Hi all
I am relatively new around here, and, as you find out if you read on below, I am relatively new to the hobby, having picked up my first set in December. I was lucky enough to be a part of the Helms Deep scenario put on by Dr.Grant and friends at the Titans Wargames Club (please do see the Battle Report in this forum if you have the time to spare), which was so much fun that I signed up for the clubs tournament shortly afterwards. After seeing the fantastic tournament reviews by Dr.Grant and SouthernDunedain, I thought I would try it out for anyone interested (or bored, perversely).
This, then, is the story of my first foray into the tournament circuit (and in fact, most of the story of my foray into the hobby, although the rest of it is relatively bland, and I won’t trouble you with an account of me sloppily over-applying paint to beautiful finecast Citadel miniatures).
My army list was as below;
Warband 1
Faramir with Bow (Leader)
6 x Warriors of Minas Tirith with Shield
6 x Warriors of Minas Tirith with Spear and Shield
Captain of Minas Tirith with Shield
6 x Guard of the Fountain Court with Shield
4 x Warriors of Minas Tirith with Spear and Shield
2 x Warriors of Minas Tirith with Shield
My list selection essentially came down to two factors;
- What models do you have which are either painted or have a chance to be painted before the tournament?
- Do these models have special rules? If so, they are probably too complicated to use effectively. Go for something more a little less ambitious.
I couldn’t say for sure, but I would hazard a guess that this is not the typical decision process for competitive players, but I was happy enough as I like Faramir as a character and the reasonably high defence and model count would hopefully be more forgiving than the alternatives.
As the competitors gathered, the games started in earnest. (I'd like to apologise in advance for forgetting the intention to take photos after game 3)
Game One – Modified Reconnoitre
The scenario was as per the usual rules for Reconnoitre, but the following rules for models exiting the board;
- 1VP if more of your models exit the board than your opponent
- 3VP if twice as many of your models exit the board
- 5VP if three times as many of your models exit the board
In this game I was drawn up against Ossie's Mordor Orcs. Since Ossie is also a gamer at Titans, I had played a few games against this army before. In fact, almost all of my previous gaming experience had come against Ossie, and we had learnt the new rules together over the previous few weeks. I think the matchup was good for the both of us, as we could take the game at our own (much slower than everyone else’s) pace.
He had brought a mounted Ringwraith as his leader, Grishnakh with a shield, a load of Mordor Orcs and 5 Dead Marsh Spectres. I was pretty concerned about the combination, as within range of the Ringwraith’s Harbinger of Evil special rule, my Warriors would need to role well to avoid running away from the Fell Light of the Spectres. My tactic was to use the Guard of the Fountain Court’s Bodyguard rule to get numbers on the Spectres, however this was a risky tactic as if I lost the duel roll my highest defence units would be facing To Wound rolls of 4+. However, if I could wear down one flank, this would allow the Warriors in this warband to move off the table, whilst the Guard redeployed and helped out against the other warband.
I had no real plan for a mounted Ringwraith doing all sorts of jiggery pokery to my army.
I deployed my warbands next to each other and consolidated my ranks as I moved forward, looking to stay in line until the preferable target for my Fountain Court became clear. As the Ringwraith moved ahead of his warband, I decided his absence made the hero-free warband a target, and split my force accordingly.
The early movements in game one The Fountain Court did their job, with two Spectres falling in one round of combat, and the third a couple of turns later. This allowed the five remaining Spears to move off Ossie’s board edge whilst the Fountain Court mopped up the Orcs. The story on the other side of the board was a different matter, as the Captain and his Warriors were repeatedly cowering in the face of the undead. This allowed my line to become staggered which the Orcs cut through, with Grishnakh finishing off my Captain. Throughout the entire skirmish phase of the game, Faramir and the Ringwraith were playing a cat and mouse game, trading black darts for strength 2 bow fire.
Faramir takes shelter in the ruins, aiming potshots at the Black RiderIn retrospect, I expect a more seasoned game would have come away with my leader’s head and three VPs, however seeing that I was exiting units from the board, Ossie took his Ringwraith and Grishnakh off rather than charge in.
At the end of the game, we were both broken and neither leader had taken a wound, but my five Warriors watching on the sideline had won me the game, 4 VPs to 1 under the modified rules. It was a really fun game, and I was glad that to a certain extent my tactics had helped get a victory.
