Community Challenge: Battle Companies

In what now seems an age ago, a few of the guys here at DC headquarters decided to get involved in a community project ran by Dewi over at Guardians of Wiltshire. The brief? To create a battle company. Simple enough, no? It did however come with a twist. Every participant - around twenty of us from various blogs, Youtube channels and podcasts (there will be a list at the end along with links) would be assigned a company at random. Not only that, but each of us also submitted two colours that had to form the basis of a colour scheme for whomever it was randomly assigned to. Some were absolutely devilish with the colours they suggested, some you wouldn't expect in Middle-Earth for sure! 

With the project in mind, Steve, Dan Slob, Dan Stu, Colm and Dave all took up the Battle Company Community Challenge - prepare yourselves for images galore!

Steve: During the video call where all the armies and colours were drawn up my name came up first and boy was I in for....okay there's no sugar coating this or way of making it sound more interesting. I got Minas Tirith and my 'colours' were grey and black. Not the most inspiring and I won't lie - I was quite underwhelmed to begin with. However, I got thinking about how to make this into something fun and also push my painting ability more. How about the entire project is just in greyscale? Thus, Minas Tirith Noir was born. 

Within the challenge we were allowed to 'promote' our starting battle company within the list, so I decided to opt for what models would look best as part of a diorama. Changing up the initial list of two Warriors of Minas Tirith with shields, two with spears and shields and two with bows I instead went with three Citadel Guard, one Ranger of Gondor, keeping one warrior with a shield and one with a bow. 

The setting would be in Minas Tirith, with a dastardly murder having just occurred - the miniatures investigating/guarding the crime scene. The display would be the biggest job to work on (a full image reel of the production can be found on Instagram @stevethorleyphotography) and would showcase a small corner of the white city. This was accomplished with a mix of foamboard, plasticard, milliput and modelling paste all then sealed with a mix of watered down ModPodge and black acrylic paint. Once undercoated, it was time to spray the OSL to get a sense of where I'd need to paint the various lights and shadows.

After the initial spray it was time work into the setting and models with brushes to smooth it all out. It's worth noting that there's three separate light sources (two braziers and one hand held torch) so there's a fair amount to consider! Working entirely in greyscale did make the process a lot easier however, without having to worry about the colour of fire. I decided to go a fair bit brighter than what normal torchlight would show however, otherwise there would be hardly any detail, nor would you be able to tell what was going on. On that note however, let's crack on with the photos of the finished product!

Dan Slob: For my Battle Company I was assigned Mordor and for my colours I got green and purple. So basically just a standard Mordor scheme. I was a bit sad about this as I was looking forward to doing something a bit funky, so instead I decided to jazz them up a bit by converting the models quite heavily. I started with the 4 Osgilliath Veteran models and chopped them up a bit. I mostly changed the heads (using 3D printed ones) and swapped out the weapons. I also chipped and scratched up the armour a fair bit to make them seem like they had scavenged it after a battle. I did the same thing with a Minas Tirith Banner bearer to make a two handed weapon Orc. The final 4 were made from normal Orcs, but I tried to swap out as many arms/legs as possible for ones from Warriors of Minas Tirith. Finally I added some modelling chain and a trophy rack on the back of the archer and I was done. 

Painting-wise, I decided to go fairly traditional with green skin and purple robes. I'm not the best painter but I think I did a decent job. Finally for bases I used some nice Generation Shift ones to match the display board I made for them. 

Speaking of the display board, that was probably the most fun part of the project! I used a square of foam board as the base and used the old-school LOTR ruins as well as some tree stumps from Green Stuff World. I then covered it with modelling compound and New Zealand Plains Base Ready (both from Geek Gaming Scenics) as well as a metric tonne of foliage from various places. I'm particularly happy with the creepers over the ruins which are from Diorama Presepe. Here is the finished product:

Dave: For my company I drew Fiefdoms, an army I've been tempted by for a long time! I was assigned a fairly traditional pair of colours for them, Purple and White, a stone's from from their traditional scheme of Blue and White. Whilst I thought about going outside the box and trying my hand at some pearlescent white armour, after a few test models I realised that was something I wasn't happy with how it was looking so I decided to go with a more classic approach.

So what did I have to paint for my company then? A single Knight of Dol Amroth, 2 Blackroot Vale archers and 3 (we'll get back to this later...) Men-at-arms. Nice and simple! I started on my Knight to begin with. I splashed the purple onto his cloak and shield, and the white was the accent for the shield, helmet and the insides of his cloak.

I was pretty happy how this guy came out and was keen to get started on the rest of them, but I was annoyingly hit by a fairly large degree of hobby burnout and I couldn't bring myself to start on the rest of them. They got pushed back into my painting pile for a few weeks until I could face them again.

After the short period of burnout I began on my Men-at-arms. Their scheme was simple enough. Purple for the gloves and wrapping around their chest, and white for the helmet and swan icons on the armour. It was here where, like an idiot, I completely misread how many MAA I had to paint. For some reason I had it in my head that I only need to paint two, and not three... So the end product is missing a bloke, but I'm sure I'll get around to him again at some point!

Finally for the Blackroot Vale Archers I wanted to have something a bit more eye catching that just the generic archers. After some searching I came across the OOP Blackroot Vale command and they were a perfect fit for the two archers I needed. I kept their main leather armour brown, but gave them purple under their chainmail and purple cloaks (as well as the banner). The white again was on the inside of the cloak and on the little bit around their waist. 

I really like how these have all turned out, the Knight is definitely the highlight for me as that was the model I easily put the most time in to!

Dan Stu: For my battle company, I got Survivors of Lake Town, along with the colours Orange and Maroon.

As by far the slowest painter on the DC crew, it was a little unlucky to draw the largest Battle Company - but I really liked the colour pairing! The army - less so, I'm not a huge fan of the models and they've never really been on my short list of things I want to paint. However, the whole point of the challenge is to do something you wouldn't normally consider, so I was happy to give them a bash!

I can't say these are my favourite ever paintjobs, but it was quite fun to throw caution to the wind and power through some painting on a deadline. Normally, I will try to figure out every detail of a paint scheme before I put brush to model, which was not at all the case here, so these were nice models to kick me out of my hobby analysis paralysis. I do like the rusty colours and think they work well enough for Lake Town. If I were to expand the theme to the whole army, I'd vary the colours up between models a lot more. I think a lot of the visual appeal for Lake Town - especially the militia - comes from their hodge podge of colours, so I think a few contrasting blue or green clothed models would pump up the visual interest quite a bit. 

