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The warbands coming from Albion come to Mordheim in search of gold, just as many other human warbands do. They know that if they can collect enough wealth, they will make their tuath rich and more powerful than its neighbours. Some other warbands are renegades or dregs left over from an abandoned tuath, but these are relatively rarer than those guided to improve the position of their tuaths.
The Albans are ruled over by their chieftains and the tuath druid, and ultimately by the High King Slaine and the Arch Druid Cathbad. The ultimate honour for any Alban is to be chosen as the next high king (unfortunately only open to males) or to be tutured long in the lore of the druids and to be inducted into the secretive priesthood (open to both sexes).
The quickest road to power is often the most dangerous and some desperates see the streets of Mordheim as the quickest way of proving themselves to their chief, to their king and ultimately to their high king.
Note about the Albion Warband: It is intended that this warband is based on the celts at the hypothetical apex of their civilization, some 600 years before the birth of christ in our own world. At this time it was supposed that the celts possessed both a large repository of knowledge and fighting prowess in their druids, whose cult was not dissimilar to a shaolin monk of pre-chinese tibet. A druid is designed by myself to represent a man or a woman in peek physical and mental condition, an expert in both the martial and philosophical arts. At first I was considering even having a totally druidic based warband, made up of ovates, fili-bards, druids and arch-druids, but in the end I decided this was perhaps too philosophical, impractical, hypothetical and really quite out of touch with the Warhammer world. So for the most part the druids stayed in Albion. It may help to visualise the ovate less as a pathetic and mostly useless memeber of the warband and more as a bard, collecting stories of the exploits of the members of your warband so they can be told and retold to their children and grandchildren. The ovate is the characteristic member of the Albion warband, perhaps even more so than the druid, or the chiftan, or the bloodthirsty and unhinged berserk. The Ovate represents the story loving celts and their placement of a bard at the head of any table. This is an unbalanced warband, but that adds to the flavour of the warband. The druid, if lost, is possibly replacable by the ovate, but if the ovate decides that they must brave it alone, or leave the warband because it failed to protect its druid, then the warband has lost 2 of its hero choices, permenantly. This is not a good thing. The Albion warband is quite unbalanced without the druid and the ovate, their skills and leadership boosts a neccessary addition to the warband. With these two still around, in addition to the chieftans leadership, the albions are very hard to break, and will keep fighting, but allow them to lose their druid and ovate and the chieftans grip on his warriors will slip more and more,you will lose more games as your warband routs more easily. It is imperative to keep your druid alive and to keep ur ovate safe from harm incase you fail in the first task.
Albion Warriors Skill Tables
Combat Shooting Acedemic Strength Speed Special Albion Chieftain x x x x x x Tuath Guard x x x x x Youngblood x x x x x Druid x x x x Ovate x x x x All of the heroes in the Alban Warband, with the exception of the ovate and the youngbloods, may be given special skills chosen from the list below instead of the standard skills given in the Mordheim rulebook;
The warrior is capable of great leaps through the air when in combat, confusing the enemy and avoiding his clumsy blows before killing the foe with a single strike - A warrior with this skill discounts the save given by any enemy shields, and gets a bonus +1 to hit in close combat.
This warrior has practised long and hard to perfect the art of throwing javelins with the mere flick of the wrist or stretch of the foot - A warrior with this skill and armed with javelins gets a single ballistic attack as they charge into combat. Its effects are worked out after the warrior has been moved into combat, but before any attacks from eithr side. Use the BS of the warrior, and the javelin must be aimed at the nearest enemy model.
This warrior is able to heft huge boulders and throw them a considerable distance. In Mordheim, this warrior counts as +1 to strength for purposes of missile weapons which use the strength of its user.
This warrior is expert at running undetected through the twisting and confusing ruins of Mordheim. Any warrior with this skill can run even if withing 8" of an enemy at the start of its turn, and if it has run in a turn it has a -1 to hit penalty for any model shooting at it.
D6 Result Difficulty 1 The Quickening of the Horned Father 6 The Druid gasps as the energy of the wild hunt fills his veins and his muscles burn in the need to run.
The druid gains +2 to Movement for the rest of the turn and all the opponents next turn.
2 The Beast Within 9 The Druids physical form melts away, and in their place stands a totemic beast.
The druid gains +1 to WS, S, T and +2 to movement until he or she is wounded
3 Faerie Host 9 The druids incantations reach into the realm of faerie, which overlaps with both our realm and that of chaos but is seperate from both, and attracts powerful shee to the aide of their chosen race, the Albans.
