Rohan Tactics Post, Part I: Heroes

Hey Reader!

Greetings again from the Forge!  I hope you all are enjoying your week leading up to the Christmas week!  Things are starting to wind down at work, which has left me a bit more time for hobbying (and hopefully sometime soon another game with Tiberius to close out the Dunharrow questing series we're working through).  In this post, similar to the posts I did for the Grey Company and the Shire, I'll be looking at the heroes available to Rohan, and thinking through the unique things each hero contributes to your army.  Like all of these posts, I'll lead off with my two caveats: some of this will not be new information, and the big caveat that smart gamers give to each other:

This is just my opinion; others may disagree, but this is what I think, blah-blah-blah...

Okay, now that that's over with, let's talk about Rohan, :)

Rohan Month: Why You Don't Need To Take Eomer

Hello readers,

My good buddy and fellow admin Glenstorm made a post the other day which talked about why you should always take Eomer if you field Rohan. Please read his post before continuing - it's not only a great decomposition of the heroes in Rohan, but also a well-written piece from our team's longest-running Rohan player (my first convert to the game's first team he ran).

Battle Report: Men of Dunharrow, Quest 4: Another Rohan Army!

Hey Reader!

Welcome to Quest 4 of the Dunharrow Campaign!  Tiberius and I were able to get together on Sunday for a few hours, and he decided to run a portion of the new Rohan army he is testing.  The lists we ran are below:

The Desolation of Smaug Review (10 sec version)

Seriously though... it was a fun movie, despite some of the story shenanigans. I know lots of people were complaining about Tauriel's stats and how "no way can she be better than Legolas" - watch the movie. Waaaay can she be more kick-a than Legolas. 

-Z

Rohan Tactics Post: Why You Should Always Take Eomer

Dear Reader,

First and foremost, this post is not exactly a challenge to Tiberius, or Glot, or any other Rohan players I know.  Exactly, ;)  It is the beginning of a series of tactics posts on Rohan, and things that Warbands and LOME players should keep in mind when running a Rohan force.  I wanted to start with a post on Eomer, as he is one of the seminal (and most powerful) heroes available to Rohan, and also because he was the first hero I ever owned.  And, of all of the heroes I have ever used, I feel most comfortable with him.  So we'll start there, :)  In the future, I'll be doing a few more tactics posts on the heroes and warriors of Rohan, much like the series I did on the Shire and the Grey Company on this blog.

Battle Report: The Men of Dunharrow, Quest 3: The Denizens of Moria

Hey Reader!

This is Centaur with another battle report!  As I mentioned in my last post, I got together with Tiberius on Black Friday for a game against an Isengard list, which turned into a double header!  We kept the map the same (moved the terrain around a bit in the center for what we wanted to do, but otherwise the same), and changed the scenario to a Hold Ground scenario.  Against Moria, this may not have been the smartest move, but it wouldn't be my type of game without a bit of danger, :)  These were the lists in play:

Battle Report: Men of Dunharrow, Quest 2: Amon Hen Hunters

Hey Reader!

This is Centaur with another battle report!  On Black Friday my brother Tiberius asked me to come over for a game against my Dunharrow list, so I dropped by for a Lords of Battle game against him.  I should mention in passing that the email he sent me to extend the challenge was amazing - well done, Tiberius, :)  This will serve as Quest 2 for the Men of Dunharrow, who currently hold a Major Victory over an Easterling detachment for their record.  Walking into a Lords of Battle game against an uruk force is not an easy battle for a Rohan army, but coming off of a Major Victory and still getting a feel for the list, I was up for a challenge, :)  The lists being used in the game are below:

Battle Report: Men of Dunharrow, Quest 1: The Black Dragon Battalion

Hey Reader!

This is Centaur with another battle report!  Thursday night I sent a call out to my gaming buddies, and Donatello had some free time to play, so we met up to play the first Dunharrow game on this blog.  As a quick reminder from the challenge I sent out to the blogosophere, these games will involve armies of up to 402 points, built either in the Warbands scheme under the new sourcebooks or under the LOME format with at least 175 pts dedicated toward heroes.  All possible game styles are available for play, so this should be interesting!  Donatello decided to pick up my Easterling force (which he recently used and enjoyed using), and the armies looked like this:

More Rohan - All Month Long!

Good evening readers,

I've been swamped with school the last few months - 30 pages in 3 weeks + time with family takes a LOT of time. But, I'd like to talk a little bit about some projects that are going on here at TMAT.

Glenstorm is going to be doing an in-depth look at the Rohan army list, and the focus of my efforts here at TMAT are going to be similar. I recently got my hands on a half-dozen Riders of Rohan and an Eomer model that I'm converting into an Eorl the Young model - way better than the original Eomer and maybe the best hero in the Rohan list (yes, Glenstorm, I'm picking a fight, ;) ). I've got another half-dozen on the way and look at talking a bit about skirmish cavalry tactics (once I get a few games in).

In other Rohan news, be on the lookout for a winter fun tournament, similar to the Hunter's Red October tournament but will probably feature small armies (either small point limit or small unit limit) and focusing on getting FIVE games in a single day - yes, it will be interesting.

Finally, there are some incredibly detail-painted Rohan models (and other models, including some that are no longer being made) from chefofwar.blogspot.com - see the link in the sidebar. The models look great and the Chef of War is trying to get some of his stock cleared out. Visit his site and email him at wyrdhobbyservices@gmail.com for more information.

Hopefully I'll get a projects update up this weekend, but until then, happy hobbying!

Tiberius

Army Update: Rohan

Dear Reader,

As promised, this is a weekend update on my Rohan army, as I'll be focusing on Rohan - my first army ever! - in the month of November.  We're halfway through the month already, and I'm putting final touches on some new models and preparing for some conversions before getting in a few battle reports.

1.  New models!

As you will remember, I did a project this summer involving the creation of two mounted Rangers of the North for my Arnor forces.  From that project, I created two more Warriors of Rohan on foot (which are showcased in the picture above), and four more Riders of Rohan (also above).  One of them (the dude with the spear) will be converted over the next week or so into a Rider of Rohan with banner, as I'm preparing for a fully mounted Rohan force.

Since I was buying Rohan units, I also broke down and bought 3 more Rohan Royal Guards.  I love these guys, and they will form the crux of my updated Rohan Tactics Post in a few weeks.  I'm really excited about the ability to front a strong F4 D6 front line, as I think it will help to increase my sustainability and viability in combat.

THRO Tournament Review, Part IV of IV: Round 3 and Final Summary

Dear Reader,

Hope your pre-Friday is going well!  Today we wrap up the final round of the TMAT THRO Tournament 2013, as well as the final standings and placement of all of our competitors.  As a quick reminder from my previous post, the only true competitors still in the running for first place are Captain Glot (with two Major Victories) and Tavros and Zorro (tied with a Major Victory and a Draw, not calculating points for oaths).  Because none of them were facing each other, the endgame conclusions would be decided by each game.  They'll be reviewed here in table order: Tavros, Zorro, and then Glot.

THRO Tournament Review, Part III of IV: Round 2

Dear Reader,

Happy Wednesday!  As we crest over the top of Hump Day, I hope you find this report exciting and energizing for your day.  As I mentioned in my previous post, the tournament was tied at the end of Round 1 with 2 Major Victories, 2 Draws, and 2 Major Losses, meaning that the tournament was still anyone's game.  As we headed into Round 2, things got more interesting, as surprises came out and strategies were forced to change.  Of all of the pairings, this set had the most frustration, as each team faced something it was not well-prepared to play against.  In Round 2, the pairings were:

-Rohan v. Grey Company on Domination
-Angmoria v. Ringwraiths on Arkenstone
-Isengard v. Easterlings on Ill Met by Moonlight

Each team faced something it preferred not to fight.  On Table One, the Grey Company started in the cornered section of the Domination map, keeping me from volleying for the first few turns.  Rohan had restricted deployment which made maneuvering horsemen difficult.

On Table Two, Tiberius's army of five models was up against one of the largest armies in the tournament, and since the only points available for both teams required breaking an enemy army or killing the army leader, this was a lot of weight for the nazgul.  On the other hand, the primarily Courage 2 army of Angmoria was facing an entire army of terror-causing casters - perfect for sniping shamans that cause a low-courage army to stay in the field.

