94. Grudge Match
Author: Mark "rinku" Dewis and Harrald "Archeonicus" Faessen
Source: Archive Pestilen
Broheim notes: Honorable duel between two rival heroes, watched by their warbands and with a serious chance of crowd trouble breaking out.
Apart from the day-to-day scrabble for wealth and power that drives the madness in Mordheim, honor, lust, bravado, revenge, or just plain hatred also play their part in setting the stage for conflict and death.
For whatever reason, two warbands will sometimes arrange their fight rather than leave it to chance. They will gather in some relatively open spot and choose their champions; this single combat will sometimes suffice to settle their differences, but more often than not, it will lead to a general melee...
Terrain
Each player takes turns placing a piece of terrain—either a ruined building, tower, or similar item. There should be a clear space roughly 8–12" in diameter in the centre, representing the spot chosen for the single combat. We suggest setting up the table within an area roughly 4' x 4'.
Set-up
This type of challenge requires a certain amount of history between the warbands involved. The scenario may only be played if the warbands have previously fought a battle against each other.
One player must challenge the other. He is designated the Challenger, and the other player becomes the Defender. If both challenge at the same time, roll a D6.
The Challenger nominates one hero to be his Champion. The Defender then nominates one of his heroes to be his Champion. (Note that although the term "Champion" is used here, a Mercenary warband is not required to send in a hero of that name—it can be the Captain or a Youngblood.)
In the event a warband has no available heroes, a non-animal henchman may be nominated. If a warband consists only of animals, it cannot challenge or be challenged (woof!).
The two champions are then placed 5" apart in the centre of the table by the Defender. The Challenger then places the rest of his warband behind his Champion, no closer than 10" to either champion. They may be set up in second-floor buildings (for a better view, of course) but must have a line of sight to both champions. The Defender then sets up his warriors following the same restrictions.
Infiltration, Tactics, and Hunch skills may be used as normal but cannot be used to reposition either Champion (this may lead to a warrior starting out of sight of the Champions).
Starting the Game
Each player rolls a D6. The higher roll determines who takes the first turn, which will also be the first Single Combat turn.
During the opening Single Combat, only the two Champions may move, attack, or cast spells or prayers. The Champions may not charge, attack, or cast spells or prayers on any model other than the opposing Champion. Otherwise, the two models are free to move and fight as they see fit.
The Single Combat normally continues until one of the Champions is taken out of action. However, there is always the possibility that a dishonourable or enraged warrior might break the truce, causing a general fight to erupt.
At the end of his Close Combat phase, the player rolls a D6. If a 1 is rolled, one or more of his warband members are plotting something. His leader must then pass a Leadership roll to keep the Single Combat going (this roll is voluntary). If a general fight breaks out, all warriors may move, attack, and cast spells normally.
If a general fight begins, the turn immediately passes to the other player—this serves as an incentive to let the Single Combat continue.
If the Single Combat concludes without interruption, the losing warband must make an immediate Rout Test due to the loss of morale from losing their Champion. All warriors may now move, attack, and cast spells as normal.
The side that won the Single Combat becomes heartened by the victory and will only need to test for routing after losing 50% of their warriors. The side that lost the Single Combat remains demoralised for the rest of the game and must test for routing each turn (they may also choose to rout voluntarily).
ending the game
When one of the warbands fails its Rout test, the game ends. The routing warband loses and their opponents win.
experience
+1 Survives. If a Hero or Henchman group survives the battle they gain +1 Experience. +1 Winning Leader. The leader of the winning warband gains +1 extra Experience. +1 Per Enemy Out of Action. Any Hero earns +1 Experience for each enemy model he puts out of action. This includes a Champion who puts the other Champion out of action in Single Combat. +2 Winning Champion. If one Champion puts the other Champion out of action while the Single Combat rules are still in force he gains +2 extra experience. This is in addition to any experience gained by a Hero Champion for putting an enemy out of action. A Henchman Champion who wins will add the +2 experience to his group's total.