1 Faerie appears within 2" of the Druid, and must remain within 6" of the druid for the rest of the game, after which time it returns to its home realm. This spell can only be cast once per game. A variation of faeries can appear, roll a D6 and consult the chart below to see what type comes to your warbands aid.
1 Faerie Swarm These are numerous small faeries who are treated as a swarm which can fly 24" a turn
Profile M WS BS S T W I A Ld Faerie Swarm 6 2 2 2 2 3 6 3 5 2 Cú-sí Faerie wolfhounds, they are dark green and about the size of a small bull. They count as wolfhounds with a 5+ invulnerable save. They will never charge another mortal dog of any kind, including wolves and if charged by another dog will fight for one round but automatically flee 2D6" away at the end of the combat if the other canine is still alive. 3 Tuatha De Danaan A Faerie Knight of the Tuatha De Danaan mounted on a feycharger. The Faerie Knight is armed with a lance, javelins, sword, shield, heavy armour and barding for the feycharger.
Profile M WS BS S T W I A Ld Faerie Knight Feycharger 5 9 5 4 4 0 4 4 4 3 1 1 6 3 2 1 7 4 4 Fear Dearg - Counts as a vampire armed with a Craoiseach. 5 Cailleach A female faerie of war whose mistress taught the druids all the ways of war. A Cailleach is armed with a spear, a shield, javelins and wears heavy armour.
Profile M WS BS S T W I A Ld Cailleach 5 5 5 4 4 1 5 2 5 6 Bachlach Counts as an ogre mercenary. Special Rules: All summoned faeries have only one (1) wound. This is not a reflection on the toughness of faeries. Faeries will only fight until they have been bested in combat, at which point they will withdraw, effectively leaving the game. They do not therefore count as a casualty for the purposes of rout tests, and there is no way to capture or permernantly injure a faerie. No, you cannot steal their weapons, and no faerie will ever lower itself to be bought, so a faere will always disappear after the game has ended.
4 Glamour 6 The druid spins an illusion that none can see through around an enemy warrior, blinding and confusing them.
The druid can attempt to cast this spell on any model within 12". If successful this model is counted as stupid for the rest of the battle. If the model is already stupid, it has to test at half leadership when it wants to move, rounding up.
5 Dicheadal Do-Cheannaibh 7 (Divination from Heads)
The Druid takes the head of a slain enemy, and after some preperation, it speaks out in a ghostly voice about the battle taking place.
With this spell, the druid can reveal any hidden enemy models on the board.
6 Curse of The Morrigan 10 As the druid raises their hands high, a huge flock of crows fills the sky from horizon to horizon, startling and chasing the enemy, pecking at their clothes and eyes, making it hard to see as the very sun is blocked from view until they fly away.
This spell is cast after the enemy movement phase but before the shooting phase. The enemy warband must take an immediate rout test.
Warp Spasm: All the warriors in the warband may be affected by the special rules for Warp Spasm. The energies of the warp flow through the land of Albion in great abundance, but rather than twisting and destroying as it does in the Chaos Wastes, it nurtures and protects, forming a barrier, both physical and magical, around the Isle of Albion, so that the isle remains isolated and uncorrupted to this day. The warp forms a special bond with every inhabitant in Albion, linking them to the land and to the spiritual mother of the Albans, Danu. When this energy flows strongly through the Albans, it inspires them to great acts, such as writing epic poems, singing songs the memory of which shall last a thousand years and the slaying of entire armies single handedly.
In Mordheim, every time an enemy is taken out of action in hth, the Alban warrior who took him out must test to see if he becomes affected by Warp Spasm by rolling a D6. On a roll of 1-5, nothing happens, and the player continues his turn as normal. On a 6, the warrior immediately becomes affected by a Warp Spasm. His body convulses, twists, grows in girth and height and eventually towers even above an ogre mercenary, though the change is not permanent and the warrior will return to normal after the battle. The warrior can immediately add +2 WS, +1S, +1T and +2A. The warrior will automatically strike first in any combat it enters into. The warrior is affected by the rules for frenzy and furious charge. This means that a warrior who already has 2 attacks, will increase their attacks to 4, doubled to 8 by frenzy and +1 if they have a second hand weapon. The effects will wear off if the warrior is stunned or gets knocked down or if there are no enemy models within 12" of the affected warrior, or if the enemy routs. Any armour worn including helmets, shields, dirks, bucklers or any other armour, even magical, with the exception of a hero harness, are destroyed when a warrior Warp Spasms. Note that a druid or an ovate may never experience Warp Spasms, they are blessed by Danu in other, more subtle ways.
