Dirty Peasant Warband Concept

3-20 size
Empire Peasants, lots of specialist henchmen types (Woodsman, Hunter, Rat Catcher, Scholars, Watchmen, etc. each with their own unique list of equipment and maybe a special rule)

Peasants: These warbands are peasants and desperate people risking it all to break free of their social status. They are not hardened soldiers or even mercenaries and therefore peasant henchman must take All Alone tests on three dice ignoring the lowest.

Heroes: Instead of having unique heroes this list could have each type of henchman represented. For example: Woodsmen, Hunters, Rat Catcher and such each have a Henchmen and a Hero variant. The Leader would also be an upgrade of a Hero. No more than 4 heroes plus the leader, and no more than 2 of the same type of hero may be purchased.

Dirty Peasants: Peasant warbands use the same set of hired swords that mercenaries use. However any with sorcery or chaos taint will not be hired as the Peasants are too terrified.

Uneducated: A peasant warband must have at least one scholar or character capable of learning academic skills present in order to benefit from tomes or books.

Starting Experience:

The Leader starts with 20 experience.
Heroes start with 4 experience.
All Henchmen start with 0 experience.

Potential Skill Table:

Woodsmen may choose skills from Strength, Speed, or Peasant lists
Hunters may choose skills from the Shooting, Speed, or Peasant lists
Rat Catchers may choose skills from the Speed or Peasant lists
Watchmen may choose skills from the Combat, Shooting or Strength skills
Scholars may choose skills from the Academic or Peasant Lists

Maximum Characteristics
All peasants in this warband are humans from the empire or surrounding regions.

Special Rules:
Leader: Any warrior within 6" of the Leader may use his Leadership characteristic when taking any Leadership tests.

Woodsmen
These rugged men often live outside of towns and collect lumber for fuel or construction or make charcoal.
M 4; Ws 3; Bs 2; S 4; T 3; W 1; I 3; A 1; Ld 7
Weapons/Armor: Woodsmen may choose weapons and armor from the Woodsmen Equipment List.
Special Rule: Woodsmen are not slowed down by vegetation for movement.
Heroes gain 1 to Ws and T . This only applies to purchased heroes, not LGT.
Leaders gain 1 to Ws, Bs, T, I and Ld and gain the Strongman skill

Hunters
These peasants make their living hunting or trapping animals for meat/pelts/bone etc.
M 4; Ws 3, Bs 3, S 3, T 3, W 1, I 4, A 1, Ld 7
Special Rule: Hunters can spot hidden models up to twice their normal range
Heroes gain 1 to Bs and gain trick shot skill.
Leaders gain 1 to Ws and BS, 1 to I and 1 to Ld as well as the trick shot skill

Rat Catchers
These peasants make their living rats andother vermin they often are paranoid and believe in the silly superstition that man sized rats infest the Old World...
M 4; Ws 2, Bs 3, S 3, T 3, W 1, I 3, A 1, Ld 7
Special Rule: Rat Catchers suffer Fear from Skaven, but also have Hatred of Skaven
Heroes gain 1 to Ws, and may roll a T test to ignore the effect of a poison or disease.
Leaders gain 1 to Ws and BS, 1 to I and 1 to Ld as well as the trick shot skill

Watchmen
These are the men that guard their towns from miscreants and wild animals, they often have had some prior service in a militia or professional army. They are often outnumbered in fights and used to relying on themselves.
M 4; Ws 3, Bs 3, S 3, T 3, W 1, I 3, A 1, Ld 7
Special Rule: Watchmen do not follow the peasant special rule for All Alone tests
Heroes gain 1 to Ws or Bs and may reroll failed all alone tests.
Leaders gain 1 to Ws and BS, 1 to I and 1 to Ld and are immune to All Alone

Scholars
These men are scholars, barber-surgeons, craftsmen and the like. Their reasons are their own for braving the City of the Damned. But no matter the reason they are well educated and can provide guidance for their less educated allies.
M 4; Ws 2, Bs 2, S 3, T 3, W 1, I 3, A 1, Ld 6
Special Rule: Heroes gain 1 to Ws or Bs and may reroll failed all alone tests.
Leaders gain 1 to Ws and BS, 1 to I and 1 to Ld and are immune to All Alone

New Gear
Ratter
These small dogs (or tougher than average cats) are commonly used by Rat Catchers to find and kill vermin.
M 5; Ws 3, Bs 0, S 2, T 2, W 1, I 4, A 1, Ld 5
Ratters detect Skaven and animals at double their normal range
Ratters may reroll a failed 'to-hit' roll against an animal if in combat with a Rat Catcher


Inspired by a comment Styrfoam King made, needs focusing but could be interesting.

