Frequently Asked Questions

Mordheim Data Files

Welcome to the FAQ for the Mordheim data files for Army Builder. This FAQ contains a collection of important details about the data files for this game system that their author thought you should be aware of. If you have questions that are not covered below, please contact the author of the data files for further information. You will find contact information for the author under the 'Help' menu by selecting the 'Contact Data File Author' menu item.


Border Town Burning (BTB)

You are using a version of the Mordheim Data Files which includes the Border Town Burning campaign. See www.bordertownburning.de.vu for the campaign rules. The Mordheim files (without BTB) are from here.

If the BTB ZIP archive you downloaded contained a lot of files, including "mordheim.def", then put them all in their own directory (name is arbitrary, "mordheim-btb" works fine) a subdirectory of the "C:\Programs\Army Builder 3\data" (or wherever you have installed AB).

If the BTB ZIP archive you downloaded only included some "btb.*" files, then you need to acquire the Mordheim files for Army Builder 3 first (here), and then add the btb.* files to those files (simply unpack them in the same directory, for example "C:\Programs\Army Builder 3\data\mordheim-btb").

For feedback on these DATs, use the topic in the BTB forum where you probably downloaded these files from, and be sure to post your questions right in that topic, not in a new one (if you want the author of the DAT to be notified)!

Everything has been implemented according to the full supplement ("btb.pdf", page numbers are given as "btb12" etc.), no errata was included yet.

Implemented features (version 0.2):

Immediate TODOs (a.k.a., bugs, debugging stuff etc.): Planned features:

These features are planned for the immediate future.

Long term features:

These are features of the BTB campaign that may or may not be added to these DAT files, over time. No particular order. Don't hold your breath, there are huge efforts involved here.

BTB: Getting started

To use the BTB campaign rules, start a new roster, and enable Roster > Change Rules > Border Town Burning, and also enable Roster > Change Rules > Campaign Game.

Add the "Treasury/Stash" unit to your roster. Also add the "Border Town Burning" unit to your roster. Click on the Border Town Burning unit and pick your objective (only races which are mentioned in the BTB supplement get to chose an objective).

Create your roster as usual, otherwise. After playing a game, update your units as usual in campaign mode (i.e., add experience where necessary). If you earned wyrdstones, gold or items, put them into the treasury.

If you earned campaign points, add them to the Border Town Burning unit. when you earned enough campaign points (5, 10, 15...), achievements will automatically open up. When printing your roster, they will be shown in the footnotes. The Errata have not been implemented, if in doubt, check them out.

BTB: Implementation details

The BTB enhancements to the original Mordheim DAT files are included strictly in their own files (btb.*). None of the original Mordheim files were touched at all.

You may or may not have luck using the BTB files with other versions of the Mordheim DAT. See the topic "Border Town Burning" in this FAQ on how to contact the developer of the BTB DAT files if you need something fixed, or have feedback on incompatibilities.

Priorities:

Bugs and Data File Support

If you encounter a problem with these data files or have a question about these data files, please visit the Mordheim support forum that exists for exactly this purpose. The URL is:
support.wolflair.com/index.php?name=MDForum&file=viewforum&f=32

If you are seeking the addition of other material, please see the following section on this topic.

Data File Status

These data files implement everything from the main rulebook that was published in 1999 and is now available for download at www.specialist-games.com. Lots of additional materials have been published for the game, but my gaming group doesn't currently use that material, so I didn't add it.

Before you send me everything, please note that I also do NOT have the time to add all the material in. Instead, I've done all the hard stuff here and setup these data files so that adding new warbands should be relatively easy. You'll still need to be familiar with how to use the data file authoring tools, but you'll be able to leverage all the mechanisms that I've got in place to simplify everything. In addition, you can follow the example of the existing six warbands. So adding a new warband can now be done in a few hours (if you know what you're doing).

What I'm ideally looking for is someone who is willing to take over ownership of these data files and continue their evolution. If we can get multiple people adding in the details for different warbands, then the data files will be complete in no time! If you are interested, please post a message about it on the Mordheim data file support forum and we'll figure out what can be done. I'll be happy to answer questions and help out anyone who wants to help with the data files.

