Homemade Warband - Mori`Taur

[RJackel]

Ok guys Im back from being away from Mordheim for several years. Luckly there hasnt changed much hehe!

The idea here is that Ive made a warband which is made up of tree folk. I will be making terrain that will have a treetop village theme so I figured I could also make a native warband. Hopefully Ill get to the scenery this or the next year :P First Ill need to make a Mordheim sewer using some Hirts Arts stuff because Ive been walking around with that idea for a long time now. As for the treetop village there arent many pictures out there but it would be in the lines of:

http://forums.3dtotal.com/showthread.php?t=54009

My idea was to use real wooden logs and cut them into 40cm long pieces and then cut those into 2 pieces each of 20cm. I would make wooden houses and bridges etc. around the logs with staircases going up and down. Then I would make sure that 2 pieces of 20cm could connect with eachother. Since 20cm is enough for 2 levels and 40cm would be 4 levels. And the pieces could be used seperatly or on top of eachother.

Now the actual people that would be living in such treetop village(s) are the Mori`taur. I was either going with very agile humans(but still humans) or something in the form of half elves(so agile but not the other bonuses). Since there arent any official elf warbands I figured it would be easier to go down the line of agile humans instead of making up my own rules and trying to balance it out. Anyway the humans have to be agile because they live way high in the treetops of a huge forest. Also the forest itself is completely dark since the leafes cover the entire roof of the forest. So these people worship a light/sun goddess which for now Ive called Sarula. This hole light/sun goddess thing also comes together with my scenery where the centerpiece will be a sun temple. That suntemple will be sitting on a very big tree at the point where it splits in 3 big branches. And the idea is that the branches split and that sunlight reaches right down the middle and into the temple. So from the perspective of the people there is light coming out of the doors and cracks(wooden structure) of the temple and shines right trough the village. Its like a beacon of light(and hope) and the village is build around it.

For food the villages have hunters which hunt wild life at the bottom of the forest or birds way up high in the leaf cover. Water could be gained from catching whatever rainwater comes down from the leafroof or by going down to the bottom to some small lake. But going to the bottom is very dangerous hence the idea that these people need to live way up high.

Ok so on to the characters of this warband. I havent written any small pieces of tekst for each character yet so Ill explain them here a bit more and perhaps a bit more about the society of the Mori`taur. Some things I dont explain further untill I get to a next character.

The Vaellmar
The story is that "Vaellmar" is actually a title meaning "Protector". The Vaellmars are mostly minor nobles who are very experienced and are then honored with the job of protecting their society. Each Vaellmar has his own small warband with a core of warriors which he uses to forfill given tasks such as hunting, gathering, scouting etc. Apart from his core of warriors he can get extra warriors from a big pool of warriors which isnt assigned to a given Vaellmar and unless chosen for their party remain in the village and protect it. Obvieusly there is some kind of council or higher command which decides which Vaellmar can get extra warriors for a given task/mission. The core of warriors that a Vaellmar has expands when a warrior asks a certain Vaellmar if he can join his warband which of course happens during a ceremony. I imagine there would be plenty of occasions during a year where this could be performed. Of course the warrior has to undergo some trials which could also vary with each Vaellmar. So the higher a status of a Vaellmar the more "core" warriors he would have I imagine.

The Gondall
This is ofcourse the trusty sergeant and 2nd in command. A proven warrior which most likely has fought with the Vaellmar for many years and is part of his core of warriors. The way I see these guys is that they are more action and muscle then brains. They lead by example and are not afraid to get their hands(or weapons!) dirty.

The Neuma
These are the expert hunters and trappers. Also I think these guys would be the warbands main trackers and scouts. Years of setting traps and lurking from afar have improved their ballistic skill but since they havent fought much hand to hand their weapon skill is worse then that from the average warrior.

The Light Mage
In my opinion excellent character to be played as a female (ohw my kinky mind has already several half naked females in mind...) Not a very exciting profile and you can only field one if you drop the Gondall or a Neuma. The spell list this mage uses is actually the Lesser Magic spell list but with different names and such. I did think about making my own spell list but making it balanced is hard. This warband isnt a bad one and giving it magic would be pushing it in my opinion. So giving it a weak magic list isnt that shocking. Not to mention you have to give up one other hero which in my opinion are strong. The swapping a hero for a wizard thing I got from some other warband I saw which did the same with a Priets of Taal if I remember correctly?...