On Table Three, Zorro's uruk-hai were up against a solid phalanx of F4 D6 warriors who could sustain a beating at the hands of an uruk force, and the Duke of Milan was squaring up against S4 crossbows with a +1 to wound, coupled with the fastest moving team in the tournament.  Frustration was present everywhere in this round, and from it only a strategist could emerge.

THRO Tournament Review, Part II of IV: Round 1

Dear Reader,

Happy Tuesday!  As we began Round 1 of the tournament, I was looking at the match-ups, and I was relieved to see that I was not playing against Tiberius and his ringwraith army.  For my draw, I was paired against Tavros' Angmoria army for Round 1 on the Ill Met by Moonlight map.  This meant that my archery was limited to 12" in range, but that I'd be wounding everyone with a +1 to-wound.  This is handy when facing trolls that are D6 and Wild Warg Chieftains that are D5, so of all of the teams I could have hit on this map, I was okay with going against the Monster Mash that was the army of Tavros.  The pairings for Round 1 were:

-Ringwraiths v. Isengard on Domination
-Rohan v. Easterlings on Arkenstone
-Grey Company v. Angmoria on Ill Met by Moonlight

Before diving into the battle summaries, I want to give a special shout out and thanks to Tiberius for taking pictures - he's amazing, :)

THRO Tournament Review, Part I of IV: Introduction and Scenarios

Dear Reader,

Greetings from all of us at TMAT!  The past few weeks have been pretty crazy for us with work and all of that good stuff that pays for our hobbies, but to end our hiatus from the blog, I will be posting every day this week, Monday through Friday, to both summarize the results of The Hunters Red October Tournament, as well as to introduce you all to my plans for November in revisiting the first army I started collecting: Rohan.  So for all of the Rohan lovers who have felt a bit passed over in content on this blog, I'm sure you'll enjoy November as I update the tactics and army discussions, talk a bit about the unique bestiary and hero options for Rohan, and hopefully get in a number of battle reports as well.  Tiberius is also experimenting with some new Rohan models (which I'm really looking forward to seeing!), so he'll likely also have some content going up as his graduate school classes allow.

A Different Project: Bretonnia

Dear Reader,

Greetings from the Forge!  As we come off of the Hunters Red October Tournament this past weekend, I thought I'd take a moment to highlight some of the painting projects I've been working on before putting up summaries of each match (which will be forthcoming!).  I know that most of our loyal readership is not involved in the Fantasy side of the Warhammer profession, but I figured that even if you're not a Warhammer Fantasy person, chances are that if you follow this blog and are anything like the contributors, you may appreciate at least the theme and painting scheme that I'm doing, :)  With no further ado, a few things we've been working on here at the How:

If you love medieval chivalry and the Arthurian Legend, you should seriously look into the Knights of Bretonnia.  I love the models that GW has done so far (though the book needs an update.  Badly), and I'm looking forward to any new models they make.  The units highlighted above are Bretonnian Pegasus Knights, who are elite cavalry for the Brets, and naturally stand out to me as the Pegasus is one of my favorite creatures ever (up there with the unicorn and the centaur).

Revisiting Magic: Ringwraiths in LOTR SBG

For our readership who is aware of our upcoming THRO 2013 tournament, I wanted to take some time to talk about magic in the army that I'm taking to the tournament. I've decided to do this (showing part of my hand for the tournament) for two reasons: first, the strategy I've developed for using magic against conventional forces is more an issue of artistry than anything else and I want to offer this up to the blogosphere for critique. Second, I spent a few minutes during my last game at the TMAT GT 2013 talking about magic theory with a buddy of mine who hadn't played against magic very much and needed my honest opinion about whether to attempt to resist a spell or not. Instead of having this discussion in every round, I figured I'd get my general strategy on the table now.

Battle Report: Grey Company v. Host of Rhovanion

Hey Reader!

This is Centaur with another battle report!  As I mentioned in my previous post, I'm playtesting my list for the upcoming Hunters Red October Tournament, and last night I met up with Donatello to play an Arkenstone game (as it's one of the four scenarios for the THRO Tournament), using the following lists:

Battle Report: Grey Company v. Arm of the Angrenost

Dear Reader,

This is Centaur with another battle report!  So, I owe you all an apology: it's been almost two months since my last battle report. :(  I suppose I could blame scheduling craziness on the part of myself and my gaming buddies, but the truth is I've just been woefully lax in putting up battle reports recently.  I hope to change this as we prepare for the Hunters Red October Tournament in four weeks!

In preparation for the THRO Tournament, I decided to playtest my Grey Company list that I'll be using in the tournament, in part so that I can get comfortable with the feel of Grey Company again (as it's been a while since I've played them), and also so that I can showcase some of the terrain and board ideas I'm thinking up for the tournament.  I met up with Zorro last Friday night, in part so that I could test out the new stockpile rules for terrain, but also because he wanted to test one of the armies he is considering bringing to the tournament.  The lists looked like this:

Domination: The White Council vs. The Defenders of Eriador

After a very long break (I've been really busy), I'm back with another post. Glenstorm and I recently got together to battle again, in part to test out his Hobbit army after Operation Tookburough, and also because I'm looking at buying an Erestor model and wanted to get him tested. This game will be between my fun-filled White Council army and Glenstorm's Shire list. Here are the forces:

Announcing the 2013 Hunters Red October Tournament!

Dear Reader,

It is my privilege to announce the second annual Hunters Red October Tournament!  The tournament will be held on Saturday, 10/19, from 10:00 am - about 5:00 pm in Purcellville, VA.  Like the tournaments we have hosted in the past here at TMAT, the tournament will consist of three randomly paired matches, subject to the following rules:

Scenery Projects: Operation Tuckborough

Hey Reader!

Greetings again from the Forge!  Before jumping fully into the army I'll be using for the Hunters Red October Tournament (more details in a future post!), I wanted to update you all on the progress I've made on Operation Tuckborough.  Below, you'll find all of the scenery I've worked on to date for that project, which I'm excited to say is now completed!  Here's a walkthrough of my little hobbit town. *Cues "Concerning Hobbits" soundtrack*

Shire List, Part 4: Strategy and Tactics

Dear Reader,

Greetings again from the Forge!  Work is back into full swing, so I'm not sure how much I'll be posting on this blog for the next few weeks, but I'll try to keep it consistent, :)  I'm also hoping to have an update on Operation Tuckborough coming out soon, including a special project I'm working on for the outskirts of the map, :)

As promised in past posts, I'll be laying out a few strategy and tactics thoughts for you all when using a Shire army.  In passing before we begin, Shire is still very new to me, and I get the feeling already that this list is going to take a long time to master, and is also among the softest lists you can field in LOTR.  With low FV, low defense, and low strength, doing damage is really hard with this civ.  But if you play your cards well, I contend that you can pull it out - a claim that I hope to substantiate in the March TMAT Grand Tournament.

Shire List, Part 3: Heroes Post 2 of 2

Dear Reader,

Welcome back!  We continue our series of discussing the Shire list of LOME with a discussion of the lesser known hobbit heroes, as well as the non-halfling heroes at your disposal (which everyone finds more exciting, more helpful in a fight, and more funner all-around, :) ).  After covering the four hobbits from the Fellowship in my last post, I'm really looking forward to getting into a number of the unique roles that the other heroes in the list play.  Some of my comments are going to be "like duh" commentary on a model, as some of the heroes were built for only one purpose by GW.  Others may surprise you.  In any event, as we trailblaze some territory that no one in the blogosphere has covered, bear with me as we discuss ten heroes that are worth fielding in your force to meet specific needs.

Shire List, Part 2: Heroes Post 1 of 2

Dear Reader,

Greetings again!  I was out for the past week visiting family, and am just now getting caught up on all of my projects.  Spending 20 hours on a plane does wonders for gathering your thoughts on a list, and what follows is my assessment of the heroes available for Shire teams.  I'll begin with the hobbit heroes, and then move on to the non-hobbit (and more exciting) heroes available to you.  Before launching into that discussion, though, something should be repeated from my last post:

You play with Shire lists to play with heroes.

Yeah, you all saw that coming, :)  If you've ever wanted to field a hero-heavy force, go with one of the Eriador civs: Shire or Grey Company.  Unlike the Grey Company, though, your selection of F6, S4, D5-6 heroes is extremely limited, so you'll be working with a smaller (no pun intended), less sustainable crew in a Shire army.  That being said, you can cover all of the bases using a Shire list for dirt cheap, and that will be the focus of this post.

