Reikland Mercenaries

*Throughout the Empire, Reiklanders embody the discipline and loyalty of the professional warrior. A strong tradition of martial training is also responsible for their high standards of archery.*

Reikland Mercenaries are one of the many Factions you can play in Mordheim: Warband Skirmish, to constitute your Warband.

 Reiklanders Traits

Reiklanders are the only free Faction in the game. They're part of Human Mercenaries group, as they share many common characteristics:

* Average Stats, but high Leadership.
* Their Captain has access to all Skills (except Special Skills), plus Lesser Magic.
* Two choices of Henchmen:
	+ Warriors, with slightly higher WS and Advanced Weapon Training.
	+ Marksmen, with slightly higher BS, Bow and Blackpowder Training.

* Very wide range of weapons and armours.
* Very much inclusive, as they'll accept most all Hired Swords except the exclusives ones.

Compared to other Mercs, Reiklanders have two specific advantages.

* +6 range to Captain's Leadership (in addition to Battle Tongue, if you ever take this skill).
* +5 BS for Marksmen (one level in BS Increase).
* Henchmen can combine Combat, Shooting and Strength skills. They can thus make excellent tanks (range or melee), even though they lack finesse (no Speed skills).

## Leader: Reikland Captain

*Mercenary Warbands are led by tough professional warriors who will fight for almost anyone against anything, so long as the price is right. Mordheim offers such a man the chance to become rich beyond his dreams, though at great risk...*

Leader: Leadership Range 12

## Henchmen: Reikland Warriors

*These dogs of war are grim, seasoned fighters, fearing no man as long as they have their weapons and armour. Some are mad, some are bad and some aspire to be champions of renown.*

 Known skills

## Henchmen: Reikland Marksmen

*Bows and handguns are classic weapons of the Empire and it is said the best imperial archers and hunters cna hit a coin from 300 paces. In the savage street fights of Mordheim they snipe at the enemy from the windows of ruined buildings often killing without beeing seen.*

## Reikland Weapons & Armours

Reiklanders don't have access to special weapons, but they get a general access to some of the best out there, and they certainly can wear Gromril (Def +40, Ld +5, Wt 3).

Marksmen will want to get an Elf Bow ASAP, before getting an Hochland Long Rifle & Sight. I love dumping two skill points in Weapon and Advanced Weapon Training, to equip an Ithilmar Short Sword on my Marksmen. That way, you get the same bonus as 2 x Initiative Increase, with the added benefit of a better melee weapon if it comes to that.

For Warriors with a shield, the Cutlass is the best choice at first. But they'll eventually want a Skull Hammer to fight at higher levels, where heavy armours are rampant. It lacks armour penetration, but Ithilmar Sword is also an excellent choice (the +30% Parry bonus fits very well on a tanky archetype). Warriors that fight with a two-handed weapon should probably avoid the great axes. I've seen a Solo Captain getting his rating doubled from 700 to 1400 just for taking this weapon. Comet Maul is probably the best choice all around, for a great punch through the heaviest armour.

## Lesser Magic

Mercenary Captains can learn to use Lesser Magic, or can hire Warlocks.

* Flight of Zimmerman is one of the most useful spell in the game. It can be used before charging into combat, or after attacking to get to safety. It is also very useful to loot the map. Max it out.
* Silver Arrows of Arha is only good for a very skilled shooter. Max out BS, Shooting Skills and Quick Shot before investing skill points in that spell. Warlocks should just ignore it.
* Sword of Rezhebel is quite OP. A melee trained Captain with this is very hard to beat. Warlocks can also benefit from it, but should max out WS first (and get 90+ Ld).
* Luck of Shemtek is ok to cast when you have nothing better to do, but only then.
* Dread of Aramar is one of the most useless spell in the game. Target usually just succeed their Leadership test when manage to cast it successfully. Only useful against Skaven and Sisters.
* Fires of U'Zhul is the main weapon of Warlocks, and a nice finisher for Captains (otherwise, they'll usually prefer flying in or out of battle).

## Hired Swords

Mercs can hire all non-exclusive Hired Swords, but they work better with some:

* Warlock is very popular for extra mobility and magic support.
* Ogre works well with melee Reiklanders. They, too, lack access to Speed skills, and won't hinder a sneaky strategy. But watch out : get them into melee and they'll disable your range units.
* Elf Ranger works well with range Reiklanders. They're amazing archers to start with. But they'll stop being usefull when other units get into melee. That's why I usually build my Warbands around either range or melee, but not both. You should probably avoid mixing Elves and Ogres for that reason.
* Pit Fighter's access to Speed skills could be useful to Reiklanders. Ogres and Elves are better, but quite expansive. Go for Pit Fighter if your Warband is on a budget.
* Halfling Scout can play a niche role in a range-focus Reikland Warband, but are probably out of place in tanky-melee team.
* Dwarf Troll Slayer, Freelancer, Duelist and Dwarf Ranger are there for flavour only. There are other better choices.

## Why choose Reiklanders?

* Because you're on a budget and can't unlock any other Factions.
* Because you love tanks, but really want a range or hybrid Warband.
* Because you hate losing to failed Leadership tests.
* Because you want excellent Pistoliers (Strength and Shooting = good combo). They won't be as fast and deadly as dedicated Skaven Pistoliers, but they can get their Defense much higher and get some units to fly (if not faster, way more mobile).

*Back to Factions*