Armies of Middle-Earth SBG: Azog's Legion in the MIddle-Earth Strategy Battle Game

Our subject today was spoiled last week, so no elaborate intro for these guys. But that's oddly appropriate, as this army is all-business (as in the business-end of a cleaver).

Azog has come to blot out the line of Durin. If that makes you happy, read on (and perhaps seek some help?).

Praise me, my peoplez!

Photo Credit: 4.bp.blogspot.com on Pinterest

The Bare Necessities, Part XXIX: Erebor Reclaimed

Good morning gamers,

We've come to yet-another-army that I have no intention of buying: Erebor Reclaimed. Tied for the greatest number of profiles with access to Heroic Strike (eight total - Thorin, Dain, Kili, Fili, Dwalin, Bofur, Nori, and Gloin; tied with Thorin's Company which trades Dain and Bofur's Strike for Gandalf and Bilbo) paired with the ability to regrow Might points by killing enemy heroes/monsters (if you pay the 55-point tax to get Ori), this army has the potential to bash in the smirking heads of any hero-oriented force it faces (unless it's got a lot of magic in it - in which case, you will wish you had more Will). While I love Dwarves (been a long-time player of Khazad-Dum, looking into getting the Army of Thror), these guys hold no appeal for me: their heroes are great, their warriors are great, but the investment cost to buy them is simply too much.

"I'm finally here - and I'm coming for you!!!!"

Thankfully, our resident Iron Hills/Erebor Reclaimed player Rythbryt agreed to help me out with reviewing this faction. In his typical way, he's provided an in-depth treat for us today - take it away Rythbryt!

How Gondor Trebuchets Get Accurate for Free

Hey Reader!

So in our TMAT Talks episode on Big Honkin' Things (mostly siege weapons and war beasts, but also things that act like siege weapons), one of the negatives that was mentioned about Gondor Battlecry Trebuchets was that they scatter 6" instead of 3", making it harder to hit the target that you want. And this is not uncommon: you see this critique in most forums, Facebook groups, and I'm sure gaming groups across the globe, and thus why the treb doesn't tend to rank as high as other siege weapons.

And while yes, the rules say that it doesn't have the Accurate special rule, as I got to thinking about it, I began to realize that, with good tactics and some training, you can get the effects of Accurate on your trebuchet for free a good bit of the time, so you're not actually at that great of a disadvantage.

This post is my argument for why this is the case.

TMAT Talks, Episode 5: Big Honkin' Things for the Forces of Good

Tiberius, Centaur, and Rythbryt return to discuss their top-10(ish) "Big Honkin' Things"... which turns out to be a whole lot of siege weapons, war beasts, and other giant machines of war that they'd otherwise never talk about (just kidding). If you've always craved an extended soliloquy on the [Censored] Bolt-Thrower from Minas Tirith* or a dissection of the Khazad-Dum Dwarf Ballista... well, you may need help--but this is the podcast for you! Plus three more ally-able army lists (450 points or less) in our pocket-full-of-power segment!

Music: Happy Haunts by Aaron Kenny

Intro (0:00)

Good, not best: lots of projectile weapons (6:35)

Good Top-3 (52:38)

Pockets-Full-of-Power (1:35:26)

----------

You can now listen to TMAT Talks everywhere you listen to podcasts!** If you like what you hear, leave a 5-star rating to help us spread the word!

Apple Podcasts: 

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tmat-talks/id1520452769?ign-mpt=uo%3D4

Google Podcasts: 

https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy8yN2FhMjE2Yy9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw==

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/show/6GgU1nXgFoiDczWGLpcgOV

Anchor:

https://anchor.fm/tmattalks

RadioPublic:

https://radiopublic.com/tmat-talks-6nZ3jy

Breaker:

https://www.breaker.audio/tmat-talks

Overcast:

https://overcast.fm/itunes1520452769/tmat-talks

Pocket Casts:

https://pca.st/vesclqjv

* Shout-out to Jeremy at the Green Dragon Podcast... and also apologies--we slipped up a lot. :-/

** (Except YouTube... still working on this episode's YouTube version. Sorry.)

The Bare Necessities, Part XXX: Azog's Hunters

Good morning gamers,

In today's post, we revisit a faction that got a some coverage in our post on the Dark Powers of Dol Guldur (and got a hat-tip in our post on Azog's Legion): Azog's Hunters. Azog's Hunters doesn't have a lot of profiles (six heroes, two warriors) and there aren't a lot of equipment options for most of them (none for Fell Wargs, options for mounts for most of the heroes with an occasional other option). Still, this list has some REALLY good customizability options that can make for a high-damage team that can move at tremendous speed. Also, if you want an in-depth look at the list, please check out Rythbryt's review in the Armies of the Hobbit series that came out last week - it's really good!

