This past weekend I met up with Francis to play a game of Middle Earth SBG. I'm attending a 500 point tournament at Fall In! next month and I was hoping to at least play one game with the list I'm going to bring.
Since I started with the Pelennor Fields box, I've collected a decent sized Mordor force. This 500 point list is led by Shagrat with Kardush and a Morannon Captain, with a mix of Morannon Orcs, regular Orcs, Orc Trackers, and a couple Warg Riders.
Francis brought Rohan, with Theoden as the leader. He and Eowyn were accompanied by a mass of Riders of Rohan, while a Captain of Rohan led a foot force of Rohan Warriors.
We rolled randomly for the scenario and got Heirloom of Ages Past - probably the most complicated scenario for two relatively new players to try! But we forged anyway.
The scenario has random deployment which Heroes can affect with Might points. Neither Francis nor I did this, so our warbands deployed at the whim of Fate.
Francis' Rohirrim came on fairly close together, while Kardush was seperated from Shagrat and the Morannon captain. This meant that for most of the game, Kardush's warband was harried by the foot warriors of Rohan, while Shagrat and the Captain faced off against Theoden and Eowyn.
I found the Heirloom on a lucky roll early in the game, which meant that Francis had to go on the offensive to get it back.
The forces of Mordor were slowly whittled down from arrows and throwing spears, until Francis felt confident enough to charge in. Shagrat didn't do much killing, and actually was forced to retreat from an unsuccessful attempt to fell Eowyn before Theoden could reach her.
Unfortunately, due to a misreading of the Courage rules by me (models in combat don't take Courage tests!), the game ended earlier then it should have. I still had the Heirloom in my possession, so it was technically a 6-3 win for Mordor, but had Francis been given another turn or two, he might have been able to shake it loose for a win.
All-in-all, it was a fun game and I'm a little more confident in my knowledge of the rules (if not in my ability to win games!).
cool - I thought the system was dead. ME SBG has always been one if their better games. True, the characters and special rule aspect can be a bit overwhelming when added to a medium complex Plus set like this, but I always found it worked well with a few characters or a bunch of average Joe's.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the tournement!
Yeah, the weirdest part of the ruleset are all the weapon special rules. The only one I've really made use of is Shielding which helps when a lone mook is surrounded.
DeleteApparently the new edition and the starter set has breathed some life into the system.
And thanks!