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YE MORDHEIM LEGENDS GAZETTE |
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YE MORDHEIM LEGENDS GAZETTE |
Sewer Fighting By Christian Ellegaard Thanks to the guys on the Egroups Mordheim Mailing List who have come up with ideas and suggestions for Sewer Fighting rules (sounds a bit like Kung Fu Fighting, eh?) As every good big city in the Empire, Mordheim has its own sewer that helps the city staying clean. Being a big, complex system of corridors, waterpipes and gutters to lead the water, all the waste of the inner as well as the outer parts of the city are led through these channels to the mighty river Stir, that flows through Mordheim. Once in a while it happens that the ground collapses above a sewer tunnel and creates an entrance to the lower parts of the ruins, and many a warband has explored these dungeons. In addition, some of the most cold-blooded and fearless warriors tend to establish their lair in the sub-urban terrain, enjoying the humid, ill-smelling climate and the many different mutated beasts that provide their food when everything else fails. Sometimes it even happens that two warbands clash with each other underground, and often they will get into fight believing that the enemy is in possession of Wyrdstone, gold, treasures or whatever. Sewer fighting is quite different from fighting under the stars. Warriors tend to panic much easier - even the slightest dripping of water or a harmless bat crossing the corridor may scare a warrior, and knowing that the enemy is nearby does not make things any better.
Sewer rules When fighting underground, use the following rules: Sewers The sewer corridors can be represented by the standard Warhammer Quest floorplans, but since these may be a bit small for Warhammer Skirmish games it may be necessary to make your own terrain or use any appropriate items for creating a sewer-like scenery. Later in this article I shall come up with a suggestion of how you easily and quickly can make your own sewer terrain. Darkness Despite all warriors usually bring torches with them in the sewers and even a few Heroes might have some lanterns, the sewers are still darker than the night. Therefore, warriors in the sewers have a limited range of vision which makes shooting much harder. Before the game, each warrior in each warband must be given a special sewer Line of Sight. Roll a D6 for the warrior and add an additional D6 for each full 2 Initiative the warrior has. The result is the number of inches that the warrior can see! Skaven, Dwarves, Vampires, Ghouls and the Possessed, who are all used to the dark conditions, may roll 2D6 + D6 for each full 2 Initiative points they have rather than only D6. In addition, Skaven may automatically re-roll any results they do not find satisfying, but they must accept the latter result regardless if it is worse. Dogs, feeling the terror that lurks in the sewers, will never enter the sewers. Warbands with any kind of dogs must therefore leave their pets outside! To make things easier, however, henchman groups are allocated a single Line of Sight instead of an individual number for each warrior. Use the highest Initiative of the group, representing the most agile and aware warrior warning his comrades or pointing out special spots that they should try to hit. A warrior can shoot no longer than his maximum Line of Sight, and neither can he run any longer since that would mean he might run into some walls or other unexpected obstacles. Use the standard Short and Long ranges when shooting as described in the Mordheim rulebook. You can use small cardboard counters or dice to remember the Line of Sight of the different warriors. Lanterns Lanterns are very useful when fighting in sewers. Therefore, when playing sewer scenarios lanterns are bought at 10 Gold Crowns' cost rather than the standard cost, and only Heroes may carry them. Use the standard rules for lanterns even in the sewers. However, lanterns do not only make it easier for the user to see, but it also makes it much harder for the enemy to spot him because he is getting blinded by the bright light of the lantern. Any opponents that wish to shoot with missile weapons against a warrior with a lantern may ignore his standard Line of Sight because they are, after all, easier to spot in the darkness, but they will always, regardless the distance, hit on a D6 roll of 6. A Hero or a Henchman group with a lantern may re-roll if they fail the Leadership test to see if they may move, as described below. Psychology As already mentioned, the dark, smelly, plague-infested and horrible sewers of Mordheim can really scare a mortal man or beast to death, especially in a cut-throat fight against a deadly opponent. Therefore, all warbands, except Skaven who actually live there and the Undead that really has no fear, are subject to the following rules: Before each turn, each Henchman group must take a Leadership test based on their standard Leadership value without penalties. If they fail, then something has scared them - probably nothing else than their own shadow on the walls or a silly little rat scuttling over the muddy and dirty floor. The Henchmen may do nothing this turn, and if they are in close combat then they are only allowed to defend and parry any opposing attacks. If they succeed the test, then they may move as normal. If the group has a Hero with them, then they may re-roll one of the failed dice representing the Hero talking encouraging to them. All warriors in a warband get a -1 Leadership penalty for fighting in scary surroundings. Warriors are more likely to turn around and flee than in daylight, and at any ordinary Psychology tests they use their standard Leadership value -1. Note, however, that this does not apply when rolling for Leadership before a Henchman may move.
