52. Ostland Mercenaries Warband

 

Updated Dec 29, 2025 - changes are in Red

Ostlanders

Ostlanders are a hardy breed from the Empire’s northern fringe, where the Forest of Shadows and the Middle Mountains breed resilience, suspicion, and a love of strong ale. Isolated from the Empire’s heartlands, they have spent generations fending off Beastmen, Forest Goblins, and worse, honing their skills as trappers, woodsmen, and opportunistic brawlers.

Rumors of Albion’s wild riches — relics from the Age of Mists, standing stones humming with power, and beasts worthy of the hunt — have reached even the remotest Ostland taverns. To an Ostlander, Albion is a proving ground: a place to test their skill in an untamed land and perhaps return home laden with treasure (and stories worth retelling over many mugs of dark ale). Whether guided by the prayers of Taal or the promise of gold, these clans travel in tight-knit bands of kin and sworn brothers, trusting blood and bond above all else.

 

Why Play Ostlanders?

Ostlanders are built for players who value grit, cohesion, and adaptability over elaborate tricks or fragile specialists. Their warriors are dependable, versatile, and thrive when working together, mirroring the tight-knit family bonds of their homeland. The warband’s foundation is sturdy fighters backed by kin and sworn brothers, creating a force that’s hard to break apart once it digs in.

They also bring unique battlefield tools to Albion: the Prayers of Taal provide nature-driven support magic for controlling terrain, bolstering allies, and surviving the wild. Ruffians, while unruly, can fill out the ranks for free, letting you conserve gold for better-equipped specialists. Combined, these traits make Ostlanders an ideal choice for scenarios heavy with wilderness, rough ground, and dangerous beasts — exactly the kind of challenges they were born to face.

 

 

 

Leadership Choices

 

Leadership choice costs gold, which is deducted from the starting Warband allotment of 250gc. For one-off games, players can choose one leadership option per game. In a campaign, the selected leadership option remains fixed unless the leader(s) die(s), or a scenario allows a change.

 

**Important Change in Leadership choices for Mercenaries**

Mercenaries from any Empire State may select a Wizard or Adept from any College, but each State has a preferred College of Magic. Choosing outside the preferred College adds 10gc to the Leadership cost, which is shown as the higher amount listed below. Both Wizard and Adept must come from the same College.

 

Ostland Preferred Colleges

Amber, Amethyst, Priest of Taal*

*Ostland Mercenaries may instead take a Priest of Taal as their Priest/Acolyte slots.

Ostland Non-Preferred Colleges

Bright, Celestial, Gold, Grey, Jade, Light, 

 

Option 1: Wizard/Priest (Wizard) and Adept/Acolyte (Apprentice) – 75gc/85gc

Option 2: Wizard/Priest (Wizard) and Elder (Captain) – 50gc/60gc

Option 3: Elder (Captain) and Adept/Acolyte (Apprentice) – 25gc/35gc

 

Starting equipment is chosen from Arms and Armor List as normal. Wizard/Priest /Captain have 5 slots available; Adept/Acolyte has 4 slots available. Wizard/Priest /Adept may not wear any type of armor or carry shields as these interfere with spells.

 

College Wizard or Priest of Taal (Wizard)
M	F	S	A	W	H	Notes
6	+2	+0	10	+4	14	College Magic or Priest of Taal

 

•   College Magic or Priest of Taal - Choose 8 spells from appropriate College of Magic or prayers from Prayers of Taal.

 

Elder (Captain)
M	F	S	A	W	H	Notes
6	+2	+1	10	+3	12	Stat Increase

 

•   Stat Increase - When creating a captain, you may choose one of the following stat increases for them: +1 Move, +1 Fight, +1 Shoot, +1 Will, +2 Health. The captain’s stat line should be changed accordingly.

