Round bases it is!......The ruins of Krappefortt (MORDHEIM)

[Thantsants]

Sounds likie a fantastic distraction from what I should be getting on with tomorrow! 

[Mason]

Thanks to DeafNala and Thatsants!
I hope that I do not disappoint...


Yesterday afternoon we had arranged a couple more games, but as things turned out we only had time for one, as it took so long!

The game was between The Lockswin's Shadow Elf warband, the Grey Dawn and the Possessed, the Theatre of the Grotesque, controlled by Legionnaire Bert.
I got the role of photographer, so any bad quality pictures are again down solely to myself.

Here are a few pics of the table set-up that the game would be played on.











As usual, we decided that crossing the dock from one side to the other would be possible. The walkways, barrel, boats and ships on the dock area would create pathways. If there was a gap of less than an inch, then it could be crossed without penalty.













The scenario that was generated was Breakthrough.
This involved one warband, the attackers, attempting to get at least two of their members past the enemy and off of the opposite table edge.
In this game the Grey Dawn, the Shadow Elves, would be the attackers.
As the attackers, the Elves would have to set up first.
The Lockswin opted to split his warband into two halves, one half opposite the Docks, with the other facing across the more built up area on his left.

A few shots showing the initial deployment of the Grey Dawn.

The Elven Shadow Master led half of the warband and deployed on their right facing the Docks





Meanwhile the Elven Sorcerer, the Shadow Weaver, accompanied the remaining members on the left.






With the attackers having been placed, it was up to the Possessed to deploy themselves in a position to stop the enemy.
They could set up anywhere on the board, as long as they were at least 14 inches away from the attackers.

Bert opted to place some of his warband, including a huge slavering Possessed, directly opposite the Elven leader, on the deck of the ship moored at the Docks.





The rest of the Chaos band were placed facing the Elven Sorcerer and at the end of the dock, utilising whatever cover that they could find.
As you can see, the Chaos Magister had bravely opted to lead from the rear!






They had been placed in such a way as to provide support for each other in the attempt to stop the Elves breaching their lines.










A few more pictures showing the initial Chaos positions from different angles.














And finally, an overview showing the deployment of both sides before the action kicked off.





Right, that is how things were before the start and any dice were rolled.

Be back later with the first stage of the battle........

[phreedh]

This all looks so damn tasty - makes me want to try out Mordheim. One of few GW games I never played.

[OSHIROmodels]

Great photos 

'Tristan the TWAT!' 

cheers

James

[DeafNala]

WONDERFUL! The LOVELY terrain & minis are SO inspiring that I had to paint somethings before I could reply...GREAT STUFF!

[Mason]

This all looks so damn tasty - makes me want to try out Mordheim. One of few GW games I never played.

Thanks, phreed!
Give it a go, mate, it is great fun.
Not only the game, but watching your warband grow (and members die  ) is fantastic. A story of each warband develops all by itself.

Great photos  

 
Thanks, James!
I must be learning.
Slowly!  

'Tristan the TWAT!'  

Tristan is the Bard hired by my Marienburg warband.
He started off known as 'Tristan the Troubador', but his ineptitude in battle earned him a more appropriate nickname!
That and his effete, foppish appearance

WONDERFUL! The LOVELY terrain & minis are SO inspiring that I had to paint somethings before I could reply...GREAT STUFF!

Thanks, DeafNala!
Keep painting, Amigo!



Time for the first installment of the battle.....



The Elves, as the attackers, had the first turn and elected not to move in order to inflict as many shots on the visible Chaos monstrosities as possible.

The party lead by the Sorcerer opted to fire on the group that included the Beasman, scoring several hits but failing to inflict any wounds. The tough, corrupted hides of their foes proving too resilient.





Meanwhile, the other group of Elves, led by the Shadowmaster, could all draw a bead on the huge monster on the deck of the ship and let fly with their arrows.



An unbelievable display of accuracy followed, inflicting three wounds on the creature!
Unfortunately for the Elves the injury roll did not match the accuracy and the creature was only knocked from his feet. To make matters worse, the huge beast had the 'Jump up' skill and immediately got back to his feet!
Now they had made it angry!




At least they had removed its extra wounds, so from now on all hits had a chance of taking it out....



In response to this rain of arrows, the Theatre of the Grotesque advanced as quickly as they could, trying to take advantage of any cover available.

The Chaos creatures that had been lurking on the ship scrambled forward, hoping to be in range to charge the Elves on their next turn.




The wounded Possessed was so eager to get to grips with the puny creatures that had hurt it that it had to be restrained by its companions to avoid letting it get peppered by even more arrows.










The Possessed on the other flank surged forward, eager to close the distance to the enemy, utilising whatever cover was available.








