Thursday 21 July 2016

MORDHEIM....a new arrival

If there's one thing in the world above all others that a hobbyist loves most it is surely the keen anticipation generated by the latest toy purchase arriving through the post!

There are few feelings that match the sheer excitement of the postman strolling down the drive and delivering one's most recent plastic/resin/lead indulgence. Inevitably the poor fellow shows signs of shock as you bound towards him; eagerly grab the package from his sweaty hands; hide it behind your back and tip toe back to your man cave before being interdicted by wives, relatives or even errant family pets!


This feeling for me is doubly delicious when the purchase in question is a classic piece of retro gaming goodness that for the mainstream community has long since been consigned to the sands of time.

So needless to say when the inconspicuous looking manila parcel shown above arrived at my door recently I was a barely contained ball of geeky excitement...For I knew within it lay....




...An original, pristine Mordheim boxset from yesteryear!

That's right dear reader look closely at the photo above.......that's correct, this boxset is indeed still factory-sealed within the original plastic shrink wrap! Amazing!

I am not going to talk about the cost of this find as for me it is invaluable, though suffice to say it was fairly pricey to find an original box in this condition. That being said it was no more so than associated cost of buying a current GW core game starter set, so I am not overly concerned.

This is something that I have been looking to purchase for quite sometime as it is a game that I was desperate to own in my youth but like so many hobby desires I simply never managed to get around to it (pocket money was a finite resource back in the day).

Frequent readers of this blog will no doubt be aware that I am a skirmish gamer at heart and so it is obvious that I would have been fascinated by the warband style of play offered by Mordheim compared to the mass battles afforded by its larger cousin Warhammer Fantasy Battle (God rest its soul).

As a Necromunda enthusiast I think I can safely say that Mordheim was in fact that particular game's fantasy cousin, and with such a fine pedigree I had no choice but to spend many an hour sourcing a copy of the game from the world wide web.


The back of the box is everything one would expect from the late 1990s/early 2000s GW packaging... bright colourful photos of the miniatures themselves accentuated with an oversize shot of the game in action: Look at those lovely card buildings, so retro...so cool!!


After spending a suitable amount of time just gawping at this classic piece of Citadel history I finally committed myself and tore through the shrink wrap and delved into the box itself. 

Inside it is absolutely stuffed to the brim with retro hobby goodness including a nice, big, chunky rulebook, a 'getting started' guide, stacks of lovely models sufficient for two opposing warbands, assorted dice, markers, measuring sticks and of course those lovely card buildings that were so iconic of GW in the 90's.

I have to say that the components are all excellent and they clearly demonstrate the high production values that were a hallmark of Games Workshop during this period. The models themselves come with a good degree of variety and are certainly a massive step up from their monopose cousins found in the Necromunda boxset.

My current intention is to complete my Frostgrave commission for Joe and then look at starting up a Mordheim campaign...to be fair the two games are very closely related in terms of setting and scope so it is a natural progression. 

As I say I never got to own a copy of Mordheim (though I did try a few games) during my misspent youth and so I would really appreciate any feedback, guidance or input from you guys about the game! 

Feel free to leave a comment outlining your experiences or thoughts below, I would love to hear your opinions of the product (good or bad).

20 comments:

  1. After my divorce, I threw away my Mordheim boxed set (except the Rulebook). I had no room to store things, no drive to play it, ashamed that my ex-wife resented my RPGS/Wargames stuff

    I regret it. Not the divorce, which turned out okay, but I still see the little pirate guy looking up from his destroyed house in the trash can, telling me I had made a mistake.

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    1. I'm sorry to hear about your divorce...and the loss of your Mordheim collection (which sounds the worse of the two!)

      You should look at re-collecting it! If you've already retained the rulebook you're half way there!

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  2. Very nice! Really resonate with your sentiments about Mordheim. I remember seeing the models in GW shops and loving them. Like you, though, I never had the money for them. Just the last couple of months I've picked up some of the Witch Hunters and some of the Possessed. They are superb models that still hold up really well. Some of the best GW have ever done, I reckon.

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    1. I think one of the key joys of oldhammer for me is that I can now afford to buy the games I once coveted but lacked the funds to acquire... And Mordheim was definitely one of those.

      I really need to look into sourcing some additional Mordheim figures to enhance the warbands that come in the box.

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  3. There's always a lovely feeling when you find something like that. I wish you joy of it Legio.

