Battle Report - Hard vs Galadrim

Last night was League night down at Collectormania again.  Rhys and I got there early and hung out for awhile.  We talked about the new books coming out this weekend.  We talked about what new models we are likely to see.  We talked about Russ's new orc models.  We watched Craig (Harad with a Mumak and Serpent Riders) play a game against Jonathan (Galadrim).  When that game was over I asked to get one.  I wanted to play Craig as I have not played him yet and I haven't played against a Mumak in years.  On the other hand Evil is behind in the League and I wanted the game to count.  I played Jonathan, which is not second best by any measure.  He is a great opponent and he has beaten me the last two times we played, both good reasons for a re-match.


We rolled up Meeting Engagement for the scenario - A straight up slug fest.  No fiddly rules or special goals to get in the way of the bloodshed.  Nice.  Now don't get me wrong.  I love the scenarios in this game.  They can completely change any match up.  Same armies, same terrain, different scenario, you get a totally different game.  I love it.  Sometimes you just want to bash some elf head with no other concerns.  Warfare, nice and simple, just the way we all want it.

The deployment.  Most of the action took place in the center between the double layered hill and the tree.  Glorfindel is all the way at the top right.

The Haradrim's deployment.  The hill in the center served as a firebase for the archers for most of the game.

The Galadrim Deployment.  Glorfindel is top left on the white horse.

The league has special rules for each week based on who is ahead.  Since Good is in the lead we rolled again and each hero got an extra point of might.  That's four extra might on my side of the table and two on his.

Jonathan was running his standard list, Glorfindel on Asfaloth, Rumil, two knights with bows, three with shields, eight archers, six or eight pikes and the rest of the army swords and spear/shields; 36 models total.

There's elves over there!

I had planned to run the same list the entire league.  I did for the first three weeks.  With the new changes coming in, whether we apply them to the league or not (I suspect not), I decided to play my Far Harad list to give me a leg up when the new books come out.  So.  Bob the Budget Nazgul,  Harad King, Hard Task Master, Harad Warrior with Horn, twelve bows, 17 spears, six abrakhan Guards, a Far Harad Tribe Master (a king with 2 less courage), one half troll and five Mahud Warriors.

The table was laid out with some hills, trees and a ruins.  Pretty standard.  We run our games with a lot of terrain.  Jonathan ran Glrofindel and three knighs up my left flank, his archers were in the left center, hiding behind some terrain.  His phalanx was in the right center, pushing up between the ruins and some hills and his last two knights went towards my right flank.

I had a small detachment, with my Hardrim King, on the left.  On Abrakhan Guard and some spears.  The archers were behind a hill in the left center, which they climbed in the first turn.   The rest of my army was in one big blob at center table, prepared to march forward and go toe to toe with the Galadrim phalanx.  This has not always worked out very well for me in the past.

A close up of my deployment.

My first volley killed two elves.  After that first round I started shooting directly and killing lots of stuff.  My archery was very effective this game, with poison getting me three or four kills as well.  My archers killed all of his, a couple of knights, Asfaloth and a couple of other guys.

Glorfindel leads a doomed charge towards the left flank.

Shooting aside, the two forces moved towards each other in the center of the table.  Jonathan stopped his elves with a tree on one end of his line and a hill on the other.  He was just within charge range, so I charged, selecting just a few fights that I could win.  I got Mahud into the two knights on my right and killed them.  Glorfindel fought my King and five guys, whittling them down but eventually dieing.  My Nazgul did very little all game, rolling an inordinate amount of 1's, though he did, finally, manage to get a Transfix off which let me kill Rumil.  Of course this was the last turn of the game.

The Elves awaiting the charge of the Haradrim.

The lines two turns before the combats began.

A round or two of combat here has left the Haradrim disordered but eager for more.

A good example of how the Haradrim numbers told over the Elven discipline.

In the end there were only seven elves left and I was not broken yet, giving me a Major Victory.  My shooting was very lucky this game.  My dice were a little hotter than average.  Jonathan's were pretty cold.  My numbers told.  They allowed me to flank Rumil's phalanx on both ends and get around behind the line, bunching the elves into a tight ball with few tactical options.

This was another fun game; challenging but fast paced.