Sand in the Eye - Middle Earth SBG Tournament AAR

My second day at Fall In! 2019 was spent in a Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game tournament. 

Earlier this year I decided to jump in feet first as the newest edition has seemed to breath life into the game. I had never really looked at Games Workshop's Lord of the Rings games, and the Hobbit line had left me even colder. 

But the new starter box had piqued my interest, so a couple Amazon purchases later and I had a pretty decent start to a Mordor army. I've added on to it since that to get enough options to mix and match. It was from this that I picked my tournament force.

My first game was against Stephen, who had brought a Mirkwood force. The scenario was Lords of Battle, where each player primarily scored victory points by causing wounds to the opposing force.

I was able to deploy my Orcs in a line, which faced off against two warbands of elves, one led by Thranduil, and another by Legolas.

Since Stephen and I were both relatively new to the game, this ended up being more or less a straight up brawl. The elves' higher Fight saw them winning more combats, but the Morannon Orcs had a higher Strength and could more easily cause wounds. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get Shagrat close to Thranduil to try and draw him into combat, and Stephen was ultimately able to cause more wounds by the time the round ended.

So the first game was a close loss for Mordor.

The second game was against Ted and his Fiefdoms. I quickly learned that this force was all about the overlapping auras that made their infantry living blenders. The scenario was Heirloom of Ages Past, where both sides had to search through six objectives, find the relic, and hold onto it until one side reached 25% of its original size.

It was in this game that I learned to dread the Maelstrom of Battle special rule, where warbands come onto the table randomly, either at the player's choice or their opponent's. While Shagrat was able to move onto the table with relative safety, both Kardush and the Morannon Captain came on right on top of Ted's force. I basically had to watch as two of my warbands were slaughtered.

I then tried to quickly end the scenario by causing my army to reach its 25% limit before the relic had been found, but Ted managed to keep enough of my force alive to secure the objective and kill my banner (which would have given me victory points) to win the game.

It was a second, and much more devastating loss for the forces of Sauron.

My third game was against Nick and his Lothlorien elves. The scenario was Contests of Champions, where a force's leader aims to cause as much damage as possible, and I messed it up from the beginning. Both sides' Leaders have to deploy within 3" of the center, and then deploy their warbands within 6" of the center. I placed Shagrat right out in the center, thinking that Nick's Leader, Galadriel, had to do the same. Instead, Shagrat found himself facing a wall of Galadhrim warriors.

A lucky Priority roll meant that Shagrat wasn't immediately surrounded and chopped to pieces, but that wasn't much of a comfort when he was Commanded through the Lothlorien line over to Galadriel, who proceeded to slap my Leader to death. Since Shagrat hadn't managed to kill even a single elf by that point, it was more or less a total wash at that point. Nick proceeded to spend the rest of the game just aiming to break my force to score the maximum amount of victory points.

Another embarrassing loss for Mordor.

By this point I had become somewhat put out by the beatings I had been getting, especially when I found out I was going to be playing another Maelstrom of Battle scenario against Rainier and his all-mounted (and fantastic looking) Khand army. The scenario was Hold Ground, where both sides needed to control an objective in the center of the table by the (randomly decided) end of the game.

My only goal was to lose as quickly as possible to get the game over with, which was facilitated when Shagrat failed to show up the first turn, while the Morannon Captain and Kardush ended up on opposite ends of the table with plenty of Khandish horsemen and their chariot-riding heroes for company. I abandoned any pretensions of cohesion for the warbands and just throw them at the horsemen when I had priority. Doing so, I was actually able to kill off the Khandish King with a horde of regular Orc Warriors and Orc Trackers.

Shagrat's warband came on at the end of the second turn in yet another area, seperated from the rest of the Mordor army. So I just marched him and the rest of his warband towards the center. More through dumb luck than any amount of skill, Shagrat ended up being the only model within 6" of the objective when my army broke and the game ended, which meant I had managed a win by a slim margin.

I have to admit, the games I played were somewhat discouraging, even at such a low points value. I felt like I kept coming up against players who were far better than me, but only had losses on their records because they had been up against even better players. I certainly learned plenty about the rules, but these were harsh lessons.

I do plan to go to another tournament in January, but this event has opened my eyes to how rough a treatment I'll probably get there as well. In the future, I'll probably spend my HMGS events trying out participation games, rather than trying my hand at MESBG.