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    1. Cheers Conrad! As an oldhammer gamer I'm used to sourcing component parts and cobbling together approximations of out of print games so it is real pleasure to find a pristine box of fun! I look forward to exploring it further!

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  4. I'm so jealous... May you find all the joy of it, man! Bravo!

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    1. Thanks CJ! I can't wait to set some time aside to have a proper dig around and play with it all!

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  5. So damn cool - new game smell & everything? I played a bit of Mordheim, but mainly used some of the figures for my Empire Army. They really are nice and GW made some terrific WFB human models at the time, although they are a bit pricey now. Amazing find man, such a cool set to own.

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    1. I swear when I opened it there was a refreshing gust of trapped 1990's air released! I am going to try and source some original models but the joy of the game and setting is that most fantasy ranges will be compatible... I'm particular the Frostgrave soldiers would make excellent proxies!

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    2. It was a good era for WFB then, the Empire got a rebooted Army book that took a lot of its cues from Mordheim and some great support material books like Generals Compendium & Skirmish came out around the same time.

      The Empire theme was bit more subdued than (closer to Renaissance historical) than the current range which I reckon is a bit over-the-top, but the armies were looking really coherent. I remember reading that Empire book in the Uni library when I should have been doing, well, study. That terrain is cool to, as Necromunda player you'd know how much better those games play in 3D. Not too proud to say I'm jealeous.

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    3. God I miss those glory days of GW! I too compromised my studies for the great ganes produced during this era! I look forward to using those 3D buildings on the table!

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  6. Mordheim is a vert vert enjoyable game throughout the many stages of it, from band création, missions and after Battle séquences.
    It has Just the right granularity I fancy and the Link with frostgrave is very natural (I've recently played a campaign of both games with almost the same band).
    Enjoy !

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    1. It is exactly the sort of game I love; small bands of intrepid adventurers battling against the odds for fortune and glory. Where every model is an individual with personality and a backstory! Perfect! I can't wait to get some games played!

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  7. Great stuff, when I decided to take the plunge and get back into Warhammer about 7 years ago I scored a complete (though opened) 2nd ed 40K box and it brought back great memories of picking up my copy back in 93,

    Have been lucky to get complete copies of Dark Millennium, Heroquest, WHFB 4th and a few other things in their boxes...including a RT era Rhino still in the wrap.

    Never got to play Mordheim, it's on the list.

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    1. There is no greater feeling for a retro player than discovering a gem like this somewhere. A few years ago I found a near complete copy of Deathwing, the 1990 Space Hulk Expansion for a couple of quid in a charity shop! I was elated!

      I'm envious of your shrink wrapped Rhino!

      I'll let you know how Mordheim goes; hopefully it will be as good as I'm expecting!

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  8. I too didn't get into Mordheim back in the day, so I envy your purchase. I've been scouring the internetz for models too. Last year I got a box of Empire Greatswords for my birthday and lo and behold I got hold of two boxes of Empire Militia through a Danish WH Facebook group a few months ago.

    Now a few months later I have my first Warband ready for battle. I kitbashed the greatswords with the militia and painted 'em up. Have yet to upload some good pics though.

    The long and short of it; I presume to know and share your feelings and would love to get my hands on a mint Mordheim box. ;)

    Btw, if you haven't made the connection, which I think you have, Frostgrave cultists makes a perfect substitute for Cult of the Damned minis.

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    1. It's great to hear somebody else is getting into Mordheim at the same time as me! My advice is just keep scouring the Internet; mint copies of Mordheim do turn up from time to time on various auction sites.

      I'm impressed with your perseverance in assembling your warbands; I've been looking at expanding my own warband options with the original metal models from back in the day....and boy they aren't cheap!

      Thanks for the tip on the Frostgrave cultists, I shall give them a look!

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  9. What a beautiful find! I am saddened that Warmaster never got the love of a "big box" like this and feel that that led to its relative lack of popularity!

    Mordheim is something I totally missed out on and occasionally go looking for on eBay, but am absolutely floored by some of the prices. And this, speaking as a collector of Epic and Warmaster!

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    1. Cheers Ben. I'm really pleased I managed to find it as it has been something that I have been after for a while; especially in mint condition.

      I know what you mean about the prices.... I have a feeling my additional warbands may be made from proxies (possibly Frostgrave) in order to avoid bankruptcy!

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