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With a couple of months of play, we have found that the Undead force is poorly
balanced (in our opinions of course). They start off better than everyone else thanks
to the power of the Vampire, but are soon surpassed by other warbands. The key problem
the Undead warband faces is the lack of advanceable troops.
The warband is essentially one guy (the Vampire)
and a bunch of chumps that try to run interference but cant after the first few
games as their opponents are infinitely more skilled. The second problem the warband
faces is the lack of equipment options; most of the warband cant have any at all.
Finally the third major problem they face is that the Undead Spell list is fairly
weak, making the Necromancer relatively useless. To make playing an Undead warband
more enjoyable in campaign games without unbalancing it for one-offs, I made the
following changes and additions to the warband that were at first tentatively adopted
in our campaign but widely liked and lauded after they had withstood a good deal
of play and analysis.
Becoming the Leader
If the Vampire dies, and the warband has Lesser Vampires (see the Embrace skill
below), then the Lesser Vampire with the highest Leadership takes over the band,
and another Vampire may not be purchased. If the band has multiple Lesser Vampires
which tie for highest leadership then the player must choose one to lead; the other
Vampire(s) that tied may split off and form their own warband(s) at the players
option, starting with 500 gc to pay for themselves and any new followers; otherwise
they are slain in the power struggle.
Hirelings and Dramatis Personae
The following Hired Swords will work for the
Undead:
Of the Dramatis Personae listed in the Mordheim rulebook, and those provided on
this site, the following will work for a Undead band:
Player created and future supplemental Personae will have to be adjudicated on
a case by case basis as appropriate to their background. In general High and Wood
Elven or Dwarves or any Holy characters will not work for an Undead warband.
Heroes
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Standard Undead Heros
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Unchanged
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-
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Wight
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Wights start with 8 Experience
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0-2
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*Lesser Vampire
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Lesser Vampires are Embraced Dregs created with the
Vampiric Skill Embrace;
They start with the Experience earned before being turned into a Vampire.
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0-3
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**Lured Heros
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Heros of other forces under the sway of the
Vampiric skill of Lure.
They start with the Experience earned before being lured into the warband.
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0-3
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Dregs, Lesser Vampires, and Lured Heroes all occupy the same three (3) slots.
Thus a warband could have 2 Dregs and 1 Lesser Vampire, or 2 Lesser Vampires and
1 Lured Hero, or 3 Lesser Vampires, or one of each, or any other combination not
exceeding three total slots.
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* See Embrace Vampiric Skill
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** See Lure Vampiric Skill
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Henchmen
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Standard Undead Henchmen
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Numbers Unchanged
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Mummy
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0-1
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Skeleton Warriors
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0-5
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Equipment
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Undead Warbands Equipment List
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Unchanged
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Starting Experience
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Experience and Skills
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Hero
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Skill Categories
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Starting XP
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Standard Undead Heros
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Unchanged
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-
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Wight
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Combat, Strength
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8
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Lesser Vampire
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As Dreg, *Vampiric Skills
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var
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**Lured Heros
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As before Luring, other than Spells
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var
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* See Embrace Vampiric Skill
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** See Lure Vampiric Skill
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Special Skills
Vampire Heroes have access to the new Vampiric
Skills.
Spells
Necromancers have access to either the standard Necromancy Spell List in the
Mordheim rulebook (which we've taken to calling the "Liber Finitus" to differentiate)
or the new "Liber Thanos"
Alternate Necromancy Spell List, or the new Vanhel's Grimoire aka "Liber
Mortis" Alternate Necromancy Spell List
New Heroes
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Type
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Number
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Cost
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Wight
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0-2
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60
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Wights are the Undead remains of once-great warriors. They look much like Skeletons
but are much more dangerous foes. They are prized by the Undead leaders for their
remembered martial skills and are placed in positions of authority within an Undead
band.
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M
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WS
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BS
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S
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T
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W
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I
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A
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LD
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SAVE
|
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4
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3
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0
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3
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4
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2
|
3
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1
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8
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As Armor
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Weapons and Armor: the Wight may be equipped as desired from
the Undead Warbands Equipment List with the exception of the Missile Weapons.
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Special Ability: Wight Blade. Any
HtH weapon carried by a Wight causes d3 Wounds instead of the normal 1.
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Special Ability: True Undead. Wights
are Painless (treat Stunned as Knocked down), are Immune to Psychology and Poison,
and Cause Fear.
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Limitation: Cannot Run. Wights are
animated by dark forces and not truly alive. They are not as spry as the living
and therefore may not run, but may charge normally.
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Wight Max Profile
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M
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WS
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BS
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S
|
T
|
W
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I
|
A
|
LD
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SAVE
|
|
4
|
6
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0
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4
|
4
|
3
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6
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4
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9
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As Armor
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Henchmen
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Type
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Number
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Cost
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Skeleton Warriors
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0-5
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20
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Skeletons are the Undead remains of once-living folk. They are useful to an Undead
force as they can be equipped and are not as slow as zombies.
|
|
M
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WS
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BS
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S
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T
|
W
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I
|
A
|
LD
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SAVE
|
|
4
|
2
|
2
|
3
|
3
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1
|
2
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1
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5
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As Armor
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Weapons and Armor: Skeletons may be equipped as desired from
the Undead Warbands Equipment List.