Game Two – To The Death
My win in the first game had seen me propelled up the tables, where I came up against Josh Meads. He had brought Legolas, Tauriel and several (beautifully painted) Mirkwood Rangers. I hadn’t seen these before on the table, but was aware of their shooting strength and combat special rule. Given I had no bows (except for Faramir, who wouldn’t be putting himself in the line of Elven bowfire anyway), I decided my best chance would be to engage on foot. I would concentrate my combat strength (the Fountain Court) on Legolas’ warband, as this was his leader and I knew Tauriel also had the combat special rule. I would have the numbers, I would be difficult to kill and I would be wounding relatively easily. I was happy with the plan.
It took until my deployment to ruin it.
I rolled high with both warbands, allowing me to deploy anywhere in my half. Still half dwelling on the risk of bow fire, I deployed in the ruins, halfway into my own territory. Given I had recognised that combat would be my best opportunity for success, deploying deeper than I needed to only granted the Elves one or two extra turns of shooting to whittle down my forces before I got there. This was a real bone-headed move, and cost me three of my Fountain Court before I was in combat, with a fourth getting isolated and taken down quickly. All of a sudden I was well on the back foot.
Caught in two minds, I deploy too deep and would suffer the consequences of facing Elven archersI decided to concentrate forces, and sent the majority of Faramir’s warband into the gap between Josh’s two warbands to close on Legolas and his retinue, leaving only a few warriors as fodder for Tauriel and her blades.
I fare better when I finally get into combatI should probably note at this point, that although Faramir’s warband was in the thick of it, he wasn’t. He was still in the ruins...hiding.
Tauriel quickly worked through her opponents and the rest of her warband joined the skirmish in the ruins. Seeing an opportunity to show his quality, Faramir charged, meeting her and duelling in the river.
Faramir meets Tauriel for frolics in the shallow waterAs the last turn was called, I was under the impression that I was in trouble. I had been broken and my leader was in combat against a higher fight opponent with more dice. To the surprise of both of us, Faramir won the fight and even wounded Tauriel, using the advantage of having his might stores retained from doing nothing else all game. In the last round of combats I was also able to take down the two Rangers needed to break Josh’s force, meaning the game ended in a 3-3 draw. I felt a little bit jammy that I had managed a draw at the eleventh hour, given I had been on the back foot for the entire game, however I really enjoyed the game, so thank you to Josh for the pleasure.
Game Three – Spawn of Ungoliant (Hold Ground)
At this point, I realised that my unexpected relative success would probably prove to be my downfall, as I was drawn on a table where a gamer of my experience ought not to find himself. I was up against Tom Harrison, who would later be awarded Second place in the Great British Hobbit League 2013, to give you an idea of the challenge ahead. Tom had brought a pick and mix army, including Legolas, Wood Elves, Beregond, Fountain Court, Rangers and Alfrid.
The scenario was the same as Hold Ground, except with a giant spider in the middle of the table, with several special rules attached, the most important of which was that killing it awarded VPs.
This fact was clearly not something that was lost on Tom, who began the game using might to steal priority and move the creepy crawly within range of his Fountain Court and bows. This tactic worked because of Alfrid, who had pumped Legolas to 6 might (although he did subsequently steal Beregond’s one and only might point).
The spider is taken into the middle of Tom's ranks Although the bows failed repeatedly, it was a matter of time before the spider was trapped and seen off. At this point I realised how vital the spider was, as I was now chasing the game, needing to break him and attack the juiced up Legolas, whilst protecting Faramir from the shower of arrows that could come my way.
I was relatively pleased with the way that combat went, and I was able to break Tom whilst remaining unbroken, but I made a second and fatal mistake when, after advancing incredibly cautiously up the board with Faramir (for a change), I committed him to combat at the wrong time. He ended up facing several wood elves and rangers, as well two Guard of the Galadhrim Court. He was outnumbered, outfought, and outlived by his foes. With Tom racking up the three further VPs, he adopted a close protective perimeter around Legolas, and the game ended 6-3. To be honest, I had got closer than I was expecting, and learnt a couple of key lessons.
