I don’t know what it is, but when Games Workshop makes a skirmish game set in the Warhammer world, it always cooks. Mordheim‘s combo of tense, sometimes slapstick battles and evocative campaign means its still rated as one of the best miniature wargames decades after it was released; and the far more recent Warcry is a breezy riot of high-speed ultraviolence. Swedish Mordheim community organizer Johan Markström had the inspired idea to combine both games into one super-game – it’s called Wyrdcry, and you can try it for free right now!
“The idea for this hack was born right after the pandemic when I joined a gang of Stockholm misfits running a Warcry campaign”, Markström writes in the game’s introduction. “As my warband fought their way through the massive remains of a crashed Seraphon void-ship in search of treasure, suffering injuries and raiding encampments, I started feeling an eerie sense of deja-vu that quickly had me poring through my old and weathered Mordheim rulebook”.
Markström has been working on combining the two games since then. Wyrdcry is uses Warcry’s lightweight core rules for combat and scenarios, with an added campaign system inspired by Mordheim that allows models to gain skills and suffer injuries, earn wealth, and spend it on new gear or hiring members to replace fallen warriors.
Markström has made rules for all six warbands from the original Mordheim rulebook, from Skaven to Undead. You’ll equip them with weapons and amor, raise their stats over the campaign, and build them into unique heroes – if they live long enough.
Fights use Warcry’s tiny board and its quick and damaging combat, rather than Mordheim’s occasionally indecisive slugfests. Some of the familiar Mordheim skills that a character might be upgraded with are controlled using Warcry’s initiative dice system, making them that little bit more chaotic and unpredictable.
“We’ve gotten plenty of fun feedback through Discord“, says Markström, “I’ve recruited some evangelists in Finland and Scotland who run games in their Mordheim communities”. He adds: “I’m happy that some of the Mordheim weirdness and randomness is shining through; having your leader push another fighter off a walkway, grab a wyrdstone, get hit in the face by a falling fish only to fall four stories and die is very much still a thing”.
At the moment, the rules are hosted on the Wyrdcry website. “We made some prints for the early open playtest”, Markström says, “leaning into the same Mörk Borg / Zine aesthetics as all the other Mordheim hacks are chasing right now”. He adds that “the goal is obviously to release the full game in the same format, and let people print it for free”.
The pictures in this article are taken from a playtest in the spring. “We’re very blessed to have a gaming table made by Leif of Devs & Dice who’s probably one of the most prolific terrain makers on YouTube right now”, Markström says. “We’re starting a proper campaign after the summer holidays now that all the OG Mordheim warbands have been finished and everyone’s busy converting”, he adds.
What do you think – a perfect union, or mutant hybrid? If you’re a fan of Mordheim, Warcry, or any spinoff of either game, you’ll find a warm welcome in the Wargamer Discord community!
Source: Wargamer