If you've never fought this guy, count yourself lucky . . .

While I'm a big fan of Azog's Hunters, I'm more drawn to using them as an allied contingent more than a pure list (Azog is just better in Azog's Legion, thanks to getting access to heavy armor, to say nothing of the Signal Tower and Master of Battle if you keep your army bonus). Still, you have access to two really great power heroes, three pretty good supporting combat heroes, the cheapest three Attack model in the game, and some solid (albeit squishy) warriors. My good mate Centaur has run Azog's Hunters a lot recently and so had some light to shed on a pure Azog's Hunters list:

Army Principles with Centaur

T: In large games (700-points and above), would you ever run both Azog and Bolg (or do they cut into your points too much)? 

C: You can, though I don't. Unless you know that you're facing hero-heavy armies (Fellowship, Thorin's Company, Erebor Reclaimed, Rangers of the North) and you know that you'll want two big men to dismantle enemy heroes you probably don't need both, and you'll want the numbers because the fundamental rule of Azog's Hunters is low defense means casualties. You don't have effective anti-archery protection (you don't even have 24" range on your archers, so you can't even return fire effectively on all boards), you don't have great Fight Value (so you'll lose combats up close), and you don't get access to a shaman for Fury, so you're going to suffer a lot of wounds. This means you need numbers to keep you in the game long enough for your big man to do the job.

T: If you can only take Azog or Bolg, which do you choose (and why)?  

C: I personally run Azog, in part because 1) I got him as a gift, so I'm going to use the models I have, and 2) because while Bolg is awesome he grows more awesome as the game goes on, and some armies are such hard counters to Azog's Hunters (Army of the Dead being the big one) that you may not get a chance to get Bolg to his Uber-Bolg version. Plus the White Warg is really nice for the points, so I tend to lean toward Azog. Bolg is good and I'm looking to purchase him within the next few years (I've got other armies higher on the priority list right now), but for now Azog does the job.

T: How important is the Azog's Hunters Army Bonus? 

C: So, it is and it isn't important. It's important because it turns your archers into 4+ Shoot archers, which is nice for when you need to cover an objective as you can reliably whittle down an incoming force before they reach the objective, and then tear them a new one once they reach it as you have 2 Attacks on each model at S4. But truthfully, part of why I love Azog's Hunters more than Azog's Legion is the ability to team them up with other armies - you don't really miss the army bonus, so there's no real problem with going with an orange or red alliance (which is virtually all of their alliances).

T: Does Azog's Hunters need allies (and if so, who is your go to)? 

C: You don't technically need allies (as you can do almost everything really well), but it doesn't hurt to have them. Azog's Hunters does melee brawling very well, as you can get two-handers at S4 (S5 if you Piercing Strike) with 2 Attacks, tons of 2 Attack S4 guys, mounted versions of both, plus bannermen for very little, but what you lack is effective cover from enemies and high Courage models for charging terror models. So personally I would team them in with Angmar (no surprise to anyone as I really like Angmar) or Mordor, and for different reasons. Angmar is nice because you get the Shade and the Barrow Wight, plus access to trolls if you want something higher than F3. Mordor is really nice because you can take guys like the Shadow Lord to cover you from archery plus the wealth of anti-magic options that Mordor presents, not to mention big war beasts or siege weapons to keep you safe while your forces close.

T: Since Hunter Orcs (and Hunter Orc Captains) have the Many Blades rule (while on foot, they get +1 Attack), is there value in giving Hunter Orcs Fell Warg mounts? 

