Battle Report - Middle Earth Goblin Town Vs Reclamation of Osgiliath, Game 3 #MESBG

Afternoon #WarHamFam and #WarhammerCommunity I've been playing MESBG again at Warhammer World! We had signed up for a midweek event again, just 500pts, 3 games. But this time we went down the day before, had a game and stayed overnight, so we were fresh the next day to do battle. But the 

Here's my 500 point warband with the 'might bank' from the captain's to buff the King with the Scribe.

• The Goblin King with 10 Goblins
• Grinnah with 6 Goblins
• The Scribe with 6 Goblins
• Goblin captain with 6 Goblins
• Goblin captain with 6 Goblins

Third game and it was Andy Munt and his Reclamation of Osgiliath. Andy was by far the most efficient person I've gamed with. We set out everything particular about the armies, how we played and he kept track of my usage of Might and wounds. To have the spare brain capacity to do that and keep track of what your own army is doing, while freely admitting neither of us were playing for any competitive honours. I was just really impressed

• Boromir, Banner of Minas Tirith, Horse and Shield
• 2 Knights of Minas Tirith
• 5 Warriors of Minas Tirith with Shield
• 5 Warriors of Minas Tirith with Spear and Shield
• Madril, Captain of Ithilien
• 4 Rangers of Gondor with Spear
• 2 Rangers of Gondor
• 2 Warriors of Minas Tirith with Shield
• 2 Warriors of Minas Tirith with Spear and Shield

It's been over a week now and I've forgotten a lot of what happened. I think the game was Assassination, we had to kill enemy heroes, but Boromir has 6 Might! Anyway, having been caught out many times trying to defend small enclosed fields I sent my army round the outside.

And just kept going, with Andy saying he thought I was being much more aggressive than he expected. We had a couple more turns of trying to get a decent position, but I think we were over half way at this point and possibly the only thing that had died was a goblin the King had thrown. I did put a few goblins in the field though just in case they could be helpful

With time running out I think I barged a Ranger out of the way to get to Boromir but he was too far away. I did this knowing full well I'd probably be trapped the next turn and I was. But his blubbery mass was just too effective. They may have put one wound on him but Fate denied it so no VPs. Meanwhile my left flank was doing a bit better in that I'd trapped both cavalry I think it took a couple of turns but I was eventually able to take them down. But they weren't characters so no points for that.

I think we were quickly running out of time so we just played some of the more pivotal fights involving characters. Unfortunately I can't remember if the King died. All I know is the final score was 10:0 to Andy.

This was a good game, my only issue being that the tactical play we had at the beginning had to be abandoned recklessly just so we got stuck in. I really would have liked a bit more time on this one. I was a bit more successful in winning fights. There were quite a few more dead Gondorians, just not the ones that scored points. So as one-sided as the score says I once again left feeling that Goblin Town is a good list. I may well have come 40th out of 46 but I didn't feel beaten. Yes the Haradrim battle was a bit challenging but it's definitely a challenge I'd like us to explore in the shed to se ehow to counter it.

In the end Otty came 10th and Ben came 27th. But Ben actually won best painted miniature with his Radagast riding Gwaihir [giant eagle]. Absolutely well deserved.

We finished up with tea in Bugman's I had the pulled pork loaded fries, which were really good. Although the sweet chilli chicken strips Ben had also looked really nice.  

We have another midweek MESBG due in September. I may consider taking Scott's army of the dead, plus some of the Three Hunters. We'll have to see what makes sense. It might be too nuanced for me.

Battle Report - Middle Earth Goblin Town Vs Garrison of Ithilien, Game 2 #MESBG

Afternoon #WarHamFam and #WarhammerCommunity I've been playing MESBG again at Warhammer World! We had signed up for a midweek event again, just 500pts, 3 games. But this time we went down the day before, had a game and stayed overnight, so we were fresh the next day to do battle. But the 

Here's my 500 point warband with the 'might bank' from the captain's to buff the King with the Scribe.

• The Goblin King with 10 Goblins
• Grinnah with 6 Goblins
• The Scribe with 6 Goblins
• Goblin captain with 6 Goblins
• Goblin captain with 6 Goblins

Second game and it was Jonno Witts and his Garrison of Ithilien. This was his second game. I think he meant with this army, but I think he had played MESBG before, just a long time ago. But it felt like a mentoring role for me as I felt I had more experience, especially after 3 games in as many days.

