BEACHHEAD DOORS OPEN IN:
00
DAYS
00
HOURS
00
MINUTES
00
SECONDS
Mordheim Participation Game
17 Jan 2025
Heroes are needed in the City of the Damned.

Participation games have always been a big part of the spirit of Beachhead – bringing friends and strangers together at the tabletop to play games. One such game you can get involved with this year is the fantasy skirmish game, Mordheim.
Despite being out of production for over two decades, Games Workshop's Mordheim has continued to thrive in the hands of a passionate community. To this day it continues to draw more and more interest from old and new players alike – especially those with an interest in all things grim-dark and Blanchitsu. You could say it's experiencing something of a renaissance in recent years with more and more content popping up on YouTube and our social feeds.

In Mordheim, play revolves around building and progressing your warband as it investigates and battles in a ruined city (or in later supplements, the surrounding wilderness) overrun with all sorts of nasty beasts, treacherous individuals, and of course other player's warbands. Narrative, customisation, kit-bashing and scratch-building is encouraged.
Written by Tuomas Pirinen (recently of Trench Crusade fame), and published by Games Workshop in 1999, Mordheim is often described as a 'fantasy Necromunda'. But there's so much more to it than that. We caught up with Entoyment regular, Mordheim content creator, and member of the Bournemouth Mordheimers, Stu Cresswell about the group's Mordheim participation game at Beachhead Tabletop Games Expo 2025.

Q. How long have you been playing Mordheim?
"Upon returning to the Warhammer hobby in 2003, I discovered there was a tabletop skirmish game set in their universe of Fantasy Battle. That makes 22 years visiting Mordheim this year."
Q. What do you find so compelling about Mordheim?
"Combining its setting, with the system, and collecting Citadel Miniatures.
The localised apocalypse environment of Mordheim’s ruins and its surrounding wilderness offers such rich options for hobbyists. The chance to build and paint striking terrain features that will be used to play battles.
Its game system was created upon the chassis of Warhammer Fantasy Battle 5th Edition rules. An intuitive campaign system to see characters from your warband develop, along with lovely opportunities for roleplaying.
Players collect and paint Heroes and Henchmen. Their miniatures represent characters, forming warbands who will fight it out in the City of the Damned."
Q. Why do you think Mordheim is having such a renaissance?
"There always remained a solid presence after 2007, when Games Workshop stopped providing any form of support for Mordheim. Group forums were regularly attended by hobbyists internationally, serving as meeting places to share the wealth of projects and event experiences.
Social media groups have replaced older forum formats used before 2015. The global following for Mordheim expanded rapidly during the pandemic. Now the Facebook group has exceeded 30,000 members! Quite a lot more than Necromunda, which is a game still supported by Games Workshop."

Q. What can people expect from your participation game at Beachhead?
"We like to offer an introduction to new players at Beachhead, so that anyone passing by or not so involved in tournaments still gets a chance to move miniatures around the table and roll some dice. Heroes are needed!
Bournemouth Mordheimers also try to bring something new each year to the show. Terrain building sits at the heart of enjoying the craft hobby. Beachhead is always great opportunity to demonstrate from a well presented table.
Everything required is provided. Although everyone is welcome to bring their own warbands along to play. For the more experienced veterans or fans of roleplaying, I prepare special scenario play to push the boundaries for what is possible. The narrative is written to take full advantage of a nicely decorated tabletop.
This year there will be witchcraft. Meaning there’s opportunities to hunt witches or to commit heresy by summoning dark entities. There will be a great number of trees. Warbands have a chance to explore wilderness locations in the Old World. They may face certain death and will likely fight for their lives. Either meeting their doom, or carrying away secrets and the spoils of victory."
Thank you, Stu!
You'll find Stu's Mordheim participation game in the Main Hall at Beachhead 2025. Feel free to approach Stu and the team for a chat, request to join in, or just take in the amazing scenery and miniatures on display.