Exiles - City of the Damned Week 1

First foray into Mordheim, City of the Damned

Captain Leopold van Seidenstahl & The Silk and Steel Company

Rumour in Marienburg says Leopold came to Mordheim for three things: wyrdstone, a title, and a legend grand enough that bards will argue about which parts can’t possibly be true.

Leading The Silk and Steel Company, this group of mercenaries is here to leave its mark on the City of the Damned.

They heard a rumour of hidden treasure and set out to secure their first score. Finding a group of witch hunters with the same idea, the Flames of Redemption, a standoff quickly ensued. After trading bolts back and forth, both sides closed the distance and steel clashed on steel. Marksmen did their best to survive the onslaught of flail-wielding flagellants, while a pair of swordsmen pushed up the flank, running off wardogs before taking out a Warrior-Priest, which prompted the rest of the Witch Hunters to break off the engagement.

The treasure chest and wyrdstone were secured, but they did not walk away unscathed. "Old Ironstem" caught a bolt to the hand, permanently damaging his grip.

The second bite of the Apple

The second outing of the Silk and Steel Company was a take and hold operation to secure some buildings that looked to be rich in wyrdstone. A group of Bretonnian Chapel Guard approached and both sides squared up for control of the streets.

The mercenaries rushed forward to take up positions in the buildings, while both sides probed each other with arrows and bolts that seemed to have little effect beyond prompting people to keep their head down.

Three engagements defined the skirmish: On the right flank, 3 swordsmen rushed up a tower to square off against 2 Knights Errant. They traded sword blows back and forth; each side struggled to do more than temporarily stagger their opposition. One swordsman did fall, but before the knights could press the advantage, they disengaged in the face of losses elsewhere.

On the left, a Questing Knight, a glittering tower of silver behind a stout shield, advanced behind the safety of ruins before charging at a trot and easily putting a marksman on his back. With weapon raised ready to finish off the mercenary, Daan "Old Ironstem" Koppelaars broke cover to charge forward in desperate defence. A veteran of many campaigns, he deftly wielded his halberd, waiting for the right moment to strike. Spotting a gap in the knight's guard, he pressed forward and managed to find the one weakness in the knight's iron defence: the eyeslot. Putting his weight behind the thrust, the weapon bit home and the brave knight fell motionless to the city street.

Meanwhile, Captain Leopold stared down his own Knight Errant. Silk shirt vs stout plate, it looked like the captain was outmatched. He was knocked down in the initial rush, but was able to roll aside from the knight's followup blow. Staring down death, he knew it was time to show this city exactly who he was. Drawing his duelling pistols: "Boom," "Boom." Two loud shots rang out as black powder drove lead balls into the arm of the knight. The weapon dropped from his grip and the arm hung limp at his side. Given the damage, it would take the hands of a very skilled chirurgeon to allow the knight to keep the arm.

With two knights down and the buildings in the hands of mercenaries, the bretonnians routed and began to question if it was a cursed vision that took them to this forsaken city.

With another wyrdstone haul secured, the Silk and Steel Company was beginning to make a name for itself. But who knows when this reputation will start to bring unwanted attention...

How It Played

This was my first time playing Mordheim in a very long time; I think I last played it in ~2010. This meant that I was essentially approaching it fresh. Thankfully the rules are actually pretty light and much easier to learn than modern Necromunda. The lack of alternating activations wasn't as bad as I feared, as turns still flowed pretty fast.

Game one was Hidden Treasure vs Witch Hunters. We traded some ranged fire; I lost a champ but did little in return. I had swordsmen survive the charge of two warhounds and take them out in return. I got lucky in the middle of the board: a youngblood and marksman were stunned but not killed by the flagellants with flails on the charge. With swordsmen winning on the right flank, my opponent chose to rout before they were able to get to a hero and do some lasting damage.

Game two was Occupy vs Bretonnians. My numbers meant this was an uphill battle, but my opponent was a great sport about it. The rightmost building was a grinding melee between 2 knights and 3 swordsmen. This engagement was a great lesson in having supporting fighters to protect those knocked down; we both rolled poorly on injury rolls when we finally got past armour/parry, and both sides had a fallen fighter stand back up unscathed.

The left hand side was nothing but luck. I survived a charge from the enemy Questing Knight, then rolled a critical hit with Daan that bypassed armour and took him out of action. This was followed up by another critical hit from my Captain which also bypassed armour and took out a Knight Errant.

The post game was also a lesson that this is not modern Necromunda: the serious injury table can be brutal. The Bretonnians suffered a dead result and an Arm Wound that resulted in a knight having to choose between sword and board. I managed to avoid anything serious beyond a hand wound; exploration resulted in me freeing a prisoner for a free swordsman. Rare items was pretty funny: Leopold failed a 4+ to find a Rapier and Daan failed to find a lucky charm. No idea if it will pay off, but I did pick up a deck of Tarot Cards for something fun.