Youngblood
Ah! The fresh meat! What would a warband be without a nice young boy which current knowledge about swords is "point sharp end away from user". I always love those weak heros which in campains tend to become small monsters rather quickly. The idea of the Youngblood in this warband is that he just got accepted into the Vaellmars warband after undergoing a hard trial but completing it against terrible odds. So he is taken under the wing of the Vaellmar instead of being put with the rest of the squad(hence he being a hero). But another pitch could be that the Vaellmar is going on a hard mission and has asked for extra warrior. This boy is one of those so called "warriors" and is rather and insult to the Vaellmar. Perhaps the son of a minor noble which has 2 left hands? But then the boy ends up rather surprising the Vaellmar.. Like I said I can imagine several good story lines with these fellows

Warriors
The rank and file soldiers of the Mori`taur. Mostly protecting the village or escorting others down to the bottom where their hand to hand skills(and equipment) come in hand. I could also see them as acting like law enforcement. A part of these warriors could also be in the "core" of a Vaellmars warband.

Hunters
The food gatherers of the village. Killing from afar before anybody knows whats going. Same as the warriors these hunters could also be in the "core" of a Vaellmars warband.

Tree Spirits
Ohw Ive got some great modeling ideas for these guys... Basically in my eyes they are a smaller version of the dryads and then crossed with spiders or something. So they move around like aliens. Always on 4 legs and running around on the walls, ceilings etc. Perfect for getting around the tree tops of the forest! So definetly not humans but rather allies. Trading with eachother etc. Their services as scouts for the Moir`taurs weapons or other crafting skills. Profile is that of halflings btw. with the added scale sheer surfaces(and price).

Giant Spider
Ohw I can already picture this. Naturally humans always tend to mount stuff(hehe). So what better mount for a treetop folk then a spider? Fits right into the fluff and the spider isnt really an overpowered thing. Also I was thinking about combining the spider further into the fluff as in for example a Vaellmar has to undergo a test before he recieves the title. And thats to find and tame a Spider? Or steal the eggs(not exactly dragon eggs but spiders also have eggs). Perhaps any ideas from you guys on this matter?

So thats the character explenation. As for the warband on paper you will notice that it kinda mirrors the Averland Warband in many ways. I figured it would be best to mirror an official warband since it lessens the chance of creating an overpowered or underpowered warband. Thinking up rules for half elves with M5, own special skills, special magic list etc. would simply be to hard to make it right. I added some things like the mage, elven bows, and the spiders. But then again I toke out all the gunpowders weapons, crossbows and the mountainguard(so only ws 3 henchmen). Also the Initiative of most of the characters is increased since I dont see I3 working on these people. I5 again is way to high and to close in elf territory. For the Vaellmar I figured it could pass since he is an exceptional(agile) warrior. To compensate for the increased iniative I also upped the cost by 5 gc. Hopefully its pretty balanced but then again bare in mind that this is the first rough scetch. Any ideas or comments are more then welcome

Also just before I show how the warband looks on paper I want to add that I want to make this warband balanced for a Mordheim setting because I want to make a campain with the sewers, a city, the tree top villages and much more Untill such a time you might ask what these guys would be doing in a setting like Mordheim? My god Im such a creative person I could think of thousand of stories. A few examples are:
1. An oracle(from the light temple) being kidnapped and they need to get her back
2. The warband being taken captive while on a scouting mission and they broke free and dont know how to get home
3. They are in Mordheim because they saw the meteor and think that their sun goddess has fallen in a mortal form
4. A precieus artifact has been stolen and they were send to retrieve it
5. Their people are sick and they are desperatly looking for a cure
and so on, and so on....


Tree Top Folk - Mori`taur

Choice of Warriors:

A Mori´taur warband must include a minimum of three models. You have 500 gold crowns available to spend. The maximum number of warriors in the warband may never exceed 15.

Starting Experience:

The Vaellmar starts with 20 experience.
The Gondall starts with 8 experience.
Neumas start with 4 experience.
The Light Mage starts with 8 experience.
The Youngblood starts with 0 experience.

