Friday, February 24, 2012
First Miniature of the year
Here it is, almost the end of February, and I just bought my first miniature of the year. I'm way behind. I bought the Betrayer for my Haradrim army. He is thirty points more than my budget Nazgul but adds the re-rolls for poison on 1 and 2, doubling my chances for a re-roll. He also has two more might. My play testing so far indicates that he is a good choice. I could also drop him and go back to a budget Nazgul. I could then upgrade my king to Suladan, since I only have thirty six warriors anyway and only need three heroes from the Fallen Realms list. I'll get around to play testing that one soon.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Hail Caesar - First Impressions
I received my copy of Hail Caesar in the mail yesterday. I'm still working my way through it but from what I've read so far, I like it. This book does not take itself too seriously. The rules appear to be common sense and reasonable. The central premise is that these rules are for friends to sit around a play a reasonable game together, not for tournament play. I enjoy tournaments every now and again, but week to week, I play for both myself and my opponent to have a good time.
On first read through, these rules look like they may deliver what I'm looking for.
On first read through, these rules look like they may deliver what I'm looking for.
Battle Report - Harad vs Galadrim - Again
The ongoing grudge match between Harad and Lothlorien continued tonight. I got to Collectormania early. Jonathan showed up a bit later and, yet again, we were left with only each other to play against. Don't get me wrong, I always enjoy playing against Jonathan, he's a great opponent and our games are always nail biters. It's just that, if you look at the bat reps on this site, you'll see that we play each other more than anyone else.
Now that the league is over we are firmly into the new "Warbands" era, leaving "Legions" behind for good. This means a new meta-game. All armies, in the local group, have gotten smaller. We are, mostly, still trying out new lists and making our first purchases of new models, mainly heroes.
Jonathan's list was Rumil, an archer captain and a mounted captain. Rumil had his phalanx, spears and pikes, though smaller than under Legions. The archer captain was leading, oddly, eight archers. The knight captain had four knights, two with bows and six sword and spear elves. My list is pretty much the levy of Kharna list. The Betrayer, Haradrim King, Taskmaster, Chieftan, one Warrior of Abrakhan with horn, six Abrakhan guards, twelve haradrim with spears and eighteen warriors of Kharna with bows. This gives me eighteen shots hitting on threes with poison re-rolls on a third of the dice (1-2). With the points for the Kharna upgrade I could add five more models. So far, in four games, the upgrade seems to be worth the points. We'll see how it works out in the long run.
Now that the league is over we are firmly into the new "Warbands" era, leaving "Legions" behind for good. This means a new meta-game. All armies, in the local group, have gotten smaller. We are, mostly, still trying out new lists and making our first purchases of new models, mainly heroes.
Jonathan's list was Rumil, an archer captain and a mounted captain. Rumil had his phalanx, spears and pikes, though smaller than under Legions. The archer captain was leading, oddly, eight archers. The knight captain had four knights, two with bows and six sword and spear elves. My list is pretty much the levy of Kharna list. The Betrayer, Haradrim King, Taskmaster, Chieftan, one Warrior of Abrakhan with horn, six Abrakhan guards, twelve haradrim with spears and eighteen warriors of Kharna with bows. This gives me eighteen shots hitting on threes with poison re-rolls on a third of the dice (1-2). With the points for the Kharna upgrade I could add five more models. So far, in four games, the upgrade seems to be worth the points. We'll see how it works out in the long run.
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| Initial Deployment. The Taskmaster's ill fated band is behind the ruins to the left. You can see the hornblower. |
Painting and bases
I have completed another eight Haradrim. Sadly I had eight more spears mostly done, which I won't need in my current list under Warbands. This group is six archers and the final two spears. I believe that puts me at eight models for February, which means I need to step it up if I'm going to get twenty done this month.
I'm painting all of these to basic table top standard. I'll go back later and clean them up, fixing the capes, working on the faces and adding a few simple hightlights (all my skills will allow, simple).
I'm painting all of these to basic table top standard. I'll go back later and clean them up, fixing the capes, working on the faces and adding a few simple hightlights (all my skills will allow, simple).
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| The latest recruits to the army. I have to figure out how to take better pictures. |
Monday, February 20, 2012
More games with the new rules
I got two more games in with the new "Warbands" rules today. I was playing against my cousin, who I am trying to get into the game. He has played a few times, enough to remember most of the rules. It has probably been a year since our last game though.
Both of us liked the changes. I gave him my Gondor army. Faramir, Cirion, Damrod and a captain. He had 46 models, 14 rangers. It was his first time playing something other than Isengard, which is the army I usually start new people out with.
He liked the new deployment rules. He liked the scenarios. I like everything about the changes except for being forced to take so many heroes and the nerf to my Mahud. Overall, I can live with the changes and they seem to be transparent to new players. With all of the attention that LotR should get this year that means we should have a lot of new players around. Here's hoping.
Both of us liked the changes. I gave him my Gondor army. Faramir, Cirion, Damrod and a captain. He had 46 models, 14 rangers. It was his first time playing something other than Isengard, which is the army I usually start new people out with.
He liked the new deployment rules. He liked the scenarios. I like everything about the changes except for being forced to take so many heroes and the nerf to my Mahud. Overall, I can live with the changes and they seem to be transparent to new players. With all of the attention that LotR should get this year that means we should have a lot of new players around. Here's hoping.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Battle Report - Harad vs Galadrim (Warbands)
This last Thursday was the last night of the league down at Collectormania. Only Jonathan and I showed up to play, and he was about to leave when I walked in, twenty minutes late. He suggested that we try the new warband composition rules. I threw together a list and off we went.
