Norse
The northern regions of the Old World suffer from extremes
of climate and geography unlike anywhere else. The dense
dark forests, high barren mountains, icy seas and long winter
nights conspire to make life here both hard and short. This
cruel land known as Norsca is a home to the Norsemen - a
race of men that are as fierce, brutal and unforgiving as the
landscape itself.
Because little grows upon the rocky soil of the North the Norsemen have traditionally turned to the sea for their livelihood. Their Kingships and Longships set out for the shores of Albion the coasts of the Old World and even further afield bringing warriors to pillage and extort what they require. Occasionally they will trade with other races or hire themselves out as mercenaries in return for goods but most of the time they will simply fight to get what they want. It is said that the Norsemen love war-song and ale but most of all they love war. Old Worlders tell horrifying tales of these berserk warriors from over the Sea of Claws looting and burning from their dragon headed vessels and ravaging the northern coasts of The Empire and Kislev.
The Norsemen are known as excellent sailors and fearless warriors given to great voyages and adventures; the most wayward of the Norse raiders have sailed as far as Ulthuan and The Southlands bringing home tales of strange lands, immeasurable wealth and wild creatures.
The Norsemen are famously fond of their ale, so much so that they’ve been known to wage war to obtain a decent stock for the winter. However, some Norsemen whenever they have more than the slightest drop of Mead go into a berserk frenzy, where they feel no pain and fear nothing. A bit annoying in the Mead Hall, but very useful on the battlefield.
Norse army selector
| Troop | Type | Attacks | Hits | Armour | Command | Unit size | Points per unit | Min/max | Special |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bondsmen |
Infantry |
3 |
3 |
5+ |
- |
3 |
60 |
2/- |
- |
Huscarls |
Infantry |
4 |
3 |
4+ |
- |
3 |
110 |
1/4 |
- |
Huntsmen |
Infantry |
3/1 |
3 |
- |
- |
3 |
55 |
-/- |
- |
Berserkers |
Infantry |
5 |
3 |
- |
- |
3 |
70 |
-/1 |
*1 |
Ulfwerener |
Infantry |
4 |
4 |
6+ |
- |
3 |
115 |
-/1 |
*2 |
Cavalry |
Cavalry |
3 |
3 |
5+ |
- |
3 |
90 |
-/4 |
- |
Storm Giant |
Monster |
8 |
8 |
5+ |
- |
1 |
135 |
-/1 |
*3 |
War Mammoth |
Monster |
8 |
10 |
5+ |
- |
1 |
180 |
-/1 |
*4 |
Valkyries |
Monster |
2 |
3 |
5+ |
- |
3 |
80 |
-/1 |
*5 |
|
|||||||||
Jarl |
General |
+2 |
- |
- |
9 |
1 |
125 |
1 |
- |
Hero |
Hero |
+1 |
- |
- |
8 |
1 |
80 |
-/1 |
- |
Shaman |
Wizard |
+1 |
- |
- |
8 |
1 |
90 |
-/1 |
- |
Were Kin |
Special |
+1 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
+40 |
-/1 |
*6 |
Horn of Resounding |
Chariot Mount |
+1 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
+20 |
0–1 |
*7 |
Special rules
- 1. Berserkers
-
Such is the eagerness to get into combat that a unit of Berserkers will always use its initiative to charge an enemy if possible and can’t be given orders instead. They’ll never use their initiative to evade. They can’t be driven back by shooting and do not roll for drive backs. If victorious in combat, they must pursue or advance where possible. Berserkers are unaffected by enemies that cause terror in combat, so they do not suffer the usual -1 Attack modifier.
- 2. Ulfwerener
-
Unlike usual infantry troops, the Ulfwerener are based facing the short edge in the same way as cavalry. In addition they receive an additional +1 Attack modifier when they charge an enemy in the open in the same way as monsters and chariots and have an ability to pursue cavalry and chariots troop types. The Ulfwerener stands can never support or be supported. Because of their rather bestial nature, only characters with the Were Kin Character upgrade may join units of Ulfwerener. Ulfwerener units can not take any magic items.
- 3. Storm Giant
-
Giants must always be given a separate order. They cannot be brigaded with other troops, although several Giants can be brigaded together if you so wish. If you attempt to give an order to a Giant and fail then you must take a test to see what it does. Ignore potential blunders - these are taken into account by the following rules. Roll a dice and consult the Giant Goes Wild chart. Where Giants are brigaded together roll for each separately.
Giants have a great many hits, 8 in fact, which are almost impossible to inflict during even a fairly lengthy combat engagement. Because Giants have so many hits we must consider the possibility of hurting the Giant and reducing its effectiveness in subsequent turns. Therefore, if a Giant has accumulated 5-7 hits by the end of the Shooting phase or Combat phase and is no longer engaged in combat it is deemed to have been badly hurt. Once a Giant is badly hurt all accumulated hits are discounted and its maximum Hits value and Attacks are halved for the rest of the battle (to 4 Hits and 4 Attacks).
