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51. In The Dead Of The Night

Source: Town Cryer #22
Setting: Mordheim
Author: Space McQuirk & Chris Blair
Description: Set in Mordheim’s Cemetery of Saint Voller. Graveyard battle with Undead warband, half is which is unavailable, as the defenders. Each turn more zombies join the Undead band. Necromancer must complete ritual by chanting alongside altar for 10 turns. Attacker must take Necromancer Out Of Action. A tough scenario for the Undead player. Handy if you know of a powerful Undead warband that needs knocking back down to size though.

Yuri joined Ludvik in crouching behind the low wall. He gazed over the top, into the misty graveyard beyond.

“Looks like he’s out on his own,” whispered Yuri to his comrade “This should be plain sailing.”

“Don't bank on it,” responded Ludvik “You know how slippery the undying can get. We should be prepared for anything. There is no time to lose... let’s go!”

Yuri signalled the rest of his warband as Ludvik prepared his crossbow. He heard the shuffling of feet as be crept to the cemetery gate — the boys would have to be stealthier than this if they were to surprise the being within. They would have to move quickly over a few hundred yards, and who knew what evils the dark creature could summon if given enough warning?

The mercenary glanced around as he slowly opened the gate. It squeaked a little, but there seemed to be no change in the chanting from within the graveyard. The coast was clear. It was now or never.

The men kept low as they ran past the first few graves. Yuri was intent on the figure before him — he could see it silhouetted against the moon, arms raised, chanting blasphemous words. He thought he saw something moving to his right, almost imperceptibly, and looked fleetingly in that direction. Nothing. Yuri took a hurried glance over his right shoulder to see Ludvik’s expression; eyes open wide, mouth agape. He quickly turned to face the centre of the graveyard once more.

And found himself face to face with the hideous, bestial face of a ghoul...

The warband has been approached at night by a mysterious figure offering good money for a simple assassination of an ‘inexperienced petty wizard’, preferably before he can complete a minor ritual. The spell will create a new strain of ‘campsite cough’, and the caster plans to take advantage of his alchemical powers to extort money by healing the sick.

It's an easy job, and the lads/girls/things aren’t too drunk on cheap alcohol, so they readily agree. All they have to do is go to the graveyard and kill the target (‘an old man, frail, shouldn't be too difficult!’)....

Of course, unbeknownst to our intrepid heroes, the mysterious figure was understating slightly. The target happens to be a practitioner of the dark arts, perhaps even a vampire, undoubtedly with a retinue of henchmen, quite possibly able to summon more with a simple gesture. What’s more, he’s on his own turf, the graveyard. And the ritual will actually bring ALL the dead in the graveyard back to life so the foul being can take over the city for his equally foul purposes. Better hurry guys!

terrain​

This scenario is played in an area measuring approx 4' by 2'. At one end should be a shrine or altar where the summoner is preparing his ritual, at the other the gates to the cemetery through which the attacking warband enters. In between, should be simple graveyard scenery — graves, a couple of dead trees, etc.

warbands​

The defender must be an Undead warband that includes a Necromancer or a Vampire that can cast magic. The defending player may only field half his warband (by rating) as the rest is considered to be out foraging for wyrdstone to fuel the ritual. The attacker may be any type of warband except for Undead.

set-up​

The defender sets up first but may position their models no closer than 14" to the gate. It’s advisable they do so with the altar and summoner as far away from the gate as possible. The attacking warband may then set up no further than 6" from the gate. Any attacking models that would normally be able to set up anywhere on the table (for whatever rule) may set up a further 6" from the gate.

starting the game​

Before the game starts, and once all models have been set up, the defending player can roll a D3 and place that many free Zombies anywhere on the table (no closer than 8" to any of the attacker’s models).

special rules​

The defending player takes the first turn.

The defender’s objective is to complete the ritual with his Vampire/Necromancer. It takes a total of ten full turns to do so and the spellcaster must spend these turns doing nothing other than chanting, and must be within 1" of the altar whilst doing so (he may not move, fight in close combat, fire a missile weapon or cast magic). He will defend himself if attacked but this will break the ritual and cause him to have to start from the beginning again.

In each of his turns the defender may roll a D6-3, and bring this many free Zombies on from any point on any table edge — the Zombies may move and charge as normal as soon as they move on.

If the spellcaster manages to complete the spell, then 5D6 Zombies may be brought onto the table at the beginning of the subsequent turn. Of these, one may be set up in base contact with each grave scenery piece. Furthermore, any models from the opponent's warband that have been taken out of action will be brought back as a Zombie from the point where they died (with Zombie stats and no skills or special abilities, but will keep their original equipment). Better start painting those Zombies! The spellcaster can then take part in the game as normal.

ending the game​

The attacking warband wins the game automatically if they manage to take the Undead spelicaster out of action and prevent the completion of the ritual. The defender wins if he manages complete the ritual. It might be fun to continue playing at this point to see if the attacker can get his models to relative safety by fleeing back though the gate.

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. Any Hero earns +1 Experience for each enemy he puts out of action.
  • +3 for stopping the ritual. Any Hero earns a further +3 experience for taking the Undead spellcaster out of action and stopping the ritual.

warpstone​

The winning warband will recover D3 shards of Wyrdstone left over from the ritual.

zombies​

If the defender successfully completes the ritual then he may retain D3+3 of the Zombies that he summoned, provided this doesn’t put him over his warband limit. The excess Zombies are assumed to wander aimlessly about or feast upon the fallen.

Yuri finished off his opponent and stood up. The graveyard was quiet now, and the battle seemed to be over. He looked around, ignoring the fact that he could not see out of one eye.

He spotted the others, and shuffled over to join them. Yuri simply did not notice that the top of his head was missing, and his entrails were dragging along behind him. All he registered was a rabid hunger for raw meat...