Considering a new house rule, opinions?

So I'm hoping to finally get the chance to run a wee Mordheim campaign at a local club, and I've almost finalised what stuff will be included and what house rules to go with, but one thing is still bugging me; Cult of the Possessed are still annoyingly sub-optimal compared to most other warbands out of the starting gate, thanks to the HUEG cost of heroes combined with mutations.

I was considering giving Possessed the ability to select a single mutation at a 50% discount as an advance, instead of a skill, as a one-off and only in the event the model wasn't given a mutation at warband creation. That gives the player the option to take a pair of "naked" Possessed at creation to max out their starting heroes without sucking up all their available cash and preventing them from getting enough henchmen, without having to give up mutations for them for the whole campaign. The discount on the cost of the mutation is because they have to give up a skill advance so are already trading something away, but I'm not married to it if folk think it's too much.

What do you think?

I don't think it sounds unreasonable, although I am a little bit wary of making things easier for the Possessed to get their ball rolling. They can become nasty pretty fast if things go their way.

Will you be using the Rewards of the Shadowlord table? That will also open up the possibility for more mutations. Not for the possessed but the mutants, at least.

If i were to give a price reduction for mutations to anyone, it'd be to the Mutants instead of the Possessed, since mutations are mandatory for them and even the cheapest of them aren't cheap. You can take a Possessed naked and he can still wreck faces, whereas you've gotta invest minimum 45gc into a mutant, and thats just for a ridiculously situational mutation, and no weapons. If you want something useful, thats at least 55gc.

Really though, I don't think either is neccesary, because like Masterspark said, they can get real nasty, real fast without any changes to their hiring costs. I would just try to make it clear to someone who wants to play Possessed that they're not tuned for novices, and their learning curve can be a steep one. Honestly, if I knew someone who was on the fence about the game was also someone who was more interested in play style and optimization than theme and modeling oppurtunities, I'd probably try to guide them away from Possessed. If I wanted them to stick around that is.

I don't see it being a problem. Since it requires taking a skill, can only be used once, and can only be used on a 'naked' Possessed, I don't see this being a problem in any way. Possessed with only a single mutation aren't going to break anything, and giving up a skill isn't an insignificant trade-off.

IMO: The Cult of the Possessed is single handedly the most powerful warband in the game and unless you run a short campaign one with a very limited number of games don't do it.

I have never even considered the Possessed under-powered. In our group they are the only warband our Sad Sack has a winning record with (at least according to him.) Since you are asking I would vote no on the house rule.

Only one of our players employ the Possessed warband in our games. He has two nasty ones. I would definitely not recommend buffing that warband in any way. Even 'naked' Possessed are quite the threat.

Hmm OK, consensus seems clear enough. I'll leave it out for the first run and see how the two potential Possessed players do.

I agree to most of the posters. All my Possessed warbands did good, but I also never lost a possessed early. When you reach a critical mass the warband gets going. If you buy mutants you really need to nurse them and not send them into the heat of the battle. They are really expensive in the beginning for what they bring to the battle, and their exploration dices are needed too, but they also can become mighty and fearsome warriors because they level up fast.