Source: Nemesis Crown Supplement · Setting: Nemesis Crown
The biggest fallout of the Storm of Chaos was the influx of refugees from across the border. Though many from Ostermark and Ostland have returned to push back whatever forces remain or to start anew elsewhere in the Empire, a large population of Hochland have not, and this has raised tensions throughout Talabecland.
It was a bad winter. Food was short and even the aristocracy was having to make do as best they could. The harvest had been bad leading up to the Storm and the loss of so many men to the fighting did not help. Trade was weakened and employment became scarce, driving men to take desperate measures in order to survive.
Rumours have spread of a treasure hidden deep in the Great Forest. Adventurous gangs of petty crooks led by villainous individuals now prowl the wilderness. Men and women have started disappearing. These men are opportunists who seek a prize for their own selfish gain.
Warband Special Rules
Hired Swords: Bandits have no compunction about hiring mercenaries, and may hire any Hired Swords allowed to a Human Mercenary warband.
Powder’s Expensive! Bandits are often too poor to purchase or upkeep expensive equipment like gunpowder weapons. The exception is Bandit heroes, who often see such extravagances as pistols as symbols of their status and higher wealth. The higher costs for black powder weapons in the equipment chart, and the fact that henchmen can’t purchase them at all, reflect the extreme rarity of these weapons for Bandit warbands.
Foragers: Bandits are used to lean times and know how to make their gold stretch. When determining Income for a Bandit warband, always use the next lower warband size category (a warband with 1–3 members still uses the first column). For example, a warband with 15 members uses the 10–12 members column instead of the 13–15 members column.
Know Who To Sell To: Bandits are used to getting rid of stolen goods and have built up contacts for doing so. When a Bandit warband sells equipment, they get half of any random element of the equipment cost, in addition to the normal half of the item’s basic cost.
Choice of Warriors
A Bandit warband must include a minimum of 3 models. You have 500 Gold Crowns to recruit your initial warband. The maximum number of warriors in the warband is 12.
- Bandit Prince: Each Bandit warband must have one Bandit Prince: no more, no less!
- Footpads: Your warband may include up to 2 Footpads.
- Huckster: Your warband may include a single Huckster.
- Duelist: Your warband may include a single Duelist.
- Thugs: Any number of models may be Thugs.
- Blackhearts: Your warband may include up to 2 Blackhearts.
- Looters: Your warband may include up to 4 Looters.
- Gutterscum: Your warband may include any number of Gutterscum.
- Poachers: Your warband may include up to 2 Poachers.
Heroes
Bandit Prince
| M | WS | BS | S | T | W | I | A | Ld |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 8 |
Many young men of meagre means and wild imaginations dream of forging their own empire out of the wilderness. Some actually take steps to make their dreams reality, gathering a group of men together to seek their fortunes. The leaders of such bands are sometimes bitter, hardened men who have seen their dreams trampled in the dust — but just as often they are carefree spirits who have found they actually prefer a more open forum for their ‘court’.
Weapons/Armour: A Bandit Prince may be equipped with weapons and armour chosen from the Bandit Heroes Equipment list.
Special Rules
Leader: Any warrior within 6” of the Bandit Prince may use his Leadership characteristic when taking any Leadership tests.
Footpads
| M | WS | BS | S | T | W | I | A | Ld |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 7 |
Footpads specialise in sneaking behind their target and taking him while he is unaware of their presence. While out in the open a Footpad fights no better than any other warrior, but if given the opportunity to surprise his enemy, a Footpad can often be a dangerous opponent indeed.
Weapons/Armour: Footpads may be equipped with weapons and armour chosen from the Bandit Equipment list.
Special Rules
Concealment: Enemy warriors often find it difficult to detect a Footpad until he strikes. If an enemy warrior wishes to charge a Footpad that he cannot see (but was not declared as Hidden), he must subtract 1 from his Initiative before making his Initiative test. A roll of ‘6’ always fails when rolling to charge a Footpad that the warrior cannot see. Models also halve their Initiative when checking the range to detect a Footpad who has been declared as Hiding.
Duelist
| M | WS | BS | S | T | W | I | A | Ld |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 7 |
A professional warrior who specialises in standing in for those who have been challenged to a duel. Being a Duelist can prove quite a lucrative, if somewhat short, career. Many families take offense to a trained fighter cutting their kin down in the street, and will hire killers of their own to exact revenge. A situation such as this will often result in a Duelist joining a party of wandering brigands for a time, taking a short ‘vacation’ from life in the city.
