recruiting hired swords
This section introduces Hired Swords – professional mercenaries – to Mordheim campaign games. Taverns in the settlements and shanty towns around Mordheim are good recruitment centres for warriors who do not belong to any particular warband or retinue, but instead hire out their services to the highest bidder.
A player can recruit Hired Swords when he creates his warband, or during the campaign phase after a game.
Hired Swords do not count towards the maximum number of warriors or Heroes a warband may have on its roster and don’t affect your income from selling wyrdstone. However, Hired Swords do count as part of the warband for purposes of Rout tests, etc whilst in battle. A player cannot buy extra weapons or equipment for a Hired Sword, and he cannot sell the Hired Sword’s weapons or equipment. To reflect their rarity, you can only have one of each type of Hired Sword in your warband. You may not use the Leadership of any of the Hired Swords for Rout tests.
hire fee
When a warband recruits a Hired Sword, you must must pay his hire fee. Subsequently, after each battle he fights, including the first, you must pay his upkeep fee if you want him to remain with the warband. If the Hired Sword is killed, or you no longer require his services, you don’t have to pay any upkeep! These costs are indicated in the entries for each Hired Sword.
The money paid to Hired Swords comes from the warband’s treasury in the same way as buying new weapons or recruiting new warriors. If you don’t have enough gold to pay for the Hired Sword, or want to spend it on other things, he leaves the warband. Any experience he has gained will be lost, even if you hire a new Henchman of the same type.
injuries
If a Hired Sword goes out of action during the game, roll for his injuries as you would roll for a Henchman after a battle (i.e, 1-2 = Lost; 3-6 = Survives).
hired swords and experience
Hired Swords gain experience in exactly the same way as Henchmen. Refer to the scenarios to find out how much experience Hired Swords gain after each game.
Write the name and profile of a Hired Sword on your roster sheet in one of the Henchman group slots.
Once the Hired Sword gains enough experience for an advance, roll on the Heroes Advancement table (as opposed to Henchmen) to determine which advance he gains. Skills available to the Hired Swords are listed under their entries.