Fantasy Fellowships: The Erebor Reunion, Part 5c

Good morning gamers,

This post was supposed to go up last weekend, but the impending arrival of Centaur's newest "colt" required a delay. We're wrapping up Part 5 of Fantasy Fellowships right now and we're tackling both the Cirith Ungol mission and the Plateau of Gorgoroth. After two big defeats in the last few missions, I get to use . . . potentially none of my Fellowship members in this first mission! The second mission will probably prove to be quite difficult to win (though a draw is quite easy to get), but we'll see how it goes. Let's get into a scenario where I get to use some of my favorite Mordor units - Mordor Uruk-Hai!

Cirith Ungol

We deployed our models one at a time, keeping our new models at least 2" away from a deployed enemy model (more on this later). The castle proper was pretty packed, as you can see:

Let's get into Turn 1!

Turn 1: Priority Good

I charged into as many guys as I could, focusing on securing the top level. My goal was to stall out his guys on both of the second tier flanks and then bunker up on the top tier. A lowly grunt picked up the coat and the dogs entered Cirith Ungol.

In the Shoot Phase, an Orc archer on the outer wall didn't hit anyone. In the Fight Phase, I declared a Heroic Combat with Shagrat (1/3M), who diced up the guys he was fighting and moved towards the ramp where Gorbag is:

I probably could have gotten Shagrat into combat again . . . but I forgot . . .

The fighting went pretty well for me - I lost a few fights, but only lost 3 models! In trade, I killed 5 Orcs (7 if you count Shagrat's Combat). 

With an initial model count disparity of 9 models, we're closing the gap nicely!

If Tiberius Were King For A Day: Top 5 Heroic Action Changes I'd Make

Good morning gamers,

This is the last post in this mini-series where I talk about small changes I'd make to MESBG that I think would have good impacts. It's also our eight-hundredth post ever . . . wow, we've been busy. :-) One of the distinctives of the MESBG system (and part of what I think makes it the best tabletop game in town) is the heroic resources you get for your heroes - specifically Might points. Will and Fate are great and all, but Might points allow your heroes to be more heroic when you need them, and nowhere is this more visible than in the specialized Heroic Actions that heroes can have. 

Unfortunately, not all heroic actions are equal - some are viewed as incredibly niche and others border on completely unusable (and that's from a generous point of view - some players definitely DO see some of the heroic actions as pointless or a waste of time). Today I've taken five heroic actions that I think need a little help and offer a simple fix to each that I think would make them go from eh-to-ooh - let's see what they are!

Heroic #1: Heroic Accuracy

This is probably my least controversial heroic action to change, since some players already see this is a great heroic action. I've heard critique on my post where I talk about Heroic Accuracy being a waste of Might, claiming that the opportunity to hit a priority target past multiple in-the-ways makes the heroic action incredibly good. While many competitive players are in agreement that Heroic Accuracy can help you immensely, I can't get past the fact that in order for it to take effect, you need to a) hit with a shooting attack first, b) have in-the-ways between you and your priority target, c) have to fail in-the-way rolls that then turn into successes, and d) have to wound that target after you pass the rerollable in-the-ways. If any of these conditions aren't met, the Might point spent on Accuracy is wasted (for more on this, read the post linked above).

Back to Basics: The One Ring in MESBG

Good morning gamers,

This is our last post in this round of "back to basics" and we're covering one of the most exclusive pieces of wargear in the game: the One Ring. You can't have a game based on the Lord of the Rings without the Ring in it and it's perhaps fitting that the Ring has several pages of rules dedicated to it. I've written two articles on the One Ring since the updated rules came out in 2018 (one in 2019 and one in 2021), but both of those articles were focused on how the Ring had changed from previous editions - or as a means of bringing together previous FAQs into one place. What our focus will be in this article is to summarize the rules for the Ring, breaking things down so someone who's new to the game can get their head around how the Ring works. With that, let's talk about the Ring!

Who Can Wear the One Ring?

There are only a handful of models who can wear the One Ring - we all know that the main stories of the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings focus on Bilbo and Frodo. We also know from the story that other characters have carried the One Ring, including Sauron, Isildur, and Gollum. In MESBG, this translates into seven profiles that can carry the One Ring: The Dark Lord Sauron (who made it), Isildur (who took it from Sauron), Gollum (who "was given it" after Isildur lost it - but this is not the Smeagol profile), Young Bilbo Baggins (from Thorin's Company - he "stole" it from Gollum), Bilbo Baggins-Master Burglar (from the Survivors of Lake-town), Old Bilbo Baggins (from either the Shire or Rivendell - not sure which is more common on the tabletop), and Frodo Baggins (who, of course, destroyed it . . . sort of . . . he was heavily involved in its destruction, at any rate).

