Source: Town Cryer #29 · Setting: Mordheim
“Jarod glanced down the street… All seemed clear. He could not immediately tell why, but he was sure someone, or something was there. Maybe it was just that strange odour hanging around the ruins here. He shivered, although Mordheim seemed to have its own special smell, this made him think of death.”
“A sudden noise made him jump up and bring his crossbow to bear on the still empty street. A strange mist started to creep in and soft squeaks could be made out. As Jarod sounded the alarm, two figures rushed towards him. Dressed in tattered cloaks, they wielded what looked like a spiked censer. Almost suffocating in the bellowing smoke, he fired his crossbow. Then, just before the spiked smoking ball smashed his skull, he saw two red gleaming eyes in a disease ridden skaven face.”
In the Old World sickness and plague are a fact of life and many people blame rats for spreading contagion. They are more right than they know.
The Skaven of Clan Pestilens revel in filth and foulness. Hardened by exposure to diseases not even imagined by mankind, they use their disgusting knowledge against their enemies.
Choice of Warriors
A Clan Pestilens band must include a minimum of 3 models. You start with 500 warp tokens to form your warband. The warband can have a maximum of 15 models.
Plague Priest: The warband must include a single Plague Priest as the leader.
Pestilens Sorcerer: The warband may include a single Pestilens Sorcerer.
Plague Monks: The warband may include up to two Plague Monks.
Monk Initiates: The warband may include up to two Monk Initiates.
Plague Novices: The warband may include any number of Plague Novices.
Giant Rats: Your warband may include any number of Giant Rats.
Rat Ogre: Your warband may include a single Rat Ogre.
Starting Experience
A Plague Priest starts with 20 Experience.
A Pestilens Sorcerer and Plague Monks start with 8 Experience.
Monk Initiates and Plague Novices start with 0 Experience.
All Henchmen start with 0 Experience.
Skill Table
| Combat | Shooting | Academic | Strength | Speed | Special | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plague Priest | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Pestilens Sorcerer | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Plague Monks | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Monk Initiates | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Hero Equipment List
Hand-to-hand Combat Weapons
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Dagger | 1st free / 2 gc |
| Club | 3 gc |
| Sword | 10 gc |
| Spear | 10 gc |
| Halberd | 10 gc |
| Flail | 15 gc |
| Disease Dagger | 15 gc |
| Censer | 40 gc |
Missile Weapons
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Sling | 2 gc |
Armour
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Shield | 5 gc |
| Helmet | 10 gc |
| Light armour | 20 gc |
Henchmen Equipment List
Hand-to-hand Combat Weapons
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Dagger | 1st free / 2 gc |
| Club | 3 gc |
| Sword | 10 gc |
| Spear | 10 gc |
Missile Weapons
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Sling | 2 gc |
Armour
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Shield | 5 gc |
| Helmet | 10 gc |
| Light armour | 20 gc |
Heroes
1 Plague Priest
85 gold crowns to hire
| Profile | M | WS | BS | S | T | W | I | A | Ld |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 7 |
The Plague Priest is one of the most disgusting disciples of the corrupted Clan Pestilens brotherhood. As leader of a small band devoted to the Clan, the spreading of contagion and disease are his main goals in the streets of Mordheim.
Weapons/Armour: The Plague Priest may be equipped as desired from the Clan Pestilens Hero Equipment list.
Special Rules
Leader: Any warrior within 6” of the Plague Priest may use his Leadership instead of his own.
0–1 Pestilens Sorcerer
45 gold crowns to hire
| Profile | M | WS | BS | S | T | W | I | A | Ld |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 6 |
The Pestilens Sorcerer is a twisted alchemist, always looking for new and more terrible forms of contagion, under the vigilant supervision of his dreadful master, the Horned Rat.
Weapons/Armour: The Pestilens Sorcerer may be equipped as desired from the Clan Pestilens Hero Equipment list.
Special Rules
Spellcaster: The Pestilens Sorcerer is a spellcaster and may cast spells from the Magic of the Horned Rat spell list.
0–2 Plague Monks
45 gold crowns to hire
| Profile | M | WS | BS | S | T | W | I | A | Ld |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 6 |
The Plague Monks are among the most fanatic and dangerous members of Clan Pestilens. To them is usually given the honour of chanting the Liturgicus Infecticus in combat.
Weapons/Armour: Plague Monks may be equipped as desired from the Clan Pestilens Hero Equipment list.
