Mordheim Tactica: Scenario 7: Hidden Treasure

So in this scenario you and your opponent(s) are on a treasure hunt which is influenced by the number of buildings on the table. As in the other missions we are going to be looking at gaining experience from both the primary win of finding and capturing the chest, while earning secondary experience with our heroes and henchmen.

Generally in this mission you are going to need a group of warband members to act as a blocker unit, and a second group to work in recovering the chest. Two models are a minimum for this, three are better so you can siphon off one, and in a pinch a single fast model could do it with some luck.

On the surface this mission seems easy- get into the buildings and hopefully roll a “12”, but the real strategy is making sure you enter the last building and finding the chest there. While there is a 1 in 12 chance of rolling that “12”, with an average number of buildings on the table, waiting and camping for the last building is the best strategy to gain the chest.

What you are looking to do over all is move out your warband to the center, checking a few buildings along the way to the center to maybe get lucky, and then wait…

Let your opponent(s) check the buildings as you leave one building free behind the advance of your warband. When it cycles around to the last building you pop a warband member in and grab the chest.

Now a savvy opponent will be counting the buildings and perhaps doing the same game as you, so then you look to leave two buildings in your zone of the table to take, when they are the only two left pop into one first, then the second, and grab the chest. This two building strategy also has the advantage of you picking which building has the chest- pick the one on the “weaker” side of the table where your opponent has less of a force of his models so you can grab it and run…

Now, more about that blocking unit in the center of the table- you need a show of force there to keep the buildings free and unchecked behind you to make sure you get the last building. Once you grab that last building, of course, your opponent is going to try and intercept your models with the chest- the blocking unit then shifts over to intercept the incoming models if it has to. However, keep in mind and ask yourself if you really have to do this- once you have the chest you don’t want to risk losing any warband members through death or injury. Winning the “game” but blowing all your crowns and upkeep on warband repair will not put you ahead in the campaign.

In regard to bolting with the chest- always have two models minimum as stated. The model(s) that grab that chest will be target priority number one, so you don’t want to be traveling at half speed with only one model, especially if the most direct escape route takes you through ruins that will slow you down. A third model running with them is even better, especially if it is fast moving so it can break off and intercept or even grab the chest on its own and run- its speed making up for the movement penalty.

Now of course we are trying to win the mission to hopefully pull some wyrdstone and crowns from the chest, but while that is going on we also want to set things up to gain some secondary experience by having our own heroes survive and taking out enemy models.

+1 XP for every hero that survives.
+1 XP for every model put out of action by a hero.

The first one is easy to earn- just keep your heroes out of the action and don’t risk them- remember that is what your henchmen/lackeys are for. The second bonus is tempting, but risky for only one XP point. The hero has to make that kill, and this also puts him in danger. However, this changes a bit if your hero has a missile weapon to try and take some shots before pulling back out of danger.

Another way to gain some quick XP is to have your hero enter the final building for the +2 experience for finding the chest. Keep him next to your henchman group, enter the building for the +2 XP bonus, and then pass the chest off to the henchmen and get your hero out of the line of fire from anything incoming to the chest.

Multiple Opponent Tactics:

If you are playing the mission with more than one opponent then you have to ask yourself if it is even worth recovering the chest? Keep in mind that you can still lose the majority of your games and still win the campaign with some pre/post game building. Let your opponents fight over the chest and weaken their warbands, killing off heroes and henchmen alike so that even if they find the chest their gains are eaten up in post game upkeep. Hang back, and let them weaken each other, let one route, and then you route the weakened warband gaining the chest. I should also add this is a secondary tactic to use in a regular 1 vs. 1 mission in some circumstances- forget about even looking for the chest, and just concentrate on routing your opponent, by wolf packing up with your warband on the groups and individual models they are sending out to look for the chest. Sometimes in mission dynamics like this I’ll let both warbands self destruct looking to snipe the bonus experience points…