The Defenders of Lothlorien: 502 points
Galadriel, Lady of Lothlorien - 130 points
Thranduil (proxy by Haldir) - 90 points
11 Wood Elf Warriors with Wood Elf spears - 88 points
9 Wood Elf Warriors with Elven blades and thrown daggers - 90 points
Thranduil (proxy by Haldir) - 90 points
11 Wood Elf Warriors with Wood Elf spears - 88 points
9 Wood Elf Warriors with Elven blades and thrown daggers - 90 points
6 Galadhrim Warriors with Elf bows - 60 points
32 units, 11 Elf bows + 9 thrown weapons, 2 heroes
The Denizens of Moria: 500 points
Durburz, Goblin King of Moria - 60 points
Goblin Shaman - 45 points
1 Cave Troll - 80 points
16 Goblin Warriors with shield - 80 points
Goblin Shaman - 45 points
1 Cave Troll - 80 points
1 Bat Swarm - 35 points
12 Goblin Warriors with Orc bow - 60 points16 Goblin Warriors with shield - 80 points
16 Goblin Warriors with spear - 80 points
Ringwraith with +1M - 60 points
49 units, 12 Orc bows, 3 heroes
The scenario we will be playing is the Reconnoiter scenario according to the new rules (but without the warband rules and some deployment changes). The game ends when one army is reduced to 25% of its starting force. At this point, the points are tallied as follows:
- 1 point if the enemy force is broken, OR
- 3 points if the enemy force is broken and the friendly force is not.
- 1 point if the enemy army leader receives 1+ wounds, OR
- 3 points if the enemy army leader is slain.
- 1 point for each unit that crosses over the enemy player's board edge (the scouts who are performing the reconnoiter).
This game introduces the Wood Elf hero I'm thinking about adding to my collection (and who I will test today): Thranduil of Mirkwood. The great father of Legolas of Mirkwood costs 90 points (same as his son's base cost) but comes equipped with armor and an Elven cloak (which Legolas must purchase for +15 points). In exchange, Legolas has +1 Fate, -1 Shoot Value, and +2 shots in each Shoot phase (or automatically hitting with a single shot). Thranduil, for his part, has two key advantages over his son: first, Thranduil can upgrade your Wood Elf Warriors to "Mirkwood Guard", which gives them a 2+ Shoot value for +2 points. Second, he has the Circlet of Kings, which can automatically cast Aura of Dismay (see the post on Radagast the Brown for more info on this spell) once each game and it can cast Nature's Wrath once each game (see the post on combat spell-casters for more info on this other spell). Since Nature's Wrath can be opposed by an enemy spell-caster under the normal rules, we assume that Thranduil's "automatically cast" means that one dice was rolled and rolls a 6. Whether this can actually be resisted has yet to be resolved in an FAQ by Games Workshop. For the purposes of this game, we're going to assume that a 6 was rolled and the opposing force may then attempt to resist it if they wish to (those of us on the blog are currently trying to come up with a more fair way to resolve this, but nothing has been settled yet - what you are going to see in this blog is my first thought of making the spell resistible).
Turn 1: The Guard Appear (Priority - Goblins)
In the Shoot phase, the Goblins kill one Wood Elf swordsman with their volley of arrows. |
The Elves respond with keen shots from Thranduil, a Mirkwood Guard, and a Galadhrim Warrior, slaying 3 Goblins with shields. Both Thranduil and the Mirkwood Guard hit on 2s. :) |
Turn 2: A Foul Rage, A Strange Strength (P - Elves)
Kill count: Goblins 1/32, Elves 4/49.
Turn 3: The Headlong Assault (P - Goblins)
In the Shoot phase, a Goblin archer hits an Elf swordsman in combat, passes the in-the-way roll, and succeeds in slaying him, breaking off an uneven combat and making things easier for his buddies. |
Thranduil and a Galadhrim bowman, in their turn, slay two Goblin swordsmen as they attempt to scale the walls (1/3M), and on the other end, a Mirkwood Guard slew a Goblin spearman, shown below. |
Turn 4: The Ground Shakes (P - Goblins)
On the right side, no one decided to die. |
In a move that I was loathed to make, we decided to call it a game here. The Goblins had scored and my newborn son was keeping me away from the game. By the end of Turn 4, it was midnight and I wasn't very hopeful on my infantry Wood Elves breaking through the ranks of the enemy, getting past their archers, and scoring 2 points before the game ended. I could break the enemy and be unbroken myself, which would score me 3 points (could be enough to win the game), but it was becoming quite likely that a few of the Goblins on my left flank would outpace my archers once safely behind the wall. So, since my Elves already have a powerful lead on my other armies, we tallied the score as 1-0 Goblins. Minor victory for the green skins.
