Mordheim: City Of The Damned
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This is a /v/ related article, which we tolerate because it's relevant and/or popular on /tg/... or we just can't be bothered to delete it. |
Mordheim: City Of The Damned is a video game based on the popular Warhammer Fantasy specialist game called Mordheim that was released in 2014 as an early-access game, and continued to receive updates (unlike most games in the early-access trend) throughout 2015 and into 2016.
Setting
The storyline is the same as the tabletop: Mordheim was a city in the Empire, as well as one of the primary centers of the Church of Sigmar and contained the bulk of the Sisters of Sigmar, militant nuns dedicated to their god Conan McZeus. A prophesy stated that Sigmar would return to the world in Mordheim, and in the year it was supposed to happen (specifically in the year of 1999, making this a potential alternate universe where Y2K meant something) the city population EXPLODED with travelers. It quickly turned from a standard Empire city (which tend to already be a mix of faithful, Chaos cultists, and redshirts fated to be the skulls on every surface in Games Workshop landscape design) to a den of hedonism and debauchery, with quickly established slums. Daemon sightings were reported towards the end, and the city became a powderkeg where something awful was bound to happen. To make matters worse, the Empire was in a civil war at the time between three claimants to the position of Emperor.
The Augurs of the Sisters received a vision that shit was about to go down on New Years Eve, and rather than joining the assembled celebrants in the city square to wait for their god they hid in the solid rock catacombs beneath their cathedral. When they emerged, they found that Mordheim had been fairly well destroyed, partially by riots, partially by Daemon slaughter, and partially by a HUGE COMET MADE OF WARPSTONE CRASHING INTO THE CITY. They quickly decided that Sigmar had simply found the city wanting and punished it instead.
The Warpstone comet had shattered and its fragments spread throughout the city. These fragments, called Wyrdstones, caused massive corruption to everything around them.
The City
Mordheim itself is a complete mess. The riots must have been interesting because rather than complete swathes of destruction, you have entire buildings reduced only to a charred wooden skeleton while the building next door remains intact (and rather spiffy, being the current nicest house on the block). The streets are covered in paper debris that seemingly came from nowhere, and some homes are almost cozy inside. Even more telling is the signs of madness everywhere. Carriages that have skinned horses placed on the cab while kneeling corpses of men in bridles are hitched to the front. Fenceposts which have two "knights" made up of corpses dressed up in wooden armor and impaled on a stake, one of which is crowned with a fish, riding a "horse" made up of multiple pieces of dead animals, which are set on opposite sides holding lances as if jousting. Blood everywhere. Random limbs strewn about and hung from banners declaring the city's allegiance to Sigmar or grasping onto masonry and woodwork as if belonging to an otherwise invisible human. Dead men and women with their arms and legs chopped away with a bloody smear indicating they managed to crawl some distance after being rendered a torso before bleeding to death. Bodies hung from windows and roofs, not being clear whether they were strung up before or after death. Some bodies appearing as if they were killed only moments before despite being covered in a layer of undisturbed dust, some bodies stripped to a clean and polished skeleton laying just beside.
Giant glowing blue maggots crawl on any surface in the city in clusters, seemingly having no interest other than their meandering path. Masses of flesh, spiky bone-like protrusions, eyes, and mouths like lazy Gibbering Mouthers (or more Warhammer-appropriate, flattened Chaos Spawn) are found almost everywhere with some granting blessings or curses to those who stray too near, others doing...something (playing, eating?) to human corpses they've picked up, some rearranging the entire landscape such as appearing to grow from the bottom of a well with a psuedopod lifting the top of the well in the air and inspecting it while a jet of infected water shoots from below and tickles their soft bits, and some just not giving any fucks what's going on and watching the bipeds with disinterest as they RIP AND TEAR each other to pieces.
Of course, not everything is completely destroyed. Raven skull-headed men made of stone pour urns in elaborate fountains dedicated to Morr, the roofs of buildings adorned with Sigmar's Twin-tailed Comet rise from the and still look pure when seen at dawn from the roof of a Cathedral, bronze statues to Sigmar hoist their hammers proudly.
