Journey to the City of the Damned – Maciek’s intro post

 

Greetings!

For my third attempt at OWAC I shall reap the benefits of the “special edition” and go full scale into Mordheim. A game where rival warbands fight over the ruins of a former capital of Ostermark in search of magical "wyrdstone". For me it will always be – hands down - the best miniatures game that Games Workshop has ever produced.  

The haunting cover art by Geoff Taylor

There are many reasons why I found this game so alluring. First, the mad apocalyptic artwork - reminiscent of (and clearly inspired by) Hieronymus Bosh. A print of the cover hangs on my wall and I still like to pore over all the disturbing details. Second, the grim-dark atmosphere that is somehow both post-apocalyptic and yet full of portents of even more impending doom… When released in 1999 it stood out from the colourful Warhammer 5th edition and harkened back to Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay – just the stuff I loved.

 

Then there are the extensive role-playing elements – individual equipment, experience, skills and injuries for warband members. All great for building stories and personalizing the members. Chaos and chance are always close – I had warbands rise to glory only to have mighty heroes laid low by critical hits, crippled by injuries or dying from minor wounds after the visit to the barber-surgeon. To add to the immersion the warbands collect the most unmistakably Warhammer resource of all:

 

Aaaah.... Waaaarpstone!*

The project

For OWAC VI, I plan to paint more damned denizens of Mordheim! I already have a number of warbands but some iconic actors are missing. The plan is to build at least four full-sized warbands and more terrain.

- Sisters of Sigmar

The excommunicated Sisters are the true force of good more than capable to smite the minions of chaos and evil. For this OWAC I focus on the original metals but some alternatives are added for variety.

- Witch hunters

Fuelled by hate and gold from the coffers of the Church of Sigmar these merciless zealots will cleanse Mordheim of all they consider heretical. Or unnatural. Or mildly suspicious. There are too many good witch hunter models to fit into one warband, so I went a bit overboard with numbers to have some extras.

- Middenheimers

Mighty men and women of the north. High concentration of hammers, wolf cloaks and some fierce hairdos. Low on helmets. However they are still soldiers of the empire so not all mercenaries follow the “barbaric” style, which is a good excuse to use models dressed in a classic imperial fashion.

- Beastmen raiders

The obligatory minions of chaos - savage beasts intent to defiling and dancing on the rubble of civilisation. Those of you with good memory may recall these models from my attempt at squad challenge in late 2021. Sadly I got as far as… one model. The rest remained untouched and a painful addition to the pile of shame. Their time will come in OWAC VI.

- Wildcard and Leader months 

Primary objective for the wildcard month is to build and paint at least one building, preferably more. True to the original intent, buildings will be crafted form easily available materials, no 3d printing. As secondary objective I have couple of hired swords (elf ranger, witch/warlock) and some quick-quick Skaven reinforcements.

For the leader month I will deliver the four warband leaders and the minotaur (if things go well, also the ogre bodyguard).

There may still be some additions or replacements of the models picture above, but I will document any changes.

Offering 

 

As offering to our mighty Overlord, considering his love of horror, I present one of the early 90s mummies by Gary Morley. This one has crawled out from the vaults of the Imperial History Museum in Mordheim, awoken from slumber by the hit of the warpstone comet.

Good luck to all challengers, I look forward to seeing all the projects of OWAC VI… and to bringing more souls (and fish and apple cores) to the merry dance of Death in Mordheim!

Cheers,
Maciek 

* Image originates from Shadow of the Horned Rat, another 90s classic  :-)