This was a fun challenge, and I'll be keen for the next! I think for the next one, I'll try something really outside of the box. 

Colm: I was hoping for something a bit weird coming to this challenge to help get the creative juices flowing, but I ended up with the rather classic combo of Dunland in red and gold! I always like to try something new when starting a new project (whether that be a painting technique, or converting models, or whatever) so I racked my brains to think of what I could do, finally ending on two results.

The first was using 3D printed models. I have only ever dabbled very slightly with 3D printed minis and my experience is very limited. I used Ridermercia miniatures sculpted by The Printing Goes Ever On which clearly shared inspiration with GW’s Dunland figures.

The second was to use oil paints to paint an OSL effect with the reds and golds coming from red firelight reflecting off a group of warriors at night. To say this is something I came up with would be a complete lie as I directly copied a tutorial from one of the painting greats, James Wappel. This tutorial in fact: https://youtu.be/64poNwlZIZM. The process is quite tricky and it wasn’t detailed in how the fluorescent oil paints are created, but I had a pop and I’m quite pleased with the results. It is surprisingly quick to create a convincing look and an extremely fun way to paint. I’d recommend having a go if it interests you and similar methods could be used in a variety of scenarios. 

The whole community challenge was great and I loved seeing everyone’s stuff come together behind the scenes, especially in the different ways that people interpreted their brief (I found it especially interesting that Steve and I both came to use OSL to achieve our effect!). I’d be quite keen to have a go again.

And with that the fellowship of content creators, was over. This was a great idea set up by Dewi, and certainly inspired some good back and forth between the various content creators. If you have a group of friends or gaming clubs that would like to have a crack at this format, go for it! Here's a full list of all the content that's come out:

Dewi Evans - Guardians of Wiltshire - https://youtube.com/c/GuardiansofWilt... Dene Paints Things - https://youtube.com/c/Denepaintsthings Steve Crowe - Top Table Gaming - https://www.youtube.com/c/TopTableWar... PaintsOnA4Up - https://www.youtube.com/c/PaintsOnA4Up Battle Streams in Middle-earth - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDeT... Battle Camper: https://youtu.be/hPDRGl0pMNE Battle Games in Middle-earth Battle Games in Middle Earth - YouTube & Entmoot https://soundcloud.com/entmootpodcast

Benji's Hobbies - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyR9tXuJpeLx5H-HaWAE1cQ Sam Huddy/James Willson/CJ Millar?- At Dawn, Look to the East- https://eastangliasbg.blogspot.com/ Rob Conroy-Máigheóc - Over the Edge of the Wild - https://edgeofthewildsbg.blogspot.com

Drawn Combat’s Direct Conversations: An Interview with Harry Moore

There has been a lot of discussion recently about how the Galadriel nerf (going from Valour to Fortitude and therefore not being able to ally in to other armies easily) will make some armies like Angmar too good as she was a key piece that kept them in check. This has been compounded by The Gates of Gondolin, an 844 point GBHL 100 event in which Angmar took 1st and 2nd. We decided to get the scoop on the tournament and Angmar in general from the winner, Harry Moore:

Congrats on your win! What was your list and how did you choose it?

The Witchking of Angmar with Crown and Horse
4 Orcs with shield
5 Orcs with spear
1 Orc with shield and banner

Gulavhar
5 Orcs with shield
5 Orcs with spear
1 Spectre

Barrow Wight
5 Orcs with shield
5 Orcs with spear

Barrow Wight
5 Orcs with shield
5 Orcs with spear

Orc Captain on Warg
2 Warg Riders with shield
2 Wild Wargs

This was built around the Witchking and Gully via past experiences as I've been running Angmar competitively since the start of the new edition. I felt I needed a balance of numbers and key components to maximise board control and objective play. And of course to get the best out of Gully!

Who was your MVP and why? And did any units not perform as expected?

Across the weekend it has to be Gully for MVP however it is definitely a team event. The Barrow Wights and Witchking are crucial to Gully's success. The army compliments itself so well, I love the synergy between everything. The army bonus, Harbinger and having 4 Spirits works great. The Captain was also great for the March and additional charging trickery. The Spectre is always a nuisance and the Warg Riders offer manoeuvrability. I can't really think of anything didn't perform as hoped.

What was your biggest game winning/ game losing moment of the tournament?

There were a few crucial moments in a bunch of games. I lost to the War Leader in game 2 at Heirlooms. I lost priority and so the Mumak came on and squashed the Witchking turn 2 for my opponent to then pick up the relic turn 3. The Mumak then won a roll off and trampled 2 warbands of orcs, a Wight, the Captain and then Gully in one go. So that was that 🤣

In game 3 I played the storm the camp against the new Mirkwood Rangers LL. Running across the board against 42 elf bows was grim. I used a cunning 17" March then the Witchking used compel to get Gully across the board and subsequently hurl through the bow line. Without that I'm sure Gully would not have got to combat!

In game 5 I won a crucial roll off where my opponent's Gully charged my own. We both rolled a 6 but the roll off went my way and killed him in 1. That essentially decided the game.

In game 6, Seize the Prize, my Spectre forced an elf with the prize into open ground where he got munched by Gully and that decided the game.

A lot of big moments went my way. They say you need luck on your side to win a tournament and I definitely had that!

When playing as Angmar, what matchup or scenario scares you the most?

As an Angmar player I think shooting heavy armies where I have to get across the board scare me the most. Terror and def 6 are also a pain, as well as any mirror matches. F7+ big heroes and monsters which are hard to shut down are also a problem! And of course the Vanquishers. So plenty to fear, Angmar definitely aren't the whole package.

With regards to scenarios, I don't mind so much, the army is versatile enough to do well at most. What I think decides it is which army you plan on certain scenarios and you can't really plan for that so you've just got to give it your best and have fun!

Angmar seem strong at the moment, what is it that makes them so good?

Angmar are strong and have lots of powerful, game changing heroes however they also have a lot of vulnerability. Low Fight, Def and particularly low courage. Same with Gully, as strong as he is, one mistake and he can die. I definitely feel you need to be experienced at the game to run them well. Personally I love the challenge with them.

