Mordheim Quest Campaign: Battle Reports (pic heavy) - Updated July 7

[Maniacus]

A while back my gaming group (including LAF forum member m4jumbo) wanted to recapture the feel of our old Dungeons & Dragons role playing days and bring that into our current miniatures gaming.  So we came up with what we have dubbed "Mordheim Quest", based off of Mordheim with a few additions thrown in from GW's LOTR (i.e. Might and Fate).

Each player runs from 2-4 characters chosen from the various Mordhiem warband lists and together these make up the adventuring party.  They play as a group through a campaign of ongoing linked scenarios in which the game master sets up the scenarios and controls the enemies and NPCs.  Experience, loot, skills, and purchasing equipment are done in the same way as Mordheim.  

We’ve been having a lot of fun with this so I thought I’d start a thread to share some of our ongoing adventures.


Battle Report 1:  ORC AMBUSH

A band of adventurers gathered in the foothills of the Dutchy of Geoff, having resolved to assist the warrior priest Erasmus Voltoc, one of their comrades, to deliver a holy relic to the Sigmarite temple in the town of Ostgate.  The band consisted of three dwarves, an elf, and 8 humans:

Dargor Ironhelm - Dwarf Noble
Grungi Headsplitter - Dwarf Slayer
Erol Otis - Wizard at Large
Erasmus Voltoc - Warrior Priest
Hazkal Okri - Dwarf Engineer
Maximus - Pit Figher King
Elrond - Elf Shadow Walker
Rupert von Hasselhoff - Middenheim Champion
Jade the Bitter - Amazon Champion
Gabby the Wraith - Amazon Scout
Hagar the Merciless - Norse Berserker
"Unlucky" Eddie - Norse Marauder

The group set off on their journey through the countryside and approached what appeared to be a seemingly peaceful river crossing.


When they approached the footbridge over the river they noticed a number of dead or injured villagers lying in the road ahead.  At the urging of the priest they rushed forward to assist, only to be set upon by a gang of ambushing orcs.

The orcs were blocking passage over the footbridge so "Unlucky" Eddie sprinted ahead and attempted to leap over the river.  He tripped, made a spectacular face plant into the water and, becoming stunned, began to be swept downstream.


Being more sure-footed than Eddie, Jade the Amazon successfully jumped over the river and prepared to attack the orcs from behind.


With the enemy distracted by Jade, Hagar and Grungi Headsplitter launched their own assault across the bridge.  Flying into a berserker rage, Hagar began to cut down orc after orc.


Arrows began to rain in from a group of orc and goblin archers off to the party's left.  Maximus and Rupert charged across the farm field to engage these new targets while Hazkal, Elrond, and Erol Otis provided missile support from a distance.  All the while Eddie continued to float further downstream, struggling to regain his footing in the fast-moving water.


After easily dispatching their foes, Maximus and Rupert prepared to wade across the river to rejoin the main fight back by the bridge.


The main body of the orc raiding party was then quickly cut down and the remainder turned and fled with the loot taken from the local villagers.  The party pursued them and attempted to take them down with long-range missile fire.  Unfortunately this effort failed and the orcs fled into the woods with their ill-gotten gain.

.


The adventurers spread out and ensured that the area was secure before continuing on their journey to Ostgate.  This kept them occupied while they waited for Eddie to dry off and pour all the river water out of his equipment.

[Maniacus]

Battle Report 2:  TRACKING THE ORCS

After successfully fending off the orc ambush on the road to Ostgate, the party safely arrived at their destination.  While Erasmus was occupied delivering the holy relic to the temple, the rest of the group learned that their encounter with the orcs during their journey was unfortunately all too common in the area recently. 

The farms and villages surrounding Ostgate had been severely plagued by increasing orc raids over the last several months.  The situation had gotten so severe that the flow of trade caravans and food supplies into the area were dwindling dangerously low.  The party was asked by the town elders if they could lend assistance.  Specifically, if they could help locate the location from which the orcs were launching their raids and stop them.

The party decided to split in two to cover more area.  One half, consisting of those below, staked out their own ambush at a nearby farm with the intent to capture one or more orcs and force them to reveal the location of their camp.  The town elders sent along two of the local militia to assist since they knew the area and could act as guides.