How Things Are Shown

The way the output is shown by these data files is a good bit different than the way it is shown in the V2.x data files. The reason is simply that I find this new way to be much better. It takes advantage of things that weren't possible in V2, and it strives to find a balance between the widely varying styles and preferences of Mordheim players I've run into. Please give it a chance before you condemn it just because it's "different".

Mordheim let's you take multiple different weapons, so there is no way to readily differentiate between which weapons are or aren't being used. In addition, there are various situations where equipment provides stat adjustments in specific situations, and I'm not just talking about Strength bonuses. From my experience, the most common error is in forgetting to use a piece of equipment when it applies. Consequently, the most valuable thing that a roster sheet can provide is hard-to-miss warnings that a particular unit has equipment that will modify a particular stat. That's the goal of how these data files are setup.

So how do things work? First of all, stat modifiers are only applied to the stat line if they will be fixed throughout the battle (e.g. armor). If equipment can be swapped out during play (e.g. weapons), the modifiers for that equipment are not applied within the stat line. Instead, every unit stat that can be modified by something the unit possesses is flagged with a +/- symbol so that it can't be accidentally overlooked. Since the common modifiers will be due to weapons, quick reference information for each selected weapon is included, in bold-face type, as soon as possible within the description for each unit. That way, the details are immediately below the stat line for instant viewing. Only the most critical details are included and they are done in shorthand form to keep things compact (e.g. "Flail: +2S Once, 2H"). This should make it easy to get the info you need during game play, and you can always refer to the Footnotes section for complete details on the weapon.

For attacks, all additional attacks beyond the base count are flagged with letter codes so there's no way to forget how many attacks there are and what each one is. For example, an Attacks stat of "1XT" means one primary, one off-hand/extra, and one tail attack. If the unit has Frenzy, then that detail is also coded into the Attack stat with an "F" (e.g. "1FX"). If there is a two-handed or unwieldy weapon AND the possibility for two one-handed weapons (e.g. spear, sword, and dagger), then the potential issue is flagged on the Attacks stat with a "+/-" symbol. Basically, the "+/-" on a stat means "pay attention grasshopper and look below for the details on this one".

If you have questions about this, take a quick look at the Mutant (Possessed warband) and the Black Skaven units. As you add weapons (and mutations), take a look at how the Attacks and Strength stats are affected. In addition, check out how shields are handled, including the heavy armor and shield combo. Things like mounts and Ithilmar weapons work the same way. The reminders only show up within roster output, so you can use the Print Preview mechanism to see how the reminders are handled for weapons.

Campaign vs. One-Shot Games

You can control whether you're building a warband for a campaign game or a one-shot game by selecting the appropriate rule set. When you create your warband, click on the button that tooks like a clipboard with a checkmark on it. This will bring up the list of rule sets to choose from. The first set of options shown is a choice between a campaign game or a one-shot game. If you create your warband and forget this detail, you can change it later by using the same button above the Available Units list within AB.

Other Configurable Options

There are a few additional options that you can control within the data files. These are controlled via the Rule Sets mechanism, which you access by clicking on the button that looks like a clipboard with a checkmark on it. Once you have the Rules form open, click on the "Special Aspects" context on the left. The available options are as follows:

Show Dramatic Personae - If you don't play with the Dramatis Personae in your group, you can turn off their display by unchecking this option.

Include Weapon Reminders - Checking this option will include quick reminders of the key modifiers for each weapon that is selected for each unit (see the "How Things Are Shown" section above). This allows you to avoid having to scan down to the Footnotes section at the end of the roster for all the details on each weapon. If you have all the weapons memorized, then you can uncheck this option. Otherwise, you'll probably find it useful.

Advances

Within a campaign game, it's critical to track the accrued experience for each unit of your warband. This is done with a simple adjuster that is labeled "Experience". As a unit gains experience, simply adjust the value upwards. As soon as the unit qualifies for an advance, everything associated with advances will turn red. You must then select an advance in order to have the unit again become valid.

