Shields up!

My elven shields arrived over the weekend. Just a quick coat of metallic paint and a dousing in Thraka green wash (GW) and we're good to go!

I ordered them online from Scibor Miniatures. Considering they were shipping from Poland, I wasn't expecting them to arrive for another week. I think think they are made from some sort of resin, which make them sturdier than plastic, but a trifle bit harder to trim. They required a little cleanup to remove the excess flash, but overall I was very impressed with them. They are just the right size for LOTR miniatures and the detail on them is great. 

My elven force is one step closer to completion, and I'm very glad for the progress. After 3 weeks of it, I'm getting kinda tired of painting elves. =P

Rivendell shieldwall

The rest of the weekend was spent on a terrain project. More details to come.

Touranment prep: The Host of Erebor

So for those who don't know, a few of us here at T-MAT are playing a small tournament in two weeks. So...I need to get this Dwarf army ready to roll. Not only is the army in need of a little painting, but I'm bringing a dozen (or so) pieces of terrain...none of which are battle ready yet. So...I spent a few hours this morning painting up some base black on a few pieces of terrain.

Here's two ruins and a Dwarf mine which will be used in the games. The mine itself works  like an arch, with the ability for units to pass through it. I'm including an extra rock in its placement so you could block off the back end and say "it goes down into the earth, so you can only go in one way." That will be for the guy who places the terrain to decide. You will notice on these (and other ones) that the white and brown from the styrofoam/cardboard is still showing. Yes, it is. The paint job these guys received was a dry brush with black and since I'm going to go over it with a deep coat of grey, I'm hoping that the white-and-black speckled look will help in adding a different layer of color to the final product. We'll see how that goes. Next week, I'm looking to put small piles of rocks (gravel) at the base of each thing to show some ruin and decay that comes from years of weather and wind.

The mountain pieces had a bit of a problem: the styrofoam didn't want to hold the paint all the time...so we're still working on that. Hopefully the gray will hold up better, but we'll see how that turns out.

Ok, enough with terrain, let's see how you spent your president's day weekend. The army is almost completely together, with some paint on bases and a few units required. The close ups that follow will show you some of the work done on each group...

I'm pretty sure this is the first complete shot of the Unexpected Party from the Hobbit. Balin is the only player who is fully painted and based, but the others are nearing completion in their colors too. I washed the entire company in Delvan Mud (GW product) and colored their flesh in Ogryn Flesh (also GW). They turned out a bit darker than I planned, but the crew as a whole looks like they're dirty (which they would be). I'll probably touch up their skin job a little, but I like the muted colors of their garb.

Here stands Gimli above the rest of the army. The Khazad Guards are there in the front with black base paint on their newest additions (just need a little mithril metal coloring and they'll be good). Two bowmen have their new additions base painted too, so with a little brown and white, they'll be good to go.

And here stands the army in full: 38 units, two heroes, 10 Strength 3 bows, and 8 Strength 3 throwing weapons. Once the terrain comes together, I'll be really happy.

Sneak Peak: Vanguard of Rivendell

So thanks to a long weekend with minimal obligations, I've made quite a dent in tackling the stack of elves needing to be prepared for the tournament.

As I mentioned previously, the high elves suffer from lack of imagination in their poses, which is part of why I waited so long to actually invest in an elf army (the other part being that being evil is just so much fun!). But I've found some solutions to this problem.

*yawn*

L-R, 1) Original GW model, 2) Frankenstein elf, 3) added basing materials
and patched with  a little modeling clay, 4) Swords elf v.1

Sword elf conversion 2: Step by Step

Step 1-2: Carefully slice sword handle above left hand,
and remove right arm at shoulder 

Step 3: carefully remove left hand at wrist (I HIGHLY recommend covering the arm with a
paper towel or something when you cut, unless you feel like chasing it as it flies across the room)

Steps 4-6: re-attach left hand palm inwards (as if holding shield outwards), re-position right arm as desired (you may need to trim arm and/or shoulder to get proper fit and angle),  smooth out any gaps/exposed cuts with modeling clay as necessary)

Sword elf conversion 3: carefully cut arms off at both shoulders

re-position as desired. This conversion took the most effort, as it takes a lot of
trimming/patching to get the arms to realign in a decent manner

With a bit of patience, practice, and spare elves, the possibilities are endless. 

