Games Workshop Mordheim

[Neon]

Based on my interest the youtube algorithm is pushing Mordheim videos on me pretty hard.
Aside from being an out of print GW skirmish game, what makes it so great? Why of all the countless OOP GW games does this one have such a following still 20 years after its release?
Tell me everything!

 

[David Johansen]

Great? Well, it was a lot of fun. It was flavorful and fairly fast playing. Your guys dashing around the ruins, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, falling to their deaths as often as not. The core game is pretty solid, some of the supplemental lists for stuff like Dark Elves, Orcs, and Bretonians isn't as balanced. The campaigns tend to wind up with someone in the lead fairly quickly so it's best for shorter campaigns as the balance gets pretty skewed.

You might look at Frostgrave or Stargrave for a more modern take on the warbands in ruins concept.

 

[DeadBob]

You might look at Frostgrave or Stargrave for a more modern take on the warbands in ruins concept.

Heh, I was just popping in to say the exact same thing.

Rangers of Shadow Deep is by the same designer as those two but is designed for solo or coop play (although both 'Grave games also have supplements that cover those).

As to the original question, partly because it was small scale, but got lots of the flavor of the Big Amies of the setting through individual characters.

If you like miniatures, it also gives you a nice way to have very customized minis with lots of attention paid to each one, rather than having to knock out whole formations.

Also, in general, it's easier to get someone to try a game that has low miniatures count requirements/real world cost (and real-world time cost), plus basic functional ruins are fairly easy to build while you work up to a more nicely modelled collection of terrain.

I'd still choose one of the 'Grave games today, but those really do exist because of the success of the GW skirmish games.

I'd probably only track down Mordheim or other old GW stuff if you're especially fond of GW setting/fluff from that period.

 

[Fenris-77]

Based on my interest the youtube algorithm is pushing Mordheim videos on me pretty hard.
Aside from being an out of print GW skirmish game, what makes it so great? Why of all the countless OOP GW games does this one have such a following still 20 years after its release?
Tell me everything!

Mordheim strikes a really nice balance for a skirmish game. There's lots of interesting ways for leaders and mooks to develop and you usually get something shiny after almost every game. The rules are also really well written to take dense 3D scenery set ups into account, which not every skirmish game handles well. I also really like how all the gangs have very much their own feel and a handful of special rules to make them all feel different. All those things taken into account give the game immense replay value.

 

[Brander]

In my case it's because I could use my Skaven mini's without needing spent $20K on more Skaven mini's to make a minimal army. I say that as a guy with a LOT of Skaven minis nonetheless.

The game was fun and, as other's noted, it required a much smaller investment in time and money.

Also like everyone else so far, I'd also something else nowadays. There are tons of smaller game companies with better rulesets.

 

[Neon]

In my case it's because I could use my Skaven mini's without needing spent $20K on more Skaven mini's to make a minimal army. I say that as a guy with a LOT of Skaven minis nonetheless.

The game was fun and, as other's noted, it required a much smaller investment in time and money.

Also like everyone else so far, I'd also something else nowadays. There are tons of smaller game companies with better rulesets.

If you've only spent $20k then you only have half of a 40k army! :

 

[Shipyard Locked]

Never got around to Mordheim, but it's 40k counterpart, Necromunda, was my second favorite Games Workshop product. I like it enough that I came back to the game a decade ago, put together two generic gang sets (just Catachan jungle fighters painted red and blue) and used them to start a moderately successful campaign with my siblings. In my mind, it was superior to the core 40k game in almost every way; faster, simpler, more portable, and more varied.

 

[DeadBob]

Based on my interest the youtube algorithm is pushing Mordheim videos on me pretty hard.
Aside from being an out of print GW skirmish game, what makes it so great? Why of all the countless OOP GW games does this one have such a following still 20 years after its release?
Tell me everything!

So did you track down a copy?

I'm curious if you decided to go for it.

 

[Neon]

So did you track down a copy?

I'm curious if you decided to go for it.

Based on everything I know about the game and it's community, I do plan on picking up a copy.

That said, I am looking locally first. The secondary market ain't what it used to be (ie it's more expensive than retail) and shipping has gotten to be exorbitant. So I just need to bide my time.

Frostgrave is readily available and cheap, but I have a thing for bloated and clunky games. I find them charming.

So, yeah, it on my watch list and AI really does know us better than it should! Cheers to our overlord!

 

[DeadBob]

Frostgrave is readily available and cheap, but I have a thing for bloated and clunky games. I find them charming.

My personal opinion?

