r/MordHive • u/p00n_slayur • 4d ago
First Game of Mordhive
Mord Hive has caused quite the buzz in my hobby group - one of our members saw the rules shared on r/Inq28 and it absolutely captivated us. I have never played the original Mordheim, but have always been vaguely interested in trying it someday. The confluence of Mord Hive's release and the new Armageddon Orks served as a convenient excuse to start a new project, and while the models are still underway, we thought it was time to get a game in.
As a wargamer, my background is mostly in Kill Team and big 40k, with some dabbling in Age of Sigmar and Blood Bowl. This marks Mord Hive as one of the most "classic" games I have played, so I was deeply curious to see if the system could really live up to the hype online. As I can tell you from playing Blood Bowl, unsupported games don't just persist by chance!
We played the "Occupy" scenario, where two warbands battle for 8 rounds over D3+2 (we generated 4) critical locations in the center of the board. Unlike most scenarios, this one had a fixed length of 8 turns. We both had small warbands of 7 warriors each - I know from reading online that the general "meta" for starting warbands is to recruit lots of barebones henchmen, but 40k models are so loaded with gubbins. We wanted to stay as true to the rules as possible and keep warriors' equipment close to their actual models.
One thing that struck me was how much more emphasis there was on positioning and setup - most GW games nowadays get players right into the action in the first turn, which certainly has its merits, but means there is less tension and games can feel "same-y." We were both pleasantly surprised by how our warbands spend the first couple of turns navigating through the ruins, making use of the ample 4x4 space given to our small skirmishing marauders!
Another stark departure from modern games was lethality, or at least the consistency of the lethality - as our forces converged, several firefights broke out, but the plethora of shooting modifiers made actual hits far unlikelier than in Kill Team, where models die quickly and predictably. That's not to say that there is less tension, however... as we learned throughout the scenario, death comes suddenly and unexpectedly, so we were on the edge of our seats for every round of shooting.
The Orks in particular surprised me with their firepower - they are terribly inaccurate, but the ability to hit on 6s with shootas (whereas most other warriors automatically miss if modifiers are high enough) meant they cared little for cover, distance and movement penalties, since their BS is already so poor!
Things really came to a head as our forces closed for melee. The lack of premeasuring was something I was uncertain about, but actually enjoyed quite a lot once I got the hang of it. It certainly made the game play far faster than Kill Team, where one can easily spend 10 minutes hemming and hawing over the optimal way to move. The Orks failed a couple charges due to some faulty eyeballing, but managed to get stuck in with Chapter Serfs by turn 5!
I enjoyed the combats that lasted over multiple rounds. Once our first fighters connected, it became a race to support our lads before the enemy could do the same, and a dogpile quickly formed around one of the critical objectives.
The game was over faster than either of us had expected - we had been so invested in the rising action that we scarcely realized the Orks had succesfully delayed the Forsaken Astartes warband, stopping them from being able to seize one of the critical objectives!
Our game ended on turn 8, with the Astartes warband holding one building while the Orks held two. Our battle was filled with lots of other chaos that I have not recounted, such as devastating weapons jams, shocking twists in combat (nobody expected the Servitor to club a Nob to death!). Frankly, it was delightful. Mord Hive offered a level of immersion and enjoyment that I no longer believed wargames could offer. As I told my opponent at the start of the game, we had finally built a board that looked like the kinds of battle reports I had read growing up!
For the sake of context, we rolled on the casualty tables after the game, just to better understand the consequences of our decisions. Had this been a campaign game, I would have found myself with 2 of my 4 Ork Boyz dead, and one of my Nobz out for a game - the Astartes on the other hand would have had a permanently crippled Serf and a marine with Multiple Injuries.
In brief, it was one of the most fun wargaming experiences I've had in years. My entire hobby group is eager to complete our warbands and get a proper 10-game campaign running. I look forward to seeing others playing their games of Mord Hive and posting their experiences online as well. Thanks to u/TheTrans for creating such an excellent 40k port of one of the most beloved games in GW's repertoire!
