Witch Hunters and Warrior Priests

For those of you unfamiliar with Mordheim, let me enlighten you. Mordheim is an out-of-print skirmish game by Games Workshop. It is set in the Warhammer Fantasy setting in a ruined city called Mordheim. The city was destroyed when a  two tailed comet crashed into it for the perceived immoral behaviour of its citizens. Those not killed in the initial impact either fled or died a most terrible death during the time that followed. The city became overrun with monsters and heretics seeking the valuable wyrdstones that the comet was made from. For those regulars out there, this article on witch hunters will be similar to my previous budget builds guide and contain links where relevant.

The game was very popular but got stomped like all other specialist games by Games Workshop and now holds what can only be considered a strong cult following. Mordheim still has a very active player base that are constantly coming up with new ways to enjoy this classic, from new warbands to inventive novel scenarios.

However, without official support, sourcing all the models can be a pain, especially if you aren’t into your wargames as much as I am. This guide aims to gather together a collection of miniatures for each of the models in the Witch Hunter warband list, hopefully in an effort to save budding young witch hunters the effort of having to trawl the internet themselves trying to find obscure bits and pieces.

Captains of the Witch Hunters

The captains of the Witch Hunters are the leaders of this warband, for this reason the model needs to be imposing and it’s quite important that the player finds something that looks appropriate for the world. You can get away with second best for a lot of things though I think you will struggle to get the atmosphere right if your leader doesn’t look the way it should. For this reason, I used recommend going straight to the snake’s head and purchasing a witch hunter from Games Workshop, however, it seems that Games Workshop have quietly removed this model from their line. Thankfully others have stepped up in order to fill the space. I would strongly recommend this model from Scibor Miniatures that I think on some level is even nicer than the final offerings by GW.

The Templars of the Silver Hammer

After the captain come the other members of the Order of the Silver Hammer. Witch Hunter’s are all armed and prepared differently and this should be represented in your warband. Not only that, but having all the witch hunters as the same model makes for an incredibly bland game of Mordheim. For these reasons, below are several models which can be used to represent the witch hunters beneath the captain in your warband.

Abel, the puritan witch hunter, definitely lies on the Solomon Kane end of the the witch hunter spectrum. This model is very cheap and very cool. It is also easily adapted and converted. This means you could get hold of a few and with a bit of putty and careful cutting, change their equipment and stances.

Stickler comes with another model which can easily be adapted to be used as a zealot straight out of the box. This is one of my personal favourites and an awesome new mini by Warlord Games.

Another one that I absolutely love is Abram Duskwalker. He’s on the cheap side from Reaper Miniatures and is one of the coolest witch hunters I’ve come across.

In addition, it seems Gripping Beast are doing their best in offering some absolutely fantastic models, which I suspect were even specifically designed with Mordheim Warbands in mind with their new Order Militant models.

Warrior Priests of Holy Sigmar

Warrior Priests of Sigmar are once of the other heroes that you can outfit your warband with. The Warrior Priests have a very distinctive look in Mordheim (and Warhammer in general). This means that trying to replicate that can be difficult. Games Workshop no longer offer Warrior Priest models themselves so we will have to go father afield.

I have had some success using two of Reaper Miniatures’ figures. By taking the head from the Halbarand mini, and replacing it with that of the Innkeep, you get a slick looking, lore friendly warrior priest to aid your witch hunters.

Flagellants, Zealots and Warhounds

The following henchmen of the witch hunters are not so difficult to source. Without a doubt the best way of getting the flagellants is getting them straight from Games Workshop. They are a nifty kit with a lot of options, you will get significantly more than you need. This also has the advantage that you can play down the religion psycho aspect of some of them and use them as zealots. Should you wish to have distinctly different models however, that is also easy. The standard soldiers for Frostgrave are very good, but lack any options for black powder weapons. Another kit I have found extremely useful is the mercenaries box by Perry Miniatures. A mix of both can also come in useful for building a variety of Mordheim warbands. The war hounds can be a bit more tricky, you will probably want a few. In addition to this you don’t want them to all look the same. I personally use the grot wolf riders from Games Workshop but I’d be interested to hear what other people have come up with.

That covers every possible model in the Witch Hunters list. I’d love to hear what you’ve come up with when finding stuff for your forays into the City of the Damned, drop a comment below!