PvE Mordheim Campaign

Folks,
Ive been working on a campaign for my group over the past few months and finally have some near-polished results. Now the campaign is quite lengthy, with part 2 and 3 turning into quite the heavy read. So, I decided to post part 1 of the campaign and for those who decide to give it a gander, please drop some feedback! Ive proof read it a few times, but Im sure i missed a few things.

Part 1 is a PvE centered game. Each player will run through the identical 5 scenarios with their Heroes Only, before they enter the full campaign, which is controlled by a map, capturable territories, objectives, etc.

Theres 3 styles of PvE behaviors used in this first part. 1 is passive: the enemies do nothing until engaged. 2: active, sentries on the look out, with basic rules controlling movement, shooting and combat. and finally for the more advanced scenarios requiring a bit more intelligence. 3: Player controlled. another player will take the role as C.O. for the NPC warband


PvE Campaign Rules

It reads interesting.
These rules areonly for one new player, right?

If i introduce anew player there are normally more than two plaErs and we play a multiplayer game in which the newbe receives some tipps and mercy.

I am looking forward to the next parts.

How did you do the layout?

the campaign is designed for 6-8 players. no more. The players that sign up at the beginning are the only players allowed. no add ins.

The first day of the campaign all players will go through the 5 PvE scenarios, then move onto the next part of the campaign together.

Myself and my buddy have spent the last year building terrain specially designed for this campaign. A full modular table specifically for Mordheim, and plenty of terrain to keep the game playing the way its designed to. PvE games are played on smaller tables (4ft/sq) approx, while the second part will be played on a mix of 2x2 and 4x4 tables

Hey Zekk,
I'm planning the same for my campaigning group, with an introduction with PvE scenarioes, representing the warbands travel to Mordheim and encounters with bandits and civilians on the way.

My idea was to easen new players into the game, and in same act be able to go through the exploration BEFORE going to Mordheim. The thought was to boost not-so-awesome-starting-warbands, so they won't get hammered by other experienced power-gamers (the majority of the players in our group is merciless gits - shame actually).
In the exploration phase wyrdstones are replaced with supplies from the respected overlords of the different races, measuring the warbands progress in terms of supplies / reenforcements.

I'll be following this thread closly, with both feedback and inspiration in mind

this could easily be used to work players into a campaign like youre mentioning. I thought about using it for that use in my campain, but instead opted to be strict and say No Newbies once it starts. Luckily I have a solid enough group that I can do this.

the trick to play testing this kind of thing, is to get the perfect model balance. Not too few that itll be a cakewalk for the warbands, but not so many that only the luckiest of dice rolls will in the match.

About the model balance, I actually think it's great as it is. It is really a HUGE disadvantage for the regular PvE CC-models to have toughness 2, and as the scenarioes progress, skills like mighty blow, and other strength boosters, as well as ranged, will have a great impact on the combat efficientcy. A regular bow and even slings will wound on a 3+ - 66% chance of wounding the target. At the time the warbands reach the 5-6th scenario I bet they'll be skilled up to handle 2 models a person, not to mention if it's a ranged warband, they'll by now have several models with quick shot or pistoleer if black powder oriented.
I do believe that the numbers will of course have an impact on the balance, but I don't think it'll be as much as you fear...

When will you be having the first playtest sessions?

T2 definetely helps the heros drop enemies quicker, but in the end, Mordheim is a game of More Dice. Once a hero gets mobbed by 2 or 3 enemies, chances of survival quickly drop. I play tested 3 scenarios a week or so ago, and the first one was too easy. 2nd one, the heros suffered 1 casualty, and the third game, 2 casualties. So, Im thinking this is a pretty solid start so far.

First game is July 22nd. (we still have some terrain left to build)

sounds very promising. Would like to see more

Zekk wrote:

T2 definetely helps the heros drop enemies quicker, but in the end, Mordheim is a game of More Dice. Once a hero gets mobbed by 2 or 3 enemies, chances of survival quickly drop. I play tested 3 scenarios a week or so ago, and the first one was too easy. 2nd one, the heros suffered 1 casualty, and the third game, 2 casualties. So, Im thinking this is a pretty solid start so far.

