11. Warrior Accolades
Warrior Accolades in a comet-shell
Warrior Accolades are top 10 lists (each by unique category) of the best characters in your campaign. The additional data which needs to be collected is fully explained in each accolade.
The three warriors topping each list earn in-game benefits. If your gaming group includes optional Mayhem Victory Points, the first place warrior of each accolade also awards 1 MVP to their warband for as long as they hold the title.
Warrior Accolade Lists
Warrior Accolades - Full Rules
Players often enjoy comparing the accomplishments of their warriors, from who has the most kills to which leader has won battles. In this optional rule such statistics become rewards with in-game benefits called Accolades. This will involve collecting and updating more data each turn. Tables to record the data for the example accolades below can be found in the End of Turn Data Sheet as well as the Mayhem in Mordheim warband roster.
A top ten list for each category of accolades will appear in the campaign’s Turn Chronicles. The best warriors earn benefits for themselves or their warband (in addition to bragging rights). For each example below the top three of each list gain a specific accolade along with its advantages. Higher ranked accolades gain all the advantages of lower ones plus their own benefits. So a warrior/warband holding the first place accolade earns the special rules from 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place accolades. Warriors can earn accolades from multiple lists.
In the case of a tie, all such characters are considered to equal the lowest rank between them. For example, when two tie for second place, both earn the third place accolade. Should three tie for second place, they would all be ranked 4th, earning no accolades.
Warriors that fall from a top position lose the accolade they once held along with the corresponding benefits. Should a warrior die or be retired, they are removed from all accolade lists.
Below are example accolade lists. Use some, all, or completely make up your own lists for your campaign.
Scythes of Morr
Morr is the god of death who protects and guides souls to the underworld. The Scythes of Morr lists the top 10 heroes in your campaign that have taken enemies out of action. Quantity is not be the only measure of success, the quality of downed opponents can be taken into account. To distinguish between opposing leaders, other heroes, and henchmen, each is given a different value: 3 for leaders, 2 for heroes, 1 for henchmen. The total value of these enemies minus the number of times a hero themselves goes out of action determines a warrior’s Morr Score, which is used to rank warband heroes into this accolade list.
Taking non-player enemies out of action also adds to your Morr score. The scenario in which enemies are found will list a Morr Score Value of leader, hero, or henchmen for the enemy. Non-player models with no attacks generally do not add to this accolade. If no Morr Score Value is listed such a model awards 0 points.
The Mayhem in Mordheim warband roster includes boxes in which to record this data for each hero. Tally the number of leaders, heroes, and henchmen a hero takes out of action (OoA), not the value of each opponent. This way a hero’s the total number of OoAs (“kills”) is also recorded. In the Gone OoA box, record the number of times the hero has themself been taken out of action. Copy these stats into the Hero Campaign Stats table of your End of Turn Data Sheet. Calculate each Morr Score for your heroes and record it into the Morr Score box of the data sheet.
Morr Score = (3*Leaders)+(2*heroes)+henchmen – Gone OoA
Ties in Morr Scores are broken by whoever has the higher total kills (not values). If this is tied, there is no further tie breaker.
The accolades are available for the top 3 Scythes of Morr are The Raven, The Sentinel, and The Reaper. The accounts of these warriors provoke everything from anxious respect to outright dread in those who encounter them. The game benefits from Scythes of Morr accolades do not affect enemies who are immune to psychology (who are not afraid of anything) nor models that cannot earn experience (who don’t understand anything).
The Raven (third place accolade): In the Old World ravens are the eyes and ears of Morr. The superstitious say that the birds can sense who is about to die. The warrior with this accolade may not have such perceptions but their opponents don’t know that. Enemies take care to be cautious when facing this hero. Whenever the Raven intercepts charging models, it is the Raven who is considered to have charged. The original charging model ends their charge to take a more defensive stance against this perceived agent of Morr.
The Sentinel (second place accolade): The myths of the god of death mention a guardian of Morr’s Gate, the portal to the underworld. This accolade names the warrior as worthy of this post, welcoming his opponents to pass through death’s door. The warrior causes fear for as long as they hold the title.
The Reaper (first place accolade): The warrior who tops this list is called The Reaper, rumoured to be an avatar Morr himself. The warrior causes Terror. Terror is exactly the same as fear, except that the Reaper also causes fear in other fear causing models. Everyone fears the Reaper!
In-game Advantages
Mayhem Victory Points (optional)Any warband who’s warrior holds the Reaper accolade raises their MVPs by 1 for as long as their warrior remains at the top the Scythes of Morr list.
Myrmidia’s Chosen
Myrmidia is the god of war strategy and this table lists the current warband commanders who have best lead their warriors to victory. Each game you win adds to the Victory Score of your warband’s leader. When using this accolade each scenario is given a Victory Value between 1–3, representing how notable the mission is. For every scenario you win add the victory value to your leader’s victory score on the Mayhem in Mordheim warband roster, and record the current total into the Hero Campaign Stats table of your End of Turn Data Sheet for your leader. Even if your leader did not take part in a scenario that you won, its victory value is added to your leader’s victory score (no one remembers the second in command). Some side quests and bounties can award to a leader’s victory score, if you use these optional rules.
