The Possessed vs Reiklanders! The Seventh Skirmish!

On Monday, January 8, 2024, Jay’s Possessed clashed with Perry’s Reiklanders. Magister Meister Herwig of the Possessed warband had gotten wind of some wyrdstone in a neighbourhood between the poor quarter and the clock tower (well, he tortured the information out of some poor sod in the Black Pit Settlement, let’s be honest). At the same time, Leader Dietrich Grossenheimer of the Reiklanders warband had discovered similar information (without the torture and killing) when henchmen hero Otto Klein found out in a drinking contest at Brigandsburg. Although most of the band were in their cups with cheap brigand ale, Dietrich decided to pursue this lead while it was still hot! A decision he would later regret (spoiler alert!). And thus began Scenario 8: Occupy!

Another standard scenario from the core rulebook. Both warbands set up on opposite sides of the table 6” from the table edge, and we designated 1d3+2 buildings (we rolled 4) that were of “interest” (marked in some way). 

Winning Conditions: The goal was to occupy more of these buildings than your opponent, by having a standing warrior inside the building without any enemies inside. The other way to win was for one side to voluntarily rout – there are no regular rout tests in this scenario (i.e. when 25% of your warriors are KO). The game lasts a maximum of 8 turns (or 10:00pm in our case), and if neither warband occupies more buildings than the other at that time, the game is a draw. 

The Possessed warband, the BROTHERHOOD OF THE VOID, slinked into the ruined neighbourhood, led by the crafty and cunning Magister Meister Herwig. He was joined as usual by the Brethren, the conglomeration of lost and misguided souls following Chaos for their own nefarious reasons: Gosric, Baldur, Klaus and Jürgen.  The beastman, Brother Ruprechet was also in attendance. Although no mutants were with the warband now, having lost Karl-Erik last time to The Flames of Redemption witch hunters, Magister Herwig was accompanied by not one but two massive possessed individuals: the Exalted Vessel Sven, and Exalted Vessel Wülfstan! 

Possessed Exalted Vessel Sven lumbers into view

Beastman Brother Ruprecht leads new recruit, possessed Exalted Vessel Wülfstan

Magister Meister Herwig leads the bedraggled Brethren

The Reiklander mercenary company, DIETRICH’S DOGS, led by Dietrich Grossenheimer, was again accompanied by his son Pieter Grossenheimer, a young blood. Along with Champion Hermann Reichert and Champion Wolfgang Baur (accompanied by his third son, young blood Reinhard Baur), there was the henchmen swordman Oscar Schiller, the three “marksmen” Wiebe Brüders (Jürgen and Stefan Wiebe and their friend Hans Schmidt), and the notorious unkillable Otto Klein, a “henchman hero.” The dwarf trollslayer Boki Flinthead joined them as well, on his continued mercenary-for-hire contract. The warband was recovering at Brigandsburg after their last terrible skirmish with the skaven warband, The Skulking Blades, and so had quite a bit of drink in them when they decided to delve once more into the City of the Damned (that’s the story I’M going to tell, anyways, for what’s about to happen!).

Boki Flinthead and Jürgen Wiebe take point, with Dietrich and Pieter behind, followed by
Champion Hermann Reichert

Champion Wolfgang Baur and his (third) son Reinhard Baur

Henchman Hero Otto Klein with Stefan Wiebe and Oscar Schiller

Round 1: The Reiklanders all run into the neighbourhood, trying to position themselves to occupy most of the buildings. 

The Reiklanders are ready to move into the neighbourhood!

Across the ruined plaza, the Possessed are seen moving in!

Dietrich and Pieter follow Boki with Hermann following all of them with his dueling pistols. Wolfgang and son Reinhard run towards the fountain, with bowman Jürgen Wiebe close behind looking for a good shooting position. 

Stefan Wiebe and Hans Schmidt get up high for better vantage points. Will this be the skirmish they prove their worth to Dietrich as true “Marksmen” of the Empire? 

The hideous Otto Klein (who now caused Fear for those looking at his awful scars), limped along with his bad leg, followed by swordsman Oscar Schiller. 

For the Possessed, Magister Meister Herwig commanded the Brethren forwards, with Exalted Vessel Sven moving his bulk into a nearby building. 

Close by, beastman Brother Ruprecht and new Exalted Vessel Wülfstan rushed forwards into the ruins of the Blue Whale inn and wait for the humans to move closer.

Round 2: Boki Flinthead, the dwarf trollslayer, eager to engage Exalted Vessel Sven, charges forwards through the ruins, shouting at the Chaotic abomination to fight him! Young blood Pieter and his father leader Dietrich follow close behind. Champion Hermann Reichert pulls away to move around the building to get some cover and eyes up the approaching Brethren, and bowman Jürgen Wiebe finally gets into position above ruins. 

