MESBG Battle Report Angmar Versus Gondor

It is with a fading memory that I complete this post. Its been a long week at work ...

We played a scenario = name unknown. We had to cross the board to get troops and, hopefully, a hero into each other's corner. The game was 700 points and I was trying Angmar against a more established and experienced Gondor list. I find Angmar tricky as there are so many rules. Also, Angmar seems very dependent on your opponent failing courage and intelligence checks (by the way ... what a useless stat intelligence is. No wonder they canned it after the first couple of editions of Warhammer Fantasy Battle.) 

We lined up and I hoped to move into the corner on my left with my largest group while I held the centre with two groups and my final group would guard me corner. This would be difficult as I had no bows and few mounted troops. The Gondorians had a large mounted force led by Faramir. 

Gondor played a little cagey, holding their cavalry force in the centre for a couple of turns before shifting across to their left. This didn't open any opportunities for my foot force as - if I committed too early - the cavalry could just shift back and annihilate my forward elements. 

The Gondorian centre sat pretty still and peppered my line with fire. Sure, it wasn't that deadly but it did force movement from me due to potential threat. As numbers were pretty equal, I couldn't afford to lose many orcs as the average Angmar Orc is much inferior to a Gondorian tin can. 

The battlefield above showing both playing a thoughtful game. I moved one werewolf into a forward position to threaten. With a 10 inch move and the ability to charge without line of sight, these are effective threat causing troops. 

I moved my right flank around slowly. I planned to retreat to this choke point if the full force of enemy cavalry advanced. If not, I could come forward and receive support from my centre. 

Gondor decided to sit in a big blob and shoot. I cunning ploy. They could afford this as they had 6 bows to none. I would need to get closer if my magic was going to play an effect. Bows had a 2 foot range while magic has 1 foot at best. 

I brought up my left side. I couldn't over commit this force otherwise Gondor could swamp this easily. Gondor was playing the defensive game first. 

My centre force was ready to go either way. 

Then my spectre's drew a guardsman or two forward and Gondor came up. I didn't really see the point of this action - as the attack was piecemeal but it gave me what I was looking for. I committed my centre and left forces to attack. If I could kill 3-6 enemy, I would be ahead and with a better ratio of worthless orcs to useful Gondor warriors. 

Angmar's main trick is terror. As most of the Gondorian centre were citadel guard or fountain court guard with the bodyguard rule - they were essential fearless. There were 16 or so such models. This meant the whole main threat of my army was useless. Added to this, Nick rolled like a man possesses and almost no-one failed their courage test. All night, Denethor did not flunk a single insanity test. All up these results totally undermined the Angmar's army faction rules. 

I moved over on the right ready to overwhelm a mounted assault. 

Which was on its way ... 

Brace for it!

This now skips a bit. I failed completely to kill any Gondorians in the first centre fight. They poured troops in (the Gondor army only had around 5 troops less than I did!) and Angmar pulled back. Gondor advanced and I was happy to engaged them in this space. I had the Witch King, a Barrow Wight and an Orc captain all in the central space fighting. I also had a werewolf. 

We fought and ... I had the advantage but wasn't killing much at all. The reasons ... Angmar are bloody toothless. With poor FV and only strength 3 they need sixes upon sixes to cause any harm. And that's just not going to happen very often. 

The fight was long but Gondor often had the priority. I was forced to burn through might to try and seize the initiative. This sometimes worked but when Gondor won, my magic was useless. With poor melee hitting power, Angmar is forced to engage with the Witch King. This reduces his casting ability. The poor barrow wight was dropped without a single Paralyse being cast or wound caused in combat. What a joker!

The cavalry also attacked piecemeal. With superior numbers here, Angmar's chances looked good. 

But on the far left, Angmar was cut apart. Two regular tin cans killed a werewolf in a single round of combat. Orcs dropped ... like Orcs. 

As the spectres weren't doing anything (the Gondorian just didn't fail courage or intelligence tests tonight), they charged and did okay in combat. At least they had 'blades of the dead' and could wound on less than a 6. 

The Witch King won against Irolas but couldn't land a wound. Great fate rolls and a STR of only 4 meant wounding was unlikely. I wasted the Morgul Blade for no impact. 