Spear conversion: 1) original GW model, 2) remove sword, oh-so-carefully drill  holes for brass rod,
glue blade to end and smooth joint with modeling clay, 3) final spear elf

reloading archers

I decided to avoid the cliché gold and blue paintjob that is so prevalent among high elf players. Instead I decided to try to a more forest-y look. Returning to woodland greens and browns. Armor that gleams on the battlefield, yet does not betray their presence among the trees. Ultimately, I'm going for a end-of-winter/spring thaw theme, with patches of snow on the bases. Paint scheme is as follows:

• Prime black (I bought these elves off ebay, and some of them had previous paintjobs with different levels of quality, best to just start with a blank slate)
• Drybrush of (P3) Battlefield Brown on the base (I haven't yet bothered with further drybrushes, because most of the base will be covered with snow and/or grass flock
• Exposed skin – (GW) Elf Flesh
• Tunic – (GW) Dark Angels Green
• Cloaks – (GW) Graveyard Earth
• Armor – (Game Color) Plata Silver
• Bows/sword handles/quivers,archer gloves – (Game Color) Dark Flesh
• Sashes – (GW) Bleached Bone

This is followed by a wash of (GW) Orgryn Flesh on the skin, and a light wash of (GW) Traka Green on the armor and blades. Finally, a liberal wash of (GW) Devlan Mud is applied to the whole model (mostly avoiding the skin) to blend it all together and tone done the color a bit – however the brightness of the plata silver helps keep a bit of sheen to the armor. There are still a few touch-ups to be done, some highlighting, detailing on the base and I'm still waiting for my shields to arrive, but they are starting to come together. 

 The Elves are preparing for war...

You may note the blurry form of a commanding figure in the background... but that is another post

Sneak Peak: The Horde of Isengard

Greetings from the Forge!

So, with the tournament coming up and all, I decided to release an update on how the army has progressed over the last few days. For those of you who have seen any of my previous battles with Tiberius when using my Isengard Tracker force, you know that the orcs were more or less only base-coated, and my Uruk-Hai were primarily only flesh-colored: everything else was black. In short, my army wasn't much to look at.

Over the past few days, I've been experimenting with several different techniques that should make my force more unique. The Uruk force is still undergoing some work, so I won't be posting much about them here, but the orc force is close to being “battle ready.” Most Isengard players prefer Uruk-Hai to orcs – I disagree. Below is the force en mass:

Don't mind the ork on the computer – he's part of a different project, :) These are the 24 orcs that make up the horde of Isengard. There are 8 spearmen with shields (more on that at the end), 8 warriors with hand weapons and shields (hereafter swordsmen), 4 orcs with bows, 3 orcs with two-handed weapons (2H weapons), and a banner bearer. Their leader, an Uruk Captain, is still being finished, and is off-screen.

Each of the weapon types is shown below, along with a description of each under the LOTR SBG rules, and how I plan to use them in my army:

From left to right, we have an orc with a 2H weapon, a swordsman, and a spearman. 2H weapons are -1 from their roll to win a fight (presumably because they are winding up for the crush, like this orc is), and are +1 to their roll to wound if they win the fight. Orcs tend to lose fights to elves and dwarves, since their fight value is only a 3 (compared to the Dwarf 4 and the Elf 5), so these 3 guys will probably fight with my Uruk warriors (with a fight value 4).

The swordsmen are all-purpose troops intended to provide additional shielding support and gap-filling. If a hero is causing a problem, tie him down with this guy and hope he lives, :) Sounds Napoleonic, but when you can get away with only paying 6 points for a shielding unit with fight value 3 – whistles...I'm sorry: at the end of the day, they're orcs...

The spearmen are the reason that I bought the orcs in the first place: Uruk trackers do not have spears. Spears allow a unit to support another unit, increasing his dice by one. When an Uruk-Hai is supported by an orc spearman, he basically gets to attack from further away at a higher fight value and strength value (4 and 4, instead of 3 and 3). Since you can give orc spearmen shields as well, you get the same defense value (5) and fighting stats for 25% less. And for the style of fighting that I run, this is key to breaking enemy lines and heroes.

For starters, because the orcs are supposed to be more of a rabble than a rank-and-file army (like the Uruk-Hai), they lend themselves more easily to greater variety in color and weaponry.  I experimented with various colors of flesh, too, the spectrum of which you will see in the next three pictures.