Oscar Schiller and Otton Klein carefully make haste across a bridgeway to a pile of rubble, heading towards the ruins of the Blue Whale Inn. 

On the ground, Wolfgang Baur and his son Reinhard make their way past a foetid pool and clogged fountain, also making for the Inn.

Champion Hermann Reichert takes a shot at the bulk of Exalted Vessel Sven lurking in the ruins, but the shot goes wild! 

Bowmen Hans Schmidt and Stephen Weibe both take long range shots at the back of Brethren Baldur but both miss (later citing poor sight lines, and a sudden Chaotic wind).

For the Possessed, Exalted Vessel Sven charges the dwarf Boki, while Magister Meister Herwig pushes the Brethren forwards! 

Herwig tries to summon the energy to cast Lure of Chaos, but Chaos was fickle that day and nothing occurred. 

The new Exalted Vessel Wülfstan ran from the ruins of the Blue Whale Inn to confront Oscar and Otto, glaring at them from under his hood from the bottom of the rubble pile. 

Exalted Vessel Sven and Boki exchange powerful blows, but neither manage to land a solid hit, and the fight is a standstill. 

Round 3: Leader Dietrich and his young blood son Pieter charge the Exalted Vessel Sven to assist the dwarf mercenary Boki! 

Across the way, swordsman henchman Oscar Schiller, eager to prove his worth, attempts a charge towards the massive form of Exalted Vessel Wülfstan, but his courage fails and he only stands still in shock! Otto Klein fumbles his way off the rickety bridge and limps his way to stand beside Oscar, slapping the henchman out of his stupor. 

Wolfgang Baur takes the lead with his son, young blood Reinhard, and they carefully approach the doorway of the Blue Whale Inn, unawares of the dangers that lurk inside.

Champion Hermann Reichert, having lost his chance to shoot Sven, targets Brethren Gosric, but misses. Bowman Jürgen Wiebe, with his better vantage point and armed with a good bow, takes aim at Brethren Gosric, a clear, easy shot for a Marksmen of the Empire! And misses. (He later blamed Hermann’s pistol shot for startling him and messing up his aim). 

A furious melee ensues between young blood Pieter (his sword slicing three times, and following up with a dagger strike!), his father Dietrich (armed with his halberd, and his excellent Skill of Strongman allowing him to quickly bring his heavy weapon up to attack), and the dwarf Boki Flinthead (with his twin trollslaying axes!). But Exalted Vessel Sven manages to fight them all off, with nary a scratch, but he also fails to strike and wound the dwarf Boki. 

Magister Meister Herwig of the Possessed warband, pushes the Brethren forwards to join the melee!  Jürgen engages with leader Dietrich, while Baldur and Gosric attack the young blood Pieter! Brethren Klaus is commanded by Meister Herwig to remain behind, and secure one of the important buildings.

 Across the ruined battlefield, Brother Ruprecht charges out through the door of the inn, startling Wolfgang and Reinhard Baur! 

And Exalted Vessel Wülfstan charges around the rubble and clambers his way up to engage the horrified (failing Fear test) Oscar Schiller!

From the rear of the Brethren, Magister Meister Herwig again pleads to the powers of Chaos to cast Lure of Chaos, but again the power eludes him (“Not enough sacrifices before the skirmish?” he thinks to himself).

The Brethren, having charged, engage first! While the young Pieter manages to hold off both Baldur and Gosric, Jürgen manages to get under leader Dietrich’s defenses and knocks him OUT of Action!! Both Boki and Pieter follow up with a furious number of blows but neither manage to hit or wound their opponents. Even Exalted Vessel Sven cannot seem to pin down the maniac dwarf trollslayer and fails to hit. 

Henchman Oscar Schiller’s scream could be heard from two neighbourhoods away, as newly appointed Exalted Vessel Wülfstan smashed his abominable claws into Oscar’s body, ripping open his chest and taking him OUT of Action! Oscar fell heavily, and lay lifeless upon the rubble, his viscera spilled and steaming at the feet of Otto Klein.

As Brother Ruprecht emerged from the door of the Blue Whale Inn, Wolfgang Baur, a trained Champion of the Empire, brought his pistol and sword to bear upon the beastman! But, the brigand ale in his veins had other plans, as his sword blow swung wide and the pistol shot only struck matted fur and filthy cloth on Ruprechet’s shoulder. 

The beastman did not hesitate, and struck a clumsy, yet mighty blow with his two-handed axe. Normally, such an untrained and uncoordinated strike would be no match to the parrying skill of a Champion of the Empire, but this day would not be kind. The axe clove deep into Wolfgang’s chest, as he tried unsuccessfully to parry the powerful blow. He fell, dying onto the cobble streets, taken OUT of Action, as his son Reinhard looked on in horror. 