C: There is - threat radius and charging options. Now granted, this comes from a guy who plays Shire (where you use terrain to the point of almost abuse because otherwise you get shot/ripped to pieces), but a lot of people count on hiding units behind pillars/trees, lying people down, etc. as a way to hold portions of the board/guarantee that they get the charge, and fell wargs get you out of this problem. Add onto this the fact that you have a 10" range for standard movement, and now you can reach out and strike an enemy well before they can strike you.

The complication to this argument, though, is that you can also just take Fell Wargs, and since the cost of a Hunter Orc on Fell Warg is the same as buying a Fell Warg and a Hunter Orc on foot, there's little reason to take them as a single unit except the charge bonus. I run a few, but truthfully you could probably do just fine just taking fell wargs for the threat range and hunter orcs on foot for numbers.

T: Are generic Hunter Orc Captains models you take after you've taken all of the named captains? 

C: Or are they good in their own right? Oh, you should have at least 1 of these guys in your army always, and you should take him with a two-handed weapon. I think you should even take him above a number of the named heroes - my order is: Azog/Bolg -> Narzug -> Hunter Orc Captain -> Whatever else you want. Fimbul is very good, and the 3 Might with Strike means you can use him to take on enemy heroes. You should of course always mount him, and he makes for a nice strike cavalryman through forests and other difficult terrain as he gets all of his bonuses regardless of being in difficult terrain. And while Yazneg comes with an axe and high Strength, I think for the points you get more out of a Hunter Orc Captain, so personally I never take Yazneg. We would have been much better off in the list if we had a shaman rather than Yazneg.

T: What gear do you give Hunter Orc Captains? 

C: I almost always give them two-handed weapons, as I think that 1) having base 3 attacks all getting +1 to wound is just insane for the price, and 2) if you have enough numbers you don't need to worry about winning the fight: other guys can win the fight for you, and these guys are just there to mop up. You can definitely give them fell wargs, but keep in mind that you'll need to charge to make it worth it, as otherwise you'll lose attacks. So it all depends; personally I've found that the high Strength with +1 to wound and a chance to Piercing Strike is typically enough, so I save money and buy an extra warrior instead of mounting them, as I find I like the numbers more (plus it's easier to hide my heroes from archery if they are among the rank-and-file).

I don't generally give them bows; that has mostly to do with the fact that 1) orc bows aren't that good, 2) their Shoot Value isn't that good, and 3) Narzug will do the job for you well enough on his own, so why would I need a clear second fiddle? I'd much rather give the bro a two-hander and just send him wading through the enemy shieldwall.

T: How do you deal with Terror armies? 

C: So, I'll start by saying that, as I alluded to above, this is one of the issues for the army. Since your army is Courage 2 except for your heroes (and beyond Azog and Bolg it's not particularly good even among your heroes), Terror is a huge problem. You can mitigate this in two ways. First, since all of your dismounted orcs have 2 Attacks, you effectively charge two people in with one successful Courage Test, so thankfully it's not as dangerous if you don't succeed in all of your charges. More than that, it's not like charging in a person and then spear supporting them as they can't pull off the spearman into a separate combat: you always get 2 attacks. Second is numbers: if you make 30 charges on a given turn (which, ideally, is how many models you would have charging on a single turn), even at Courage 2 you'll pass with 10+ of them, probably including your heroes. This means that you have 20+ Attacks in combat, which is pretty good among c. 10+ fights. So numbers are important: you have to get a lot of people charging to insure that you can take down enough terror models that turn to whittle the enemy force down.

And on a related note, it's actually not a bad thing per se if you don't get a lot of charges in - remember: at D4 you are going to lose a lot of guys, so if you don't have a lot of fights to resolve you can't lose that many people. So there's a silver lining to failed tests, as long as you have numbers to replace fallen troops that get ganked by being alone following failed Courage tests.

Thanks Centaur - today we'll be looking at Centaur's list for Azog's Hunters - let's see what's cooking!

Armies of Middle-Earth SBG: Azog's Hunters in the Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game

As promised, the forces of Evil have arisen to beat back the upstart collection of men, elves, and dwarves who have dared to lay claim to the title of "greatest Hobbit army" (and their oddly-isolated mountain fortress). Today we deal with their light-weight brigade, that soften up the enemy before the weight of the full army crushes them.

