Not a Battle Report - Middle Earth Battle Strategy Game - Charge of the Rohirrim 2.0

Afternoon #WarHamFam and #WarhammerCommunity I've been playing #MESBG. I know no one is really interested in these but I need to document  the bare minimum for my Hobby Season as 'continue to play games' is on my TO DO LIST. Otty and I decided to have a got the Charge of the Rohirrim from the Two Towers again. 

Now I call this 'not  a battle report' and that's evidenced by the fact I had thought I was the Rohirrim in this but I think not, as that's clearly Otty measuring his first turn move.

So I guess I was the Orcs this time around, but I still love the anticipation in this charge. Otty had re-jigged the force compositions again - more Rohirrim, but also the Orcs had a smattering of crossbows for some long range effectiveness.

I think I was a little lucky and killed a couple of Rohirrim as they closed, I think one turn was relatively effective - 2 or 3 kills which was really surprising and lucky for me. But, the next turn they whiffed and so I suppose it balances out

And they come together. Obviously I've no idea who had priority, if I did it'd be a battle report. But I think although I did receive a number of casualties and it looked like the Rohirrim had just about broken through on their left flank I think it wasn't quite as successful a charge as Otty had hoped.

I may well had lost a few troops, but I think I won priority, or did some heroic charges and 'with me' I was able to tie up a lot of Otty's cavalry so he couldn't charge again [although it does look like they have charge counters on a fair few, I dunno].

But there are significantly less horses here, 5 or 6 less, which is a massive loss for Otty.

I think I managed to blunt Otty's charge again, at which point he was regretting choosing not to do an Heroic Charge in the previous turn. His force was becoming scattered, but even worse, the dice were abandoning him too.

Another catastrophic turn for Otty. trapping a lot of his horse lords meant I was able to overwhelm him with pikes and warriors. Another 5 or so down.

I think my dice were on fire and Otty's had all but left at this stage, just Gandalf and two knights left which i think wins me the game.

Gandalf may escape and live to fight another day but he'll need another 5 days to recover the Rohirrim he led to slaughter in this doomed charge.

It's amazing how fascinating a game can be when it is fundamentally a head on charge. No objectives, no terrain, just a series of combats, rolling for priority, choosing whether to utilise Might to fight first and then how you position your forces to hamper your opponent. And then when the dice desert them... on the one hand it's hilarious but on the other it's perfect generalship 😉

Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game - Moria Cave Troll - TO DONE!

Afternoon #WarHamFam and #WarhammerCommunity I've been #PaintingWarhammer on my #MESBG Moria Troll and he is complete and I'm pretty chuffed.

 He is still bright and vibrant, moreso than MESBG usually exhibits I think, but I really like it.

I still managed to hold onto some of the Bahama Blue, the turquoise and Heavy Red wash. 

The brighter turquoise helps define the many scales on its back with the red loin cloth helping to tie in with the red in his skin. 

Although there's no legitimate connection between the two I think it helps with the palette.

In some respects it was really easy and simple to do, in fact some of the highlights on the tummy are the first ones I applied, it's just shading and glazes that subsequently added all the tones to it.

I think it just adds a lot of variety to its flesh, making it more interesting.

Perhaps, it could have been executed with more precision and blending but I just think it works even at this economic level of detail.

I couldn't quite settle on the Dirty Down Rust for the hammer, so it had some Rust Wash and weathering powders to make it more orange, which I'm much happier with.

Close-up of his back scales -lessons learned fromt he Blood Bowl Troll, thank you!

And the scales on his thigh came out OK too, with splashes of blue and red in places to give the illusion of mottled tones of skin - slap-dash, not slap-chop 😉

And with that a GREAT Big RUSTY Stamp of Approval to go with his Great Big RUSTY hammer and chain.

Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game - Moria Cave Troll

Afternoon #WarHamFam and #WarhammerCommunity I've been #PaintingWarhammer a #MESBG Moria Cave Troll. I may well have finished this before the Orc Blood Bowl Team, I used it as an interlude to overcome whatever issues I had with applying my rust effects.

But this was not without issue either as I had applied my Vallejo Extra Opaque Heavy Red wash in places to give some added colour.

