75: Battle for the Farm
Source: Fanatic Magazine #1
Setting: Mordheim
Author: Nick Kyme
Broheim notes: Warbands fight over a farm. Warriors must try to enter & loot buildings defended by the farmer & his farm-hands. Warriors are armed with torches and may try to set light to the buildings if they’re feeling mean.
There are many farmsteads around Ostermark. Mercenaries and brigands are drawn to them like moths to the flame as, isolated from society, they are easy meat for looting and pillage. When two warbands dispute the same loot for their own, the farm becomes a battleground, its occupants driven to desperation against two warring foes; such affairs are often bloody and only when all is razed and plundered does the carnage cease.
Two rival warbands have arrived at a farm at the same time with the intent of looting it for all it’s worth. Not only must they battle each other for possession of the booty, they must also contend with the desperate farmers, fighting to defend their property to the last.
terrain
Each player takes it in turn to place a piece of terrain. Ensure that there are around five or six farm buildings placed on the battlefield, joined by wooden fences or low stone walls to represent the farmstead itself, a cottage, barns, stables, tool shed, animal pens etc. The buildings should be placed roughly in the centre of a 4' x 4' area and the outer sections of the battlefield could comprise of the occasional small wood or outlying building.
warbands
Each player rolls a D6 to determine which warband places his warriors first, with the player rolling the highest given the choice. The warband may be placed within 8" of any table edge and, once the player has finished setting up his warriors, then the second warband is placed within 8" of the opposite table edge.
special rules
Get off my land: The farmers around Ostermark are used to the predations of bandits and mercenaries and will defend their homes and holdings with their last breath. Hiding inside the farm buildings they await any looters with rakes and shovels! As soon as a model from either warband moves within 2" of a building they must stop. D3 farmers and their farmhands rush out of the building to protect their home and livelihood. They are placed within 2" of any door or entrance to the building. The player may then resume his turn with any members of his warband that haven’t yet moved. After that player’s turn the farmers take a turn and will continue to do so after that player’s until they are dead (consider the farmers an extra player, albeit controlled arbitrarily).
The farmers always move towards the nearest enemy (from either side) but will not move more than 6" away from the building they emerged from. They will not charge if it brings them more than 6" from the building but will fight in hand-to-hand combat if they are able. Note: If another warrior alerts further farmers from another building, they will take their turn with any farmers already on the board (ie. whichever emerges first takes precedence).
The profile for a farmer/farmhand is given below:
| Profile | M | WS | BS | S | T | W | I | A | Ld |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Farmer | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
Weapons: Rake, hoe or some other improvised farming implement (counts as a spear). These farmers have been beaten down by years of oppression and starvation. If they are wounded they are instantly taken out of action; do not roll on the Injury table for them. They can put up little fight against armed mercenaries but, as they are defending their homes and there is nowhere for them to run, they will not rout and are immune to all alone tests.
Looting: The warbands have both come to the farm to loot it and, whilst the appearance of a rival warband is unexpected, they won’t let it deter them from their objective. At the end of each turn in which a model is inside a farm building and that model hasn’t taken any other action that turn, ie. shooting, magic, fought in handto-hand combat etc. he may loot it. Roll a D6 on the table below to discover what is found.
| D6 | Result |
|---|---|
| 1 | Nothing. The building is empty, it has either already been looted or there is nothing of any value. |
| 2-5 | Valuables. There are some valuables scattered around worth 2D6 gold crowns. |
| 6 | Wyrdstone! A single of shard of wyrdstone is found inside the building, the farmer having happened across it whilst reaping his crops in some outlying field. |
Note: A model may not loot a building if there is a farmer within 6" of it. Each building may only be looted once.
Fire: The warbands are merciless and ready to raze the farm to the ground once they have taken all that is of any worth. Every member of each player’s warband starts the game carrying a torch which may be lit and thrown into a building once it has been looted. The rules for torches are given in the Empire in Flames rulebook (p.16) but are summarised below for your convenience. A torch acts as a lantern (if any Hero also possesses a lantern this may be used to burn a building down in the same way), any model equipped with one causes fear in all animals. As a weapon it is treated as a club but with a -1 To Hit modifier and any wounds caused by it cannot be regenerated by any model with the Regeneration special rules. The torch will only last for one battle. A model may torch a building at any time. If they are inside a building (setting fire to furniture and other belongings) then the fire starts automatically. They may also throw the torch up to 6"away to light a building and the fire will start on a roll of 2+ on a D6 (a 1 indicating it has bounced off a roof or merely sputtered out). Once a building is lit, roll a D6 at the start of each player’s turn (not including any farmers who might be on the board) to discover if the fire is spreading. Add +1 to the dice roll for each turn the fire has been burning.
| D6 | Result |
|---|---|
| 1 | Gone out. The fire has sputtered out of its own accord. Don’t make any further rolls on the table. |
| 2-5 | Rising flames. Flames and smoke are rising quickly. Any model inside the building must take a Toughness test. If they fail, they suffer D3 Strength 2 hits with no save possible, as they succumb to smoke inhalation and minor burns. Anyone wishing to enter the building must pass a Leadership test to do so. |
| 6 | Raging Inferno. The building is totally ablaze. No model may enter the building and anyone within it takes D3 Strength 3 hits from the flames and burning debris. Any model wishing to get out of the building must pass an Initiative test or it will stay trapped within. |
| 7+ | Collapse! The building collapses, its timbers finally giving way as the fire engulfs it utterly. Any model inside the building (and not stunned) must pass an Initiative test to escape (knocked down models suffer a -1 to their Initiative for the purpose of this roll). Any model who fails to escape is crushed by the falling debris and taken out of action. |
starting the game
Each player rolls a D6. The highest roll can choose whether to go first or second.
ending the game
The game ends as soon as one warband routs or all the buildings have been destroyed. The player who destroys the most buildings wins the game or, if a warband fails its Rout test, the warband remaining wins the game.
experience
- +1 Survives. If a Hero or a Henchman group survives the battle they gain +1 Experience.
- +1 Winning Leader. The leader of the winning warband gains +1 Experience.
- +1 Per Enemy Out of Action. A Hero earns +1 Experience for each enemy he puts out of action (note that farmers do not count as they are so weak and measly they hardly warrant a boost in a warrior’s prowess!).
- +1 Per Building Destroyed. Any Hero or Henchman group that starts a fire which destroys a building earns +1 Experience.