When is a Gate not a Gate? - Middle Earth SBG Tournament AAR

This past weekend I attended the first Atlantic City Open, an event run by Frontline Gaming. 

The Atlantic City Open is the third series of events run by Frontline. Their other two are the Las Vegas Open and the Lone Star Open. Since Adepticon takes care of the Midwest, Frontline decided to start up the Atlantic City Open to cover the East Coast. 

The stars of the event were Warhammer 40,000 and Age of Sigmar, but there were also events for Kill Team, Star Wars Legion, and Lord of the Rings, which is what I took part in. 

Since it had been more than a year since I'd gotten MESBG to the table, and my last time playing was the less-than-inspiring MESBG tournament at 2019's Fall In!, I decided to bring a somewhat less-serious list and just have at it, fully expecting to be staying down at the bottom tables.

I ran the "Black Gate Opens" Legendary Legion as my force. This list severely restricts the options I could take from Mordor, but gives two bonuses: the Black Gate version of the Troll Chieftain, which gains an extra point of Might, Will, and Fate as well as the Fearless special rule, and a special rules that gives +1 on Wound rolls if enemy models are outnumbered in close combat (this does not include supporting spears, however).

Mordor - Black Gate Opens Legendary Legion, 700 Points

• Black Gate Troll Chieftain
• Morannon Orc, Banner, Shield, Spear
• Morannon Orc, Shield
• 5x Orc Warriors, Shields, Spears
• 5x Orc Warriors, Shields
• The Mouth of Sauron, Armoured Horse
• 5x Orc Warriors, Bows
• Mordor Troll Chieftain
• Morannon Orc, Shield
• Orc Warrior, Banner, Shield
• 4x Orc Warriors, Shields, Spears
• 4x Orc Warriors, Shields
• Orc Captain, Shield, Warg
• 4x Orc Warriors, Shields, Spears
• 4x Orc Warriors, Shields

The scenarios for the day were randomly decided from a small pre-determined pool. 

My first game was against Robert and his Minas Tirith army, which was led by Denethor alongside Borormir, Madril, and a mounted Huron. With plenty of cavalry, bows, and Fountain Court Guards, this list could out-fight, outs-hoot, and out-move me. The objective was Seize the Prize, where both sides would race to uncover an artefact in the middle of the table and hold it until the other side broke or the round ended. 

While I had priority for most of this game, I messed up from the start and didn't deploy my Trolls in front of the Orcs so they weren't much help, and the Black Gate Chieftain ended up surrounded and slain by Boromir. As Robert pointed out after the game, I should have used the Orc Captain and the Mouth of Sauron to rush up and try to defend the objective. But it ended up in Huron's hands and I never got the chance to get it back. 

In a desperate bid for points I tried to rush Denethor with the Orc Captain. But I rolled poorly and the Orc Captain was trapped and slain by the Steward of Gondor and his accompanying soldiers. 

This ended up as a loss, 0-7. 

My second game was against Kevin and his Black Numenorean themed Mordor force. Led by the Dark Marshal and a Black Numenorean Marshal, Kevin's entire force had Terror and was mostly mounted, which meant I was unlikely to engage on my terms (especially with the Dark Marshal's "Harbinger of Evil" special rule that gave all of my units within 12" a -1 to their Courage).

This scenario was Lords of Battle, where the goal was to cause as much carnage as possible. Since the deployment for the scenario is the entirety of one half of the table (and at least 1" away from the enemy) we ended up pretty much on top of each other, as I figured Kevin would have the advantage of speed if I didn't deploy closer. 

Unfortunately, my earlier premonitions about the game turned out to be true, especially since I lost priority for most of the game. While my Fearless Black Gate Troll Chieftain did a fair share of the work and ended up squishing the Dark Marshal, the regular Troll Chieftain couldn't pass a Courage check to save it's life. Kevin decided to go after the squishier Orc infantry if the troll wasn't going to engage. 

With the Morgul Knight's lances, my Orcs were fairly easy to kill especially when knocked down from charging cavalry. And it's only after the tournament, at the time that I'm writing this, that I realized that I could have targeted the less-armored horses for extra wounds. This would have also remove the lances and the double attacks on charge from the Morgul Knights. 

Well, hindsight is 20-20. But the game's score ended up 2-8 for another loss. 

As I had expected, I was back at the bottom table for the last game of the tournament. Here I was up against Caleb and his mixed Mordor and Easterlings Alliance, led by Gothmog and the Knight of Umbar. 

The final scenario of the day had to have the dreaded Maelstrom of Battle Special Rules (which I do not like. At all). It ended up being Heirlooms of Ages Past. 

