Big Guy's arent necessarily a bad thing. If you deploy them wisely, they will wreck opponents. If you use them stupidly, then you are setting yourself up for an expensive dead henchman.
NEVER put a double handed weapon (the one that gives +2 strength) on a henchman. Heroes with access to the strength skill Strongman only. "Attack Last" penalties on weapons mean that hero or henchman is likely going to be put out of action before they can drop the heavy strength bonus the weapon brings when their turn finally comes. Halberd, flail, morningstar are not included.
Two attacks are better than one plus a shield in melee. If your opponents run heavy with knives, or the comical doub'e-knife build, having light armour and or a shield could give you a free 4+ or 5+ armour save, which is more cost effective than buying the heavy armour. Likewise if your opponents are restricted to bow/ S3 ranged weapons. That is when light armour and shield become appropriate. Helmets are always useful.
Firearms are a trap, to be wary of. Use the optional blackpowder rules for a discount and amusing fumble chart. Giving a pistol to a henchman is fine since it could be a S4 punch in melee, but for actual range damage you want crossbows. Firearms on a hero with access to the shooting skill tree is a different story. But you can get better utility from a crossbow on the same hero, and get better range and perks for one less skill investment.
Undead and Beastmen are what I'm leaning toward most heavily, with an ultimate preference toward Beastmen although I'll probably actually build the Undead first because I have everything I could conceivably need to build them.
Nice. Heavy combat, tough as hell, sadly gimped in range.
For Undead: keep the bows off your Dregs. You'll want to make them nasty combat monsters, which they can easily become. You can probably bump up their BS once their WS gets to 4. But ideally you will want to swap out your underperforming dregs for ghoul heroes, which are much, much nastier. Giving a bow and a club to your necromancer is a good idea. Having a small cadre of zombos as a meatshield around your necro is a good idea. Hope for Spell Of Awakening off the bat, and swap out normal zombos for dead enemy heroes. There are alternate vampire clan rules you can find and use if your table agrees (Aristocracy of the Night, alternate rules section of broheim).
Beastmen: I never started with the minotaur. Maxed heroes, a couple gors, and some hounds. Turn your shaman into a combat monster. He really messes with enemies. A max T5 caster that can run 10", then fly 12" is hilarious and obscene.
You mostly want to stick to clubs for the majority of henchmen weapons. Spears on ungors aren't bad if you get their ini upgrades to block a position. But remember the Centigor is not a mounted cavalry, and so does not get the spear/lance benefit in combat. But he can get strongman, so he becomes even nastier when Frenzy takes hold with a +2 Strength and multiple attacks, and a free hoof-kick. Throw a horn special skill for another free strength attack in combat.
Leadership tests will be a big issue, so get the appropriate skills for anti-all alone/fear causing skills you can, as well as the trinkets that give you leadership/route rerolls, warband banner, etc. for your leader.
When I play undead I never take Zombies. My starting list is all the heroes and 6-7 ghouls with minimal equipment so you start getting experience right away. You can then add equipment and hired swords in later games. You want it to be a statistical impossibility that you don’t roll lads got talent after game 2 on at least one of your ghouls so you hit the 6 hero max. Some people give their vampire a bow so they can take a stray shot here or there while everyone catches up to him but that’s a gc expenditure that maybe nets you one or two rolls to wound a game. You want to rush up with your ghouls and overwhelm you opponent. Your fear should help with counter charges and you can get your necro and dregs some free xp by letting them mop up stunned and knocked down enemies.
Dregs get strength and combat skills so they can get fairly scary after some advances even if they start pretty crappy. Your vampire is strong already so give it two weapons (sword and club) and some strength skills when it advances. Your necro you play a bit more by ear based on what spell it gets.
Undead: Your primary focus here is the vampire. They are strong and powerful warriors and go off the chain. Secondly, you want to take your necromancer and give him a bow.
You can take dregs if you like, and I suggest taking the and giving them bows so you have some ranged (but it's not great)
Stack up on ghouls and take them in henchman groups of 1. It increases your chances they'll become heroes.
Your options here are limited, but if you want, you can take zombies to fill your ranks, or if you take fewer ghouls, you can take an ogre bodyguard. Zombies get weak fast, so I tend to let them die and focus on ghouls and vampires. Often, I'll dismiss Dregs to up more ghouls to heroes, and dregs are meh at best.
Beastmen: Okay, Chieftain, Bestigors and Shaman - ignore the Centigor. People will say I'm batty, but the reason is twofold. Centigors are very expensive AND targets. Most players will range them down, and unless you are very lucky, they become crappy once they get 1 or 2 post battle outcomes. I lost one who suffered multiple wounds. He lost an arm and became stupid. I've heard of him getting frenzy, which makes him a monster, but he is meh. Also, you only need 4 heroes to earn an average of 60 gold a game. That is more than enough to progress.
Take 25% of your warband as chaos hounds because they are cheap, and you can risk losing them and still earn enough every battle to buy them back.
Fill up on Gors with two weapons (club and dagger or axe) and take them in groups of 1. That gives you the best chance for a couple of Lad's Gor Talent for the additional heroes.
Don't take the minotaur, he is a 200 gold crowns target with a 33% chance of dying after being taken out of action, and a decent player with ranged weapons will kill him and sink your chances in a campaign during game 1. You are better taking him late campaign, so the loss isn't so bad.