My orc force is broken up into three squadrons (That all ironically came out to 8 men...not planned that way...): the trackers, the retainers, and the night stalkers:

The Stalkers are one of my favorites, primarily because I played around with a lot of the flesh tones that I had available when building this list. The brown, decaying gray, light green, black, tan, and rotting pink for flesh in this force assists in diversifying an already disparate force (which is what I wanted). We have 4 swordsmen, two bowmen, and 2 spearman in this force. Two of these units have undergone some doctor work, which I'll discuss later; some of the others will also receives hoods, packs, satchels, and other accessories once I start my work with modeling putty (more on that in a future post).

Now for the retainers:

The retainers are among the most disparate in color and by far the least diversified in force. I was going for more of a “standard army” look for this squadron, so more of the armor and weaponry is of a gleaming steel look instead of the dull bronze look that you will see on most of the other orcs. I used a Warhammer Fantasy decal for the pick-ax soldier's shield, and played around with dabs of gold and bronze on his chainmail shirt to give it more of a worn and used look (better view coming up later). This force has two 2H weapons, 3 spearmen, a swordsman, a bowman, and a banner bearer. Banner bearers allow units within 3” of them to re-roll their dice to win the fight – very handy for orc armies.

Before moving on, I want to draw attention to the spearman in the red without the helmet: I experimented with a darker green for flesh coloring on this unit (usually I only use it for outfits): what do you think?

Finally, the Trackers:

Sorry for the blur (Hey, you try catching a perfect still shot of a group that's tracking down someone, :-P ). This force was my attempt at a “rag-tag” group, primarily intended to blend in with the countryside. They have almost no armor to speak of, and rely on a mix of 3 swordsmen, 3 spearmen, a bowman, and a 2H weapon (in case there's trouble). There's not much worth pointing out about this army, except for the second rank: the spearman on the far right is what the spearman on the left is supposed to look like. The left-hand spearman had a head swap with the center spearman, so that there will be distinction between the center spearman's double (in the retainer force). I thought the transformation went over very well, and actually got me an enlistment from Tiberius to switch the heads of one of my Uruks with one of his (more on that in a future post).

As I've mentioned throughout this post, several transformations have taken place. All of these started with the creation of my banner bearer, who was originally a 2H warrior:

You may remember these two from the Retainers picture. The one on the right is what the unit usually looks like. I took part of a coffee stirrer (I don't drink, so no big loss for me) and a scrap of leather that was lying around (because where else would an orc get a banner?), and super glued those to his arm. I then cut off his right hand with the “grim reaper” weapon, and gave it to this soldier:

I was then able to take his weapon, and give it to another orc – and this is the transformation that I like the most. I initially thought of leaving the sword straight up (like it is in the unit's original pose), but then I turned it, just to see what it would look like, and...

...I really liked what I saw! Talk about ferocious – I love these two orcs, :) The pose is already awesome (and Tiberius and I have had a few excursions where one of these orcs faces up against a dwarf in a similar pose – always fun), and turning the sword into more of a stabbing pose made it all the more threatening, and substantially more diverse from the original look of the model (on the right).

So, that's pretty much the orc side of my army list: I will be doing some touch-up painting, and am considering making shields for all of my spearmen (glue them to their backs, probably), but we'll see. Still looking for a good material to use there.

More updates soon -- as you can tell, I'm really looking forward to the tournament!

Watching the stars,

Glenstorm

"They've picked up our trail -- let's move!" ~ Ugluk

Reconnoitre: Dwarves vs. Wood Elves

So...now that Fellowship season is over, we're going to take a new turn and play two catch-up games with some of the other armies (controlling Dwarves against the Wood Elves), getting everyone (except the Fellowship of course) to 14 games under their belts. I'm also training for the tournament I have coming up next month, where I will be taking my Dwarves against several different armies of evil. It will be after these games, that the priorities for these armies will be finally settled, based on the weaknesses of each army. Here are the forces in today's game:

Army of Erebor: 501 points

Gimli, Son of Gloin - 90 points
Balin, Son of Fundin - 75 points
8 Dwarf Warriors with shields - 72 points

10 Dwarf Warriors with Dwarf bows - 90 points
3 Dwarf Rangers with thrown weapons - 30 points
3 Dwarf Rangers with throwing weapons and two-handed weapons - 30 points
4 Dwarf Rangers with two-handed weapons - 28 points
2 Dwarf Ranger with Dwarf longbows - 20 points
3 Khazad Guards (Gimli) - 33 points
3 Khazad Guards (Balin) - 33 points

38 units, 12 bows + 8 thrown weapons, 2 heroes

The Defenders of Lothlorien: 501 points

Galadriel, Lady of Lothlorien - 130 points
Legolas, Prince of Mirkwood with armor - 95 points (ally: Fellowship of the Ring)

