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 Post subject: My journey through learning the SBG-rules
PostPosted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 12:02 pm 
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Well, here it starts...
Last few days I've been reading the beginners rules for the SBG and part of the advanced rules... and yesterday-evening I had my first try to get the basic rules in my hands.
This will be my little diary through learning the rules-system, including all stupidity and blunders :lol:

I had set up a little play-area with some scenery of the Mines of Moria box (leaving the tomb out) and had a go with Dwarves vs. Goblins...

Since it was only to learn to toggle the dices I didn't care much about points or having a leader etc... just a random bunch of Dwarves being encountered by a random horde of Goblins which had to moe around a bit and encounter a close-combat or two.

On one side I placed three little groups of Dwarves, 1 group of 4 with a shield and handweapon, a group of 4 with 2-handed axes, and in the middle of both groups I had 4 dwarf-archers.
On the other side I had 3 groups of Goblins, on the left and on the right, two equal groups of each 3 with shield and sword and each of them backed up with a spear-wearing Goblin.
In the middle I had placed 6 archers...
So to start with, I had 12 Dwarves vs. 18 Goblins.

It all started quite relaxed... untill turn two... I was playing it completely wrong, so I had to restart. I had first started the Dwarves, doing all phases of the turn, and then did the Goblins all phases of the turn... which is the case for Warhammer.
So, 5 minutes later, I learned to handle first move for priority-team, and then move the others before moving over to the shooting... :oops:

After the restart, I learned dices are evil. Although priority went almost always to the Dwarves, they couldn't hit a single Goblin, while the Goblins had all the luck and love of the 6's on the dices.
So after 5 Dwarves were slayed, the first two Goblins fell... shot by their own kind... :roll:

I decided to ignore the 'broken forces' rules, since my game would have been over already without even having a chance to let a Dwarf smash one of those darn exploded frogs...
And then luck turned to my side (yes yes, I can't hide my love for the Dwarves...). Since I had a small raised area, I made a Dwarf jump up and defend it like a barrier.
I charged the Dwarf with Goblins and managed to slaughter two. But by then, other greenskins neared the fight and with their cave-dwelling-ability the Dwarf's luck was gone to the bottom of Khazad-dum.

While on the other side of the battleground 4 Dwarves with shield had been hacking up about 7 goblins in total.

In the end, all Dwarves died while 6 Goblins survived... and I had enjoyed this little starters game :-)

Now, after reading the rules I used again, I came to understand I made some more mistakes... such as having a Dwarf attacked by two Goblins with sword and shield in close combat, while both being backed up by spears. As I understand well, backing up with spears isn't allowed in one-on-two close-combats (but correct me if I'm wrong please). Need to re-read that part once again :dizzy: (it all sounds so easy while reading, but while playing, I forget it all)

Also, today I looked at the profiles again and realized another foolish mistake :oops:
the "F" in a profile must have a need somewhere... :? I totally forgot to take that into account.
So, first thing to do next: re-re-read the close-combat rules...

I'll have another go at a little game some time soon after re-reading again, and I'll probably add some variety to both sides and maybe I'll take my chance to a hero or two... (and perhaps balancing the armies a bit might be another good idea)

to be continued :-)

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 Post subject: Re: My journey through learning the SBG-rules
PostPosted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 12:39 pm 
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Looks like fun...brave of you to expose the follies we've no doubt all shared :)

For the spear question, yes you can back up in two-on-one...two goblins attacking one dwarf, each goblin backed up by a spear is perfectly legit. However, if you can use the spears to surround the dwarf you get better odds, since he's trapped and each attack gets two chances to wound.

As for F(ight), it's a tie breaker in the Fight roll, and much more important than it first appears.
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 Post subject: Re: My journey through learning the SBG-rules
PostPosted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 1:42 pm 
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That sounds like a fun game, glad you enjoyed it, dwarves vs goblinns hmmmmmm. whafrog is correct about the rules as always :) look forward to more from you mr wraith.