I think this event is an anomaly, Angmar have always been around but I don't think there is anything to be concerned about presently. I think they get better at higher points. This event was 844 points which means you can take all the big hitters and still get a lot of troops. Typically tournaments run at a lower points level so you can't take the same builds.

Has the Galadriel nerf helped them?

Personally, Galadriel never truly bothered me as an Angmar player, there are enough components in the list to tackle her. Admittedly the Vanquishers were a bit intimidating but I've never played them competitively with Angmar so can't really comment.

I think it's easy to look for the correlation between the Galadriel nerf and an Angmar win, long term I don't think it will be an issue but I suppose time will tell.

Do you think Angmar needs toning down and if so how would you do it?

I don't think Angmar need any changes, people have been running them for a long time and lots of armies can undo them. Angmar have always had a particular way of playing similar to other factions and to change that would be a shame. I remember Jamie G took no might Angmar to a GT many years ago, it is a unique component to Angmar.

I suppose if I would change one thing it would be the Shade. I would make the rule Active as opposed to Passive. I say this as even with all the tricks in my army; Transfixes and Paralyzes and I still couldn't turn the bloody thing off!

What are your thoughts on the state of magic in the game at the moment?

Compared to previous editions magic is now certainly more balanced and for a long time in the new addition you didn't really see it. I think the LLs have a lot to do with that! In the previous edition if you wanted to be competitive, magic was a must, I don't think that's the case at all now. There are many competitive, tournament winning armies that don't need magic. Like I mentioned earlier, this tourney was 844 points which make it a lot easier to include a caster.

I've always been a big fan as magic gives such good game control but equally I run a few armies without magic and do well and still enjoy using them.

What other armies do you rate at the moment?

In the past couple of years I've really enjoyed using Halls of Thranduil as I think it can be a challenging army to use right. I also really like using my Far Harad and Mumak Warleader. My next challenge is to run an all hero Mordor army using just the low to mid tier heroes.

What’s next on the agenda for you? 

I've got a bit of a gap now as I get married in the summer and so real life gets in the way of hobby life! In going to a 1 day-er in July and then nothing until the Autumn where I will have to pick and choose what I can attend. The years of going to 10+ events have long gone!

You also won best sports which is pretty amazing, how do you make sure both you and your opponent have a fun but competitive game?

My number one priority is to always have an enjoyable game, whether I win or lose. I think it's important to be gracious in victory as well as in defeat. At the end of the day we are all here to play toys and that should always be fun! I like helping my opponents whether newbies or veterans, I feel it enhances my own game.

As an Angmar player I'm conscious that I don't want to create a negative playing experiences so making the game as fun as possible is really important, especially when my strategy is to shut down and kill heroes 1 at a time! 🤣

Thanks for your time, Harry, and congrats again!

NEW EASTERLING HERO STATS LEAKED (April Fool's Article)

Here at Drawn Combat we have had an exclusive on some new Easterling models coming soon! No not this trash....

As we all know, the Easterling and Dale supplement is imminent. However, we have not seen much speculation about what the remaining unannounced 3 or 4 profiles might be. We know that the Dragon Emperor was recently revealed, but we had a feeling that there was more in store for the Easterlings.

So, we have consulted our Palantirs (bribed the middle earth team), and have received counsel (a leaked copy of the new book) and are happy to reveal that not one, but TWO more heroes are headed to the Easterling faction!

So without further ado, we are happy to unveil the final two profiles for the Easterlings:

Easterling Rock-Looker – 30pts
M6" F3/4+ S3 D6 A1 W1 C3 M1 W1 F0

Wargear: Shield, Pike, Heavy Armour
Categories: Minor Hero, Easterling, Man

Once per turn, during its movement, the Easterling Rock-Looker may spend a point of will to examine a piece of terrain within 6" in line of sight.

Once the point of will has been spent, the Rock-Looker may make no further actions this turn. If the model is charged or moved outside of 6", the check is cancelled and the point of will is lost.

At the beginning of the following movement phase, roll a D6; on a roll of a 1-5, the Easterling Rock-Looker does not notice anything out of the ordinary and must then move up to 6" directly away from the piece of terrain, ending at least 6" away, and may not move again this turn.

On a roll of a 6, the object of terrain is revealed to be an elven cloak! Tricksy Hobbitses! The terrain piece is removed from the board for the remainder of the game. Place a Frodo and Sam model in the centre of the space where the terrain was. Any models occupying the terrain piece are placed on the board underneath, taking falling tests if necessary.

If this terrain counts for an objective, for example in the Fog of War scenario, neither side may score points for it.

Might and Will points may be used to influence this roll.

This roll may be attempted without spending a point of Will, if no will points are available. However, if the check is failed, the Rock-Looker must make a courage check. If this is failed, the Rock-Looker and, if present, the Rock-Looker's assistant are removed from the board as a casualty.




Easterling Rock-Looker's Assistant – 20pts
M6" F3/4+ S3 D6 A1 W1 C3 M0 W1 F0

Wargear: Shield, Pike, Heavy Armour
Categories: Minor Hero, Easterling, Man

If the Easterling Rock-Looker's Assistant is within 3" of the Easterling Rock-Looker when he looks at terrain, the Rock-Looker may reroll a result of a 1.

If the Rock-Looker fails his terrain check, the Rock-Looker's Assistant will make a full move away from the terrain in the same direction as the Rock-Looker.

If they are within 3", the Rock Looker may use the Rock Looker's Assistant’s Will points as if they were their own.




Incredible! Elven opponents hiding in the forest? Get rid of it! Archers hiding behind a wall? It’s gone! Enemy army occupying a castle? Not any more, hope they like fall damage! Unless, of course, you whiff your rock-checking roll…

Looking back, it was obvious that these two would be included eventually. In honesty, it’s amazing that these unforgettable characters weren’t included sooner. Their pivotal scene by the Black Gate is really one of the cornerstones of the movie trilogy, and it is hard to imagine that Peter Jackson’s films would have been so well received if it were not for the deep and complex characters of the Easterling Rook-Looker and Assistant. Their complicated, emotional dilemma really gets to the heart of what Lord of the Rings is all about, and I for one cannot wait to get them out on the tabletop to replay the drama of that scene.



