Mutie Strategy/Tactics

[.juno]

Looks like we're shaping up for a GoMo campaign some time next year and I want to fulfil my lifelong ambition to run a mutie mob.

The trouble is I have no idea how to build my team. Each model is so expensive and there's so many cool things on offer that I'm in danger of splurging all my teef without thinking it through, so I want to make a plan before I build my first batch of converted muties.

I'm thinking along these lines:

- ranged focus (at first) to keep my guys a bit safer, although I'm terrified of what a big shoota could do to a poor mutie caught in its sights

- aiming for more bodies at the start to improve my income rolls. That said, considering the expense of each guy I'm not too concerned about increasing my numbers to pad my bottle threshold at the start, as I'd need 9 guys before my threshold is 3 down/OOA

- in battle, I'll need to attempt to make the best use of available cover and attempt to isolate enemies to take them down either with shooting or quick overwhelming charges. I think I can make it very dangerous for models to leave their vehicles, so if I can disable any of them I should be doing great

 

[Flamekebab]

Given that you're picking up things that I missed my thoughts probably aren't all that helpful but I'll give it a go anyway!

Mutie grenades aren't stikkbombs - they don't have that annoying -1 to hit modifier on them. This could well be handy in terms of template weapons and armour cracking.

Muties can fire even if they run without needing a special skill. That -1 to hit is annoying but the advantage is a -1 modifier for anyone trying to shoot them (and of course they all have 6+ saves by default).

 

[.juno]

Yeah good point about the grenades. Krak grenades seem very nasty for cracking vehicles, although I've always shied away from using them with my Ork mobs as they seem a little too dangerous to vehicles - but then my group never used rokkits either! Krak grenades seem a bit expensive though.

I hadn't thought about the hit penalty for galloping Muties - great point! I'm going to have to take advantage of that. I also have taken armour on my Seeker, Keeper and my only Unk for now. I'm thinking the Unk can screen the other guys and try to get close with his Arqueba, and he's got a Demilune for fighting groups of enemies. The rest of the party all have arbalasts for the extra range, and a fusil and jezail on the Seeker/Keeper.

(yes that is a lot of teef - I think I'm going to lobby for a 125 teef start as fitting vehicles and spanners and so on into 100 is tough)

 

[Kon-rad]

I've always wanted to run Muties too. Got a Tusken Raider thing going that would make a fun modeling project.
I did have a buddy run Muties in our old, old campaign. The low model is a killer. My buddy had a bad break, lost a model the first game and his mob was crippled the rest of the campaign. The models are just so many teef. And what's worse the Mutie income chart is really stingy. He really struggled to make more than 3 or 4 teef a game and it took forever to replace that one model. By then everyone else was shot up and there are no Mutie Docs, so no Bioniks or anything. It's a very unforgiving mob.
If I were serious about trying to be "competitive" I'd just get a Seeker-Habergeon/Arbalast, Keeper / Jezail, and 4 Snaggas/Arbalasts-99teef.
Just run and hide and snipe for a while. Low model count should keep your rating lower than an Ork mob, so you should be able to choose the scenario more often than not. That should help too.

 

[.juno]

I picture them as Tusken Raiders too! Trying to go with a swaddled in rags look and respirators and so on. I'm using the Forge World renegade militia as a starting point which I think will work quite well.

Yeah I think you're right about focusing on priorities early on eg. more warm bodies! It's hard to resist the awesome gear you can tool your guys up with though... !

 

[Kon-rad]

"The Unnamed Gorkamorka Site" has some fan-rules for Muties. "The Green Pits" a way to heal your warriors......or mutate them beyond all recognition! Run those by the other guys in your group. Could be fun and help keep you in the campaign.

 

[.juno]

I'll have a look at that, cheers.

Looking at the special mutie gear, things like the Pharmacopeia look handy for evening the odds in battle. It's pricey though.

The other thing I think is sad - they should have some pistols! I started writing up some rules where each mutie makes their own pistol as a rite of passage. It kind of fits with the 'collectors of lost tech' fluff and it means you could have some fun randomly-generated pistols for each guy.

Also I think they should get the ability to stow their Gunz when in combat, as they should be able to holster them in a pack on their saddle or whatever, enabling them to get the +1 A bonus for two close combat weapons. The need for this is mitigated somewhat by Snagas having 2A base, but their other guys suffer from it.

 

[Kon-rad]

Yeah, all that cool gear is pricey.
I'm not sure they need to pistols and the ability to stow weapons. They can get a parry with one of their hand to hand weapons. And if they just fight like Orks, they lose some of their unique appeal IMO. By my earlier post, I don't mean to say they are unplayable as written. But they are fragile. Gorkamorka is not so much a miniatures skirmish game as a random vehicular mayhem generator. A bit of bad luck and you are looking at a long uphill battle.
If I were going to change anything rules wise, I think just letting them use the regular income chart would even things out. I can't understand it. They have a low model count, so each model scavenges 2d6. Yea! Then they run their result through a really stingy income chart Boo!....leaving them back where they started.......

 

[.juno]

I don't see how being able to stack attacks makes them fight like orks... and for long-ranging desert raiders they'd clearly have straps and holsters and so on to stow their gear, it just makes sense to me.

Anyway, I don't think it's terribly important, just 'rule of cool' really

I hadn't taken in the difference in the income chart. That sounds harsh. I will perhaps run the idea of using the normal chart by my group when we get our campaign going.