Grungi Headsplitter - Dwarf Slayer
Erol Otis - Wizard at Large
Hazkal Okri - Dwarf Engineer
Maximus - Pit Figher King
Jade the Bitter - Amazon Champion
Gabby the Wraith - Amazon Scout
“Squinty” Mackay – Militia Archer
Johan – Militia Swordsman

An overview of the farm where the party decided to set up their ambush.


Gabby decided to climb a tree and use it as a crafty camouflaged observation area.  After spotting an orc raiding party approaching through the woods near her position, she let out a bird call in an attempt to alert her fellow amazon fighter and hopefuly the rest of the group.


Unfortunately, her bird call also alerted the two orcs moving below her tree and they quickly grabbed the trunk and began to shake it violently.  Gabby wasn’t able to retain her grip on her perch and promptly fell onto the ground at their feet, being knocked unconscious and out of action before they could even land a blow.


With the element of surprise gone, the adventurers launched a straight-out assault on the orcs.  Maximus, Hazkal, and Johan charged into the enemies closest to the farmhouse.


Grungi desired a more challenging opponent to test his slayer vow, but had to content himself with starting the battle against a goblin archer.


“Squinty” and Erol Otis the wizard provided long range support from the upper level of the farm house.

A second group of orcs burst into the farmhouse after sneaking around the back.  Luckily, Erol heard a commotion on the stairs just in time to turn and make a hasty defense while shouting out the window that orcs were in the house.


The rest of the party rushed to help defend their comrades in the house.  Maximus and Johan were the first to arrive.


The fight continued in the interior of the farm house.  The wizard held his own in close combat, fending off the orc’s savage blows one after another with his staff.


After dispatching his first foe, Johan rushed over the help the mage.


Flames began to leap from the back room after the greenskins set the walls alight.


The orc leader grabbed the farmer’s wife and fled from the house with his captive in tow.


The party pursued him and successfully rescued the captive, although Johan was taken out of action before the orc was killed.


The party succeeded in capturing some of the raiding party and planned to interrogate them about the location of the orcs’ base camp.  The only friendly casualty of the fight was the farmer’s house, which continued to burn out of control.

.

[Maniacus]

Battle Report 3:  COME INTO MY PARLOR

After successfully capturing one of the marauding orcs during the attack on the local farm, the adventurers were able to gain information about the general location of the orcs’ base camp.  Acting upon this information they split the party into two groups and set out to search for the best route that will allow them to approach the orc camp unseen. 

The first group departed to scout out a path which led them through Grunwald Forest.  The party consisted of the following:

Grungi Headsplitter - Dwarf Slayer
Erasmus Voltoc - Warrior Priest
Elrond - Elf Shadow Walker
Rupert von Hasselhoff - Middenheim Champion
Hagar the Merciless - Norse Berserker
"Unlucky" Eddie - Norse Marauder


An overhead view of Grunwald Forest.


The adventurers carefully advance on the trail through the forest…


…when a rain of incoming arrows alerts them to a goblin ambush.


As the party rushes toward their attacker, the goblin turns and flees, only to get trapped in a large web that has been stung across the trail.  Elrond and Hagar pursue him and attack him while he’s helplessly caught in the web.




While busy dispatching the goblin, they fail to notice the giant spider that lowers itself down right behind them and attacks!


Meanwhile, Unlucky Eddie tries to cut through the underbrush and is swarmed by a number of smaller spiders.


Elrond is brought down by the creature, but Grungi charges in to join Hagar in battling the giant arachnid while Rupert is also swarmed by the smaller creatures.




Finally the large beast is brought down, but another emerges from the nearby trees and starts to advance toward the party.




The beast begins to stalk Rupert, silently moving ever closer to its prey.




Before it can reach its victim, the rest of the group intercepts the creature.


The group can’t defeat the beast and they are brought down one-by-one.


The victims are all paralyzed by the spider’s venom and wrapped in webs for a future meal.  Hopefully the other half of the party will find them in time to launch a rescue.





 

[Maniacus]

Battle Report 4:  SPIDER BARROWS

Previously, after accepting the quest to seek out and eliminate the orc raiders that had been harassing the town of Ostgate and the surrounding area, the party split into two halves to cover more ground in their search for the orcs’ encampment.  One half of the party had unfortunately run into a nest of giant spiders in the Grunwald Forest and had been captured by the vile beasts.