Certainly, these new heroes look to bring some competitiveness and theme back to the Easterlings after what I’m sure we can all agree were the very meager and disappointing reveals of Brorgir, Rutabi and the Dragon Emperor. Thanks but no thanks GW – you can keep your Master of Battle and your incredibly nice battle palanquin models. If you need me, I’ll be over there checking rocks to see if there are hobbits underneath.



























Happy April Fools, everybody!

An Unexpected Journey Part 1: We're Going on an Adventure!

Depending on if your certain brand of nerdery extends to tiny plastic spaceships, Tom Reed is a name you will either hold in high regard, or not know at all. Tom is one of the UK's very best X Wing players, and would feature on any list of the top 5 players in the country you asked anyone to put together. Recently he has been trying his hand at SBG with the aim of becoming the same level of competitor as he is in X Wing. We thought we would take the opportunity to get him to document his journey to see what we can all learn from it. Hopefully this will become a regular column so we can journey together! 


Its competition, but not as I know it

Welcome all to what will hopefully be the first of many contributions to Drawn Combat who have been kind enough to offer a platform for me to share some words. I cannot promise there will be much wisdom but it will hopefully offer you a new player's view into competitive Middle Earth.

How did we end up here, well it’s a long story many months in the making and laced with large amounts of salt, as X-wing moved into the new world of version 2.5 it was a move that really turned off and lost many of its competitive players. So I was on the hunt for a new game, as an incredibly competitive person there were some specific requirements that I was looking for in choosing this new hobby to dump my time. The first of which was how critical decision making is over luck. I desperately want it to be my fault when I lose but equally when I win. Next up, I wanted there to be a competitive scene to test myself, and finally it would be a nice benefit if the IP was good and something I already enjoyed.

Step up Elysium Games (cheeky plug: www.elysiumwargames.com) based in the small Yorkshire town of Pontefract right opposite the HQ of Haribo if you need another excuse, and its growing Middle Earth community there, they welcomed me in with open arms and have proven to be a fantastic new little gaming family to be apart of.

 

I am now two events in and the main reason for this article was to share the really early days of competitive Middle Earth. Event one was a 550 point day down in the midlands at Board In Brum, another fantastic venue if you’re able to make it there, and a bit of a baptism of fire. Round one vs Rowan May, if Carlsberg did round 1 opponents I think Rowan would be it. Obviously incredibly good at the game but also very willing to teach a new guy the ropes. Lesson one: Spend your Resources. Might, and how it is used is obviously a nuance to competitive Middle Earth and a skill to learn, however, it doesn’t take a genius to work out that finishing a game with 3 or 4 of it left on your main hero is a waste, one for the notebook. Lesson two. Again you’d think it goes without saying but spelling it out, read the mission, how you gain these much coveted points and the end condition, this will generally be a 33% chance once a force is broken or a 100% once a force reaches 25%, make sure you know which and play towards it.

 

The following week saw my first Great British Hobbit League 80 event at the aforementioned Elysium Games, a 2 day 5 round event at the big boy points limit of 800. Lesson three, comes from game one of the weekend, work out your win condition, play to it, and accept the pain. That weekend I used a 800 point Gundabad force with zero bows (more on that in a future article if the wonderful lads running this blog will have me back) using both Azog and Bolg. I was faced by Corsairs and a wall of Crossbow, so I hid and hid and well you get it. Losing models slowly without making much progress forward meant my strength and 50% of my points in Azog and Bolg did not get to do much. As I discussed with my opponent Aaron, who got 3rd overall, it would have been considerably better to call that Heroic march early and get some Orcs in their face sooner rather than later. The final lesson for today was highlighted in the first round of day 2. Pre-measuring; information is king and having it and understanding it is key. In this example vs Isengard scouts I moved my Orcs up the 6 inches to get me closer to charging next turn. What that actually meant was my opponent could wrap around my line and get the flank and traps he wanted, if I'd just pre-measured those distances and stayed the 7 inches away we could have fought on much more equal footing.

 


So far the step into the competitive world of the Middle Earth Strategy Game has been phenomenal, and has me without a doubt hooked. The community has been excellent and very welcoming and the game itself has proven to be deep and challenging. I appreciate I am preaching to the choir here but I couldn’t let this opportunity pass without pointing it out. It would be great to hear from people who’re taking the first steps themselves, or if talking about Middle Earth strategy and lists is something you enjoy, throw me a line and help shape future articles. Tune in again soon as I discuss the lists I used, the choices that led me there and what I learnt about them.

Grudge Match 2: This time it's Grudgier (A Team tournament preview)

 This Saturday (26th Feb) sees the return of the Grudge Match between your erstwhile heroes at Drawn Combat vs the nefarious villains of Rebel Base Gaming. The format will be a 4 round 500 point tournament, but with a twist in that the last round you will be randomly assigned one of the 16 armies that have been brought to the event! We have drawn the first round so lets have a little preview. It's worth mentioning that RBG won the first Grudge Match (definitely cheated, it's the only explanation) so we here at DC are fighting for pride this time!

(To address the Mumak in the room, I know we did one of these previews for the first Grudge Match and never followed up but that's because sadly several of team DC were struck with COVID and/or childcare issues right before the event and so it went ahead with reduced numbers. It was a bit of a bummer for those who couldn't go so we didn't try to hard to follow up. Hopefully this time will be different!)

Scenario 1: Clash By Moonlight

Game 1: Rivendell (RBG) v Army of Thror/Iron Hills (DC)

Erestor (General)

1 High elf; bow, spear
3 High elf, shield, spear
1 High elf; banner, shield, spear
1 High elf, shield
6 Rivendell Knight, shield

High Elf Captain; Horse, Lance, Shield
7 High elf; spear, shield
2 High elf, shield

VS

Thror
8 guardians of the King

Dain on pig
2 goat riders
7 Iron Hills dwarves with spears


Elves vs Dwarves in our first matchup. The Elves' shooting is severely hampered by the scenario but will become more deadly up close. That being said the Dwarves' throwing axes are going to be extremely lethal. This game could well be decided in the shoot phase!






