Gunnery School of Nuln

Grade: 1b
Source: Nemesis Crown Supplement (PDF)
Setting: Nemesis Crown
Author: Mordheim Nemesis Crown Development Team

The province of Nuln is respected across the Empire as the home to the finest handguns and war machines, save for those constructed by the Dwarfs. This makes them a desired commodity for any Imperial army using cannonry and as such graduates from the Imperial Gunnery School are highly prized for their skills in training artillery on vulnerable targets with unerring accuracy and maintaining the war machines.

Perhaps the most surprising fact is that the Imperial Gunnery School does not create new weapons of war. Such tasks are executed by the College of Engineering, either the well known one in Altdorf, where luminaries as von Meinkopt (creator of the Hellblaster) and Pfielmann (Grenade Launching Blunderbuss) were taught, or the Gunnery School’s neighbouring one in Nuln. Once the Colleges of Engineering create a war machine, the Imperial Gunnery School then start training gunners to use them.

This creates a high demand for their services with only a limited number available at any one time. Yet this demand has still led to the school refusing to lower its standards to concentrate on producing better skilled gunners and engineers, rather than a lot of sub-standard graduates barely capable of knowing which end of the cannon shoots the balls out.

Most of the students at the school come from the Imperial nobility, sons who show talents in mathematics or an interest in things that go boom, as well as not being immediately in line for succession. Once they graduate, students are given the choice of staying in the school for further studies (and eventually becoming a Master Gunner) or returning home. For some the prospect of yet more years of studies will send them home where they will go on to fight as an army’s pistoliers or outriders. Those who remain will attain the pinnacle of their craft and get to watch their former trainees charge across the battlefield, often to their deaths.

One of the requirements of the school is that all students undergo fieldwork to see how weapons perform in the field, and how the students perform too. They are sent out under the tutelage of a Senior Gunnery Officer and an instructor, one who has graduated recently and who knows what is expected with fieldwork.

For such an excursion, the group leave the school and Nuln for a period of time and travel wherever they feel. The instructor evaluates the aptitude of the students, making assessments of whether they are likely to graduate. Their abilities vary from undeveloped to talented, but they are always very well equipped.

special rules

Impeccable Care
Amongst one of the first things that the students are taught is to take proper care of their equipment and the right way to perform that maintenance. Once they have mastered this function, they learn to repair the same weapons should they become damaged and because of this they can buy such black powder weapons on the cheap and quickly return them to good working order. As a result they can buy these weapons at a fairly reduced price! They can ALWAYS use the reduced cost for black powder weapons listed in their starting Equipment List, and they gain an additional +2 on rare rolls to find any black powder weapons since people don’t mind selling broken guns!

Properly Used
The students know the proper way to use their weapons, spending many hours on the school’s shooting range. This is considered to be a good use of time between lessons and recommended by all the school’s instructors, after all if the students constantly blow themselves up with their weapons, there wouldn’t be many graduates. When using the optional Misfire rules, if a one is rolled, roll a second dice. On a 3+ the misfire is ignored (the shot still misses, but the weapon does NOT explode).

Proud To A Fault!
Anyone studying at the Gunnery School is very proud of this fact, as it is a great honour to be accepted. After they start using black powder weapons, students recognise the superiority of these weapons and refuse to bend their knee to the ‘lesser’ ranged weapons. The members of this warband NEVER use any non-black powder ranged weapons (this prohibition does NOT apply to hired swords or dramatis personae, as they are hired help and have not received proper Nuln training).

Choice of warriors

A Gunnery School warband must include a minimum of three models. You have 500 gold crowns to recruit your initial warband. The maximum number of warriors in the warband may never exceed 15.

Senior Gunnery Officer: Each warband must start with a single Senior Gunnery Officer, no more, no less.

Instructor: A warband may include up to one Instructor.

Senior Student A warband may include up to one Senior Student.

Underclassmen A warband may include up to two Underclassmen.

Sons of the Guns: A warband may include any number of Sons of the Guns.

Marksmen: A warband may include up to 7 Marksmen.

Pistoliers: A warband may include up to 5 Pistoliers.

Starting experience

A Senior Gunnery Officer starts with 20 experience.

An Instructor starts with 12 experience.

Senior Students starts with 8 experience.

Underclassmen classmen start with 0 experience.

Henchmen start with 0 experience

Gunnery School Skill Table

	Combat	Shooting	Academic	Strength	Speed
Senior Gunnery Officer	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Instructor		✓	✓		✓
Senior Student	✓	✓		✓	✓
Underclassmen	✓	✓			✓

Gunnery School equipment lists

The following lists are used by Gunnery School warbands to pick their weapons:

Hand-to-hand Combat Weapons

Item	Cost
Dagger	1st free/2 gc
Mace/Hammer	3 gc
Axe	5 gc
Sword	10 gc
Spear	10 gc
Halberd	10 gc
Morning star	15 gc
Double-handed weapon	15 gc

Missile Weapons

Item	Cost
Pistol	10 gc (20 for a brace)
Double Barrelled Pistol	20 gc (35 for a brace)
Duelling Pistol	20 gc (35 for a brace)
Double Barrelled Duelling Pistol	35 gc (65 for a brace)
Handgun	25 gc
Double Barrelled Handgun	45 gc

