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There are always those who seek power
no matter what the cost. The Chaos Gods
offer such power but often at a terrible
price. Despite the risks many fell warriors
still seek to gain the attention of the
dread Daemon Lords of the Warp. Though their
approaches, outlooks, and motivations are
different and their evils diverse the overall
goal of such aspiring Chaos Champions is
to attain Daemonhood. Often, other evil
souls of less talent or determination join
with these twisted warriors in hopes of
recieving their favor should they ever rise
to greatness. Most of these would-be daemons
travel the Chaos Wastes but some have found
their way to the dark streets of Mordheim.
The following list details characteristics
and compositions of warbands usable in the
Mordheim setting. These rules are arbitrary
but reflect an attempt to make an enjoyable
and playable force while maintaining game
balance with the existing system.
Starting Funds
The warband starts with 500 gc to spend
as it wishes following unit numbers and
weapons restrictions.
Choice of Warriors
An Aspiring Champion band must include
a minimum of 1 model (the Aspiring Champion),
and can have a maximum of 10 models including
5 Heros and 1 leader. A starting warband
must be lead by an Aspiring Champion, but
should he be killed they may not acquire
another; one of the warriors of the band
will step forth from amongst the members
of the band and become an Aspiring Champion.
If the warband consists of nothing but the
Aspiring Champion and he is killed then
the warband is obviously destroyed.
Becoming an Aspiring Champion
Should the Aspiring Champion die the
surviving Hero with the highest Leadership
will assume the mantle of his predecessor
and continue the quest for daemonhood. The
new Leader gains the 'Leader' special abilty
but gains no other additions.
Hirelings and Dramatis Personae
The following Hired Swords will work
for an Aspiring Champtions warband dedicated
to Nurgle, Slaneesh, or Tzeentch:
The following Hired Swords will work for
an Aspiring Champions warband dedicated
to Khorne:
The following Hired Swords will work for
any Aspiring Champions warband:
Of the Dramatis Personae listed in the
Mordheim rulebook, none of them will work
with an Aspiring Champion warband. Of the
Dramatis Personae provided on this site,
Esmerelda will work with an Aspiring
Champion warband other than one dedicated
to Khorne, but charges double her upkeep
to retain. Other added hirelings and Dramatis
Personae will have to be adjudicated on
a case by case basis but as a general rule,
Dwarves, Elves, and any religion-oriented
characters will not have anything to do
with Chaos-aligned warbands.
Heroes
|
Aspiring Champion |
The Warband must be lead by an Aspiring
Champion when starting |
|
Journeyman Sorceror |
The Warband may have up to 1 Sorceror |
|
Marauder Lord |
The Warband may include up to 2 Marauder
Lords |
Henchmen
|
Maruaders |
The Warband may have up to 3 Chaos Marauders
per Marauder Lord in the warband. |
|
Hounds |
The Warband may include up to 5
Chaos Hounds. |
|
Scum |
The Warband may include any number of
Chaos Scum up to the warbands max size. |
|
Ogre |
The Warband may include up to 1 Ogre |
Special Abilities
Pure Evil:
Those who follow an Aspiring Champion have
excised all goodness that may have once
resided in their mortal souls. They are
all Immune to, but dont neccesarily cause,
Fear.
Mutations:
Aspiring Champion Heroes can have Mutations,
chosen from both the standard list on page
76 of the main rule book.or from the list
of new mutations
provided on this site.
Chaos Gifts:
Aspiring Champion Heroes can have Gifts
chosen from the new
Chaos Skill lists provided elsewhere
on this site. The Chaos Undivided list is
available to Aspiring Champion bands dedicated
to any of the Chaos Gods. There are also
four seperate Chaos Skill lists particular
to each of the four Chaos Gods that are
only available to Aspiring Champion warbands
dedicated to that particular Chaos God (as
determined by the Aspiring Champions Chaos
Mark (see below)).
Exploration
As normal.
Equipment
|
Aspiring Champion Warband Equipment
List |
|
Item |
Cost |
|
Hand to Hand weapons |
|
Dagger (first free) |
2 |
|
Hammers, Maces, etc. |
3 |
|
Battleaxe |
5 |
|
Sword |
10 |
|
Spear |
10 |
|
Halberd |
10 |
|
Flail |
15 |
|
Morning Star |
15 |
|
Double Handed Weapon |
15 |
|
Armor |
|
Shield |
5 |
|
Helmet |
10 |
|
Light Armor |
20 |
|
Heavy Armor |
50 |
Starting Experience
|
Experience and Skills |
|
Hero |
Skill Categories |
Starting XP |
|
Aspiring Champion |
Combat, Strength, Speed, Chaos Gifts
of appropriate Daemon Lord |
20 |
|
Sorcerer |
Academic, Chaos Gifts of appropriate
Daemon Lord |
8 |
|
Marauder Lord |
Strength, Combat, Chaos Gifts of appropriate
Daemon Lord |
8 |
Heroes
|
Type |
Number |
Cost |
|
Aspiring Champion |
1 |
70 |
|
The Aspiring Champion is the strongest
of all the warriors in the band, striving
to commit ever greater evils with which
to attract his gods attention. The Aspiring
Champion is evil thru and thru and possesses
not one shred of morality or mercy. |
|
M |
WS |
BS |
S |
T |
W |
I |
A |
LD |
SAVE |
|
4 |
4 |
3 |
3 |
4 |
1 |
4 |
1 |
8 |
As Armor |
|
|
Weapons and Armor: the
Aspiring Champion may be equipped as desired
from the Aspiring Champion Warband Equipment
List |
|
Special Ability:
Leader. All warriors in the
band within 6" of the Aspiring Champion
may use his Leadership value for Leadership
tests. |
|
Special Ability:
Chaos Mark. The warrior bears
the mark of one of the following Chaos dieties:
Khorne, Nurgle, Slaneesh, or Tzeentch. The
player must choose which Daemon Lord the
warrior worships at warband creation, and
this decision can never be changed later.
Later when gaining skills, the Champion
may instead pick from the appropriate list
of Gifts given by their chosen Daemon Lord
or the Undivided Gifts list. Furthermore
all other members of the warband are assumed
to worship the same Daemon Lord as this
warrior. |
|
Special Ability:
Immune to Fear: The
Warrior is immune to Fear. |
|
Special Ability:
Mutations: The warrior
may choose from the Mutations List on page
76 of the Main Rule Book and the
new mutations listed elsewhere on
this site. |
|
Type |
Number |
Cost |
|
Journeyman Sorceror |
0-1 |
40 |
|
Some Aspiring Champtions warbands are
accompanied by young sorcerors struggling
to achieve their own recognition. |
|
M |
WS |
BS |
S |
T |
W |
I |
A |
LD |
SAVE |
|
4 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
7 |
- |
|
Weapons and Armor: May
only be equipped from the Hand to Hand section
of the Aspiring Champion Warband Equipment
List.
|
|
Special Ability:
Magic Use: The Sorceror
generates a single Spell from the Chaos
Rituals list randomly. If he gains a skill
then he may randomly choose a new Ritual
rather than a skill. |
|
Special Ability:
Immune to Fear: The
Warrior is immune to Fear. |
|
Limitation:
Chaos Mark: The Sorceror must
have the same mark as the Aspiring Champion.
Since Khorne does not tolerate the use of
magic this means that a warband dedicated
to Khorne may not have a Sorceror. |
|
Special Ability:
Mutations: The warrior
may choose from the Mutations List on page
76 of the Main Rule Book and the
new mutations listed elsewhere on
this site. |
|
Type |
Number |
Cost |
|
Marauder Lords |
0-2 |
65 |
|
Marauder Lords lead small bands of hardened
warriors from the North. Often a strong
Aspiring Champion will influence one or
two with his drive and they will pledge
to follow him. |
|
M |
WS |
BS |
S |
T |
W |
I |
A |
LD |
SAVE |
|
4 |
4 |
3 |
3 |
4 |
1 |
4 |
1 |
7 |
As Armor |
|
Weapons and Armor: May
be equipped as desired from the Aspiring
Champion Warband Equipment List |
|
Special Ability:
Immune to Fear: The
Warrior is immune to Fear. |
|
Special Ability:
Retinue: The band
may have a retinue of 0-3 Marauders per
Marauder Lord; thus with 2 Marauder Lords
the warband may have up to 6 Marauders and
with 0 Marauder Lords the band may not have
any Marauders. |
|
Special Ability:
Mutations: The warrior
may choose from the Mutations List on page
76 of the Main Rule Book and the
new mutations listed elsewhere on
this site. |
Henchmen
|
Type |
Number |
Cost |
|
Marauders |
0-3 x 2
|
50 |
|
Marauders are hardened warriors of the
North and form the battle ready core of
most Aspiring Champions warbands. |
|
M |
WS |
BS |
S |
T |
W |
I |
A |
LD |
SAVE |
|
4 |
4 |
3 |
3 |
4 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
7 |
As Armor |
|
Weapons and Armor: May
be equipped as desired from the Aspiring
Champion Warband Equipment List |
|
Special Ability:
Immune to Fear: The
Warrior is immune to Fear. |
|
Special Ability:
Retinue: The band
may have a retinue of 0-3 Marauders per
Marauder Lord; thus with 2 Marauder Lords
the warband may have up to 6 Marauders. |
|
Limitation:
Promotion Options: Chaos Gifts:
The Warrior may choose to get access to
Chaos Gifts instead of a Skill Group. He
must bear the same Chaos Mark as his Leader. |
|
Limitation:
Promotion Options: Mutations:
The Warrior may choose to gain access to
the Mutations list on page 76 of the main
rulebook and the
new mutations listed elsewhere on
this site instead of a Skill Group. If this
option is taken, then the warrior has 3d6
x 10 gc with which to buy Mutations immediately
upon being promoted, but must miss the next
game as their body alters into it's new
form. They may never gain more mutations. |
|
Type |
Number |
Cost |
|
Scum |
0-9 |
25 |
|
Scum are filth that follow the Aspiring
Champion in hopes of benefiting from his
favor if he rises to greatness. They are
a mixed lot at best and tend to have a high
turnover rate. |
|
M |
WS |
BS |
S |
T |
W |
I |
A |
LD |
SAVE |
|
4 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
7 |
As Armor |
|
Weapons and Armor: May
be equipped as desired from the Aspiring
Champion Warband Equipment List |
|
Special Ability:
Immune to Fear: The
Warrior is immune to Fear. |
|
Limitation:
Promotion Options: Chaos Gifts:
The Warrior may choose to get access to
Chaos Gifts instead of a Skill Group. He
must bear the same Chaos Mark as his Leader. |
|
Limitation:
Promotion Options: Mutations:
The Warrior may choose to gain access to
the Mutations list on page 76 of the main
rulebook and the
new mutations listed elsewhere on
this site instead of a Skill Group. If this
option is taken, then the warrior has 3d6
x 10 gc with which to buy Mutations immediately
upon being promoted, but must miss the next
game as their body alters into it's new
form. They may never gain more mutations. |
|
Type |
Number |
Cost |
|
Chaos Hounds |
0-5 |
45 |
|
Some warbands are accompanied by a pack
of Chaos Hounds. |
|
M |
WS |
BS |
S |
T |
W |
I |
A |
LD |
SAVE |
|
6 |
4 |
0 |
4 |
4 |
1 |
4 |
2 |
6 |
- |
|
Weapons and Armor: May
not have any equipment. |
|
Limitations: Animal:
The Hounds are Animals, they do not gain
Experience and never get any better. |
|
Special Ability:
Causes Fear: The Hounds
causes Fear. |
|
Type |
Number |
Cost |
|
Ogre |
0-1 |
200 |
|
Ogres are considered to be execellent
creatures by the followers of Chaos and
they are often accompanied by one in the
dark streets of Mordheim. |
|
M |
WS |
BS |
S |
T |
W |
I |
A |
LD |
SAVE |
|
6 |
3 |
2 |
4 |
5 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
7 |
As Armor |
|
Weapons and Armor: May
be equipped as desired from the Aspiring
Champion Warband Equipment List. |
|
Special Ability:
Causes Fear: The warrior
causes Fear. |
|
Limitation:
Large. Opponents are +1 BS
to hit, and may shoot at even if not closest
target. |
|
Limitation:
Promotion Options. If promoted
the Ogre may only choose from Combat and
Strength Skills. |
|
Max Profile |
|
OGRES |
M |
WS |
BS |
S |
T |
W |
I |
A |
LD |
|
6 |
6 |
5 |
5 |
6 |
5 |
6 |
5 |
9 |
I designed the Aspiring Chaos Champion
warband because one of the players in our
group,
Vlad, desperately wanted to make
a true Chaos warband and asked me to do
something about it.
I made it broadbased and very flexible to
account for many variations in playing preferences
regarding the 4 Chaos gods. Of particular
influence was the excellent and extensive
line of Chaos Champions and Warriors on
foot that were pulled from the Citadel active
range with the release of the latest version
of Realms of Chaos. If you have a copy of
the 1997 Citadel Miniatures Catalog (not
the Annual) with the large red squig leaping
out and the night goblin army on the cover
you can find them and presumably get them
from the mail order trolls.
The Aspiring Chaos warband offers a chance
for experienced modelers to make truly distinctive
Champions, and also makes for a very interesting
and variable force. The individual members
are prone to be relatively powerful, but
their numbers will always be very small.
Also, the cost of models with mutations
is heavily inflated; in my experience models
with multiple mutations rarely live up to
their point cost.
The real advantage of the Aspiring Champions
warband is that it is really 4 warbands
in one. With play the warbands of each Chaos
god will develop a truly unique feel from
other Aspiring Champion bands of other dieties.
Finally, the Aspiring Champion warband is
unusual in that it can start off as one
warrior; the Aspiring Champion himself allowing
a warband to be started with a very small
outlay of actual funds and built up as needed
one model at a time.
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