The Galadrim were led by Rumil, who is the default choice of all Galadrim players. He was asssisted by two captains, one mounted. There were the usual five knights (2 with bows), the phalanx and the archers. He had 36 models total, though we discovered later that he had been playing two short.
My list was the serpent's sting list from the blog. I was able to look it up on my phone and just copy it to paper. I wanted to test the Haradrim Warriors of Kharna with their shoot of 3 accompanying the Betrayer with his poison re-roll on a 1-2 instead of a 1. In the interests of full disclosure, I went into this game expecting the 2 point upgrade for Kharna warriors to not be worth it.
We rolled Lords of Battle as the scenario. Cause as many wounds as you can. Points for expended fate as well. Once one side is broken, roll a d6 every turn and the game ends on a 1-2. The new scenarios have alternating deployment, which we both liked. Coupled with the fact that, on average, half of your army will be in the forward half of the board it gets the game rocking sooner and adds some additional tactics during the deployment phase.
The Galadrim were led by Rumil, who is the default choice of all Galadrim players. He was asssisted by two captains, one mounted. There were the usual five knights (2 with bows), the phalanx and the archers. He had 36 models total, though we discovered later that he had been playing two short.
My list was the serpent's sting list from the blog. I was able to look it up on my phone and just copy it to paper. I wanted to test the Haradrim Warriors of Kharna with their shoot of 3 accompanying the Betrayer with his poison re-roll on a 1-2 instead of a 1. In the interests of full disclosure, I went into this game expecting the 2 point upgrade for Kharna warriors to not be worth it.
We rolled Lords of Battle as the scenario. Cause as many wounds as you can. Points for expended fate as well. Once one side is broken, roll a d6 every turn and the game ends on a 1-2. The new scenarios have alternating deployment, which we both liked. Coupled with the fact that, on average, half of your army will be in the forward half of the board it gets the game rocking sooner and adds some additional tactics during the deployment phase.
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| Initial Deployment. |
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| Here is the Galadrim Phalanx, led by Rumil with the archers off to the left. |
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
More thoughts on Warbands vs Legions
In the local club (I don't actually think we have a name yet) we have been discussing the new army books for Lord of the Rings SBG. The first thing we had to determine is what we are going to call these. The old rules were called Legions because we had to use Legions of Middle Earth to guide our composition. We have finally decided to call these rules Warbands, since that is the most obvious concept that they are built around.
The next article of discussion is the size of armies that will be needed under the new rules. There was an immediate, and widespread, rush to argue that 700 points will have to be the new standard. I have been leaning towards staying at 600, though that is a fairly arbitrary amount as well.
I wrote up a post in our forum (here) about this and decided that it was something I wanted to capture on this blog as well.
So what we have with Warbands is certainly an adjustment. My Faramir, Captain of Ithilien doesn't even exist in the new rules. I can take Faramir and tool him up for the story or purpose I want him for, but the guy I built my Gondor army around is gone. I can move on from that. In many ways, Gondor is the least affected army because they have a couple 25 point heroes that you can throw in and lead Warbands.
My Harad list is more affected. My base troops are more expensive. 1st blow against numbers. Bob the Budget Nazgul is no longer viable since I won't spend 90 points on a hero who can't lead a warband. I can use a thematically correct Nazgul instead. He costs 30 points more. Another blow against numbers. My Mahud are now just another slightly different flavored warrior option. They are a lot cheaper. Here's where I can make some points back. Coolly themed upgrades to tweak how normal warriors play. Those eat into points too. I'll have to see if they are worth it. Right now I'm thinking they are not but I'm going to give it a shot, just to see my opponent's face when I tell him I have 18 Elvish equivalent archers with poison on a 1&2. Suck it Galadrim!
I'm reconciling myself to the changes, though I'll always regret the loss of my Mahud. We're in for some fun times for the next two or three years.
The next article of discussion is the size of armies that will be needed under the new rules. There was an immediate, and widespread, rush to argue that 700 points will have to be the new standard. I have been leaning towards staying at 600, though that is a fairly arbitrary amount as well.
I wrote up a post in our forum (here) about this and decided that it was something I wanted to capture on this blog as well.
I agree that 600 points is feeling pretty good to me. The new Warbands construction rules actually force theme better than the LoME rules did. You can still take that hero that doesn't really fit your army, but you are paying a premium for the privilege. If you just have to have Durin in your Gondor force then you are going to have to make some sacrifices. From a theme standpoint, this is not a bad thing.
It also makes horde armies smaller, with the exception of goblins and hobbits. I'm less happy about this. I like having a bunch of crappy dudes on the table and kicking that elite warband's arrogant teeth down their throats. Oh well. I'll just have to adjust.
You can still bring a pricey hero. The trade off is still there. It's just when you try to bring a pricey hero who is not thematically linked to your army that you get hammered on the points. I'm actually ok with that. I'd prefer that the min/max math hammer stay in 40k and Warhammer and LotR be about the story. For me, and this is certainly only my opinion, the point of a skirmish game is the story that's being told. The reason I like LotR is because I started in the books and want to play them out on the tabletop, not because I'm looking for a generic fantasy skirmish game.
All in all, it's actually a pretty elegant way of controlling what players bring. We can all choose to bring the big heroes but there are appropriate penalties in place when we break the paradigm of the stories. I'm less pleased that I have to buy some new models and get them painted as well as retiring others that I have worked so hard on. On the other hand those old guys are already forming the core of new armies, in my mind at least.