 

Adept (Apprentice)
M	F	S	A	W	H	Notes
6	+0	+0	10	+2	12	Adept or Acolyte of Taal, Novice

 

•   Adept – If “Leader” is a College Magician, knows same 8 spells as the College Magician, casts at -2 penalty (per normal rules)

•   Acolyte of Taal - If “Leader” is a Priest of Taal, knows same 8 prayers as the Priest of Taal, casts at -2 penalty (per normal rules)

•   Novice – If Captain is chosen as Leader, Chooses 4 spells/prayers from a College Magic/Prayers of Taal (Still casts at -2).

 

 

Warband

 

Warband Builder Reference

Max models – 10 (including leaders)

Max Gold – 250gc

Max Specialists – 4 (Including any hirelings)

 

Warband Traits

•   Hardy Stock: Once per game, after rolling on the Out of Action table for a non-Animal Ostlander model, you may re-roll the result and keep the second roll. You may make all Out of Action rolls first before choosing which one to re-roll.

•   Self-Sufficient: An Ostlander warband may not hire non-Ostlander specialists, with the exception of Ogres. However, all specialists designated as Kin on the Warband list cost 5gc* less when hired. The lowered cost is already included in the appropriate stat blocks below.

 

Specialists								Min/Max
								0-4
Blood Brother - Duelist
M	F	S	A	W	H	Notes	Cost	Min/Max
6	+3	+2	11	+2	12	2 Pistols, Powder Horn, Hand Weapon, Light armor	100gc	0-2
Blood Brother – Freebooter
M	F	S	A	W	H	Notes	Cost	Min/Max
5	+4	+0	13	+2	12	Hand Weapon, Shield, Heavy armor	100gc	0-2
Blood Brother – Mercenary
M	F	S	A	W	H	Notes	Cost	Min/Max
5	+4	+0	12	+2	12	Two-handed Weapon, Heavy armor	100gc	0-2
Jaeger – Scout
M	F	S	A	W	H	Notes	Cost	Min/Max
7	+2	+2	11	+2	12	Bow, Quiver, Hand weapon, Light armor	100gc	0-2
Jaeger – Guide
M	F	S	A	W	H	Notes	Cost	Min/Max
7	+2	+2	11	+1	10	Staff, Bow, Quiver, Light armor	75gc	0-2
Jaeger – Coachman
M	F	S	A	W	H	Notes	Cost	Min/Max
6	+2	+2	11	+1	10	Blunderbuss, Powder Horn, Hand Weapon, Light armor	60gc	0-2
Jaeger – Musketeer
M	F	S	A	W	H	Notes	Cost	Min/Max
6	+2	+2	11	+1	10	Musket, Powder Horn, Hand Weapon, Light armor	60gc	0-2

 

Ogre – Ogre
M	F	S	A	W	H	Notes	Cost	Min/Max
6	+3	+0	12	+4	15	Large, Strong, Dull-Witted	150gc	0-1

 

•   Large - This huge creature is easier to target with shooting attacks. It suffers from the Large Target modifier (-2) when defending against shooting attacks.

•   Strong - This creature does +2 damage.

•   Dull-Witted - Cannot be activated as part of a group activation.

•   Cannot be given magical arms/armor/equipment.

 

 

Soldiers

Min/Max

0-6

Ruffian – Crewman

M

F

S

A

W

H

Notes

Cost

Min/Max

6

+2

+0

10

-1

10

Hand Weapon & Shield or Two-handed weapon

Free

0-6

Kin – Infantryman

M

F

S

A

W

H

Notes

Cost

Min/Max

6

+3

+0

11

+1

12

Two-handed weapon, Light armor

45gc*

0-2

Kin – Archer

M

F

S

A

W

H

Notes

Cost

Min/Max

6

+2

+2

11

+0

10

Bow, Quiver, Dagger, Light armor

45gc*

0-3

Kin – Man-at-Arms

M

F

S

A

W

H

Notes

Cost

Min/Max

6

+3

+0

12

+1

12

Hand Weapon, Shield, Light armor

45gc*

0-2