Game 2: Shire/Lothlorien (RBG) v Corsairs (DC)


Meriadoc, Captain of the Shire Pony, Shield
13x Hobbit Militia: Axe, Battlin' Brandybucks

Farmer Maggot 

Grip, Fang and Wolf
8x Hobbit Archer

Haldir, Elf Bow, Heavy Armour
4x Galadhrim Knight, Shield
5x Wood Elf Warrior, Bow, Wood Elf Spear
5x Wood Elf Warrior: Wood Elf Spear
Wood Elf Warrior: Banner, Wood Elf Spear


VS

Dalamyr
8 Corsairs: Shields
8 Corsairs: Spears

Delgamar
6 Corsairs: Shields
6 Corsairs: Spears
3 Corsairs: Bows

Bo’sun
5 Corsairs


This is going to be another deadly shooting battle but, thanks to the scenario, the Corsairs have been given a slight reprieve from being murdered at a distance. Once the lines clash the pirates will mull through the Hobbits but could come up against an issue in the Elves. 





Game 3: Grand Army of the South (RBG) v Ugluk's Scouts (DC)

Mumak Warleader
5 Mahud Warriors; Blowpipe
6 Haradrim warriors; Bow
1 Haradrim Warrior, Spear
1 Haradrim Warrior

VS

Ugluk
5 Scouts: Shields
6 Scouts: Bows
1 Scout

Mauhur
6 Scouts: Shields
5 Scouts: Bows
1 Scout: Banner, shield

Grishnakh
8 Orcs: Spears
4 Orcs: Shields

The Mumak Warleader! I know I am supposed to be rooting for DC but THE MUMAK WARLEADER! I do think there will be a lot of squished Orcs and Uruks but the Scouts have a lot of Might to fling at heroic moves, and with Animosity the elephant could get in trouble quickly!






Game 4: Minas Tirith (RBG) v Minas Tirith (DC)

(RBG)

Faramir (Heavy Armour, armoured horse, shield, lance, leader)
2 guard of the fountain court (shield)
2 knights of minas tirith (shield)
5 rangers (one spear)
2 warriors of minas tirith (shield)
3 warriors of minas tirith (shield/spear)
1 warrior of minas tirith (shield/banner)

Hurin (horse)
2 guard of the fountain court (shield)
2 knights of minas tirith (shield)
4 rangers
3 warriors of minas tirith (shield)
3 warriors of minas tirith (shield/spear)

VS

(DC)
Boromir: Horse, Shield, Banner
5 Warriors: Shield
3 Fountain Court Guard: Shields
3 Rangers: Spears
2 Knights: Shields

Hurin: Horse
5 Warriors: Shields
3 Rangers: Spears

It's a family feud! Boromir vs Faramir, who will show the most quality? Boromir has the Might and Fight advantage (so does his battle line) but has sacrificed troop numbers to do so. Can he Might his way to victory? A barrel of tomatoes to the winner!





Game 5: Vanquishers (RBG) v Easterlings/Khand (DC)

Saruman the Wise
Galadriel Lady of Light

Gandalf the Grey

VS

Amdur on horse
5 acolytes
4 warriors with pike and shield

Captain on horse
4 acolytes
4 warriors with pike and shield

Khandish chieftain on chariot
3 Khandish horsemen


Yes that's right, dear reader, the scoundrels at RBG brought Vanquishers. Sigh. It's a shame the depths some will stoop to just for a win. The chariots have had issues with Vanquishers in the past but now they have been toned down a notch will they get ground under the wheels? I think this game is going to have a sad loser either way!

Game 6: Harad/Corsairs (RBG) v Depths of Moria (DC)

Dalamyr -Leader
5x Black Numenorean
5x Corsair Spear and Shield
6x Arbalester 

Suladan on Horse
3x Serpent Rider
5x Haradrim with spear
1x Haradrim with bow
8x Haradrim with bow and spear

VS

Balrog
6x Goblins with Shields
6x Goblins with Spears

Goblin Captain with Shield
4x Goblins with Shields
3x Goblins with Spears
3x Goblins with Bows

3 Heroes of Legend on this table, and a scenario that wants you to kill heroes. I think that Goblin Captain is going to be hiding for a lot of this game! Can the RBG squad deal with the Balrog? Time will tell...

Game 7: Mordor (RBG) v Erebor Reclaimed (DC)

Witchking; Crown, Fellbeast, 3/16/3

4 Morannons; Shield
3 Morannons; Shield, Spear

Gorbag; Shield
3 Morannon; Shield
3 Morannonss, Shield, Spear

Kardush

3 Morannons; Shield
3 Morannons; Shield, Spear

VS

Thorin: Goat
8 Iron Hills Dwarves: Shields, Spears
1 Iron Hills Dwarf: Shield, Spear, Banner
1 Goat Rider

Dwalin: Goat
8 Iron Hills Dwarves: Shields, Spears

Big heroes vs inescapable magic. I feel like I've said a thing or two about this before... Once the lines clash the Dwarves should have an advantage but I don't think those two mighty heroes are going to do much except get Transfixed and the Felbeast-ed. No need to worry though, if Thorin just rolls 6s he'll be laughing!





Game 8: Ugluk's Scouts (RBG) v Angmar (DC)


Ugluk 
7 Scouts (shield) 

6 Scouts (bows)
2 Scouts 

Mauhur
6 Scouts (shield) 
6 Scouts (bows) 

Grishnakh 
12 Orcs (spear and shield) 

VS

The Witch-king of Angmar: Crown of Morgul, 2x Extra Fate, 3x Extra Might, 3x Extra Will, Horse
7x Angmar Orc Warrior: Shield
7x Angmar Orc Warrior: Shield, Spear
1x Angmar Orc Warrior: Banner, Shield, Spear

Buhrdûr, Troll Chieftain

Barrow-wight
5x Angmar Orc Warrior: Shield

6x Angmar Orc Warrior: Shield, Spear

Yeah, I know, we brought Angmar. Sorry. No Gulavhar though so not too bad. The sheer number of Scouts is scary but they are definitely outclassed in the hero department. Could be down to the courage checks in this one!

So there we go? A stunning victory for DC? Inevitable really. But the real question is who will get the Mumak in round 4?! We'll let you know who did (and who won I suppose) next week!

February FAQ: Lady of Loneliness and Vanquishers Vanquished?

Oh boy, we've got a new FAQ and its a big shake up for some competitive pieces.