Frostgrave is the better game in terms of general refinement on a similar, broad concept, but Mordheim has more setting-specific color which is pretty fun in its own way.

That kinda-sorta applies to the designer's other games as well, and their GW close-equivalents ( StarGrave/Necromunda and OathMark/GW LotR or WHFB).

 

[Ladybird]

Never got around to Mordheim, but it's 40k counterpart, Necromunda, was my second favorite Games Workshop product. I like it enough that I came back to the game a decade ago, put together two generic gang sets (just Catachan jungle fighters painted red and blue) and used them to start a moderately successful campaign with my siblings. In my mind, it was superior to the core 40k game in almost every way; faster, simpler, more portable, and more varied.

I always preferred GorkaMorka, because I appreciated the inherent silliness of it. But when I played in a Mordheim campaign one time, I had a lot of fun, and I appreciated how it let smaller factions get developed (I played Amazon's).

 

[Neon]

I always preferred GorkaMorka, because I appreciated the inherent silliness of it. But when I played in a Mordheim campaign one time, I had a lot of fun, and I appreciated how it let smaller factions get developed (I played Amazon's).

What's the difference between GorkaMorka and Necromunda? Are both skirmish games in the 40k universe? The former seems more focused on Orks, but are there any other differences?

PS: I'm just now discovering blood bowl!

"Late to the party, much?" - everyone

 

[David Johansen]

Gorkamorka's the one GW game I really regret not playing. The biggest differences would be Orks and vehicle rules. You were allowed to pile any number of figures on a vehicle but if they fell off, they fell off.

 

[Fenris-77]

Gorkamorka's the one GW game I really regret not playing. The biggest differences would be Orks and vehicle rules. You were allowed to pile any number of figures on a vehicle but if they fell off, they fell off.

Best rule ever.

 

[DeadBob]

Gorkamorka's the one GW game I really regret not playing. The biggest differences would be Orks and vehicle rules. You were allowed to pile any number of figures on a vehicle but if they fell off, they fell off.

IIRC, the Gorkamorka slotta bases were smaller than normal, which helped a great deal in getting them on the vehicles.

We played a little but not a lot. For some reason, probably the vehicles, it felt more expensive to get into than Necromunda.

As I recall, it did have the Red Grot, however, which I think was a Gretchin revolutionary of some sort.

 

[Neon]

Gorkamorka's the one GW game I really regret not playing. The biggest differences would be Orks and vehicle rules. You were allowed to pile any number of figures on a vehicle but if they fell off, they fell off.

Fucken brilliant.
Now I want in!

 

[Fenris-77]

IIRC, the Gorkamorka slotta bases were smaller than normal, which helped a great deal in getting them on the vehicles.

We played a little but not a lot. For some reason, probably the vehicles, it felt more expensive to get into than Necromunda.

As I recall, it did have the Red Grot, however, which I think was a Gretchin revolutionary of some sort.

Da Red Gobbo, also comes in Christmas flavour...

 

[SmallbutVicious]

Based on everything I know about the game and it's community, I do plan on picking up a copy.

That said, I am looking locally first. The secondary market ain't what it used to be (ie it's more expensive than retail) and shipping has gotten to be exorbitant. So I just need to bide my time.

Frostgrave is readily available and cheap, but I have a thing for bloated and clunky games. I find them charming.

So, yeah, it on my watch list and AI really does know us better than it should! Cheers to our overlord!

You don't need to buy the game - the rules are available for free online (legally). Download them here, grab some minis and build some scenery (or just stick some ruined cereal boxes and the Old Washing-Up-Bottle Tower on your table).

 

[Ladybird]

What's the difference between GorkaMorka and Necromunda? Are both skirmish games in the 40k universe? The former seems more focused on Orks, but are there any other differences?

PS: I'm just now discovering blood bowl!

"Late to the party, much?" - everyone

GM has far fewer factions (The starter set let you play Gorker or Morker gangs, depending on whether you wanted to be brutal but kunnin' or kunnin' but brutal, and even the expansion only added three more), but the vehicles and the sheer Orky character of it sold it. You could build the Ork gangs in a bunch of different ways (Your standard lads-and-trukks, or a biker mob, or a group of trukks).Your nob had to win a battle to get his first Ld boost; sending a lad to the Doks to get fixed up was always a gamble that the dok would actually fix what you wanted; if you wanted to change vehicle crew they had to have a punch-up and winner got to stay on. Even just your basic lads were tougher than most of the weapons, so shifting anyone was hard. It was stupid and random, but on the other hand, it was stupid and random, and it was never worth getting upset about because lol Orks.