Lustria

A new land of adventure for rogues and vagabonds brought to you by the famed explorer Stephanus Cornette and his most brave Trantios...

Gold...

For thousands of years the races that were left behind by the Old Ones have sought its splendour - and died for it. The lure of gold has such an effect on the mind that brothers have come to blows over the possession of a mere handful. From the time the first Dwarf forges deep within the karags were built the greed for gold bas been the reason for many battles. Never has the pursuit of this element been as great as it is now.

It is the lure of gold that brings the races of the world to the continent of Lustria. This is a place that is filled with steaming hot jungles, boiling lava pits and all manner of creatures too hideous to describe, Lustria is said to contain entire cities of gold and treasure. Braving the elements and untold dangers explorers toil endlessly through the jungle and amongst the ancient, mined cities searching for gold to fill their coffers. For centuries these abandoned cities of the sun have been plundered. But, it is those who once dwelled in these ancient ziggurats that are the most mysterious - a strange reptilian race thought of by many as demons called Dragonkin, Lizardmen and worse. Why these creatures seem to take up and move no one knows but the amount of treasure they leave behind in those cities goes far beyond what any Tilean merchant can imagine.

To the sinister Lizardmen and their bloated Slann overseers gold means very little. It is a commonly worked metal in their society. They value things that provide sustenance. Like grub worms! It is not unusual for the Lizardmen to pack their belongings and move to another city completely abandoning the one they left. The ways of the Lizardmen are indeed very mysterious! After these cities are vacated some brave Skinks and Sauruses will stay behind to watch over a spawning pool or a sacred tomb. These Temple Guardians as they are called are the elite warriors of the Lizardmen. They form scouting parties to search the jungles around the ruins guarding against any intrusions.

Yet not all of the races come to scour the ruins just for gold. Some come to Lustria in search of magic. For it is told in ancient Elven scrolls that the Slann Mage Priests, possess the greatest magical artifacts in the world. A small passage in an archaic text can make some people devote their entire lives to searching the ruins for the promise of magic. Many races have also come to the dark continent over the years seeking new lands to settle. The Norse were amongst the first to settle, seeking new lands away from the snow ravaged mountains of their homeland. Since Losteriksson first brought an expedition to Lustria the peoples of the Old World have begun to settle along the coasts despite many expeditions having mysteriously vanished with no trace.

The wise and ancient High Elves are the most prominent of the outsiders to settle Lustria, having explored the Known World in days long passed in their tall, graceful ships. High Elf traders have erected a huge stronghold on the southern tip of the continent and it is aptly named the Citadel of Dusk because the sun rarely rises above the horizon there. For whatever reason they come to Lustria most adventurers and explorers seen embarking upon the shore and are never seen again. Those that do return bring with them tales of treasure and peril and of the living jungle itself. For every turn in Lustria can bring death or it can bring the greatest wealth imaginable.

Over the coming issues our group will take you to this strange and foreboding world. We'll show you new rules that you can add to your existing Mordheim rulebook that will cover topics such as; swimming, climbing trees, and any other rule that would put the Mordheim skirmish system in a jungle environment.

We will bring to you the unique warbands that will seek their fame and fortune among the ruins. The strange civilisation of the Lizardmen will unfold before you. How they guard the ruined cities for possible rebuilding and their constant conflict with the Skaven of Clan Pestilens. We'll introduce Norse, Tileans and Estalians who come to the New World to explore and seek treasure. The High Elves who seek to learn the arcane knowledge of the Old Ones and their dark brethren who seek to steal it. We've even developed warbands for those unheard of races, yes, even the mysterious Amazons (my favourite) who have been so popular with the fans at the US Games Day this year. There will be Jungle Goblins, perhaps the remnants of Geom the Paunch's Waaagb that fled Ulthuan centuries before. We'll also cover Luthor Harkon's vampire coast undead warband. Yes Luthor is alive, er ... dead and still in Lustria! There will be other surprise warbands as well so keep your eyes peeled for some short stunty pirate fellows!

We'll have new scenarios for you to form your campaign on. New exploration and trading charts and loads of new miniature conversions to show you how the present line of Citadel Miniatures will make the ruins come alive!

All these rules and neat stuff comes from the average gamer just like you! And how did all this get started you ask? Simple - the Internet. It has truly made the Lustria - Cities of Gold project an international happening. Back in late February of this year I was suring the net looking for new rules and Warbands for a Lustrian variant on Mordheim that I wanted to start. That's when I came across Tommy Punk's Pestilens website (he's from Sweden, by the way - Ed.). He and some other folk had some basic rules for Warbands already set up! What luck! So I approached Tommy with the idea of forming a discussion base on www.egroups.com and Tommy really liked the idea. So we set about creating the group.