Maximum Characteristics:

Mori`taur – human

M WS BS S T W I A Ld
4...6....6.4.4..3.6.4..9

Tree Spirit - (same as halfling)

M WS BS S T W I A Ld
4...5....7.3.3..3.9.4..10


Mori`taur Skill Tables:

Vaellmar may choose from the Combat, Shooting, Academic, Strength or Speed.
Gondall may choose from the Combat, Strength or Speed.
Neumas may choose from the Shooting or Speed.
Light Mages may choose from the Academic or Speed.
Youngblood may choose from the Combat, Shooting or Speed.


Special Equipment:

Giant Spider 100 gc

M WS BS ..S.. T W I A Ld
7...3....0.3(4).3..1.4.1..4

Poisoned Attack: Giant Spider attacks are poisoned. Attacks are considered as Strength 4, but this will not modify any armour saves.

Wall Walk: Giant Spiders (and their riders) may walk up and down walls without making Initiative tests. They may only jump up to 2" across or down, but this does count as a diving charge. When a spider jumps, its rider must make an Initiative test; if this test is failed, something has gone wrong – roll on the Whoa Boy! Table. Note even if the rider has the Running Dismount skill, the maximum diving charge is only 2"


Mori`taur hero equipment list

Hand to Hand Weapons
Dagger 1st free/ 2 gc
Hammer/Mace 3 gc
Axe 5 gc
Sword 10 gc
Spear 10 gc
Double Handed Weapon 15 gc

Missile Weapons
Bow 10 gc
Longbow 15 gc
Elven Bow(not Mage) 35 gc

Armour
Light Armor 20 gc
Shield 5 gc
Buckler 5 gc
Helmet 10 gc


Mori`taur hunter equipment list

Hand to Hand Weapons
Dagger 1st free/ 2 gc
Hammer/Mace 3 gc
Axe 5 gc
Spear 10 gc

Missile Weapons
Javelin 10 gc
Blowpipe(Tree Spirit only) 25 gc
Bow 10 gc
Longbow(not Tree Spirits) 15 gc
Elven Bow (Neuma only) 35 gc
Throwing Axes 15 gc

Armour
Light Armor 20 gc
Shield 5 gc
Helmet 10 gc

Miscellaneous
Hunting Arrows (Neuma only) 35 gc


Mori`taur warrior equipment list

Hand to Hand Weapons
Dagger 1st free/ 2 gc
Hammer/Mace 3 gc
Axe 5 gc
Sword 10 gc
Spear 10 gc

Missile Weapons
Short Bow 5 gc

Armour
Light Armor 20 gc
Shield 5 gc
Buckler 5 gc
Helmet 10 gc



Heroes

1 Vaellmar 65 gc

M WS BS S T W I A Ld
4...4....4.3.3..1.5.1..8

Weapons/Armor: A Vaellmar may be equipped with weapons and armor chosen from the Mori`taur hero equipment list

Leader: Any warrior within 6" of the Leader may use his Leadership characteristic when taking Leadership test.


0-1 Gondall 40 gc

M WS BS S T W I A Ld
4...4....3.3.3..1.4.1..7

Weapons/Armor: A Gondall may be equipped with weapons and armor chosen from the Mori`taur hero equipment list


0-2 Neuma 40 gc

M WS BS S T W I A Ld
4...2....4.3.3..1.4.1..7

Weapons/Armor: Neumas may be equipped with weapons and armor chosen from the Hunter equipment list

Set Traps: Neumas are expert trappers and these skills can be put to great use in the ruins of Mordheim. A Neuma may set a trap if he spends a turn doing nothing else (he may not set traps if he’s just recovered from being Knocked Down). Place a marker in base contact with the Neuma. When a model, friend or foe, moves within 2" of the marker he risks setting off the trap – roll a D6. On a score of 3+ he has triggered the trap and suffers a S4 hit (note that the Neuma won’t trigger his own traps). If the trap did not wound the model or it didn’t trigger, the ‘victim’ may finish his move otherwise he is placed knocked Down or Stunned 2" from the marker. Regardless whether the trap was triggered or not, the marker is removed.