Hero Harness: A hero Harness confers a 5+ ward save to the wearer against damage from any source. It looks like a wide belt of ornately decorated metal and leather designed to expand with a warriors warp spasm. They are an Albion only Equipment Item and count as rare 9 and 75 +D6 x 10gc.
Dirk: This is a weapon very similar in effect to the spiked gauntlets used by pit fighters all around the Empire - a punch dagger with a small spiked shield attached to the forearm. It counts as being armed with an additional hand weapon as well as a buckler.
Claymore: This is a traditional weapon of the Albans of the northern clans of Scotii - it counts a sword with an additional -1 save modifier.
Tattoos: Many Alban warriors are covered in tattoos denoting their clan standing, ancestors, deities, tuath, family, totem spirit and the totems of those enemy warriors they have taken in battle. They are of great spiritual significance to the warrior and as such confer a small save representing the warriors indomitable faith in the wardings adorning his or her body. Warriors with tattoos gain +1 to their armour save. Note tattoos cannot be destroyed, removed, sold or given to other warband members. Multiple tattoos do not have a cumulative effect.
Warpaint: Before they go into battle, warriors will adorn themselves with paint if they believe they are going to be under magical attack. Before each battle, a warband can expend 3gc per warrior to give them a special 6+ save against any magical attacks
Boar Spear: A boar spear is a heavy javelin with a spar, or hilt, near the pointy end. It is excellent as a one throw weapon prior to charging an opponent. A boar spear may only be thrown once per game, but it hits with a strength as user +1.
Range Strength Availability Price x2S as user+1 Common 10gc Javelins: The traditional weapon of the Western Clans, the javelin is a light throwing spear, which when thrown by a skilled warrior, can kill an enemy with a single blow.
Range Strength Availability Price x2S+2" as user Common 5gc Javelins are an Albion Only weapon
Geases: When a new hero is bought or raised from a henchmen group, a geas must be generated (heroes raised from within a henchmen group still have to apply the old geas and a new one upon being raised to a hero, if the same geas is rolled as for the henchmen group, just count the hero as lucky and don't roll for them again, only the first geas will apply), and it applies to that 1 hero or group of henchmen. This includes when a new warband is created. For each Hero or Henchmen group, roll a D6 and consult the table below;
Roll Geas 1 Never fight Skaven who are armed with swords 2 Never attack undead with holy water 3 Never cross a bridge in Mordheim 4 Never attack an enemy with more than one warrior to each enemy (henchmen only - heros count as no geas if this is rolled) 5 Never fail to attack the leader of the enemy warband (heroes only - henchmen count as no geas if this is rolled) 6 No Geas note: feel free to make up your own geas, or get an opponent or campaign master to make them up for you, just make sure that the geas isn't ridiculous, like "never kill anyone with anything" or "always eat fish on a Angestag". Use common sense and get the ok of your opponent.
If these geases are ever broken by the Hero or Henchmen group they apply to, then the hero or all members of the henchmen group are automatically counted as out of action at the end of the game.
Craoiseach: This frightening looking polearm is similar in function to a halberd, but in addition it has a series of nasty barbs down the edge of the head, which can stick into people and cause great pain and damage when pulled out. The Craoiseach counts as a halberd but on the roll of a 6 to hit, it causes two wounds and gives a +1 modifier to To Wound rolls. For trading purposes they counts as rare 9, 20 +D6 gc, Albion Only.
Craoiseachs are Albion only weapons.
Albion Warriors Equipment List
The following list is used by Albion Warrior warbands to pick their weapons:
Hand-to-hand Combat Weapons Dagger........................1st free/2 gc Club........................................3 gc Axe.........................................5 gc Sword...................................10 gc Double-handed weapon.........15 gc Spear....................................10 gc Craoiseach*(Halberd)............10 gc Claymore................................12gc Missile Weapons Sling........................................2 gc Short Bow...............................5 gc Javelins*..................................2 gc Boar Spear*.............................6gc Armour Light Armour..........................15 gc Shield.......................................5 gc Buckler.....................................5 gc Dirk*......................................10 gc Helmet....................................10 gc Warpaint*................3 gc(per battle) Tattoos*..................................10gc Heroes Harness.......................75gc
Heroes
1 Albion Chieftain
60 gold crowns to hire
An Albion Chieftain is likely to be the most highly trained, most intellegent and among the toughest warrior in the whole clan. He is devoted to his tuath back in Albion and will go to any and all lengths to protect it - which extends to any gold or wyrdstone that he sees as the property of his tuath thru him as its local representaive. The chieftan is kind to his warband members and they are treated as blood relations, but he will be merciless to anyone else.