Advances and experience are tracked on separate tabs for each type of unit (e.g. henchman vs. heroes). This is important, and it's critical for henchman who get the "Lad's Got Talent!" advance. When this happens, the henchman's "Henchman" experience and advances are frozen and become greyed out. You must now select the two skill categories that the henchman will have available. Meanwhile, the "Hero" tab appears for the unit. Switch to the Hero tab and you'll find a separate tracking of additional experience for the new hero, plus you'll be required to select the free advance for the talented lad. Henceforth, as the lad accrues new experience, you'll add it under the Hero tab and new advances will become available as appropriate.

Thanks to the way AB3 now works, if you accidentally decrease your experience, any advances you have selected will remain selected. The unit will be flagged in red to indicate that it is no longer valid, but nothing is lost. When you increase your experience back up where it belongs, AB will be happy again. And if you actually lose experience for some reason, you can choose which advance to remove and then your unit will be valid.

Spells

When you add a spellcaster, the unit will start out invalid and shown in red. This is because you have to specify the first spell for your caster. Click on the appropriate advancements tab (it will be in red) and you'll see an option highlighted in red that lists the type of spells available to your caster. Click on the option and you'll be presented with a list of the spells to choose from. Once a spell is picked, it will appear beneath the selection option. To change your mind, deselect the spell and choose again. Once you've selected the correct number of spells (e.g. Warlocks get two), the selection option will become grey and your caster will be ready to go.

Equipment

Equipment is selected from the "Other" tab. There are four different options that allow selection of different types of equipment. The reason for the four different lists is to keep them small and manageable for perusal. The lists may not be long right now, but I've waded through the pages of options in the AB2 data files, so I'm expecting these lists to grow quite long once all the data is added.

To add an item to your hero, click on the appropriate option and you'll be presented with a list of the items matching that type. Select an item from the list and it appears beneath the unit. An option corresponding to that item also appears within the Options Panel, allowing you to delete it if it is used or lost in a battle.

If you don't see an item in the list, it probably means that your hero doesn't satisfy the necessary pre-requisite(s) for the item. For example, you won't see horses in the list for your Skaven, and the Tome of Magic will only appear for qualified spellcasters.

For items that have a variable extra cost, the item will appear in red when first added to the hero. Click on the item and you'll see an option through which you can specify the extra cost. Click on the option and you're prompted to enter the proper value, after which the item is valid and reflects the correct total cost.

Special Weapons

If you have a Gromril or Ithilmar weapon, clicking on the option within the Weapons tab adds a corresponding item beneath the unit. However, the new weapon starts out invalid and shown in red. You need to specify the type of weapon (e.g. sword, mace, etc.). Click on the weapon item beneath the unit and you'll see the list of possible weapon types. Click on the appropriate option and your weapon is complete, with the proper cost being calculated.

Mutations & Tail Attacks

If you play a Possessed warband, you'll have the opportunity to purchase mutations and/or obtain rewards from the Shadowlord. Mutations are selected from a list, just like everything else, and they appear as new items beneath the hero. When you add a mutation, though, it may have additional options available to it. For example, if you obtain the "Extra Arm" mutation, you'll be able to click on the corresponding item and will see various weapon and armor options available (except for Possessed, who can't use any weapons). If you wish to equip a weapon or shield in the arm, select the appropriate option and it will be added to the unit with the proper cost.

If you play Skaven, then selection of the Tail Fighting skill will result in a similar situation. The Tail Fighting skill will appear as an item beneath the unit, and it will start out invalid. Go to the Tail Fighting skill and select the weapon or shield option that you want to utilize.

Injuries

Injuries work like everything else. Click on the option to bring up the list to choose from. Select the appropriate injury and it is added to the hero, along with any corresponding impact (e.g. stat adjustments). If the injury indicates that the hero will need to miss a random number of games, the injury will have an option in which to specify the number of games remaining. For example, if you start out having to miss two games, you could initially set this option to two. After the next game, it could be decreased to one. After the second game, the injury could be deleted from the hero.