Shire List, Part 1: Warriors

Dear Reader,

Greetings from the Forge!  As you saw in my last post, Operation Tuckborough is nearing completion, and I'm really excited about some new possibilities for new boards!  In this post, I want to begin laying out some of the strategy and tactics for effectively using a Shire list in combat.  Over the course of the next few posts, I'll be detailing the warriors in the army (which will occur in this post), the heroes you can field (the next few posts), and a short discussion on tactics and deployment strategies for your forces to wrap up the discussion.

Before discussing the three Hobbit units in the army, though, I'd like to note that I've spent some time searching the blogosphere for any other tips and hints in regards to strategy with this force, and so far all of my searches (including searches in other languages) have come up with only one thread on Warseer from 2007, and in that article there was hardly any discussion on the importance or role of the units in your army.  So this is a discussion that has not been discussed very much by the gaming community at large.  I propose that this is due to three contributing factors.

Terrain Update: Operation Tuckborough

Dear Reader,

As I mentioned in my last post, I was nearing completion on a number of Shire-related terrain projects, and I wanted to update you all with a progress report from the Forge!  I also received my new Armored Merry and Pippin in the mail from eBay, so I will showcase them in this update as well.  I've been looking around at other ideas for Shire boards online, and so far I've only seen one on Warseer to date, so if you have any other ideas on things that would be fun to add to the board, let me know!  With no further ado, a few projects I've been working on...

Lords of Battle: The White Council vs. Easterlings

With the summer drawing to a close, Glenstorm and I got together for a quick game. We've fought all of each others armies on multiple occasions, but Glenstorm recently added a band of Easterlings to his collection. During the beginning of the summer, I wrote a post on Arwen and needed an excuse to give some of her strategy tips a try. So...this game will be between my White Council list and Glenstorm's new Easterlings. Here are the forces:

Conversion: Mounted Rangers of the North

Dear Reader,

Slight pause on Operation Tuckborough: I was clearing space on my desk so that I'll have the necessary space to work on Brandywine Bridge (which is going to be over 16" long; I'm pretty stoked, :) ), so I decided to attempt a model that I've thought about using for my Grey Company army, but the Perry brothers have not made yet: mounted Rangers of the North!  When doing my research on the conversion, I found two examples of people who had converted RotN into mounted models, one using a plastic model, and one using a metal RotN model.  I wanted two different poses, and decided to strike out on my own for this project.

In this post, I want to show the conversion process, and in the next post I'll highlight a bit about tactics and utility in an army (along with two other Ranger of the North conversions I'm working on, and the other 8 Rangers of Arnor I've added to my crew).

Conversion Projects: Knights of Dol Amroth and Warriors of Arnor

Hey Reader!

Greetings again from the Forge!  The boys over here at the How have been pretty busy clearing space on the workstation so that there's enough room to work on the terrain projects I promised in my last post.  To clear space on my desk, I finished up some long-term projects from a purchase I made several months ago, namely, what to do with a pack lot of over 30 Numenorian Warriors I purchased off eBay.  In line with Tavros' decision to convert swordsmen into Knights of Dol Amroth, I followed suit and crafted a number of Dol Amroth Knights as well, and I also came up with a creative use for all of those spearmen that came with them.

Something a bit more refined...

Dear Reader,

Welcome to August!  This month, I'm hoping to finish up a number of painting projects (and two more seasons of White Collar), including, as I hinted at in my last post, a number of civs and models I've never used on this space before, so stay tuned for further discussion on those models!  In this post, I want to highlight models that are, in my humble opinion, the most underrated models in the game, and a set of warriors that I am hoping to bring to the TMAT Grand Tournament in March, primarily for kicks and giggles, if not for style and class.  Per the title of this post, the army featured below is a bit more...refined...than the armies I traditionally run in that tournament. :)  For your delectation and delight, I present to you, the beginning of an army and a number of terrain projects that I'll be working on in August:

Yes indeed!  I've seen some guys online attempt to use this civ, and everyone has always razzed it for its lack of firepower, defensive abilities, movement, and strength, but I intend to use the next few weeks to highlight some of the amazing things you can do with a straight-up Shire list from LOME, or with a Warbands scheme (primarily as an addendum to another list, though you can run it as the core of an army).

Battle Report: Axes of Erebor v. Angmoria

Hey Reader!

This is Centaur with another battle report!  For the past week I've been out of town with no internet connection, riding horses, roping cows, throwing tomahawks, shooting bows, and all kinds of other things that (apparently) cowboys do at Latigo Ranch, the #1 Dude Ranch in Colorado (and the world, in this blogger's humble opinion).  If you need a getaway and don't mind being in the middle of nowhere in Colorado, you should seriously go sometime.  It's an excellent summer getaway, hosting guests from all over the world.

Earlier this month I promised you all a battle report from my bout with Tavros at a game night we had, and after getting the feedback on the game from Tavros, I'm really excited to write up my first attempt, and we decided to play a 600-pt To the Death scenario.  I decided to try my hand at my first ever Dwarf army build, and Tavros decided to experiment with a new approach to Moria.  While most Moria players rely on trolls and possibly a Wild Warg Chieftain, Tavros wanted to try two new units as crux members of the army: wild wargs, and a Dweller in the Dark.  The lists looked like this:

Personalizing your collection: Dwarf Army (Nearly) Completed

Readership, I'm not dead. :)

Thanks to Glenstorm for keeping the blog alive the last few weeks - I've been painting a Blood Bowl army on commission for a friend of mine and have finally gotten back to the summer project of finishing terrain pieces for my underground table (in prep for the next tournament) and finishing the details on the Dwarf and Goblin armies. Today, I'd like to give you a glimpse (though not a close look) at some terrain work I've been doing and focus today's discussion on the army of Dwarves that are now (almost) completed. You can see the army here (51 models) and also can see that the walls of the Dwarf Hold have received their grey base coat (more on these pieces in the coming weeks).

Battle Report: Host of Rhovanion v. The Might of Rohan

Dear Reader,

Greetings again from the Forge!  My travels have taken me all across the country, and now that I am finally back for the foreseeable future (probably), I'm excited to be getting some games in again.  I've also been painting up a number of Fantasy, 40k, and Blood Bowl miniatures, so the Forge has been very busy, :)

I took some time on Thursday to get together with Donatello for some gaming, as I wanted to test out my new Easterling force that I've been hinting at for quite a while, but haven't shown you all yet on the blog.  When I was first looking at LOTR SBG, I knew that someday I wanted to have a Rohan and Grey Company force.  For my army of Evil, I was immediately torn between an Uruk Scout force and the Easterlings, as both provided things I prized.  I wasn't able to acquire my Easterling army until recently, and now that they are painted and ready for use, fielding them in an army feels like a dream come true in many ways.  We'll see how they work, :)

"If You Want Him..."

At long last, we're going to close out Flight to the Ford month, as I finally got around to painting my Arwen Evenstar figure - thanks Glenstorm! Though I plan on using her in my White Council army (grown to 9 potential members - see later in the post for more info), Arwen is a great hero to add to any force if you want a turn or two of magic. For the sake of this article, I'm going to assume the following sample list:

Detailing Denizens: Goblins, Trolls, and Future Projects

EDIT: If you found this page, you should know we've posted an update for the new MESBG rules (2018)! You can find the updated page here.

First off, from one dad to another, happy Father's Day readership. I logged on this morning and saw that we had exactly 25,000 page views - thanks for visiting and making this small team of bloggers feel like what we do is valuable to someone else.

Here we are, once again, continuing a Hobbit-themed summer as I try to plow through more of my army and terrain projects. This time the Goblins are our focus. Some of these conversions are fresh off the work bench, so I'm really excited to showcase them. As our regular readers may know, the only conventional army I haven't taken to tournament here at TMAT is my Goblin force, so I really want to not only get through the rote painting and glossing, but also want to make the conversions the best they can be. Here's the collection so far:

Of Beards and Shining Mail: Painting Dwarves

It's been a while since I've posted - close-out of the semester and family vacation didn't bode well for hobbying. But here we are, reviewing some work I did painting my Dwarves and trying to get them to a place where I like them. Though my best army (the most fun, potentially the most devastating, and the one that uses more obscure rules than any other army I've built) is my Wood Elves, I've got a very soft spot for my Dwarves. They are arguably the most resilient army in the game and if you don't mind being slow and not having spears (absent the new models for the Army of Thror), they have very few weaknesses.