Profile M WS BS S T W I A Ld Chief 4 4 3 4 3 1 5 1 7 Weapons/Armour: An Albion Chieftan may be equipped with weapons and armour chosen from the Albion Warriors Equipment List
SPECIAL RULES
Leader: Any warrior within 6" of the Albion Chieftain may use his Leadership characteristic when taking Leadership tests.
0-1 Druid
50 gold crowns to hire
A Druid in any warband is considered as important and inspirational as the Chieftan. They are the repositories of all Alban lore and are possessed of a great wisdom of things in both this world and others. What they bring to the warband is a powerful warrior-priest capable of great feats of both physical and mystic strength able to call up and control denizens of the faerie realms to aid the warriors in battle
Profile M WS BS S T W I A Ld Druid 4 3 3 4 4 1 4 2 7 Weapons/Armour: A Druid may be equipped with weapons and armour chosen from the Albion Warriors Equipment list. Note that a Druid may not wear any armour at all. This does not prevent him or her from having tattoos or warpaint and they in no way inhibit the use of spells.
SPECIAL RULES
Leader: Any warrior within 6" of the Druid may use his or her Leadership characteristic when taking Leadership tests.
0-3 Tuath Guard
40 gold crowns to hire
Tuath guard are elite professional soldiers used to guard the borders of each tuath from its neighbours. Picked from the best warriors in the clan and trained in the use of sword, bow and spear, they are resourceful and dangerous adversaries and a group of tuath guard are usually enough to stop an enemy incursion into the tuath by themselves.
Profile M WS BS S T W I A Ld Tuath Guard 4 4 4 3 3 1 3 1 6 Weapons/Armour: Any Tuath Guard may be equipped with weapons and armour chosen from the Albion Warriors Equipment List
0-1 Youngblood
15 gold crowns to hire
Youngblood Albans are relentless and almost uncontrollable young warriors so eager to prove their worth in battle and earn the respect of their warband and clan that they will often rush headlong into danger, only to be greeted by a swift and painful death. Those who survive tend to be the quickest, smartest or most lucky of the youngbloods, and are given their rightful and well earned place among the warriors.
Profile M WS BS S T W I A Ld Youngblood 4 3 2 3 3 1 3 1 5 Weapons/Armour: Any Youngblood may be equipped with weapons and armour chosen from the Albion Warriors Equipment List
0-1 Ovate
15 gold crowns to hire
An Ovate is a youngblood who has chosen to follow the path of a druid rather than that of a warrior. It is a slow, painful and long process to become a fully fledged druid - most Druids take a minimum of 20 years to learn all the stories, spells, rituals, and martial lore that goes with being a Druid. Although not a martial person, an Ovate is still keen to learn about foreign matters and often an ovate will dedicate themselves to a single druid, completing their years of study and practise by being proteged to an aging master.
Profile M WS BS S T W I A Ld Ovate 4 2 2 3 3 1 3 1 6 Special Rules: You may only include an Ovate in your warband if it already includes a Druid. If the warbands Druid dies, then roll a D6; on the roll of a 1, the ovate, overcome with grief over the death of his or her master or mistress, leaves the warband. Cross them off your warband list. On the D6 roll of a 2-6, the Ovate assumes the role of druid in the warband, and all the options available to the old druid are now available to the new druid. Note: it is possible to lose your Druid for the rest of the campaign if the ovate leaves the warband instead of assuming the new role as its Druid, as only one Ovate may be had at one time, and a Druid is needed to hire a new Ovate. This serves to illustrate the rarity of Druids, not to mention the sheer distance that an Alban warband is from home.
An Ovates role in the warband is to recite stories, poems and ballads recalling the legends and heroes of the clan, thereby saving them to memory, in preparation for the day he or she will assume the prestigious mantle of druid. Any warband member within 12" of the Ovate may reroll any leadership based test once per member per game.
