MORDHEIM - A FEW OBSERVATIONS
By Matthew Keefe - matthew.keefe@virgin.net

(This is a mail taken from the Direwolf mailing list)

This is liable to get rather long, so the faint hearted should bail out now. Well, I have followed the progress of Mordheim with interest ever since seeing the draft printout at Warhammer Open Day at Lenton in July. Subsequent WD articles and debates on this and other lists have furthered my curiousity and so it is with the greatest of conviction I must profer my thoughts to those bored enough to listen.

The primary article of interest on this list has been, without doubt, the copious and extensive work produce by Tommy Punk. The frequent posts have, whatever your viewpoint, been fascinating as an illustration of one person's ideas, and equally fascinating has been the gratifying reception this material has recieved. Well done Tommy.

At this point I must however go on to express terms which, it should be made apparent, are opinions and as such are expressed as mine and mone alone, if you agree fine, if not fine. I am just letting you know what I see. The profusion of warbands with which we have been provided by Tommy and others gives us a very sizeable amount of material for review. And so I shall do thusly.......

Much effort has been put into incorporating all the varied races of the Warhammer world by many, many listees. A noble and worthy attempt but I am afraid I must say that I think to include every race for their own sake is not wise, the only inclusions should be made for the game's sake. We all love to associate ourselves with one or more favoured races (Hail HASHUT!!) they become our defining measure in the game and at each new development we look for the role played by our favourite race. For example, a few of the books have been redone and in response frenzied voices of adoration cry out for a revision of their favourite army, desperate that they remain central in the game. Each time a new facet to Warhammer is released we eagerly await the opportunity to use our old friends, and so we have a desire to see them everywhere.

This is not a bad thing, but my point is that Mordheim is a specific setting within Warhammer. WFB incorporates any race you care to mention (with or without official material) simply by the fact it is a broad based game, representing the armies of the whole glove. You can take troops from any corner of the world if you have the resources to do so, and this is all perfectly in the spirit of WFB. However, I say again Mordheim is a specific setting, based specifically in Mordheim. The intention is to use it to focus upon a single, localised area of Warhammer and so illustrate how different areas of the world vary. It is not intended as another setting for WFB, it is intended to host games suitable to its own setting, painting a portrait of the subject if you will. Mordheim is not a scaled down WFB in the Empire, it is Mordheim, a particular city in a particular location with particular background and particular inhabitants.

Therefore, after that rather longwinded introduction, I can say that Mordheim should not as a matter of course include every race just out of a sense of completeness, we should use only those forces typifying the spirit and conflict of Mordheim. While we can justify or explain the presence of almost anything there, this is really risking a detraction of the flavour of Mordheim. If I may, I will speak briefly of each race below and state MY opinion of their role in relation to Mordheim.

Humans
It is immediately obvious that Mordheim is a human city, or the vestiges of it at least. Regardless of the tragic circumstances that befell it, Mordheim is still a city of the Empire, albeit a damned city. This should really show through in the game itself, and we should see that Mordheim is predominantly populated by humans. People might say that this is boring and makes all the warbands too similar, but the point of using such a specific setting is that we can then produce warbands specific to that setting who occur nowhere else. There should, out of a sense of realism, be countless factions and sects of humanity within Mordheim, far outnumbering any non-humans present. Bands of Knight Panther, White Wolves and other followers of Ulric or Sigmar can be fleshed out to produce a dozen or more different types of warband, not to mention those corrupt human powers within the city, Vampires, Liches and Necromancers in the main. I think 20 human warbands would not be inappropriate.

Dwarfs
The Dwarfs, while common in the Empire, really have little concern for a place such as Mordheim I would imagine. A feasible inclusion would be Troll slayer bands, and inclusion of Dwarfs in some of the human bands as treasure hunters and so on.

Elves
A place so touched by evil is instantly repulsive to the High Elves, and the Wood Elves will obviously never travel to Mordheim. And the Dark Elves, well little of interest for them even if it were practicable for them to reach the city. Elf presence should be near nil.

Chaos Dwarfs
While the idea of Chaos Dwarf slavers is appealing, these would be huge wagons of slaves, and very much larger affairs then simple skirmisher bands scouring Mordheim. I would imagine the dity of the damned would yield pretty poor slaves anyway, not to mention the distance they would need to travel. I would say Chaos Dwarfs should be emitted entirely from CotD.

Lizardmen
Again, the distance is unfeasible, and it seems to me that Lizardmen would be out of sorts for Mordheim. There agenda is unlikely to encompass such a place and I think again, probably to the disgust of many, Lizardmen men should not be present in Mordheim.

Skaven
The skaven are everywhere, tehy feast upon death and disease, profuse in Mordheim. Their shadowy under empire extends its scratching claws under the entire world. Their presence in Mordheim is undoubted and very much in tone with the setting. Skaven should be a major (if elusive) force in the game. Multiple Skaven warbands would be very flavourful.