Weapons/Armour: A Duelist may be equipped with weapons and armour chosen from the Duelist Equipment list.
Special Rules
Swordmaster: In order to remain alive, a Duelist picks up swordfighting techniques that few others master. The Duelist successfully parries an enemy blow on a roll equal to or over the roll to hit, not just over the roll as with normal parries. The Duelist must first be armed with a weapon or armour that allows him to Parry.
Weapon Knowledge: A Duelist must be prepared to fight an opponent with any weapon at any time. The weapons in the Bandit equipment chart merely represent the weapons a Duelist may start with. A Duelist may use any close combat or missile weapon that the warband members can get hold of.
Huckster
| M | WS | BS | S | T | W | I | A | Ld |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 6 |
Among the cities of the humans there are those who find that they have a natural gift for convincing others to help them in their endeavours. Typically very intelligent and possessing a silver tongue, a Huckster can convince a man that the stones in his hand are really magical beans. Often quite well-to-do until their victims track them down, Hucksters find that a Bandit warband offers them considerably more security than life alone.
Weapons/Armour: A Huckster may be equipped with weapons and armour chosen from the Coward Equipment list.
Special Rules
Convincing Manner: When an enemy warrior attempts to charge a member of the Huckster’s warband within 12” of the Huckster, the enemy must first pass a successful Leadership test. If the warrior fails, he may not charge and remains stationary for the turn, exactly as if he had failed a test to charge a Fear-causing enemy. Individuals subject to stupidity and animals are immune to this effect.
Slick Operator: In between games the player may choose to have the Huckster run a con on the local inhabitants of the region. Roll a D6: on a result of 2–6, the con is successful and the warband gains 2D6 gold. However, on a result of 1 the Huckster’s con has backfired — he misses the next game and no gold is received. This skill may not be combined with the Banditry special skill.
Henchmen
(Bought in groups of 1–5)
Thugs
| M | WS | BS | S | T | W | I | A | Ld |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 7 |
Brawn without brains. Those stronger than their fellows are often drawn to a life of banditry, as it is an easy way for them to earn a living. Many a town bully has found that he has been, quite by accident, training himself for a life of crime.
Weapons/Armour: Thugs may be equipped with weapons and armour chosen from the Bandit Equipment list.
Looters
| M | WS | BS | S | T | W | I | A | Ld |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 6 |
Not all members of a Bandit warband find close-up fighting enjoyable. Many are cowards who make their living off of shooting a victim from afar and then stripping the body for anything that can be sold.
Weapons/Armour: Looters may be equipped with weapons and armour chosen from the Coward Equipment list.
Special Rules
Looting the Dead: When rolling for warriors who were taken Out of Action at the end of a battle, the Bandit player may roll a D6 for any warriors who are to be removed from their warband’s roster. On a roll of 4+ the Looter has taken all of the warrior’s equipment. Failure indicates that the Looter either didn’t notice the warrior going down, or didn’t get the opportunity to rob the body. Warriors can only be looted once; Looters may loot warriors from any warband participating in the game, including their own.
Blackhearts
| M | WS | BS | S | T | W | I | A | Ld |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 7 |
Truly soulless individuals who represent the worst elements of any society. Such cruel and evil beings have usually seen the worst life has to offer and revel in it. Most Blackhearts have severely anti-social tendencies, so a Bandit warband will never be found with more than one or two of these depraved creatures.
Weapons/Armour: Blackhearts may be equipped with weapons and armour chosen from the Bandit Equipment list.
Special Rules
Hardened: Blackhearts are not put off by the evils of the world when they come across them. Blackhearts are immune to Fear, and never have to take All-Alone tests.
Poachers
| M | WS | BS | S | T | W | I | A | Ld |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 7 |
While most members of a Bandit warband are hardened criminals, some are just individuals who were down on their luck and were forced to resort to poaching the local lord’s game. Poachers are so useful to the warband that they are usually given more slack than anyone else — a band of outlaws needs places to hide and food to eat, and Poachers know where the best of both are to be found.
Weapons/Armour: Poachers may be equipped with weapons chosen from the Poacher Equipment list.
Special Rules
Trailblazers: Poachers are experts at finding new game or safe campsites for the warband. In the game this is represented by allowing the warband to reroll one D6 for each Poacher in the Exploration phase.