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 Post subject: Re: My journey through learning the SBG-rules
PostPosted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 1:43 pm 
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Wow, i never knew you didn't know how to play at all :) I guess that explains why you're awesome at painting - you were focused on that and not the game! :-D haha

Thanks for that mini-battle report. Look forward to reading more...

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 Post subject: Re: My journey through learning the SBG-rules
PostPosted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 3:52 pm 
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I enjoyed the report, thanks for putting it up. And yes, we all have made many mistakes when we first started.
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 Post subject: Re: My journey through learning the SBG-rules
PostPosted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 3:53 pm 
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@ Whafrog: many thanks for clearing that up about the spears! It sometimes looks so confusing on the battleground. For the tie-breaker, I had used the courage-value to make it up, lol. Big mistake, but in this case, it seems it wouldn't have made a difference afterall

@ Elros: Lol! thanks :-)

I'll keep this up to date, I can learn more things about it here, so don't ever hesitate pointing out my errors I'm not aware of please :-)
I may look a bit odd playing against myself, but there's no shop nearby nor anyone in my neighbourhood who I know of playing this (the missus is no option either). I could drive half an hour to 40 minutes for a GW-shop to learn to play while getting feedback, but 40 mins there and 40 mins back again fills my entire evening leaving no time for other stuff anymore.
But I'm sure I'll work through it this way, with the excellent feedback of the community 8)

Thanks guys!

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 Post subject: Re: My journey through learning the SBG-rules
PostPosted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 7:13 pm 
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I don't know if you know thisw but in Gent is a very large club of lotr players and they hold some tournaments also. But I think they also play on evenings just look them up.

And nice for playing the game I don't play or paint anymore but I still love to help and look around here.

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 Post subject: Re: My journey through learning the SBG-rules
PostPosted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 7:51 pm 
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Great timing, I will soon be learning the rules in a day or two. (still waiting for my rulebook to come in the mail)
And I will also learn and play by myself, maybe a lil cousin might help out tho
This thread is so gonna help me out, I get to see the mistakes you make and watch as you learn from them. And I get to learn from your mistakes as well. Well met!!!

Its like we are both entering the mines of moria at the same time, except you are in front of me and I get to see where the monsters come out of as they try to eat you first!

heeheehee...
We hamsters are soooo sneaky. :D
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 Post subject: Re: My journey through learning the SBG-rules
PostPosted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 8:30 pm 
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I see you enjoyed you first game... Whatfrog as alwaus is right for the rules... So I guess you will start a dwarf force for good? :-D
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 Post subject: Re: My journey through learning the SBG-rules
PostPosted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 9:03 pm 
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Don"t worry about playing with yourself, thats the only way I can play, since it"s a 3 hour drive to the nearest gamesworkshop or independent retailer from the Mexican border(actualy 2 but the border takes up an hour) an now that my visa got stolen theres no hope of going :-X .

It seems your having fun figuring out the rules. :lol:

Looking forward for more of your "adventures" 8)

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 Post subject: Re: My journey through learning the SBG-rules
PostPosted: Fri Oct 07, 2011 4:11 pm 
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I had another game yesterday, again Dwarves vs. Goblins... This time I added a dwarf captain and 4 Khazad guards to the Dwarf Holds, and gave the Goblins a captain and a Troll.
The Khazad Guards were hold aside for a couple of turns... I decided to use them as reinforcements, and I had to roll a 6 at the start of the Dwarves movement phase before they could join. 3rd Turn was the Dwarves' luck and so they entered the battleground.

The Dwarf-arachers managed to wound the Troll, the Goblin captain gave the Dwarven captain 1 wound in return.
While the troll was still struggeling to finds it's way into some fight, I used him to throw some rocks at the approaching Khazad Guards. That was fun... Had a tripple 6 on the dices to hit! I feared the worst for the Khazads... but the troll was too stupid and only threw some lousy pebbles instead of half-the-cave... two 1's and a 2 didn't leave a single scratch on the armour...
The next turn the troll got surrounded but he fought his way out slaying 6 dwarves in total over three turns. Goblins had helped him not being completely surrounded though by joining the close combats.