0-1 Light Mage 40 gc

M WS BS S T W I A Ld
4...2....3.3.3..1.4.1..7

Weapons/Armor: A Light Mage may be equipped with weapons and armor chosen from the Mori`taur hero equipment list. The Light Mage can not wear armor and cast spells.

Rarity: A Light Mage can only be taken instead of a Gondall or Neuma

Wizard: The Light Mage begins with one spell randomly chosen from the Light Magic Spell list.


0-1 Youngblood 20 gc

M WS BS S T W I A Ld
4...2....2.3.3..1.4.1..6

Weapons/Armor: A Youngblood may be equipped with weapons and armor chosen from the Mori`taur warrior equipment list



Henchmen

0+ Warriors of the Mori`taur 25 gc

M WS BS S T W I A Ld
4...3....3.3.3..1.4.1..7

Weapons/Armor: A Warrior may be equipped with weapons and armor chosen from the Mori`taur warrior equipment list

0+ Hunters of the Mori`taur 25 gc

M WS BS S T W I A Ld
4...3....3.3.3..1.4.1..7

Weapons/Armor: A Hunter may be equipped with weapons and armor chosen from the Mori`taur hunter equipment list

0-3 Tree Spirits 25 gc

M WS BS S T W I A Ld
4...2....4.2.2..1.4.1..8

Weapons/Armor: A Tree Spirit may be equipped with weapons and armor chosen from the Mori`taur hunter equipment list

Tree Creatures: All Tree Spirits have the Scale Sheer Surfaces skill.

Physically Weak: A Tree Spirit that is promoted to hero through the “The lad’s got talent” advance may not choose Strength skills as one of his two skill lists.




Sarula, Goddess of Light Magic


1 Cleansing Light Difficulty 7
The mage shoots a ray of intense light from his hand at his enemies which burns on contact.

The ray has a range of 18" and causes one Strength 4 hit. It strikes the first model in its path. Armour saves are taken as normal (i.e., with -1 modifier).

2 Broken Spectrum Difficulty 7
The light spectrum is broken en reshaped so it appears the mage is teleported from one spot to another.

The mage may immediately move anywhere within 12", including into base contact with an enemy, in which case he counts as charging. If he engages a fleeing enemy in the close combat phase he will score 1 automatic hit and then his opponent will flee again (if he survives).

3 Terrifying Illusion Difficulty 7
The mage summons an illusion which inspires fear into the hearts of even the bravest of men.

A single model within 12" of the mage must pass a Leadership test or flee 2D6" directly away from him. If he flees, he must test at the start of each of his own movement phases and will continue to flee until he passes a test. Note that this spell does not affect Undead or any model immune to fear.

4 Rainbow Orbs Difficulty 7
Colorfull orbs of light appear from thin air and circle around the mage, shooting out to strike his foes.

Unlike other spells, this cannot be cast whilst in hand-to-hand combat. The spell summons D6+2 light orbs which the mage can use to shoot against one enemy model. The orbs have a range of 24". Use the mages own Ballistic Skill to determine whether he hits or not, but ignore movement, range and cover penalties. The orbs cause one S3 hit each.

5 Guiding Light of Sarula Difficulty 6
Sarula lights up the true path for the mage as time itself seems to slow down

The mage may re-roll all his failed dice rolls, though the second results stand. The effect lasts until the beginning of his own next turn.

6 Sarula’s Wrath Difficulty 8
A sword of pure light appears in the hand of the mage with which he can bring justice and death to the enemies of Sarula!

The sword gives the wizard +1 Attack, +2 Strength and +2 Weapon Skill. Take a Leadership test at the beginning of each of the wizard’s own turns. If the test fails, the sword disappears.

[RJackel]

Ohw and few things I forgot to mention. This campain would be played using modified rules for armor and fighting with 2 weapons. So taking out the Heavy Armor for this warband isnt just fluffy but also part of the balancing since it would indeed be a drawback.

Furthermore I was thinking of a rule that the Light Mage cant ride a Giant Spider. So it again makes a tough decision between having a Light Mage or not. Because to have one youre giving up an exceptional archer or a good close combat fighter. Since the warband doesnt have real strong members losing one of them is a big price to pay. Also notice that only the Gondall and Veallmar have access to Two-Handed weapons and strenght skills which can come in handy with modified rules for armor Apart from all this I think a Mage on a Giant Spider would give the mage to much of an advantage given the nature of the Lesser Magic List. Anyway anybody has any thoughts on if a Light Mage should or shouldnt be able to ride a Giant Spider?