Orcs and werewolves swarmed the Gondorian knights. In some cases, I had a four on one advantage. But this didn't matter as Angmar Orcs can't wound anything. Also, Faramir was an unstoppable beast. Honestly, I thought I was facing Boromir. In fact, he was fighting like Tulkas. In every duel, Faramir rolled a six. He probably killed 10-12 Orcs alone and a werewolf. I mopped up the cavalry but Faramir could do no wrong. He threw fistfuls of dice slaying left and right with a avalanche of fantastic rolls. I just stopped rolling in duels for quite a bit of the game. 

Orcs were falling fast, my might was gone and no Gondorian hero had suffered any wounds. I was down two werewolves, an Orc captain and a barrow wight plus I'd almost hit my break point. If this happened, I would lose all my forces outside those shown above. The night had turned to mush with all my attacks leading to little (I had killed about 16 Gondorians which was heartening.) 

But, it had been a long week and I couldn't face the 6-storm of Faramir's dice any longer. I pulled the pin. 

Angmar just felt entirely without threat and unable to wound its foe. Nick's Gondor forces totally ignored my Terror causing faction abilities and my FV and STR were just poor in comparison to troops I barely outnumbered. Two of my werewolves had died on first impact and had largely done little. While I felt I'd engaged in three large combats with an advantage, I didn't have much to show for it. 

It was a shitty night to fight for Angmar. 

So what do I think? Angmar is a bit of a pain in the arse. Many of their abilities require the enemy to fail courage or intelligence rolls rather than supplying an inherent advantage (eg: like the Black Gate's +1 FV vs Men.) The faction abilities can be easily bypassed with simple army list choices. The army itself has so many rules and miniatures with abilities remembering it all on a weekday after work is just a headache. Compared to my recent games with Minas Morgul and the Black Gate ... this force just feels weak and bothersome. Those other armies can really hurt their foes. Angmar does a bit of ineffectual, annoying stuff then bends over and gets pumped in combat. 

While I wouldn't say I'm done with Angmar (I do love the lore and theme of the army), this is not a force to take if your feeling frustrated or seeking a relaxing game. It operates in a surgical manner, that often does not come off, and requires patience. 

Playing Angmar builds resilence ... or hastens heart attacks ... I'm not sure which. 

MESBG Battle Report - Osgiliath Under Black Gate Assault

 

Last night saw a 700 point between the Army of Osgiliath, led by the Wonder Twins (shown below), and the forces of the Black Gate. The only real feature of the Black Gate was the inclusion of a Task Master. Otherwise the list was the compulsory heroes with as many Morannon Orcs as possible. The Gondorian forces included but two cavalry, which did sterling work, a good smattering of rangers, a few veterans then some tin cans. 

(Not sure which is Faramir ... nah, I think we all do.)

The scenario was out of a book I don't have but consisted of three objectives across the centre. Points were gained for having heroes close to the objectives by the end of the game ... which, of course, was reached when someone was quartered. 

In what was revolutionary strategy in an MESBG game, I won first turn priority and chose to actually keep it. With this, I spent a point of might to heroic march and shuffled down the middle of the battlefield (see image #1 above) as fast as our misshapen orcs legs could carry us. I know, I'm a modern Pyrrhus! 

The Black Gate kept up this bold strategy while taking a faceful of arrows from the rangers. This produced a lot more hits than it did wounds and only around 2-3 orcs fell to this arrow storm (around 10 shots per turn really.) 

"Up the guts!" cried the troll chieftain. 

Boromir, with the large force of Osgiliath veterans, liked the look of the smaller force of Orcs led by the Mouth of Sauron. The Mouth simply obeyed the troll, and went 'up the guts.'

The Troll was thinking about breaking off toward Boromir's force but really didn't want to contact the Wonder Twin with infinity might. He wanted to just crush the rank and file. I was betting I could kill the Gondorians faster than they could kill me and I had a slight number advantage. With one more hero, I hoped I could gain the objective advantage. 

Then, it was on. The battle lines met and foes began to fall. Losses mounted on each side but with a slight advantage to the Black Gate. Morannon Orc Strength 4 and defence 6 was paying off, as was the added FV gained by dueling men. Even the Mouth charged ... but did nothing. His main purpose is to Transfix Boromir at key moments (which happened but once - he's no Mandrake.) 