8 Wood Elf Warriors with Elven blades and thrown daggers - 80 points

12 Wood Elf Warriors with Wood Elf spears - 96 points
4 Wood Elf Warriors with Elven blades and Elf bows - 40 points
6 Galadhrim Warriors with Elf bows - 60 points

32 units, 11 bows + 8 thrown weapons, 2 heroes

The scenario we will be playing is a Reconnoitre game on a board that is 48" x 48". The concept of the game is that the armies are trying to get scouts behind the enemy lines and the battle is merely a distraction for a few units to get across. The players place the terrain pieces one at a time, with none being closer than 6" to any board edge. The players then determine who will stake their side first (placing units within 6" of their board edge), while the other gets priority on the first turn. The game ends when one side is reduced to 25% of their starting force - killed, fled, or successfully scouted. Once this happens, tally up the number of units each side had cross over the enemy's board edge. The side with the most successful scouts wins (major victory scored if the opponent didn't have any units exit the board).

The map is set up as follows: there are three woods, two rocky terrain pieces, two cairns, a marsh, and newly constructed Dwarf Mine. The Dwarves won the roll off and have chosen to select their board edge (north edge), ceding priority to the Elves for the first turn. The game will end when there are 9 Dwarves or 8 Wood Elves remaining. The last time the Dwarves played this mission, they focused too much on cutting up the Uruk-Hai that they didn't get anyone across the Uruk board edge. I intend to not let that happen this game. Instead, with 2 heroes and 6 Might points means that there is the potential for some good Heroic Moves or Heroic Combats, both of which provide opportunities to score with units and have the heroes bludgeoning through the enemy ranks.

In this game, my Dwarves need to rely on two things: keeping my Rangers safe from Elven arrow fire and also utilizing rocky terrain to put some distance between my troops and the Elven warriors. I know from previous games that despite the Dwarf army's high defense rating, the accuracy of the Elven throwing weapons (and their large numbers and excellent melee abilities) makes terrain a must for this game.

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Turn 1: Approaching The Foes (Priority - Elves)

Both armies advance and volley. Only Legolas hit anyone during the Shoot phase and failed to wound Balin with his arrow. The newest version of the marsh is at the bottom right and the mine is at the top right.

Kill count: Elves 0/38, Dwarves 0/32.

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Turn 2: First Blood (P - Dwarves)

Both armies continue to press towards the center, with the Elves getting nearly to the half-way mark with a large portion of their army and the Dwarves bunkering down near one of the rocky terrain spots. I don't like having to wait for my troops in this game, but my rangers need protection...the slowness is really costing me though, since I'm probably going to have to run past the Elven archers.

The Dwarves volleyed and scored one hit, killing a Galadhrim archer. The Elves weren't happy with this, but the Dwarves were excited about drawing first blood.

In the Elven response (now shooting directly instead of with a volley), only half of the Elves hit their targets. Legolas paid 1 Might point to score not one but two kills, taking down a Dwarf Warrior with shield and a Khazad Guard. Ouch...

Kill count: Elves 2/38, Dwarves 1/32.

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Turn 3: The Lady of Light (P - Dwarves)

The Elves sweep up to the center of the board with the Dwarves preparing for their assault. At this point, I'm actually wondering if I can catch them all, and with archery being tough to score kills, things are not looking good. Galadriel attempted to cast Command against Balin (who was barely within 12" of her), but failed (free Will point).

My Dwarves manage to score two volley hits and kill one Elf. Galadriel was assigned the first hit and avoided taking a wound with a Fate point (1/3, rerolled). You can see in this shot one of my Elves with spears who is being converted (far left, second rank). A better shot of both Elves who are getting spear conversions will show up later.

The Elven archers were unlucky again, except for Legolas, who scored two kills: a Khazad Guard and a ranger behind him (Bofur, no Might used this turn by Legolas). Gimli looks at his fallen friends and morns them.

Kill count: Elves 4/38, Dwarves 2/32.

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Turn 4: A Lethal Barrage (P - Elves)

The Elves push to the left side of the board with most of their army, hoping to escape with a good chunk of their army and end the game quickly. The other Elves sit back with Legolas and continue to bombard the Dwarves with their bows. The Dwarves split forces and brace for the upcoming Shoot phase.