0–2 Monk Initiates
20 gold crowns to hire
| Profile | M | WS | BS | S | T | W | I | A | Ld |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 4 |
The Monk Initiates are young Skaven devoted to the Clan Pestilens discipline, waiting to be promoted as true Plague Monks.
Weapons/Armour: Monk Initiates may be equipped as desired from the Clan Pestilens Hero Equipment list.
Henchmen
(Bought in groups of 1–5)
Plague Novices
20 gold crowns to hire
| Profile | M | WS | BS | S | T | W | I | A | Ld |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
They are the lower rank of Clan Pestilens. They infest the Mordheim streets, coming just before the terrible Plague Monks and their clouds of pestilential fumes. The dream of every Plague Novice is to be chosen someday to be a Monk, and to be given the privilege of chanting the Liturgicus Infecticus.
Weapons/Armour: Plague Novices may be armed with weapons and armour chosen from the Henchmen Equipment list.
Giant Rats
15 gold crowns to hire
| Profile | M | WS | BS | S | T | W | I | A | Ld |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 4 |
Giant contagious rats follow the Clan Pestilens during its battles.
Weapons/Armour: None. Giant Rats never use any armour or weapons.
Special Rules
Animals: Giant Rats are animals and do not gain experience.
0–1 Rat Ogre
210 gold crowns to hire
| Profile | M | WS | BS | S | T | W | I | A | Ld |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
These terrible monsters are often chosen as personal bodyguards by Skaven of higher ranks.
Weapons/Armour: Jaws, claws and brute force! Rat Ogres can never use weapons or armour.
Special Rules
Fear: Rat Ogres are so frightening they cause fear.
Stupidity: A Rat Ogre is subject to Stupidity unless a Skaven Hero is within 6” of it.
Experience: Rat Ogres do not gain experience.
Large Target: Rat Ogres are Large Targets as defined in the shooting rules.
Clan Pestilens Special Skills
Members of Clan Pestilens may choose to use the following skill list instead of any of the standard skill tables available to them.
Black Hunger: The Skaven can draw upon the dreaded Black Hunger, the fighting frenzy which gives him unnatural strength and speed but can ravage him from inside. The Skaven Hero may declare at the beginning of his turn that he is using this skill. The Hero adds +1 Attack and +D3” to his total move for the duration of his own turn, but suffers D3 Strength 3 hits with no armour save possible at the end of the turn.
Censer Bearer: Only a Clan Pestilens member with the Black Hunger special skill may choose this skill. A Clan Pestilens member with this skill is called a Censer Bearer. He gains the special rule Frenzy and the only weapon he may use in close combat is a censer.
Rotten Body: A Clan Pestilens member with this skill has grown accustomed to poisons, diseases and the fog of death emanated by censers. He is now immune to poison and diseases and, if taken out of action because of a failed test from wielding a censer, he will not have to roll for injuries at the end of the battle and recovers automatically.
Contagious: Only a Clan Pestilens member with the Rotten Body special skill may choose this skill. A model who inflicts the injury that sends the Contagious member out of action must take a Toughness test — roll a D6 and if the result is higher than the model’s Toughness, he suffers an automatic wound. A result of 6 always inflicts a wound. Models of Undead and Possessed never take this test.
Ignore Pain: Only a Clan Pestilens member with the Resilient Strength skill may choose this skill. A Clan Pestilens member with this skill treats Stunned results as Knocked Down.
Special Equipment
Censer
Cost: 40 gc · Availability: Rare 9
The censer is a hollow spiked metal ball attached to a long chain and is swung like a flail. A plague-infested shard of warpstone burns inside the ball and emits pestilential fumes that nauseate opponents and may obscure the wielder from enemy fire.
Range: Close Combat · Strength: As user +2
Special Rules
Heavy: The +2 Strength bonus applies only to the first turn of hand-to-hand combat.
Two-handed: A censer requires two hands to use and the wielder cannot use a shield, buckler or additional weapon in close combat.
Fog of Death: A model hit by the censer must take a Toughness test — roll a D6 and if the result is higher than the model’s Toughness, he suffers an automatic wound in addition to the censer hit. A result of 6 always inflicts a wound. The model wielding the censer must also take the test and suffers a wound on a result of 6. Models of Undead and Possessed are immune to the Fog of Death. If the censer wielder also carries fog-enhancing warpstone shards, he becomes a difficult target to shoot at and models targeting him suffer a –1 penalty to hit.
Disease Dagger
Cost: 15 gc · Availability: Rare 8
This dagger is permanently covered with a disgusting and moulderish layer of green ooze that may infect those hit with terrible diseases.
