From the journal of Richter Haustmann...

"The journey to the City of the Damned was one fraught with peril and a great deal of suffering. While taking the road through the Drakwald most well trod by mercenary and army alike we were attacked by a band of Beastmen. While we lost men we were victorious but the toll it took on us before we entered the city meant we were at a distinct disadvantage before we even felt flagstone under foot.

In the first few days we have found ourselves a place to call 'home'. I use the term in the lightest sense of the word as it is no more than a somewhat hollow and burnt down butchers shop. Still, the roof remains and that is enough to keep out the sometimes burning rain that falls from the sky.

My second Waldemar and the Priest Gottfried went scouting in the first few hours and bought back with them two of the most dangerous individuals we've ever seen. The crazed worshipers of the foul Chaos Gods spat and raged as we dragged them around in chains. Gottfried begged me to kill them as soon as he returned but Waldemar had other ideas. Corrupted they may be, but maybe Sigmar has another use for them. Much like the attack dog they can be 'unleashed' upon any enemy we find and maybe then in death they will find Sigmar's divine retribution.

My eyes are set to the prize in hand. Deep within the warren of burnt down houses and warring warbands is a shrine that still holds relics of great worth and renown. While the Sisters of Sigmar might claim ownership over those lands they are a lost sect and while vocal can be put in their place at the end of a sword or tied to a stake to be licked by righteous flames. Those relics will be mine and I will use any means I can to make sure that happens."

Day One In The City Of The Damned

As you might have guessed my local gaming store (Titan Games) have begun their decent into madness and despair as our Coreheim campaign has gotten underway. My Witch Hunters, The Fiery Souls, lead by Richter Haustmann have pushed their way through the walls and are now seeking to carve out their own bit of fortune in this lost and forsaken city. We decided that during each weeks worth of games we'd play three against different opponents. This should keep things on a level playing field and ensure that we each get a stab at upgrades and changes each time.

My three opponents during this first foray into the world of Coreheim were a dastardly warband of Night Goblins complete with a 'Troll' who was really an Ogre that had taken a bump to the head and gone a bit stupid, a band of archer mad Middenheimers and a small but elite warband of Reiklanders.

Game One: Night Goblins Vs Witch Hunters

In this first game I pitted the might of Sigmar against the sheer tenacity and back stabbing nature of the Goblins. The warband was made up of a few sneaky gits with flails, a rather random and hilarious shaman and the aforementioned Ogre come Troll who sat at the centre of that gibbering horde.

The game started with my Witch Hunters splitting up and holding the middle of the street with Crossbow and Short Bows at the ready. My Flagellants in true mad style hared off towards the enemy alone with the Warrior Priest and a Witch Hunter taking up the rear guard. On the left flank of the skirmish my Witch Hunter sneaked behind a large building with the Zealots with swords and another of the Witch Hunters with a great weapon.

The first drops of blood fell on the cobbles as the Flagellants met a rather untimely end at the sharp end of pointy spears but in return a wound was caused on the hulking Ogre as it lumbered down the main street. As the fighting went on the Goblin fanatics made it very clear they wanted to smash and pummel but one fell somewhat short as he was stabbed by a Zealot. The other was making a rather long journey down the right flank and in the end did succeed in crashing into my rear guard of scared archers.

In the middle of the fighting the Warrior Priest showed the Shaman who was boss and after a blast of energy had knocked the Witch Hunter to his side over he charged in and made short work of the magic user.

One particularly plucky Goblin had taken up a snipers roost on the top of a building and was shooting down on the inevitable combat between an angry Ogre and Waldemar with his Crossbow. On the other flank it was going much more in my favour and Richter followed by Ulrich managed to clean out the streets and start their approach from behind.

As well as the regular skirmish we had also added a bit of character to proceedings by adding in some animated and very tenacious scenery that would attack if you got to close; it is Mordheim after all. The barrels of ale and a few choice bits of staircase did end up knocking a few warriors down who had previously been unaware of their poltergeist nature.

The scuffle in the end finished with mild success and thankfully we had decided as a group not to roll for injuries during our first scraps. With that in mind the Warrior Priest had netted himself his first upgrade and was now initiative 4. I hadn't come away with much in the way of gold but managed to find a phial of Dark Venom (can re-roll 1's to wound for one game) and purchased a Troll Slayer as a hired sword. Urgrim, slayer of renown and seeker of death joined the zealous cause at the promise of facing Trolls/Ogres and Possessed.

Game Two: Middenheim Vs Witch Hunters

In my second game I was facing off against a familiar foe. I had fought against the Middenheimers during my demo game and now was looking for some revenge. The Middenheimers however were armed with plenty of ranged weapons and this could end in disaster. A previous game had also meant that the Middenheimers were also coming to the battle with a Warlock with a host of spells at his command. All this firepower meant I had to try and close the gap as quickly as possible.