A note I wanted to add is that there is also a fluff reason that there are no ws4 henchmen in the warband. If you check out the other warbands and you read the small character explenations for the ws4 henchmen they are all basically veterans of fighting/war. I do not think these people have a lot of combat experience vs other organized creatures such as orcs, undead or other humans. So their experience is limited to fighting mostly the wild creatures of their forest. While in no doubt those fights are difficult and terrifying aswell they do tend to be rather different from fighting another human. I also dont see these people as war driven but more survivors so there wouldnt be many oppertunities for them to fight wars. They would more rely on the forest itself to protect them since a journey at the floor of the forest would be "troublesome" at the very least for other creatures.

The forest itself I imagine being a little bit swamp like but not with completely a swamp with lots of pools of water and such. So with lots of fog everywhere and a bit of a moist ground. And lots and lots of big scarry creatures Not to forget dark as freaking hell 24/7. Simply a nightmare enviroment for the standard human. Not so very different from Mordheim in fact in many ways :P

[RJackel]

This thread has been up for some days now. Nobody has anything at all to say about my warband list? Heck it can be all negative but then at least Id have something... I mean the Mordheim community cant be THIS dead

[Nymie_the_Pooh]

I haven't played the list, but I can toss out an opinion or two if you like. You may also want to check Tom's Boring Mordheim Forums if you haven't yet as the Mordheim community is much more active there. The problem with trying to balance any warband is deciding what to balance it against. Different settings have different power levels where warbands from one setting can tromp all over a warband from a different setting given they are controlled by two players of a comparative skill level. I’ll be trying for the city of Mordheim itself and the warbands found within the core rulebook along with Dwarfs and Orcs with these suggestions.

For the most part, I'm not seeing much that is obviously broken. There is one or two things, but nothing major. It is mostly tweaks applied here and there.

The first is cost. Look at the two basic henchmen. They are the same cost as Human Mercenaries for +1 Initiative. The Humans may or may not find themselves modified from that base so +1I may be appropriate. It's a bit much to drop on everyone for the same cost however. Right now the only difference between the two is equipment options. While that is also true of the Human Mercenary henchmen they are separate entries partly because of the Reikland ability. You can keep it as is, but while play testing you should keep a watch on it to see if you might need to bump the cost up by five points or reduce the Initiative on one or the other. Initiative matters a lot more in Mordheim than many GW games. I think the Initiative bonus is fitting. I just don't know how much to tweak that cost without playing the list.

The other henchman is more difficult to balance on first glance. Ballistic Skill 4 with Initiative 4 and Leadership 8 along with their innate ability to climb sheer surfaces can make them mean if played right, but they are very fragile. They should pretty much be able to climb anything anywhere with no worries outside of a freak accident. From the way they read I would increase their movement ability to a five or maybe even a six and drop their leadership to seven. I would then bump their cost up to a 30 or 35 for play testing. I’d probably try them at 0-5 as well. They would be tricky devils as they could cause all sorts of disruption then but are taken out easily if caught. There is absolutely no reason they can’t work the way you have them, but if you find they don’t then that is where I would start tweaking them. Right now they are essentially Halflings that excel at climbing which can be handy but I’m not sure how much you want to differentiate them from that image. You may even be able to drop them to twenty. It might be interesting to try a rule to give them a bonus to injury rolls if they die near a tree to help with their long term survivability or maybe something like Daemon Soul that only works if the Tree Spirit is near a tree. It won’t help in all games, but it is characterful and can help justify a slightly higher cost if you want to give the player a more elite henchman option where they don’t currently have one. The Tree Spirit is definitely specialized, but it’s very much a glass cannon that doesn’t have much punch and needs to stay hidden whenever possible. This is the one warrior where you can inject some real character into the warband.

The Youngblood is pretty much spot on for a start on play testing cost wise. He isn’t more survivable than regular Youngbloods for the cost, but he is more maneuverable so there’s a tradeoff and keeps with the fluff of the warband.