Despite their best attempts to brace for it, the Elves pummel the Dwarves. Two Galadhrim archers kill two Dwarves with shields, scoring the first kills for a non-hero Elf in the game. One of the Wood Elf archers then shoots Bombur (ranger with throwing axes and two-handed axe) from behind and Legolas shoots down two others (Oin and Dwalin). It's hard to see in this shot, but one of the Elves with throwing daggers on the far side killed Fili (ranger with longbow)...six dead Dwarves in one round.

The Dwarves respond by taking off another Fate point from Galadriel (2/3 Fate, rerolled) and killing an Elf swordsman in the Fight phase...not enough to counter the damage suffered last turn, but at least it was something.

Kill count: Elves 10/38, Dwarves 3/32. The Dwarves are 9 away from breaking, while the Elves are 13 away...and they outnumber the Dwarves.

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Turn 5: Slinking Past (P - tied, Dwarves)

Pardon the glare from the sun. Things are not working out for my Dwarves but at last, I get priority in a round that matters. I've moved my throwing axes towards the Elven lines and try to get some of my heavier troops down to the exit...we'll see how those archers do against me.

Glare gone - movie magic! In the Shoot phase, Legolas stands out again, scoring two kills (1 Might, 2/3 total used): a Dwarf with shield and another Khazad Guard. Most of the Elves could only shoot at Gimli because of the rocks that hide my bearded fellows, and six of them scored 5 hits, three of which bounced off a rock, and the other two clattered at his back...no damage done. The Dwarves responded with Balin throwing an axe directly in to the chest of a swordsman and a keen archer (not pictured here) shooting a spearman.

In the Fight phase, it was all Elves domination. Two of the Elven bladesmen wielded their weapons like two-handed weapons and came crashing down on their foes. Two Dwarves with shields died and one Khazad Guard escaped. I mentioned earlier that there were two spearmen in process of being converted...the one with the yellow twist-tie is the second of them (picture still to follow of the first guy we saw).

Kill count: Elves 14/38, Dwarves 5/32. The Dwarves are 5 away from breaking and 15 away from the game ending. The Elves are...not that close to losing (11 from breaking, 19 from ending the game).

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Turn 6: The Chase Is On (P - Elves)

The board is fairly empty now, but both sides have units rushing for the exit. Statistically speaking, I shouldn't kill any of his Elves with my bows, and his Elves shouldn't kill more than 1 or 2 of my Dwarves...at any rate, the odds aren't favoring me at all. Galadriel cast Immobilize on Balin, but he evaded the spell by using 2 Will points (2/3 Will).

Legolas' Elves take down three of the Dwarves seeking to escape off the board edge and it is Legolas who fails to kill anyone this round (not that he hasn't already done his fair share). Not pictured here, an Elven bladesman with throwing dagger killed Bifur (ranger with two-handed weapon). Who did the Dwarves kill at range? Why no one of course...

Both Gimli and Balin call heroic combats. Gimli wins his fight easily and charges towards the other fights near the rocks. Balin and his two companions (Thorin and Nori) fail to roll higher than a 4 and the Elf with sword rolls by himself a 6...Balin pays his last 2 Might points (knowing the game is nearing its end - GROAN) to win the fight and then kills him easily. He and his companions then charge towards the escaping Elves and their queen. Thankfully, the trapped status of the Elven swordsman allowed Balin and his friends to move an extra inch towards the attackers and thereby get the range they needed to charge (YAYE!!!).

In the other fights, the Dwarves dominated, winning most of the fights and killing 4 Elves. Balin and Thorin on the far right won their fights (despite being outnumbered) but neither of them managed to wound their foes. Kili (ranger with longbow) was trapped when he lost his fight but managed to not be wounded...yeah. :) By the way, this is the shot with the first converted spearman in it (right side next to the swordsman).

Kill count: Elves 18/38, Dwarves 11/32. The Dwarves are 1 away from breaking and 11 away from ending the game, while the Elves are 5 from breaking and 13 from ending the game.

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Turn 7: Hopes Rise and Fall (P - Elves)

The Elves press hard towards the board edge, but a few of the Dwarves have closed in. My last hope is that I can kill enough Elves that the game ends (or lose enough Dwarves) and have no units cross over the enemy board edge. This will give me a draw and not a loss...which isn't very consoling. Galadriel attempted to Immobilize Balin, but with his final Will point, he successfully evaded the spell. He promptly charged the Elf queen while Thorin and Gloin charged the battle line of Elves.