So what we have with Warbands is certainly an adjustment. My Faramir, Captain of Ithilien doesn't even exist in the new rules. I can take Faramir and tool him up for the story or purpose I want him for, but the guy I built my Gondor army around is gone. I can move on from that. In many ways, Gondor is the least affected army because they have a couple 25 point heroes that you can throw in and lead Warbands.
My Harad list is more affected. My base troops are more expensive. 1st blow against numbers. Bob the Budget Nazgul is no longer viable since I won't spend 90 points on a hero who can't lead a warband. I can use a thematically correct Nazgul instead. He costs 30 points more. Another blow against numbers. My Mahud are now just another slightly different flavored warrior option. They are a lot cheaper. Here's where I can make some points back. Coolly themed upgrades to tweak how normal warriors play. Those eat into points too. I'll have to see if they are worth it. Right now I'm thinking they are not but I'm going to give it a shot, just to see my opponent's face when I tell him I have 18 Elvish equivalent archers with poison on a 1&2. Suck it Galadrim!
I'm reconciling myself to the changes, though I'll always regret the loss of my Mahud. We're in for some fun times for the next two or three years.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Historicals
I majored in history in college. Military history. I love it. My parents are both PhD Historians. I've never played or collected a historical game or model.
I think I've been intimidated by the choices. Too many scales, rules, eras. Where to begin? Will I have someone to play with? Because I haven't had the answers to these questions I have held off on taking the leap. I've read the blogs. I've leafed through the rules books and read reviews online. I've looked at models from different eras and manufacturers. I've avoided making any kind of commitment for years.
I've finally made a decision. I've ordered Hail Ceasar. I'll read through the rules. If they look good then I'll be picking up one of the great deals on Romans from Warlord Games. I'll probably add some Celts. I don't know that I'll have anyone to play against but I've taken the first steps.
I'm also interested in Black Powder, several sets by TooFatLardies as well as Very Civile Actions from the Perfect Captain, for ECW. I'll probably be buying several sets of rules this year.
I'm looking forward to this. We'll see how it goes.
I think I've been intimidated by the choices. Too many scales, rules, eras. Where to begin? Will I have someone to play with? Because I haven't had the answers to these questions I have held off on taking the leap. I've read the blogs. I've leafed through the rules books and read reviews online. I've looked at models from different eras and manufacturers. I've avoided making any kind of commitment for years.
I've finally made a decision. I've ordered Hail Ceasar. I'll read through the rules. If they look good then I'll be picking up one of the great deals on Romans from Warlord Games. I'll probably add some Celts. I don't know that I'll have anyone to play against but I've taken the first steps.
I'm also interested in Black Powder, several sets by TooFatLardies as well as Very Civile Actions from the Perfect Captain, for ECW. I'll probably be buying several sets of rules this year.
I'm looking forward to this. We'll see how it goes.
Friday, February 10, 2012
Battle Report - Harad vs Gondor and Dwarfs
The Thursday night league at Collectormania has come and gone and I got in another fun and interesting game. I was there early and Micah showed up. I haven't gotten to play him yet so we agreed on a game. 600 points using the old composition rules but he, kindly, agreed to my request to play one of the new scenarios. We divided our armies up between our heroes, to serve as our warbands.
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| This is turn two. You can see each of the warbands in action. Boromir and the two Knights are just visible behind the wood, top right. |
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| The Knights and rangers battling the Mahud. Almost everyone in this picture was dead by the end of the game. |
Thursday, February 09, 2012
Anticipation
I've been list building this week. In addition to the Harad lists I posted up I've come up with lists for Gondor, Rohan, Isengard, Grey Company and Aragorn and the army of the dead.
I'm starting to come to the conclusion that at 600 points most lists are going to be between 30 and 40 models. Despite my reservations about the new format, which I'm putting behind me in the interests of mental health, I'm looking forward to playing with the new lists. I am really liking the ability to customize basic warriors now.
I'm starting to come to the conclusion that at 600 points most lists are going to be between 30 and 40 models. Despite my reservations about the new format, which I'm putting behind me in the interests of mental health, I'm looking forward to playing with the new lists. I am really liking the ability to customize basic warriors now.
Monday, February 06, 2012
New Army List VI - Levy of Kharna II
After some more thought, this might be a better list than the first Levy of Kharna. I was having a hard time giving up on my Mahud at that point. This doesn't have the Betrayer but has a high model count and some actual hand to hand fighters.
New Army List V - The Serpent’s Sting
This list is designed to maximize the benefits of the Betrayer, since he is so many points. I have the upgraded horn blower. I have some hard hitting Abrakhan Guards and lots of Kharna bows. The break point is a little bit lower than I would like, as with pretty much all of these armies. The Haradrim are fragile, there's no getting around that.
New Army List IV - The Serpent Horde
This list is led by Suladan with his nice big 12" Standfast and extra Might. It has decent numbers, the upgraded horn blower and lots of Kharna bows. It does not have the Betrayer's enhanced poison re-rolls and other goodness. This is a more pure Harad list.
New Army List III - The Levy of Abrakhan
This list goes back down to fewer models but addresses some of the other issues. The horn bearer is upgraded to a warrior of Abrakhan. This gives him courage 4. With his horn that is C5. This makes it much less likely that he will run away, depriving my whole army of the +1C. I have the betrayer and a fair number of bows but they are not upgraded to Kharna bows, so they will not make full use of his re-rolls as they will miss more often. I'm more comfortable with this breakpoint though.