• Faramir
• Frodo, Mithril coat, Sting, Elven Cloak
• Samwise, Elven cloak
• 5 Rangers of Gondor
• 1 Knight of Minas Tirith with Banner
• 4 Warriors of Minas Tirith with Bows
• Captain of Minas Tirith
• 5 Warriors of Minas Tirith with Shield
• 5 Warriors of Minas Tirith with Spear and Shield

So, Breakthrough - holding your own objective for 1, middle objectives for 1 or 3 if no enemy model and opponents objective for 3 or 5. 

With Jono not having any models on his home objective I was definitely sending my force up the middle.

But it also looked like my left flank was weakened so I sent The Scribe too, so it could be close to vanilla Captains to transfer Might to the King. As the banner came round the right villa I drew back out of sight so I could join up with either the King to break the right, or the left to hold the flank and speed bump my home.

The banner moved back, sending Sam and Frodo for my home, but I'd secured it with some spare goblins. Meanwhile my left flank was just holding the Wariors at bay. I could hardly damage them as their Defence was so high, but if I could slow them down... Meanwhile the King threw himself at Faramir's warband.

For some reason I thought I'd lost this already and pressed even more with the King. I advised Jono to move his banner to the right objective. I had moved too far off it, he didn't charge the lone gobbo on the corner of the ruin, because the King had caused terror. Better to secure the objective than risk failing a c a charge. However, the gobbo lost the duel, but survived the combat, moving back 1" into range of the objective. I speed bumped my home objective to stop the Hobbits scoring. Jono's home objective was mine for 3 I think.    

So the final score was 6:6 I think. The goblin that failed the duel but survived the combat snatching me a draw. Imagine if it had won the duel! Another great game and Jono was great to game with,

Battle Report - Middle Earth Goblin Town Vs Harad, Game 1 #MESBG

Afternoon #WarHamFam and #WarhammerCommunity I've been playing MESBG again at Warhammer World! We had signed up for a midweek event again, just 500pts, 3 games. But this time we went down the day before, had a game and stayed overnight, so we were fresh the next day to do battle. But the 

Here's my 500 point warband with the 'might bank' from the captain's to buff the King with the Scribe.

• The Goblin King with 10 Goblins
• Grinnah with 6 Goblins
• The Scribe with 6 Goblins
• Goblin captain with 6 Goblins
• Goblin captain with 6 Goblins

First game and it was Robert Burton with his 'Norse' themed Harad - his Mummakil was actually covered in sculpted green stuff fur to make it a Mammothkil!

• War Mumak of Harad
• Mahud Beast Master
• Gnarled Hide
• Tusk Weapons
• Rocks
• Rappelling Lines
• Sigils of Defiance
• 12 Haradrim Warriors
• 6 Bows
• Banner
• Warhorn

Not sure how much a battle report these are going to be as I can't remember much. I don't even recall the mission, I think there was just a central objective. Luckily I took a picture, it was Hold Ground, and a picture of Robert and I too!

I've never played against a Mumak, Scott had two and they're in the shed, but they've never been in a game I've played. I'm aware they play similar to the Great Beast [giant rhino], but they're rules are quite difficult to fathom. But I needed my drum back at least.

I tried to use the small ruin to get in the way of the Mumak. I threw a goblin at the Beast Master and missed.

But he was still able to swipe half a dozen goblins, each being trampled by 4 Strength 9 hits! However, I managed to get the Goblin King and 8 goblins into combat with it. No duel roll, just hits and the King singing re-roll 1's to wound. I think we got 3 or 4 wounds on it, with the re-rolls. I was quite chuffed until I discovered it had 10 wounds, I think I thought it'd be 6.

The Haradrim started lobbing rocks at the goblins, killing a fair few at Strength 6. A few rappelled down to get to the objective, but at least one died, possibly two. I recall thinking Robert had done more harm to his army than I had. I think one got to the objective, but the Mumak was holding it all by itself anyway! The Mumak trampled through the rest of the goblins, turned round, came back for the King who's blubbery mass just stopped it dead in its tracks. I think I managed to put another wound or two on it.

I didn't have much left at the end, just The Scribe. We totted up the points and thought it was 17:0, but then discovered that because I didn't have a banner I still automatically got 2 VPs, so it was 17:2

OK, so I had no chance against the Mumak. That seems like something I would have to practice against beforehand to develop a plan on how to cope. I had some prior experience with the Fangorn challenge of the Ents, but this just doesn't work the same. It was doable, the first round of wounds could have been one or two more with luck. Some better understanding of positioning might have kept more goblins alive to try and chip away at it but inexperience prevailed.

A good game and Robert's army was really interesting to play against.