Treasury/Stash

In a campaign game, you'll need to keep track of the gold you still haven't spent and the wyrdstone you've accrued. In addition, there will often be some items that your warband has found but that hasn't been allocated to a particular unit yet. The "Treasury/Stash" unit is designed to be a convenient place to manage this information.

Editing the Mordheim Data Files

Mordheim Data File Basics

The sections that follow outline the basics you'll need to know when editing the Mordheim data files. Most things are described within the data files via comments included in the files. You can view all of the comments for a given data file very easily within ABCreator. Simply go to the "Edit" menu and select the "View Comments List" option. The following sections provide additional information beyond the data file comments, as well as a basic walk-through of how to do things like adding new material.

IMPORTANT! You are assumed to be familiar with the Authoring Kit and the tools it contains. If you haven't reviewed the Kit docs and gone through the authoring walk-through yet, you'll only be confused by the sections below. Please familiarize yourself with the tools and how things work in general before trying to work on the Mordheim data files.

Control Tags

There are quite a few tags defined within the "control" tag group. These tags are all used to coordinate behaviors within the data files to achieve the desired results. Some of the tags in this group are used widely and deserve special description:

Equipment Tags

Just like "control" tags, there are a bunch of "equip" tags. These tags are all used to control whether a unit has access to a specific weapon or armor option. This makes it possible to list all weapons as available to all units via one convenient linkset and then control which ones are actually available via the tags. In addition, this makes it possible to have tags that automatically provide access to all weapons, such as is done with the "control.masterweap" tag to support the "Weapons Expert" skill.

Validation Tags

Again like "control" tags, there are a bunch of "validation" tags. These tags indicate key attributes that are used later during validation and/or final rendering of the unit. The tags starting with the "mod" prefix indicate whether the corresponding unit stat needs to be shown as modified (with the "+/-" symbol) in the unit's stat line. The other tags are used as flags that are referenced by validation rules.

Adding a Unit

If you just want to add a unit to the data files, there are a number of steps you'll need to go through. This process assumes that no new equipment, weapons, spells,or other details need to be added to the files. The following is a checklist of the things you'll need to take care of:

  1. Identify the appropriate data file in which to create the unit, go to the Unit tab within ABCreator, and create a new unit.
  2. Enter all the basic characteristics properly, including name, cost, description, etc.
  3. Enter all the stat values for the unit. Unless the unit has an innate armor save, set the "Sv" stat to 7. If the unit has a warband rating other than 5 plus its experience points, enter the rating in the "Rating" stat. If the unit has access to starting spells, enter the number of starting spells in the "Spells" stat.
  4. Assign all the appropriate linksets to the unit. Any unit that can have weapons and armor, gets the "armory" linkset. Any unit that can carry equipment, including Henchmen that can be promoted to Heroes, gets the "equipment" linkset. Henchmen that gain experience get the linksets "advhench" and "advhero". Heroes that gain experience get the linksets "advhero" and "onehero".
  5. In addition to the above linksets, some races will have their own special linksets that need to be assigned. These linksets govern warband-specific options, such as the special Skaven weapons and skill group. For example, Skaven heroes must be assigned the "skhero" and "skequip" linksets, while Skaven henchmen must be assigned the "skhero", "skhench", and "skequip" linksets. The specific linksets will vary depending on the warband, but don't forget about these special linksets.
  6. The next step is to assign all the appropriate tags to the unit. The unit will start with a "category" tag. Modify this to indicate the correct category for the unit.
  7. The next tags to assign are the "race" tags, since these will make the unit visible for selection within AB. Assign a separate "race" tag for each race that the unit can be recruited for.
  8. Assign an appropriate "nature" tag to the unit to represent its racial nature. This will be used to enforce proper racial maximums. If the unit doesn't have defined maximums, select the "ignore" tag.
  9. Assign a "control" tag indicating the starting experience for the unit (e.g. "exper0").
  10. If the unit has a maximum model limit, assign a "control" tag to indicate that limit (e.g. "merge5").
  11. Assign "equip" tags for each piece of equipment that the unit is supposed to start out having available (e.g. "equip.sword", "equip.helmet", etc.).
  12. If the unit is a Hero, assign "allowskill" tags for each of the skill groups that the unit can select from.
  13. If the unit is a spellcaster (including priests with prayers), assign the "control.caster" tag and an "allowspell" tag for each spell list that can be accessed.
  14. If the unit requires any special "control" tags for non-standard behaviors, assign those. For example, Skaven that gain experience require the "control.skaven" tag to enable access to Skaven skills, while Rat Ogres require the "neverexper" and "neverlead" tags to indicate that they don't gain experience and can never lead the warband.
That's it! Your unit should now be ready to go. Compile your data files, load them into AB, add the unit, and verify that everything is working as you intended.

