The room is small and the air thick with the smoke of your pipes. The woman next to you studies the
maps laid
out on the table, while the man opposed to you pays more attention to you.
Finally Adelhart Grünjäger, Marshal of Ostermark and your immediate superior takes his pipes from his lips and speaks to you in a rough voice:
"I have already gathered the troops that will form the core of your army. Gunda here will tell you anything that we know of the situation around Mordheim. I want to make one thing very clear. We don't expect miracles of you, we don't expect you to cleanse Mordheim in holy fire. We want you to make sure that whatever further horrors the city produces will not distract the attention of greater Ostermark from its other problems. We do not want to hear that another merchant with more money than sense has been turned into a tentacled abomination by freshly bought Wyrdstone, we do not want to hear that mutants escaped from the city ravage the hinterlands of Essen or Bissendorf and we especially don't want to hear that the southern border regulars have to be drawn away from Essen to deal with a threat from Mordheim that has scattered your men.
Do you understand that?"
You stay silent as you hear the small monologue, consider his words and what they mean for your task. When the Chancellor had given you your task it had sounded more like opening the Stir was the immediatly important goal, but Marshal Aldelhart was closer involved in the issues. You would have to consider both of the different priorities in your work. Finally you nod.
After another look at you he leans back and leaves the word to Gunda Pfaffen, Bissendorf's mistress of scouts and likely the best-informed person on the outlying areas of Mordheim besides those madmen daring the ruins themselves.
The first consideration is that the Stir goes straight through Mordheim on its way from the World's Edge Mountains through Stirland and more in the southwest. You will need boats to operate on both sides of the river, as the only proper bridge nearby is the Middle Bridge right in the heart of Mordheim.
The city has three major gates, east, west and a southern one that is just east of the river. There are very likely smaller gates, secret sally-gates and such, but aside from those the walls seem generally well intact.
Around the city is a broad belt of farmland, not quite enough to feed the hundreds of thousands of inhabitants the city had when it yet lived, but enough to ensure that a few lost delivieries would not instantly result in food-riots as things stand at times in Altdorf. This land is now tainted and infertile, but still open land that will be far easier to patrol than the Dead Wood itself.
Three major villages stood around the city, to the north, south and west. These have been first overrun by refugees, then by the monsters of Mordheim and finally now by the mercenaries, treasure-seekers and other assorted scum drawn to the city.
They are currently named Sigmar's Haven, the northern settlement, reasonably fortified and inhabited by the least disrespectable of the crowds, Cutthroat's Den, the western settlement, inhabited by brigands, mercenaries with even lower standards than usual and reportedly even witches, and finally the southern settlement is aptly named the Black Pit, a hoard of heretics, murderers too vile even for their fellow brigands and some say even greenskins and openly mutated slaves of Chaos.
Your support will come over the Stir from Bissendorf by boat, since there is not enough healthy land near Mordheim for an army to live off.
Lastly Gunda advises strongly against entering the city itself, at least until you know more about the situation. Her own predecessor led a large party of Bissendorf's best hunters and scouts into the city after the comet had struck. Only a few had ever come out, none unchanged in body or mind.
Your army has mustered on the fields before Bissendorf, the dragon banners of Ostermark held high, ready to march at least near the gates of Hell with you.
Starting Morale: Good (The men have heard of your service or even served under you before and are optimistic you'll lead them well)
1000 Infantrymen (Brave soldiers of Ostermark, not quite uniformly armed or armored, but the average amounts to light armor and a forest of spears)
500 Crossbowmen (A considerable mass of bolts when used correctly)
50 Jäger (Experienced hunters, woodsmen and scouts)
50 Cavalry (Lightly armored but highly skilled outriders)
2 blessed Priests of Taal and Rhya (A married pair in Service of Taal and Rhya, come to fight the obvious corruption spreading from Mordheim)
1 Witchhunter Captain and his retinue (The men are covered in blades and crossbows, looking around suspiciously, but their captain has a surprisingly open smile and seems well-versed in the local area)
You automatically have enough small boats to cross the river.
You can add one of the attachements for free due to your army-connections and buy more with the indicated cost of Favor:
[] Knights of the Scroll (5 Favor and size-increase due to Devout Verenian)
When you called the followers of Verena answered in force. Nobody will say if the destruction of Mordheim was a judgement for its sins, but all Ostermarkers can agree that the if it was so, the judgement is done now and there afershocks should stop driving the nails deeper into Ostermark's flesh.
A company of Knights of the Scroll has come with you to protect the people of Ostermark and possibly salvage what can be salvaged from the Great Library of Mordheim.
70 Knights of the Scroll (Heavy Knights, usually on horse but unlike some knights used to fight on foot when the circumstances demand it)
1 Knight-Captain (A veteran of the the order, white-beared and scarred, but with bright eyes still curious)
1 blessed Priestess of Verana (A tall and proud young woman, quick to argue and debate at the slightest reason)
[] Ulrican Company (10 Favor)
As a result of the improving relations between Middenland and the Ottilian Empress, when Ostermark has called for divine aid against the evils of Mordheim, Ulric's devout have answered, with a strong escort of Knights.
30 Knights of the White Wolf ( Heavy-set men, with heavy hammers, in heavy plate and riding strong horses)
2 blessed Priests of Ulric (Strong, fierce and beared one could think them savages, particularly the one with the blue lines shaped like a wolf in his face)
[] Cannons (5 Favor)
Artillery like this can be hard to use properly, but when the cannons get to fire they will shatter what the hit
5 simple cannons (They'll have to be moved on wagons and build up in a wooden construction before use. Worth it, when they manage to fire)
10 Engineers (Men who know the tempramental cannons well enough to use them with relative safety)
[] Siege Company (10 Favor)
A troop of experienced Engineers who can tell you at a glance where a wall is weakest, who can direct your men in building catapults, rams or siege towers and who know particularly well how to turn an army camp into a temporary fortress at need. Also they have a talent for setting up the latrine-ditches in a way that the smell rarely reaches the commander's tent.
20 Engineers (Experienced allrounders in the ways of warfare)
50 Carpenters (Much better at following the Engineers instructions than your regular soldier)
[] Bechhaven Halbediers (5 Favor)
The armored elite of the League, steady under all charges men or monster can make against them.
100 Halbediers (Well armored and trained fighters to a man)
[] Ungol Horsearchers (10 Favor)
Mercenaries from the north, these men live on their horses, fight on their horses and the men joke they sleep on the too. Not the most useful in urban warfare, but on the open land around the city they'll outrun a heavy knight with ease and fill him with arrows while doing so.
100 Ungol Horsearchers (Excellent light cavlery with compact but strong bows)
[] Ostermark Knights (5 Favor)
The knights in service of your state are not as famous as some of the old orders, but they are still well armed and trained, brave and true.
50 Knights (Regular heavy cavalry with lance and a close-combat weapon as backup)
[] Longshanks (10 Favor)
If someone had taken your Jäger and given them a decade of regular Witch Hunters life-experiences they might look like these. While the skill of these woodsmen with bow and blade, in tracking and trapping is undeniable what really sets them apart from most hunters is the breadth of experience against the foes of mankind, in wilderness, villages, towns and cities alike.
50 Longshanks (Highly experienced Taalite Witchhunters, sneaky and deadly on all terrain)
1 Senior Longshank (The old wanderer doesn't talk much but you are sure he watches. Always)
If anyone thinks a unit is missing that should really be there, or that these troops are too unbalanced please speak up.
Consider you might want to save up some Favor if things don't go well at the start.
Otherwise vote by plan please, so that I know ho many options you definitly want to take.