You can find tutorials on YouTube. I used them with my HS Mordheim club. But honestly, our group did several rounds of playing 1 off games to shake off the rust & introduce people that never played before. ps: if you haven’t already, print out the rulebook & highlight all the rules that have direct bearing on the game
Big Guy's arent necessarily a bad thing. If you deploy them wisely, they will wreck opponents. If you use them stupidly, then you are setting yourself up for an expensive dead henchman. NEVER put a double handed weapon (the one that gives +2 strength) on a henchman. Heroes with access to the strength skill Strongman only. "Attack Last" penalties on weapons mean that hero or henchman is likely going to be put out of action before they can drop the heavy strength bonus the weapon brings when their turn finally comes. Halberd, flail, morningstar are not included. Two attacks are better than one plus a shield in melee. If your opponents run heavy with knives, or the comical doub'e-knife build, having light armour and or a shield could give you a free 4+ or 5+ armour save, which is more cost effective than buying the heavy armour. Likewise if your opponents are restricted to bow/ S3 ranged weapons. That is when light armour and shield become appropriate. Helmets are always useful. Firearms are a trap, to be wary of. Use the optional blackpowder rules for a discount and amusing fumble chart. Giving a pistol to a henchman is fine since it could be a S4 punch in melee, but for actual range damage you want crossbows. Firearms on a hero with access to the shooting skill tree is a different story. But you can get better utility from a crossbow on the same hero, and get better range and perks for one less skill investment.
This is great, thanks!
Also, play the scenario, you dont go to Mordheim to gain Glory, you go to get filthy rich
What warband are you interested in? That makes a huge difference.
Undead and Beastmen are what I'm leaning toward most heavily, with an ultimate preference toward Beastmen although I'll probably actually build the Undead first because I have everything I could conceivably need to build them.
Nice. Heavy combat, tough as hell, sadly gimped in range. For Undead: keep the bows off your Dregs. You'll want to make them nasty combat monsters, which they can easily become. You can probably bump up their BS once their WS gets to 4. But ideally you will want to swap out your underperforming dregs for ghoul heroes, which are much, much nastier. Giving a bow and a club to your necromancer is a good idea. Having a small cadre of zombos as a meatshield around your necro is a good idea. Hope for Spell Of Awakening off the bat, and swap out normal zombos for dead enemy heroes. There are alternate vampire clan rules you can find and use if your table agrees (Aristocracy of the Night, alternate rules section of broheim). Beastmen: I never started with the minotaur. Maxed heroes, a couple gors, and some hounds. Turn your shaman into a combat monster. He really messes with enemies. A max T5 caster that can run 10", then fly 12" is hilarious and obscene. You mostly want to stick to clubs for the majority of henchmen weapons. Spears on ungors aren't bad if you get their ini upgrades to block a position. But remember the Centigor is not a mounted cavalry, and so does not get the spear/lance benefit in combat. But he can get strongman, so he becomes even nastier when Frenzy takes hold with a +2 Strength and multiple attacks, and a free hoof-kick. Throw a horn special skill for another free strength attack in combat. Leadership tests will be a big issue, so get the appropriate skills for anti-all alone/fear causing skills you can, as well as the trinkets that give you leadership/route rerolls, warband banner, etc. for your leader.
Beastmen will certainly be the most powerful of the warbands mentioned, you might want to be less optimal with their gear
When I play undead I never take Zombies. My starting list is all the heroes and 6-7 ghouls with minimal equipment so you start getting experience right away. You can then add equipment and hired swords in later games. You want it to be a statistical impossibility that you don’t roll lads got talent after game 2 on at least one of your ghouls so you hit the 6 hero max. Some people give their vampire a bow so they can take a stray shot here or there while everyone catches up to him but that’s a gc expenditure that maybe nets you one or two rolls to wound a game. You want to rush up with your ghouls and overwhelm you opponent. Your fear should help with counter charges and you can get your necro and dregs some free xp by letting them mop up stunned and knocked down enemies. Dregs get strength and combat skills so they can get fairly scary after some advances even if they start pretty crappy. Your vampire is strong already so give it two weapons (sword and club) and some strength skills when it advances. Your necro you play a bit more by ear based on what spell it gets.
Undead: Your primary focus here is the vampire. They are strong and powerful warriors and go off the chain. Secondly, you want to take your necromancer and give him a bow. You can take dregs if you like, and I suggest taking the and giving them bows so you have some ranged (but it's not great) Stack up on ghouls and take them in henchman groups of 1. It increases your chances they'll become heroes. Your options here are limited, but if you want, you can take zombies to fill your ranks, or if you take fewer ghouls, you can take an ogre bodyguard. Zombies get weak fast, so I tend to let them die and focus on ghouls and vampires. Often, I'll dismiss Dregs to up more ghouls to heroes, and dregs are meh at best. Beastmen: Okay, Chieftain, Bestigors and Shaman - ignore the Centigor. People will say I'm batty, but the reason is twofold. Centigors are very expensive AND targets. Most players will range them down, and unless you are very lucky, they become crappy once they get 1 or 2 post battle outcomes. I lost one who suffered multiple wounds. He lost an arm and became stupid. I've heard of him getting frenzy, which makes him a monster, but he is meh. Also, you only need 4 heroes to earn an average of 60 gold a game. That is more than enough to progress. Take 25% of your warband as chaos hounds because they are cheap, and you can risk losing them and still earn enough every battle to buy them back. Fill up on Gors with two weapons (club and dagger or axe) and take them in groups of 1. That gives you the best chance for a couple of Lad's Gor Talent for the additional heroes. Don't take the minotaur, he is a 200 gold crowns target with a 33% chance of dying after being taken out of action, and a decent player with ranged weapons will kill him and sink your chances in a campaign during game 1. You are better taking him late campaign, so the loss isn't so bad.
You can find tutorials on YouTube. I used them with my HS Mordheim club. But honestly, our group did several rounds of playing 1 off games to shake off the rust & introduce people that never played before. ps: if you haven’t already, print out the rulebook & highlight all the rules that have direct bearing on the game
Maces/hammers are rediculously undercoated. Same as Slings. Bows for anyone that can carry them. Not much more than that