Round 4: The Wiebe Brüders and Hans Schmidt from their vantage points saw all that transpired, and cried the alarm when their leader Dietrich fell to the tricksy blow of Brethren  Jürgen. Otto Klein, having witnessed both Wolfgang Baur and Oscar Schiller’s demise, likewise cried out what was happening. Champion Hermann Reichert, quickly taking command, called for an immediate retreat, and the Reiklanders ROUTED, giving this day to the Possessed! 

As young blood Reinhard Baur backed away, the beastman Ruprecht barred his canine teeth in a horrible grin, and grabbed the boots of Wolfgang, dragging the Champion into the darkness of the Inn.

“We’ll be eating meat tonight,” the beastman growled, sending the young Reinhard to flee in terror and sorrow…

"FATHER!!!"

POST BATTLE

For the BROTHERHOOD OF THE VOID no casualties. Thanks to the inept fighting of the Reiklanders!

For DIETRICH’S DOGS a very different story. As already noted in the overly dramatic retelling, leader Dietrich Grossenheimer, Champion Wolfgang Baur and henchman Oscar Schiller all went Out of Action. While Dietrich was able to roll a Full Recovery, both Wolfgang and Oscar were killed!

For loot rolls:

Some fun stuff here for sure. 

3 shards of wyrdstone were found by the Possessed, and a double roll of 4’s indicated a Straggler had been found, raving and mad and penniless among the ruins. For Magister Meister Herwig, a perfect opportunity to appease Chaos, and so the poor unfortunate was sacrificed (giving Herwig +1 Experience).  All 3 wyrdstones were sold for 65 gold crowns. 

2 shards of wyrdstone were scavenged by the Reiklanders as they scrambled away, and a roll of double 1’s indicated a Well had been found, “undoubtedly polluted with wyrdstone.” We said that the “well” was actually the swampy pool terrain piece we had placed on the battlefield, which fit well. Young blood Reinhard volunteered to dive in and successfully managed to find one shard of wyrdstone! (FYI, a roll under his Toughness would have had the lad sickened and miss the next skirmish). All 3 wyrdstones were sold for 65 gold crowns. 

For Experience:

Experience was allotted as normal (no special scenario bonuses, aside from the winning leader). 

For the Possessed, Magister Meister Herwig gained a new Skill, and decided on Academic: Sorcery (which will give him +1 on casting rolls!). New possessed Exalted Vessel Wülfstan increased his WS +1.

For the Reiklanders, the Marksman Hans Schmidt of the Wiebe Brüders henchmen group became a Henchman Hero, filling in the slot which Champion Wolfgang Baur had once filled, and joining Otto Klein as another rising star henchman! A further roll gave him +1 Strength. Time for a new miniature with a sword! For the remaining Marksmen Henchmen, the Weibe Brüders (Stephan and Jürgen) they gained +1BS. With a BS of 5 would either of them FINALLY be able to hit something!? Only time would tell.  

FINAL THOUGHTS

Wow. So many 1s and 2s rolled for the Reiklanders! Yeah, those bastards were DRUNK! (and that’s the story I’m sticking with, lol!).

I’ve spoken about the “swingy” nature of Mordheim before, and again, all four of us love it, and just roll with it (pun intended!).

A few wonderful instances to point out that I tried to colourfully narrate in the battle report:

Every wound roll that Jay made (on Dietrich, Wolfgang and Oscar) were critical hits, and those critical hits were all Master Strikes, doubling the wounds to 2 and adding +2 to the injury rolls, pretty much ensuring Out of Action rolls each time! (Jay was rolling much better than me!)

Champion Wolfgang Baur just needed a 3 to wound Ruprecht with the pistol shot, and a 1 was rolled. Then, Brother Ruprecht rolled a 3 to hit Baur – Baur was wearing a buckler and only needed to roll a 4 to parry the blow, a 50/50 chance!! And a 2 was rolled. 

That shot that Jürgen took on Brethren Gosric was also a lost opportunity, needing only a 3 to hit! But, a 1 was rolled for a miss.

Another egregious moment (for the Reiklanders) and a most fortunate moment (for the Possessed) was crazy young blood Pieter’s attacks. The lad has a characteristic of 3A + a dagger for 4 attacks! Out of eight rolls, needing a 4 to hit the Brethren, only one was successful, and that one failed to wound. Chaos was definitely stronger for this skirmish!

This was the seventh skirmish of the 12 skirmish campaign, the first for Round 2. Next game will be Skaven vs Witch Hunters! 

I also finally finished painting up my ruined inn (The Blue Whale Inn), featured lovingly in this battle. I’ll post a special Terrain Spotlight about the process of building it soon!