Dirty slimy floor Many of the major tunnels in a sewer are used for leading the worst dirt, feces and waste away from the city while other rooms are simply used for containing waste. Often it can be difficult to see if it is possible to trespass the floor, and therefore it sometimes appears that warriors jump into deep holes that are filled with old refuse. Generally there are 4 different kinds of floors: Muddy but clear: Old waste is laying here and there, although not in thick layers. The floor is rather clear, and it is possible to enter the floor and move as normal. Water: The floor is lowered so that it can lead water through the sewer, and the water reaches a normal man to his waist. That means that the warrior can choose to swim rather than walk through the water! In the beginning of any turn a warrior in water may swim. A warrior may swim no more than his total Movement rate. When a warrior is swimming it is impossible to hit him with any missile weapon. It is impossible to run through water despite warriors may walk normally. Deep sludge: The floor is covered by a thick layer of sludge and waste, and it makes it harder to move through. A warrior crossing a sludgy floor gets a -1 Movement penalty and becomes unable to run. In addition, enemies shooting at a warrior wading through deep sludge will suffer a -1 To Hit penalty because the sewage might take some of the shots that are directed against the warrior. If the warrior is engaged in Close Combat he will suffer a -1 To Hit penalty too because fighting in deep dirt is indeed harder than fighting on normal ground. Messy slippery floor: The floor is very slippery, and the warriors tend to trip over especially when running across the section. Each time a warrior walks over or moves from a merry slippery floor, roll a D6: On a result of 1 the warrior trips over and is knocked down. If the warrior is running, then he will fall over on a D6 roll of 1-3! You can either decide before the battle which type of floor the different sewer sections contain which is especially appropriate when fighting over your own, modeled terrain where you can represent the sludge, water or whatever on the floorplans, or you can decide it randomly while the battle is on. If you choose the latter option, roll 2D6 every time a warrior enters a new sewer section: Random floor table
Rotten planks In many a sewer channel, wooden sidewalks have been built so that the sewer workers could easier pass through the tunnels. However, the bad climate in the sewers have meant that the wooden planks have rot, and here and there they are broken too. A warrior who wishes to run over a wooden bridge, sidewalk etc. or jump down on it must first pass an Initiative test, subtracting 1 from the die (natural 6's always fail). If the warrior fails he has crashed through the bridge and will fall down as described below. Place a special Crashed Planks counter (no, you can't find it in the boxed set - you got to make your own!) on the spot where the warrior's movement ended. Other warriors that might wish to cross a Crashed Planks counter must jump! Skaven, being very used to the tunnels, know exactly where to place their paws on the walkways without falling through. Therefore, Skaven automatically pass this Initiative test and may run freely over wooden walkways and bridges.
Face down in the sludge Sometimes it happens that warriors fall down in the sewage or become knocked down in a close combat. This is very uncomfortable indeed! A warrior falling into the sewage from a higher point will get plunged into the slimy muddy sludge, and this is hard to escape! Measure the distance the warrior fell in inches, the distance being the number of turns the warrior will be in the sewage. However, no damage is done when hitting the sewage unlike falling down on a normal ground. If the warrior is wearing Heavy Armor then there is no mercy: The heavy metal plates are dragging the warrior down, and being unable to cut off the straps he will slowly suffocate... Tip: Do not run with warriors that are wearing Heavy Armor! In close combat it is also quite hard getting up again if being knocked down. Therefore, when a warrior wishes to get up after having being knocked down or stunned he must pass an Initiative test on a D6. Otherwise he will remain knocked down.
