Mordheim Monster Mash

Well, my costume was pretty much finished Friday night, so I needed to find another spooky diversion to last until Halloween. Fortunately, Mordheim is the spookiest, so I wrote up some warbands and brought up a small table and set it up for a quick solo game. Although, to be frank, I don't have enough terrain to really get the proper effect.

These warbands are completely book legal, although some of the other ones that might show up later have been slightly house-ruled to fit my collection.

Pan Blaszkowicz and his men were exploring an abandoned village. Leaving his musketeers and their sergeant in the village, to provide covering fire if needed, he went to investigate the church ruins with his loyal pancerni comrades. But once they left the relative safety of the village walls, the forces of evil attacked.

Four slavering corpse-wolves burst from the forest, followed by two hunched, unwholesome-looking men, and at the same time, a sinister nobleman and his two gibbering retainers crested a nearby hill and surveyed the scene.

Startled by the sudden appearance of these vile beings, the worthy hussar and his men hesitated, and the creatures seized the initiative. Two of the dire wolves charged the nearest swordsman, while the other two made a course for the men ensconced in the village. The vampire and his ghouls raced towards Blazckowicz himself, and the vampire easily outpaced his minions as he anticipated the coming slaughter. No one noticed the necromancer, still in the forest, chanting the blasphemous words of an unholy spell.

The swordsman swallowed his fear, readying his weapon as he turned to face the monstrous wolf things. But his bravery was in vain; the two monsters bowled him over and he fell to the ground stunned.

The few seconds had cost them dearly, but the Poles were now able to react. The downed pancerni came to, though he was still on the ground. Blaszkowicz charged the nearest wolf, hefting his sword and pistol and calling to his fellow, who merely stood his ground, trying and failing to work up the nerve to engage the foul beast.

The sergeant and the two town musketeers opened fire on the wolves. The pistol shot went wide, but the musket balls found their marks, pulping one dire wolf's skull, and knocking another to the ground. The musketeer in the tower, having his pick of targets, was alarmed by the unnatural speed of the dread nobleman, and took aim at the vampire, but failed to hit.

Captain Blaszkowicz assaulted his foe. The saber struck the wolf but glanced off the unliving bone. The pistol shot struck true, and the dire wolf collapsed in a pile of carrion.

One of the remaining dire wolves regained its footing, while the other charged the swordsman who was still struggling to his feet, bloodlust flaring in its dead eyes. Blaszkowicz could do nothing to aid his comrade, for he himself was charged by the vampire itself. The hussar muttered a swift prayer, noting that the hellish aristocrat was followed close behind by its misshapen minions.

The dire wolf savaged the fallen pancerni, shaking the poor fellow until he stopped moving entirely. The vampire and the Polish captain exchanged blows, each finding a gap in the other's defenses, but neither able to land their blow with enough force to decide the matter.

Seeing their fellow so brutally mauled by the dire wolf, Sergeant Farber vaulted the fence and charged the beast with his halberd, while the other swordsman finally overcame his fear and attacked the vampire. As the musketeers reloaded, the sergeant swung his halberd in a great arc, crushing the direwolf to the ground. For his own part, perhaps seeking to atone for his earlier cowardice, the remaining pancerni lashed out with his saber and struck the vampire's head clean from its shoulders. The unholy abomination dissolved into a cloud of smoke as the rest of the Polish warband stared in disbelief.

The remaining undead took full advantage of the distraction to quickly skulk back into the woods and ruins. Their undying lord would return, and they would have their vengeance some other day.