Most fights take place either in the Merchants Quarter, the Noble's District, or the Docks while once in a blue moon a battle occurs at one of the Cathedrals of Sigmar or a Bridge.
Gameplay
The video game basically plays like the tabletop. Pick your warband, equip them, train them, pay them, tend to their medical needs. Skirmish in the city going by Initiative.
Movement during a character's turn is based on their allotment of movement and attack points with certain actions taking one or more of those. Each character can move a certain distance based on things like how heavy their armor is, allowing you to wander freely although you can retrace your steps to take a different route using your movement points. You can't redo your steps if you set off an environmental effect (usually walking on or by one of the Chaos growth things) or a waiting foe sees and charges you. You can perform movement actions like climbing or jumping on/off things although there is a chance of failure in which the character is unsuccessful (jumping across gaps or climbing) or takes damage if they fail. Some actions, like praying using a Rosary or shouting encouragement to a teammate also take movement points. A large chunk of any skirmish is between gathering Wyrdstone, looting dead bodies and other sources of goods like chests and piles of rubble, and getting into position for combat. At the end of each turn characters unless they overexert themselves characters can select if they are going to go into an Ambush stance (they'll rush and made an immediate attack on the first thing they see), a Dodge stance, or a Parry stance (if they have a Shield equipped). Characters with ranged weapons can use Overwatch, which is Ambush except for using Dakka rather than WAAAGHing.
In combat, characters take turns bashing each other, with some having special abilities like an extra hard smash or a debuff attack. Sometimes characters can make a counter-attack. Spellcasters cast spells. Pretty straightforward.
When characters are outnumbered, they have to pass an All Alone check based on their Leadership. If they fail, they will attempt to flee and earn a free attack from everything they're in combat with until they dart in the opposite direction as controlled by the AI, attempting usually to hide in a building (although smart players can set up an ambush character nearby who will charge them and give them a whap the second they start to run). Characters who fail their All Alone but are engaged in combat from all sides and don't have a place to flee to simply lose their turn.
The map is lost or won when one team Routs, based on having their warriors put out of commission.
When the battle ends, the results screen will say which characters advanced. More importantly, will say who among those who were knocked the fuck out managed to make it back and with or without their gear, and whether they simply dropped dead upon returning home or if they suffered some kind of injury. Sometimes a redshirt who was gored to death by a Chaos Spawn in the skirmish can even make it back with all their gear, completely unhurt and having only gained experience points from the process. Permanent injuries show up on a character, and can be anything from a cracked skull giving them permanent Stupidity, a lost limb, a lost eye, and so on. While it may look absolutely badass for you to have a Sister Superior with a peg-leg, a missing eye, and a permanent crazy fucking look on her face while she swings around a giant mace, the longterm injuries are usually debilitating and unless you're really attached to a warrior (or not expecting them to survive much longer) you may want to consider replacing them with a new recruit unless they are so experienced you can't bring yourself to let them go. Or keep them in emergency reserve, maybe bring them a heretic home to bludgeon to death afterwards if they sweep while you're gone.
A story mode exists in the game, although it's fairly bare-bones and just gives you the basics of who your faction basically is. During those, you can get access to a "Dramatic Personae" which is a named hero character. Players of Mordheim will recognize favorites like Bertha Bestraufrung when they get access to these special characters (who unless you REALLY fuck up can almost solo most maps by themselves).
Most characters have a lot of customization options for their appearance, with more on the way.
Factions
Multiple factions converged on Mordheim, every single one looking to secure the Wyrdstone for themselves.
Sisters of Sigmar
The Sisters of Sigmar hunt for them in the interest of securing the damned corruption-causers within The Rock, their fortress vault that lies in the middle of the river south of the city. Most came from nobility, sent to bring honor to the family within aristocratic society. They want to see the city cleansed and restored to its former glory, although they've been labeled as witches and possibly the cause of the destruction by the more fanatical members of their faith. They lack ranged attacks, diverse magic, or a heavy option but are the most disciplined fighters and are the most durable force. They also have easy access to buffing and healing magic. Sisters of Sigmar are highly limited in weapon selections, only able to use one and two hand maces, one and two hand flails, Sigmarite Warhammers, and Daggers.