In the Shoot phase, Thorin was cut down by a throwing dagger from one of the Elven bladesmen. The Dwarf archers returned the favor by scoring 5 hits (6s because of Galadriel, remember) and scoring 3 kills. Yes, that felt good. What didn't feel as good (not pictured here) were the 9 Elf archer shots at my lone Dwarf running for the objective, the 7 hits he received, and the two fatal wounds that killed him. Legolas, on the other hand, shot at a Khazad Guard with a keen arrow and didn't wound his target...again.

In the fights that ensued, one Elf was killed by Kili and Nori was killed by an Elf spearman. Both Gimli and Balin managed to lose their fights (Balin on a roll-off with Galadriel), but neither sustained damage. I'm a bit embarrassed about that though.

Kill count: Elves 21/38, Dwarves 15/32. The Dwarves are broken and are 8 away from the game ending. The Elves are 1 unit away from breaking and 9 away from ending the game, but at least two of their units are close to scoring. The nearest Dwarf is...not close.

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Turn 8: Last Hope (P - Dwarves)

The Dwarves refuse to be beaten. Gimli and Balin both pass their courage tests and charge into nearby Elves. Balin happens to be able to move around Galadriel and successfully nails an Elf with a throwing axe (6 to hit, 6 to wound). He then charges the other Elf nearby. Gloin sees Balin's noble attempt to keep them in the game and charges towards Galadriel, overcoming his fear of the aura radiating from the Elf enchantress. Five Dwarf archers despair over the state of the field and flee, while the other five rush towards Gimli and hold on to hope. Dori killed another Elf with this throwing weapon and then watch as the Elves need to take courage tests. Legolas passes his easily as do the Elves around him. Six of them rush towards the opposite board edge, while the other three prepare to fire at the Dwarf archers moving towards the center.

In the Shoot phase, the Elves managed to kill a Dwarf archer and Legolas again failed to kill the Khazad Guard on the hill. Kili failed to kill an Elf archer (barely). You can see here the two Elves who were killed with throwing axes.

In the Fight phase, only one Elf died (killed by Gimli, 3/3 Might points used). All of the other Dwarves lost their fights (including Balin).

Kill count: Elves 22+5 fled/38, Dwarves 18/32. At the beginning of the next turn, the Dwarves won priority, but Galadriel tapped into her first Might point to call a heroic move. The action allowed one of the Elves to score and Galadriel was within one turn of scoring herself. With none of the Dwarves past the half-way mark, 6 Elf archers approaching the end of the board, and the Dwarves being 2 units away from reaching 25%, we called the game. Major victory for the Elves.

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Conclusion:

Assessment by Gaius:

The slowness of the Dwarves really hurt them this game (added to the damage the Elves caused from a distance). The Elves, for their part, beat the Dwarf heroes in several fights, keeping the Elves from breaking and the Dwarf heroes from being effective. I was bummed that Galadriel didn't cast any spells successfully on Balin once his Will ran out, but she definitely made up for that by beating him in close combat and keeping the Dwarf archers from cutting up my troops early in the game. And LEGOLAS - definitely worth the investment (and killing 8 units for a total of 75 points)...yes, I'm sad to leave him home for the tournament.

Assessment by Tiberius:

So the first game on this blog with my Dwarf Rangers was kind of rough...and the next game we have planned, a Meeting Engagement" may not go so well either. In that one, we are again playing until we reach 25% strength, but we're not trying to rush anyone off the board edge, which means that the Elves might bunker down and skirmish with me, but I won't be throwing heavy troops away trying to outrun Elven archers. All told, I thought most of the game was disappointing (once the melee started, things got better).

Stellar unit for the Elves: Galadhrim Warrior with Elf bow

It's hard to determine which shots are awarded to Wood Elf archers and Galadhrim archers, but I try to keep them sorted. Most of the kills this game (on both sides) were done with archery, and the Galadhrim bowmen killed 5 Dwarves. This just about pays for the squad and they very rarely go home without paying for themselves. In truth, I kind of need to give the award to Legolas, since the 8 kills for 75 points is quite impressive for any hero.

Stellar unit for the Dwarves: Dwarf Warrior with Dwarf bow

I don't know that anyone deserves this award, but the Dwarf archers killed more units than any other class. The 10 bearded fellows managed to kill a half-dozen Elves, with the heroes and rangers making up most of the other kills. Killing three of the Elves who approached the board edge was quite good, though the fact that three of these guys fled was not a good sign. This game was not a typical Dwarf game with the need to race across the field and all, so we'll see how the next game goes.