I started with the same split-up warband as before and tried to take the quickest route towards the enemy. Half of the Middenheimers were set up around a staircase to the right and the rest were crashing through one of the buildings. My crossbow armed Witch Hunter, Waldemar, had taken a very deadly shot and removed one of the enemy in a single shot. My other bowmen were less professional and it appeared to be a spitting contest into the wind. My Warrior Priest who had done so admirably in the last game took an arrow to the shoulder and went down leaving my Captain and Rudiger Howard charging into what was essentially a firing squad.

In the building things were going better. Despite some magic blasting out of the house my warriors had managed to punch their way inside. Slowly but surely the swords and axes went flashing up and down and I was able to leap through the enemies sending Urgrim the Slayer right into the midst of things.

Finally with the combat joined I was able to force the needed casualties on my opponent to check for a rout. Thankfully as my Captain was surrounded it was a good time for the rout to happen. This fight paid off big time and while I netted myself a power scroll (that got sold quickly) it also meant my warriors were updated with a range of martial and ranged prowess and my heroes started to gain some skills.

Notable amongst these was my Warrior Priest gaining another wound making him much more of a combat monster. Added to that Waldemar found a Tilean book on crossbows somewhere and learned the art of marksmanship. He was now a deadly +1BS when firing that and he could move and do it too.

I had ended up rolling for injury here and my Witch Hunter Rudiger gained Multiple Wounds. Thankfully all but one took effect and he had to sit out the next game with a smashed leg.

Game Three: Reiklanders Vs Witch Hunters

My third game saw me coming up against a small but elite warband of Reiklanders. They were touting Greatswords, a Captain with a Dueling Pistol and another Warlock who had come along with a range of spells as a bit of an underdog bonus.

Much like before the split party tactic appeared to be working. I had set up all my ranged forces on one side and all my melee warriors on the other. The Tilean Marksman manual had helped and Waldemar was able to plug and indeed stun one of the enemy running down the flank. Admittedly the rest of the shooting was still lack lustre but as the enemy closed my short bows came into their own. My warriors decided that they would stand their ground and as the enemy leader closed in they made sure they shot him in the leg and left him bleeding. Less said about Waldemar going down to a Greatsword the better.

On the other flank I poured all my forces into the breach and it was a right old scrap. Flagellants smashed apart armour and Richter Haustmann alongside Gottfried the Warrior Priest bought down the other hero over there. It ended, just before a rout, with the poor Warlocks surrounded by my warband as the Troll Slayer Urgrim cut him down to size.

I came out of this with a fair bit of experience and a bucket of gold to spend. This so far as gone into buying some heavy armour for Ulrich with his Great Weapon and paying more to Urgrim. I still have 94 gold crowns left to spend and at the moment I stand at 12 men so I can't add anymore to the force itself. I might have to keep it just in case my next game has disastrous consequences.

Richter Haustmann himself gained a skill and is now WS6 and knows the Swordsman skill. His means he is quite deadly with a blade getting +1 to injury with it. He still hasn't fired a single shot from his pistol but he is doing a bit of a Jack Sparrow and saving it for the right moment.

As The Dust Settles

Overall it was a fantastic first outing for the Witch Hunters and everyone has been enjoying it. It's certainly a quick game and it goes like lightening. While attacks and wounds come thick and fast, it's just the nature of the beast.

I am looking forward to the next week and hopefully some scenario play. The folks behind Coreheim have come up with some and there are existing ones which can easily be made fit for purpose. Let the wyrdstone flow!

"I grow tired of the folk that stand in our way. The greenskins ambushed us almost as soon as we left our small and humble shelter in the first light of morning. Despite the danger we were able to force our way through their ranks and delve deeper into the City. It was then that those upstart savages, those men of Middenheim decided to waylay us once more.

Their leader, an ostentatious gentleman (if such a word could ever be applied to the men of the North) bade us go back the way we had come as what lay ahead were spoils only meant for his hard fighting men. Their passive aggressive words of warning soon turned to dangerous hatred when they saw the chaos worshipers in tow. Waldemar had struck one of them with his crossbow before I had even drawn my sword and so we descended into a dangerous melee. For all their talk of the dark arts I was told my Urgrim later that they had a warlock in their company. To trust one of his kind in this accursed city seemed tantamount to heresy.

Urgrim, I should probably say more on him. The Dwarf of that strange cult of death seekers joined us soon after we met with the Night Goblins. He had been hunting the Ogre for a few days now and we promised him that if he joined us he would find his prey sooner or later. He seemed happy enough as long as we continued to pay him and kept him in ale and meats.

Others we had met along the way included the Reiklanders and while their captain wore the garb of the Templars of Sigmar he was no pious man. The upstart had been wounded by my own zealots and all of them had fled into the shadows once we had put their own warlock to the sword.

As I write this we are camped just inside the city walls in our Butchers shop once more. Night fell quicker than we anticipated and strange things were abroad so I hesitated to go further. We shall see what tomorrow brings."

Night Goblin Game Images from TempestBlade.

Week Two coming soon!