A Giant causes terror in its enemies.
- 4. War Mammoth
-
As the Mammoth is so gargantuan, it uses a 40 x 60mm base, with the short edge being the front. It causes terror and may attack troops on ramparts with its trunk in the same manner as a Giant. Alternatively, it may elect to batter a wall section or gateway with its tusks in the same manner as a battering ram.
During a siege a Norse War Mammoth in base contact with a wall section permits one Norse infantry unit to assault that wall section via the Mammoth. The infantry climb ladders and ropes at the rear of the Mammoth and use boarding ramps and the like to assault the fortress walls. This is not quite as effective as assaulting from a siege tower, so the enemy only counts as defended rather than in the open.
If a unit assaults in this manner, then the War Mammoth may not attack with its trunk or batter the walls; such action would result in attacking friendly troops or bringing a wall section down from under them.
If a War Mammoth has accumulated 6-9 hits by the end of the Shooting phase or Combat phase and is no longer engaged in combat it is deemed to have been badly hurt. Once a Mammoth is badly hurt then all accumulated hits are discounted and its maximum Hits value and Attacks are halved for the rest of the battle (to 5 Hits and 4 Attacks).
- 5. Valkyries
-
Valkyries can fly. Valkyries will always use their initiative to charge an enemy if possible and cannot be given orders instead. They will never use their initiative to evade. Valkyries are unaffected by enemy that cause terror in combat and they don’t suffer the usual -1 Attack modifier.
- 6. Were Kin
-
The Were Kin special mount option may be taken by any character in Norse army. It is not actually a mount as such, more an upgrade. A unit that is joined by the character with the Were Kin upgrade causes terror in its enemies. No terrain restriction apply for Were Kin - just treat the character as having +1 extra Attack and causing terror.
- 7. Horn of Resounding
-
A single shaman in the army may be given this chariot upgrade. It gives the shaman +1 Attack if the Horn is used the Shaman inspires the units around him to fight harder. He may add +1 to all of his Command checks for a single turn only.
Norse spells
Aspect of Wulfen
4+ to cast Range 30cm
The Shaman turns the friendly unit into an illusive pack of monstrous creatures entailing the fear in a hearts of enemies.
This spell can only be cast on any friendly unit within range regardless of whether the Shaman can see it or not. The unit counts as causing terror for the duration of the Combat phase.
Thunder of Fo’Wor
5+ to cast Range 30cm
A lightning bolt shoots from the Shaman’s outstretched arm, burning all in its path.
Draw an imaginary line 30cm long from the Shaman’s stand in any direction you wish. The line will pass through any intervening units but not beyond terrain that would normally stop a missile shot, e.g. over the crest of a hill, more than 2cm of woodland, and so forth.
Each unit under the line takes three shooting attacks worked out in the usual way. Note that this spell can easily affect several units and will affect all units that fall beneath the line (including your own). Unengaged units can be driven back by a Thunder of Fo’Wor as with ordinary shooting (even including friends). Engaged units cannot be driven back by the Thunder of Fo’Wor but carry over any hits scored into the first round of combat; any hits scored count as having been struck in the combat itself.
Eye of the Raven
5+ to cast Range N/A
The Shaman sacrifices a sacred Raven over a mystical flame. Ingesting the ash that is quickly formed gives him visions.
The Norse player may re-roll a single D6 at any time during the rest of his turn, through his opponents turn or in his following turn up to the end of his next Command phase when the effect of the spell ends if the re-roll has not already been used. The result of the re-roll cannot be changed in any way or re-rolled again, for example with an Orb of Majesty, Banner of Fortune or through other means. Likewise the re-roll from this spell cannot be used to re-roll any dice that another re-roll has already been used on. Nor can the reroll be used in the case of a blunder of a command roll, not even mystical foresight can help avert such mishaps, but it can mitigate the effects, so can be used to re-roll the dice roll on the blunder chart. For example if the Norse player rolled for a command needing a roll of a seven and rolled a five and a three, he could re-roll the dice that came up as a five, hopefully rolling a four or less making it a successful command.
+ Only one Eye of the Raven spell may be in effect per turn.
Spite of Low’Key
5+ to cast Range 30cm
The Shaman makes a weird enchantment calling the gods to curse the enemy with bad luck and failure.
All enemy characters within 30cm of the spell caster that roll a double have those orders count as blunders. This works on all results, from a double one, to a double five. As a result all doubles rolled not only blunder, but as with all normal blunders, it counts as a failed order. The only exception is the enemy general, as he cannot blunder. The spell lasts until the end of enemy Command phase.