Adding a Weapon

If you just want to add a new weapon or piece of armor to the data files, the following steps will walk you through the process. The assumption is that the new piece of equipment must be integrated into one of the various existing lists, either the master list shared by all warbands or a warband-specific list (e.g. the lists for Skaven and Sisters of Sigmar).

  1. Identify the list you need to add the equipment to. If the weapon is available to multiple warbands, it should go in the master list in "common.dat". Otherwise, it should go into the warband specific list that will be found in the data file for that warband.
  2. Go to the "Option" tab and create a new option for the equipment. Enter all of the basics for the option, including name, unique id, description, etc.
  3. For the priority, be sure to determine the correct priority to use by identifying an equivalent option within "common.dat" and using the same priority.
  4. Be sure to set the correct Category based on which tab you want the option to appear within.
  5. If you want the option to appear at the end of the roster in a footnote, be sure to check the box for the option.
  6. If the equipment has any standard behaviors for which there are other options, add chained links to those options. For example, a "sword" has the "parry" behavior, so it chains to the "parry" option to implement that behavior. Similarly, spears chain to the "unwieldy" option.
  7. Now click on the Live button to edit the Live tag expression for the option. The option should be contingent on either of two tags. The first tag is an "equip" tag where the tag id is the same as the new option you're adding. The second tag is one of "control.masterweap", "control.mastermiss", or "control.allarmor". For an example, you can refer to virtually any other weapon or armor already in the data files.
  8. Now you need to determine if the equipment needs to do anything special within its Evaluate script. If so, then the each of the following few steps will outline the code to be added. If not, then skip down a few steps to continue.
  9. If the equipment cannot be swapped out during the battle (e.g. armor) and it applies an adjustment to a stat, the script should apply that change. For an example, look at the "heavyarmor" option.
  10. If the equipment can be swapped out and applies a stat adjustment, assign the appropriate tag(s) to reflect that within the unit. For example, take a look at the "spear" option.
  11. If the equipment needs to assign special control or validation tags, do that within the Evaluate script. For an example, see the "heavyarmor" option.
  12. If the option is a weapon, add its selection count to the "weapons" private unit stat. For an example, see the "spear" option.
  13. If the option is a weapon that can be taken as a Gromril or Ithilmar weapon, add a call to the "nameweapon" procedure. For an example, see the "spear" option.
  14. That should address everything that you'll commonly encounter for a weapon or armor option that needs to be dealt with in the Evaluate script.
  15. Switch to the "Linkset" tab and select the "armory" linkset or the warband-specific linkset within the warband data file. Identify an option of the similar type (e.g. close combat, missile weapon, or armor) within the list, and then click on the "Copy" button at the bottom of the list. [Note: If it's a close combat weapon, distinguish between a two-handed weapon, an unwieldy weapon, and a regular weapon when identifying the proper link to copy.] Clicking the "Copy" button creates a copy with the same characteristics. Double-click on the copy and then modify the unique id to be the new option you just created. The weapon should now be available to all units assigned this linkset.
  16. If the option is a weapon that can be take as a Gromril or Ithilmar weapon, select the "onehand" or "twohand" linkset and add a link to the new option. This will make the new weapon selectable when a Gromril or Ithilmar weapon is added.
  17. If the option is a weapon that needs a quick info reminder added to the unit description, you must now create a new option for that purpose. The quickest way to do this is to duplicate an existing quick-reference option. You can identify them readily, because their names are flanked with "{b}" and "{/b}", plus their unique ids always end in a "z". Duplicate one of these options by clicking on it and then using the "Duplicate Record" operation within ABCreator. Give the new option a unique id that matches the new weapon you added above, except that you should append a "z" at the end. Then edit the name to match the new weapon you created, leaving the "{b}" wrapper. Then edit the description to include just the quick info details that are needed.
  18. If you added a quick reference option, you now have to go back to the original option you created and chain to the quick reference option. This is done by adding a link to the original option.
At this point, your new weapon or armor option should be ready for use. If there are any units that need to have access to this option as starting equipment, you'll need to modify those units. They must be assigned the appropriate "equip" tag so that the equipment will show up in the initial list for them.