The Chaos attack had begun!

Back later with the next installment............

[thebinmann]

Amazing, inspiring, great!

[Blackwolf]

Love it Need to get a game going myself,if it wasn't for my boring mates (it's all WW2 and Napoleonics....).

[Marine0846]

Such lovely eye candy.
Have enjoyed this thread and I usually don't paint fantasy.
But may have to start.

[DeafNala]

I never seem to remember to mention how much I like your water effect; really WONDERFULLY DONE...I guess I remembered. I love the new photos...the Possessed look to be a cool, nasty group of ne'er do wells. Hopefully by the time you put up the report I'll be awake enough to read it without too much lip movement...hopefully.

[Mason]

Amazing, inspiring, great!

Thanks, thebinmann!
Have you started playing any Mordheim of your own yet?

Love it Need to get a game going myself,if it wasn't for my boring mates (it's all WW2 and Napoleonics....).

Thank you, Mr Wolf!
Tell 'em to give it a go.
They might just find that they like it! 

Such lovely eye candy.
Have enjoyed this thread and I usually don't paint fantasy.
But may have to start.

Thanks, Marine0846!
Go on! You know you want to!

I never seem to remember to mention how much I like your water effect; really WONDERFULLY DONE...I guess I remembered. I love the new photos...the Possessed look to be a cool, nasty group of ne'er do wells. Hopefully by the time you put up the report I'll be awake enough to read it without too much lip movement...hopefully.

Thanks, DeafNala!
Beware the Possessed!
They can be seriously damaging to your health! 




Right!
Back to the action.

We left it with the Possessed within reach of charging the Elves, who were in two parties of four, in exactly the same position where they had started the game.




The Lockswin had to use his superior manouverability to get himself out of a difficult situation. Realising this, he split both of his groups of warriors, sending two from each group running to respective flanks.





Meanwhile, the remaining Elves moved back, just far enough to be out of the charge range of the Possessed, but also to be able to get another couple of shots off should Bert's Chaotic troops advance.




Nervous of advancing into more Elven bowfire, and also realising that the Elves on the flanks would be free to complete their Breakthrough mission if those that had fallen back were charged, Bert had to make a choice.
Did he risk it all by charging the Elven warriors that were (almost) within his reach, hoping to take enough of them out of action and forcing them to take Rout tests and hoping they fail ?
If they did not fail their test, and the flanking troops continued their advance unchecked, then they would be uncatchable.

Bert decided that rather than risk it all, a more ssensible option would be to fall back to a second line of defence.

So he did.....

The Possessed at the Docks headed back across to the other side of the water....





...while those on the other flank moved back to block the other flanking Elves



As the Possessed fell back, the Elves on the Dockside flank made it to the quayside.




As the flanking forces continued their advance, those in the centre banded together to try and forge their way forwards in support



The Chaos troops had made it back to the other side of the Docks and were busy forming their second line of defence.
















So, the Possessed had been forced to fall back, the Elves had broken out from their confinement and the stage was set for the final clash. There could be no more falling back now.
It would, quite simply, be; Do or Die!


Be back later with the conclusion of the game..............

[generulpoleaxe]

Man that was a great read, looking forward to reading how the rest of the game went

[Andrew May]

I haven't looked at this thread for a while, so may I say the board's looking incredible now! Great work Mason!

[DeafNala]

This is turning into a cliff hanger...I'll have to bring pop corn for the Grande Finale.

[Legionnaire Bert]

This all looks so damn tasty - makes me want to try out Mordheim. One of few GW games I never played.

Phreedh

Mate, do it! In my humble opinion, the best game GW have ever produced (Necromunda takes a fairly close second in my affections).

Plus points are many and varied, but essentially boils down to -

A large choice of forces, with so many different warbands available. With warbands being between 12 - 20 in number (these being maximums, you start on average with anywhere between 6 - 9 dudes), you don't have to invest heavily in your 'army' so to speak. Also you can use whatever miniatures you have available, general suitability withstanding. I love using odds and ends for my warbands - the Cult of the Possessed featured recently in this post are made from old minis I had kicking around and oddments like old chaos warrior bits, orc odds and ends, old fantasy models and a chaos spawn or two.

Game play is classic polished GW, with few glitches. The progression system is massive fun, and it's a game that you can always do all right at even if you lose a scenario.

The rulebook is no longer commercially available, but GW (and various dedicated websites) have got downloads available. Winner!

If you're curious, find someone who plays and give it a go!

It does help when you play on an absolutely stunning game board of course, and my group are exceptionally lucky that Mason has created such a gorgeous setting for our games . I thought the minute I met him 'The lads got talent....' (slight Mordheim in-joke, there, sorry! ).

I say go for it, mate.

Bert