Warbands and Hirelings

Whoever enters the Northern Wastes is almost certainly doomed. Only seasoned adventurers and well prepared warriors should even dare to face the many horrors that lurk within these lands. Time and time again, fanciful tales of giant mountain peaks that suddenly turn into pure gold are told in drinking dens of the Old World. The prospect of powerful magical artefacts and hidden cities laden with treasure lure determined fortune hunters and obsessive collectors to these perilous lands.

warbands

The warbands described in this chapter are newly introduced in the Border Town Burning supplement. They follow all the normal rules for warbands from the Mordheim rulebook. Not all of them have been designed especially for the Northern Wastes setting. Those which were have been conditioned during development, to become appropriate for use in any Mordheim game, whether set in the City of the Damned, the Empire in Flames or any other scenario.

This supplement contains six new warbands:

the Marauders of Chaos, the Merchant Caravans, the Restless Dead, the Battle Monks of Cathay, The Black Dwarfs and the Maneaters. Also featured is the Norse Explorers warband. First published in the Lustria setting, the Norse warband rules remain unchanged, although published errata have been included here and the background has been reconditioned to marry up with this and Old World settings.

If you are running a narrative campaign it is recommended that your gaming group includes one Merchant Caravan player. We also suggest your group includes at least one warband that are followers of Chaos if using the campaign objectives.

There are plenty of other warbands that can work perfectly in this setting. Your group should allow whatever warband that can be agreed upon.

starting over

A player may choose to start a new warband at any time. The previous warband is disbanded and can no longer be played. If they collected any Chaos Artefacts, these are found by the opponent from their last battle. If more than one player took part it that game, determine at random a keeper for each Chaos Artefact.

conquerors of the wastes and cathay

Besides the warbands described in this chapter, others risk entering the Cathayan borderlands and the deadly Chaos Wastes with their own motives and intentions.

BEASTMEN

Tribes of beast mutants are rampant across the Northern Wastes. Beyond the borders of the Great Maw, between the Warpstone Desert and the protected bamboo groves of Cathay they thrive. Perhaps the twinned influence of the harshest environments impacts on the psyche of these interlopers, spurring their bestial aggression towards an empire that has pushed them out of the lush grasslands. Whenever a small number of them herd together, the results are always the same. Their hatred of mankind causes devastation. Sometimes all they require is a leader with vision.

ELVES

Once silent paths from the East now ring with the noise of commerce. A deadly foe is rising and even with time honoured allies in that far off land, only those who stand in the darkness can strike the beast down before it rises to an unstoppable level of power. It is a modest act of atonement for those whose lives span many generations of men. Even the smallest action or inaction can have great consequences. Let your inner turmoil wash away its chances to prevail.

DWARFS

For long years have the dwarfs looked east and dreamt of cleansing the lands of the filth there, of the greenskins, of undead, of their perverted brethren whom it is forbidden to speak of. Such dreams die in the light of day as their stubborn race faces its own diminishing. For now, they can only go east in search of riches, long-lost veins in the ground, for which the bearded ones offer their skill in metalwork. Maybe the dwarfs will claim some vengeance on those who have assailed them.

ORCS & GOBLINS

Fings iz a l’il dull wiv dem humies. No-one ain’t cummin’ ta fight wiv uz no more. Grimgor’s sittin’ around lookin’ fer a scrap, so wot ‘bout dem humies ta da norf, dey gotta be worf a look see! Dirty ole Gitsnik da shaman sez dat worshippin’ sum wicked god means dey iz stronger ‘n dem uvver humies. We gots ta climb over dem big rocks where Ogres live, but dems good fightin’ n’ practice fer da boyz n’ get some revenge on der mates, de traitors n’ stunties wiv iron legz.

CHAOS CULTISTS

Due to its close proximity to the Realm of Chaos, many humans from the Cathayan borderlands are infested with the evil and mutating powers of Chaos. These outcasts often gather around a fallen wizard that has been tantalised by the incredible powers granted by dark magic rituals. Travellers by nature, the dangerous environs of both the Northern Wastes and the Dark Lands hold no fear for cultists. With hidden mutations they slip into Cathay, bringing their masques of plague and dances of contagion with them, polluting each and every hamlet, village, farm and town they descend upon. For cultists Cathay is a place to practise their twisted arts and a breeding ground for them to sow the seeds of future chaos.

MERCENARIES

Times are tough in the Empire and for any mercenary worth their salt, the hour has arrived. If they are hired by disreputable Strigany peddlers, unscrupulous Bretonnian merchants or untrustworthy Tilean traders to protect long trains of caravans going to and from an almost mythical other-empire merely for the sake of coin or to pursue some possible future antagonist who will come to Archaon’s aid or ravage the Empire, then so be it. This sort of business is good for building a reputation and if the money is there, a mercenary retinue cares little about calculating the risk.

In the aftermath of the Great Storm of Chaos, the Northern Wastes seem to be empty of the marauders that would seek to overrun this country, for many still lurk in the Empire to the south where they were scattered. Yet when word of a new power gathering strength there is heard, it is to brave men of valour and of hard hearts that folk turn to. The Empire is too beset with problems to spare a force and even Kislev is weakened, but enough souls would try to tame these wastes, even if they end up on the other side of the world.

