the glyph is on.
A glyph takes up a ranged weapon equipment slot so a weapon with a glyph will take up both a melee and a ranged slot.
A wizard equipped with a weapon that has a glyph may cast the following spell:

Arcane bolt
Difficulty: 7
Range: 24”
An arcane bolt sizzles from the weapon and strikes the target. Strength 3, normal ranged
targeting restrictions apply. May not be used in close combat. All relevant ranged modifiers
apply.