In Defense Of: Citadel Guard

Beregond and the Citadel Guard stand alert!

Hey Reader!

Today we're continuing the In Defense Of series, and Tiberius asked me to jump in and chat about the Citadel Guard, as Minas Tirith is not lacking in quality infantry, and these guys tend to draw the short straw compared to the Warrior of Minas Tirith (who is about the same cost), the Ranger of Gondor (if you want archery support from your infantry), and the Tower Guard (who are just all-around better in most respects).

And I think this is a shame, because these models look awesome, and are awesome, and fill an often-needed (and much bemoaned) role in the Minas Tirith faction. We will start by looking at why people tell you not to take this model, then we'll discuss why you should take it, and then close out by discussing how to make it work effectively in your army list.

Why NOT To Take Citadel Guard

Citadel Guard are something of a poster child for, "jack of all trades, master of none" units in Middle Earth SBG: everything they offer you can get elsewhere (kind of) in the list, but other units can do it better. Citadel Guard are Fight 4, but so are Tower Guard and (potentially) Osgiliath Veterans and Warriors of Minas Tirith (if you take the right heroes next to them), so they are not an auto-include for high Fight Value armored infantry. They have the Bodyguard special rule, but with most Minas Tirith infantry starting at C3-4, and the army special rule bumping up the Courage value by 1, an army that is predominately C4-5 is basically getting the effects of Bodyguard without worrying about whether the army leader is alive or not. They have heavy armor, but most models in the Minas Tirith list have that, and their inability to take a shield makes them less resilient than most infantry in the list. 

And while they can take spears or longbows, Rangers of Gondor can take both a spear and a bow at the same time, and while their bows are not as powerful (S2 for the ranger, compared to S3 for the citadel guard), rangers sport a 3+ Shoot Value instead of a 4+ Shoot Value, so they are more likely to get a chance to roll said damage roll (which is arguably better for the law of averages).

Announcing the TMAT Spring Zephyr Tournament!

  Good morning gamers,

Spring is coming, and we're welcoming it with the TMAT Spring Zephyr tournament! The tournament will be held at Patrick Henry College on March 23, 2024. Like the Winter Whirlwind tournament from last year, we're going to do another play-a-bunch-of-quick-games event. Without further ado, here are (in my typical style) the Ten Commandments of the Tournament (Rules):

1) Thou Shalt Understand The Canon

The ruleset from the updated Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game Rules Manual (the Sauron one) will be our baseline. The Armies of the Lord of the Rings supplement will govern the rules for armies from the Lord of the Rings, while the Armies of the Hobbit supplement will govern the rules for armies from the Hobbit. Legendary Legions and profiles from any of the GW supplements may be used, provided that the army building requirements for the Legendary Legion are followed. Any GW errata for these books will take precedent over the printed text of these documents.

2) Thou Shalt Honor Thy Alliance

This tournament follows the alliance "restrictions" provided in the Armies of the Lord of the Rings and Armies of the Hobbit supplements - players are allowed to have "pure" armies or Historical/Convenient/Impossible alliances. Legendary Legions from any of the Games Workshop supplements can be taken as well, but obviously cannot take allies nor be taken as allies.

In Defense Of: Uruk-Hai Scouts (and Uruk-Hai Scout Captains)

Good morning gamers,

When Centaur and I got started playing MESBG, the first armies Centaur collected were Isengard and Rohan (very thematic choices). While Eomer, Warriors of Rohan, and Rohan Royal Guards became the mainstays of Centaur's Rohan army (and still are today, actually), Isengard was always led by Ugluk and Vrasku and behind them were a host of Orc Warriors (cheap bodies with access to spears) and Uruk-Hai Scouts. While the Uruk-Hai Scouts play a central role in one of the most exciting combat sequences of the Lord of the Rings films, their use in MESBG is often relegated to the two Legendary Legions that rely on them for good Fight Value and Strength (Ugluk's Scouts and Lurtz's Scouts).

This is a shame, because Uruk-Hai Scouts are actually quite good in MESBG, but due to a variety of reasons, they just don't see as much play. Since both Centaur (hi guys!) and I love Uruk-Hai Scouts, I decided to do a tag-team with him in this article - but I'm going to limit my scope to the value that Uruk-Hai Scouts have in the generic Isengard faction (allied or pure), NOT these Legions (though I have some thoughts on the Ugluk's Scouts legion regarding how these guys pair with orcs, which we'll talk about below). Anyone who's played with Ugluk's Scouts or Lurtz's Scouts knows how invaluable these guys are to the line-up (they're either all you have or one of two warrior choices you have), but their utility in the general Isengard faction is questionable. So today, while discussions about these two Legions will certainly arise, we're going to focus our efforts on addressing the utility of Scouts in Isengard generally.

Photo Credit: Warhammer Community

We're also going to broaden the discussion a bit to Uruk-Hai Scout Captains, who often vie unsuccessfully for slots with Uruk-Hai Captains (aka, the "guys from Helm's Deep") - these guys have a good place in Isengard lists too, despite the dominance of their more armored cousins. Let's see what's so "bad" about these Scout models before we talk about what's so good about them . . .