- Novice: The first of the two Henchmen options of the Sisters of Sigmar, and represent those who have just been accepted into the church as a Handmaiden of Sigmar after receiving years of instruction and study. Come stock with a Shield and a Mace, and can equip up to Heavy Armor. They have modest stats, but at higher levels can equal the fresh recruit Heroes of other factions. It's been noted by players that their character models resemble Shelley Duvall with freckles.
- Sister: The other Henchmen option. They are the Novices who have graduated into being Sisters proper (obviously). They come standard dual-wielding one-handed weapons. Their primary difference is a higher maximum level of Agility and Accuracy, although this is only important if you plan on having your characters ultra-specialized or reach high levels (the former is viable, the latter is assuming a lot of investment and luck). Unlike the youthful face of the Novice, the Sisters have a look of gritted determination.
- Augur: The first Hero option, although only unlocked for recruitment after your Warband gets a few levels. They were blessed with extraordinary supernatural senses by Sigmar, even visions, and blinded themselves to better tap into that in addition to shaving their heads other than a single very long braid. Augurs can't equip armor, and are stuck with basic Cloth. On top of that, they have a low maximum Toughness, so Augurs are fairly made of glass. They aren't exceedingly powerful either, same weapon options as the other Sisters of Sigmar options and the only combat stat they have a higher maximum in is Agility. They have a massively high potential Alertness. The main strength of an Augur is they can use the Perception ability free (you can't use it if you don't have any movement points left even though it doesn't use any) and it is at a 99% chance to succeed. On top of that they get a fair amount of movement points, and without armor they can move quite a distance for each one. This makes the Augur your scout across the map (although why something as valuable sounding as an Augur is just a scout is a good question). Of interest is the cosmetic customization option that makes their blindfold into Purity Seals. Augur faces are basically just bald blind Sisters.
- Sister Superior: The second closest option to a heavy that Sisters of Sigmar get for normal missions. Sister Superiors are the highest ranked Sisters, who are experienced in the art of combat and keep discipline among the lower ranks. They have a high maximum in all categories other than Agility, which is average. They have a nifty ability called For Sigmar! which increases the distance each point of movement their target can move for three turns, letting the Sister Superior hustle your footplodding Henchmen if your Augur or Bertha get in trouble. They fittingly resemble Sisters who have a decade of experience.
- Sigmar's Purifier: Sister Superiors who's devotion pushes them to instinctively call on Sigmar's patron Wind of Magic, Light. They have weak spellcasting ability and their combat stat maximums are all higher in addition to Leadership compared to a Superior. They come with Comet of Sigmar default, a targeted fireball attack (which is your ONLY ranged attack). Best to invest in a Rosary to have them use at the start of each skirmish, at it increases their chance to successfully cast a spell (if you haven't learned from Warhammer Fantasy, miscasts SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK). Unfortunately Purifiers are an awkward jack of all trades, when you'd usually only want either a Superior or a Matriarch. Purifiers look like the midpoint in age between a Sister and a Superior.
- Maiden of Sigmar: A sister who is zealous and devoted enough to get Sigmar's personal blessing. As the Sisters' impressive-type unit, she is essentially a jacked-up Superior with high stats and maximums across the board (but particularly Strength, Intelligence and Weapon Skill), does not get tired from dual-wielding or two-handing and starts with high ranged resistance and Sinful Speech spell to shut up those magic users. Automatically passes most of mental rolls, at the cost of not being able to voluntary disengage or flee. Not as good as other Impressive units on the one-vs-one basis, her main use is to deal as much damage as possible at once while being supported by fellow sisters.