The Light Mage could be balanced for the cost depending on the spells. Something you may want to clarify is whether or not Light Magic spells can be cast while wearing armour or not. Is this why you just don’t give the Light Mage access to Lesser Magic, or are you using Lesser Magic as a base as you develop spells? It's balanced for now, but that may shift as you swap available spells in and out.

I think the costs on both the Gondall and Nuema are very close to where they need to be. If you end up adjusting the cost for the Warriors and/or Hunters to reflect their Initiative then one of the places I would adjust the other way is to make the Gondall 35 gc. There is some precedence for this with Human Henchmen already (Middenheimers receiving +1 Strength for free) and there is a huge difference between giving one model +1 Initiative for free as opposed to all henchmen +1 Initiative for free.

Everything so far has been small tweaks to look at while play testing. I don’t know if it is a typo or intended, but three wounds on a character for 65gc is the one thing in the list I would call broken. Right now he is a Mercenary Captain with +1I and +2W for 5gc more. You could pretty much copy the Mercenary Captain straight over if you want as nothing else in your warband has any starting stats higher than that warrior. I’m pretty sure you intended one wound and it was a typo, but just in case I thought it was worth pointing out.

I think the equipment tables are great. You may want to consider coming up with one or two items unique to the Mori’Taur to reinforce some fluff, but I’m not seeing anything that I would say no to as an opponent.

All in all I think things are rather balanced and ready for play testing outside of the exception of the Vaellmar. Now it is down to tweaks and little touches of character.

[RJackel]

Tnx Nymie_the_Pooh At least some feedback :P The list is indeed intendend to me matched against the original(official) warbands. So not the Lustria, Crown etc. warbands.

Ok so yea the Veallmar doesnt have 3 wounds hehe. Indeed he is just a mercenary captain with +1I and +5gc.

As for the Henchmen getting +1I, the hole thing troubled me for a long time. I mean if I upped the cost by +5gc for +1I and then compared them to other henchmen who got +1WS for 5gc.... It didnt seem fair. Id actually think +1I should cost like +2 or +3 gc as compared to +1WS. But then the hole thing would go down the crazy road if I started with henchmen costing 33gc :P Need to think about the hole thing some more perhaps. Very nice you gave some feedback on this since as you can tell I needed some. Dropping the cost of hero(s) to compensate for +1I on henchmen is actually something I havent thought of at all...

And yea the Light Mage cant wear armor and cast spells There is the option of getting the academic skill but then again the mage can only choose light armor from its equipment list. So I dont think someone would "waste" a skill to get it as opposed to getting an extra spell or a nice speed skill(like dodge). As for the Magic List itself its EXACTLY the same as the Lesser Magic list except that I changed the names and the spell explenation. I didnt change any spell content, difficulty or even their order.

Which brings me to the Tree Spirit Well the tricky thing for the moment is that making up your own stuff is always dangerous in my eyes. You run the risk of making something overpowered or underpowered. But mostly overpowered :P And that takes the fun out of the game for me. Of course I enjoy beating my opponent to a pulp as much as the next guy however fluff is much more important for me then real tactical advantages. Im actually a very good tactician(if I can say so myself) so I can afford to make warbands more "fluffy". In the means of this warband I dont think they deserve a lot of extra (powerfull) stuff. They arent exactly a world power in any way like the other races. With that in mind if you look at the profile of the Tree Spirit its a "save" bet. Because there are creatures out there with that exact profile. +5gc for the Sheer Scale Surfaces skill was also something I had to think about. +10gc again seemed excessive while +5gc seemed perhaps a bit to little. In the end I choose +5gc because the Tree Spirits dont have any real powerfull weapons to choose from. I added the Blowpipe for them which simply seemed fluffy BUT I have never used a blowpipe and regretably I also havent played against a warband which has used one In my eyes Id pay 50gc(or 55gc) for a henchmen with M4, 1W and 2T. Now I KNOW that with my tactical skills I could take advantage of something like this. Still there are easier ways to get things done in the streets of Mordheim :P And 50gc can get you a lot

So in a nutshell, I wouldnt have any problems upping the base cost for Tree Spirits to 30gc. However atm Im not really fund of making up special rules for them. Simply not to risk making them "too" special as in overpowered. Ive seen it happen many times that players keep "fixing" things untill its completely broken.. The warband doesnt revolve around them BUT they are there to make the hole thing more fluffy/believable. IF these creatures would be so good and/or powerfull THEY would be the ones leading the humans not the other way around. Just as you dont see halflings leading humans. They have their uses, are fun etc. but thats where their role ends They will never have an dominating pressence on the battlefield. Its exactly the same way Halflings fit into the Averland warband. And if you make the group 0-5 as to 0-3 they could become the center of ones tactics. While with 0-3 they can aid your tactics but they wont be the centerpieces.