Here's a quick look at the complete Dwarf list, to be followed by an in-depth review of each unit type and what it provides to the army. At the end will be a few sample lists and the steps ahead for the bearded fellows.

Battle Report: Rager's Raiders v. Might of Lorien

Dear Reader,

Greetings from the Forge!  Tiberius and I finally had a chance to get together to test drive my uruk force after his papers and exams from class disappeared and I stopped traveling for work, :)  In this match, we will be playing a Domination Game between my Rager's Raiders list (which I have come to love very much, by the way, for all the junk I get from other uruk players about it being too squishy) and Tiberius's Might of Lorien list, which is a slight variation from what you've seen on this blog before.  I was excited about this match, in part because playing against Elves always gives me an adrenaline rush (plus my boys love elf flesh), and because this is a new list involving proxy units: I'm looking forward to seeing what Tiberius does with the list following his assessment of this game.  The team lists are below:

New Scenery Pieces from Fenris Games

Dear Reader,

Happy May!  As summer draws near and travel season starts up again on Thursday, I wanted to quickly check in with our loyal readership before darting out again for work.  A few weeks ago, I had the chance to get together with Zorro for a bit of gaming, primarily to test how badly my Isengard Raider force would get mauled by S3 archery.  He brought his High Elf Army led by Legolas and an Elf Captain (a bit shy of 35 models), and we played an Arkenstone map (because, naturally, the best game against a S3 archer team is one where holding your ground gives a tactical advantage to melee combat, right? ;) ).

Unfortuately, the dice were not willing to cooperate with my experiment, and Zorro ended up rolling very poorly for his archery in that game (If my memory serves me, by the time we met in melee combat, he had killed 3 of my uruks and I had slain 4 of his elves with orc bow and Vrasku's crossbow fire...it was pretty bad...), so we didn't really get a good feel for how well my list holds up against S3 archery.  Perhaps Tiberius or Glot would be up for some elf hunting? :) (Tiberius: yes, I'd be more than happy to give you a test...we should probably play without the new magic rules unless you're confident in your ability to take courage tests. :)) (Glenstorm: No problem there, Buddy - though I'm very confident in my C5 Ferals, :))  The result of the game was a strong finish for my uruk-hai, and (I think) my first win against Zorro's elves.  If nothing else, though, Zorro had a chance to finally see my painted Feral Uruk-Hai, which he had not seen yet.

Before moving on to my next fight with my uruk force, I wanted to give a quick update on some new scenery pieces I've been working on.  All of the following pieces were bought at Fenris Games, which sells all kinds of things for miniatures gaming, but specializes in scenery and tile pieces.  I've ordered a few of these, and had a chance to paint one of them already (the others just came in).  I'll also take the opportunity to showcase some of the Rivendell Elves I've been working on over the last few weeks, as well as some of the new Infinity miniatures I've acquired.

1.  Gate/Dais

Elrond and a force of Elves braces to hold the gate

Okay, this is a fun piece.  When I first saw this piece, I thought, "Eh, nothing special," but thankfully I stopped to read the description.  As you see in the pic above, it can be used as a very stylized gate (in case you're building an entryway to a courtyard or something), or...

Elrond and his crew prepare to defend the dais

You can use it as a dais with a water feature!  For an elf town, you could easily use this as a landing in a royal garden or town center, and in a dwarf underground map, you could also use this as, say, a landing near a chasm with no bottom (instead of a water feature).  I want to use it eventually as the placement zone for an objective (Arkenstone?), as I don't currently have terrain that set off objectives, like Tiberius does.  What all of this highlights, though, is the versatility of the piece - it can be used in many different ways in many settings, which gives me the versatility I prize in terrain pieces.  At present, though, I'm still thinking through a lot about how I'd use it in tournament play, so check back to this space for further updates.

2.  Barrels

Six barrels unpainted, and a Tankhunter from Infinity

For those of you who have never seen my office desk, welcome to my office, :)  For a while I thought about getting the Buckets and Barrels set from GW, but 1) at $20, it's overpriced for 6 barrels, and 2) well...what I really need for some of the scenario rules I'm building are barrels, not buckets.  Instead I opted to go with the six Giant Timber Barrels from Fenris Games, as I not only got the same number of items for half the cost, but I can also use them for varied purposes across the field.  I'm currently experimenting with rules for fire arrows, tar and pitch, and other exciting terrain-based bonuses to soldiers, so we'll see what happens.

3.  Bridge

A bridge with a Tankhunter posing for the height measurement, and a scout demonstrating the width

Okay, I love bridges: they usually break my armies (since I run a ton of D5 and D4 armies without much spear support), but I love bridges, :)  One of these days, when I come into my own little fortune and buy my own property, I'm definitely building a small stone bridge over a little stream.  But in the meantime, I've got a really cool new bridge from Fenris Games that is a bit wider than 1 model base.  The bridge comes as two pieces, so that you could have two bridges (narrow bridges that couldn't support a model, mind you, so it would be more like backdrop pieces), or they can join together to form one bridge.  The bridge is more or less the height of an infantry model, and would likely provide some covering of the torso of a cav model.

4.  Steps

The steps are shallow, but the mound is about 5" up

The last piece I ordered from Fenris is the base of a Mayan Pyramid, which I'll use for a higher elevation entrance point in my multi-tiered map.  The steps give a wide base (about 3 infantry models wide, and 2 cavalry models wide) that units can use to access upper portions of the town.

I'm really looking forward to using these new terrain pieces, since they are highly modular and can be used in a variety of environments.  Keep an eye out for some of them in the next battle report!  On a related side-note, I was glancing through the Kingdoms of Men Sourcebook, and found some cool new ideas for a set of Osgiliath Ruins, so...so far I have successfully passed all of my Leadership Tests to restrain, but we'll see how long this lasts, :)  Until then, you'll find me,

Watching the stars,

Glenstorm

"Lie back on the floor," said Firenze in a calm voice, "and observe the heavens.  Here is written, for those who can see, the fortune of our races." ~ Firenze, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Underground Terrain: Beyond A Board

And the admin returns (grad school papers and finals done for the semester, so now I have time to just focus on family, work, and the hobby)! I've been doing some work on terrain pieces as I'm calling a temporary hiatus for "Flight to the Ford" month - have an Arwen model to paint up, but no desire to work on it. So instead, I decided to kick of a new "month" of hobbying and work on some terrain for my battle board.

Battle Report: Rager's Raiders v. Defenders of Osgiliath

Dear Reader,

With this month being devoted to my new Uruk Tracker force, I took the opportunity on Sunday night to get together with Donatello to playtest my boys.  Per an insane last week of work, it has unfortunately taken over five days to get this post up, and for that I apologize to our loyal viewership.  My hope was to get it up on Monday, but life has a way of thwarting seemingly simple plans like posting on a blog, :P

But I digress. :)  As we talked about which force he'd like to use, I mentioned in passing a Gondor force that I had been dabbling with, and it caught his eye.  So in this battle report, I'll be using my Rager's Raiders list, and Don will be testing my new Defenders of Osgiliath list.  You can find the breakdown for each team below:

Cavalry

Being the sole regular user of cavalry in our group here at TMAT (at least so far... hoping... hoping!), I felt like writing a post about the tactics I employ for the use of cavalry in the LOTR SBG.

Alright... ok... I hear ya... "Cavalry? Why on earth would I want to spend, like, ten extra points - the price of a good warrior (or two bad ones) -  for a mount?". Good question... Most don't... But they miss out on a lot.

Cavalry have always been a huge fascination of mine... *cough... well... If I'm completely honest... my fascination with cavalry starts with the armored cavalry divisions of WWII and transfers to the modern Air Cavalry divisions in today's military that get to use cool things like the AH-64 Apache... So, I like cavalry as soon as you get the horse out of the picture... (mostly joking)

Post-Tournament Review: Why I Uruk the way I Uruk...

As a wrap-up to the more-or-less recently completed TMAT GT 2013, I wanted to talk a little bit about all three games my Uruks played and use the games to illustrate a few trades I was interested in testing - and how happy I am after the tournament. As I'm pressed for time due to grad school exams coming up, no pics this time - sorry, but I'll link to lots of posts that have plenty of pictures for your enjoyment.