- Sigmarite Matriarch: The large matronly woman in charge of each branch of the Sisters of Sigmar, who answer to the High Matriarch, Bertha. In most cases the Matriarch will be the Leader of your Sisters of Sigmar Warband. They have slightly below average max Agility, but the rest of their stats have much higher maximums especially Leadership, Toughness, and Weapon Skill (which since it influences Parry means you'll almost always want a Matriarch equipped with a Shield). Matriarchs are stronger spellcasters than Purifiers but are also more expensive, and come with Sigmar's Might default which increases damage as well as chances for a critical hit for all friendlies in a bubble around her with a low chance of failure.
- Bertha Bestraufrung: The Head Matriarch as well as Abedissa of The Rock, and leader of the Sisters of Sigmar. The direct heir of Sigmar's line, with an iron-clad will that makes her immune to the strongest lures of Chaos (although not the debilitating effects), who commands and intimidates all around her depending on their affiliation with the Sisters. Clad entirely in Gromril armor, Bertha is the strongest the Sisters can bring. Although she's not immune to being whittled away through trickery or ambushes, Bertha is strong enough to knock Skaven out with one blow, any Daemon with three. She gains special abilities in each mission you can bring her and is available for every storymode mission. Keep your girls alongside Bertha, and you'll plow through anything with ease.
Mercenaries
The Mercenaries are the men of Reikland, where Mordheim is located. They support Grand Prince Siegfried for the position of Emperor, and came to Mordheim to loot the city for either his cause or their own wallets. They want the Wyrdstone to sell to eccentric nobles (both Chaos worshiping and just plain fucking stupid) in other regions of the Empire. They're the jack of all trades group, having access to a Mage as well as an Ogre. They also have the most ranged options.
Skaven
The Skaven came to the city seeking the Wyrdstone because...well, it's fucking Warpstone. Skaven culture revolves around it as everything from currency to ammunition to a flavorful spice to sprinkle on your lunch (probably a living human baby). Clan Eshin, as the spies and assassins of the Skaven race, arrived to Mordheim before any others and work both to keep other Skaven away from the city and to steal the Wyrdstone to increase their own power within Skaven society. Also, a chance to kill-kill a manthing is always a plus. High damage, high evasion. This is balanced by absolutely shitty morale, meaning you need to actually keep the upperhand or your minions will run. The Rat Ogre is hard to kill, but comes with Stupidity default so it's less reliable than other heavies.
Cultists
The Cult of the Possessed are the Chaos cultists of Mordheim. They believe a Chaos God has come to their city, and gather the Wyrdstone to the site of a possible rift into the Warp called the Pit. The Cult also took in all the mutants, who are cursed and destroyed by all other factions, and gave them a newfound sense of purpose in their horrible fate. They strike the balance between Skaven and Mercenaries, with a decent heavy (Chaos Spawn), good access to magic, but aren't very durable and lack the evasiveness of Skaven.
Witch Hunters
A small posse of Witch Hunters decided to go on a field trip to Mordheim by the suggestion of the Grand Theogonist. Picked up some flagellants and zealots on the way there, the more the merrier. Impressive unit comes in the for of an Executioner, a big guy with a big axe and an unhealthy relationship with fire.
Undead
Vlad Von Carstein sent some whelps to the big city to bring home some green goodies before he paunched his famous assault of the Empire, which first made Vampires a threat known to even the common man. Same units as on the tabletop, aside from dogs being replaced with a mini vampire hero. Their impressive is a Crypt Horror. A fun tactic is tying up the enemy with zombies and throwing poison globes at the fight, since zombies are immune to poison effects.
- Zombie
Mindless Undead. Immune to All Alone, Fear, and Terror. Immunity To Poison. Can't buy the 'Lad' s Got Talent Skill. Being killed doesn't hurt Warband Morale. Can't use Consumables in Combat. Stuck with Cloth Armor, no ranged weapons and limited to one-handed weapons. Cost the same as Ghouls, and you use them to bog down enemies as expendables while your real killers do their work.