The rest of the group, alerted to the situation by local militia who had seen the party right before they disappeared, moved quickly to mount a rescue.  The captain of the militia lent them a few soldiers who guided them to the caves where the spiders made their nest.  The group then embarked into the darkness to find their comrades before it was too late.

The rescue party consisted of:

Grungi Headsplitter – Dwarf Slayer
Erol Otis – Wizard at Large
Maximus – Pit Fighter
Hazkal Okri – Dwarf Engineer
Jade the Bitter – Amazon Champion
Gabby the Wraith – Amazon Scout

Overview of the spider barrows cave.


The group enters the caves with Maximus and Jade in the lead.




Jade advances down a passageway but doesn’t pay attention to the spider web behind her.  A bad mistake . . .


Jade is taken down by the spider’s surprise attack but Maximus takes his revenge on the creature.


To keep any more ambusher at bay Erol Otis unleashes a fireball to burn the webbing.


Meanwhile, the rest of the group battles more spiders.  Harold the NPC militia halberdier gets ready to begin his streak of unintentionally stealing monster kills (and XP) from the player characters.


They find victims wrapped in webbing to be eaten later, but these appear to be local villagers rather than their missing companions.


Gabby is caught in a web attack and slowly pulled closer to a gigantic spider.




Grungi find one of their companions and unwraps him from the web.


The Dwarf Slayer spots the gigantic spider and charges in to battle the monster, hoping to fulfill his slayer vow.


The slayer goes down, his vow fulfilled, while other rush in to take the fight to the vile creature.


With everyone else being knocked down or stunned by the spider, Harold the Super NPC prepares to face down the monster alone.


The wizard, dwarf engineer, and one of the militia guards fend off more spiders, then check out some chests for loot.




The spider manages to knock down or stun all of the fighters it is in contact with.  Will this be the end?


The wizard and militia gunner prepare to take down the spider with ranged fire, thus saving their stunned companions who were all about to be killed.


Maximus uncovers yet another companion.


The wizard used his fireball to set more webs on fire.


The group clears out yet more spiders from another chamber.


Having defeated the last of the spiders, the party discovers a set of stairs that leads up to a darkened doorway.  What could await them beyond?


The group was ultimately able to find all of their missing companions.  Unfortunately, Unlucky Eddie the Marauder and Rupert von Hasselhoff the Middenheimer had both succumbed to their injuries and died, while Grungi Headsplitter and Gabby the Amazon fell valiantly during the rescue attempt.

[thebinmann]

A while back my gaming group (including LAF forum member m4jumbo) wanted to recapture the feel of our old Dungeons & Dragons role playing days and bring that into our current miniatures gaming.  So we came up with what we have dubbed "Mordheim Quest", based off of Mordheim with a few additions thrown in from LOTR (i.e. Might and Fate).

Each player runs from 2-4 characters chosen from the various Mordhiem warband lists and together these make up the adventuring party.  They play as a group through a campaign of ongoing linked scenarios in which the game master sets up the scenarios and controls the enemies and NPCs.  Experience, loot, skills, and the purchasing equipment are done in the same way as Mordheim. 

That's exactly what I planned to do soon, though to recapture WFRP First Ed! Perhaps converting old PCs rather than choosing from the warbands, should be easy to divie stats by ten. Of course I'd ignore the usual cost rules and weight in favour of the beasts!

I'd be really interested in seing the might and fate rules you used

[thebinmann]

BIG PS AMAZING STUFF!

[Maniacus]

I'd be really interested in seing the might and fate rules you used

Below are some of the enhancements we've added, which include a few additional skills as well as Might and Fate.  We tweaked the Mordheim advancement chart to include a chance for characters to gain additional Might and Fate points.

We've found that Might and Fate have been fun additions to the game as they allow characters to really perform heroic actions or try to dramatically make those important dice roles at critical moments.


ADDITIONAL RULE

Overwatch
Overwatch is a special rule that allows characters to forgo their own turn in order to shoot during the enemy’s turn. This is useful if a character wants to set up an ambush or man a defensive position.

