Mordheim Strategy Guide - Mordheim Rules

Learning the Rules || Optional Rules || House Rules || Multi-player Mordheim

ollowing are some personal hints on how to best use the rules in Mordheim. Everyone who studied the rulebook will have noticed that there are a bunch of basic rules, and quite a few exceptions and special situations. Make sure you retrieve the FAQ (html) and Q&A (pdf format) from the Games Workshop website.

y main piece of advice here is: try not to simplify the rules; simplify the game instead.
For your first games you don't want to be (too much) overwhelmed by its complexity. However, these first battles tend to stick into your memory, and if you play it wrong, it will affect your future game-play. So don't make mess of the rules, instead use a simplified scenario where only a limited portion of the rules will apply.
Following is a staged approach, which I think will get you into the game quickly and easily. Move onto the next stage whenever you are comfortable with the rules covered up to that point.

1. First battle(s):

Start with individual battles, simply exploring characters and game-play. Don't use any missile weapons, armour or magic ability, and only weapons that cost 5gc or less; avoid terrain and fear-causing creatures. Mercenary warbands are nice to explore the game; maybe take small warbands at first, say 200gc. This will cover the basic close combat rules:

charging and initiative
to-hit, to-wound and injury
knocked-down, stunned, out-of-action
routing

2. Complex close combat and shooting

Include armour, any weapons, and common missile weapons (no guns or pistols). This will make the game quite a bit more of difficult, covering almost all common aspects of combat:

limitations in arming warriors (2-handed weapons, difficult to use)
first strike and strike last
weapon strength modifiers
armour saves
basic rules for shooting

3. Psychology, magic, terrain and experience

Include fear-causing creatures (maybe just as props), a single magic spell per warband, and start collecting experience. Pay special attention to all psychology rules (if you haven't before). Add buildings etc:

fear-tests, all-alone tests
climbing and jumping
magic
post-battle sequence

4. Mordheim

After that, you're ready for the full game, and may start thinking about optional rules.

ome optional rules can be found in the back of the rulebook, and many many more in the Town Crier magazine. They should only be used in consent with your opponent(s). A limited set of optional rules can bring extra flavor to the game, and including new ones every now and then may offer a welcome change. However, too much will slow down the game and cause confusion among players.

I recommend the optional rules included in the back of the rulebook. They are quite fun, and add only little complexity:

special critical hits charts: offers varying result for critical hits, depending on the type of weapon used; the occasional critical hit becomes an attraction and hardly slows down the game if you keep a copy of the charts nearby
escaping combat: offers a (risky) chance of escaping an opponent that is too powerful or an annoying brat trying to tie you up
rewards of the Shadowlord: an exciting but unpredictable advance option for cultists
mounted warriors: introduces easy rules for riding mounts; simplistic, yet quit nice
blackpowder misfires: makes guns and pistols a real danger, as they are in the Mordheim setting, and not only to the intended target! Some reduction in cost is appropriate

oads of other optional rules, house-rules, alternative settings, equipment, warriors and warbands can be found on fan-sites. A lot depends on personal taste: realism, adventurous spirit, influence of other games,...
My advice is to become familiar with the official rules first, before introducing house-rules. The rules in the rulebook, appended by the FAQ and Q&A, are most commonly used after all, and many poor house-rules originate from a misunderstanding the rules. It will take many a game to fully comprehend all its aspects and possibilities.
Once you fully understand the rules, introducing some house-rules may well be warranted. You can use them to streamline play to your game-group's liking, to compensate for some unrealistic facets or to prevent beardy play.

Some examples where house-rules might be in order:

shooting into close-combat, which is not allowed by standard rules
forbid certain combinations of weapons; e.g. 2 spears, 2 steel whips
introduce realism, like allowing giant rats to climb, which animals in general cannot do
etc...

You may want to consult the Town Crier magazine and fan sites first to see if good house-rules already exist, saving you the trouble of compiling and play-testing your own.

laying Mordheim with more than 2 players requires only few adaptations of the rules. Main concern is who is involved in each phases of a turn. Following are two possibilities to deal with this, each with a very different impact on game-play. You and your group may devise another system to better suit your taste.

Multi-player arrangement 1

In the movement phase, you cannot charge a warrior who is already fighting another opponent. If you happen to engage an enemy in close combat with another opponent in any other way, keep 1" away instead.
The shooting phase is the same.
In the close combat phase, only the warriors of the current player (whose turn it is) - and the enemy warriors in close combat with them - fight. Note that each warrior can be engaged by enemies from a single opposing player only.

Multi-player arrangement 2 (aggressive)

The recovery and movement phase stay the same, so you can charge any opponent.
In the shooting phase, you can target any warriors in close combat as long as no allies are involved; many randomize the shot's target (though I dislike this solution).
In close combat, again only your warriors fight, and their opponents fight back. Note that all parties may be involved in a single close combat this way! Resolve using the classical rules: first strike, charged, initiative,... (this may seem weird at first, as players may be striking in an alternating fashion).
Note how this arrangement favors close combat over shooting and magic, as each warrior may have an opportunity to fight in every close combat phase, but can shoot only in his own turn.

Note that these arrangements are not 100% complete: additional rules for intercepting charges etc. are needed. The post battle sequence remains the same for every player.
When 4 (or more) warbands are involved, you may choose to ally warbands, 2 warbands working together to fight the 2 other, instead of having one big chaotic clash. If only 3 players are involved, games may become awkward sometimes, as 2 of the warbands become entangled in close combat, and the third one decides to stand and watch, just waiting until one of them routs. Some might prefer a system where the third player (taking turns) acts like a game-master instead, playing characters defending objectives etc.