Sewer Scenraios You can easily convert the scenarios described in the Mordheim rulebook into sewer scenarios with a bit of cleverness. However, here you have two special scenarios that are designed specially for sewer fighting. With this in mind, why not go and make your own scenarios? It provides great fun and is a challenge for both players, and it adds some variation to the fights in the ruins. Sewer scenario 1: Surrounded In this scenario one warband searching for treasures has been surrounded by an enemy warband that is trying to catch the warband and surround it. Warbands Two warbands of any race can play this scenario. The one warband will be called the surrounded warband while the other one is the attacking warband. Set up The sewer system is set up as it fits your collection. The gaming table on which the battle is fought should be approximately 4' x 4'. In the very middle of the sewer you should have a fairly large room - large enough for containing a full warband. Deploying The surrounded warband starts with deploying within the central room or corridor. Afterwards the attacking warband will deploy in any of the tunnels or rooms that are adjacent to the table edge, if possible. They should not be deployed further than 4" away from the nearest table edge. In addition, if possible each Hero and Henchman group should be deployed in a different sewer section so that the attacking warband becomes as wide spread as possible. Starting the battle The attacking warband gets the first turn. Ending the game The surrounded warband must try to escape the attacking warband. If more than two thirds of the surrounded warband escape from the battle by simply moving off the board, then they have won the battle. If the attacking warband puts more than one third of the surrounded warband out of action, then they have won the battle. Post-battle sequence Run the post-battle sequence as normal. Warriors are allowed to search the sewers too as described in the Mordheim rulebook.
Sewer scenario 2: Rat attack! This scenario describes a warband journeying through the sewers of Mordheim searching for treasures, but suddenly they run into a Skaven lair. The warbands The scenario is designed for being fought between Skaven and a non-Skaven race. However, if you do not have any Skaven warband, then any other warband can do it too. Set up and deployment The table is representing a sewer using any sewer terrain you might have. Divide the table into three parts. The non-Skaven warband starts deploying on any of the two outer parts chosen by the player. The Skaven player is free to deploy on any of the last two parts of the table. With both warbands it applies that models must be deployed at least 4" from each other. However, the Skaven player does not deploy the actual models. Instead he uses a special set of counters, called Shadow counters (don't look after them in the Mordheim boxed set - you won't find them. Got to make your own!), each representing a random Skaven. Starting the game The non-Skaven warband gets the first turn. Special rules All Shadow counters have a Movement of 5, and they will always pass any Initiative tests required for jumping over gaps, running over wooden planks, jumping down etc. since the Skaven know their own lair very well. As long as they are represented by Shadow counters the Skaven have no characteristics, but as soon as an enemy eyes the counter, pick a random Skaven and replace the miniature with the Shadow counter. The Skaven cannot be charged the turn they were discovered, and afterwards their immunity to Initiative test stops since they get nervous as the enemy is closing up. Ending the game The game ends once either half of the non-Skaven warband is put out of action, in which case the Skaven win, or all of the surviving non-Skaven warriors have reached the third of the table that is furthest away which is a non-Skaven victory. Post-battle sequence Run the post-battle sequence as normal. Warriors are allowed to search the sewers too as described in the Mordheim rulebook.
Sewer Experience These special rules can be added to your sewer fighting if you want. Sewer Experience is a new kind of experience that warriors can achieve by fighting in the sewers. Battles underground are very much different from normal battles, and it takes some time to get used to the special conditions that apply in the sewers. The Skaven do not, however, gain any Sewer experience because they are simply mutated and brought up in the sewers. Nothing could be more natural for a Skaven than a sewer! Warriors gain Sewer Experience like this: Heroes
Henchman groups
Sewer Experience is an independent kind of experience, and warriors gain standard Experience besides as normal. Once a Hero or a Henchman group has achieved a certain amount of Sewer Experience they will gain an Advance. Warriors advance as following: Hero advance table
Henchman advance table
When a Hero or a Henchman group gains an Advance they may randomly pick a Sewer Skill as described below.