Fall In! 2019: Gold and Glory - Warmaster Revolution AAR

This past weekend I traveled to Valley Forge for Fall In! 2019 for another of Dave's Warmaster Revolution tournaments. 

Since I hadn't acquired or painted any armies since my last tournament attendance, I decided to take my Dogs of War, which I had added a couple units of Light Cavalry to. 

The event was three games, each with a different scenario (so no pitched battle!).

My first game was against Brad and his Chaos army. There were Warriors of Chaos, Marauders with attached Spawn, Dragon Ogres brigaded with Chaos Hounds, and Knights of Chaos with Marauder Horsemen.

The scenario was Take and Hold, which places four objectives on the table. The objective closest to your deployment zone is worth one point at the end of the game, the objectives in the center are worth two points each, and the objective in the opponent's side of the table is worth three victory points. Breaking the opponent's army scored an additional two victory points.

The game was a seesaw between Brad and my advantage. I was too defensive and held my cavalry back, which let Brad get off the charges he needed (although we forgot that infantry cannot pursue cavalry unless they've charged their flanks or rear! This would have save my Heavy Cavalry Brigade). I mangled the Dragon Ogres and Hounds, but Brad's Warriors and Spawn slaughtered my left flank. I had to watch in horror as a single Chaos Spawn rolled up my Crossbowmen, Galloper Guns, and my Griffon Hero which I had thrown into the combat to try and stop the monstrosity.

And because my Pike brigade refused to move forward, I was unable to support the Ogres and Swordsmen, who had to face Chaos Knights and Marauder Horsemen on their own.

Towards the middle of the game, it seemed like I was close to reaching Brad's breakpoint and ending the game with a solid victory. My dice went cold on me, however, and Brad managed to reach my break point first while also pushing my units off of the middle objective I controlled.

After securing the victory points from breaking my army and denying me the middle objective, Brad was victorious.

My second game was against Liddic and his revised Nippon list, which cuts out a lot of the chaff that the "official" Revolution list has. It also operates like a Bretonnian army where only the Samurai counted for break.

Liddic's of the opinion that this should be reversed, with the importance and break placed on the more numerous Ashigaru and Ronin units. I agree, as it would give the army more unique flavor, and would also allow Nippon players to use their Samurai units, instead of hiding them behind the peasants.

The mission was Strategic Ground. The objective was a 20cm diameter circle in the center of the table. Whoever controlled the area (with no enemy units in it) gained a breakpoint and victory point bonus, which increased if the area was held in turns 5 and 6.

The battle ended up being three separate fights. On the left, the knights delayed and a failed command roll saw them charged by the Nippon foot troops. Luckily the 4+ armor save saved the Knights and they were able to take out some samurai units.

In the middle, Liddic's Ronin and my Pikes formed a vicious blender of men and metal. The Ronin came out on top, however with some assistance from hidden ninja in the nearby terrain. It was only the defended position and the Galloper Guns that kept the Crossbowmen on the hill from being the disgraced warriors' next target.

On the right, my combined brigade of Light and Heavy Cavalry knocked the defending Ashigaru out of the way. Liddic had his remaining Ashigaru and Samurai pull back to the hilltop, giving them a defended position. I tried to shake them loose with the cavalry, but they were repulsed. But the Ogres came up next and snacked on the Nipponese.

This was enough to break Liddic's force, and my army had taken out enough of the weaker Ashigaru units to gain a victory.

My last game was against Coach, who had brought High Elves. Coach was a new player to Warmaster, which was probably my only hope against the very scary shiny elves arrayed across the table. The army was mostly foot, with numerous archer units, but still had a solid compliment of Silver Helms, Reavers, and Bolt Throwers. 

The scenario was Looting Field. Four objectives are placed on the table, alternating between players. The player who goes second can remove one objective. The objectives could be captured with an order by a single unit per turn, and would give a breakpoint and victory point bonus. I rolled high and decided to go second while removing the objective that Coach had place in his deployment zone. 

From the outset, I knew I was going to be in for a rough game. Coach had deployed with a refused flank, so my Ogres and Swordsmen were way off on the far right and wouldn't join the battle for the entire game. The large town in the center of the table also blocked my Galloper Guns' line of sight, so I had to spend most of the game just trying to get them into position. 

All of the action went down on the single flank of the battlefield. Elves came streaming across the table like a silver wave, thanks to their Command 10 general. I had finally learned to be more aggressive with my cavalry, which meant I was able to remove their elven counterparts, although at a great cost.