In terms of deployment, the dice could have been worse. The various warbands ended up mostly spaced out, apart from the Mouth of Sauron and the Knight of Umbar, who ended up right on top of each other. In true villainous fashion, the Mouth of Sauron fled on his horse as the Orc Archers in his warband were butchered. The Knight of Umbar gave chase, but the Mouth managed to not only defend himself but slew the Ringwraith before retreating behind the safety of the nearby Troll Chieftain. 

However, I had thought the game lost when Caleb ended up uncovering Heirloom artefact way over on his side early on. But this time my Trolls weren't stymied by the terrain, and Caleb unfortunately rolled a few 1's which Transfixed the model with the artefact and kept it from running away. As my Troll Chieftain held of successive waves of cavalry charges and eventually ended up killing Gothmog, the Black Gate Troll Chieftain went after the artefact bearer and squished the orc. I was able to recover the artefact as Caleb's force broke and fled the table en masse. 

At the end of this game, I won 12-0. 

While I'm not sure of the final results, I'm fairly certain I was a spot or two from last place. As a consolation prize (I suppose), I received a pint glass for being voted the second-best painted Evil army in the tournament. 

I definitely enjoyed this event more than the one at Fall In!, as this time I had tempered my expectations. At the very least, each of my opponents were a pleasure to play against, and I wouldn't mind heading back next year if there's another event. If I'm lucky, we may see more MESBG players in the area. It would help my rules knowledge and play skills if I could play more often than yearly tournament!

Painting Update - MESBG, Mythic Americas

Great news, everyone; I'm vaccinated! 

But that means I've got to wait another 2-3 weeks before I feel comfortable enough to reach out to other vaccinated gamers to start playing again. 

In the meantime, you might (not) be surprised to learn that I've been painting. Although less than I'd like since the weather isn't cooperating and I don't have a decent indoor spot to prime. 

I finished another set of Mordor Orcs to bulk out my Black Gate Legendary Legion, including a Captain and a Banner Bearer. Each of the basic sword- and spear-armed Orcs have a duplicate model, but I couldn't fit them in the lightbox. 

I also finished two units of Aztec Slingers for Mythic Americas. 

I've found that having ranged units in Warlords of Erehwon (and by assumed extension, Mythic Americas) to be really important. Pins are how heavily armored units can be countered, and even a single pin forces your opponent to roll a die to see if the pinned unit activates, which can disrupt their plans.

While the Tribal Nations already have their ranged units, Seneca Archers, since the game's launch late last year. In contrast, the Aztecs haven't had their unit, the Eagle Warriors, even shown yet. So I picked these Eureka Miniatures Aztec Slingers up to use in games instead. Since the Eagle Warriors can be upgraded with light armor, these will be the cheaper, unarmored versions.

I was worried about how the Eureka figures would scale, but I think they compare well to other Mythic America Aztecs. They'll certainly fit in from arm's length at the gaming table. 

Painting Update - Mythic Americas, MESBG

New year, new minis!

Just before the last year closed out I picked up the collector's edition starter set for Mythic Americas, a new wargame based on the Warlords of Erehwon ruleset and set in a mythological pre-colonial Americas. The starter set comes with small warbands for two of the four initial factions, the Tribal Nations (essentially the Haudenosaunee/Iroquois) and Aztecs. 

I found the Aztecs the more interesting of the two factions, since they're a horde faction that uses undead infantry and monsters, supported by comparatively expensive units of lightly armored, elite living troops. The Tribal Nation focus more on hit-and-run tactics using small groups of lightly armored warriors. 

The warband is lead by a Tlalocan High Priest and his bodyguards, a magic-user who can enhance the various undead units that make up Aztec warbands. He's not as strong as other factions' Warlords, but who needs that when you've got a horde of undead warriors to fight for you?

Tlalocan-Bound Dead are the mainstay units of Aztec warbands. While they are rather weak compared to most other combat units, the various magic-users in the faction can make these units tougher, stronger, or raise reinforcements. 

In addition to the Bound Dead, there are also Tlalocan-Bound Marauders, hulking monsters that wield massive macuahuitls, the famed weapon of various Mesoamerican cultures. 

I'm looking forward to playing Mythic Americas, and to get my hands on the rest of the Aztec faction miniatures.

I also finished a Mordor Troll Chieftain, as well as the mounted and foot versions of the Mouth of Sauron. These are regular options for Heroes in the Mordor faction, but they're critical for the Black Gate Legendary Legion (which covers the very end of The Return of the King when Aragorn leads the men of Gondor to the Black Gate to distract Sauron's gaze from Frodo and Sam). 