That would be Azog's hunters. They're particularly brutal--even to each other.

Boo!
Photo Credit: hole-intheground.blogspot.com

The Bare Necessities, Part XXVIII: The Chief's Ruffians

Good morning gamers,

We've looked at lots of armies in this series - armies that can have balanced lists and ones that cannot. I think any list can be made to be a balanced list, but as we've seen in some of our lists (Rohan, Moria, Kingdom of Moria), not all have to check all five boxes. In today's post, we're going to look at a list that checks off  . . . almost no boxes! Centaur has been a huge fan of Hobbits for a long time, so I figured (what with him having the Scouring of the Shire book and all) he wouldn't mind helping me think through how to run Sharkey's Rogues as a "balanced" list. As we've done in the more recent posts of this series, we begin with some interviews.

Credit: Davetownsend

Interview Questions with Centaur (edited by Tiberius for clarity)

T: Sharkey's Rogues doesn't have any fast models and does not have access to Heroic March - how do you think about missions that require you to get places?

C: So, this is one of the weaknesses of Sharkey's Rogues: you just have to admit that your opponent will reach your board edge or objectives before you do on the whole. There is one exception to this, though, and it's how I'd deal with the problem and that is heavy amounts of archers. If you are running 10-man warbands, you can put a lot of points into warriors without having to buy heroes. Assuming you only buy Sharkey, Worm, Sid, and Ted, for 598 pts you can take 30 archers along with 49 ruffians and 12 hobbit militia if you don't take whips on anyone, which is a LOT of shooting. You can use that to drive people off an objective, keep them from getting across the board (even if you move, you're doing an average of 5 hits per turn, which assuming 6s to wound is 1 wound on average each turn), or keep solo riders or even small bands of riders from getting to an heirloom or other objective quickly. So while you can't move quickly yourself, you can at least neutralize the effectiveness of your opponent moving quickly, which is basically just as good (except in some ways better, as you then have the numerical advantage when fighting closes).

T: Sharkey's Rogues is Impossible Allies with everyone - is there a faction that you would risk an Impossible Alliance with?

C: Probably not, though there is one exception to this rule in my mind, and that is Angmar, ironically. [Sharkey's Rogues] are Impossible with everyone, but truthfully you don't give much up by losing either of their army special rules, and you gain a lot as Sharkey's Rogues if you ally them in. You get access to cheap cav with warg riders, cheap casters with barrow wights, and you can ally them in by taking a dirt cheap Valor hero with Buhrdur. But the biggest reason why you ally them in is to add shades to the army (which won't help your Ruffians, but will make your Orcs harder to deal with): being able to knock a -1 (or -2 if fighting a two-hander or a banner) off their roll makes up for the fact that you have a sub-par Fight Value, and if you can't take 10-man warbands, you might as well take dirt cheap orcs to aid you. Plus you get access to cave trolls if you need guys who can smash through enemy lines.

T: How important is it to include the new Ruffian heroes (Sid Briarthorn, Rowan Thistlewood, and Bill Ferny)?

C: Sid is an auto-include: he's strong, he's a banner for everyone who is not him, and he's the closest thing you have to a fighting hero. Rowan is good on terrain-heavy maps; you probably don't get to use his free Heroic Combats very often (as how often will you fight against armies with hobbit heroes, and how often will Rowan be near enough or capable of calling a Heroic Combat to get to that fight? There's a lot of variables working against you). Bill Ferny is good (and cheap), but I don't think he's an auto-include per se. Great for random deployment matches as he can keep a power hero's warband off the table a bit longer, but I don't like how it's fully out of your control. If the opponent really wants Boromir, Aragorn, etc. to come onto the table and your -1 is making it so that there's a 33% chance they don't come on, and another 33% chance you get to control where they come on, all they have to do is spend 1 Might and the bonus is gone. And it's not like Ferny is a great fighter once that model comes onto the table. Plus if they have someone like Madril or anyone who makes it easier to get onto the table, you're really not doing anything useful (definitely nothing as useful as adding 7-8 ruffians to your army). So I'm not personally sold on Bill; you can include him, but I definitely think he's the weak link.