Gutterscum
| M | WS | BS | S | T | W | I | A | Ld |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 6 |
Gutterscum are the lowest of the low — those whose laziness or other vices have driven them to a life they are utterly unsuited for. They often make up the bulk of a Bandit warband, as the slums of most cities are filled with those desperate enough to view a life of preying on their fellow man as an opportunity to improve their lot.
Weapons/Armour: Gutterscum may be equipped with weapons and armour chosen from the Coward Equipment list.
Special Rules
Utterly Inept: Gutterscum do not gain experience.
Equipment Lists
Bandit Equipment List
Hand-to-hand Combat Weapons
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Dagger | 1st free/2 gc |
| Hammer | 3 gc |
| Axe | 5 gc |
| Sword | 10 gc |
| Spear | 10 gc |
| Double-handed weapon | 15 gc |
Missile Weapons
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Throwing Axe | 15 gc |
Armour
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Light armour | 20 gc |
| Shield | 5 gc |
| Helmet | 10 gc |
Duelist Equipment List
Hand-to-hand Combat Weapons
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Dagger | 1st free/2 gc |
| Rapier | 15 gc |
| Main Gauche | 7 gc |
| Sword | 10 gc |
| Spear | 10 gc |
Missile Weapons
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Pistol | 20 gc (40 for a brace) |
| Duelling Pistol | 30 gc (60 for a brace) |
Armour
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Shield | 5 gc |
| Buckler | 10 gc |
Coward Equipment List
Hand-to-hand Combat Weapons
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Dagger | 1st free/2 gc |
| Spear | 10 gc |
Missile Weapons
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Sling | 2 gc |
Poacher Equipment List
Hand-to-hand Combat Weapons
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Dagger | 1st free/2 gc |
| Spear | 10 gc |
Missile Weapons
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Short Bow | 5 gc |
| Bow | 10 gc |
| Long bow | 15 gc |
| Crossbow | 25 gc |
Armour
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Helmet | 10 gc |
Skill Table
| Combat | Shooting | Academic | Strength | Speed | Special | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bandit Prince | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Footpad | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Huckster | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Duelist | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Bandit Special Skills
Banditry: Between missions, the bandit goes off and robs travellers or other innocent victims. Instead of searching for Rare equipment, the hero may engage in Banditry — roll a D6. On a result of 2–6, the banditry is successful and the hero adds D6+1 gold to the warband’s stash. On a result of 1, the attempted robbery has gone wrong — roll on the Serious Injury table for the bandit, as if he had been taken Out of Action in the last game. This skill may not be combined with the Huckster’s Slick Operator ability.
Hide in Shadows: An enemy warrior attempting to detect this warrior when he is Hidden must halve his Initiative (round up) before measuring the distance.
Jump Back: If the warrior is in close combat with an enemy warrior (and not Knocked Down or Stunned) at the start of his Movement Phase, he may attempt to jump out of combat. The warrior must make an Initiative test. If he fails, the warrior will automatically strike last in that round of combat. If he passes, immediately move him 1” away from the enemy warrior; he may then move and otherwise act normally for the rest of that turn.
Sniper: When Hiding, the warrior may cast spells or shoot and still remain Hidden. This skill may not be used when shooting a Blackpowder weapon.
Throw Voice: If an enemy warrior is attempting to detect the bandit while he is Hidden, roll a D6 — on a result of 4 or better, the bandit is undetected and remains Hidden.
Special Equipment
The following items are available to this warband from the Trading Post.
Main Gauche
Cost: 7 gc · Availability: Rare 7
A dagger with a large hand guard, often used in conjunction with a rapier or other sword. Popular among duellists and petty nobles. Range: Close Combat · Strength: As user. Parry: Can parry enemy blows. +1 Enemy Armour Save: Target gets +1 to armour save.
Rapier
Cost: 15 gc · Availability: Rare 5
A long thin blade commonly used by duellists. A deadly, sharp weapon capable of delivering a multitude of blows but lacking the power of a broadsword. Range: Close Combat · Strength: As user. Parry: May parry in hand to hand combat. Barrage: A warrior armed with a rapier rolls to hit and wound as normal. However, if you manage to hit your opponent but fail to wound, you may attack again at –1 to hit. You may continue attacking as long as you hit. Armour Save: Armour saves are made at +1 against a rapier.