The Legion supercharges a Troll Chieftain, giving it an extra point of Might, Will, and Fate, as well as making it Fearless. So as long as the Black Gate Chieftain is alive, the rest of the army will likely be sticking around. 

To accompany the heroes for this list, I've got a bunch more regular Mordor Orcs to paint, which you'll likely see in the next update. 

Painting Update - Samurai, MESBG, Battletech, ACW

Since everything has been shut down due to the ongoing pandemic (from the SJGA monthly meetups to the local shops daily gaming), I haven't had much to do hobby-wise apart from painting. It's actually a nice change of pace; I felt like I was approaching some hobby burnout before the shutdown, so the pandemic is a good excuse to take a break from gaming.

Apart from painting updates, I may post some solo game reports or even try to write some reviews.

I received a couple promo models when I bought into the second edition of Test of Honour. I finally got around the painting them. One model is an armored samurai, and the other is an unarmored wandering samurai that will fit in well with my previous bandits warband.

When Games Workshop announced that they were releasing a collected pack of the Mordor Uruks for the Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game, I decided to pick them up. Six models for the same price that Ebay sellers wanted for just three? Why not! And so the horde of the dark lord grows.

I also painted up and did a little conversion work on a Hunchback HBK-7R to make it a HBK-6S model. This really just involved a little drilling to make an SRM6 launcher in the left torso. I also added a flag, since what self-respecting Solaris pilot isn't going to add a little bling to his mech?

Since my 10mm ACW kickstarter pledge arrived from Lancer Miniatures, I decided to start with the Union. I painted up two brigade commanders and six artillery stands, representing 10-pounder Parrott rifled guns (although I may just use them for any artillery type, with various labels from Regimental Fire and Fury). I've got six regiments of infantry to complete, which these guns and commanders will be split between. 

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.

Worthy of Mordor - Middle Earth SBG AAR

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!).

Painting Update - Sea People, Middle Earth SBG

Since getting back from Barrage I've been working away on more projects, mostly fantasy focused. 

I got through a box of Mordor Orcs to supplement the horde of Morannon Orcs that came in the Pelennor Fields starter set.

Mordor Orcs aren't as strong or as heavily armored as their Morannon counterparts, but they are cheaper in points. And the Mordor faction bonus gives a Courage and Wound bonus if they've got more bodies on the table.

I also added a couple Warg Riders, along with Wild Warg/dismounts to match. I'll be using them in an upcoming tournament to add some speed to the list. 

And to round off the army, I finished painting Kardush the Firecaller, a named Orc Shaman, and a generic Ringwraith both on foot and mounted.

And that's Mordor completed! There's some other models I may want to add, but I've got a good mix of models to play with. I may get some some Morgul Knights and Black Numenoreans, but another option would be to expand the army out into Angmar, or Barad-Dur.

On a whim I picked up some of the Sea People packs from Lucid Eye Miniatures (the studio behind Red Book of the Elf King). They're from the Ziggurat line which looks to be mostly a fantasized version of various bronze age factions. I liked the style of the Sea Peoples, especially the massive Gulial the Nephilim. There's a King model that I'd like to get, but this makes for a good skirmish force for games like Open Combat or Fistful of Lead. 

Painting Update - Middle Earth SBG

Since there's been a bit of a lull in actual gaming recently, here's a look at what I've been painting in the meantime.

I have to admit that I was pulled into a bit of a Middle Earth spree. I finally caved and decided to jump into the (relatively) new edition of the Middle Earth Strategy Game with the Pelennor Fields starter set. While I wasn't so interested in Rohan or the Dead of Dunharrow, the Evil models were more than enough to get a Mordor faction started.

The bulk of the Evil side of the starter set are Morannon Orcs - 36 of them, in fact! I basically block painted the lot the same as the ones shown above, so no need to repeat what would be the same picture three times.

The starter set also came with a Troll, which I suppose I could use as a Chieftain if I wanted to. To supplement the Morannons, I also bought a half dozen Orc Trackers, which are cheap and alright shots with their bows. Rounding out the troops are a Drummer and a Banner Bearer.

Unfortunately, the only Hero included in the Pelennor Fields box for the Evil side is the Witch-King, and only mounted atop a Fell Beast. As a new player I wanted something a little more basic for my first games, so I added a couple generic heroes - a Morannon Captain and a Shaman - along with Shagrat, Gorbag, and Gothmog (both Foot and Mounted versions).

That's enough to get several different 600 point lists! But I'm not finished there. I'm likely to add some more troops (like regular orcs and some cavalry) and heroes before the year's up. But this is a decent start!