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 Strategy Game - Charge of the Rohirrim

Afternoon #WarHamFam and #WarhammerCommunity I've been playing #MESBG again. I genuinely wish I had more time and was more organised. It frustrates me that I can't get these battle reports properly recorded but they just take too long. Even if it was just for my own records it would appease my tortured soul. Instead you'll get some photos I'm compelled to share with limited context, uderming any effort to bother going through them!

Anyway, Otty and I decided to play the Charge of the Rohirrim from the Two Towers a few weeks back. He's been playing this scenario a lot, adding elements to both factions to create a more film accurate game, but still keep some balance between the two factions. I ended up with the Rohirrim and he was the Uruk Hai.

I think you can guess how the first few images are going to look. The Horse Lords move forward, closing the gap. He has no ranged weaponry, while I have bows and some throwing spears. With no terrain to worry about this comes down to positioning, judging distances, who gets turn priority and then how you go about taking advantage of heroic moves, combat and charge tactics.

Otty moved the Uruk Hai forward, soI was probably within firing range here and started to take some pot-shots with my archers. 

I then decided to move over to the right flank, forcing Otty to make decisions about what to do.

His line shrank back and started to condense into the top right corner. I kept out of charge range, but in throwing spear range while a group of archers halted their charge to take aimed shots at the orcs as they fell back. I wanted Gandalf to sorcerous blast one of the Uruk Hai off the board, but we couldn't find if it was possible in the rules. 😔

As I reformed, Otty fell back to the edge of the battlefield, which put me out of range for my throwing spears.

But what arrows did find their mark were true and 8 Uruk Hai were slain before our lines had even met.

More repositioning, I was convinced that corralling him into this corner was going to allow me apply overwhelming force when they charged in.

Charge!

Unfortunately I misjudged the charge and only half my force made it into the Uruk Hai to take advantage of Gandalf's blinding light.

After my dice had been running hot there was a sudden swing in fortune and Otty managed to bring down quite a few horse and riders. He was even able to reach my back line.

I reformed and charged again but the forces of evil started to swamp my cavalry.

Otty's dice rolling was brutal, with his banners being particularly effective about bringing about changes to the outcome of our combats.

At this stage I think I was broken and Gandalf was consigned to skirting the background rallying the troops so they didn't run away but the outcome was almost inevitable now.

The slow demise of the great horse lords

A few Uruk Hai fall, but more Rohirrim run for the hills. Going...

...going...

...gone! Eomer falls and with the second character gone I lose the game.

It's amazing how much fun I can have from a game I have no 'investment' in. That seems misleading as I've bought Moria Goblins, but I mean this is a random scenario, these aren't my figures, I've not brought them with me. It's just freeing to see what happens. If I lose I don't feel bad, if I win I don't feel amazing - it's just the experience and admittedly it's random dice roles that define the outcome but it's those outcomes that create the drama and humour. I love it to bits I just wish 40k  was so straightforward and engaging, because I've invested so much in that.