To get things started, let's review the army list:

April Project: Uruk-Hai Month with a Twist!

Dear Reader,

So, I want to begin this post by mentioning a fact that has likely heretofore not been known in the blogosphere:

I was the first person at TMAT to run Isengard, and the first to field a Fallen Realms army!

Okay, glad that's settled, :)  Yes, I am returning to one of the first armies I ever made: The Isengard Raiders!  This is a unique brand of Isengard, and since all of the other players in our gaming community use the heavier, more expensive Fighting Uruk-Hai, the scout side of the list is rarely seen.  In the first TMAT GT I fielded them with a number of Mordor Orcs (primarily for spear support), and in the recent TMAT GT, Tiberius fielded a few of them as Marauders.  In this post, I want to highlight why I love the trackers so much, as well as why I'm building the list the way I do.  I will also give you all a sneak peak at some of the other models I'm painting - some of which have never been seen on this blog, and which will likely be my project for the very merry month of May.

Experiment in Soft Lists in LOTR SBG

Dear Reader,

Greetings from the Forge!  After a few weeks of heavy travel for work and moving friends into new houses, I'm finally finding time to give you all an update on the projects we have been working on here at the How.  In this post, and somewhat as a reflection on the TMAT GT Tournament, I want to highlight some of the ways that you can use "soft lists" instead of "hard lists" in an LOTR tournament, and what you can expect from running such a list.  Before moving into that discussion, though (which will be centered around the army list I took), a few definitions should be laid out.

For those unfamiliar with the terms, a "soft list" usually refers to a list that will be weaker in combat, and usually receives a handicap in randomly drawn battles, or will face units with a similar score under a comp system in order to compensate for this.  A "hard list" usually refers to a list that runs very powerful units, and usually aims toward a very set strategy - you will rarely see a surprise in the tactics and choices of a general with a hard list.  These are painting in very broad strokes, and there are a number of tournaments that don't even use the Swedish Comp System or other system to determine the hardness or softness of a list (especially in the 40k gaming community).

TMAT GT13 - Round 3 and parting thoughts

Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more! As we return for one last recap post on TMAT Grand Tournament 2013. Round three of the tournament was as yet more bloody as, by now, players had settled into the format a bit better and were now jockeying for that one final push to the end.

Round 3, Board A: The Dwarves are for the Dwarves! vs: Fire from the East

Exhausted after their long travels, the dwarves return home to find enemies wandering their very halls! After enduring the mocking of Dol Amroth and the sting of the desert, by this point the dwarves had had their fill of haughty men. For their part, the Easterlings were looking to top off their haul of loot with mithril from the deeps. Balin swore to end the life of the easterling captain, and Shagrat was determined to test the mettle of the old  dwarf in battle. The clash of blade against heavy armor rang throughout the halls and both armies struggled around the arkenstone. While dwarven steel is legendary for its resilience, the armorers of the east proved to be of the highest caliber as well - neither army was able to find a significant advantage over the other. In the midst of the melee, Shagrat met Balin on the battlefield. As sword crossed with ancient axe, each recognized that the other had some hidden agenda at work. [Shagrat's oath succeeded, Balin's failed]. Grabbing a few crates of mithril armor, the Easterlings vanished into the darkness as the dwarves rallied around the banner of Erebor.

TMAT GT13 - Rounds 1 & 2

Welcome back for part two of our TMAT GT2013 recap (played Sat, Mar 9). All eight participants were assigned a number, reported to their respective boards and we kicked things off with:

Round 1, Board A: Isengard’s Outriders vs: Defenders of the Forest

The animosity between elves and dwarves is second only for their hatred of orc-folk. So much so that the elves of Lorien found need to abandon the sunlight for the darkness of dwarvern halls in order to face off against the pillaging Vrasku and his uruk horde. As both sides closed upon the chamber room that holds the Arkenstone, Vrasku claimed he would live to fight another day, and Celeborn swore to kill more than the foul uruk could. The dank air was filled with elven arrows and crossbow bolts, ricocheting off pillars and causing carnage on both sides. While the elves defended the Arkenstone mightily and prevented it from falling to enemy hands, it was at a very great cost. Celeborn himself had to be carried from the field of battle, grievously wounded, with his army decimated - the taunts of Vrasku and his army ringing in his ears [Isengard oath passed], and with the bodies of far too many of his elven kin pierced by crossbow bolts [Elven oath failed].

TMAT GT13: Tournament Recap

This past weekend the TMAT crew got together with a few other people we were able to rope in (after a flurry of practice games to get them up to speed) for our second annual TMAT Grand Tournament.

I'd have to say, I think this tournament probably had the most formidable series of armies to date. In any game setting, you get armies that your particular build is stronger against, and others you just hope to avoid. I think this year, most of us took a look around and just went "ick." We each had a list of opponents (containing most of the field) that we were really hoping not to draw against.  For a quick recap, we had the following participants for our third TMAT tournament:

Serpent Guard conversions

Time for one more (likely final?) update on Harad before next weekend's TMAT GT. My own force is basically complete, and considering that 2 of my other armies (Easterlings and Isengard) are being loaned out and will also make a showing at the tourney, I do have a couple items to touch up to make sure those forces are ready for primetime. Hmm... I wonder if I can earn bonus points if my armies sweep the top slots...

As you have seen from my last few posts (here and here), the last couple months have been a flurry of conversions to add a bunch of new models to my force, including Corsair Reavers and Harad warriors with both bows and spears. The last component in my list is the elite Serpent Guard of harad. For a mere point more than their spear-toting warrior brethren, Serpent Guard get a fight value boost and the "Poisoned Blades" special rule. Both are very handy when you are going to be facing above average fight value, high def armies of KoDAs, Uruks, and Dwarves, or when you need that slight edge over mob armies of orcs or Rohan.

Back to Black: Dwarf Hold Painted

Here we are yet again, this time with a painted board!

All of the boards then received a fine coat of black spray paint, which really sped up the process of painting. I paint my models by hand (even base painting) because I want to get a feel for the models and notice their details as I go. For something as large and "bland" as a battle board, I didn't feel the need to be that detailed, so the initial push was just to get some non-white and non-pink color.

Videoblog Battle Report: Chill of Angmar v. Fist of Isengard

Dear Reader.

For the first time on this space, we are going to attempt a new format for battle reports - not because we don't like the old way of doing them (we actually really enjoy those, :D ), but because we like experimenting with other mediums of dialogue with you all, our faithful readership, :)  So, in today's match between Tiberius's Fist of Isengard force and my Chill of Angmar force, we will be giving you video commentary on the match!  Here's to good speakers, proper buffering, and a good game!

Riders in Black: Part 3

A recent comment from one of the admins here at TMAT asked me why a certain Ringwraith scored so low in my first Riders in Black post. While the Riders in Black army that I'm building focuses on using only Ringwraiths, most armies that field a Ringwraith (or two) will be conventional armies looking for a spell-caster to support dozens of grunts or elite warriors. In this post, I want to go through a couple of teams that you can build using all 10 of the Nazgul and present a sample army list that conforms to the warband rules from the new sourcebooks and allows your Ringwraiths to maximize their potential. For commentaries on what spells Ringwraiths should cast an when, look at Part 2 here.

Urban Combat Scenery: What Do You Think?

Dear Reader,

First of all, a major shout out to our loyal fans who have now pushed us over 18,000 views! :)  Seeing the interest you all are generating in our site keeps us going, so thank you for that, :)  I thought about not doing another scenery post (as I'm badly wanting to get some battle reports in), but as we head into 10 days before the TMAT Grand Tournament, I thought it would help you all (and the other competitors) to see some of my ideas for an urban combat board.  After hours of painting, lots of shuffling things around, and carefully measuring out parameters for how the scenery would work, I came up with a rough sketch that will serve as a guide for how the field could be setup for a tournament game.

For the walkthrough today, Captain Terrek and his troop of Osgiliath Veterans have graciously allowed me to use them for demo purposes, and they will be joined by random members of my Chill of Angmar list (just to spice things up).  I hope that you find this walkthrough helpful for how I'm envisioning the dynamics of the board to work.