Undead
The gothic elements of the undead slot nicely into the shadowy city of the damned. I think, to keep with the Imperial setting, Undead warbands should take the form of 'the vestiges of humanity' rather than introduced foreign elements. Vampires leading peasants, ghoul tribes ruled by mockeries of kings, sinister liches and necromancers each in force with their unearthly servants. I can easily envisage 5 undead warband types.

Chaos
Well, what needs saying. A city brought to its knees by the power of chaos, and now the minions of those very same dark gods draw in to sound the last death knell of the damned city of Mordheim. men twisted and turned beyond recognition haunt the shadows, the city itself screams like a world within the grip of chaos. The very streets and houses stand as horrific reminders of the evil that none can hope to avoid within that wretched land. Chaos shoud again be presented as the other side of humanity. Men no longer human and beasts so warped that no symbol of humanity remains. Very flavourful for a place such as Mordheim.

Orcs & Goblins
The greenskin filth runs amok across the whole of the old world, and they should definitely be given a role, if only a minor one.

Well, that is how I see it, humans, undead and chaos as the major forces, with Skaven, Orcs & Goblins and Dwarfs lurking in support. Some may say that this is a waste, but look at it a different way: instead of making the bands with the setting to fit, make the setting with the bands to fit.

Still regretful over the lack of the CD and Lizzies? Well here is what I suggest. Mordheim is a specific setting, and by including general warbands we spoil the atmosphere. If we consider that ultimately Mordheim provides two things (rules and setting) we can then disinter these two to do as we please. Keep the setting rich in the dark and enemy within feel that I should have, but then take the rules and construct your own settings to use the other Warband types you may wish to use. Here are my suggestions:

Lustria
A ruined temple city containing lost secrets for which the Mage-priests have searched for centuries. Norse raiders run amok, ripping gold and jewels from the once great temple intent only on plunder and wealth. The insidious Skaven lurk, their Plague lords searching for the knowledge of the Slann so that they might turn it to their power of disease. Conquistadors and mercenaries from across the sea arrive to seek wealth and fame in the tropical jungle, and then, stirred by the decimation of their lost city, the Lizardmen usher forth silently from the trees intent on driving all others from the ruins.
Name idea: Cities of Gold??
Major Warbands: Lizardmen, Skaven, Norse Raiders, Conquistadors, other Tileans and Estalian explorers.

Dwarfs
A once mighty fortress lies in ruins, flooded halls and toppled defenses are all that remains of the once great halls of the Dwarf Kings. Yet still within lie ancestral treasures and heirlooms, valued by the Dwarfs above all else. Now they must fight out invading Skaven, Goblins and others to restore their ancient empire to its former glory.
Name: Any one of the fallen Dwarf Holds.
Major Warbands: Dwarfs, Orcs & Goblins, Skaven.

Chaos Dwarfs
Out from their Ziggurat city venture the slave bands of Chaos Dwarfs, they roam the Dark Lands in search of serfs to stoke their furnaces and toil until death in their mines. Tribes of Orcs, Goblins and Hobgoblins all fall prey to the megalomaniac desire of the Chaos Dwarfs.
Name: ?
Major Warbands: Chaos Dwarf, Orc & Goblin, Hobgoblin, Primitive Humans, Ghouls.

Land of the Dead
An ancient city now long abandoned. Raiders from the desert and the cities of the arabs beyond draw near in the hope of finding the ancient wealth of the Priest Kings. Yet even in this silent place the ancient powers stirs and Priest Kings return, a foe beyond death.......
Name: Land of the Dead, City of the Priest Kings, Blood Sands.
Major Warbands: Priest Kings, Arab raiders, Desert Bandits, Various mercenaries.

To the South
The cursed jungle and lost plateau stand unknown, a final challenge to the conquerors and explorers of the world. Within lie untold secrets, beasts unviewed by human eyes for centuries, the relics of ancient civilisations flourished and gone before the eyes of the world even turned upon them. The remnants of a lost age of the world stalk the jungle and amidst it all brave human adventurers venture further inwards in the hope that within they might find wealth and glory. Yet all they will find is a swift death...............
Name: Cursed Jungle, Kingdom of Beasts, Lost Plateau
Major Warbands: Again Tilean or Old World Explorers, Lizardmen, Savages, Pygmies, Simple Human Tribes. Also include immense lizards, perhistoric creatures and fabulous beasts - think Land that Time Forgot!

These are just suggestions and opinions to show how I think Mordheim should be kept unqiue, and then how other races can be made the focus of similar campaigns. I have more material on the CotD Warbands I think should appear, and on these game setting suggestions. If anyone wants to see them let me know and I'll post, otherwise I won't clog up the list.