Firstly, the elephant in the room, Vanquishers. Whilst these haven't been quite the meta terror everyone feared, they are certainly not fun to play against. Well with a few quick changes they have been nerfed down to "fun tier" along with the rest of the all hero armies. Now you must include Gandalf (by far the weakest of the pieces) and you can't cast some key spells into combat (Sorcerous Blast, Wrath of Bruinen, Nature's Wrath). This means that there is now a 470 point spend just to write the word "Vanquishers" at the top of your army list which is crazy. Gandalf also adds the least to this list, and takes up one of the slots, of which you were generally only getting 4. So either no more combat prowess from Elrond or no more healing from Raddy. Added to this, you now have to actually fight your enemies fairly (i.e. when they are on their feet) since you can't yeet them out of a combat with spells. So long Vanquishers, you will not be missed.

Sticking with the theme of oppressive wizards, Galadriel Lady of Light is now a Hero of Fortitude. This means she can no longer be allied into yellow alliances, which was virtually everyone except Rivendell, without bringing a White Council buddy along with her. In practical terms, she will now no longer see play, it's as simple as that. The cheapest other member of the WC is 130 points so it'd cost 260 to bring her along. No chance of that happening. Personally I quite like soup lists as they are a bit different, but they will now be missing a key ingredient and will not be as delicious anymore. This could also have a knock on effect on Boromir of Gondor as these were often taken together since LoL covers Boz's weaknesses really well. He's still very cheap for what he does though so maybe I'm wrong. The other effect this may well have is allowing some Evil lists to take the top spots. LoL was particularly effective against Angmar lists, so I think they are going to come out and claim their former glory again. 

Next, Dragon Cult Acolytes may now be taken by Dragon Knights. This one really shouldn’t surprise anyone – we all saw it coming, and a lot of people were already house ruling it. As Acolytes are the mid-point in a Black Dragon’s training to become a Dragon Knight, it only made sense that they’d be eligible in their warband. This really does help them to find a home on the table, though. List building for Easterlings can get tricky, especially at small points values, and Dragon Knights have always been tough to include due to their restrictions – they can only take 6 models, and only models with the ‘black dragon’ upgrade. The trouble is, Black Dragons really wanted to be in with the rest of your pike block – so taking one or two Dragon Knights resulted in an awkward shuffle to try to get your models in place at the start of the game, particularly for scenarios with maelstrom deployment. Thankfully, this change will mean that both Acolytes and Dragon Knights can deploy where they want to be, which is generally on the flanks. This should help Acolytes, which have been tricky to slot into an Easterling list, to find a more natural home. A good change which will presumably just tide us over until the ‘Defense of the North’ supplement arrives.

Lastly, the Lord of Rivendell himself got a slight adjustment in the wording of his 'Foresight' ability. Not the biggest change but makes a little sense when it comes to the ebb and flow of a battle. That being that he actually needs to be present to make a difference and not waiting to arrive on the board. I hadn't personally seen this come in to effect pre-FAQ, with Elrond using his Foresight points in a maelstrom/reinforcements scenario. Again, not the biggest change but pays to have it clarified! 

What did you make of the new changes? Were the nerfs to Galadriel and the Vanquishers too heavy, not enough or even handed? Let us know in the comments!

500 Under 50 - Corsairs of Umbar

500 (Almost) Under 50 – Corsairs of Umbar

Dan Stu: We’re really getting to the tricky end of our 500 under 50 lists now! Safe to say that any of the remaining armies require a bit of creativity, a bit of hobbying, and perhaps bending the rules slightly in order to meet the criteria.

That being said, we’re still trying to come in as close to budget as possible, and while we’ll need a few conversions, these will be as newcomer-friendly as possible.

This time, it’s the Corsairs of Umbar, which I previously covered in my ‘Noob’s Perspective’ article way back in January of last year. They’re a fantastic army that lend themselves to fast-paced, bloody engagements with tons of casualties on both sides. They also have many tricks up their sleeves, from the ludicrous amounts of throwing weapons to the ‘backstabbers’ special rule which, if used correctly, can be absolutely devastating.

For a cheap entry into this army, there are really two ways you can go, and both have their pros and cons. Let’s dive in!

Option 1: Heroes and Elites

Shopping List:
1 box of ‘Corsairs of Umbar’ (£26)
1 box of ‘the Lords of Umbar’ (£20)
2 boxes of ‘Corsair Arbalesters’ (£16.40)
Total: £62.40

Alright, we’re just over budget, but this isn’t our worst offence to date!

If we want to use everything here (which we do), we have too many bows. 30 warriors gives us a bow limit of 10, and we have 14. We’ll need to convert 4 of the Corsair archers into plain old Corsairs with hand weapons (no shields). Fortunately, there are some archers in the box with outstretched bow arms, and these shouldn’t look too strange with a sword in their hand instead of a bow.

Assuming that you have a few swords lying around in your bits box, it will be straightforward – you can either snip off both parts of the bow and replace it with the blade and pommel of a sword. Or, even easier, if you have a spare hand holding a sword, you can just snip the bow hand off your Corsair and replace it with a sword hand.

To-do list:
Snip the bows or bow hands off 4 Corsairs with Bow. Replace these with swords or sword hands to make 4 Corsairs of Umbar with hand weapons only.

If you have any spare shields or spears in your bits box, you can add shields or spears to 2 of these to fill out the points limit.

Army List:

Dalamyr, Fleetmaster of Umbar
8 x Corsair of Umbar with Shield
8 x Corsair of Umbar with Spear

Hasharin
2x Corsair of Umbar
2 x Corsair of Umbar with Bow
3 x Corsair Arbalester

Hasharin
2x Corsair of Umbar
2 x Corsair of Umbar with Bow
3 x Corsair Arbalester

Totals: 498pts, 33 models, 4 Might, 10 bows

Okay, so this is an unusual Corsairs list. It’s relatively lean and elite by Corsair standards. You’ve got your main body of pirates, but also a high proportion of Arbalesters, as well as three high-impact heroes who will really need to pull their weight to make this list work. This is a bit different to normal Corsair lists, who can solve a lot of their problems by throwing bodies at them!

33 models isn’t very low at 500pts, but it is low by Corsair standards – given how easily they drop, a bad round could see you fighting at a numbers defecit, particularly if they have some nasty shooting. This is not a normal thing for Corsairs! You’ll really have to leverage your Arbalesters to make it work. Remember, while you’re strong at range with your crossbows, your regular line troops will take a lot of casualties in the return fire, so you’ll have to deploy carefully and choose targets well.