Within a month our membership had grown to well over forty members and we were all hard at work refining and playtesting the rules. But still something was lacking. We needed more exposure to get our ideas to the public. That's when I approached the Games Workshop US staff about doing a demo for the setting at this year's Games Day. We also needed a website to advertise the setting and serve as an information hub to the rest of the Internet. I approached Harry Golden, a fellow Lizardmen player and he was all for it! After he sent several gaming sites a press release about the setting the hits started coming in! While all this was going on I provided a little nudging to the US staff and they finally agreed to bring us in. It would be an unprecedented event in US Games Day history. They have never had an outside group run a gaming table much less do a full-blown demonstration of an unofficial supplement! It was a smashing success! Our demo team was hopping all weekend! Many people came by and were pleasantly surprised by the demo.

I have to say that I have never worked with a better bunch of people! We really came together as a team! So here we are now, giving you the gamer a work that we are very proud of It's a way of giving something back to a great gaming community that we sometimes take for granted. But most of all it's been a way to bring players from all over the world together in a team environment to bring to you (what we hope) is a very enjoyable game.

- Steve Cornette
Town Cryer #10

Lustria Cities of Gold Rules

Skirmishes

The ruined cities and temples of the Lizardmen are protected by a number of traps. Numerous dead-end tunnels lead the explorers in circles and venomous serpents occasionally swarm through the tunnels, attacking anything that comes in their path. The plunderers are thus forced to camp in the cities, while they explore the depths of the temples and plan how to overcome the numerous traps. As most cities host less than half a dozen temples both small and large, many skirmishes are fought for possession of a temple so that it can be explored without interruption. Many plunderers are shrewd and wait for a rival Warband to retrieve the treasure and then ambush them. However, they still need to be present in the city to keep an eye on the other warband so that they don't escape into the jungle unseen.

The Warbands guard their accumulated treasure jealously and will fight anyone who strays too close. Most of the fighting erupts while the Warband makes their way into the city or tries to set up a new camp closer to a temple. On top of all that, many Warbands are often forced out of their camps by Lizardmen artefact recovery groups.

Warbands

There are quite a few new Warbands that have been written for this setting. These can be used in your regular Mordheim games and campaign, if you wish. Similarly, you can use any of the Mordheim Warbands in Lustria - Cities of Gold as well.

Terrain

Many players will want to establish house rules when it comes to terrain and this is encouraged. We have provided the following rules for jungle battles based in Lustria for your convenience. AU rules follow the Mordheim Rulebook except as noted otherwise.

Open Ground

Models move without penalty.

1. Clear underground passages.
2. Unobstructed ruined city streets.
3. Vines and ladders leading up or down.
4. Bridges with no gaps or gaps less than 1" in length.
5. Steps leading up or down.

Difficult Ground

Models move at 1/2 speed.

1. Steps chat are higher than l".
2. Rubble or light shrub.
3. Shallow swamp or marsh.
4. Jungles.
5. Shallow rivers.

Very Difficult Ground

Models move at 1/4 speed.

1. Dense rubble.
2. Muddy swamp or marsh.
3. Thorny or dense shrub.
4. Going against the current of a slow moving river. (Open ground for aquatic models.)

Impassable Terrain

No movement allowed.

1. Deep rivers or lakes. (Difficult ground for aquatic models.)
2. Quicksand or deep mud.
3. Going against the current of a fast moving river.

Line of Sight

A stand of jungle trees can be either a group of trees clumped together on a base or two or more freestanding trees standing near each other. As you want to be able to place your models in the jungle, there should be enough space on the base for this. It is important that players work their way through all the jungle terrain on the board to determine if it is a jungle or simply some trees that happen to be near each other.

1. A jungle stand of any width blocks L.O.S to the other side, even a stand 1" wide blocks line of sight to the other side.
2. A model must be within 2" of edge of the jungle stand in order to fire out, charge, be fired upon, or be charged from outside the jungle.
3. Models inside the jungle stand may see 4" for purposes of shooting and declaring charges.
4. Models fighting while in difficult terrain, other than on steps, suffer a -1 penalty to hit.

Swimming

Much of Lustria is rain forest like the Amazon Jungle in South America, as such it gets plenty of rain. Seven to ten months out of the year rivers and lakes stay at peak levels. Most jungle battles and some ruined city battles will occur around some kind of waterway. Players should establish which way the river is flowing at the start of the game. To represent how models interact with water these basic rules apply:

1. All rivers count as difficult (or worse) terrain for all models except those considered as aquatic. See Terrain Types above.
2. Models swimming with the current will double their base move.
3. Models swimming against the current of a slow moving river may only move a quarter of their base move, but you may not swim against the current of a fast moving river.
4. Aquatic models suffer no reduction of their base move when swimming against the current of a slow moving river but may not swim against the current of a fast moving river.
5. Models wearing armour may not attempt to move through any water deeper than shallow. Shields and bucklers do not count for this as they are assumed to be strapped on the backs.