By now, the Task Master was beginning to really pay off. After the first failed roll, the Task Master stayed with 6 inches of the Mouth, and Troll, and ended up saving around 5 might for the game. With these I called more heroic moves - and an occasional heroic combat, forcing the Wonder Twins to tap into their enormous stores. But today, the sun shone too bright and even might did not lead to evil winning the ascendancy in such tight rolls. 

The Troll would have dearly loved to throw a warrior at Boromir knocking him from his horse but, in my head, I thought I would need to pass 'in the way tests' for a thrown person. Pays to check the rules, and I didn't - to my detriment. 

Above shows the two battle lines clashing. The troll made his way around the back, trying to strike down supports alleviating threats to the orcs front line. Blows rained down on each side and many fell. Boromir's standard is truly horrific to fight against with its large area and tipping the scales when FV duel rolls are drawn. Added to this, the Osgiliath veterans +1 to wound against Mordor meant the Gondorians were just as lethal as the Morannons with their Strength of 4. 

The Task Master ... what an Orc. After one game, I adore him. (No doubt he'll brutally kick me in the nuts in the next game ... I'll still persevere.)

The knights rode around the back sniping away at any stragglers. On many occasions, I thought I had thrown enough orcs to do them harm only to be disappointed. Again, these are a ripe target for the troll, throwing enemies in combat, and I should have done this earlier to save me later pain. 

Increasingly, all sense of battle lines was being lost and a churning melee broke out. Boromir was everywhere and his banner was leading to many losses ... but the orcs also slew their foes. Numbers of Gondorian dead reached their break point. 

Boromir used successive heroic combats to kill an orc and then charge the Troll. The Troll was unscathed despite these attacks and soon it would claim Boromir's horse. (I wish I'd done that a LOT sooner greatly limiting the heroes ability to influence combats.) The heroic combat rolls were going the way of Boromir quite often. This mitigated the trolls damage potential. 

Faramir's command was being cut apart. They were surrounded by bloodthirsty orcs who spared not one soul ... save Faramir who barely lost a duel roll and has more fate than an ent has leaves. 

On the other flank the opposite was occurring. The rangers stood in manly fashion and slew their foes. Although numbers here had been roughly even, the rangers proved to be deadly. The orcs pictured above were soon finished off. 

The victorious orcs from the centre charged across to take out this small force. I felt that killing rangers should be easy with their low defence. On this left side, this was not the case. Damrod, or some other minor ranger hero, stood defiant on the objective. This required attention. 

Then, Boromir charged the Mouth. Also, Faramir fought desperately - and very successfully against a Morannon Captain and 3-4 orcs. It was here that the Wonder Twins began to trade off points to the benefit of both. The Task Master watched on, sticking to his objective in the centre of the table. A hail of arrows aimed at him was prevented by a low stone wall (not picture above.) 

As Boromir moved away, the men now were being cut down. I regret not pointing the Troll at the cavalry but I was thinking about claiming the right objective. The Osgiliath Reclaimed break had arrived and their quartered level was rapidly approaching. The knights continued to fend off any attacks and strike down some foes.

Then I did something I slightly regret. The Troll chieftain fought Boromir. With massive stores of fate and might, realistically I stood little chance at killing him. I gave it a damn good go by inflicting two wounds. Boromir staggered back not broken. I guess this did stop him from killing anyone else. Without his horse, and with little support, I felt that the troll had the upper hand. Again, Wonder Twin powers prevent death. This was mainly due to Faramir not needed any Fate (or might) as he was winning all his combats. 

Now both forces were low but the Men would be quartered first. In a final turn flurry, a knight charged and slew the Task Master and Faramir cut down my Morannan Captain. Just like that, the Black Gate was broken (doesn't mean the same in MESBG as ANY other wargame - only means half casualties) but the game was done. The Troll Chieftain had positioned himself close to the central objective. The left objective looked like it would be claimed for good but the ranger hero fled after failing a leadership test. It would be a victory to evil by 6 points to 2. The wounds to Boromir, quartering the foe and holding one objective decided the game. 

As the above lithograph indicates, it was a torrid battle of considerable blood letting. The Black Gate had lost - neatly - half their forces. Good suffered worse. The Troll remains a beast and the Mouth of Sauron proved an able defender - even thought he didn't kill much in this game. In terms of magic, he was limited from less priority wins and, as Boromir charged him, he was unable to use his tranfix at key moments. He didn't die though and that's something. 