New Army List II - The Levy of Kharna
This warband has a higher model count and lots of might. It has good heroes and some tough models in Warband 1. The rest is filler, with a couple of upgrades. This list add in the horn. The horn has paid for itself in every single game.
Pros: High model count, good shooting, decent break point.
Cons: No good way to deal with big nasties, it still includes the Mahud Warriors, who just don't seem like they are a good choice anymore.
New Army List I - The Betrayer’s Guard
I have been working on my Haradrim army lists using the new composition rules. I'll post them here in separate posts. There are some cool combinations with the new rules. There are also some serious disappointments (I'm looking at you Mahud). My model count goes way down, unless I'm just shooting for as many models as I can by minimizing everything across the board.
Four Month Plan II
My original plan, found here, is going to have to change a little bit. The new source books change things a lot. I'm going to have to react to that, so...
Goal 1: Have my entire Harad army painted. This is not going to be done by the end of the league as I have to figure out what my new army is likely to look like. I'm not going to paint figures that will not be making it into the list, long term. I'll keep working on spears and bows and Abrakhan Merchant's Guards, since I know they will be in the list. The rest will have to wait.
Goal 1: Have my entire Harad army painted. This is not going to be done by the end of the league as I have to figure out what my new army is likely to look like. I'm not going to paint figures that will not be making it into the list, long term. I'll keep working on spears and bows and Abrakhan Merchant's Guards, since I know they will be in the list. The rest will have to wait.
Lord of the Rings Source Books - Initial Impressions
My initial impression - I don't like the changes but it's not game breaking and I think everything will be fine in the long run; except for Rohan, they are just as bad as before.
What I don't like:
1. The Warbands rule. You have to have a hero for every twelve warriors. This forces smaller armies. The hordes are pretty much dead. There's nothing wrong with hordes. It was a viable army build. In return for more warriors you had fewer heroes. Most factions don't have cheap heroes meaning a bunch of troops are going to have to be dropped to fit in the extra heroes. This rule just takes away options from the player. I'm not sure what problem GW was trying to fix with this.
What I don't like:
1. The Warbands rule. You have to have a hero for every twelve warriors. This forces smaller armies. The hordes are pretty much dead. There's nothing wrong with hordes. It was a viable army build. In return for more warriors you had fewer heroes. Most factions don't have cheap heroes meaning a bunch of troops are going to have to be dropped to fit in the extra heroes. This rule just takes away options from the player. I'm not sure what problem GW was trying to fix with this.
Friday, February 03, 2012
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.
Wednesday, February 01, 2012
The Changing Game
This weekend Games Workshop is finally releasing the stats for all of the LotR SBG models. Sadly they are doing it in five books. Happily, from my point of view, they are not changing the main rule book.
The good news is that I no longer have to carry around an arm full of White Dwarfs. This is an eternal problem, as old as White Dwarf, but at least for awhile we will have everything we need in these five books. This also means that Legions of Middle Earth is now irrelevant. It's few uses are superseded by the new books.
The good news is that I no longer have to carry around an arm full of White Dwarfs. This is an eternal problem, as old as White Dwarf, but at least for awhile we will have everything we need in these five books. This also means that Legions of Middle Earth is now irrelevant. It's few uses are superseded by the new books.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Battle Reports
The week ended with a lot of gaming, too many for individual reports. On Wednesday I got off work early and was able to meet up with Keith for a game. We played Seize the camp. Smaug went off on his, sadly, normal, solitary blood lust infused charge and chewed through my troops to get into my camp. I was finally able to see him off with three Black Darts, after which I had to rush a third of my army across the table to get to the center where the remainder were facing off against the rest of the army, a bunch of Black Shields. Keith thought the fight was over once the dragon was dead but he managed to drag it out for several turns and limit me to a Minor Victory. As always against Keith, I had to think fast in this game. I only win about a third of my games against him, one of the things I'd like to turn around this year.
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| Smaug Munching on Haradrim warriors |
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| Smaug about to get Black Darted for the third time. The Nazgul is in the forest, top right. |
Monday, January 23, 2012
Painting Status I
This is my army list, to be painted by the end of the league, which I think is the end of February. So it will be the end of the league or the end of the month, whichever comes last.
Haradrim King
Haradrim Taskmaster
Haradrim Chieftan w/ spear
Nazgul
6 x Abrakhan Merchant's Guards
1 x Haradrim Raider with Horn
1 x Haradrim Raider with banner
26 x Haradrim Raider with spear
14 x Haradrim Raider with bow
52 Models.
I have now painted 11 Haradrim Raiders with spears and 1 Nazgul. They all still need to be based.
Haradrim King
Haradrim Taskmaster
Haradrim Chieftan w/ spear
Nazgul
6 x Abrakhan Merchant's Guards
1 x Haradrim Raider with Horn
1 x Haradrim Raider with banner
26 x Haradrim Raider with spear
14 x Haradrim Raider with bow
52 Models.
I have now painted 11 Haradrim Raiders with spears and 1 Nazgul. They all still need to be based.
Test models - Harad
I have two test models done for my Harad army, as well as the Nazgul. I use almost all Vallejo Game Color paints with GW washes and some metalics. I also have some Army Painter Dark Tone dip as well as a can of Antique Walnut MINWAX. Unless stated otherwise all colors are Vallejo.