At first blush, you might think, "Well, how often am I going to fight these guys? I mean, they're only from a few factions, right?" Well yes - and often times these guys won't be allied with too many people because their alliance matrix stinks (Barad-Dur and Numenor are basically Impossible Allies with everyone) or because they themselves are really expensive and don't feel like they're worth taking "just" to get the Ring (like Bilbo in Lake-town or Frodo in the Fellowship). One would think this is a set of rules you don't need to know.

And yet, many players view the benefits of the Ring as highly valuable in a competitive setting - Numenor may have a very restrictive alliance matrix, but a F6 Isildur with the Ring is not something you want to trifle with (more on that in a bit) and can be allied historically with Rivendell to make up for some of the list building limitations of Numenor. Barad-Dur might not have allies, but since they have most of the profiles available to Mordor, they're pretty well developed on their own. The Fellowship usually doesn't see Frodo allied around, but if you're playing at lower points levels, the likelihood of running into either the Breaking of the Fellowship LL or the Rangers of Ithilien grows dramatically.

Cavalry Charge: The Importance of Reserves and the Battle of Tinchebray

Good morning gamers,

Today we're wrapping up (at least for now) our series on cavalry by talking about the most important principle for using cavalry in MEBG: reserves. If cavalry models can get the charge in MESBG, they can be absolutely devastating - often doubling their Attacks when dueling and doubling THOSE dice when fighting most infantry models. A well-timed charge can be absolutely crushing for an enemy force, but it's that NEXT turn that can really seal the deal. If you commit all of your cavalry on one big charge, you may be forced on the following turn to risk several Heroic Moves just to have the chance of getting in a few charges. Since counter-calling Heroic Moves can be a waste of Might points, it's better to have some cavalry who can't be charged on the following turn so that someone can get charges in if you don't get to move first. To illustrate this, we turn to an important battle in history - the Battle of Tinchebray!

The Battle of Tinchebray

As usual, you can find a great visual summary of the battle on the BazBattles channel on YouTube - I absolutely love their stuff! In 1100, the ruling King of England, William Rufus, the son of William the Conqueror, was killed in a hunting accident. With no heir of his own, the bid for the rule of England was up for grabs between his brothers Robert Curthose of Normandy (who was on the First Crusade at the time) and Henry Beauclerc (who was in England at the time and was crowned in Robert's absence). When Robert got back to England in 1101, Robert got some concessions from Henry, but also identified lords who were unhappy with Henry's rule. Robert had difficulties managing his duchy and from 1105-1106, Henry "invaded" Normandy and took various castles from Robert. When Henry besieged Tinchebray castle in 1106, Robert mustered his nobles to drive Henry off.

Robert formed two lines - one with a mix of heavy cavalry and infantry, the other with infantry held in reserve. Henry formed three groups - one with dismounted knights, one with infantry reserves, and the final with heavy cavalry in deep reserves. As Henry's first corps began to falter, the infantry reserves were ordered to support the main line while the heavy cavalry swept around the exposed flanks of Robert's line. Robert saw that his forces were being flanked and called in his reserve forces - but seeing the losses mounting up on Robert's side, his reserves decided not to engage and fled the field. This led to a rout of Robert's forces, but Robert himself was taken captive and imprisoned for life.

We talk about this a lot in these formations posts, but real life isn't always reflected well in MESBG. However, the importance of cavalry reserves is a HUGE deal in MESBG and historically. It's very tempting when you have cavalry to commit them all in one big charge - but that isn't always the best plan. In this formations post, we're going to look at several different formations that will give you cavalry reserves so that you can make sure you get in a good charge on two consecutive turns. Let's take a look!

Back to Basics: Siege Engines in MESBG

Good morning gamers,

Today we're continuing our "back to basics" series and going over the rules for siege engines in MESBG. Like monsters and war beasts (which are technically monsters), the siege engines of Middle-Earth are some of the most iconic things you'll see in the films - whether it's the ballistas and bombs of the Uruk-Hai at Helm's Deep, the trebuchets and catapults during the siege of Minas Tirith, or the "twirlie whirlies" of the Iron Hills, it's undeniable that the game would be worse off aesthetically if these models didn't exist in some form.

But siege engines aren't like other shooting units (for the most part) and they have their own list of dos and don'ts that can give newer players (and old veterans) pause before fielding them (not to mention a negative play experience if you're not expecting their damage output or special rules). In fact, very few FAQs have been issued where at least one siege engine wasn't addressed in some way (indicating that how a siege weapon is used or how it interacts with other units is up for debate by both new and long-time users).

Furthermore, as I was preparing for this post, I realized that while there are "rules for siege engines," every SINGLE rule for how a siege engine works is broken by at least one siege engine - there is so much diversity amongst siege engines, that the rules for siege engines aren't even universal! So today, we're breaking it down (and get used to the phrase "for the most part" - it's already come up and it's going to be coming up a lot more) and trying to make the rules for siege engines clearer for everyone. Let's dig in!