Aquatic models in water, either swamp, streams or rivers can elect to be Hidden at the discretion of the player. Models cannot move upstream in fast moving rivers without floating transportation, such as a boat or canoe.

Trees and Vines

The ruined buildings of the temple cities are often covered in vines, while others have trees bursting through their walls. These vines and trees count as ladders for the purpose of moving up and down the buildings. Jungle trees can provide both a haven and a hazard to explorers. A model can climb a tree with a bonus of +1 to their Initiative value, but a 6 is still a failure. In Lustria a model does not have to be placed at the base of a tree before it can attempt to climb. As long as there is sufficient movement left to get to a safe place within the tree the model can be 1 inch away and still climb 3 inches into the tree provided it passes the required initiative test.

A model placed in a tree can be declared as Hidden as described on page 29 in the Mordheim Rulebook. A Hidden model that is discovered or gives it position away is no longer Hidden but is still afforded cover. If a model is knocked down or stunned while in a tree it has to take an Initiative test with a penalty of -1 or fall out of the tree and take falling damage as described in the Mordheim Rulebook.

A Brief Word on Trees

Many players will find very creative ways to make trees in Lustria that are both functional from a game standpoint and attractive to put on the table. Our suggestions for such trees are:

1. If a tree, or similar nasty place, should house a sniper, place the structure that you want him standing on no higher than 4" off the table top. This way the miniature can climb to it in one movement phase.
2. Make sure the structure is large enough for a 25mm base. We don't usually see Kroxigors and Rat Ogres climbing trees!
3. It's a good idea to make the bases so that several trees can be placed together to form a clump or tree stand. Tree bases made in a 'jigsaw puzzle pattern' work very well this way. This helps to avoid confusion during the battle.

Fighting in Water

Most players will find it advantageous to fight around, or actually in, a waterway. We have included some simple rules to cover fighting in water.

1. If a non-aquatic model is Knocked Down in a shallow river or stream they are swept down river one D6 inches. Aquatic models that are knocked down will not drift with the current and can still get back into combat the following turn.
2. If any model is Stunned while in shallow water it must make an Initiative test. If it passes, it can be turned over in the following turn. If it fails, it is considered drowned and will be Out of Action. The player will need to roll for survival at the end of the game. This doesn't mean that the model is gone for good but just a bit water-logged!
3. Any undead model that is knocked down in shallow water will recover as normal according water the will standard recover as Mordheim normal rules for Undead.
4. Any model fighting in a shallow stream while wearing Light armour will be considered out of action if it is Stunned. No Initiative models to be taken. This does not apply to models whose skin or clothing is considered natural light armour i.e. Amazons skins and charms and the toughened hide of Lizardmen.

note

While it doesn't explictly say it here, this would apply to heavy armour as well. None of the Lustria-specific warbands have access to heavy armour.

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Carnivorous Plants

The jungles of Lustria are home to a wide variety of carnivorous plants. A typical plane's profile is shown below. These plants make an appearance in a few of the scenarions. You can include these in your games if all the players agree.

Profile	M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld
	0	2	0	4	2	2	1	2	7

Fighting against a carnivorous plant is handled much the same was as two warriors would do battle. The plant will attack any model that stops within a 3" radius of it and the attacks are made during the combat phase, as normal. The plant always strikes first in the initial round of combat unless the model it is fighting has been outfitted with a pike. The pikeman will go first.

If the plant suffers a Wound in any round, roll against its Leadership. If the check is failed, the plant will attempt to defend itself. If this occurs, its Toughness and Leadership will increase by +1 point and its attack will decrease by -1 point until it is left alone or wins a round of combast.

If a model is put Out of Action by a plant, the player must roll for casualties as normal, however both Heroes and Henchmen roll a single D6. On a roll of 1, the model is eaten by the plant and is removed from the campaign. Of course, these are only basic rules and stats for any carnivorous vegetation. We encourage players to create different varieties and interesting rules for these nasties.

Any model that kills a carnivorous plant will automatically be awared 1D6 gc due to finding all the loot from the plant's past victims.

Serious Injury Chart

Use the Serious Injury chart. As there are no Fighting Pits in Lustria treat 'Sold to the pits' as 'Animal Attack'.

Animal Atiack

The Hero stumbles upon a nest and finds a baby Cold One. Unfortunately for the hero, the mother has returned from an unsuccessful hunt. The Hero must fight the beast to escape. Place the Hero and the Cold One 6" away from each other, roll off to determine who gains the initiative and takes the first turn. If the hero wins the fight, he earns + 1 exp for the fight, and another + 1 exp if he kills the Cold One. In addition, the hide will be worth 50 gold. If the hero loses the fight the mother won't have to worry about feeding its young come dinner time!

Profile	M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld
	8	3	0	4	4	1	1	2	3

Special Rules

Cause Fear, in addition, the mother is subject to Frenzy.