Friday, January 20, 2012
Battle Report - Harad vs Eagles
Last night was the second night/week of league play. We had a large turnout with nine people getting games in. Off the top of my head we had two Harad armies, one horde infantry (mine) and one with a Mumak. There were the Eagles of the Misty Mountains. There was a woodelf army and an Isengard army. Two Moria armies, one with a cave troll and one with Black Shields and a Dragon. There was also a Dwarf army led by Durin.
My game was against Russ and his eagles. He had six eagles including Gwahir. I had the same list as last week, Nazgul, Harad King, Harad Chieftan, Taskmaster, horn, banner, 6 Abrakhan Guards, 26 spears and 14 bows. I don't like the banner. I will not play it after this round of the league. I never make my re-rolls with them and even if you accept the odds at 50% I think the 3 inch range is too short to make it worth while. The horn, on the other hand, paid for itself again last night. In this case it was the huge number of terror tests I had to take in order to charge the eagles.
My game was against Russ and his eagles. He had six eagles including Gwahir. I had the same list as last week, Nazgul, Harad King, Harad Chieftan, Taskmaster, horn, banner, 6 Abrakhan Guards, 26 spears and 14 bows. I don't like the banner. I will not play it after this round of the league. I never make my re-rolls with them and even if you accept the odds at 50% I think the 3 inch range is too short to make it worth while. The horn, on the other hand, paid for itself again last night. In this case it was the huge number of terror tests I had to take in order to charge the eagles.
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| The table, looking towards the Eagle deployment zone, after the battle. |
Thursday, January 19, 2012
League Night
Today is league night at Collectormania. Last week I had to change my list and drop my Far Harad in order to comply with the league rule that you can only have one ally. This rule was a holdover from the first round of the league when there were a whole bunch of new players and they wanted to keep it simpler for them.
After some discussion we have decided to open it up to the normal army building, Legions of Middle Earth, rules. This will help people prepare for the Mayhem in the Mountains tournament in September. They will get to build tournament legal armies and play against them as well.
After all of that, I have decided to keep my list the same for the rest of the league. I'll be sticking to a list of Harad with a Nazgul allied in. This will force me to learn to play the less great aspects of my army without the Far Harad crutch. It will also simplify my painting and give me something to work on for the next round of the league.
I'm actually pretty sure I'll be able to stick to this decision, though a total shellacking tonight could test my resolution.
P.S. I'm totally going to try to remember my camera tonight.
After some discussion we have decided to open it up to the normal army building, Legions of Middle Earth, rules. This will help people prepare for the Mayhem in the Mountains tournament in September. They will get to build tournament legal armies and play against them as well.
After all of that, I have decided to keep my list the same for the rest of the league. I'll be sticking to a list of Harad with a Nazgul allied in. This will force me to learn to play the less great aspects of my army without the Far Harad crutch. It will also simplify my painting and give me something to work on for the next round of the league.
I'm actually pretty sure I'll be able to stick to this decision, though a total shellacking tonight could test my resolution.
P.S. I'm totally going to try to remember my camera tonight.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Four month plan
I re-read this blog last night, just to see where I've been. That's the main reason I'm keeping it, to help myself track this hobby. Here's some themes I took out of it.
1. I need a deadline in order to paint.
2. A goal of 20 models a month - painted is reasonable.
3. I love terrain.
4. I need more pictures.
5. If you want to do something someone has to organize it.
Based on these five things here's what I am going to aim for.
1. I am currently in a six week league at Collectormania. I am going to aim to have my Haradrim list painted by the end. This is a stretch goal, to say the least. It will put me way above the 20 a month, but what the heck.
2. I am going to paint more than 20 models in January. I only have a week and a half left so I'd best get cracking. February is going to be the same story.
3. I am going to make some Harad specific terrain. This will be done after the current league round.
4. I will take my camera to the shop tomorrow night (Thursday) and I will take pictures of my games.
5. I want to play in a campaign. I have been planning to build a 3-D campaign map for the last couple of years. My goal will be to complete that by the end of April. That way we can play a campaign out in the league, two rounds from now.
So, nothing to grandiose but definitely some stretch goals there.
1. I need a deadline in order to paint.
2. A goal of 20 models a month - painted is reasonable.
3. I love terrain.
4. I need more pictures.
5. If you want to do something someone has to organize it.
Based on these five things here's what I am going to aim for.
1. I am currently in a six week league at Collectormania. I am going to aim to have my Haradrim list painted by the end. This is a stretch goal, to say the least. It will put me way above the 20 a month, but what the heck.
2. I am going to paint more than 20 models in January. I only have a week and a half left so I'd best get cracking. February is going to be the same story.
3. I am going to make some Harad specific terrain. This will be done after the current league round.
4. I will take my camera to the shop tomorrow night (Thursday) and I will take pictures of my games.
5. I want to play in a campaign. I have been planning to build a 3-D campaign map for the last couple of years. My goal will be to complete that by the end of April. That way we can play a campaign out in the league, two rounds from now.
So, nothing to grandiose but definitely some stretch goals there.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Battle Report - Harad vs Galadrim
Last Thursday Jonathan and I played my first game of the league. It was
a reprise of the game from the week before, his Galadrim led by
Glorfindel and Rumil against my Haradrim. I was tripped up at the last
second by the League rule that you can only ally one faction into your
army, a rule I believe we should change, by the way. Consequently I was
forced to drop my Far Harad and went with a list that consisted of Bob
the Budget Nazgul, a Haradrim King, a Haradrim Chieftan, a Haradrim Task
Master, a banner, a hornblower, six fat guys (Abrakhan Merchant's
Guards), fourteen archers and the rest spears for a total model count of
56. We played Domination with the MitM change of only three
objectives.