The Task Master was a beast ... not in combat ... but did great work buffing (?) the forces of evil with extra might. He was worth 4-6 might to our side and that was significant. I really like the Black Gate list and have learned to value the troops (I'm looking at you Morannons) that performed so badly for so many games but are now frightful beasts in combat. Its a great one dimensional list that I love for week night play when the brain is a little too tired for complex strategy. 

But, with new models painted, I need to summon my Angmar forces once more from the frozen north ... and that will be a challenge to remember all the special rules. (And will likely involve chucking out a lot of pissweak powers - easily resisted - then trying to kill much superior warriors with shit-house orcs. Ah, if the Angmar lore wasn't so appealing ... would anyone play them? Certainly no-one who needs a shorter game length.)

MESBG Battle Report - On the field of Pelannor ...

On the field of Pelannor, alongside the barrows of kings whose names are lost to the past, two mighty armies met. A brazen host had issued forth from Minas Morgul, lead by the Witch King himself, and these were bravely met by the host of Gondor - led by the indomitable Gandalf. 

This was a 700 points MESBG match using a scenario borrowed from first edition 'Lion Rampant.' Four supply markers were left on the field and it was the job of Minas Tirith to prevent their destruction by Mordor. The orcs like nothing better than wanton destruction and they were eager for the task. 

Minas Morgul consisted of around 40 Mordor orcs. There was the WK and two orc captains. The orcs were supported by double banners, three spectres and a drummer. And 1 troll. 

'Atop the wall's Gondor list contained Gandalf, Irolas, around 10 citadel guard (half bows and half spear), two knights and the rest tin cans. Oh, and ... a trebuchet! 

The Witch King pee'd a little within his cloak at the sight of Gandalf (and his Banish spell) while the Orcs soiled their pantaloons thinking about bloody big rocks being thrown.

And a rock was thrown in the first turn that made the Mordor player (me) struggle to contain my shite. It smashed directly into an Orc line killing 5 orcs, knocking 4 others flat and robbing one Orc Captain of a fate point and a wound. Any more like that and the Orcs will be unable to fight!

The Orcs were ordered forward at top speed which was hastened by the drummer. Before the game, I was convinced I should have changed the drummer for 5 more Orcs but it would prove to be a sage inclusion due to the trebuchet. The spectres struggled to keep up. A few orcs were left behind to light the supplies ablaze. 

One crate was instantly set afire but the other proved too moist to spark. A roll of 9+ was needed for 1-2 figures or more than 3 models could set alight on a roll of 8. 

Gandalf led the forces of Gondor forward to surround one supply crate. It was almost impossible to stop the two crates near the defenders deployment to fall but the two closer ones could be protected. This would involve splitting the forces of good. Usually, not a problem, but with this list, troops were a little thinner on the ground. Gandalf and the trebuchet were both sizeable points investments. 

Above shows the impressively military line of the citadel guard. Irolas lurks behind ready to buff the men (sounds suspicious when written like that. You know ... what happens in the tower, stays in the tower!) 

Their bow fire was also proving deadly. In one round three orcs with shields were shot away. The WK was torn between ordering a forward rush - to limit possible trebuchet rocks - and face the bow fire OR shelter from bows and face the bloody big stones. He chose to drive is orcs forward!

Aided by the drummer, the orcs soon reached their destination on the right. A melee started with good initially able to pour more troops into the fray than evil. Several casualties were sustained - the losses for evil were quickly approaching 15 dead while no Gondorians had fallen. 

At this point, the sorcery from both sides affected photography. Two key moments occurred. Gandalf shifted across the table toward the troll and to counter or kill the Witch King. Also, the Witch King - who had ridden out of the trebuchet arc - used a compel (requiring a might point to pass) to draw a citadel guard forward out of the line. This allowed the troll to charge the trooper, barge, then thunder into the battle line before him. 

Now at the line - and no longer threatened by missiles - the troll did what he does best (which - up until tonight - meant fluff all his dice rolls and die like dog.) By the end of the game he had squashed around 8 citadel guard. With more orcs approaching from the rear - including a banner - the troll's situation was also looking pretty good. 