Preparing Overwatch:  The player declares which models are going on overwatch at the beginning of his turn at the same time charges are declared.  A character may not go on overwatch if there are enemy within 8”.  When a model is placed on overwatch the player must nominate a 90º field of fire.  Characters on overwatch may do nothing else during their own turn.

Shooting on Overwatch:  During the enemy’s movement phase a character on overwatch may shoot at opposing models as they present themselves.  A target which doesn’t move at all can still be shot at so long as it can be seen.  Once a model fires it is no longer on overwatch.

Overwatch Modifier:  All shots on overwatch apply a modifier of -1 to the to-hit roll

Losing Overwatch:   Once a model fires it is no longer on overwatch.  Characters hit by missile fire, spells, or other effects while on overwatch must pass a leadership test or they will lose their overwatch. Additionally, if a model is forced to fight in close combat it will lose its overwatch status.

Charged While on Overwatch:   If a character is charged while on overwatch it may get the chance to shoot at its attacker if the enemy is within its 90º field of fire.  This shot at the charging model takes place at short range for whatever weapon the model is using.    A character charged while on overwatch fights the first round of close combat without the benefit of the special rules for any melee weapons he may be carrying.

                                                             
ADDITIONAL SKILLS


Fate
Fate represents a character’s destiny and, as such, protects him from harm where ordinary men might otherwise die.  Characters may start their career with one point of Fate. 

A point of Fate can be expended during a game to grant the character an unmodified 4+ save versus a wound.  This save may be taken in addition to any other applicable saves.

A character can use as many Fate points as he has available to try to save a wound.  The player can roll one dice at a time until he makes the score required, runs out of Fate, or decides to suffer the wound. 

Fate may not be expended by a stunned character that has had an attack nominated against him.

A character’s Fate points are automatically regenerated prior to each new game.


Healer
Priests and Clerics start their career with the Healer skill.  If the healer does not go out of action during the game he may choose to heal another hero or henchman during the post-game injury phase.  The model that receives the healing may reroll a result on the serious injury chart.  The second result must be accepted, even if it is worse than the first.


Might
Might represents a character’s ability to perform heroic feats.  When a dice is rolled on behalf of a character for shooting, fighting, leadership, or whatever, its score can be adjusted by expending Might.  Characters may start their career with two points of Might. 

Each point of Might expended can be used to adjust the dice score up or down by 1 to a maximum of 6 or a minimum of 1.  A player does not have to decide to use his Might until the dice have been rolled.

If a character goes out of action with any remaining Might, he may expend it in the post-game sequence in order to reroll his first result on the serious injury table.  The player must declare that he is expending his Might prior to rerolling and the second result must be used, even if it is worse than the first.

A character’s Might points are automatically regenerated prior to each new game.
.

[Ray Rivers]

Overview of the spider barrows cave.

What a very kewl table.  Really super!

Can I have it?   

[Maniacus]

What a very kewl table.  Really super!

Can I have it?   

Tempting offer, but I think we'll hang on to it 

We have enough modular cavern sections to cover a 4x8 table or even larger, so we've made good use of them for a lot of games over the years.  They've been used for everying from Fantasy to 40K to Inquisitor to modern skirmish and even Battletech and Epic (representing large canyons and valleys in those two cases).

What I didn't mention is the each modular section of the board (12"x12" each) was initially covered for this Mordheim Quest scenario and was only revealed as the characters entered it.  So this added to the tension since the players didn't know what was around each corner until they actually discovered it.

[Thantsants]

Truly brilliant stuff - loving the old Advanced Heroquest minis!   

Those giant spiders are great too - where are they from?

[dinohunterpoa]

GREAT!!!

It's exactly what Warhammer was meant to be in the good old days!

CONGRATULATIONS! :O)

[phreedh]

Way cool! The amount of scenery you seem to have available makes me jeallous. =)

[thebinmann]

thanks for the rules add-ons

Waiting for more stories...

[Maniacus]

Those giant spiders are great too - where are they from?

I believe that the larger of the spiders are old Grenadier models.  They came individually in blister packs with a goblin spider rider.  This web store has some pictures of them: 
http://www.mirliton.it/index.php?page=2&sort=1a&cName=fantasy-2528mm-goblins

[Thantsants]

Great - thanks for the link.