Dalamyr and the Hasharins are very good at killing things – they all have 3 attacks with Bane of Kings, so wounding will be no problem. However, their offense is locked behind fight 5, and their defense is woeful. Plus, with 4 might across the whole list, you won’t be Striking much, if at all. These guys can be absolute Hero-seeking missiles, but they can’t take a punch. They’ll have to tread the line between hunting Heroes, and helping out your troops by thinning out the enemy herd.

Certainly not a bad list – but perhaps not a natural fit for the Corsairs’ playstyle. Having said that, if you were looking to expand your Corsairs army to 800pts or higher, you’d absolutely be looking to buy all of these kits (Dalamyr is a must for any large Corsair army) so it’s a fantastic starting point.


Strengths:
* Lethal at range
 *High-offense Heroes
* Sets you up well for expanding your Corsairs
* WYSIWYG-compliant

Weaknesses:
* May struggle with numbers
* Fragile, low-might Heroes
* Requires a little conversion work and some spare bits
* Weak to cavalry and bow fire

Option 2: The Pirate Horde

Shopping list:
2 boxes ‘Corsairs of Umbar’… And that’s it!
Total: £52

The elephant in the room – there are no Heroes on your shopping list. This is because we’re going to convert 2 Bosuns and 2 Captains from the normal Corsair models. Converting troops in to captains is a tried-and-true process, and there are a few ways you could do it - rummaging around in your bits box for a fancy helmet, sword, or some other identifying piece of wargear, or go for the old ‘put him on a big rock’ approach!

However, the tricky part of this is that we need to differentiate the Bosuns from the Captains. Here, I think it’s best to go for colour coding – for example, yellow tunics for Bosuns, and red for Captains. Not very elegant but it will get the job done. And the good thing is that bright colours won’t look out of place on your pirates!

Alternatively, you could always buy the 2 boxes containing and Bosun and Captain each. However, this is an eye-watering £30 on top, and neither model is that spectacular - so I’d say you should only do this if you’re intent on ending up with a large WYSIWYG Corsairs army.

To-do list:

Convert 2 Corsairs of Umbar with bow in to Bosuns. Chop off the bows and replace them with swords as we did in the first list, and paint them a bright colour to distinguish them.
Convert 2 Corsairs of Umbar with shields into Captains. Stick them on a big rock and paint them an easy-to-spot colour. As we have so many Corsair models, you could always use a particular pose for Captains (such as the sumo wrestler pose) to make them easier to spot.

Army list:

Corsair Bosun
4 x Corsair of Umbar with Shield
3 x Corsair of Umbar with Spear
3 x Corsair of Umbar with Bow

Corsair Bosun
3 x Corsair of Umbar with Shield
3 x Corsair of Umbar with Spear
3 x Corsair of Umbar with Bow

Corsair Captain with Shield
3 x Corsair of Umbar with Shield
3 x Corsair of Umbar with Spear
3 x Corsair of Umbar with Bow

Corsair Captain with Shield
3 x Corsair of Umbar with Shield
3 x Corsair of Umbar with Spear
3 x Corsair of Umbar with Bow

Totals: 496pts, 41 models, 6 might, 12 bows

I think as a starting point, this is a far better representation of the Corsair Experience™ - which means a ton of bodies, a ton of fight 4, and a ton of throwing weapons. Quantity has a quality of its own!

With so many bodies, you’ll be outnumbering just about any other army, and while fragile, you’ve got a great fighting line of swords backed up by spears, all at fight 4. Backstabbers will be activating frequently, threatening even high defense targets like trolls. Your throwing weapons will do great work against just about anybody except dwarves and ghosts, and you can even threaten enemy Heroes by shooting into combats. If you kill your own guy, don’t worry – there are 41 more where he came from, and now the rest of your troops have an unobstructed shot.

Your heroes aren’t here to do much more than to provide might and to bring their mates along. The list tops out at Fight 4, so you’ll have an uphill struggle against most heroes. However, you’ve got a decent amount of might to call Heroic Moves, which is important to get your weapons thrown and to tie up Heroes with sacrificial Corsairs.

I’d say this is really one to think about if you’re reasonably confident with conversions, and are fairly sure you will be expanding up to 800pts or beyond. You will absolutely want 2 boxes of Corsairs eventually, so this will give you a great head start on that. Having 2 Bosuns and 2 Captains (even converted ones) will give you a lot of list-building flexibility, too, and the Lords of Umbar box is an obvious expansion point to bring in Dalamyr. Plus, if want to replace your Heroes with WYSIWYG models later on, you can just repaint a few robes and turn them back in to regular Corsairs!

Strengths:
* Loads of troops, good for Backstabbers
* Loads of throwing weapons
* 4 warbands is very solid at 500pts
* Great foundation for large Corsair armies
* Solid line of archers

Weaknesses:
* No big Heroes, no high fight values
* One-dimensional, fragile
* Requires a bit of conversion ability

Not WYSIWYG-compliant – conversions will need to be explained to your opponent (unless you want to drop £30 on 4 models :(

So we didn’t keep it under budget (this may be a running trend from now on...) but I think we did OK on this one! Keep your eyes peeled – we’re coming to the end of our 500 under 50 journey, and it’s only going to get sillier from here…

The Scouring of Che-Shire 5: Steve's Struggle of Strength

 Hello all! It's now time for my write-up in a weekend that started well in terms of results, but then slipped dramatically as the days went on. My goal however for the weekend was to at least meet my previous result at a previous Scouring event of going 2-4 so let's see how I got on! 

For the event I used one of my lockdown army projects - Lothlorien. I've always liked the aesthetic of the woodland elves compared to their Rivendell cousins (and have a display board in the pipeline) but I also just wanted to get them on the table for a weekend and work them out a bit more. Without further ado, my list:

Warband 1 - Lothlorien 249pts

Warband Leader - Galadriel - 130pts (Army Leader)

Galadhrim Knight (w/Elf Bow, Shield) - 21

2x Galadhrim Warrior (w/Shield, Spear) - 22

2x Galadhrim Warrior (w/Shield) [20pts]

Guard of the Galadhrim Court [12pts]

4x Wood Elf Warrior (w/Elf Bow, Wood Elf Spear) [44pts]

Warband 2 - Lothlorien 295pts
Warband Leader - Celeborn (w/Heavy Armour, Elven-made Hand-and-a-half Sword, Shield) - 150

Galadhrim Warrior (w/Banner, Spear) - 35

2x Galadhrim Warrior (w/Shield, Spear) - 22

2x Galadhrim Warrior (w/Shield) - 24

4x Wood Elf Warrior (w/Elf Bow, Wood Elf Spear) - 44

Warband 3 - Lothlorien 156pts

Rumil [85pts]

4x Galadhrim Warrior (w/Shield, Spear) - 44

3x Galadhrim Warrior - 27

31 Models, 3 Warbands, 9 Might, 8 Bows

I had two main reasons for building this list the way I did:

1. I've been hit hard by ranged armies lately (specifically the Assault on Helm's Deep Legendary Legion) so wanted to mitigate that somewhat with Galadriel's Blinding Light spell.