Game Four – Domination
The loss sent me spiralling back down the tables to more suitable pastures, where I met Dave Simpson, the Titans Club Chairman, and his three model Fellowship of Legolas, Gimli and Gandalf. It was a nice army to play against, as two-thirds of the force had been painted by Dave’s daughters. My numbers should have given me the advantage in this one, allowing me to control my home objectives whilst hunting the others.
Unfortunately for me, it wasn’t so simple. I completed phase one of the plan fine, leaving Faramir cowering in the ruins (again?? Really?) on one objective whilst a patrol of Warriors held the other. The Fountain Court and Captain moved forward hoping to challenge the middle and potentially one of the Fellowship objectives if necessary. However, as soon as I was out in the open, I realised that I had advanced in an inauspiciously straight line...
A few turns later, and my structured, disciplined force was scattered, with Fountain Court, Warriors and the Captain being blasted in all directions. Luckily, I hadn’t taken many casualties, but the combination of the staggered approach and the shallow river I needed to cross to reach the objectives allowed Gimli time to pick his fights on the other side of the crossing.
To add to the struggle, Legolas was perched on top of the ruins, firing three shots a turn into my front line. The high defence of my armoured warriors held him off for some time, but the number of shots began to tell. There was one unfortunate awkward moment, where, despite having used two points of might to see off a Fountain Court early in the game, Dave used two further points of might to finish the Captain. I did point this out, but as he was unconvinced (and to be honest, it wasn’t worth bickering over), I said goodbye to the Captain.
At this point, my numbers were just about holding, but I could see that I needed time to run out in order to get anything out of the game. With a decent amount of game time left, I instead decided to attempt to get some VPs from Gandalf, his leader, which wasn’t made any easier by him being terrifying. The final blow was landed over the middle objective, where Gimli took down five competing Warriors in two turns of combat, only missing on one to wound roll, and leaving him with an unopposed objective.
The game ended with Legolas and Faramir each holding one objective, Gimli holding the middle, a solitary Warrior holding my other home objective, and the final one being competed, but outnumbered by Minas Tirith two Warriors to one Gandalf. With 6 models left, however, I was well and truly broken, and Dave took the win 9-7.
Game 5 – Shadow and Sorcery
The final game was another slightly tweaked scenario, with the Lords of Battle rules used but with both sides allowed to take a Wizard for free in addition to their 350 points. I had decided to choose Gandalf the Grey.
My opponent for this game was Sam Jeffrey, who had brought a Moria force of Durburz, Gundabad Blackshields, a Warg Marauder, a Cave Troll, and Saruman for this game.
The first thing I learned in this game was that, when advancing in a spear block, it is best not to allow a Cave Troll to attack on the end of said block. A hurled spearman took out my entire support, and allowed the Blackshields two on ones along the front line. Fortunately I wasn’t damaged too badly, but it again meant that I was fighting to re-organise immediately.
The next thing I learned is that good players have more than one strategy. I overreacted to the Cave Troll’s impact in the early going by committing troops to encircle the threat. This was successful, as via a combination of Gandalf’s immobilise and several attack dice rolling twice, I was able to take down the Troll. However, all my attention on the Cave Troll meant that Sam’s Warg Marauder was tearing apart my other flank.
Since it was the last game, and he had been little short of pathetic throughout the day, I decided to get Faramir involved early on in the thick of the fighting. He fought 4 rounds of combat with a Moria Goblin with a shield supported by a Moria Goblin with a spear, and in the end it was a supporting Warrior of Minas Tirith with a spear who finally wounded the Goblin. I began to feel less guilty about holding Faramir back in the other games, deciding that any dreams of ‘what could have been’ for him were likely fantastical.
I was soon quickly broken, and the game ended immediately the turn after in double quick time, although I didn't mind too much the quick ending as I had played more SBG in a day than I had cumulatively before. The game ended 17-12 in Sam’s favour, and I ended the day with one win, one draw and three defeats.
Overall, it was a terrific day I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to Chris and Damian for organising the event, putting on beautiful boards being so generous with their time and effort. Unfortunately I didn’t get much opportunity to meet people apart from those that I was playing against since the games were relatively packed in, but I’m looking forward to having more of a chance to do this at Throne of Skulls, when I intend on not taking a defence 5 leader. I’d also like to take this opportunity to suggest reading SouthernDunedain’s tournament review, as it is likely to be much more informative and captivating than my tale, as well as doing justice to the Tournament Organisers for what was received as a challenging and engaging rules pack.
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