The number of times a leader has gone out of action is deducted from their victory score to calculate your commanders’ Chosen Grade. Chosen grades are used to rank all leaders in this accolade list, and can be negative. Should a warband’s leader ever perish, the hero which takes over starts with a victory score equal to half that of their predecessor, rounded down. This starting score cannot be negative. The former leader’s success does rub off on the warband, giving the next in command a bit of a head start.
The accolades are available for the top 3 Myrmidia’s Chosen are The Banner, The Lance, and The Marshal.
The Banner (third place accolade): If the Banner is standing on the battlefield, they can re-roll the first rout test taken by their warband.
The Lance (Second place accolade): The Lance can re-roll any one Leadership test during the game as long as they are standing.
The Marshal (first place accolade): The Marshal has a bonus of -1 to the dice roll for any Leadership test.
In-game Advantage
Mayhem Victory Points (optional)Any warband who’s leader holds the Marshal accolade raises their MVPs by 1 for as long as their leader remains at the top the Myrmidia’s Chosen list.
Luck of Ranald
Ranald is the god of luck and thieves. These accolades represent Ranald’s fortune for surviving a bad day. Warriors that fall in battle (go out of action), yet live to tell the tale, might earn points for this accolade. Both heroes and henchmen (if you name them) can be included. Each warrior on your Mayhem in Mordheim warband roster includes a box to record a Lucky Bastard Score.
Not all out of actions are equal. Ranald is not impressed by fools or clumsiness, but does admire audacity. Lucky bastard points (LBPs) are awarded under the following circumstances during games:
0 LBPs for going out of action from failing an initiative test.
3 LBPs for the 1st warrior of any warband going out of action from an attack.
2 LBPs for the 2nd and 3rd warrior of any warband going out of action from an attack.
1 LBP to any of your warriors who go out of action from an attack before you have to takes rout tests.
0 LBP to any of your warriors going out of action after having to take rout tests.
1 LBP for each serious injury result #22–36 suffered on the Heroes’ Serious Injury Chart.
Some scenarios might include other actions which award LBPs. Once your warband is subject to rout tests, your warriors can no longer earn lucky bastard points during the battle (while Ranald likes daring, he despises reckless bravado).
Copy this data into the Hero Campaign Stats table of your End of Turn Data Sheet for each hero. If you include henchmen, copy their lucky bastard scores into the Henchmen Gone OoA table.
Ties are broken by warrior experience. This can be the warrior with the most experience, the least experience, or might change chapter to chapter! The campaign administrator section has more information on options for this.
In-game Advantage
The accolades available for the top 3 Luck of Ranald are The Cheat, The Rogue, and The Kattacus.
The Cheat (third place accolade): Small distractions seem to plague enemies in close combat with the Cheat (for example light from broken glass reflects into their eyes, or a spooked magpie flies past their face). The warrior with this accolade can re-roll all failed escape from combat tests.
The Rogue (Second place accolade): The Rogue seems to get lucky when sneaking about (enemy attention often being diverted). The Rogue can hide even after running during the movement phase. They can also add or remove items from storage containers while hiding.
The Kattacus (first place accolade): The warrior who tops this list is thought to be favoured by the trickster god and is whispered to be an incarnation of The Kattacus (a mythic feline with several lives). The Kattacus may roll twice for each a post battle serious injury and choose which result they like best. Accolades are not healing effects (if you use this optional rule), so the Kattacus’ warband can still possess one. However, this warrior cannot use both the Kattacus benefit and a healing effect.
Mayhem Victory Points (optional)Any warband who’s warrior holds the Kattacus accolade raises their MVPs by 1 for as long as their warrior remains at the top the Luck of Ranald list.
Envy of Marienburg
This accolade lists the best equipped henchmen groups. They are the envy of all warbands but especially so to anyone admiring displays of wealth, like Marienburgers. The Mayhem in Mordheim warband roster includes boxes to record the costs of each piece of equipment as well as the Group Equipment Value of the henchmen group.
Group Equipment Value = (cost of all equipment) * (number of warriors in group)
On your End of Turn Data Sheet record this total for each henchmen group into the Group Equip. Value box of the Henchmen Group Stats table (along with name of group, xp and number of warriors).
The accolades are available for the top 3 Envy of Marienburg are Well Endowed, Deep Pockets, and Big Spender.
Well Endowed (third place accolade): The Well Endowed warband is trusted to pay their debts. Any hero searching for dramatis personae gets +1 to their Initiative when making a looking for special characters roll. Alternatively, if you are using the Mordheim Mercenary Market optional rules, the warband with the best Envy of Marienburg accolade automatically wins tie bids for any mercenary. Additionally, if using the Mercenary Serious Injury Table, any roll above 2 is considered to be one category higher on the table.
Deep Pockets (Second place accolade): The Deep Pockets warband seems to be able to feed and equip their warriors very well, thus more easily attracts better soldiers to join your warband. You gain a +2 bonus to the experience of available veterans in your post battle sequence.
Big Spender (first place accolade): The Big Spender warband by all accounts is generous with their gold. All heroes of the warband gain a +1 bonus when making rarity rolls during your post battle sequence.
In-game Advantage
Mayhem Victory Points (optional)Any warband holding the Big Spender accolade raises their MVPs by 1 for as long as their henchmen group remains at the top the Envy of Marienburg list.
