Going Underground

There are many miles of abandoned mines beneath the Great Forest. In particular, the region known as the Howling Heights contains many derelict shafts now depleted of their precious ores and abandoned by the Dwarfs. In their stead have moved many creatures of the dark, making these perilous places indeed. But there is still much treasure to be found within for those warbands either brave, greedy or unwise enough to seek it. In your campaign your warbands may wish to explore the mines of the area in greater depth. Almost all of the existing Mordheim scenarios can be played here, the claustrophobic tunnels lending a unique flavour to the battles. Below is a list of suggested rules to cover such battles, taken from the Khemri rules.

Those of you who have played Warhammer Quest will remember the fun of exploring dungeons and encountering all manner of evil creatures in the depths. You can also play Mordheim games in dungeons using the following rules. These rules are applicable to any setting including Mordheim, Khemri, and Karak Azgal (a fallen Dwarf stronghold).

FIGHTING IN TUNNELS

For the most part fighting skirmishes in the confined tunnels of a Khemrian tomb or a Dwarf stronghold follows the normal rules for fighting in city streets. There are however a few additional restrictions on movement:

Large Creatures. Large creatures (Ogres, Trolls or mounted models) can move and run normally in rooms and halls but cannot run in tunnels, as they have to stoop. If they charge in a tunnel they are limited to normal movement.

Flying. Flyers may fly only in rooms and caverns where there is more height. In tunnels they must walk or if there is no normal move characteristic corresponding to walking then half movement.

Blocking tunnels. Space in tunnels is limited, for a model to pass by another there must be a gap equal to the width of the passing model's base. This is especially important to prevent models charging around the back of an enemy who is blocking a passage. In three-dimensional terrain it is easy enough to obey but care should be taken when playing on two-dimensional tiles.

Narrow passages: On occasions the corridors will be as narrow as 1". These are often the secret passages linking other locations. As they are so narrow only models with 20mm or 25mm wide bases will be able to creep along them. Running is not possible. Large creatures such as trolls and ogres will not be able to enter a narrow passage at all.

UNDERGROUND TERRAIN

There are several ways of simulating tunnels and catacombs in which to fight. The simplest is the tile system used by Warhammer Quest. If you have access to that game you can lay out a dungeon by taking turns to place a tile which links onto a previous one. If you prefer to explore an unknown dungeon then use the rules below for randomising tiles. If you don't have the Quest tiles then they can be reproduced as simply as cutting rectangles from cereal packets. For a regular dungeon player (and it can become addictive) then it is worth constructing a set of 'Foot Tiles'. Each player builds 8 tiles 1 ft square (hence the name) which can be laid out to fill a 4' x 4' table in a variety of ways. The tiles are made to standard dimensions and are hence compatible whoever builds them. The simplest can be painted onto a flat piece of card or board. I have made a simple set by sticking photocopies of Quest tiles onto cork floor tiles. Those of you who visited Games Day UK may have seen our demo table with fully modelled 3D scenic modules.

EXPLORE AS YOU GO

These rules are for placing Warhammer Quest dungeon tiles for underground scenarios. Each player starts with a small room at one corner of the table. From here they will build the Tomb as they go, unless a scenario states otherwise. Also, a large room is placed in the centre as the objective, unless stated otherwise in the scenario. Start each turn by rolling to see what type of tile you may place on the board and then roll a d6 to find out where to place it. When adding a tile it must:

1. Be off the end that is not connected to a previous tile
2. Connect to the tile you most recently placed
3. Not go off the table

Roll a d6 to determine onto which edge of the last tile the new tile is placed, (e.g., the last tile you placed was a hall. Select each side to be a different value 1-2 left side, 3-4 end, 5-6 right side after you roll for the edge place the tile connecting to that edge. You may connect to other halls, rooms, etc. but you should never end up going off the table.

Roll 2d6 to find out what type of tile you may place on the board:

• 2: Large Room
• 3-6: Hall (corridor)
• 7-8: T junction
• 9-11: Small room
• 12: Your choice

FOOT TILES

Foot Tiles are modular terrain sections for use in tunnel settings. They are meant to be portable as well as functional. Each foot tile is a 12” square piece of terrain for use in underground scenarios. The rules for creating them are a standard for creating modular terrain.

There are several advantages to using standardised tile rules. The foremost of which is that each player can build terrain that is ‘favourable’ to his (or her) style of play. A player with a ‘shooty’ warband is going to want some areas with long corridors that he (or she) can take advantage of. A player with a ‘goon squad’ of hand-to-hand warriors is going to want lots of short hallways and areas roomy enough to set up a good skirmish line in. Both players can get what they want, provided they build it.

Which points the way to another advantage of the foot tile standard. Every time a player plays against a previously unmet opponent, the challenge of the table’s layout is renewed. If both the players are playing warbands that prefer to kill at a distance, the foot tile standard will generate a table with lots of long hallways to shoot down (making both players happy).

If both players are using warbands that go for getting ‘stuck in’, the table will be a labyrinth of turning hallways (again, making both players happy). If the players split in their warband fighting styles, the table will have elements of both.

The last point in favour of using this standard is one of simple mechanics. If everyone is working off the same standard, then the Set Up rules for any scenario can take the standard into account as they are being written, allowing for a more robust cross-section of scenarios. By allowing part of the tabletop to use more traditional terrain a large underground gallery can be created.

This would allow for a scenario that takes place in a Great Hall, Calendar Chamber, or Treasure Store Room and the corridors around it. In essence, the standard allows a ‘short-hand’ method of describing very complex areas of the underground setting.