T: How important is it to include the new Hobbit heroes (Lotho Sackville-Baggins and Ted Sandyman)?

C: Both are really good, but the real winner here is Ted Sandyman: being able to add, for 48 pts, 12 models with axes (S3 when they Piercing Strike)? This is great (more info on this in the next question). Lotho is good (as bribing is awesome), but I don't think he's this good. Ted is the other auto-include for this army, and for good reason.

T: What is the point of taking Hobbit Militia with Ted Sandyman (over more Ruffians)?

C: Hobbit militia give you cheap access to axes, allowing you to Piercing Strike to get S3 attacks for 4pts/model. This means you can put them in a fight with another Ruffian (not hard, as you have so many), use numbers (and possibly a banner on the Ruffian from Sid) to win the fight, ignoring the penalty from Piercing Strike. And even if you do miss, there's not a much higher chance that your opponent wounds you than you had walking into it, so it's fine. Besides, it keeps your F3 S3 model, who is also D3, from being killed by the guy who strikes at the less than D3 hobbit that used Piercing Strike. So that's actually a plus. Hobbit Militia also have a 8" 3+ shooting attack when the enemy starts getting close.

T: Is there a reason to run the normal Sharkey's Rogues over the Chief's Ruffians Legendary Legion?

C: Again, it would really only be if you wanted to ally in another faction. Otherwise the LL is great, and allows you to overrun the enemy, but not with a F2 or lower army like other spam armies. Sure, you're low defense, but most models have a 50% chance of failing to wound anyway; I'd rather take the higher FV than higher Defense, and with 30 archers you can pound away at smaller forces very effectively (not to mention extra throwing stones as they close). But truthfully, the LL is pretty much all you need if you're running these guys: use a ton of guys on the table, and swarm the enemy to death.

Thanks Centaur - we'll view some alternate lists based on Centaur's recommendations at the end of the post. The list we'll be looking at today is based on the info provided here and features the critically-acclaimed Chief's Ruffians Legendary Legion.

Armies of Middle-Earth SBG: The Survivors of Lake-Town in the Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game

In stark contrast to the last army list we covered, this one is far more humble in its outlook and bearer. And a humble force deserves a humble intro:

In the lands of Lake-Town, the people of Esgaroth are led by two separate yet equally important groups of heroes: the family of Bard who stick together through thick and thin, and the militia captains of Lake-Town who buff their numbers.

 

These are their stories.

*dun-dun*

I think they're onto us, son...
Photo Credit: denofgeek.com

The Bare Necessities, Part XXVII: Khand

Good morning gamers,

As we continue the part of the series where we discuss armies I don't intend to collect, we will be looking today at the Variags and Khand and how you can run these lists with a balanced list in mind. Khand has some really cool mechanics that, by all rights, I should love (as many bows as you like so long as they're mounted on horses, fairly inexpensive heroes with lots of bite, and chariots that run things over). The drawback, of course, is the expense to get started collecting (though chariots can be acquired from various historical ranges and Khandish warriors look a bit like Samurai or Ashigaru troops). 

Credit: Scott's Wargaming

Money for me is a huge factor in what I collect - I might be willing to drop $200 on an army over time, but if getting to a starting place costs $200+, I'm probably not biting (and with a single chariot costing more than $40 at the moment and the horsemen coming in metal blisters, this army won't be on my radar . . . ever). Still, Khand is pretty popular and you can learn a bit about these guys online (the Green Dragon Podcast featured a discussion on Khand - check that out, they interview a Kiwi who has had great success with them).

While I have never run Khand and never fought Khand, my good mate MinutemanKirk (as well as someone I met in a Facebook SBG group) was willing to answer some questions on Khand for me. Here's how our discussion went . . .

Interview Questions with MinutemanKirk and JS (some edits for clarity by Tiberius)

T: Is there ever a time you would run Khandish infantry?

MK: Alright, so I expounded a little bit on my guest blog post. I don't think Khand is a very viable army on its own (right now anyway, fingers crossed for more units/heroes!). I think the situations I would run infantry is if I was trying a horde approach, didn't have the models for more mounted units, or wanted to have a scrub unit for holding down objectives. None of those, apart from not having enough models, are compelling enough for me to run Khand infantry en mass.