Riders in Black: Part 2

EDIT: If you found this page, you should know we've posted an update for the new MESBG rules (2018)! You can find the updated page here.

As promised, the second post in this series is going to be a magical tactica post. To be clear, most of this post is going to focus on what spells should be used by Ringwraiths in all-hero games. The end of this post will discuss how the spells can be used to assist conventional armies that have a Ringwraith or two in them (for those who don't want to count the number of units you field on one or two hands).

Scenery Update 2

Dear Reader,

Greetings again from the Forge!  Scenery pieces are pouring out of my ears over here, and the creative juices have been flowing like the Brandywine River (which flows pretty swiftly, in case you haven't seen it for yourself).  Today's post will examine three pieces I've designed from scratch, which may or may not make an appearance at the upcoming TMAT Grand Tournament this March, as well as an update on two of the pieces that was still "In Progress" from my last post.

Dol Amroth for Gondor!

"Nahhh... I don't want Amroth. I don't like their goofy looking helmets." *facepalm*

So after acquiring a box of mounted Dol Amroth knights, I threw my current plans for my Gondor army completely out the window. And now? Oh-ho-ho, am I glad I did! Why? Cuz they are fun and awesome, thats why!

Actually a very good pack. With some attention paid, you can easily make each model unique using only the materials that comes in the set. (and still have some leftover goodies for fun elsewhere)

Harad update: Corsairs, Watchers, Serpents and more!

So with TMAT GT 2013 just three short weeks away, the crafting benches have been in a flurry to get my army ready for the battlefield. My force contains a mixture of Corsair Reavers, Serpent Guard, Watchers of Karna, and warriors with both bows and spears. Guess how many of those my collection supported before posting my army? =P

As you can see from my post here, the Corsair Reavers had been converted, but that is about it. But now, after a couple weeks of effort, they stand ready to take the field!

The Riders in Black: Part 1

EDIT: If you found this page, you should know we've posted an update for the new MESBG rules (2018)! You can find the updated page here.

So, the faithful readers of this blog will know that I am a huge fan of spell-casters (I spent a whole month talking about Radagast, Saruman, Gandalf, Ringwraiths, and other random spell-casters). They can be really expensive, but can also help you deal (unconventionally) with the monsters and bruisers of the enemy. This months' focus is going to be on a very particular type of spell-caster: the Ringwraith. Why?...

...because I'm working on my third all-hero army, and have chosen the Riders in Black, the famed and iconic Nazgul. One of the models you might recognize from some of my Moria posts, but the others are all new acquisitions. I want to talk about what challenges and advantages an all-Nazgul force has on the field as well as what Nazgul I believe are valuable for an all-hero Nazgul army.

Scenery Update 1

Dear Reader,

It's good to be home!  I've been out on the road for work (the joys of being one of those young-traveling-professional types, :) ), and it's good to be back with you all and resuming projects at the How.  Now that the TMAT Tournament has been announced, I'm working not only on polishing touches for my tournament list, but also on a number of new scenery pieces that I'll test out there as well.  A number of the players that I know will be there have mentioned that they'd be open to an urban map, and I have taken it on myself to provide the terrain for such an engagement.  What follows below are some of the pieces that all of us at the How are working on to make that map possible.  In this post, we'll be looking at the pieces that I have from GW, and some of the conversions that I've made.  In the next post, we'll look at some of the pieces I've created from raw materials lying around the How, and an update on some of the GW pieces that are still in progress.

Announcing: TMAT GT 2013!

Alright blogosphere, it's that time of year again!

Time to announce the opening of registration for the second annual Tell Me A Tale Grand Tournament! This tournament is a small 1-day independent tournament for the Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game and will be played on Saturday, March 09, 2012 in Purcellville, Virginia starting at 10am (players are asked to arrive 20-30 min early for check-in and setup). LOTR SBG players in the greater D.C. area and beyond are welcome to attend, but are asked to register NLT Feb 28. The tournament is free to play and the rules for the tournament are provided below.

This year's tournament rules are designed to encourage creativity (both strategic and artistic) over sheer (mere?) "my army can roll better than yours." So please read tournament rules carefully as there are numerous scoring opportunities (win records accounting for only about 60% of the total potential points).

Angmar and Misty Mountains Update

Dear Reader,

As January comes to a close, I wanted to give a quick update on my Angmar force and Misty Mountains Force.  Over the past few weeks, I've been painting, converting, and battling with these armies, and I'm looking forward to what next month will bring.  My Angmar forces - orcs, Barrow Wights, and the Dwimmerlaik - have been showcased here before; more recently, though, I bought another blister of Hunter Orcs for the Misty Mountains side of the list (I just cannot get enough of these guys, :) ), and I want to give you all a quick update on that part of the army.

For a 600-point game, I'm currently leaning (following suggestions from some of my opponents and some new ideas from the sourcebook) toward the following army list:

Picking a Captain - Uruk style!

So, I know we're in Flight to the Ford month and all, but I was coming home from work one day and said to myself, "Self, there are many different named Uruk-Hai heroes you can choose and other un-named ones that you can build to meet your purposes...but why pick one hero over another (or are they more or less the same)?"

I kept my vow of not answering myself (that's when you know you're crazy), but I did decide that I'd write up a few thoughts for the insight of our faithful readership - and I'm particularly interested in the thoughts, as I'm going to take my army of the White Hand with me to the TMAT-GT this spring. As it occurred to me, there are three generic purposes for having an Uruk hero in the first place: offense, defense, and army-wide resilience. Though most Uruk heroes are built offensively, these heroes can have other functions as well, which we will discuss in the following classes of heroes: the rock, the main-stay, the hatchet, and the arrow (side note: most of the pictures in this post can be found elsewhere in the blog - this is a shameless plug of mine to get more views on the Google ticker so my blog comes up first during image searches).

kah-CHUNKa!

Just a little showcasing here.

This is a little something that I built a while back and I thought I'd write up a quick overview about it. (no WIP pictures... its me... too lazy :P)

THE... Avenger bolt-thrower. Handmade from scratch.

Although I am a evil player at heart, I really do love Gondor. Always have. The bolt-thrower is unique to this civ and it is quite the devil if you can get it set up in an effective place where you won't have to worry about shooting your own guys. (oh I really wish this thing could go with the goblins. They don't care about that sort of thing)

Definitely a fun thing to play with

I used popsicle sticks for all the wooden parts of the frame. I cut, shaped, and glued them together in four sections.

Section 1- The Base: The base is essentially a tri-sided pyramidal shape with a flat top.  The basic procedure was to cut out the individual planks of wood into their respective shapes, and then assemble as best and straight as possible. I put a circular washer on the top of the pyramid to at least try to make it look like this turret can pivot. After the base was built, I cut out two tiny slits of paper and glued them to the two front legs where the crossbeam attaches to them. This step, with a tiny slice of an unused lance shaft to be the bolt itself, completes construction of the base

Section 2 - The Main Doohickey... part: I seriously don't know what to call this next part. If it was a firearm I'd call it the 'barrel'... The main part of this thing! You know what I'm talking about. It was constructed out of two popsicle sticks glued together lengthwise to give it some thickness. Once dry, I filed it into a more of a rectangle shape with the two ends being mostly square. Here I carved indentations into the side of the piece to make some room for the springs (or screws), and then glued it to the base.

Section 3 - The Magazine: Pretty straightforward. Just glued two popsicle stick pieces together, filed it down to size-and-shape, and glued it on.  

Section 4 - The Bow: Without a doubt the most difficult part of construction. Not to mention that I was not sure how I was going to create the curvature on the actual 'bow' part of this model... aHA. My quick eye spotted an old spray bottle on a shelf! (ok... so I was sitting there, staring at the shelf for like ten minutes before I had the idea. What of it!?!) I took off the lid and promptly sawed away at the part of the lid that screws on to the bottle. After I cut off a nice ring, I chopped it, almost, in half. (little bit more than half... minor detail) I now had a nice, plastic, 'bow'. I just didn't like those serrated edges that the thing had to make it easier to screw and unscrew (for those people that use these things for what they're meant to be used for). So I cut out two slits of thin cardboard, and glued them to either side of the the plastic 'half-ring'. Then glued it on to the front of the main piece... thing.

And viola! Construction complete. Now for detailing.