My Pikes did a great job at removing an Archer/Spear brigade, but were swamped by followup units and couldn't resist with their 6+ armor save.

However, my surviving cavalry were able to push the High Elves to their breaking point, and while Coach had claimed an objective, it wasn't enough to score enough victory points to beat what I had accrued. So the Dogs of War won their second victory.

Overall, I had a great time. The scenarios were interesting variations and made players think instead of just marching across the table and having their armies beat the snot out of each other. There was a great variety of armies as well. As for new armies, I'm hoping to have my kickstarted Daemons from Black Gate Miniatures in hand for Cold Wars next year.

Bogged Down - Red Book of the Elf King AAR

Sam and I met up this past weekend to play a game of Red Book of the Elf King. It had been a little while since we had last played, so our rules knowledge was a little rusty. But we remembered quickly enough and soon go into the rhythm of the game. 

We decided to try the Ruin of An Rhar scenario, which sees one Circle ambushing another Circle's encampment.

Sam and I randomly chose our Thanes with some under-the-table card shuffling. I drew Meksant Farseer, the most powerful spellcasting Thane of the original six, while Sam drew Lowic Angersand, a combat-orientated Thane only second in physical prowess to Vachel Goldenhand.

Seeking a mystical tome, Meksant had led his Circle deep into Lowic's territory. With the sun setting, the Circle made camp in the ruins of an ancient hall of some forgotten Fae lord. The Circle's Companions took up their watch, while others sat down to rest.

However, the spirits of the old Lord and their Companions were not quiet, and the Circle listened as their unearthly cries echoed through the night air.

It was with a fearsome cry that Lowic and his band of sworn Fae emerged from the twilight gloom, setting upon the intruding Circle. Meksant's Circle was awoken by the sudden flashes of Rhud Magick, some of which struck home and damaged Meksant's forces.

Taken by surprise, Meksant and his Circle were unable to respond in turn as they awoke and scrambled for their gear, although a couple elves were able to fire back and score a hit with their own magic. Meksant gathered his arcane energies to cast Thane's Writ, which would make it more difficult for the opposing Thane to cast their next Glamour.

Undeterred by the restriction of his arcane energies, Lowic dispelled the Writ and instead cast Endless Fen. This turned the entirety of the ruins into a murky, swampy mess that sucked at the boots of Meksant's Circle.

For a moment, the elves of the Pallasades despaired, but their training prevailed and they managed to rally. Lowic and his warriors had the advantage of mobility, where they could charge or cast Rhud Magick with impunity.

Stuck in the mire, Meksant cast Cruel Grasp, which allowed him to gather a burst of energy for some future use. Lowic responded with the dreaded Red Death, but the virulent disease was quickly deterred by the opposing Circle's defense.

Some of Meksant's warriors were able to escape the mire and began maneuvering against the enemy. To aid them, Meksant bent his will to cast Infernal Embrace, which added to the attacks of the Companions.

With Lowic's men pressing the attack, Meksant also cast Deathly Touch, making his warriors' weapons deadlier.

Lowic countered with a fiendish combination with his earlier Endless Fen. By casting Pit of Ultimate Despair on the same area, he forced all of Meksant's Circle that were still in the bog to lose their courage, which meant even the briefest of attacks was another to gain a Penalty Counter during the subsequent Courage test.

Both sides were dealing heavy damage to each other. Enough wounds were building up that Companion units were losing Elves, or being wiped out entirely.

Hoping to buy time, Meksant used Winds of Time to remove action counters from the bag, ending the turn early.

The game ended rather suddenly in a bright explosion of magick. Lowic came out from behind his wall to butcher a unit of Meksant's Companions using his Troll Cleave Glamour. With the enemy Thane finally in the open, Meksant stepped forward and released the energies he had gathered using Cruel Grasp earlier in the battle.

In one massive burst, the Mage-Thane released a Rhud Magic blast that overwhelmed Lowic's defenses and felled the Thane of the Hunt in a single attack. With that, the game ended, with Lowic's Circle retreating. Meksant's Circle, however, was forced to recuperate for some time from their losses.

I enjoyed the game with Sam, which ended with a chancy gamble that would have left Meksant exposed had I not gotten a really hot roll of the dice! We're looking into using the Troll Wars supplement to play the campaign scenarios that the book provides for further games.