First game is July 22nd. (we still have some terrain left to build)

I see, how many enemies in average occupied the buidlings in the first scenario, and how did the sentry rules work out for you? They sound straight forward, though I was a bit confused about this part:

Part 1 - campaign rules. Zekk wrote:

Models with missile weapons will always fire if within
range, and if the enemy is within half range, they will
remain stationary and fire.

Did you miss a "move and fire" in the first line? Otherwise pretty solid rulings on the first part of the campaign!

This looks awesome, truth be told! Would love to see your board also, please keep us updated with the progress

sorry guys,
weeks vacation there... didnt have much time to log on to the site!

yes, theres a type in there about the move and shoot thing, my apologies. Its meant to state that missile troops will always move towards their enemies and shoot, until they are within half range, at which point they stop moving.
makes sense in my head, doesnt always translate well to paper.


the sentry rules played out Very well in the play testing. the random direction & Angle of LOS kept the skaven warband (of all warbands!) on their toes. often waiting turns sitting still till the sentries looked away. in the first play test, they set off the alarm and got mobbed pretty fast by the spawning guards. second play test they ghosted half the sentries which bought them enough time to make the kill.

For skaven, the sentry scenarios were relatively easy. for humans and other M4 warbands, it was a challenge. for Dwarves, well, lets just say that theyre better off sounding the alarm on turn 1 so the bad guys come to them

setting up the whole table takes a lot of space and time, which i dont have right now, but heres a pic of our recently build bridge section.
the tables set up in 12x12" tiles, all interchangable, with buildings to go on top. this section is three tiles permanently connected, as theyre one long river piece. nothing fancy, wasnt meant to be though!

pics care of my iphone4.
wish i had something better!

I really like the PVE idea. Been toying with something like that for a while, but haven't got around to test it yet. Thanks for the inspiration!
Oh, and nice pictures btw Really cool water effect. How did you make that?

its a type of resin we use for water, add in some ink/wash for color, pour, set. and there ya go

funny thing is we, (and by we, I mean 'i') fucked this one up pretty good. didnt seal the edges properly so a tonne of that stuff leaked through the bottom, ended up leaving lots of air bubbles and wasnt quite level.
after looking at it once it set, i realized my f**k up was quite brilliant, as the air bubbles simply look like foam on the water, and the uneven levels is like waves! go figure...

SO! after the first games day with this campaign, a lot was discovered. We only got through the first three scenarios, but we found that the balance of model stat line + numbers needs some tweaking.

the 2nd scenario, "Camp Ambush" Needs a turn limit on it. huuuuuge oversight. and a more clearly defined End Of Scenario outcome.

Street Fight, some new rules have to be added to prevent crafty/advanced players of abusing the 2:1 enemy to player model count ratio.

The Sentry rules thing worked out quite well. Two small errata needs to be added, that is, Automatic Sounding of Alarm if the player model is caught in open line of sight. And, that Sentries can spot hidden models within 2x of their initiative, (4" )


That said, this type of campaign predecessor is good for introducing new players to the game, with very easy games that allow for mistakes to be made without said mistakes affecting opponents. But in a campaign where all the players know the game, know the rules, etc. its really not required. However, later in the campaign, stuff like this might be fun, when larger warbands are involved. we ll see!


So heres a few iPhone pics from the games yesterday, I believe we have some actual pics coming later today once the hangovers wear off / ppl get home from work.

Really nice atmospher on that table! I really like the elevation you guys have created! It looks like great fun!

I've "pursuaded" my wife to play test your first-5 scenarioes as preperation to an upcomming Campaign where she will be attending So I'll hand any feedback from these games here the next following days.

You mentioned that the numbers needs tweeking, in which occations is this needed? Was the model count to high, or was it too easy and which stats needed to be changed?

Cant wait to read about the last two scenarioes!

Just heading out on a weekend camping trip so here's a quick errata.