Weapons/Armour: An Ovate may be armed with a sling and a dagger and may take no other weapons or armour
Henchmen
Warriors
25 gold crowns to hire
These are hardy, trustworthy and battle proven fighters. They have great faith in the abilities of their chief and their druid. They form the core of any Alban Warband.
Profile M WS BS S T W I A Ld Warrior 4 4 2 3 3 1 3 1 6 Weapons/Armour: Warrior Henchmen groups may be equipped with weapons and armour chosen from the Albion Warriors Equipment List
0-1 Berserker
50 gold crowns to hire
Alban Berserkers are feared so much on the field of battle that they can make an army flee rather than face them in deadly combat. When in hand to hand, these fearsome warriors are filled so full of anger and hatred that they burn to the touch and tear off arms and heads with the same ease as a well cooked boars leg. If they go into one of their famous Warp Spasms, there is little that can stop them and it is not uncommon for them to turn on their own kinsmen in their bloodlust, so blind is their rage.
Profile M WS BS S T W I A Ld Berserker 4 4 2 3 3 1 3 1 5 Special Rules: Berserkers are affected by the special rules for Ferocious Charge, Danu's Blessing, Berserker and Frenzy. They cause Fear in all right minded individuals.
Danu's Blessing: When testing for Warp Spasm, these warriors are affected on a 5-6 rather than a 6
Ferocious Charge: The Berserker may double his attacks on the turn in which he charges. He will suffer a -1 to hit penalty on that turn.
Berserker: The Berserker may add +1 to his to hit rolls during the turn in which he charges.
Frenzy: see page 39 of the Mordheim Rulebook for the full rulls for frenzy.
Weapons/Armour: Berserker Henchmen groups may be equipped with weapons and armour chosen from the Albion Warriors Equipment List
Note that with the rules Frenzy and Ferocious Charge, it is intended that a berserker has 2 attacks, 3 if armed with an extra hand weapon, the extra attacks given by frenzy and ferocious charge are both taken from the berserkers basic profile. However, if the berserker is blessed by Danu with a Warp Spasm, he will gain +2 attacks, among other enhancements mentioned in the full rules for Warp Spasm. In this case he will benefit from 3 basic attacks, increased to 6 with frenzy/ferocious charge, +1 if he has a second hand weapon (3 x 2 + 1 = 7 attacks!).
0-5 Waymen
20 gold crowns to hire
The sling is the favoured missile weapon of the Waymen as they roam the land, as the ammunition is always plentiful. They are often employed as scouts ahead of armies and as such their skills come in very useful in the confusing ruins of Mordheim.
Profile M WS BS S T W I A Ld Waymen 4 2 3 3 3 1 3 1 6 Weapons/Armour: Waymen henchmen groups may be equipped with weapons and armour chosen from the Albion Warriors Equipment List
0-5 Wolfhounds and Deerhounds
15 crowns to buy
In the tuaths, Wolfhounds are kept to keep marauding packs of wolves away from the precious cattle and sheep. Deerhounds are more often employed on the hunt, as their speed and endurance allows them to chase down the fastest quarry.
Profile M WS BS S T W I A Ld Wolfhound 6 4 0 4 3 1 4 1 5 Deerhound 7 4 0 3 4 1 3 1 5 Special Rules: Wolfhounds and Deerhounds are animals and thus do not gain any experience.
chieftain with a sword, boar spear, shield, helmet, light armour, tattoos and dagger (101pts) druid with a craoiseach, tattoos and dagger (70pts) ovate with sling and dagger (17pts) tuath guard with claymore, tattoos, dirk and dagger (72pts) berserker with axe, sword, tattoos and dagger (65pts) wayman with double handed axe, shortbow and dagger (40pts) 2 warriors with spears, javelins, shields, tattoos and daggers (104pts) wolfhound with sharp teeth (15pts)
The plan is to bring the two warriors and the wolfhound around one side, keeping in cover, throwing javelins at anyone who ventures close. In this they would be backed up by my chieftain, ready to throw his boar spear at any model who survives the javelins from the two warriors. Any model who survives all of this should be manageable by them in hth combat. The warriors will sneak up the side of the board until they are within charge range of the enemy archers/magic users/cowards and hopefully they will be sufficient to take all the enemy in that location. On the other side of the table, the druid, the berserk and the tuath guard will make all haste towards the best warriors in the enemy warband. They will be covered by a much slower creeping wayman and ovate, who will do their best to arch arrows and throw stones at anyone who pokes their head out.