Adding Equipment

Adding a piece of equipment that is not a weapon or armor is pretty quick and easy. The following steps will walk you through the process for most normal equipment items:

  1. Open up the "equipment.dat" data file.
  2. Determine which type of equipment the new entry will be classified under (i.e. animal, disposable item, miscellaneous item, or campaign item).
  3. If you're adding an animal, go to the "Unit" tab. Otherwise, go to the "Item" tab.
  4. Identify a existing unit/item that is similar to the one you want to add. Duplicate that item by selecting it and then using the "Duplicate Record" option within ABCreator.
  5. Specify an appropriate name, unique id, and cost for the new entity. Also specify appropriate description and design/summary text.
  6. Make sure the entity has the appropriate "control" tag assigned so that it will be shown within the list you want it classified under. This will be one of "campaign", "miscitem", "potion", or "animal".
  7. If the item has a variable extra cost, make sure that it is assigned a chained link to the appropriate variable cost option. Make sure that this option is assigned to the "varcost" exclusion group so that the user is required to specify the variable cost.
  8. If the entity is only valid for certain warbands or types of units, click on the "ChildVis" button to enter an appropriate tag expression that limits the visibility of the entity to the proper conditions.
  9. Make sure that the PreLinks and PostLinks scripts are empty, unless there are specific things that you are certain need to be handled.
  10. If the new entity is a unit, you'll also need to assign basic tags (e.g. "nature.ignore") and specify the appropriate stats for the unit.
Your new equipment should be ready to go. Compile and load your data files, then try adding the equipment to a hero that should have access to it.

Adding a Hired Sword

Adding a Hired Sword or a Dramatis Persona is very similar to adding a unit. However, there are a number of additional details that may arise. The list below identifies the key things that may be different for these special units:

  1. The new unit should be added to the "hiredswords.dat" data file.
  2. Instead of assigning lots of linksets, you'll only assign one linkset. It will either be "advhired' for a Hired Sword or "advdramat" for a Dramatis Persona.
  3. All equipment possessed by the unit will be assigned via direct links from the unit. If the unit has some options available, you can assign those options with exclusion references to control the proper selections. Otherwise, the links can be desigated as "included" or "base". For example, take a look at the various existing units.
  4. If the unit is a Dramatis Persona, be sure to define a Member tag expression that only has the unit visible when the "dramatis" ruleset is enabled.
  5. If the unit possesses unique equipment, that equipment will need to be entered as new options and/or items.
  6. If the unit possesses equipment that already exists in the equipment list, you'll need to assign that equipment to the unit via options. For many pieces of equipment, no option yet exists to attach the item directly, so you may need to add one. If you do, open the "equipment.dat" data file and identify the item corresponding to the equipment. Then go to the "Option" tab and duplicate the "blesswater" option. Modify the duplicate to specify the unique id of the equipment you need and make sure it specifies the equipment unique id as the "child entity" being linked. You now have an option that you can assign to your unit.
  7. For each skill possessed by the unit, you'll need to assign it via a link to an option. Just like with equipment, most skills do not yet have options that allow direct assignment, so you'll need to create the options within the "advances.dat" data file and then assign links to those options for the unit.
  8. Make sure that the unit is assigned "race" tags for all the warbands that it is available for.
In all other respects, Hired Swords should be just like regular units. They need the appropriate "control" and "equip" tags, as well as the proper "allowskill" tags. Plus anything else appropriate to the specific unit.