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Special Ability: True Undead. Skeletons
are Painless (treat Stunned as Knocked down), are Immune to Psychology and
Poison, and Cause Fear.
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Special Ability: Promotable. Skeletons
can grow in power, though their form will always be more limited than some other
types of Undead. They gain experience and can be promoted as normal.
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Limitation: Cannot Run. Wights are
animated by dark forces and not truly alive. They are not as spry as the living
and therefore may not run, but may charge normally.
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Limitation: Limited Skills. If a Skeleton
is promoted, they may only choose from Combat Skills.
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Skeleton Max Profile
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M
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WS
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BS
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S
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T
|
W
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I
|
A
|
LD
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SAVE
|
|
4
|
4
|
4
|
3
|
4
|
3
|
4
|
3
|
7
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As Armor
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Type
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Number
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Cost
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Mummy
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0-1
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180
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Mummys are powerful old Undead from lands far to the south. They are rare as
far north as Mordheim, but a few have been sent to the Damned City at the request
of favored Vampiric minions. They provide an Undead warband with much needed heavy
hitting power and can shore up a line of Zombies.
|
|
M
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WS
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BS
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S
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T
|
W
|
I
|
A
|
LD
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SAVE
|
|
3
|
3
|
0
|
4
|
5
|
3
|
3
|
2
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8
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As Armor
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Weapons and Armor: Mummys may be equipped as desired from the
Undead Warbands Equipment List with the exception of the Missile Weapons. Additionally,
they can be equipped with Punch Weapons such as Brass Knuckles and Hand Chains (+1
Strength, 10 gc (cancels -1 Str penalty for fighting barehanded, but not the +1
Armor save.))
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Special Ability: True Undead. The
Mummy is Painless (treat Stunned as Knocked down), are Immune to Psychology
and Poison, and Cause Fear.
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Special Ability: Promotable. The Mummy
gains experience and can be promoted as normal.
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Limitation: Limited Skills. The Mummy
may only choose from Combat and Strength Skills if promoted.
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Limitation: May not Run. The Mummy
may not Run, but may Charge as normal
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Limitation: Flammable. Damage caused
by fire automatically causes critical hits against the Mummy.
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Mummy Max Profile
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|
M
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WS
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BS
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S
|
T
|
W
|
I
|
A
|
LD
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SAVE
|
|
3
|
5
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0
|
5
|
5
|
3
|
5
|
4
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9
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As Armor
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Other Modifications
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Summary of Changes
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Necromancer
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Access to the "Liber Thanos"
or the new Vanhel's Grimoire aka "Liber
Mortis" Alternate Necromancy Spell Lists (see below)
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Dire Wolves
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Cost 25gc rather than 50gc
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Ghouls
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If promoted may take access to Combat Skills and choose Weapons Training to gain
access to HtH equipment.
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A few other alterations were made to the existing Undead force. The most significant
is that the cost of Dire Wolves was reduced to 25 gc per rather than 50. their inability
to gain experience and their inability to run balance their slightly increaded movement.
They start off nasty but are quickly surpassed and are taken out too easily to warrant
paying 50 gc to replace them as they leave the warband (by comparison Ghouls cost
less (40gc) but can gain experience, get promoted, have more attacks and are tougher).
Another modification (or clarification) is that Ghouls which get promoted and
choose Combat Skills can get the Weapons Training Skill, which allows them to be
equipped with HtH weapons. This does not include Armor or Shields but does include
Helmets as a freebie (it doesn't take a lot of skill or intelligence to put a metal
bucket on your head).
Finally, the last major modification is the Necromancers choice of Spells. The
six presented in the main rule book are underpowered by comparison to the other
magic lists. The individual Spells include a few cool ones, like the Spell of Awakening,
but the Call of Vanhel is fairly useless, the Spell of Doom is too difficult to
get off and most models in the game have at least a 50% chance to avoid its effects
(Strength 3), Death Vision is okay, but basically just gives the Necromancer an
ability that most of the band starts with, Lifestealer is pretty sweet but near
impossible to get off and too short ranged, and Re-Animation is only good if the
warband uses the very limited and non-advancing Zombies.
Therefore, the new "Liber
Thanos" and the new Vanhel's Grimoire aka "Liber
Mortis" Alternate Necromancy Spell Lists have been made available to Necromancers.
The Undead player must declare which list he is going to use when starting the Necromancer,
and the Necromancer must gain all of his Spells from the same list. This means that
if they use the following list they loose access to the good Spells of the standard
list such as the Spell of Awakening, but thems the breaks. The Liber Mortis focuses
on improving the True Undead in the band and includes a spell that can turn the
Necromancer into a True Undead Liche, while the Liber Thanos is a flexible "toolbox"
oriented list with a good variety of effects including a spell that renders the
Necromancer immune to the Death Serious Injury result.
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