Using thin strips of paper for metal braces, small slices of a plastic lance for bolts, small spikes from a paperclip as the ammo on the magazine, a toothpick for the main cord that actually does the launching of the projectile, and a combination of materials for the cranks on the back of the model, I spent plenty of time adding details to this thing. (with the periodic break to go look at the GW photo)

Everything glued? Time to paint.
Basically all the wood, I painted brown. All the metal, I painted silver. Really hard.
Once the basic colors were on, I ran a GW Devlan Mud wash over the wood and a Badab Black wash over the metel parts. Then I added some highlights to the metal.

So yeah, it was a fun project and I'm happy with the results.

    ~Tavros~

To the Death: Uruk-Hai vs. Harad

Recently, the guys in the club got together for a fun, recreational pair of games to test our armies that we plan to take to the spring TMAT tournament. I was only able to stay for one game, but managed to remember my camera to chronicle the event. The game I got to play was against Zorro's famous Haradrim, but he was excited to try out his Reavers (WIP, see recent post here).

The Fist of Isengard: 600 points

Saruman the Colorful - 170 points [Army Leader]

18 Uruk-Hai Warriors with shields - 180 points

7 Uruk-Hai Warriors with pikes - 70 points

3 Uruk-Hai Warriors with crossbows - 33 points

Ally: Mauhur - 60 points

Ally: 6 Uruk Marauders with shields - 60 points

Ally: 3 Uruk Scouts with Orc bows - 27 points

39 units, 3 Orc bows + 3 crossbows, 2 heroes

The Golden Horde: 603 points

The Golden King of Abrakhan - 115 points [Army Leader]

11 Haradrim Warriors with bows and spears - 88 points

10 Serpent Guard - 80 points

8 Abrakhan Merchant Guards - 64 points

4 Watchers of Karna - 36 points

Ally: Dalamyr, Fleetmaster of Umbar - 100 points

Ally: 8 Corsair Reavers - 80 points

Ally: 4 Corsair Arbalesters - 40 points

47 units, 11 bows + 4 crossbows, 2 heroes

To fully appreciate this game, you need to know that we were trying out various kinds of scenarios for the upcoming Grand Tournament in the spring. Here's a quick look (and description) of the tables we were trying out:

Domination game, with parts of rivers on either side but a wide open space with some littered terrain for the center objective. This differs from the set-up at the recent Hunter's Red October tournament, which had a bridge in the middle as the objective. Tavros' Dol Amroth force fought against Glenstorm's "Chill of Angmar" army - brief recap in comments, one/both of you?

A variation of "reconnoiter," which involves attempting to escort diplomats from your board edge to the other instead of trying to get your own units across. Zorro and Glenstorm developed this scenario in preparation for the TMAT GT and the forces of Harad and Angmar faced off after I left.

Ah, the lush grounds of battle that hosted an epic To the Death between my Isengard army and the famed Southrons of Zorro. The twist to this scenario is that sitting on the hill is the "Arkenstone" (portrayed here by my Mirror of Galadriel). At the start of the Fight phase, the number of units from each army are counted up who are within 3" of the stone: the side with the most gains the benefit of a 6" banner from the stone. The opposing side (or both sides in the event of a tie) gains a 3" banner from the stone. This will be this battle report that we'll cover here.

Scoring for this game is as follows:

• Game-play is until one side is reduced to 25% of its starting force or 90 minutes elapses.
• 3 point if the enemy army is broken OR 5 points if the enemy army is broken and your force is unbroken;
• 2 points if the enemy army leader is slain.
• 1 point if you have a banner remaining at the end of the game. If you have a banner and your opponent has none, score 2 points.
• [Added scoring points] 3 points if the enemy army is reduced to 25% before the game ends.

We also experimented in this game with "oaths of battle": each army leader declared a separate objective it would attempt to achieve. If completed, this would provide additional points to its final tournament score. If both players achieved their oath, 1 battle point was scored. if only 1 achieved their oath, they scored 2 battle points. The oaths we had to choose from were:

• Blood-sworn Enemy: Choose an enemy hero - he is your arch enemy and they must die before the end of the game
• Future King: Your army leader must be alive at the end of the game, neither slain nor "heroically departed".
• Chivalry in battle: Your army leader must fight the enemy leader in close combat (not shielding) for at least one round and survive.
• Line in the Sand: Nominate a piece of terrain in your opponent’s deployment zone (or place a marker if there is no suitable terrain). Your leader must end its move within 3" of it at least once during the game.

Zorro chose the oath of killing Mauhur, while I declared I would keep Saruman alive. We alternated placing warbands (within 6" of the board edge on a 1-3 and within 12"on a 4-6) and the Uruks won the roll to go first.

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Turn 1: Charge! (Priority - Uruk-Hai)

No pictures of this round, but a few things of note happened: first, Saruman successfully cast Terrifying Aura, so hopefully he won't be ganged on this game. In the Shoot phase, the famed archers of the Haradrim killed two Uruk-Hai Warriors with shields, while the crossbows who could shoot killed no one.

Kill count: Uruks 0/47, Haradrim 2/39.

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Turn 2: The Fearless March (P - Harad)

The armies continue to move up against each other. One of the Serpent Guards on the hill decided to lie down while within range of the Arkenstone, so all of the Haradrim within 6" of the Archenstone benefit from a banner this turn (yeah, really useful) (hey, I thought there was a chance your marauders would close the gap!).

The Corsair Arbalesters, not to be outdone by their Haradrim allies, level their crossbows towards the Uruk-Hai ranks. In an impressive move, three of their quarrels find their targets and each takes down his target - two Uruks with shields and one with crossbow. The Haradrim attempt to pierce the armor of the Uruks but fail to cause a wound. The remaining Uruk archers respond by killing...nobody (great...just great...and ouch...).

Kill count: Uruks 0/47, Haradrim 5/39.

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Turn 3: The White Wizard (P - tied, Uruks!)

Now within range of the enemy lines, Saruman unleashes a Sorcerous Blast on the enemy (free + 1/6W, 1/3M) and successfully killed both the targeted Watcher of Karna and a Haradrim archer, while knocking down an Abrakhan Guard and a Serpent Guard (it's a start...yaye first kills!) (hmm... that bloke is going to be problematic).

The rest of the Move Phase was spent forcing the armies towards each other and engaging everywhere. A Watcher of Karna mustered his resolve, vaulted over a set of rocks and engaged Saruman (I had hoped that he would get stuck on one side of the rocks, but the control zones of my Uruks were taken away...bummer) (+2 to courage for charging terrorizing models for the win!).

In the Shoot phase, a Corsair Arbalester killed one of my Uruk Scouts with Orc bow and once again, no one else did anything in the Shoot phase (come on guys, do something!).

In our first round of combat, things look pretty grim for the Uruks. Mauhur killed a Corsair Reaver (1/2M) on my left flank, but the Uruks lost all the other fights thanks largely to the Reavers. As a result, three Uruk Marauders were killed, as was one Uruk Warrior with shield. My lines are really messy, and there are still four Fight 5 units (3 Reavers and Dalamyr) and a banner alive on that flank...methinks this won't end well.

In the center, I manage to kill an Abrakhan Guard and a Watcher of Karna (yaye!), but am not able to wound in two other combats that I won. Luckily for me, my archer who was fighting two-on-one managed to not die, but unluckily for me, one of the Reavers killed an Uruk with shield. More unluckily for me, Saruman lost his bout with a Watcher of Karna, took two Wounds, and failed ALL. THREE. FATE. POINTS (3/3F, 2/3H). (NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!) (Do we have a new head of the order here? I dub thee, Bane of the White Hand!). So, with 3 Fate gone and 2 of 3 Wounds dealt, my ability to fulfill my oath is looking pretty slim.

On the far side, a Reaver-Abrakhan team killed one of my Uruks with shields (not really a surprise, right?).

Kill count: Uruks 5/47, Haradrim 12/39. Three rounds in, and the Uruks are 8 units away from breaking, while the Haradrim are at a blissful 19 units away...yeah, I need a stroke of really good luck.

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Turn 4: Smoke and Fire (P - Saruman uses his Palantir, Uruks)

Saruman's Palantir spawned a battle of Heroic Moves (Saruman and the Golden King): Saruman won the roll-off and unleashed yet another Sorcerous Blast, killing two guys (Corsair Reaver target and Serpent Guard) and knocking down a Reaver, who was promptly charged (free + 2/6W, 3/3M). With 4 kills totaling 35 points, I've still got a long way to go before I pay for Saruman's points. I'd like to get over to where his heroes are, but I kinda need to deal with the Watcher of Karna in front of me...