Adding a Spell List

Adding a completely new spell list for a new warband entails the following steps:

  1. First, you'll need to add your new spell list to the two tag groups that govern spells. Open up "mordheim.def" and click on the "Group" tab. Select the "allowspell" group and add a new tag for the new spell list. Then do the exact same thing for the "spells" tag group.
  2. Now, open up the "spells.dat" data file and click on the "Option" tab.
  3. Click on the "spellchaos" entry and duplicate the record. WIthin the dupilcate, setup the appropriate name, unique id, and description.
  4. Now click on the "Live" button to modify the Live tag expression to require the appropriate "allowspell" tag that you defined above.
  5. Click on the "Cand" button to modify the Candidate tag expression to require the "spells" tag that you defined above.
  6. Now duplicate the option you just created. Amend the name with "(Advance)" as a suffix and change the unique id to be consistent with other spell advance options. Then set the Priority to be 195.
  7. Click on the "Linkset" tab and select the "advspells" linkset. Click on the "spellchaos" entry and then click the "Copy" button. Double-click on the copy and specify the new option you created above. Do the same thing with the "spadvchaos" link in the linkset.
  8. Click on the "hirespells" linkset and perform the same steps as above, copying the links and then modifying the unique ids to the ones you created..
  9. Click on the "Item" tab and create a new item. Enter all the particulars of the first spell.
  10. Make sure that the new spell is assigned the "spells" tag corresponding to your new spell list.
  11. Do the same for each of the spells in the spell list.
You spell list should now be defined and operational. To give a unit access to the spell list, just assign it the appropriate "allowspell" tag and make sure that its "spells" unit stat is greater than zero.

Adding a Skill List

Adding a new skill list is a lot like adding a new spell list, except you should add the skill list within the data file specific to the warband that can use the skill list. For example, the Skaven skill list is in the "skaven.dat" data file and the Sisters of Sigmar skill list is in the "sisters.dat" data file. The following is an outline of the things involved in creating a new skill list:

  1. Open the data file where you'll be defining the skill list and click on the "Item" tab.
  2. Create a new item for the first skill, entering all the basics for the skill. Make sure to check the "As Option" box.
  3. Click on the "Overrides" button and specify a single override that assigns a cost of 40 when the "ruleset.campaign" tag is NOT defined. This will handle the purchasing of skills in a one-shot game.
  4. Add two tags to the item. The first tag must belong to the "skills" group and should identify the warband that gets access to the skill list (e.g. "sisters" or "skaven"). The second tag must belong to the "newskill" group and must have an id equal to the unique id of the item. This tag will be used to ensure no skill is selected twice.
  5. Create additional items for each of the skills in the exact same way as the above skill.
  6. Click on the "Option" tab and create a new option.
  7. Name this option "Allow XYZ Skills" (e.g. "Allow Sisters Skills") and assign it a unique id with a prefix of "tal" (e.g. "talsisters"). Assign it a priority of 125 and the category of "Henchman Skills". Click on the "Live" button and specify a Live tag expression of "control.talent & race.xyz", where "xyz" is the race tag corresponding to the warband that gets the new skill list.
  8. Now click on the "Eval" button to enter an Evaluate script that will grant access to the new skill list (for henchmen that get the "Lad's Got Talent" advance). The script needs to assign the tag "control.xyz", where "xyz" is again the race tag corresponding to the warband that gains the new skill list (e.g. "control.sisters").
  9. Create another new option. Assign it the name "XYZ Skills", where "XYZ" is the warband, and a priority of 172. Give it the "Hero Skills" category. New the bottom, specify a child type of "New Link", with a child entity of "*" and the "Child is Item" box checked.
  10. Click on the "Live" button and enter a Live tag expression of "category.hero & control.xyz", where "xyz" is the warband id you used in the above option.
  11. Click on the "Eval" button and enter an Evaluate script of "unit.stat[oneshot] = unit.stat[oneshot] - 1". This will handle things correctly for a one-shot game.
  12. Click on the "Cand" button and enter a Candidate tag expression of "skills.xyz", where "xyz" is the warband identifier. This will match all of the skills you just created as items.
  13. Switch to the "Linkset" tab and create a new linkset. Assign a unique id that indicates this is for henchmen (e.g. "sshench") and add one link to the list. The option should be the one with the "tal" prefix you created above (e.g. "talsisters"), and it needs to be assigned to the "skills" exclusion group.
  14. Create a second linkset and assign it a unique id that indicates it is for heroes (e.g. "sshero"). The first link to add to the list is the one you created above with the name "XYZ Skills". Assign it to the "advhero" exclusion group and define a Live tag expression for it of "ruleset.campaign". Add a the same option to the list again as a second link. However, this time it has no exclusion groups and the Live tag expression needs to be "!ruleset.campaign & category.hero". You now have a linkset that will properly handle both a campaign game and a one-shot game with the correct behaviors.
  15. Each hero unit that should have access to the skills must be assigned the "hero" linkset (e.g. "sshero"). You must also assign the appropriate "control" tag to each hero unit that is used in the Live tag expression (e.g. "control.sisters").
  16. Each henchman unit is treated the exact same as the hero units, except that they are also assigned the "henchman" linkset (e.g. "sshench").
At this point, the skill list should be setup appropriately and it should appear properly for all units that are supposed to have access to the skill group.

Adding a Warband

Creating a new warband builds on all of the sections above. It also entails setting up everything properly for the new warband itself. The extra steps involved in setting up the new warband are outlined in the list below:

  1. Start by opening up the "mordheim.def" file and clicking on the "Race" tab. You'll see all of the races defined there.
  2. Select one of the races and duplicate the record. Then modify the new record to reflect the new warband that you are adding. Be sure to specify an auto-tag of "global.maxsizeXX", where "XX" is the maximum size of the warband. Make sure that the tag exists within the "global" tag group, since the data files won't compile if it doesn't. If it's not yet defined, just add it to the tag group.
  3. If the warband introduces a new race of creature (e.g. orcs), then you'll need to define a new "nature" tag corresponding to the new nature. You'll also need to add the handling for the new racial nature to the "advances.dat" data file. Within that file, click on the "Option" tab and select the "maxelf" entry. Duplicate this record, then modify the Live tag expression to apply to the new nature and modify the Evaluate script to specify the proper maximums. Once that's done, click on the "Linkset" tab and select the "racialmax" linkset. Add a link to the new option you just created for the new racial maximum. The new race should now be operational.
  4. Open the "common.dat" data file. On the "Unit" tab, select the "treasury" unit. Add the new "race" tag for your warband to the unit so that the Treasury will appear for your new warband.
  5. Open the "hiredswords.dat" data file and go to the "Unit" tab. Each unit that can be recruited into your new warband needs to have the appropriate "race" tag added so that it will appear properly.
  6. Now create a new data file for the Mordheim game system. Save the file out with a name corresponding to the new warband.
You can now start adding the appropriate units, items, options, and linksets for the warband. Just follow the instructions above for each type of thing you want to add and the pieces should fall into place, one step at a time.

If you run into problems (I'm sure I've forgotten something in all this material), then please post questions on the AB support forum in the Mordheim data files section. I'll do my best to answer questions. Just please be as detailed as possible in the problem description so that I can fully understand the problem and answer the question accurately the first time.

Priority Groups

The evaluation sequence is critical to making these data files work correctly. To keep everything reasonably well contained, the evaluation process has been carved up into "phases". Each phase has its own range of priority values, and the options within a given phase then carve up the numbers within that range. The following is a list of the phases and their priority range: