Shadows Elves again

Opinion seems divided on that issue. I will probably leave it as it is, and see if it seems to powerful (mind you, I have never really developed the habit of buying Tarot decks, which some groups seem to do fairly quickly). Hopefully I will be able to field-test them in November.

We startet to make Tarot Cards/Pedulum to one use per warband per game. It seems odd if everyone uses tarot cards and Pendulum... One "spiritiual" guide with these items should be enough. Otherwise you have warbands which have 8 rerolls (2 skills, 6 items) and 6 +/-1...
With a beggar, who just hide in a corner and stand out of every fight, but increases number and perhaps an good mordheim-map.
That are 8 exploration dices, 8 rerolls and 6 +/-1. This way it is no wonder, if people start having 5 or more of a kind on regular base.

For that you don't need a special warband...
Dwarfs and this elven warband just could excel a little bit easier...

A bit of threadomancy here - sorry. But I think it makes more sense than starting a new thread, and having to link to this one.

We are starting a new campaign tomorrow. It is a collaborative campaign - the "Vampire Hunters" campaign designed by my evil brother (numbertenox); see the section on battle reports if you are interested in this campaign. So, finally this revised warband will be seeing some action. I have updated the rules based on the excellent feedback provided previously. Here are the changes from the original post (and fairly soon this revised version will hopefully be up on numbertenox's blog):

First, I revised Scare. Scarce: Recruiting new warriors is not easy for the Shadow Warriors, as there are few elves in the old world, and even fewer near Mordheim. Usually a new recruit must come from far-off Ulthuan. To find new members, the warband has two options. First, the warband’s captain may use his or her rare search roll, exactly as if the captain was looking for a rare item. On a roll of 10 or higher, the warband is immediately able to recruit another Shadow elf. The captain may add +1 to this roll if the Shadow Elves won the previous scenario. The Streetwise skill also modifies this roll, although it only adds +1 to the roll, rather than the +2 benefit the captain would receive if looking for a rare item. If attempting to recruit a henchman into an existing henchman group, the warband must still make the roll to see if it has found someone with enough experience to join the group (see “New Recruits and Existing Henchman Groups”, p. 144). Alternatively, the warband may send to Ulthuan for new recruits. In this case, only inexperienced henchmen can be recruited. The warband pays the price for the recruit, including the recruit’s equipment, and then rolls a d6 and consults the following table:

1 The recruit never arrives.

2 The recruit arrives after 3 games.

3 The recruit arrives after 2 games.

4 The recruit arrives after 1 game.

5 The recruit arrives after 1 game. Roll a d6, and if the result is a “1” the recruit has been arrested by xenophobic local authorities on suspicion of being suspicious. The warband can ransom him for 5 g.c., and can redeem any items of his seized equipment for half of its original cost.

6 The recruit arrives after 1 game. Roll a d6, and on a result of 5+ two recruits arrive instead of one. Both are equipped in an identical fashion, and they constitute a single henchman group. The warband does not have to pay for the second recruit or that recruit's equipment.

When recruiting from Ulthuan, a new recruit can be equipped with an Elven shortbow.


I took shotguncoffee's interesting suggestion for a new special skill, ("Frail but Fey") and made it a new special rule (I thought that worked better than a "skill" that disappears immediately). Fey Recovery: elves are slight, but have an astonishing ability to recuperate from a wound that does not kill them. When an elf hero rolls a skill for an improvement roll, instead of taking the skill he can negate any of the following results previously rolled on the Serious Injury table: 22 Leg wound; 24 Madness; 25 Smashed leg; 26 Chest wound; 31 Blinded in one eye; 32 Old battle wound; 33 Nervous condition; 34 Hand injury; 35 Deep wound.

I also added another special rule not discussed here:

Making do: Shadow Elves prefer their own superior bows, and a starting warband may only be equipped with elf bows and elf shortbows. However, when buying supplies after scenarios, the warband may purchase and use longbows, bows, and shortbows.

I had not wanted the warband to be able to start with really cheap bows so they could pad out their numbers... but I thought it would be silly if an elf lost his bow (c.f. a hero who is Robbed) and then would refuse to shoot anything until he scrounged up another ultra-rare elf bow or shortbow.

Lastly, I did a revision of their skills, incorporating several of shotguncoffee's suggestions. Here is that list:

Infiltration: A Skaven with this skill is always placed on the battlefield after the opposing warband and can be placed anywhere on the table as long as it is out of sight of the opposing warband and more than 12" away from any enemy model. If both players have models which infiltrate, roll a D6 for each, and the lowest roll sets up first.

See in Shadows: The warrior’s senses have become especially keen from years spent walking the shadows. As long as he has movement to reach them, the warrior may always roll to charge opponents he cannot see (instead of the normal 4").

Stealthy: when using cover, opponents shooting at the elf are at a -2 penalty on their rolls to hit, rather than -1.

Master of Runes: The Shadow Weaver has learned to harness the power of the High Elven runes of power (see Elven Runestones, below) to a degree few mages attain. When using Elven Runestones, the mage is +1 to his dispel roll. In addition, the mage can inscribe the weapons and armour of one of his fellow warriors with Elven runes. One member of the Warband may reroll a single failed armour save or Parry roll once per battle. After a single battle, the runes lose their glamour and must be redone. This skill may only be taken by Shadow Weavers.

Backstabber: The Shadow Warrior specializes in attacking his targets when their back is turned. The elf may charge an opponent he cannot see (he knows you're there!) as long as the target model is within 2 x his Initiative statistic in inches. If his charge succeeds, he surprises his opponent and receives a +1 to hit him with all attacks and any rolls on the Serious Injuries chart are at +1. This bonus lasts for the first round of combat only, as his opponent will swiftly recover his wits if he survives the initial assault.

Fey: Hostile magic spells will not affect the Elf on a D6 roll of 4+.

I know that this is just me being a bit fussy but could you please put up all of the stats and stuff like a proper warband list just to get a better idea of balance between the stats and stuff.

I will do at some point, when I have a moment... but the info not listed in my first post (like stat lines) is unchanged from GW's version.

you should check these skills:
See in Shadows: The warrior’s senses have become especially keen from years spent walking the shadows. As long as he has movement to reach them, the warrior may always roll to charge opponents he cannot see (instead of the normal 4").

Backstabber: The Shadow Warrior specializes in attacking his targets when their back is turned. The elf may charge an opponent he cannot see (he knows you're there!) as long as the target model is within 2 x his Initiative statistic in inches. If his charge succeeds, he surprises his opponent and receives a +1 to hit him with all attacks and any rolls on the Serious Injuries chart are at +1. This bonus lasts for the first round of combat only, as his opponent will swiftly recover his wits if he survives the initial assault.

Because of "Backstabber" it makes no sense to have "See in the Shadows". Only in the rare case a hero has more movement than twice his initiative (Sprint, Jump) you have a need for "See in the Shadows".