Beastmen BS

Why can a beastman have a max BS of 6 when they will never be able to use ranged weapons?

They very good at throwing insults at other people.....

Throwing Blessed Water? Dart tourney at the pub?

Quote :

Net (RB 37); 5 gc; Availability: Common
Steel nets, such as those used by Pit Fighters, can be used in battles. Once per game, the net may be thrown in the shooting phase instead of the model shooting a missile weapon. Treat the net as a missile weapon in all respects with a range of 8". Use the model’s BS to determine whether the net hits or not – there are no movement or range penalties. If it hits, the target must immediately roll a D6. If the result is equal to, or lower than his Strength, he rips the net apart. If the result is higher, he may not move, shoot or cast spells in his next turn, although he is not otherwise affected. In either case the net is lost.

Along with this:

Quote :

Telescope (A02 86); 75+3D6 gc; Availability: Rare 10
Common to the great astronomers in the observatories at Nuln, telescopes are a useful, if highly rare, item to have in the City of the Damned. The keen view offered by these instruments makes shooting easier and gives an unparalleled awareness of a warrior's surroundings. Any Hero using a telescope may increase the range of any missile weapon he is using by D6” each turn. Furthermore, he triples the distance at which he can spot hidden enemies.

Picturing a beastman using a telscope to throw a net seems very funny to me. Just saying....

Pretty extreme since the only options are nets and holy water... Both of which never get used... Thats like 3 wasted advancement rolls.... Jeez, even LD or I would be more welcome!

Some people call it an oversight. Some people call it a subtle effect at balancing the Beastmen warband. Some people choose to give short bows to Ungors. I don't know. It is what it is.

Firebombs are also equipment and can therefore be used by beastmen/possessed/dwarf slayers, etc. Not only that, but there is also the 'lesser' magic spell Arrows of Arha that uses BS as well.

In Relics of the Crusade setting you can get a magical tattoo that gives you a spell, so you could choose something like Arrows to get a better ranged attack.

No one has mentioned it this time around, but a common house rule is to allow Beasts, Flagellants and similarly missile skill-less warriors to re-roll a BS advance.  Naturally this will allow such warriors a corresponding advantage in gaining skills or characteristic advances which are advantageous.

On the ohter hand one of my players* always argues that Possessed and other BS 0 warriors should be forced to gain BS once WS is maxed.  Do any groups do that?

Edit: *He ignores the fact that the maximum BS for a Possessed is 0.

Yeah.... Im thinking of bringing that up with my group... And it makes sense.... Experience points are representative of just that, EXPERIENCE.... If a warrior spends its time fighting in HTH and suddenly figures out something new (equivilent of an advancement roll), how is it logical that, out of no where, its ranged accuracy gets better.... Its never even picked up a bow, but somehow it can shoot just a bit better?.... That doesnt make any sense...

I would not agree with Von Kurst's player about requiring increase in a maxed stat. I would think most racial maximums are taken into account for game mechanics as well as lore. Beastmen in Mordheim may be of a herd that disdains ranged fighting/are too bloodthirsty to resist making close combat their focus. I think maybe a javelin or other thrown weapon in their list would make more sense.

I can see reasoning behind a non missile using warband or unit not increasing in BS but I do like the slight randomness of the advancement rolls. It requires a player to deal with henchmen management more instead of seeing just a choice at advancement that would invariably lead to min/maxing. Work with what you have or sack the under-performing grunts in favor of a new batch. Henchmen can get four advancements total if they do not get promoted to heroes, with no increase available more than once. Seven possible outcomes for advancement. A ballistic increase on a pure melee guy sucks, but may represent his less than perfect abilities.

I think Mike is on the right track, it is not just a question of lore / realism. The game balance is also important. If you allow melee fighters to ignore BS advances you can potentially end up making them very powerful. That's why I'm always careful about mucking around with the core rules.

Possessed are pure melee and have a max BS of 0.... 'Splain that!...

Theycallmejosh wrote:

Possessed are pure melee and have a max BS of 0.... 'Splain that!...

The Shadowlord made them that way...

If you want it changed on your table make it so. Mordheim is flexible.

Theycallmejosh wrote:

Possessed are pure melee and have a max BS of 0.... 'Splain that!...

Perhaps because they can't be armed or armoured.

Who knows, who cares. If you want to change it nothing is stopping you

Our gaming group runs with the house rule of throw a rock.
During the Shooting Phase any warrior can search for a rock.
on a 5+ in a area where it would be hard to find a rock i.e. a lake etc
on a 4+ in open terrain
on a 3+ on rocky terrain or rubble.
The range is twice the users strength.
the damage is the users strength.
If throwing at a target over half range the attack is at -1 Strength (this rule is negated if the thrower throwing from an elevated position.

This is an interesting house rule. Am I misunderstanding the damage?

whoops that was a typo it should only be the users strength for damage