Sewer Skills Once a Hero or Henchman group gains an Advance they are allowed to pick a new Sewer Skill. To choose a skill roll at the appropriate skill table below. All Henchmen in a group will advance together which means that all warriors in a group will have the same skills. Hero skill table
Henchman skill table
Hero skills Control: The Hero has gotten used to the special conditions in the sewers, and he has understood to ignore things that would scare others to death. Therefore the Hero may use his standard Leadership without any penalties. Agile: The Hero may run over wooden planks without having to take Initiative tests to see if he crashes through. Nightsight: After hours of wandering about in the darkness of the sewers, the Hero has developed a slight nightsight. He may add +D6 to his initial Line of Sight. Brave Eye: The Hero's eyes rarely disappoint, and thus he may re-roll any initial Line of Sight rolls if he is not satisfied with the first result. However, he must accept the latter result regardless if it is worse than the first. Henchman skills Nerves of steel: The Henchmen have gotten tougher, and more than slightly dripping water must cause them to run away. Thus a Henchman group with the Nerves of Steel skill may re-roll any failed Leadership rolls to see if they may move. Sure feet: The warriors have learned how to run over the rotten planks without crashing through. A warrior with the Sure Feet skill may re-roll a failed Initiative test when running over wooden planks.
Modeling the Sewer So, you're tired of only creating ruins, ruins and ruins (oh, did I mention ruins?)? Or do you already have a full collection of ruined buildings and you want to use your last squareinches on storing something different? Well, then sewers must be the solution! Building your own sewer is fast and big fun, and it is a great challenge too. Having made my own sewer I can give you some advice: You can make your sewer either with rather small sections or floorplans, a bit like the floorplans from Warhammer Quest. This will make your sewer very flexible, and you can play games on different table layouts each time. However, you can construct larger sections for a much better finish. Using this way, you do not need more than three sections before you have a complete sewer, and you can make a more complex and more original sewer. I made such a large-section sewer, and I must admit I'm really satisfied with the result, as you may see on the pictures! The basic methods are easy: Cut out the base of the sewer section in the size you want. If you want to use the large section method, then one length should be approximately twice as long as the other length. Now glue on the walls. They do not have to be very high - 3-4 inches is more than enough just to make sure that there are actually walls! Next you can add any wooden sidewalks if you want using balsa wood cut out in a lot of small strips and glued on a longer stick in ranks. Once the glue is dry, glue the walkways along the walls. Be sure to leave some of the bridges destroyed here and there - it looks cool and makes it more difficult to enter the sewers! For the floor you can buy some special sheets in hobby store representing a stony ground, or you can cut out squares of cardboard and glue them on the cardboard base for adding a great stony effect. Having added all the details you can begin the texture the walls and represent the sewage or water. Fine sand is excellent for the walls, but the sewage is a bit more tricky. There are several methods here, but try this one: Texture the base as normal with fine sand. Right after you cover the sand with thinned down glue, and with your brush you can make a good, uneven look. If you are not satisfied, try again after the first layer has dried. This makes it even more variated! Now you paint it all black, using a black spray. Remember to go outside on this steps: Spraying inside is firstly very bad for your health, and it smells horrible! I advice you to let the sprayed sewer stay outside for at least a day before taking it in. For painting, use dark green, dark red and brown colors for the sewage. The walls can be drybrushed with a dark gray, and the wooden sidewalks and bridges can be drybrushed first in Bestial Brown or Vermin Fur and afterwards Bronzed Flesh in the very middle of the sidewalks. Finally you can add torches! This was an idea I got while making my Mordheim terrain. What you need it a candle, a little piece of plastic (the plastic from the sprues provided in the Mordheim boxed set are excellent!) and a small stick of balsa wood, preferably torch-sized. You light the candle outside, melt the small plastic piece and put it on the balsa wood stick before it becomes hard again. If you don't manage to do it the first time - simply try again! Melt the plastic once again, and now with a piece of scrap you twist the soft plastic until it looks a bit like a flame. Voila! Having said this, I should wish you a good Sewer Fighting! Warning: The sewers under Mordheim are very smelly! Remember a clip for your nose!) |