I like the idea of the peasant warband, the only thing I would change is adding more choices, maybe about 5 more.

some ideas for other peasants;

Blacksmith
Guild Leader
Fletcher
Miner/Coal Miner
Lumber Jack
Miller
Mason
Bone Picker
Town Crier

Ha ha. Nice.

I think the major schism you're having is that you can't decide whether it's a rural group or a town group. So, here's a break down of the two types:

RURAL
Woodsman
Hunter
Wolf Catcher - maybe alternate names of Woodsman
Frenzied Mob - Maybe use this scenario or the peasants from the Celestial warband as a basis. Skittish masses.
Elder - The leader, maybe? Or maybe the scholar

URBAN
Watchman - definitely the leader. Rounding up a posse
Scholar - not sure if he fits in here, but if he does, maybe only one of them. I think it might be smart to ditch him, as most scholars are middle class.
Rat Catchers - An awesome idea. These are definitely the speedy guys. Maybe the youngbloods?
Ratters - give 'em the same stats as the Giant rat. still not as good as a wardog, but can still do some damage.
thugs - maybe a good base unit.
If you go urban, you definitely need rules for improvised thrown weapons. You can't have a mob of angry slum dwellers without lots of tossed bricks and sticks. Maybe the same as sharp stuff?

I would think Urban would work better, as Rural is already done by a myriad of warbands.

What about something like this:
Heroes
Leader (Picks a occupation he started from which modifies stats and maybe a skill at start)
0-1 Watch Captain Human Champion rerolls failed all alone tests, can get lanterns
0-3 from the following, no more than 2 of the same:
- Rat Catchers Youngblood statswith the fear/hatred of skaven thing and allow Ratters
- Smith ws 3 bs 2 human with strongman, has a +1 to find normal material melee weapons and armor
- Lowlife human warrior stats, +1 to find poison and drugs
- Barber-Surgeon youngblood stats but allows +1 to a serious injury result is not OOA
- A single priest from: Werekin's Priests of the Empire

Henchmen
Peasant (youngblood stats but with an occupation to modify)
Ratters
Rabble (similar to raging peasants from BTB) but with sharp stuff!

I like the idea of the thrown bricks and bottles!

Occupations (Only 1 group of each type allowed?):
Thug - Baseline human warrior
Outdoorsman/Hunter/Stalker - Archer type
Tradesman - Youngbloods
Drunks - see the ostlander (can't remember exact name of unit)
Gong Farmer - smell really bad (animals fear them or maybe a -1 when trying to hit them in melee?)
Others?

I think make the Watch the steady leader, have two "champions" and two "youngbloods." All champs and youngs can start with an occupation. Certain ones are "champ only" (like blacksmith) while others are blood only (ratcatcher & barber). Some would be unlimited, while others you're allowed only 1 of.

Alt - you could have a Guild Leader be the leader too... maybe have those two as the only "Leader only" occupations? Not sure what he'd do. Maybe have a better sway over his men.the watchman maybe causes fear in all human outlaws (pirates, outlaws, bandits, highwaymen, etc.)

Blacksmith - not sure if rarity would work for him, he's too common. Maybe 1D6 gc off any hand weapon, and 2D6 off of armor?

barber - I think an injury reroll works better than +1. Can only use once per post game, and only if he's not taken out of action.

Merge Rabble & peasants.

Add thugs as the "common warrior" unit. Human warrior stats, but Ld 6. If you want to make the warband weak, limit them to 0-5 or 0-7, so they don't fill all 20 slots.

Improvised weapons- heck EVERYONE should get it. It's a reoccuring theme.

Ratters- make them default, but the rat-catcher can act as a Beastmaster. Maybe they use his Ld or can make a reroll if he's within 6".