All cc troops are at -1 weapon skill.
Scenario 1- hidden treasure
Turn limit is now 8

Scenario 2- camp ambush
Add
- if a hero is spotted in plain sight, no cover, auto sound alarm
- if a hero is spotted behind cover, initiative check to sound alarm
- turn limit of 8

Scenario 3 - street fight
- enemy models in groups of three. 2 cc 1 missile
- use AI rules from scenario 1 instead of player controlled
- add that missile troops will always shoot if able, and will pick targets closest first. Regardless of cover

We are preparing to have a go at a new campaign since many new players joined our group (we are now 7 strong ) and we though about getting a shot at something that will teach new people some tricks.

Just a few quick questions that come to mind.

General.
1) Throughout the 5 missions you can not buy henchmen/hired swords - right?
2) Is it not unfair that some warbands with more heroes will get vastly more exploration dice? Like Skaven vs other 4 heroes warbands. I mean its +2dice X 5 games. 10 dice more with a chance to score doubles/triples etc That's huge. Not to mention the normal +33% bonus in sheer numbers during the missions. That is if point 1 is a Yes.
3) Also if doubles/triples etc are rolled during exploration and someone gets a free hired sword (ogre bodyguard for example) will he attend the missions or he will appear after PvM?
4) The Amazon rules state that the have to have a hench(wo)man in their warband at startup. Is this rule discarded?


Scenario 1.
5) Which enemy units appear after rolling their number. Is it something like 1 = 1 cc troop, 2 = 2 cc troops, 3 = 2 cc troops + 1 ranged unit? Or you just random it somewhat. Like D6 = 1-4 = cc troop, 5-6 = missile troop. Or just 50/50 chance for either cc/missile? Also how the bow/crossbow wielders are determined? 50/50? 1-4-bow, 5-6 - xbow? (we got all the required models)
I thought of changing the 1D3 into 1D2+1. More challenging, but because of 1D3 and randomnes if someone is really unlucky he could potentially end up with 12 crossbow wielding dudes while the other would get 4 cc troops (4 buildings). Lady average sometimes shows her bad side after all ...

Thank You, and we will probably have more questions as the game progresses.

1) no henchmen, no hired swords

2) the warbands that have more/less heros than usual are Pit Fighters, Orcs, Dwarves (4) and Skaven (6). the ones with less heroes have tougher heroes, and skaven heroes are quite squishy. We have run all 8 players in our campaign through the first three scenarios, and started on 4 and 5 last night. The skaven have routed more than any other warband, the Dwarves have taken the least casualties, and the 5-hero warbands have done quite average. So while on paper it may seem a bit unbalanced, in practice its playing out to be fair.

3) Anything scored in the exploration phase that refers to a standard mission setup (free hired sword, catacombs, choosing next scenario, etc) can be written down on your roster and used on your first game against a human opponent in Part 2 of the campaign.

4) Disregard that entry., yes


Treasure Hunt: All troops are CC troops. its meant to be a painfully easy/stupid scenario. It was originally 1D2+1 actually, but with 2 to 3 troops in every building, it became surprisingly hard. the first 3 players to played the scenario under this rule all lost, not one found the treasure, all were wiped out by turn 4. So we changed it, and its much more managable.

How we did this one was, set up the table, rolled the number of models, and kept that amount for EVERYONE as they played the scenario. so it wasnt any harder/ easier for the next player.

Updated PDF File released:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/29438189/PvE_Campaign.pdf

original post also updated!

I don't know whether it's my pdf reader, but there seems to be some sentences/words missing in the new file.
On the first page last sentence is clipped. "is clever enough to track " abrupt end.
3rd page - hero death last sentence. "Note: this is one case where a re-roll " abrupt end.
same page - distributing experience points. "will give the He- " abrupt end.


It seems that the pictures cut the text ... But it might be my reader. Although I have not had any problems with the previous version ...

Its not your pdf reader - it's also an issue of mine. Looking forwards to the update - and no hassel Zekk , it's nice enough of you to share these rules with us

ah crap, didnt catch those clipping errors. was doing some re sizing. thanks for the catch guys!

the link should have the updated version now.

Thank You for that quick fix, but on page 3 - distributing experience points. "will give the He- " there are still some lines missing.

We are starting the campaign today .

fixed, same link should have the updated change