 

[Flamekebab]

Try out the income as it is first and see if it gives you grief. I don't recall Matt having any issues with income in our campaigns though

 

[Kon-rad]

Try out the income as it is first and see if it gives you grief. I don't recall Matt having any issues with income in our campaigns though

And then again, we might just be worrying about nothing Must stop thinking..... and go, go GO!

 

[Flamekebab]

Or you may be right on the money!

 

[plainoldandrew]

Hi guys, little bit of thread necromancy but here goes.

I've been poring over the mutie rules for a little while now and I reckon a good approach might be low model count, heavily tooled muties. Example: Seeker, habergeon, fusil; 2 x Keeper, habergeon, caliver or arqueba.

If you rely on using the mutie scenario chart to your advantage most scenarios will see your opponent with half his mob off the table in the beginning. That should let you barnstorm the few on table and down enough to make them run. If things go south, bail out as soon as the keeper goes down. That way he gets a 4+ to avoid a serious injury and your snagas still collect income. 4 models is low enough on the income chart that you should still get a decent enough income each game, especially if you bring home some scrap.

first purhases should be grip nets and maybe some binox for the Seeker. I reckon you might do well hiring 2 guys when you hire the first new guys, skip over the 5 model income line and get yourself closer to 8 so you can still bail at 2 down.

the main thing is keeping the Snagas alive, play the long game, don't sweat losing one game if it keeps you alive and in the money long term.

That's my take on muties anyhow, your experience may differ

 

[Flamekebab]

Hi guys, little bit of thread necromancy but here goes.

Bring it on! It seems this forum is keeping me on my toes today!

2 x Keeper

Only one Seeker and one Keeper per raiding party

If you rely on using the mutie scenario chart to your advantage most scenarios will see your opponent with half his mob off the table in the beginning. That should let you barnstorm the few on table and down enough to make them run. If things go south, bail out as soon as the keeper goes down. That way he gets a 4+ to avoid a serious injury and your snagas still collect income. 4 models is low enough on the income chart that you should still get a decent enough income each game, especially if you bring home some scrap.

first purhases should be grip nets and maybe some binox for the Seeker. I reckon you might do well hiring 2 guys when you hire the first new guys, skip over the 5 model income line and get yourself closer to 8 so you can still bail at 2 down.

the main thing is keeping the Snagas alive, play the long game, don't sweat losing one game if it keeps you alive and in the money long term.

That's my take on muties anyhow, your experience may differ

It sounds very viable. It's not what I'd go with but that's a good thing - the game is the most fun when people have a think about their mobs and try new things out (even if it sometimes goes horribly hilariously wrong!).

A small mob might also help keep the mob rating down in order to collect on those delicious underdog bonuses.

Are you planning on trying it out?

 

[plainoldandrew]

Lol, meant 2 x Snaga. I'd love to give this setup a run but I'm in an area seemingly devoid of specialist games players. Might have to look at drumming up some interest. I've already scratchbuilt pretty much all the models l'll ever need for muties using the kroot+seekers of tzeentch method. I'll try get some pics up on here

 

[.juno]

I like it! It's deepening the Seekers-as-Spyrers analogue, which will probably a) make the other players hate you more and b) make you even more vulnerable to an early death, but I really like the idea of the tooled up elite raiding party.

 

[Kon-rad]

Might not be a bad way to try it out. My gut instinct is to go with as many cheap guys as you can, but as you outlined it, it could work. I think I figured out you could get 6 models starting if you kept them bare-bones. Still is not a lot of bodies and 6 would put you into the next bracket for the income chart. hmmmmm Hit, run and bottle out and don't worry about trying to win the game might be a better strategy. Still dicey. A bit of bad luck and you could be out a sizable percentage of your starting force. But that would be true no matter what with Muties.
And you had better make sure your opponents are mellow. Some guys get pissed off when people start doing the bottle-out-at-the-earliest opportunity thing. Loser buys the drinks would probably help mitigate that factor.

 

[plainoldandrew]

My experience with Mordheim has always been that the group is playing a campaign, and prudent decisions should be made to ensure your continued participation. I understand that people may take exception to that tactic and it has no place in a one off game certainly.

I reckon a good way to balance it off is to maybe play one 'campaign' game per meeting and one 'no consequences' game, both using the same list. That way people can develop their mobs as they please but can also throw down when the situation requires it. Has anyone ever played in a similar setup?

 

[plainoldandrew]

Here's the pics of my Muties I said I'd upload too:

First, 2 Snagas with Arbalast's, my proof of concept models.

Keeper with Jezail and 2 Snagas with Calivers

Seeker with Fusil and Binox (and some armour)

Snaga with Arqueba.

 

[.juno]

Sweet! I love the Arqueba in particular. Interesting how removing the muzzle from the meltagun results in such a brutal looking weapon!

Not sure if you'll have seen them as they are in my painting log thread, but here are my kitbashed muties:

Muties

This is the first guy, and the one who is most complete. LOL at the jam label on my water pot, I just noticed it

The Skitarii bits are invaluable for this project, even if they change the aesthetic slightly. The big floppy sleeves aren't really what I was after, so I'll have to try and find a way to make them a bit more compact.

This guy is working well I think. The green stuff is very scrappy because I haven't had much practice, so I want to try and tidy it up a bit.

I'm not sure about this guy. I was getting annoyed with using the same set of legs, so I wanted to try a different mounted model base. He basically looks too much like a space marine scout, because, well, that's what he is. @nathanie1 suggested, most gently, that he's not the model I'm looking for, and I think he's right.