Last I was thinking of making small changes to the equipment lists. First of course changing the price of helmets from 5gc to 10gc. That was just a typo. But the one major change I was thinking of was to remove the Throwing Axes from the Hunter equipment list AND adding Throwing Axes to the Hero and Warrior equipment lists. Anyone any thoughts on that? I talked to someone about this and he said it was more fluffy this way. The way we came to this is because I was thinking of something to put on their chests, banners, shields etc. as a crest. A tree would seem obvious and easy enough to make. But its a bit cheezy and cheap. So in the end I thought perhaps something like shining light and an axe. The axe being the Mori`taurs fav weapon for example which fitted the hole wood theme. I dont know why but for some reason when I think of people living in woods I see them with axes... Anyone have some opinion about this matter hehe? Anyway the axes wouldnt be big battles axes. But smaller ones and hence the idea of throwing axes not for the hunters but for the warriors. With these axes they would fight but they would already be of such size that people would have the urge to throw them. Kinda like Indian axes with which they fought but which were also thrown.

Its not really a big deal since it mainly fluffy but it did spark the idea of a model carrying 2 axes, 2 axes strapped to his belt and 2 axes strapped to his back. Perhaps in a bit of a leaping position asif he jumped and is just about to throw an axe or even where he already just threw the axe but it still touches his hand. Im not really a fan of mixing shooting and combat skills for such a thing to work well but the idea seemed nice for a model...

AGAIN THANK YOU FOR YOUR FEEDBACK POOH! You were the first but hopefully not the last

[RJackel]

Hmmm.... perhaps adding a few Mori´taur items wouldnt be so bad if they already excist in other warbands aswell. For example the Forest Cloak:

Forest Cloak - 50gc - rarity 12
Some Mori´taur use Forest Cloaks to camouflage themselves against being seen by their enemies. Any wearer of such a cloak would appear to blend into the surrounding forest making it almost impossible to be seen. So long as the wearer is beside a tree, bush, hedge or vegetation, any enemy using any kind of missile weapon at a warrior wearing a Forest Cloak is at an additional -1 BS to hit (in addition to all other modifiers). Similarly, if any spellcaster wishes to target a magical attack against an Mori´taur camouflaged in this way, he can only do so by successfully rolling a 4+ on a D6. The only exception to this is if the shooting warrior or the spellcaster is already within their Initiative range in inches. Forest Cloaks are available to Heroes at the time of their initial recruitment without having to roll for Rarity. If you wish to subsequently purchase this item during the Trading and Exploration stages of the game, then you would have to roll for Rarity as normal.

This item is used by Outlaw and Wood Elf warbands. Wouldnt be such a bad addition. Perhaps add it to the Hunter equipment list and add (not for Tree Spirits)?

[Nymie_the_Pooh]

Like I was saying, aside from the typo on the wounds for the Vaellmar the list looks pretty balanced. I believe they are ready for play testing. Personally I would drop the Vaellmar and Gondall by 5gc each as opposed to +1I for free to all Human Henchmen as while it is a bonus it is less of a discount overall and is a closer match to the +1S available to Middenheim. How useful Initiative is depends quite a bit on the board. If you aren't always playing in the trees or with little climbable terrain or enemies that stealth then it won't measure up to the Strength bonus. If you do then it could prove to be the better buy. It's probably about the same either way. Play testing should give you some idea.

My main concern with the Tree Spirits is they are pretty easy to take out which means you are more likely to lose them between games. They are fairly cheap however so the loss shouldn't sting too much unless they are developed. I would play around with the 0-5 for play testing still as I don't think having five of them will make or break the warband.