OCCUPATIONS
Footpad - Champ - Adds +1 Critical hit rols when using a club. Also, adds 1D6 gc to your treasure for each model he takes out of action in combat
Marksmen - Champ - Adds +1 to hit with crossbows. (instead of stalker/hunstman, which doesn't fit the city theme)
Tradesmen - young - adds +1 to your rarity rolls.
Drunk - champ or young - Starts with -1 BS and -2 Initiatve. Passes all Ld tests, excluding rout tests.
Gong Farmer - all models in base contact with him suffer -1 to hit in combat. Models immune to psych are immune.
Mason - champ or young - If he is attacked by a missile, and the mason is obscurred partially by a building or wall that he is within 1", the Mason receives an extra -1 to hit and +1 Armor save. Likewise, if he is attacked in combat, and a wall or barricade partially separates the attacker and the Mason, he receives -1 to be hit and +1 Armor Save.

Thanks for the ideas! I like a lot of these, but I think i would like to avoid too much criminal element, so I would implement 0-5 limit on thugs. It was a rather broad idea and you are helping focus it considerably!

Guild Leader could be more a merchant type and start with haggle and streetwise and have access to academic skills (and thus heroes could now too)

Also I forgot to mention a henchman I liked the idea of: City Watch, normal human warrior but henchman that get a lantern. Nothing too special but could be a fun idea. I would also think they would have a larger selection of gear to choose from.

Have it so Guild Leader allows tradesmen and Watchman allows City Watch?

Another occupation could be entertainer which could give knife fighter or acrobatics?

What do others think?

Tradesmen - Do you mean as heroes, or as henchmen? 'Cause as henchmen, tradesman sound kinda lame.

Watchman - maybe. Lanterns are, I'm afraid, kinda lame as they are written. Maybe if you gave them a special bonus.

Lantern Fighter - When armed with a Lantern as a secondary weapon, the watchman may may an additional attack with it. Treat it as a club attack, but at -1S. However, the lantern is helpful at blinding opponents- any model trying to attack the watchman in hand to hand while he is holding a lantern is at -1 to hit him.

eh?

Guild leader & Watch leader - I suppose. I could see a tradesman helping out a watchman ("They's robbing my shop, they is!") or a watchman forced to listen to an influential guild leader. Could go either way.

Entertainer / acrobat - you could, but I think there's enough performer warbands and hired sword. Maybe pickpockets and chimney sweeps, to fill in for the speed skills?

Chimney Sweeps would be awesome. A Youngblood that starts with scale sheer surface maybe? Or even a henchman that gets rope and hook like an unskilled version of a Boatswain.

All in all my hope is to get a warband that feels like desperate men and women trying their hardest to survive crazy times. I was originally going for the occupations to be similar to the WFRPG basic careers.

I like the idea of a watchman being the tie that binds the group together as he would be one of the most likely to be on good terms with a variety of people from many walks of life. And I am making this overly complicated.

To fit the theme give them City Watch as the basic troops 0-5 or 0-7. Then Ratters for the cheap animal role to fill in numbers and provide some speed. Then have the champions, youngblood and peasants which form the bulk of the warband be the various specialist types.

Current ideas (add/subtract any?)
Watch Captain: Normal Merc Captain statline?
Champions: Footpad, Marksman, Blacksmith, Guild Leader
Youngblood: Tradesman, Rat Catcher, Barber, Mason
Peasants: Chiminey Sweep, Drunkard, City Folk, Gong Farmer, Crazy, ?
City Watch 0-5
Ratters

Crazies could basically be frenzied peasants that can only use a select few weapons

To use the hated historical reference, local leaders (Guild leaders, knights, nobles and clergy) often joined (or fomented) peasant revolts for religious, political or military reasons.

Adding skills to the characters makes them better than the Mercenary warbands, which is kinda wrong. Peasant revolts are generally less well equipped and trained than even militia let alone mercenary (professional) soldiers.

Warhammer roleplay would seem like a nifty reference for skill paths.

Peasants - no special paths for the peasants. Makes things too complicated. (Also, call them Rabble or mob.. peasants = country to me). Maybe they can get one as they become a hero, waiving their first advancment.

To VKurst
Adding skills - Yes and no.
Compare: a Middenheim champ starts with +1 Strength and the Tilian starts with +1 to hit. Comparatively, a skill is less effective. Ergo, the citizen is weaker. Also, the stats might be weaker to (ex. the Blacksmith and drunk get -1 BS, champions start with WS3, everyone except leader and champs and watch have -1 skill- youngbloods at ld5, rabble at 5 or less.)