6 player Mordheim

Our gaming Group consists of about 8 people playing several different gaming systems. We started with the border town burning campaign and most gaming nights a max. Of 4 people can attend the gaming session. No problem since the campaign system provides the right mechanism to cope with this. However the other night a total of 6 players applied and actually turned up for gaming night! Now what! Multiplayer scenario’s are cool but 6-player is taking long turns and how do they all interact? Headaches all over the places.

Fortunately mister Akrimpen and I were running our weekly km’s and during these runs we come up with the best game systems you can dream of. Usually we forget them when finished running (probably only during the runners high you can conceive these brilliant ideas) but now we noted them down and confused our fellow gamers with this system.

The system
The 6-way Mordheim system is loosely based on the Triumph&Treachery ruleset for WHFB. We came up with a turn system based on playing cards. Each turn the cards define an alliance and a turn sequence. A set of 6 cards is needed with the suits defining the alliance (2 of each) and the numbers define the turn sequence. Each suite has a high and a low number (for example: 6 Clubs and Ace Clubs, 5 harts and 2 harts, etc.). Highest number goes first and then along the numbers.
First turn:  the cards are dealt randomly. After the first turn the player who went last (the Ace) gets the 6 cards and may choose the first card, then the player before him, etc. Now you can choose/guess your alliance but also determine the order of play (when you want your warband to have its turn). At the start of the turn all cards are revealed and the alliances are shown. If for some reason you are in H2H combat with your alliance partner at the start of the H2H combat phase the members are set 1 inch apart.

Scenario

Our scenario was fairly simple: 1 artefact in the middle and all warbands equal distances from the centre in 12 inch bubbles at the edge of the field. A more or less city playing field with a big plaza in the centre (lots of room for the big battle. Preferable a plaza with 4 entry gates and further fenced off.
Goal of the scenario is to get the artefact off the table. Only a hero can pick up the artefact standing next to it for 1 turn. If multiple heroes stand next to the artefact for 1 turn and you want to make a move first do a strength check to see if you can take the artefact and run. If not, you remain standing.
The rest of the battlefield has 6 weirdstone shards to pick. Just moving aside a shard, you can pick it up and continue your move.

Win conditions the usual (winning leader +1XP, surviving hero + 1XP, +1 CP playing the scenario, etc.) but we added the following conditions:

+1 CP winning warband alliance (both allied warbands get this even if 1 warband member got the artefact, this makes working together more interesting)

+1XP for the hero who got the artefact of the table

Battlereport

So far the scenario! Now for the batllereport, did it all go as planned and how good was this system!??

The 6 warbands were: Marienburg mercenaries, Beastmen, Carnival of chaos, Marauder horsemen, Ogres and Witchhunters.

The game started of with the beastmen running towards the artefact and the beastman shaman actually flying its first turn and landing on the artefact. A quick start here! The other warbands moved tactically towards the middle. Immediately it was clear the Ogres were more going for the weirdstone and the Marauders leaving their spawn alone to hunt Mercenaries.
The next turn the beastmen were shot at heavily, taking some losses and the shaman was taken out, no direct retreat move with the artefact here. The mercenaries positioned themselves with shooters in a tower and they let a hired Ogre bodyguard make a run for the artefact. Meanwhile the beastmen were picked of by the carnival of chaos, while withchunters were stalking some Ogres.
Next turns made it clear that the Ogres were only leaving with weirdstone if they were lucky and in their haste of retreating one Ogre fell of a ledge tripping his foot and crashing down heavily taking it out of action. Marauder horsemen were not faring too greatly being heavily outnumbered here. Only 3 on horse entered the fray letting the Spawn take on a Dwarf warrior.
At this point route tests were taking its toll and the playing field rapidly became more empty. The Ogre stood its ground and was apparently scary enough to start walking with the artefact. By now turn 6 arrived and the scenario ended, letting the Marienburgers have the victory and the artefact.

Awesome game in retrospect. The game system with the cards worked like a charm and all players were busy scheming to go first or last and plotting alliances they (might) get each turn. This time we played without weather rules and random events (BTB ruleset) since with 6 players the turns were already long enough. We had good fun and a lot of game in games were played (some going for weirdstone, some fighting out personal vendettas and some going for the artefact). Good clean fun I’d say.