Hi all!
Thanks to the cheerful and informative blokes of the GBHL Youtube Channel, and have happily returned to the LotR/Hobbit SBG hobby after a years long hiatus.
After scouring my area for people (still) playing the game, I was able to find a couple of folks and managed to get a game in at the local Games Workshop.
This isn't so much a battle report as a recap, but I hope to begin detailing the fights to come more thoroughly!
I took an all-hero force of Thorin's Company. My single warband consisted of Thorin with Orchrist, Dwalin, Fili, Kili, Dori, Bombur, Bilbo with Sting, and Gandalf the Grey.
Thorin's Co:
My opponent took a Mordor force consisting of the following:
Warband 1: Generic Ringwraith on horse (2M,10W,2F) leading 12 Morannon orcs with banner
Warband 2: Generic Ringwraith on horse (2M,10W,2F) leading 11 Morannon orcs with banner and Mordor troll
Warband 3: The Witch King (3M,10W,3F) on Horned Fell Beast with the Morgal Crown
The images were kindly taken by the GW manager as we set up the game.
The game ended in a resounding victory for Thorin's Company! We played too the death, and I wiped out my opponents force's to an orc while only losing Gandalf the Grey.
Here's a view of the line's clashing:
I was very nervous starting out, knowing how devastating fell beasts can be, and was worried that the Witch King would largely counter Gandalf by breaking his staff, leaving me at the mercy of the Ringwraith's magic.
True to form, this is precisely what happened early in game, leading to a devastating charge by the Witch King on Gandalf, who was knocked prone and devoured.
However, everything went swimmingly well elsewhere. A lucky throwing dagger by Fili early in the game left the troll wounded, allowing Fili, Kili, and Thorin to cut him down in the first round of combat.
I was fortunate in that my opponent was quite aggressive with his wraiths; burning through will to cast black darts at my dwarves and charging in ahead of his slower infantry. Without support I was able to kill them off before the Morannons charged into my heroes.
On the other half of the board, heroic moves by Dwalin allowed me to charge into the Witch King with Dwalin and Bombur, and the other son of Fundin smashed in the Morgul Lord with ease, providing an alternative interpretation of Glorfindel's prophecy that the lord of the nine would indeed be 'killed by no man.'
After dispatching his heroes, the game quickly turned into a blood bath with the wizardless dwarves slicing through Morannon orcs left and right. Even Bilbo earned his share of kills, sneaking around the edges of the battle while wearing the ring, fulfilling his contract as company burglar.
By the end of the battle, nearly all of my might and fate stores were depleted, and several dwarves were near death, but the enemy had the worst of it being cut down to man.
In retrospect I was very lucky that my opponent was so aggressive early on, allowing me to score easy kills against his heavy hitters before mopping up the troops later on. Had my opponent kept his wraiths further back and waited to hit me with his entire line while transfixing my more powerful dwarves I am sure things would have been more even, and I likely would have lost. Thorin and Dwalin were terrifying, regularly killing 1-3 models per turn, which proved quite demoralizing for the orcs. Thorin's terror is devastating for courage 2 Morannons, and Dwalin's burly meant he was wounding on 3s and 4s for much of the match.
Overall, we both had lots of fun reacquainting ourselves with the game's ruleset, and both have a lot to learn/remember going forward. I am definitely going to start bulking out my good troops so I don't have to rely on heroes alone to win the day, and we plan on playing some bigger games so that the Mordor player can field his Sauron!
I hope you enjoyed my little write up! I am excited to be rejoining the SBG community and look forward to many games and laughs to come.
-Cosmic
I knew you might have some trouble when I saw the two armies, but I knew that Thorin's company shouldn't be underestimated. Well played!