On the Mordor right, the absence of Gandalf was keenly felt. Here two orc captains led the forces of evil. Despite losing 3-4 priorities in this vital middle section of the game, the might points of the captains allowed evil to dominate - uncontested. Orcs surged around the warriors of Minas Tirith and here the 'Blades of the Dead' special rule proved devastating. Needing only a four to wound, any combat won by the orcs was quickly converted. Men fell like the leaves in autumn. 

The tide of battle had turned. The orcs now took almost no casualties while the death toll of men mounted quickly. Evil, up until now, had lost around 13 orcs to missiles, from now until the end of the game, they only lost around 4 in combat. 'Blades of the Dead', double banner and 'might where it's right' proved a deadly combination. (F'ing troll finally pulling his weight was a big help, too!)

Back on the Mordor left, The troll and orcs took a steady toll on the citadel guard. 

So Gandalf stepped in ... Just before this happened, the old wizard had used a might point to channel a Banish spell against the Witch King. In response, the WK used three will to stave off that blast of power. Then hate gripped him and a poor decision was made - replying with a channeled transfix. This was easily brushed aside by the istari. What a silly response from me. I lamented my decision not to enchant the blades of the troll, making him a more fearsome weapon, or some similar trick to weaken Irolas. 

Gandalf and Irolas attacked the troll. Gandalf used heroic strike but only equalled the FV of the troll. The subsequent duel roll was also a draw and was only decided when a 50/50 roll went to evil. The troll fended away his attackers but only barely. Confronted with a mass of fate points on the heroes, the troll decided to throw back his attackers and slam powerful blows into the citadel guard. 

The path to victory was now clear ... kill everyone except Gandalf and Irolas. 

This was happening very nicely on the Mordor right. The might of the captains allows orcs to 'wrap and trap' the warriors of good. Their banner fell and the dead lay thickly upon the ground. Keen eyed observers from the White Tower gasped at the bloodshed. The orcs were emboldened by their growing advantage and seemed heedless of the few rays of sunlight that pierced the murk issuing from Mordor. 

The above lithograph illustrates the situation well. Very few guards remain. Orcs run rampant hacking and killing. The troll - to both players surprise - is still alive. (I was jubilant with his performance as in the past 12+ games he had done nothing whatsoever. Now, he was proving a hero! I swore to Sauron I would an erect a plinth form the bones of men for the troll to mount.) 

Gandalf had not managed to strike down the troll after trying for more than 3 turns. Even transfixed, the troll shrugged off the attacks. Sure, the good heroes remained, but their command was gutted. 

Back to the right, and the soldiers of Minas Tirith were no more. Even those pictured were soon to die. The orcs stood about with their zippo's trying to spark the third crate. This did not happen, as good was soon quartered, but we didn't add up the victory points. On objectives, it was a draw. But, good was quartered and Minas Morgul were not yet broken. Evil had two banners to none. On points, it would not have been a major victory (my orcs failed their roll to get 8+ and light the third crate at the last turn) but on the table it was clear. Minas Morgul has cleared the path for assault across the Pelannor. 

Well, it was a very short game for 700 points, lasting about two hours. But, both players had fun. It was an interesting match up, with a missile heavy force meeting a melee force. The drummer had ended up helping a great deal. The trebuchet's single strike was bowel-loosening but it only happened once. The fire from the citadel guard had an impact but, probably the most important factor, was 'blades of the dead.' This is simply devastating. It scythes through armoured troops with utter disdain for their points cost. It turns mere Mordor orcs into brutal weapons. Added to this, the troll did sterling work breaking the line then holding on against Gandalf. Ultimately, magic had a limited impact, save the 'compel' from the WK to hasten the troll reaching the enemy line. The spectres - with their terror buffs to orcs - also had little impact but this was mainly due to being somewhat out of position - due to the faster move of the orcs (drummer) - but also as the orcs were doing much of the charging. This raised the last key element - not having any might to challenge the heroic moves called by the orc captains. This allowed evil to dictate the combats on the right, even though they successively lost priority. It was in this location most of the Minas Tirith warrior died. 

Time for the Witch King to bring up all legions. The time of the orc has come and the siege of the White Tower can begin ... well, probably not any of those things as only 40 blokes fought another 40 ... hardly Middle Earth shaking stuff - but a great skirmish wargame nonetheless and both players agreed it was a night well invested into the mystic, yet mediocre, art of wargames.