I had a big hill in my deployment zone. there was a ruins between my zone and the objective to my left. The rest of the terrain, of which there was a lot, did not really factor in the game so I'll leave it off. I made a lot of mistakes in this game. Jonathan only made a couple. He, again, got a well deserved win with a minor victory. One more turn would have given me the minor but two more would have made it his game again. This was a real nail biter and I found myself thinking about it quite a bit the next day, which is the mark of a great game, to me.
We started off with a general advance on the part of the elves towards the left and center objectives. The elven phalanx headed towards the left while the cavalry and archers, with Glorfindel riding along, went towards the center. I left my archers behind the hill, firing in volleys most of the game (mistake number 2, I waited way too long to start firing directly). I split my force with a strong infantry force heading towards the left objective and a smaller force going over the hill and towards the center, (mistake number 1. I shouldn't have split them the way I did and had too many high value units in this group with no meat shields.)
My volley fire was average over the course of the game but started out strong. I killed both knight archers and another model in the first round. I got rid of most of his highly prized archers over the course of the game with volley fire. Jonathan killed all of my fat guys with arrows, a very disapointing development but well deserved the way I left them hanging out in view.
I pushed my infantry up into the ruins, about twelve inches short of the left objective, and stayed there. This was where Jonathan made the only real mistake of the game. He brought his phalanx up and charged me. Between the wall bonus and some good use of transfix/compel, I kept Glorfindel out of the fight, killed Rumil and managed to bounce the phalanx. Jonathan realized that he didn't need to fight me and pulled back to the objective, still too strong for me to sally out and contest him.
He also shifted his archers and remaining knights to hold the other two objectives. this is when I realized that the reason I was feeling outnumbered was that I had 15 models hiding behind the hill. I marched my archers out to contest the center and right objectives. Killing Rumil had made me a happy little Haradrim. I had also put a wound on Glorfindel with a Black Dart, something generally frowned upon in tournament play. Most players consider it too risky for too little pay off. Now Glorfindel found himself facing down a haradrim gatling gun of fourteen poisoned bow shots. This is where I made mistake number 3. I rolled all the dice at once. I killed the hell out Asfaloth but didn't have enough left to finish off the elf, though I did put another wound on him. I would have been better off taking the individual shots. The reason I did this is becase it was almost 2100 and I had Rhys (7yrs old) with me. I had already gotten a testy phone call from Mama and 2100 is closing time, though Chris very nicely and characteristically offered to keep the store open for us. So I was rushed. I took another turn to kill Glorfindel. Another moral victory in my eyes.
I managed to take the right objective and was one turn away from having more models on the center objective. I had broken but my hornblower more than paid for himself. Jonathan was one model away from breaking. I had moved my Nazgul up so his phalanx would be taking break tests with no heros on a -1 courage. He was moving troops up to the center objective, who would start arriving a turn after I controlled it. We survived the roll on the first turn after I was broken but the second one ended the game.
I had a big hill in my deployment zone. there was a ruins between my zone and the objective to my left. The rest of the terrain, of which there was a lot, did not really factor in the game so I'll leave it off. I made a lot of mistakes in this game. Jonathan only made a couple. He, again, got a well deserved win with a minor victory. One more turn would have given me the minor but two more would have made it his game again. This was a real nail biter and I found myself thinking about it quite a bit the next day, which is the mark of a great game, to me.
We started off with a general advance on the part of the elves towards the left and center objectives. The elven phalanx headed towards the left while the cavalry and archers, with Glorfindel riding along, went towards the center. I left my archers behind the hill, firing in volleys most of the game (mistake number 2, I waited way too long to start firing directly). I split my force with a strong infantry force heading towards the left objective and a smaller force going over the hill and towards the center, (mistake number 1. I shouldn't have split them the way I did and had too many high value units in this group with no meat shields.)
My volley fire was average over the course of the game but started out strong. I killed both knight archers and another model in the first round. I got rid of most of his highly prized archers over the course of the game with volley fire. Jonathan killed all of my fat guys with arrows, a very disapointing development but well deserved the way I left them hanging out in view.
I pushed my infantry up into the ruins, about twelve inches short of the left objective, and stayed there. This was where Jonathan made the only real mistake of the game. He brought his phalanx up and charged me. Between the wall bonus and some good use of transfix/compel, I kept Glorfindel out of the fight, killed Rumil and managed to bounce the phalanx. Jonathan realized that he didn't need to fight me and pulled back to the objective, still too strong for me to sally out and contest him.
He also shifted his archers and remaining knights to hold the other two objectives. this is when I realized that the reason I was feeling outnumbered was that I had 15 models hiding behind the hill. I marched my archers out to contest the center and right objectives. Killing Rumil had made me a happy little Haradrim. I had also put a wound on Glorfindel with a Black Dart, something generally frowned upon in tournament play. Most players consider it too risky for too little pay off. Now Glorfindel found himself facing down a haradrim gatling gun of fourteen poisoned bow shots. This is where I made mistake number 3. I rolled all the dice at once. I killed the hell out Asfaloth but didn't have enough left to finish off the elf, though I did put another wound on him. I would have been better off taking the individual shots. The reason I did this is becase it was almost 2100 and I had Rhys (7yrs old) with me. I had already gotten a testy phone call from Mama and 2100 is closing time, though Chris very nicely and characteristically offered to keep the store open for us. So I was rushed. I took another turn to kill Glorfindel. Another moral victory in my eyes.
