Fantasy Fellowships: The Erebor Reunion, Part 5a

Good morning gamers,

Today kicks off the scenarios for Part 5 of Fantasy Fellowships and it's all about Frodo/Old Bilbo Baggins and Sam/Farmer Maggot and his dogs. Oh, and Smeagol. :) The first scenario we have on the docket is the Dead Marshes - a scenario I played before and knew could take a long time or a short time depending on the participants involved. While Frodo and Sam don't really want to tangle with a Nazgul on Fell Beast, Smeagol can wound the Nazgul on a 6 (5 if he uses his Might point) and Maggot can use Piercing Strike with his two-handed scythe to wound him on 5s (4s if he has his Might point). Old Bilbo wants nothing to do with this guy. So . . . while I intend to not fight a Nazgul if I can help it, I'm feeling better about it than with the normal participants (where you have to hope that Sam can Strike up high enough to beat the wraith's Fight Value and someone can get a wound in). Let's get into the scenario!

The Dead Marshes 

The board is a 48" x 48" setup, with six spectres in six marshes, the Fell Beast on one side, and my Fellowship of six models on the other:

My plan was to go towards the northern board edge to make two of the spectres non-players in the game - here's how we got on!

Turn 1-3: Priority Good, then Evil, then Good

The first three turns of the game were all about maneuvering - in Turn 1, three of the spectres were under my control (top-left, bottom-right, right-most), two spectres were under Centaur's control (bottom-left moved 3" through the swamp, top-right moved full and got out of his swamp), one spectre didn't move at all (center), and the Nazgul flitted 3" forward:

On Turn 2, I continued to advance northwards, while two spectres didn't move (bottom-left and right-most), three spectres moved under my control (top-left, center, top-right), and one moved under Centaur's control (bottom-right - he got out of the marsh and moved to intercept). The Nazgul moved 6" under my control and decided that there was something very interesting in the southeast corner of the board:

On Turn 3, I started to near some of the spectres, but things looked pretty good for me again - I got to move two of the spectres (top-left - he's looking for mushrooms around that hill - and bottom-right), two spectres didn't move (top-right and bottom-left), and two moved under Centaur's control (center moved full, rightmost moved through the marsh a bit). The big swing here was that the Fell Beast got to move fully under Centaur's control - and boy can that guy close a gap fast:

FAQ Time: Breaking down the August 2023 FAQ

Good morning gamers,

Once again, I find myself on vacation when the FAQs drop, but that doesn't keep me from looking up what's new for the game! With very little new content released for the game this year, I was kind of curious what would come out of this new batch of rules - would it be a slight modification to the game we love (like the last set)? Or would they finally get through the (moderated) laundry list of things I requested (they have answered one of my questions a time or two). For those who want to jump straight to the source material, you can find the article here and the FAQ page here (though admittedly, the FAQ page doesn't seem to open reliably - you have to refresh a few times sometimes). Let's get into the changes!

Photo Credit: Reddit 
I say this in every one of these posts - this is always me at the start of February and August . . . always . . .

What Didn't Have Changes - and Battle Companies

While fewer sourcebooks received no love this time than last time, we did have a few that escaped edits this time around. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Fall of the Necromancer supplement has no changes, but on a sadder note for me, the Quest of the Ringbearer sourcebook also had no updates. Perhaps I was too late in my email with recommended changes (and clarification questions) from Fantasy Fellowships, but alas, I'll have to wait at least 6 months before my questions about scenarios and model substitutions are answered . . .

In other news, the red-headed-cousin of MESBG (Battle Companies) had two changes - heroes don't increase their points value when they gain heroic actions (unlike stats/special rules/war gear) and heroes who don't have armor (like Uruk-Hai Berserkers) can't get armor or upgrade it.

Q: Do Heroic Actions gained by a Hero increase their points cost? (p.9) A: No.

Q: If a Hero isn’t wearing any type of armour, but a member of their Battle Company has the ability to take a type of armour (armour, heavy armour, etc.), can the Hero purchase a type of armour from the Armoury? (p.73) A: No. The only option a Hero has is to upgrade armour to heavy armour. If the Hero doesn’t have any armour then they cannot choose this option. This will likely be because the Hero in question has made a name for themselves as a ranger, scout or some similar role that doesn’t require armour and taking some would only hinder their natural talents.

While some of you may play Battle Companies and might mourn the lack of attention to certain sourcebooks, that's not why you're here - let's get the boring stuff out of the way and then we'll dive into the meat of the newest changes to MESBG . . .

Armies of Middle-Earth SBG: Khazad-Dum in the Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game

Something wicked this way comes...

Photo credit: Brrokk Barrowbane

So if you showed up this week hoping for our wrap-up on countering Angmar... sorry. My hands stopped working.

Instead, I've got a more traditional "Armies of Middle-Earth" for you, on the OG tanks in MESBG: the Dwarves of Khazad-Dum. So hopefully all is forgiven.