Why NOT To Take Uruk-Hai Scouts

Our discussion of Uruk-Hai Scouts begins with a look at Uruk-Hai Warriors: when I got started collecting Isengard (about two months after Centaur because our good friend/fellow admin-on-hiatus Zorro bought a TON of Uruk-Hai Warriors used on eBay), I was like, "why would I invest in Uruk-Hai Scouts when I could pay +1 point/model to get +1 Defense with Uruk-Hai Warriors?" In most respects, Uruk-Hai Scouts and Uruk-Hai Warriors are the same, except that the Uruk-Hai Warriors pay +1 point to get heavy armor instead of standard armor and the equipment choices they can take. We'll get into war gear next, but the first reason most players avoid Uruk-Hai Scouts is because their armor gets increased.

5 Reflections on Fantasy Fellowships (Centaur Edition)

Hey Reader!

So Tiberius and I just finished up Fantasy Fellowships, and I thought I'd take a few minutes to reflect on some of the mistakes I made with my fellowship, things that are useful (if not essential) to success in Fantasy Fellowships when building a fellowship, and a few final thoughts on scenario design that I'd adjust.

1.  Don't Skimp on Your Wizard

The nine companion slots are not created equal: skimping on, say, the Fated Companion, is not as big a deal because you don't actually use that slot very much in the campaign. And the wizard slot is one of those slots you shouldn't slouch on either, because there's a loooooot that rides on that character.

The fact that it's the primary defender on Atop the Walls and the linchpin in The Bridge of Khazad Dum (more on that scenario later) aside for a moment, the wizard slot is one of the few reliable positions for providing support for your Fellowship, and especially stat recovery (which is a huge issue in Fantasy Fellowships, as you don't always automatically reset your stats at the start of each scenario).

I used Gildor (proxied by my wood elf warrior, as I don't own Gildor but look forward to picking him up soon), and he's a decent fighter with 2 Attacks and F6 S4, and with 4 Will Points and a 3+ Immobilize, he's not a horrible caster. But he's not a great caster for this spot, as he has limited utility, limited survivability (D4 with 2 Wound 1 Fate is not good), and a limited number of Will Points.

While Gildor placed decently in Tiberius's ranking of eligible characters, I think you should aim for someone higher than him. He won't provide the critical punch you need in beat-down fights like Balin's Tomb and Warg Attack, he will struggle to complete mission objectives when he is the focal character, and he can be wiped out in a single round, and I'm not a fan of any of those things, :P So while I loved using him, and he's still a top five caster in my mind, if I was doing Fantasy Fellowships again, I'd probably opt to invest more in this slot - probably my boy Elrond if I'm honest.

In Defense Of: Mattocks

Good morning gamers,

A surprising number of posts in the last two rounds of this "In Defense Of" series have centered around two-handed weapons - whether it's models who have to fight two-handed (like Bofur the Dwarf or Moria Blackshield Captains) or models that can fight two-handed even if they have other options (like Morannon Orc Captains - if you give them a two-handed weapon instead of a shield - or Mordor Trolls). I've even written an entire article talking about why two-handing can be okay (ignoring models who don't suffer the dueling penalty from the discussion). Today, we're going to continue looking at the topic of two-handed weapon options by looking at an equipment choice that I've come to appreciate having here and there in my Erebor Reclaimed lists: mattocks.

Photo Credit: Spikey Bits

For starters, there are a handful of models that have this rather specialized kind of weapon - most of them can be found in the Erebor Reclaimed/Iron Hills factions:

• Bofur the Dwarf (Thorin's Company)
• Iron Hills Captains (Erebor Reclaimed/Iron Hills)
• Iron Hills Dwarves (same)
• Iron Hills Goat Riders (same)
  

A mattock is described in Bofur's profile as being a "two-handed weapon, which can use either the Bash or Piercing Strike Special Strikes," which is neat since Bashing with a two-handed weapon makes your Bash more likely to work and getting +1 To Wound when you've raised your Strength value to improve your wounding roll is even better. There's nothing to dislike about this, right?

Well, actually no - most competitive players (including the Into The West podcast team) will tell you that the models look cool, but the mattock isn't worth taking. And on its face, I think they're right. However, there's more to this weapon than meets the eye - let's see why mattocks are critiqued so heavily and then we'll look at why (and more importantly how) they can be worth taking.

Why NOT To Take Mattocks

Our discussion of mattocks has to begin with a comparison between a mattock and a pick-hammer. If you look at the Grim Hammer profile from the Army of Thror, you'll see that a Pick-Hammer is a "hand-and-a-half weapon, which may use either the Bash or Piercing Strike Special Strikes." Wait a minute - did you say you can choose whether you want to use this thing one-handed or two-handed? Are you telling me that the Grim Hammers of Erebor knew how to wield things that look almost EXACTLY like the mattocks wielded by their Iron Hills brethren with one hand! Why yes, yes they could - and that's stop number one for many players (including our very own Rythbyrt): there's no reason why a mattock should have to be wielded two-handed when pick-hammers are a thing.