I managed to take the right objective and was one turn away from having more models on the center objective. I had broken but my hornblower more than paid for himself. Jonathan was one model away from breaking. I had moved my Nazgul up so his phalanx would be taking break tests with no heros on a -1 courage. He was moving troops up to the center objective, who would start arriving a turn after I controlled it. We survived the roll on the first turn after I was broken but the second one ended the game.
Long gone but not forgotten
It has been over a year since I last updated. I had to run off and fight a real war and that took up pretty much all of my time.
I'm back now. I have hobby time. I might even have the desire to work on this blog. I have not played much in the last year. I have gotten in two games of LotR in the last two weeks. I have joined a league and that encourages regular play at least once a week. I am hoping to get some Warhammer fantasy games in as well as exploring some of the historical rule sets out there.
For LotR I bought a new Harad army right before I deployed. I got them assembled and basecoated. The development of that army will probably be the core of this blog for the next few months. Just like the last time I was actively working this blog, I'm building up for Mayhem in the Mountains in September. That gives me a lot of time get them painted and to play test the hell out of them.
I'm also going to work on some terrain for the army; perhaps enough for a table at MitM. I have a Bree table which I can contribute if it's needed but I would like to have a table for the new army as well.
So, I hope to be hitting this space with battle reports, painting progress and terrain construction. We'll how it goes.
I'm back now. I have hobby time. I might even have the desire to work on this blog. I have not played much in the last year. I have gotten in two games of LotR in the last two weeks. I have joined a league and that encourages regular play at least once a week. I am hoping to get some Warhammer fantasy games in as well as exploring some of the historical rule sets out there.
For LotR I bought a new Harad army right before I deployed. I got them assembled and basecoated. The development of that army will probably be the core of this blog for the next few months. Just like the last time I was actively working this blog, I'm building up for Mayhem in the Mountains in September. That gives me a lot of time get them painted and to play test the hell out of them.
I'm also going to work on some terrain for the army; perhaps enough for a table at MitM. I have a Bree table which I can contribute if it's needed but I would like to have a table for the new army as well.
So, I hope to be hitting this space with battle reports, painting progress and terrain construction. We'll how it goes.
Saturday, August 07, 2010
More Test games
I played another game of LotR the other night. We are all fine tuning our armies and just trying to get some practice in. This time I played against Chris Ward, who is always a fun opponent. We rolled randomly for scenarios and got the night fight one, which is my favorite.
Chris has a nicely painted Uruk army led by Saruman. I was anxious to play against him because I do not have a lot of experience vs magic. In addition to Saruman there were a captain, a handful of crossbows and an equal mix of shields and pikes as well as three berserkers. His model count was 37.
I was running my new list. Faramir, Captain of Ithilien with rangers and Osgiliath veterans. My model count was 50. I really feel the lack of might in this army, with only Faramir's three. On the other hand the 12" banner, fight 4 within six inches of Faramir and the high model count all work well. Faramir's better stats are nice too.
As I said, we rolled for a scenario and got "Ill met by moonlight". We each divided our army in half, with a hero forward. We were playing on part of the Osgiliath table. I say part, because we only had some of the tiles and none of the scatter terrain.
Chris had Saruman, the five crossbows and berzerkers forward with the rest of his numbers split, pretty evenly, between pikes and shields. I had Faramir, all of my rangers and veterans forward with only veterans to the rear.
Chris had to set up first and he built a firebase in a ruin in the very center of the table. I placed my rangers to each side of that, with veterans in front. Faramir, valiantly, hid behind a ruin so the crossbows and Saruman couldn't start the game by crushing him.
The first few turns were fairly even. Our shooting was effective, as usual in this scenario. The +1 to hit meant he was killing rangers on a 3 and I was killing Uruks on a five. I had more shooting his was better. It evened out. He rushed everything but the crossbows and a couple of shields towards my right flank, which is where Faramir was now. Both of us were moving our reinforcements up as fast as we could. My left flank archers were sliding up towards his table edge. In the way rolls were saving his crossbows, I only killed one through shooting the whole game, though his normal warriors and a beserker were not so lucky.
We finally engaged on the right flank, Saruman threw out a scorerous blast which killed one veteran and knocked over a couple of rangers. The first round of combat was pretty tame. Faramir got in one charge, killing two Uruks. Saruman then blasted him six inches. Faramir lost his horse but was unhurt, and no one was behind him.
Chris had moved his reinforcements over towards the brawl, dropping a couple off on my left flank, with the crossbows and their guardians, and a couple more in the center, forming a wall between two buildings. I split my reinforcements, just about evenly, between my right and the center, with a couple heading over to help my left flank out.
Things were looking pretty bad for the forces of good. Faramir was locked down every turn. Chris had more models in the main fight and many of mine were squishy rangers. We then had two brutal, for the Uruks, turns of combat. In the first turn I killed six Uruk Hai. I blew away nearly his entire center formation, between the buildings, opening up my route into his rear. I killed a couple in the main fight, evening things up there enough for me to hold my own. I also gained clear dominance in the flight on my left flank.
The rest of the game was just me closing the trap on the Uruks who were pinned in on my right. I broke him but Saruman's standfast meant he didn't have to take any tests. The fact that he had no room to maneuver and that I was coming at him from, literally, all four directions, meant that almost all of the fights were going my way. With F4 and a reroll out to 12 inches Chris just couldn't win enough to make a difference.
