Outlaws of Stirwood Forest

So I am looking at getting back into Mordheim, and I have been reading through all my old material, and I came across the Outlaws warband. I was wondering if anybody has any experience with them? Below are my thoughts after reading them over.

- The rule that all models other then the cleric must carry bows (short, normal, or long) means lots of S3 shots. Wounding T4 or higher models becomes difficult due to a lack of crossbows. The bow requirement also gets expensive.

- Hunting arrows in the equipment list for heros level the playing field a little, but not a great deal as you still have to wound for them to be effective. They are also expensive at 30gc a pop. Poison is probably going to be a major purchase for the warband's arrows.

- The cleric is a warrior priest minus one point of LD, but is hit hard by only being able to take academic skills as priests get combat and strength as well.

- Double-handed weapons seem over priced at 30gc. This might just be a typo. There seems to be nothing to stop the warband from just saving their gold and buying the desired double-handed weapons after their first battle.

If you have played the warband before, what are your thoughts on houseruling that double-handed weapons cost the standard 15gc they do for everyone else?
Also that Clerics get access to at least a second skill category if not both combat and strength.

Lastly, what about the idea that Outlaws (the BS3 henchmen as opposed to the BS4 Marksmen) could get access to crossbows. This seems a little overpowered to me, but would help even things up late campaign.

Welcome to the forum.

For the priest of Sigmar I would recommend this topic--

https://boringmordheimforum.forumieren.com/t5284-priests-of-the-empire

The warband: I have never played it, but I played orcs against it, and I was bedeviled by hunting arrows and showers of normal arrows.

The strange double handed weapon cost is really an non-issue since there is little reason to buy one early in a campaign. I've never lost my first game because I didn't have a big axe. As for no crossbows, its part of the flavor of the warband. There are plenty of human warbands with crossbows, so one of those could be played instead if the lack bothers you.

You can also get crossbows later on with Weapons expert on your heroes... they may still have to have slung over there back a normal bow but that's fine as you will already have hunting arrows by then (probably) and can switch between them as needed.

Never played with them or against them my self but I have faced off against lots of bows and used a fair bit my self in games (elves, Amazons, and Riklanders) and have not found it too bad taking down the tougher guys. yes it's tough but can be done. consentrate fire and slow guys down (kill a few) and then bring down the guys that get threw.

I have found them very effective, as the are pretty much all BS4. Also, the priest replaces a youngblood, and it is a good tradeoff.

Pervavita wrote:

You can also get crossbows later on with Weapons expert on your heroes... they may still have to have slung over there back a normal bow but that's fine as you will already have hunting arrows by then (probably) and can switch between them as needed.

Never played with them or against them my self but I have faced off against lots of bows and used a fair bit my self in games (elves, Amazons, and Riklanders) and have not found it too bad taking down the tougher guys. yes it's tough but can be done. consentrate fire and slow guys down (kill a few) and then bring down the guys that get threw.

The rules state you can only have one missile weapon, and it must be a bow so no crossbows.

someone in our group played them for a while and the ONLY bonus to them is if you have lots of forest terrain so you can give most of them forest cloaks giving you -1 to be hit and a 4+ save against magic

Yes, the rules make it clear that even Weapons Expert doesn't allow them to take crossbows, knives, blackpowder weapons, etc. - has to be a bow.

I would disagree that their only bonus is the cloaks - you can have starting warband made up entirely of BS 4 guys except for the cleric (BS 3) and the petty thief/youngblood (who is BS 3, so again one point better than his equivalent in other warbands).

Only two warbands match them for shooting: the original Shadow Elves (who are generally conceded to have been too powerful) and Reiklanders. The Reiklanders benefit from more diversity in the missile weapons they can select, but the Outlaws have initial access to some exotic equipment and have a better hero mix.