Range: Close Combat · Strength: As user
Special Rules
+1 Enemy Armour Save: An enemy wounded by a Disease Dagger gains a +1 bonus to his armour save, and a 6+ armour save if he has none normally.
Infecting: A natural 6 on a hit roll means the model hit has been infected — it must take a Toughness test. Roll a D6 and if the result is higher than the model’s Toughness, it suffers an automatic wound in addition to the dagger hit. Models of Undead and Possessed are immune. A model wielding two Disease Daggers gains +1 Attack for wielding two weapons, with an increased chance of rolling an infecting 6.
Clan Pestilens Banner
Cost: 10 gc · Availability: Rare 5
Special Rules
A model within 12” of the standard bearer may re-roll once every failed All Alone test. The staff of the Clan Pestilens Banner counts as a two-handed weapon. A warband may have a single Clan Pestilens Banner at any one time. Clan Pestilens members use this item instead of the normal Banner.
Fog-enhancing Warpstone Shards
Cost: 100 + D6×10 gc · Availability: Rare 9
When put inside a censer, these warpstone shards make the resulting clouds of pestilential fumes thicker than usual.
Special Rules
The wielder of a censer who also carries fog-enhancing warpstone shards is a difficult target to shoot at — other models suffer a –1 penalty to hit when targeting him with missile weapons. Clan Pestilens members use this item instead of the Elven Cloak.
Liber Bubonicus
Cost: 200 + D6×25 gc · Availability: Rare 12
Special Rules
If the warband includes a Pestilens Sorcerer, he may use the Liber Bubonicus to permanently learn an additional spell randomly chosen from the Magic of the Horned Rat spell list. A Plague Priest may use the Liber Bubonicus to learn Horned Rat magic if he has the Magical Aptitude skill, gaining the Spellcaster special rule and permanently learning a randomly chosen spell from the Horned Rat spell list. The Liber Bubonicus may be used only once and a warband cannot use more than one in a given campaign. Clan Pestilens members use this item instead of the Tome of Magic.
Liturgicus Infecticus
Cost: 30 + 2D6 gc · Availability: Rare 8
Special Rules
At the beginning of a turn, or just before taking a Rout Test, the warband may chant the Liturgicus Infecticus and benefit from a +1 Leadership bonus until the end of the turn. Clan Pestilens members use this item instead of the War Horn.
Vial of Pestilens
Cost: 25 + 2D6 gc · Availability: Rare 9
This small crystal vial contains an extremely potent and rapid disease. A single sniff is enough to melt the airways and leave the victim drowning in its own blood. It is, however, short lived and only remains dangerous for a few seconds before it is neutralised in the air.
Special Rules
The vial may be opened and shoved in the face of the model in base contact that just took the Skaven out of action. The opponent must roll equal to or under its Toughness or be automatically taken out of action — no save is allowed. If the opponent succumbs to the disease, the Skaven is only Stunned rather than out of action. The vial may be used once.
Scroll of the Rat Familiar
Cost: 25 + D6 gc · Availability: Rare 8
Special Rules
The Scroll has a spell inscribed on it, usable by a Pestilens Sorcerer as many times as he wishes. If the warband includes at least one Giant Rat, the spell may be cast on it before combat begins, transforming it into a Rat Familiar. If his Rat Familiar is within 6”, the Sorcerer may re-roll once per game the dice to overcome the difficulty of a spell. A Sorcerer may only have one Rat Familiar at any one time — it is a henchman and counts normally towards the maximum number of models permitted in the warband. If the Sorcerer dies, his Rat Familiar reverts to Giant Rat form. Clan Pestilens members use this item instead of the normal Familiar.
Rat Familiar (a Giant Rat transformed by the scroll):
| Profile | M | WS | BS | S | T | W | I | A | Ld |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 4 |
The Rat Familiar earns experience as a henchman. A result of 10–12 on the henchmen advancement table gives the result “Improved Spellcasting” instead of promotion to Hero status: if the Sorcerer is within 6” of the Rat Familiar, he gains +1 to his dice rolls to overcome the casting difficulty of a spell. This ability is cumulative.
Warpstone Amulet
Cost: 10 gc · Availability: Rare 5
Special Rules
The owner of a Warpstone Amulet may re-roll a single die during the battle, or — if not out of combat at the end of the game — a single die when searching for wyrdstone shards. Clan Pestilens members use this item instead of the Rabbit’s Foot.