Plenty of ships go east all of the time, dodging sea monsters, elves and Manaan knows what else, so that makes them fair game for anyone ready and willing to board them and what hauls do these fat merchant vessels have? The finest silks, the headiest spices, the thinnest porcelains, the richest teas, the strongest drugs, the rarest antiquities, all secreted in the safest places, ready for sale in the markets of Marienburg, Altdorf, L’Anguille or Remas. More still can be made dealing with the wrong people from Brionne, Sartosa or Lashiek.

A contingent of sell-swords might have conquered and fought the best of the best throughout the Old World, but still word reaches of a new challenge far to the East. Men who can kill with a single blow, exotic new weapons, handling this and more will await the retinue in distant Cathay. Who can say what weird and wonderful enemies will be met in battle?

SKAVEN

Once, these lands were said to be ruled by ratmen. Now the dragonmen have lordship over all, but word comes from tree-dwellers that the time has come for the Skaven to rise up against the celestial guardians. Shadows darker now, some whisper a savage man is rising in the white lands. The children of the Horned Rat go now to the land of the Dragon Emperor, to claim shadows as their own away from robed men. One of the great Skaven clans can almost call Cathay its home: strangely, the techniques and martial arts of Clan Eshin bear a striking resemblance to those of the battle monks and assassins of Cathay.

UNDEAD

There is a natural order to life. Be born, feed, reproduce and die. Then there is another life after death, where the dead rise, when they feed and live again. There is no place for the unnatural cadences that Chaos inflicts on the cattle of the world. If the ones turned mad must be culled from the herd, then so be it. While marauders invade from the north to shed sweet new blood in the east and west, the dead continue to besiege the living. As long as there are wicked sorcerers willing to make dark pacts in exchange for power and as long as vampires thrive in their secret lairs and towers of sorcery, the dead shall not rest.

SISTERS OF SIGMAR

Hard pressed after Archaon’s storm, the reduced sisterhood goes east to investigate rumours about a new rising power, one that may equal or exceed Archaon in time. Zealous action will prevent the machinations of followers of the dark gods and might even stem the impending threat. The sisterhood aims to prove the great power in Sigmar’s words and actions to would be believers in the faith and save the foreign empire. This has been foreseen and if a few of the eastern brotherhoods of robed heathens in their monastery safe havens can be converted at the same time then all the better.

WITCH HUNTERS

Even with all the scum and mutants floating around the Empire, Sigmar’s word needs carrying from the Empire to her neighbours and to be conveyed to distant realms and peoples. There is divine righteousness in the actions of Sigmar’s chosen protectors, the witch hunters. Sworn foes have already spread abroad moving ahead of the hunters. If the hunters act now, then their enemy won’t be spreading, but fleeing, routed by the holy power of Sigmar. Today heretics in the Old World burn, tomorrow the unbelievers from Cathay will repent, on the day after those savages from the cold Wastes shall feel his wrath.

Soldiers of Fortune

The Hired Swords described in this chapter are available in the Border Town Burning campaigns. They follow the generic rules for hiring and maintaining Hired Swords from the Mordheim rulebook.

Any other Hired Swords, either from the Mordheim rulebook, the Empire in Flames supplement or any experimental rules models, can be used in the Northern Wastes setting as well. It is up to the players to agree upon which ones are likely to be encountered and which are not. Alternatively include those which add the most fun to your games.

Hired Sword	Cost	Upkeep	Source
Bone Goliath	225 gc	n/a	Border Town Burning Supplement
Cathayan Merchant	20 gc	10 gc	Border Town Burning Supplement
Chaos Centaur	65 gc	25 gc	Border Town Burning Supplement
Coachman	20 gc	10 gc	Border Town Burning Supplement
Grave Robber	45 gc	18 gc	Border Town Burning Supplement
Hobgoblin Scout	45 gc	20 gc	Border Town Burning Supplement
Ninja	70 +3D6 gc	n\a	Border Town Burning Supplement
Pyromaniac	25 gc	10 gc	Border Town Burning Supplement
Swordsmith	60 gc	15 gc	Border Town Burning Supplement

Dramatis Personae

The characters described in this chapter are unique and outstanding persons from the Border Town Burning setting. They follow all rules for Dramatis Personae as described in the Mordheim Rulebook on page 152.

old dramatis personae

Special Characters from the Mordheim Rulebook are bound to the cursed city and should not be used in other settings. Sigurd and Bertha are unlikely to be found in the wilderness of the Cathayan borderlands.

hiring and upkeep

Some of the special characters described in this chapter can only be hired when using the Border Town Burning campaign system. That is because their hiring and/or upkeep costs are paid using campaign points (CP) instead of or in addition to gold crowns. This means, when hiring dramatis personae the warband erases an amount of CP equal to the character’s hiring costs from their roster. The same goes for the upkeep costs which are also paid using campaign points.

Dramatis Personae	Cost	Upkeep	Source
Belandysh, Condemned Champion Of Chen	90 gc, 5cp	30 gc, 1cp	Border Town Burning Supplement
Grand Master Ippan Shu	75 gc, 3cp	2cp	Border Town Burning Supplement
Maglah Khan's Horde	80 gc	25 gc	Border Town Burning Supplement