And I think it had worked, it certainly looked more interesting. As I look at it now I think I'd had pangs for the missed simplicity of the previous state but luckily I do not feel the same about it now as perhaps I initially felt about my Orc Team.

Here's the best example I've had so far for Dirty Down Rust. I tried storing the bottle upside down, so the gunk could settle in the lid - easier to get to

And for the most part it worked, just a little too much on the chain though. I also went in and did the scales in the same way I would do chitin plates for my Tyranids.

This was just the first highlights. Luckily I'd solved the issue of making them stand out on the Blood Bowl Troll, keeping the Heavy Red wash visible between the scales.

I sorted the yellow eyes and teeth and his loin cloth, just some black leather bits to highlight next, all the back scales and fix the rust.

He's getting there.

Not a Battle Report - Middle Earth Battle Companies

Afternoon #WarHamFam and #WarhammerCommunity - I've been playing #MESBG [Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game] at Otty's again. Oh man it's becoming such a tragedy that I don't have the time to complete these battle reports so soon after the event so I have some semblance of what went on. I was playing Liam's elves in this game and once again pivotal dice rolls made the game. I'm not sure I'll be annotating the battle as it happened but just an overall commentary throughout. This was the first time Liam had faced me with the two Cave Trolls, he didn't even know I'd added a second to my warband.

He was not a happy bunny! I think he had 5 or 6 re-rolls because of the lower value of his warband compared to mine.

However, I was very much dreading that I would squander my points advantage and snatch defeat from the jaws of victory for most of the game.

It was an accurate portent though as ultimately I did lose. That was in part because I was broken and then most of my army fled the field. 

This gave me a new insight to one of the weaknesses of Moria Goblins that I hadn't really experienced up to this point - their shocking Courage value.

It was also interesting to face Liam's Elves because I was not only reminded once again of how tough some of them are, but how accurate they were with their bows. Their arrows weren't worth anything, but they could hit me all day long.

Eventually some arrows did stick though, hence why I was broken.

But Liam's dice were utterly cursed and this roll elicited a laugh/cry from my throat that I don't think has ever passed my lips before in my entire life.

What didn't help was that some of my dice were absolutely on point. 

And these three 6s did not go down well with whatever squashing, rending or throwing my Goblins and Trolls were attempting at the time.

But ultimately I think his Elves, which had taken up defence in the ruined farmhouse, proved much higher quality than my goblins and the rout followed swiftly.

It was a little frustrating to yet again fail to deliver on both the two Cave Trolls and the significant advantage in points. Liam also gained 5 or 6 bonus Influence points for the win and although I think one of his models died outright he was easily replaced with plenty of Influence left over after maxing out his warband. I foolishly pointed out the Seeing Stone item he could purchase that allows him to roll a D6 every turn and on a 6 he chooses who has priority. An awesome item which reminds me that was the mission - there were scattered relics across the board but I don't think you got anything at the end if you held them. However, it did seem appropriate that he would then have a Seeing Stone in his inventory after such an event. I expect this advice to come back to haunt me at a later date!

Middle Earth Moria Goblin Prowlers - TO DONE!

Afternoon #WarHamFam and #WarhammerCommunity I've been #PaintingWarhammer on my Moria Goblin Prowlers for #MESBG It still smarts how I didn't realise it wouldn't be that much more for twice as many of them. It's actually worse that I'm not a huge fan of the actual stats

They're an promotion for archers, but you end up with less range.

They have some extra rules - double handed weapons, backstabber and throwing knives, which means a little more finesse and understanding  is needed. That's something I have in short supply.

But, I'll be storing them at Otty's alongside the rest of my warband so if he ever needs [just] 4 Prowlers [with my kitbashed one] he may make use of them.

I added some Incubi Darkness and Dark Reaper highlights to the black cloth for some variety.

The common red hoods and darker clothing for hiding in the shadows seemed appropriate. Naturally this is my favourite, mainly because the eyes seemed to have worked.

Having just done these I've also got another Blackshield with spear kitbashed by Otty and he also had a spare Moria Goblin King Durbûrz he won in a much better ebay auction to paint up...

So, the first GREAT Big RUSTY Stamp of Approval for the 2022/23 Hobby Season.