The Orcs are finally in action, scrapping in the streets for gold and Wyrdstone!
Finally! After months of not getting around to it, our warbands were up on the table, facing off! It was my first ever game of Mordheim, and I am thrilled with the result. I actually lost the game, with some heavy consequences, but learnt a lot in the meantime. And above all, everyone involved had a great time and is super keen to play again.
Up until now painting had been my focus. The 40K games I had played, particularly those at GW stores, had really put me off playing. The rules were too extensive for me to follow on a first play through, and when we asked GW staff for assistance, they really took over the game and raced ahead without sharing what was actually happening. It was a long and stressful experience, in which I felt I had no agency, and the labyrinthine rules and large dice rolls detracted from the action of the game.
However, Mordheim was a totally different experience. The rules are freely available, and simple enough that in just one play through, we had a pretty good grasp of them and could use them to make the game really interesting: climbing terrain, rolling route tests, hitting figures who were stunned or knocked down to take them out of action, etc. The action of the game proceeded at an engaging pace, and individual stories were easy to follow and invest in thanks to the uniqueness of the figures: even my humble Orc Boyz had stories of their own, rather than just being fodder in a unit.
Best of all, it brought my warband to life, so to speak. Up until now they had just been figurines that I had painstakingly panted. Now they have names and stories.
As I mentioned, I lost horribly. I realised fairly early that my warband was low in numbers. This is partially because I had tried to include figures that were true to their stats, ie the Orc Boyz had come with light armour and shields, so I gave them light armour and shields on the roster. I can see now that this isn't really such a big deal. The Lizardmen in this game were in fact Ultramarine figurines! As a result of their low numbers I tried to keep them together, otherwise they risked being overwhelmed by superior numbers of Skaven or Beastmen. This still didn't save them. Early on I was charged by some Beastmen, who succeeded in tying up my Shaman, although not outright killing them. I tried to direct my Troll into the fray, as the most powerful weapon I had, but it was just too damn stupid. It didn't take long for a fear-causing Beastman to terrify my Orc Boyz and even my Warboss into paralysis, and before long, I had lost one Orc Boy and my Shaman before doing any real damage. Of course, this meant 25% of my warband was lost... and so, I summarily failed the route test, and the remaining Orcs fled the city. Once the Beastmen had emerged from the city I had to bargain with them for the return of my Shaman, while my Orc Boy died of his wounds. Not having a Goblin around to throw to the Troll, I had to sacrifice another 15 gold to keep him around, in the hopes that he can do some more damage next time. I was left with just enough gold, after a search of the city and the sale of some Wyrdstone, to add a puny Goblin with a shortbow to my crew. I secretly have high hopes for the little guy.
Lessons I learnt:
- Numbers count! I need to beef up my numbers so that I can lose more before I have to take a route test. Luckily, Goblins and Squigs are cheap and are 'Not Orcs', so only count as half in determining the size of the warband.
- Ranged attacks help! This is why I decided to equip my new Goblin with a shortbow. The Skaven and the Lizardmen managed to do some real damage with their ranged attacks.
- Don't forget to roll for Animosity! I think I forgot to roll for Animosity on any of my turns.
All in all, a great time, and I can't wait to play again. I'm down for now, but even more determined to grow my warband as I can. This Friday I am picking up a pack of Goblins and some material to make some terrain, so next game will be even better.
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