JS: No. Never. Except for scenarios or when there are a few points left to boost numbers in warbands. Basic thinking does not work on Khand - your Khandish Horsemen are your infantry and your Khandish Chariots are your real cavalry.

T: Since you can run Khandish Horsemen with an unlimited bow limit (assuming you keep your army bonus), are these horsemen good to run? If so, how many do you run (and what is the ratio of horsemen to chariots)?

MK: Khand cavalry are surprisingly efficient: Fight 4, Strength 4 (using Piercing Strike), and a bow for only 13 points. It allows them the flexibility to be pure skirmishers (although Serpent Horde would be a better choice for that) while also enabling perfectly legitimate melee attacks. The problem with focusing on skirmish while also wanting to use chariots is chariots are inherently NOT skirmishers with their unique movement rules: you can't just stop and run away if the enemy makes a run at you. Their movement rules also make it difficult to skirmish wit chariots on terrain-heavy or other movement-restricted boards. If I had unlimited time and money to run a Khand force, I would probably go for a 2:1 or 3:1 rider to chariot balance. Chariots are great, but they need a little screening and when one or two go down, it leaves a massive hole in the line (and a thirty point loss each). Despite the in-the-way requirement, I've found charioteers are extremely squishy.

JS: Typical warbands would look like this: 1 Khandish King on Chariot + 1 Khandish Charioteer + lots of horsemen. Repeat, repeat, repeat.

T: Chariots are awesome, but how do you keep them from running into each other? Are there issues you've ever run into when facing armies that feature Command/Compel?

MK: I've never had an issue with them running into each other, but then I've also never run more than four chariots at a time. You want to avoid getting them in a column formation whenever possible, because, if a chariot doesn't kill something, the whole column stops. Avoid that and it's relatively easy to avoid friendly tramples. I've also not had an issue with Command/Compel as long as it only comes from a single caster. When using Easterlings with Khand, most opponents either can't get to a chariot before it gets into close combat, or is focused on neutralizing Amdur/Dragon Knights. So far as I understand the rules, even a Command/Compel must follow their movement rules. Thus, if you get a chariot into close combat, a Command/Compel isn't worth the effort since you'll be running over your own guys anyway. (T: so far as I know, that's correct as well - more on this discussion in a few weeks, :-) ).

JS: Your chariots are your cavalry. You want them on the flanks to crush enemy static lines (having them bruise over bowmen blocks is very efficient). Well played, they will never touch each other. You should have on each side one Charioteer/King on Chariot. Your anvil line is composed of your cavalry, shooting while moving, then crushing with Piercing Strike the enemy lines while your Chariots are disturbing spear supporters.

T: Is it worth taking bows on your charioteers instead of axes?

MK: Personally, I would never take a chariot with a bow to skirmish with.

JS: No, never. You want them to run over enemies, then in melee use Piercing Strike. Even if the enemy wins the fight against you (which is not that easy with Monstrous Charge and your 6" banner from the King) he still needs to overcome your shield (your Chariot). Classic charioteers should pick up softer targets. Your King has to deal with the heavier heroes.

T: Any additional thoughts?

MK: Kings are always better to take than Chieftains unless you don't have the models or you don't have the points. You absolutely lose nothing (King's have Heroic March too), and the extra Attack and Defense in close combat are literally lifesavers.

JS: Khand can't do a spear-and-shield formation, but it's best not to find a work around for this - work with what you have. Yes, it is a very non-classic play style, but played correctly, it can be even stronger.

Thanks guys - we'll be looking at a list I derived from this discussion, with a few lists from MinutemanKirk (and a follow-up post from me) at the end of the post.

Armies of Middle-Earth SBG: Thranduil's Halls in the Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game

I generally try to start these off with a cool graphic that shows off a key character from the force we're talking about, and also subtly hints at the flavor and tone of the army (and the write-up). Sometimes this is hard to do. 

Today is not one of those times.

Photo Credit: tumbler.com

So yeah... we're talking about Thranduil today. He's kind of a diva, so this makes him happy.

(And yes, there's other things in the list, too).