Charges got resolved as you see here: we noticed after we finished moving that we mixed up the movement (we moved my Heroic Move, then all the Haradrim - including the ones on the right flank who were outside the Golden King's range, then the rest of the Uruks), but we didn't want to go back and re-do it. Maybe a few of my guys on the right would be in slightly better positions, but not much would have changed considering how badly they are outnumbered.

In the Shoot phase, my Uruks continue to do nothing (what?), which makes me finally decide to take the "archers are swordsman" mantra to heart and prepare to just charge with them. The Haradrim  for their part, are not silent and kill two Uruk pikemen with a well-placed Haradrim arrow and a Corsair quarrel (man, I needed those). By the way, the Uruk with the green token is "transfixed" thanks to one of Dalamyr's smoke bombs in the Move phase (yeah, that's going to end well...).

To add insult to injury, Dalamyr calls a heroic combat (1/1M) and easily defeats the transfixed Uruk with shield he's fighting. He then charges into the rear of Mauhur, trapping the great Uruk captain (that's really, really, REALLY not good...) ("knife" to meet you Mauhur-ting).

The fights worked out as follows: Mauhur won his fight (2/2M) and succeeded in killing an astounding...nobody! (come on...) An Uruk Marauder was killed, as was a Corsair Reaver (yaye!), but elsewise, nothing else interesting happened here.

On the hill, Saruman and his helping Uruk archer won their fight, but neither were able to get the 4s required to kill the Watcher of Karna (you really thought you were going to kill Bane so easily?). Elsewhere on the hill, one Uruk was killed, as was the Corsair Reaver on the ground and an Abrakhan Guard (Go team!).

On the far side, things are not going well at all. I have one Uruk with shield out of the original 6 (lost two this round) and a handful of other guys trying to keep this element of the army at bay. I think it's safe to say that this flank has been rolled up (and the other flank isn't doing well either).

Kill count: Uruks 10/47, Haradrim 20/39. I'm broken and things are not looking good at all...this game's done, but we're pressing on because there's still time.

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Turn 5: A Powerful Shot (P - Uruks again!)

Saruman passes his courage test (3/6W, score of 16),  thumbs his nose at the GK, and lets loose yet another Sorcerous Blast (free + 4/6W) and this time kills the targeted Serpent Guard and kills another Serpent Guard and a Haradrim archer. A third Serpent Guard and an Abrakhan Guard were knocked down and almost wounded, but not quite. 7 kills with SB and 59 points claimed...certainly helping to make up for my complete lack of archery kills. His Stand Fast covers everyone except Mauhur (who I forgot to test for, but Zorro was content to have remain) (I hadn't killed him yet!) and my army stays to fight to the bitter end.

The rest of the fights are as follows: the guys on the ground were charged, but there's little I can do elsewhere. I'm trying to push the Haradrim away from the stone (which has been benefiting them all game, I might add), in hopes that I can get 6" coverage for the units in the fights surrounding the hill. Kinda hazy on where guys died this round (started removing some of them before the pictures were taken), so I adjusted the final score to reflect the number dead at the end of the round...in case you actually go back and check my math. :-P

In the Shoot phase, a Corsair Arbalester levels a deadly aim, passes his in-the-way test on the rocks, and despite my claims that the quarrel needed to test for its courage, the great wizard of Isengard fell (Grrr...game over and no oath point...sad).

Why do my pictures keep rotating? Anyway, the Haradrim succeeded in killing a pikeman and a Marauder, but I managed to kill an Abrakhan Guard and a Serpent Guard. Still, the day was woeful, as the great Mauhur lost in a roll-off and fell to a great many blades (I think the GK alone wounded him 5x).

On the hill, not much changed - the Uruk Scout with Orc bow died, but so did 2 Serpent Guards (Yaye team, here we can kill more than we lose...).

But, life is just bad over here. I lose two more units and fail to kill the Serpent Guard on the ground - I beat him, but couldn't get the needed 4s on 2 dice to kill him (that's just wrong).

Kill count: Uruks 18/47, Haradrim 26/39. Yeah, life is really not good, but we keep playing, because there is time on the clock and I'm not at 30 units yet, :-P.

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Turn 6: The Sun Sets (P - Haradrim)

Basically, all but one of my guys was charged before I got to move, he passed his Courage Test (not drained by the Golden King - don't know if I was that unimportant, if the King had pity, or if I blitzed through my Move phase too quickly to be noticed in time), and took a Serpent Guard off of a friendly. Not Shoot phase because everyone's fighting. Here, you can see the tide has really turned on the hill and I lose a swathe of guys (killing one in return, ironically with the guy who wasn't bribed) (technically, only heroes are worthy of bribe, per the rule) (oh...that's...comforting).

Left flank: things are really getting rolled up now, but only one of my guys is killed. In return, I killed a Watcher with the Warrior on the far right.

Yeah, lost the last of my crossbows in what was hardly a fair fight. Thankfully, I lost enough guys that the game came to an end a few minutes before the timer ran out.

Kill count: Uruks 20/47, Haradrim 33/39. I was 4 units away from breaking the enemy, so I feel good. But...final score:

• Uruks score 0 points for failing to break the enemy army, while the Haradrim score 5 points for breaking the enemy and not being broken;
• The Haradrim score 2 points because Saruman was killed.
• No banners this game, so no points scored for either side.
• The Haradrim finally score 3 points for reducing the Uruk-Hai to 25% before the game ended.

With a score of 10-0, this game is a major victory for the Haradrim  The Haradrim also scored an additional 2 tournament points for fulfilling their oath (killing Mauhur) while the Uruks failed theirs (Saruman did not survive), so in a tournament, this game would have scored the Haradrim 12 points (major win + oath) and the Uruk-Hai 2 points (for a major loss). (If it's any comfort, there will be a couple other small "kudos" bonuses in the tournament that you likely would have received - thus boosting your score another point or so).

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Conclusion:

Assessment by Tiberius:

Yeah, tough game today. The Haradrim are a fearsome army to fight, but all told, I did well against them. They were nearly broken (and with Courage 4 heroes standing beside each other, others could have run off) and if I hadn't botched all my Fate rolls, Saruman probably could have survived. Breaking the enemy and keeping Saruman alive would have adjusted the points to make the score a lot closer (4-1). I'm thankful that I got this game in before the tournament, since I'm not likely to face the same mixture of volumes of archery combined with really high Fight values.

Assessment by Zorro:

Well, considering that Harad has never faced Uruks, I was a little apprehensive about how they would handle a force that wounds them on 4s. The victory was a bit hollow considering how many bad rolling streaks Tiberius had, but it was well fought on his part. Given a rematch, Harad probably would have broken, which is a contingency I really need to plan for better. Historically this army has broken so rarely (only 3-4 times in 20-30 games) that, as Tiberius mentioned, I left a large portion of my army hero-less. Rather a bad situation to be in with C3 troops. All told, a fun match. I'm really looking forward to seeing what Tiberius's army is capable of given a gambit of opponents and scenarios. 

Stellar unit for the Uruk-Hai: Uruk-Hai Warriors with pikes

As great as Defense 6 is for keeping units alive, supporting attacks are the best way to ensure that the good opposing units die. In this particular game, I had a single pikeman kill three units - mostly on his own - which highlights another reason to give the award to these guys. I also need to note that Saruman ended up getting 33% of the army's kills - not bad for a spell-caster (and not good for the rest of the army).

Stellar unit for the Haradrim: Corsair Reavers

No question here. When you have a unit that can walk up to a Uruk pike block single-handedly and smack them in the face, you can't not give them the award. Otherwise it would be a bit of a toss-up. There was plenty of good work being done all around. The Arbalesters held their weight and more (for once), the Abrakhans did their share of cleaving, and of course the wizard-hunting Watchers of Karna certainly made a name for themselves with what was probably the most pivotal moment in the match (or in any game I've played in a while): cutting the enemy leader down to size in the first round of melee combat. But without the edge that the Reavers brought, we would have seen a lot more roll-offs, which would have lead to a lot more dead Haradrim, and in a force that has no capacity to shield, any thing that can preserve units is worth it's weight in Mithril.