Building the modular terrain for the Foot Tile Standard follows these rules:

1. While it would be nice for each tile to be exactly 12” by 12”, some allowance has to be made for the fact that the tiles are not likely to be perfectly square or sized. If the tile is fractionally under-measured then it will still work fine. So the tile should be as close to 12” x 12” without exceeding that measurement. If there is to be fractional error, it must be fractionally LESS than 12”.
2. All tiles are to be built with the exit/entrance points CENTRED on the tile's edges and all exit/entrances should be 2” wide. Again, there will be some error in measurement, but errors in the ‘doorways’ between tiles will not cause the table to ‘warp’ (so they are much less critical).
3. The minimum width for a hallway is 2”. This allows two 20mm or 25mm base models or one monster base model to effectively block a hallway and still leaves a little room to get your fingers in and move models without grazing them off of one another.
4. The measurement between the most distant exits MUST be no greater than 20". This is to prevent players from creating filigree labyrinths pieces that would take a dozen turns to cross and screw up time-based scenarios.
5. No section of the tile can cause a ‘dead end’. Please note that if a pair of tunnels cross ‘over and under’ each other, but never join, it is still acceptable.
6. Each player is required to have 8 tiles. Of the eight tiles, 5 of them MUST have four exits. The remaining 3 must have three exits.
7. The tiles may have terrain that builds ‘upward’, but the tile's height should never exceed 6” and the area of the ‘floor space’ may not exceed 216 square inches. This allows that a tile may be built that has a ‘second story’, but the area it covers could not exceed ½ of the ‘first floor's’ area.

As long as the ‘terrain’ created adheres to these rules, the players may build on the tile as they choose. While I would like to see players create their own layouts in three dimensions by placing walls on the tile, drawing and colouring them would do. People who feel that their modelling/painting talents are limited could colour copy or scan the tiles from WH Quest and paste them to the tile.

By agreement with your game group you may also create larger chambers of maybe 2’ x 1’ or even 2’ x 2’. These larger rooms should still confirm to multiples of the standard dimensions for any doorways. As large underground chambers they should have lots of pillars holding the ceiling up and lots of other cover. Think of the amount of cover you would expect in Mordheim.

You may also want to create special ‘objective rooms’. These are rooms containing a special feature, which is used as a scenario objective. These may be tombs, treasure chambers, a monster’s lair or maybe a prison. These rooms are a good excuse to use your imagination and go to town with the detailing.

Underground Scenarios

In general any Mordheim scenario which can be played in the streets of a ruined city can also be played in the tunnels and chambers of an underground dungeon. There are just a few things that need to be changed.

Entrances: When a scenario refers to deployment on a table edge, it clearly isn't possible as there are no distinct edges in a dungeon. Whichever way you construct your dungeon there must be at least one entrance per warband. Treat each entrance as a potential deployment zone. The warband should all be placed within 8" of the entrance doorway. Either the player can choose an entrance in the same way as he would a table edge or you can randomise the entrances. Place one of those numbered counters that came with the Mordheim box set, adjacent to each entrance and roll a D6. If you roll a nonexistent entrance then re-roll. If the entrance is already occupied by a warband then also re-roll.

*Exits: One of the nasty things about dungeons is that as soon as you enter, the door slams shut behind you. If there is a need to get off the table with treasure or for a breakthrough etc., then it should be done via a different entrance unless the scenario says otherwise.

*Rooms: Where the scenario calls for the occupation or searching of a building then treat a room as a building. A room is any space 3" or wider in both directions. When placing treasure markers you can either randomise the rooms or randomise the entrances to deploy. Either way it prevents one side taking advantage of the setup.

The following are examples of how certain scenarios are affected. Unless otherwise stated, the scenarios follow the instructions given in the Mordheim rulebook.

1. Defend the Find The dungeon is laid out with a large objective room at the centre. The objective room should have at least three entrances, more if possible. The defending warband is deployed first. inside or within 6” of the objective room. The attacker is deployed within 6” of any one or more entrances. The game ends if at the end of the defender’s turn the attacker has more standing models inside the objective room than the defender. Alternatively, when one warband fails it’s route test the game ends.

2. Skirmish The warbands are each deployed at a random entrance and fight until one warband routes.

4. Breakthrough The attacker deploys within 8” of a chosen entrance. The defender may then deploy anywhere in the dungeon at least 14” away from any attacker. The attacker wins if two of his warriors leave the dungeon via an exit other than the one they entered by.

7. Hidden Treasure The warbands are deployed within 8” of a random entrance. Warriors (not animals) must search for treasure by exploring rooms. As soon as a warrior enters a room roll 2D6. On a roll of 12 the treasure is found. Warbands may not search the room in which they start. If the treasure is not found when there is only one room left, then it must be in that last room. The warband must then get the treasure chest out of the dungeon via an exit other than the one they came in at.

9. Surprise Attack The defending player determines which warriors are available at the start of the game according to the instructions in the rulebook. The models are deployed anywhere within the dungeon but must be no closer than 8” to another model. No model may be deployed closer than 8” to an entrance. The attacker is deployed within 8” of a random entrance. When defender’s troops appear after the first turn they arrive through hidden passages. Number the rooms within the dungeon (place Mordheim numbered tokens) and randomise, which passage each hero or henchman group, arrives through. Using these principles, almost any Mordheim scenario can be adapted to playing underground. You may also wish to make up your own based on them. Oh, and if you want to try a multi-player scenario then try Monster Hunt from Best of Town Cryer. The Troll Slayers love that one.