Wounds & injuries
roll to wound
Once you have hit a target test to see if a wound is inflicted. A shot may fail to cause a wound because it hits part of the target’s equipment, just scratches the skin or causes some very minor injury which the warrior bravely (or stupidly) ignores. If you fail to cause a wound, the target is unharmed.
To determine whether your shot has caused a wound, compare the Strength of the weapon with the Toughness of the target. You will find a complete description of the various weapons together with their Strength values and special rules in the Weapons & Armour section.
The chart below shows the D6 score required to turn a hit into a wound Note that a dash (–) means that there is no chance of wounding the target.
Wound Roll
critical hits
If you roll a 6 when rolling to wound (for hand-to-hand combat and shooting only) you will cause a critical hit. Roll a D6 and consult the Critical Hit chart below to determine the damage caused by the critical hit. You should also roll to see whether the target makes its armour save or suffers damage as normal.
In addition, if the attacker normally needs 6s to wound his target, he cannot cause a critical hit. His opponent is simply too tough to suffer a serious injury at the hands of such a puny creature!
Each warrior may only cause one critical hit in each hand-to-hand combat phase (see the Close Combat section), so if he has several attacks, the first 6 you roll to wound will cause a critical hit.
critical hit chart
| D6 | Result |
|---|---|
| 1-2 | Hits a vital part. The wound is doubled to 2 wounds. Roll any armour saves before doubling the wound. |
| 3-4 | Hits an exposed spot. The wound is doubled to 2 wounds. The attack ignores all armour saves. |
| 5-6 | Master strike! The wound is doubled to 2 wounds. The attack ignores all armour saves. You gain +2 to any Injury rolls. |
If a critical hit causes more than 1 wound, and the weapon the attacking model is using normally causes several wounds, then use the one that causes the most damage.
armour
Steel breastplates, chainmail, leather tunics, shields… all these and more are readily available in the forges of the villages surrounding Mordheim. That is if you are prepared to pay the price, since armour is very expensive.
If a warrior wearing armour suffers a wound roll a D6. If the dice roll is sufficiently high the wounding hit has bounced off the armour and has not hurt the wearer at all. The dice score required varies according to the type of armour.
The table below summarises the most common armour types and the D6 rolls required to make a save. Note that carrying a shield increases the save by +1. For example, a warrior in light armour with a shield will save on a roll of a 5 or 6. A warrior who has a shield but no armour will save on a roll of a 6.
| Armour | Minimum D6 score required to save |
|---|---|
| Light armour | 6 |
| Heavy armour | 5 |
| Gromril armour | 4 |
| Shield | adds +1 to the armour save |
armour save modifiers
Some weapons are better at penetrating armour than others. A shot from a short bow can be deflected relatively easily, but a shot from a crossbow penetrates armour much more effectively.
The higher a weapon’s Strength, the more easily it can pierce armour. The chart below shows the reduction to the enemy’s armour saving throw for different Strength weapons.
| Strength | Save modifier |
|---|---|
| 1-3 | None |
| 4 | -1 |
| 5 | -2 |
| 6 | -3 |
| 7 | -4 |
| 8 | -5 |
| 9+ | -6 |
Some weapons are better at penetrating armour than their Strength value suggests (Elven bows, for example). This is covered in the entry for each particular weapon (see the Weapons & Armour section).
Example: Dieter wears heavy armour and carries a shield. His armour save is 4+. He is hit by a crossbow (Strength 4) and therefore he will save on a D6 roll of 5+ (ie, 4+–1=5+).
injuries
Most warriors have a Wounds characteristic of 1, but some have a value of 2 or more. If the target has more than 1 wound then deduct 1 from his total each time he suffers a wound. Make a note on the roster sheet. So long as the model has at least 1 wound remaining he may continue to fight.
As soon as a fighter’s Wounds are reduced to zero, roll to determine the extent of his injuries. The player who inflicted the wound rolls a D6 for the wound that reduced the model to zero wounds and for every wound the model receives after that. If a model suffers several wounds in one turn, roll once for each of them and apply the highest result.
| D6 | Result |
|---|---|
| 1-2 | Knocked down. The force of the blow knocks the warrior down. Place the model face up to show that he has been knocked down. |
| 3-4 | Stunned. The target falls to the ground where he lies wounded and barely conscious. Turn the model face down to show that he has been stunned. |
| 5-6 | Out of action. The target has been badly hurt and falls to the ground unconscious. He takes no further part in the game and is immediately removed from the battle. |
knocked down
A fighter who has been knocked down falls to the ground either because of a jarring blow he has sustained, because he has slipped, or because he has thrown himself to the ground to avoid injury. Turn the model face up to show that he has been knocked down. Knocked down models may crawl 2" during the movement phase, but may not fight in hand-to-hand combat, shoot or cast spells. If he is in baseto-base contact with an enemy, a knocked down model can crawl 2" away only if the enemy is engaged in hand-to-hand combat with another opponent, otherwise he has to stay where he is. In combat he cannot strike back and the enemy will have a good chance of putting him out of action (see the Warriors Knocked Down section of the Close Combat rules).
A warrior who has been knocked down may stand up at the start of his next turn. In that turn he may move at half rate, shoot and cast spells, he cannot charge or run. If he is engaged in hand-to-hand combat, he may not move away and will automatically strike last, irrespective of weapons or Initiative. After this turn the fighter moves and fights normally, even though he has zero wounds left. If the model takes any further wounds, then roll for injury once more, exactly as if the model had just sustained its last wound.
stunned
When a warrior is stunned, he is either badly injured or temporarily knocked out. Turn the model face down to show that he has been stunned. A fighter who is stunned may do nothing at all. A player may turn the model face up in the next recovery phase, and the warrior is then treated as knocked down.
out of action
A warrior who is out of action is also out of the game. Remove the model from the tabletop. It’s impossible to tell at this point whether the warrior is alive or dead, but for game purposes it makes no difference at this stage. After the battle you can test to see whether he survives and if he sustains any serious lasting injuries as a result of his wounds (see Serious Injuries for details).