On the other side it got a bit too crowdy, the two-handed-ax'ed-Dwarves fought big time against the Goblin captain and his crew of swords and spears.
In the end, the Dwarves won... the Troll tried to run away, but two dwarvesslayed him in one single turn.
The Dwarven-captain didn't survive after it's final wound by a speary goblin which had all the luck he could dream of...

So, after the little fight I read through some rules again, since I did not experience much difference between dwarves with 2-handed axes and those with a bow or with sword and shield (appart from the winning the fight penalty)... I wondered where I got wrong... and found it. :dizzy:
Instead of using the strength-penalty on the dice-result for the wound-table, I used the +1 on it's S-value in the profile, like the way with shields on defence (or like warhammer)... so, now I won't forget about this anymore I guess/hope.

I also forgot to do the terror-tests for charging the Troll... :o
Another thing I experienced is that scenery sometimes is a big burden for close-combats. While there was a big fight going on, I had Dwarves in the backrow just taking a look at it, while on the other side Goblins who were doing nothing either, since the lack of space...
Also the moving around is pretty nice and surprising, even while playing against myself, when seeing the field from the opponents side, you can sometimes see new sneaky ways to pass through or to charge one unexpected...

So far my second experience... I learned some new things again from my mistakes.
Next time, I'll try to understand the M/W/F-stuff for the heroes... which I left out for now.

to be continued... :)

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 Post subject: Re: My journey through learning the SBG-rules
PostPosted: Fri Oct 07, 2011 5:15 pm 
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while learning the game we brought in m/w/f a little slower. We started with learning how to use M to influence die rolls, and the importance of rolling capitains rolls separately (or using a different coloured die) and fate, which is a pretty easy concept. Then after familiar with those, we learned about heroic combats, and after that will (since none of us actually had spell casters until a gundabad shaman walked onto the board, nastly little things those.)
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 Post subject: Re: My journey through learning the SBG-rules
PostPosted: Fri Oct 07, 2011 5:57 pm 
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The +1 on the die for the 2H weapons would have made a difference with the Troll, no doubt.

That mobility issue is a key factor in successful playing in SBG. You can see right away why spears can be so important. Your Dwarves don't have them but your Goblins do. In a tight space a goblin w/ a spear support may be able to win against a Dwarf without it where the two wouldn't be as equally matched in the open. Also, you Golins can zip up the walls too so check your measurements...you may be able to flank dwarves that thought they were more protected.

Sounds like you're putting it all together nice though.

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 Post subject: Re: My journey through learning the SBG-rules
PostPosted: Fri Oct 07, 2011 6:47 pm 
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I hope you enjoyed yourself again... Can't wait how will you do next time :D
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 Post subject: Re: My journey through learning the SBG-rules
PostPosted: Fri Oct 07, 2011 7:32 pm 
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Well done Mr Brewer, I hope you had a fun second game, still awaiting the next one 8)

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 Post subject: Re: My journey through learning the SBG-rules
PostPosted: Fri Oct 07, 2011 9:00 pm 
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If we start hearing you bad-mouth your opponent though we're going to have to have some words with you. Be gracious, even if he does kick your tush.

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 Post subject: Re: My journey through learning the SBG-rules
PostPosted: Fri Oct 07, 2011 10:24 pm 
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Sounds like you had fun. One thing where I think you went wrong. When you throw a stone with the troll you only role one dice, you only get one attack, like shooting. I believe you threw three dice (his normal attack amount). :)
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 Post subject: Re: My journey through learning the SBG-rules
PostPosted: Sat Oct 08, 2011 10:49 am 
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Sounds really good... Uh bring me meories when my brother teached me to play... :-D

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