Chris had some bad rolling going on in the end there, but I think my banner is what made the biggest difference. In the end, the last turn, I killed Saruman when I jumped him with nine dudes. He rolled a 1 for the fight, which was not really epic at all. I offered to let Chris re-roll it, since that seemed like a sour note to end the game on, but he stuck to his guns and took the 1. We hit 25% over the rest of the turn and the game was over.
I was not broken so it was a Major victory to me. We didn't keep track of the kills for our heroes, but I think Saruman got one or two and Faramir got two or three.
On my side, I was really pleased with how my army worked. I really feel the lack of might in the late game, with only one hero. On the other hand the F4 is pure gold. The 12" banner really paid off in this game, though this is the first time that it has. Ranger shooting was as good as always and the large numbers were really useful. I shielded more in this game and that helped me stay above break until the end.
For Chris, as he said, "I don't know if my army sucks or not with rolling like that". I had two good rounds of combat that pretty much determined the game. Saruman was good, making all of his spells and fighting off my troops until he was really, really, outnumbered. There were a couple of places that Chris could have played differently, but with his center getting blown away in one round of combat there was not much he could have done to salvage it.
It was a fun game, as always against Chris, and I learned more about how my army works. I'm pretty sure this is the list I will take to MitM.
Chris has a nicely painted Uruk army led by Saruman. I was anxious to play against him because I do not have a lot of experience vs magic. In addition to Saruman there were a captain, a handful of crossbows and an equal mix of shields and pikes as well as three berserkers. His model count was 37.
I was running my new list. Faramir, Captain of Ithilien with rangers and Osgiliath veterans. My model count was 50. I really feel the lack of might in this army, with only Faramir's three. On the other hand the 12" banner, fight 4 within six inches of Faramir and the high model count all work well. Faramir's better stats are nice too.
As I said, we rolled for a scenario and got "Ill met by moonlight". We each divided our army in half, with a hero forward. We were playing on part of the Osgiliath table. I say part, because we only had some of the tiles and none of the scatter terrain.
Chris had Saruman, the five crossbows and berzerkers forward with the rest of his numbers split, pretty evenly, between pikes and shields. I had Faramir, all of my rangers and veterans forward with only veterans to the rear.
Chris had to set up first and he built a firebase in a ruin in the very center of the table. I placed my rangers to each side of that, with veterans in front. Faramir, valiantly, hid behind a ruin so the crossbows and Saruman couldn't start the game by crushing him.
The first few turns were fairly even. Our shooting was effective, as usual in this scenario. The +1 to hit meant he was killing rangers on a 3 and I was killing Uruks on a five. I had more shooting his was better. It evened out. He rushed everything but the crossbows and a couple of shields towards my right flank, which is where Faramir was now. Both of us were moving our reinforcements up as fast as we could. My left flank archers were sliding up towards his table edge. In the way rolls were saving his crossbows, I only killed one through shooting the whole game, though his normal warriors and a beserker were not so lucky.
We finally engaged on the right flank, Saruman threw out a scorerous blast which killed one veteran and knocked over a couple of rangers. The first round of combat was pretty tame. Faramir got in one charge, killing two Uruks. Saruman then blasted him six inches. Faramir lost his horse but was unhurt, and no one was behind him.
Chris had moved his reinforcements over towards the brawl, dropping a couple off on my left flank, with the crossbows and their guardians, and a couple more in the center, forming a wall between two buildings. I split my reinforcements, just about evenly, between my right and the center, with a couple heading over to help my left flank out.
Things were looking pretty bad for the forces of good. Faramir was locked down every turn. Chris had more models in the main fight and many of mine were squishy rangers. We then had two brutal, for the Uruks, turns of combat. In the first turn I killed six Uruk Hai. I blew away nearly his entire center formation, between the buildings, opening up my route into his rear. I killed a couple in the main fight, evening things up there enough for me to hold my own. I also gained clear dominance in the flight on my left flank.
The rest of the game was just me closing the trap on the Uruks who were pinned in on my right. I broke him but Saruman's standfast meant he didn't have to take any tests. The fact that he had no room to maneuver and that I was coming at him from, literally, all four directions, meant that almost all of the fights were going my way. With F4 and a reroll out to 12 inches Chris just couldn't win enough to make a difference.
Chris had some bad rolling going on in the end there, but I think my banner is what made the biggest difference. In the end, the last turn, I killed Saruman when I jumped him with nine dudes. He rolled a 1 for the fight, which was not really epic at all. I offered to let Chris re-roll it, since that seemed like a sour note to end the game on, but he stuck to his guns and took the 1. We hit 25% over the rest of the turn and the game was over.
I was not broken so it was a Major victory to me. We didn't keep track of the kills for our heroes, but I think Saruman got one or two and Faramir got two or three.
On my side, I was really pleased with how my army worked. I really feel the lack of might in the late game, with only one hero. On the other hand the F4 is pure gold. The 12" banner really paid off in this game, though this is the first time that it has. Ranger shooting was as good as always and the large numbers were really useful. I shielded more in this game and that helped me stay above break until the end.
For Chris, as he said, "I don't know if my army sucks or not with rolling like that". I had two good rounds of combat that pretty much determined the game. Saruman was good, making all of his spells and fighting off my troops until he was really, really, outnumbered. There were a couple of places that Chris could have played differently, but with his center getting blown away in one round of combat there was not much he could have done to salvage it.
It was a fun game, as always against Chris, and I learned more about how my army works. I'm pretty sure this is the list I will take to MitM.
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