Conclusion:
Assessment by Gaius:
So this wasn't really a victory (or at least, it didn't feel like it). But still, the mission was fun. I knew from the get-go that the Elves would be able to pose a solid line, but without Galadhrim Knights, their ability to move across the board is limited. This hasn't stopped them from winning Reconnoiter missions before, but I knew that the Bat Swarm would be my best scoring unit (the only unit on the board with speed). I really enjoyed this one and look forward to Tiberius' next monthly theme, which he told me about last night.
Assessment by Tiberius:
This game was far from over, but both I and Gaius were ready for bed. I've seen on another blog where a tight game is called off because of time constraints and it's always a pity to leave something so close, but we do what we must. As for the Elves, I'm very excited about Thranduil, though I'm still very partial to Legolas. I do like that the Mirkwood Guard can hit on a 2+, as it gave me 5 extra hits during the 4 rounds of archery that we had and 3 of those converted into wounds (one saved by Fury). This may not seem like a lot, but there's something very demoralizing for an opponent when your Elven bowmen refuse to miss their targets (some invariably do, but not many). Thranduil's Nature's Wrath spell could have also given a big break to my troops on the following turn, as a few units were still on the ground and priority is more likely to go to my team than the Goblins. Charging units on the ground is ever so much fun and I quite enjoyed seeing the Goblins fall (especially the Troll). If I was thinking, I would have spent some Will points with Galadriel during that last round and immobilized the Troll again, but alas, I did not. Next time, Gaius, next time...
Stellar unit for the Elves: Galadhrim Warriors with Elf bows
The armor of the Galadhrim doesn't help them stay alive longer against most bows (actually, all bows except Dwarf bows and Elf bows), but it makes them look a lot cooler and much more resilient in close combat than their cloth-covered cousins. In today's game, the Galadhrim killed 4 Goblin Warriors, tying Thranduil for kills. Though this was a low-scoring game (only 11 dead Goblins), these warriors were just ramping up their game, looking for more kills as the game continued. I'm glad I have them in my ranks and wonder what other Galadhrim Elves would provide...hmmm...
Stellar unit for the Goblins: Goblin Warrior with Orc bows
So, the archers rarely get the prize, but seeing as most of the FOUR kills they inflicted were inflicted by archers (three to be exact), and each of those kills required overcoming a penalty of sorts (volley fire, in-combat risk, and a building in the way), I felt compelled to give them the title today. The points gained from killing those units paid for half of the volley team and it is likely that a few more points could have been added to the score of these archers - especially if the Elves made a break for it. All told, I try not to leave without a 12-man volley team when I play as the Goblins because you never know how well they're going to do.
So, the archers rarely get the prize, but seeing as most of the FOUR kills they inflicted were inflicted by archers (three to be exact), and each of those kills required overcoming a penalty of sorts (volley fire, in-combat risk, and a building in the way), I felt compelled to give them the title today. The points gained from killing those units paid for half of the volley team and it is likely that a few more points could have been added to the score of these archers - especially if the Elves made a break for it. All told, I try not to leave without a 12-man volley team when I play as the Goblins because you never know how well they're going to do.
Clever move to send a far-moving, high health unit clear across the board, Gaius, :)
ReplyDeleteWell fought, Tiberius: do you think it would have made a difference if you had sent a detachment of archers around the back, and placed them in scoring/shooting position early in the game? With 24" and S3, it might have put the pressure on the goblins to either 1) pull back some of their force, or 2) allow for easy scoring for you. Just an observation from someone who uses Grey Company.
aaaand that is why you need 2 cave trolls. stupid casters.
ReplyDeletegood game. I'm thinking wood elves would have a rather hard time beating gobos in this scenario short of having a chokepoint to bottle the horde up and having the goblin player completely forget that the point is not to fight, but to run your hordes around the enemy. there are just too many bodies to kill. . .
the mirkwood guard were fairly impressive though. I'm thinking that 2+ shoot value is really going to bite. I'll just have to take comfort in the fact that you are paying 2pts each for that upgrade.