Armour

Item	Cost
Light armour	20 gc
Heavy armour	50 gc
Shield	5 gc
Buckler	5 gc
Helmet	10 gc

Miscellaneous

Item	Cost
Superior Black Powder	25 gc

Marksman equipment list

Hand-to-hand Combat Weapons

Item	Cost
Dagger	1st free/2 gc
Mace/Hammer	3 gc
Axe	5 gc
Sword	10 gc

Missile Weapons

Item	Cost
Pistol	10 gc (20 for a brace)
Double Barrelled Pistol	20 gc (35 for a brace)
Repeater Pistol	25 gc
Blunderbuss	30 gc
Handgun	25 gc
Double Barrelled Handgun	45 gc
Repeater Handgun	50 gc
Hand-held Mortar	70 gc
Pigeon Bombs	25 gc

Armour

Item	Cost
Light armour	20 gc
Shield	5 gc
Helmet	10 gc

Miscellaneous

Item	Cost
Superior Black Powder	25 gc

heroes

1 Senior Gunnery Officer

60 gold crowns to hire

A veteran of many excursions, extremely skilled and a deadly foe, these Officers have seen a lot of action, sometimes a little too much for some, and have partially retired from the front line to teach. They enjoy these little ‘days out’.

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

Weapons/Armour: The Senior Gunnery Officer may be equipped with weapons and armour chosen from the Gunnery School Equipment list.

SPECIAL RULES

Leader: Any models in the warband within 12” of the Senior Gunnery Officer may use his Leadership value when using Leadership tests.

Hunter: See Shooting Skills.

0 – 1 Instructor

45 gold crowns to hire

The gunners of Nuln are the most respected in the Old World. They are in charge of keeping up the mighty Empire war machines such as the great cannons. They are well educated and extensively trained, but not yet too battle-hardened, so these excursions give them field experience, even in the smallest things.

Profile	M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld
	4	3	4	3	3	1	4	1	7

Weapons/Armour: The Instructor chooses weapons and armour from the School’s Armoury List or the Marksman Equipment List.

Special Rules

Expert Weaponsmith: The Instructors know every trick in the book when it comes to working with black powder weapons. While there is an Instructor in the warband all Pistol weapons receive a +3” range bonus and all other black powder weapons receive a +6” range bonus.

0 – 1 Senior Student

45 gold crowns to hire

The upperclassmen at the school are well acquainted with the forms of combat and mechanics used by the Empire. The years of using pistols and firing cannons has given them plenty of experience with weaponry and this is not their first excursion into the wilds of the Empire. It is likely to be their last before they graduate.

Profile	M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld
	4	4	3	3	3	1	3	1	7

Weapons/Armour: Senior Students are allowed to choose weapons and armour from the Gunnery School Equipment List.

0 – 2 Underclassmen

20 gold crowns to hire

This is the first excursion for these freshmen, who have had maybe only months of training and shooting. Most will see this as a chance to escape the stuffy halls of academia and go hunting for pleasure. The brighter ones will realise that this is a true test of their dedication and knowledge.

Profile	M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld
	4	3	2	3	3	1	3	1	6

Weapons/Armour: Underclassmen choose their weapons and armour from the School’s Armoury List.

henchmen

(Bought in groups of 1-5)

Sons of the Guns

25 gold crowns to hire

Orphans left on the doorsteps of the school, well cared for and trained to take care of the constructs as apprentices and assistants. Many go on to form gun crews for the cannons taken into battle and some even rise as far as commanding such crews. For the most part they remain a background element to the successful workings of any cannon or black powder weapon and have become an essential part of the school. On the excursions, Sons of the Guns provide a much-needed set of arms to carry provisions and spare powder, as well as providing much needed additional firepower in a fight.

Profile	M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld
	4	3	3	3	3	1	3	1	7

Weapons/Armour: The sons of the guns choose weapons and armour from the Gunnery School’s Equipment List.

0 – 7 Marksmen

30 gold crowns to hire

It is said that some of the finest marksmen in the Empire have graduated from the Gunnery School, though many backwoodsmen in Hochland disagree. Certainly compared to their rural counterparts, Marksmen show more proficiency over a wider range of black powder weapons, even the Long Rifle.

Profile	M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld
	4	3	4	3	3	1	3	1	7

Weapons/Armour: The Marksmen choose their weapons and armour from the Marksmen Equipment List.

Special Rules

Quick Reload: Marksmen trained at the Gunnery School are forced to practice many drills day after day, including those that teach them to load their weapons for speed under high-pressure conditions. Marksmen have the Hunter skill from the Mordheim rulebook. A Marksman who becomes a Hero gains no further effect from taking the Hunter skill in addition to this.

0 – 5 Pistoliers

35 gold crowns to hire

Part of any student’s tutoring involves learning pistols and pistol maintenance and many become crack shots with repeated practice. Sadly they do not devote as much time to learning from the other parts of the curriculum and often graduate through money and luck, returning home to show off their skills, drifting into the army as Pistoliers or Outriders.

Profile	M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld
	4	4	3	3	3	1	3	1	7

Weapons/Armour: The Pistoliers choose their equipment from the Gunnery School’s List.

Special Rules

Crack Shot: Experts with pistols in close quarters; they have an uncanny ability to turn what should have missed its target into a success. When using pistols in close combat, they may re-roll any missed to-hit rolls with the pistol in the first round of combat.