One Night in Mordheim

The return to Mordheim begins with paperwork!

Thursday Night Fights! (Part 2)

Having finished up our Saga game with Monty (See Part 1 HERE), Eric and I moved on to the second game of our big Thursday night double header.  I was pretty excited to return to Mordheim as I had not played in quite a few years.  Mordheim is definitely one of my all time favorite skirmish games where you can really immerse yourself into the terrain, minis, and narrative.  Add in some themed music and it's almost like a RPG where you can feel like you're actually there.

In years past we used to have a campaign every October/Fall, but that was eventually supplanted by the start of our annual Warbringers Warhammer Campaign.  Some of the younger guys have a campaign going again this year, so I asked Eric if he wanted to play an one off battle and join in on the fun.  (You can find my previous Mordheim coverage, including past games HERE.)

The brave Templars of Sigmar gather to defend the memorial statue of "Fritz."

As we were not part of the campaign, we simply played a one off game with 850 gold crowns to spend on our respective warbands, upgrades, and any hired swords.  I brought my Witch Hunters and Eric his Undead.  We played a tweaked version of Scenario 1: Defend the Find (Get more standing models within 6" of the objective than the defender by the end of a complete turn.)

We played on one of the older MH boards, "The Wharf," saved from the olden days at Phoenix Games.  I would play the defender and protect the sacred statue of "Fritz" from desecration.  (You can see my recent post about "Fritz" HERE.)  The Undead could deploy on the other three sides opposite mine.  Also, there would be no rout tests, this was a fight to the death!

The Warhounds growl as they catch a foul whiff of undeath in the air.

I brought along a WH Captian, 3 Witch Hunters, a Warrior Priest, 2 Flagellants, 5 Warhounds, an Ogre Bodyguard, and a Freelancer.  Eric's Undead had a Vampire, Necromancer, 5 Ghouls, 3 Dire Wolves, 5 Zombies, and a Werewolf (Ogre).

I began the game with my Ogre and Flagellants defending the main steps, Witch Hunters and Warhounds guarding the flanks, and my Captain at the top of the pond hoping to use his 14" Eagle Eye extended range to great effect.  Eric's Necro, Ghouls, and Zombies scurried down the middle, and the Vampire and Wolves sped down the flanks.

The Pink Lady haunts the streets of Mordhiem once more!

Eric opened things up with his tooled up Werewolf hoping to clear away my Ogre and open a path to Fritz.  After a bit of bad rolls, my ogre stood tall and the Flagellants swooped in for the kill.  Round 1:  Witch Hunters!!

I usually (and when I say usually, that was years ago) keep my Warhounds close to my Captain so that I can use his leadership to launch them off to charge feared opponents.  Unfortuately where I deployed my Captain looked very dramatic, but leadership/fear tests would come back to bite me more than once.

Werewolf?  There wolf!

Other than an opportunity charge on the Necromancer taking him out, my Warhounds continuously failed their fear tests letting the Dire Wolves through unimpeded.  This later caused the death of two of my Witch Hunters.  My Freelancer also failed his fear tests refusing to give aid to my embattled Ogre and met his end cowering in the shadows before being becoming a snack for the Vampire.

The Warhounds play a dangerous game of "Pet the doggie" with the Zombies.

My Ogre held his ground (and held up much of the Undead) for a number of turns with a very helpful "Healing Hand" prayer from the always nearby Warrior Priest.  He managed to get one wound on the Vampire before finally giving way to her and her remaining minions. 

The Witch Hunters trade lives for time on the bloodied steps.

The Pink Lady made one last desperate dash up the steps at Fritz to confront the Witch Hunter Captain.  They traded vicious blows with no effect.  But the Vampire had run out of time.  As dawn was breaking, a Flagellant struck her from behind knocking her down, allowing the Captain to pull out a stake and finish her off on the last turn.

The Zombie Brigade finally arrives to join the fray!

The Witch Hunters were victorious, but it was costly on both sides.  Expensive "tooled up" characters seemed to die quickly for both of us during the game.  My mistake in not being able to use my Captain's leadership proved costly, but my Ogre backed by the Priest's "Healing Hand" kept me in the game.

The Pink Lady now sleeps with the fishes.

This game was another very entertaining treat for the eyes with its fun terrain and two great looking warbands.  Thanks Eric for a very enjoyable evening, and I hope to return to Mordhiem again sooner rather than later.  :-)
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