Cards on the table: when it comes to elves vs. dwarves, I'm solidly on Team Dwarves. I don't remember if dwarves were the first faction I played when Tiberius and Centaur finally persuaded me to play MESBG (shortly before it became MESBG), but it was definitely one of the first. And at the time, the only way to play dwarves (at least in our gaming group) was Khazad-Dum. So this list has always had some sentimental value for me, and I expect it will always be so (although that does not explain my snail's pace when it comes to painting their models). 

I'm splitting this review up into two parts because the new edition of the rules split this faction up into two: Khazad-Dum (today) and Kingdom of Moria (next time). I'm doing this even though those of us who play know they're really the same faction differentiated by a single (albeit, important) hero choice: to Balin (and Floi) or not to Balin (and Floi)? As such, if you stumbled on this review after reading the Kingdom of Moria review, you'll see some overlap (and vice versa). I've tried to front-load the differences (so you can gloss over the rest), but apologies on the front end if you find this repetitive (It's not my fault!).

As always, you'll find a list of handy community resources at the end, but I want to flag the 4.5 hour gem that is the Green Dragon Podcast on Khazad-Dum--way more than you'll ever need to know about what makes Khazad-Dum amazing... so definitely read this first (otherwise, you won't need it).

Army Quick(ish) Hits

• Strength: Dwarves = TOUGHNESS. Stat-wise, there's two things that make dwarves "dwarves" in MESBG: they move 5" instead of your "standard" 6" (more on that shortly), and they have ready access to D7 warriors (or better), and even more defense on their heroes. Add these excellent defensive stats to very good combat stats overall (Fight 4, with ready access to shields and banners), and generally access to axes and/or Strength 4 on their warriors (if not both), and dwarf armies become tough to engage, tough to wound, tough to shift, and they're tough to rout. The Kingdom of Khazad-Dum is no different, with Courage 4 standard on all your core units and Defense 7 on most models (the notable exception are your skirmishing Dwarf Rangers, Dwarf Warriors with bows, and Iron Guard--all of which make up for the lack of D7 with other stats / shenanigans). Add in Bodyguard on your Khazad Guard, Courage rerolls from the Shieldbearer, banners aplenty, and shields everywhere (for both more attacks and an option for non-lethal strikes), and you have a force that can perform well at all stages in the game.

The Meta is Dead, Long Live the Meta

So next week, Tiberius will have a much more thorough, well-reasoned, dispassionate summary of the latest FAQs and Erratas that dropped on Thursday. 

But while you're waiting, allow me to be dis-dispassionate and express what we're all feeling:

Photo Credit: tenor.com (and The Wizard of Oz, of course)

So I have slightly mixed feelings about some of the changes that were made to a few popular lists (well, okay... one very popular ally choice). But overall, I'm like the rest of you: all my very thematic list ideas are overjoyed tonight that another round of power-creep fad lists have been restored to their proper place: history (or at least the niche pile).

In no-particular-order-of-overjoyness:

No more Lake-Town Spam (well, allied at least)

Like most of you, when I first read The Armies of the Hobbit, I took a look at the Army of Lake-Town, thought "man, that's boring," and kept right on reading. Then, like you, one day I was looking around for something cheap and decent to ally into something very large and cool and expensive (it's usually some sort of list with Gwaihir, isn't it?), and thought "hey, this is a VERY cheap way to get 50+ dudes who aren't complete duds in combat." And then I (like you, maybe) took them to a tournament, felt kind of guilty about it, and then forgot the guilt after kicking other people's butts with them.

Well, no more. At least mostly.

Unexpected Military Formations: The Terror-V Formation

Good morning gamers,

Just over a month ago, I brought a nasty four-Barrow-Wight Angmar list to our TMAT Grand Tournament - and while I had a lot of fun with it, I also learned a lot about battle lines with Terror while playing with the list. It was really fun to have 47 models running around, most of which could cause Terror because I had FOUR Spirit heroes leading them (and a Warg Chieftain - who didn't grant Terror, but had it innately).

While I learned that Terror without Harbinger played very differently from Terror WITH Harbinger (man, I would have loved to have had the Witch-King in any form in my list), I also learned one very surprising fact: a straight line of battle isn't that great for a Terror-causing horde. "Wait," I hear you say, "Isn't fighting in a battle line a good idea when you have lots of Terror-causing models? I mean, isn't it great when you expose no flank and force your opponent to charge your lines where you probably have spear-supports and all?" Well, yes - these can be good. But they also restrict your maneuverability a lot. So I found a better way to deploy - let's dive into that.

The Problem With Terror "Battle Lines"

There's nothing wrong with a battle line - it's good to provide a solid line to the enemy to charge into as it makes sure your supporting units (spears generally, but in Angmar's case, this also includes those Spirit heroes who provide the Terror to the Orcs in the first place). But take the following 140-point warband as an example:

I love this warband so much . . . but they're better when you've copy/pasted them a few times . . .

This warband has a five-man frontage that can all benefit from Terror from the Barrow-Wight and they are all easily within range of the banner in the center of the formation. We could have Warg Riders with throwing spears or just Wild Wargs guarding our flanks as well. Let's assume at the start that this warband is operating on its own - what happens when it runs into a 141-point warband like this:

"Bridge Four!" I mean, "For Numenor!"