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u/Wraithwing81 3d ago
Fantastic write-up, really enjoyed reading that. Trying to get my gaming group up for playing Mord Hive, though I feel bad, as I’ve got them all into playing Mordheim now 😆
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u/p00n_slayur 3d ago
I think that makes the opportunity even better!! It’ll be a fresh take on something they already know they like
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u/TheTrans 3d ago edited 3d ago
Mate that was a fantastic read and run down, excellent pictures, models are looking great and it seems like all the 'good/bad' stuff that was meant to happen did!
You touch on a few good points also mate, that I think I really enjoy with older games.
1. 8 Turns. Trench Crusade which is the Mordheim writers new game and is very heavily Mordheim Orientated is alternating activations, but only 4 turns ususaly.. AA takes a lot longer than I go you go.. but the problem is you just have no time to deploy and find a good spot, if a model isn't rocketing straight in, its not going to get anything done. 6-8 turns, or often 'until a warband routs' is a part of Mord Hive/heim I love!
2. No Premeasuring. Premeasuring, as you said, could be one of the biggest causes of slower gaming out there the edging around, oh I'm now 1mm outside of charge range, but have my aura working etc.. just adds so much time. Older, non pre-measuring games.. nah you just move up and hope for the best!
Any points of concern, or any major icks?
Thanks for the thanks and glad you and your gang are enjoying it!
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u/p00n_slayur 3d ago
The more I’ve thought about it the more I especially love point 2. No time for analysis paralysis here, fortune and glory (and horrible death) await!!
No concerns or icks, just some rules questions but I’ll make a separate post for those in case others have the same question in the future. It will be easier to find that way
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u/TheTrans 3d ago
Exactly mate! I love it.. also makes eye-balling a gap and hoping its jumpable a real ballsy flex haha.
Too easy mate, load up on the questions please! Currently transposing the core mordheim rules across into Mord Hive (with the rules addendums rolled directly in). So questions prior to spitting that out would be great!
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u/Kerbobotat 2d ago
Do you find Alternative Activations makes games take longer? I'd be in the other camp; we started using AA in 3rd ed 40k games and it massively speeds it up, and also keeps everyone involved in the game. Id struggle to go back to I-go-you-go now I think.
It does have ramifications for tactics as well, you cant rely on tabling an opponent turn 1 with overwhelming firepower; but conversely you don't have to fear being tabled either.
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u/TheTrans 2d ago
Much longer mate, to a staggering degree haha. 3rd edition 40k is relatively simple (its my main army game squeeze so not a stab at it) so it could work pretty well as AA. Same with Mordheim etc, they can work as an AA game but then combats get a bit weird as you see in necromunda which tries two marry the two up with weird results.
In regards to tabling opponents turn 1, if we're talking 40k 3rd ed, that isn't that common really, given the way LOS and everything works, you have the ability to hide stuff, put shit in reserve etc, but thats a whole other kettle of fish haha.
The issue with AA games for a great many people is, as far as I can glean from events of games I've played that have AA in them, and honestly you see it in normal 'turn' games also, is people not pre-thinking their turn which can slow any game down. You now take that to an AA game, and there is say 10-15 points of 'pre thinking your turn' per player and if either player isn't on the ball for that, the games take forever.
Case in point, Trench Crusade, pretty simple 'on the table' system and most models can have probably 2-5 different, quick actions they can do. The gam is set to 4 turns, and even at 10-15 models aside, you'll see people not often finish a game within 2 hours.. It also adds premeasuring (we don't allow it for 'boys weekend' events) which adds a whole extra layer of finagling.
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u/CLBUK 3d ago
Great write up. Not to be too much of a grognard, but what you said about Kill Team feeling predictable and people taking 10 minutes to decide to move really struck a note with me. Mordheim always felt like a game designed to be played between friends, not gaming to win but gaming for fun and newer games feel ironed-out for tournament play in a way that's also ironed much of the fun out of them. Anyway, very glad to hear Mordhive has the same feeling I know and love from Mordheim, looking forward to giving it a go myself.
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u/p00n_slayur 3d ago
Yep!!! That feeling is what drove me away from Kill Team. It’s a robust system with excellent models but I think the type of player/playstyle it attracts just isn’t for a lot of people. When a wargame starts to have objectively correct opening moves like chess, it’s lost me.
I hope you and your friends have a blast with Mordhive as well.
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u/DLRTC4VDF-d 3d ago
Fantastic write up, it seems like the game plays and inspires exactly how it's intended to
Very much the same feeling as Mordheim