- Ghoul
Vlad's own Ghouls rather than a Strigoi version, and as a result is at least civilized enough to wear a loincloth and use weapons even if they still have the poisoned nails of general Ghouls. Vlad's Ghouls have origins in survivors of the Warhammer Black Death. Can't use armor other than Cloth, but gets a Great Axe and a Great Hammer unlike the Zombies. Always fights to the death, can't Flee or Retreat and is Immune to All Alone, Fear, and Terror. Can't use consumables in Combat, immune to Death Stench. Far better stats than Zombies, but if they die you'll have Morale losses. If using them, you need to make fights count and have their back with your heavy hitters.
- Dreg
Surviving civilians of Mordheim, shunned or outright killed by all other factions. The Vampires protect them so long as they perform the duties only the living can perform (and do so far more reliably than Ghouls). Left pretty fucked up bt the comet fall, they have hunchbacks and various facial scars and aren't exactly sane. Your basic Igor. Has access to all the standard gear, is immune to Death Stench. Has Humble Servant, giving 25 HP of its own to heal a Vampire or Vampire Thrall nearby for 15 and boosting their Initiative and Dodge. Boost your Leader, then get out of the way and shoot to support him. Consider carrying some healing to use it a fair amount.
- Vampire
Basic Vampire. A Sylvanian, part of the Von Carstein Bloodline even if they have different surnames. Ridiculously high stats, able to equip just about anything other than ranged weapons, with the limits being Bows, Longbows, and Short Bows. Ignores All Aoine, Fear, and Terror and as an Undead has Immunity To Poison. On top of that they have Terror.
Daemons
The Daemons of the city are not playable. They simply rampage through the ruins, killing anyone they meet regardless of affiliation. A Bloodletter is as quick to eat the heart of a Skaven as he is a human, Plaguebearers as interested in defiling a Cultist's body as much as they are a nun's, and Daemonettes...it's better left unsaid. Daemons only appear in the upper difficulty levels, and only if a warrior is above a certain level (spawning at the start of the map near that warrior). They are damn near impossible to kill and simply kill the shit out of whatever they feel like. It is possible to kill one, IF your opponents are not near, and you focus the ever loving hell outta it. Even then, be prepared to lose at least one of your tanks to it. Don't forget, Pink Horrors split into two Blue Horrors once you kill it. Blues are very squishy though.
Hired Swords
The Hired Swords (from what we've seen so far) come in pairs, one for the good guys and one for the bad guys. However each play very differently from what is available in warbands, and it may be worth to start a campaign with one if you're not too keen on the hero available.
- Poison Wind Globadier The Skaven came up with the crazy idea of selling their services to other deranged maniacs. Only usable by evil warbands (Cultists, Undead and Skaven, duh). Deals AoE poison damage, and can be used as a healer once he levels up. Very versatile in shooting, horrid at combat, but properly kitted out can handle himself.
- Smuggler The good guys version of the Poison Wind Globadier as the shooty Hired Sword. Starts with a rifle.
- Wolf Priest of Ulric Take your run of the mill warrior priest, add some wolf with a side of badassery and vola, you have this beardy fellow. Don't bother with him if you play Sisters, the Smuggler is much more useful.
- Doomweaver A powerful caster of the chaos association.
Summary
If going by the original Mordheim, everyone and their mum is going to come to the city and turn it into an ultimate clusterfuck. Be'lakor is the identity of the "Chaos God", and his plan was to establish a little kingdom for himself free of the touch of the real Chaos Gods although when he realized he had simply traded one prison they laugh at him for looking so tiny and stupid in for another he fucked off back to the Warp and left Mordheim to fend for itself. In the end canon of Warhammer Fantasy, Mordheim takes place 500 years prior to the "present day" and by the current year is just a ruin still being fought over by warbands and forgotten by everyone else. Sisters didn't succeed and were eventually forgotten or absorbed into the ranks of the Lahmian Vampires, Siegfried didn't become Emperor, Clan Eshin remained the number 3 Clan since unlike Clan Moulder and Clan Skryre they didn't really produce anything everyone wanted. Everyone basically lost, and just kept fighting thinking they could win over the increasingly crumbling remains of the city.
That is anyway until End Times happened and the world blew up and then the Winds of Magic became worlds to themselves with each and every one just being a giant Mordheim LALALA, I CAN'T HEAR YOU, LALALA!