Battle Report - Middle Earth Goblin Town Vs Moria Goblins, Game 0 #MESBG

Afternoon #WarHamFam and #WarhammerCommunity I've been playing MESBG again at Warhammer World! We had signed up for a midweek event again, just 500pts, 3 games. But this time we went down the day before, had a game and stayed overnight, so we were fresh the next day to do battle. But the 

Here's my 500 point warband with the 'might bank' from the captain's to buff the King with the Scribe.

• The Goblin King with 10 Goblins
• Grinnah with 6 Goblins
• The Scribe with 6 Goblins
• Goblin captain with 6 Goblins
• Goblin captain with 6 Goblins

And Otty's list:

• Drûzhag the Beastcaller, Bat Swarm, Mirkwood hunting Spider, 5 Fell Wargs
• Cave Drake and 1 Moria Goblin [bow]
• Moria Goblin Captain, 5 Goblins [shield], 3 Goblins [bow], 1 Goblin [spear]
• Moria Goblin Captain, 5 Goblins [shield], 3 Goblins [bow], 1 Goblin [spear]

Not sure how much a battle report these are going to be as I can't remember much. I don't even recall the mission, there were objectives and it was corner deployment. I didn't even get a selfie with Otty, so here's Ben and Otty deep in discussion at Bugman's beforehand.

I had the King, Scribe and Grinnah in the bottom right corner and the 2 Captains and their warbands in the top left. I called Heroic March twice with the King. The Scribe ensured all my goblins got the 3" bonus. I then used Grinnah to repay the spent Might

This was an attempt to outmanoeuvre the slower Moria Goblins and get to the central objective. Unfortunately the Cave Drake, Spider, Wargs and Bat Swarms have comparable speed after I marched. However, despite its fierceness the Drake's push forward ptu it close to the King. 

Who was able to smash it to bits with the help of his rabble and some poor dice rolls by Otty.

I have so little recollection of what actually happened but I think he'd been broken at some point and just started to lose models. I may have been broken too but the King was keeping everyone in check.

Then I was just rolling out of my skin - five 6's in a row.

The Kin just brutalised everyone, and being my General next to the central objective scored a lot of VP's alongside the other captured  objectives. Not sure what the score was but I think I won convincingly this time round.

Bugman's is a great venue, the coffee is decent.

This caramel brownie, was a little dry but very rich and almost decent value for the size of the beast!

We stayed at the Nottinghamshire Golf resort for the evening and had their Stack Burger [£17.95] with fries and 2 onion ring. The second best burger I've ever had. No gimmicks, just good quality ingredients, excellently prepared.

Battle Record - Middle Earth Goblin Town Vs Moria Goblins #MESBG 07/06/26

Afternoon #Warhammer Community I've been playing MESBG again in preparation for going to Warhammer World! It was Otty and I for this Sunday night reminder of how to play the game, get used to his new Moria army and remind me how to play my Goblin Town.

Oh boy, I can't remember what the mission was, I think there are objectives dotted around. I have to protect mine and capture/destroy Otty's.

The usual singing rabble.

Otty has a custom Moria army, built around the rules Drûzhag the Beastcaller, but made as early history Sauron. He's accompanied by his vampire girlfriend [bat swarm], a giant Fell Warg [Mirkwood Hunting Spider] a Cave Drake, Wargs and Goblin Warriors, all with head swaps!

I think I got priority and headed up the board, but sent some goblins back to my objectives

I completely failed to screen The Scribe and he was killed by a Goblin archer. Lesson learned. The Cave Drake smashed through the trees but I sent some gobbos back to try and screen the objectives.

They weren't much of a speed bump, but Otty has some awful Duel roll's. I think I failed to capitalise after winning one and then somehow a Goblin did put a wound on the Drake. 

Meanwhile I committed the Goblin King to go for Otty's objectives. He fought a Goblin Captain at one point and captured him, putting him in his crotch pouch to score a bonus VP.

The Drake was joined by 2 Wargs.

And I think this proved too much, with Drûzhag enraging the Drake .

The King went for the Warg [hunting spider] while the rest of the rabble tied up the Moria Goblins and try to destroy his objective.

The ebasts continued to savage my defence.

I kept the 'spider' occupied and headed for the middle objective.

But the beasts were surrounding my objectives too. I may have kept the last Warg away fromt he one near the tower.

I can't remember what the score was. I don't recall if that Goblin King prisoner made the difference but it was a lot of fun, as usual. Otty was dismissive of The Scribe, but that was because I put it in a vulnerable position. I will try not to do that on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, they have set up a new Bolt Action Operation Sea Lion board with a whole new German force that just seems to have appeared from nowhere. 

I think they're going to the Phalanx wargames event to showcase the board and this was a test.

Much more terrain than the last time we played.

It feels like an actual village now.