2. I really didn't want to buy multiple boxes of both the Galadhrim Warriors and Wood Elves.

I realise the list isn't the most competitive, but it's the most rounded I can make with the models I have available. I was also quite keen to give the Wood Elves a try as a cheaper method to get bows and spears into the list (admittedly at the cost of defence, but the wood elf spear shielding would be fun to use in a pinch!). Celeborn was intended to be the big beatstick of the army, with a backup of Court Guard to tie up any pesky lower Fight value heroes and Rumil rounding the roster out as an annoying wall.

Game 1  - Assassination Vs Sean Clarke's Riders of Eomer

Sean straight off the bat told me he was a newer player, so we decided to play the game slow and just take our time with it and not rush to meet finish before the clock ran out. I won't rattle on about tactics or go into much depth about this game as at the end of the day Sean was a lovely bloke to play against and was a pleasure to get him more acquainted with deeper parts of the game such as trapping and magic (including him getting off some good Sorcerous Blasts with Gandalf!) I did however manage to get Celeborn (my assassin) to take out his Captain (my target) a long with breaking his force not net me a 10-0 win. A good warm up to start the day, including reminding me of some rules a long the way!

Game 2 - Seize the Prize Vs Joe Pettit's Assault on Helm's Deep

The list that had driven me to go with Lothlorien in the first place...It was nice in some way to see that some preparation of mine had gone to good use. I did lack one thing in my force compared to Joe's however which gave him a crucial advantage - I had no heroes with Heroic March. With that he was able to safely Seize the Prize and pass it through his units to safety. The best part about this game though? With Celeborn scrapping through the pike block, he was caught unawares as the demolition team rolled in and took him out with one blast! This isn't quite as bad as it sounds however as the pike block now had a big hole in the middle of it, allowing some of my units to eventually skirt round and take the prize for Lothlorien and net an 8-1 win, although that score does not really reflect just how close the game came.

Game 3 - Contest of Champions Vs Kalman's Erebor Reclaimed/Thranduil's Halls

Galadriel is my leader, 0-12 loss. She did get to slap Dain in the face however.

Accurate depiction of mine and Kalman's reaction when Galadriel slapped Dain with her Nenya-hand.

Game 4 - Hold Ground Vs Ben Smith's Angmar

Day two, a fresh start (well as fresh as you can start on a hangover from the previous nights post-game festivities) and another army with the March advantage over mine. Also Gulhavar. Needless to say I was pretty nervous coming up against the big guy, but was relying on my army-wide Resistant to Magic to keep the Witch-King and Barrowight from shutting me down too much. Once more I was late to the central objective due to lack of March, but one plus side was that my maelstrom rolls meant my whole force was coming on from where I wanted them to and the initial engagements went well with a lucky arrow wound scored on Gully (who eventually got take down by Rumil). It does seem however that using the new Angmar dice with ands Angmar force does give you supernatural rolling powers (as I'm sure Ben will agree!). The 6's just kept on coming and they didn't stop coming leading to a lot of fights lost and very few orcs dead giving Ben the advantage on the centre objective to close the game out at 0-6. 

Game 5 - Breakthrough Vs Tim Elwess' Minas Tirith

Mine and Tim's first reaction when we saw our table was 'How on earth are we going to play this?'. We were on a Laketown board and ended up houseruling a few parts of the battlefield such as the large amount of ice present (we went for fun rules of if you fall in the water by failing a leap test, your model dies, and if you have to back up from a fight into the water, you die) which led to some fun interactions. Like with the Helm's Deep legion on the day before, I was scared by the double trebuchet that Tim has brought with him - even with Blinding Light from Galadriel. Against the D6 of Minas Tirith I just wasn't scoring the kills that I needed (a common occurrence on day two of me not killing a whole lot) and Pippin turned into an absolute beast all of a sudden, taking out two elves on his own! I played the objectives as closely as I could, but unfortunately due to Gandalf's mobility and the stoicism of Ingold I was caught out in a few places and couldn't secure any objectives purely for myself leading to a 0-5 loss.

Game 6 - Divide & Conquer Vs Mark F's Return of the King LL

The final game of the tournament...safe to say I was pretty exhausted at this point. With both me and Mark on 2-3, we decided we'd just have a laugh with this game to not give ourselves a bigger headache after such a long weekend! Once more, I was hampered by lack of Heroic March, with Aragorn getting the Dead to sprint to a good choke point against the larger bulk of my advancing force. This is essentially where most of the game took place, with many an Immobilise on Aragorn in an effort to take him down. Many fights were won with Celeborn taking the lead but unfortunately not many wounds getting through. In the meantime, Rumil was sprinting with his warband towards the centre, and one archer of mine perched on top of a Hobbit hole to snipe two Warriors of the Dead! That only sound impressive when I tell you I killed a total of four models in this match! The long slog at the bottle neck eventually wore me down and when I did eventually lose fights, I was losing elves quick (especially to Legolas and Gimli). The lack of strength against a high defense enemy was yet again hampering me. Unfortunately, I lost the centre objective and it went downhill from there, leaving me with a 1-8 loss!

Summary

Once again, Scouring proves itself to be a great event, I started off strong, but just couldn't quite keep up the momentum. I've certainly learnt that with an infantry force I absolutely need Heroic March somewhere to give me a bit of mobility for objective grabs. The magic with Galadriel was great fun to use, but it's definitely a case of me being worried that she could be craftily taken out with her low defense and lack of combat capability. There were definitely a fair few tactical errors I made throughout my games which I'm taking heed of, but a large downfall for me was elves just lacking that killing power. Great at winning fights, just not great at finishing them! All in all a great tournament, a lot of fun had and some great opponents who I'm keen to play against once more!