Cirith Ungol ... Tower of the Flaccid.

 

The Battle of the Whisker - Minas Tirith versus Cirith Ungol

Well, the victory points may have been separated by only a whisker but it felt like a substantial whisker ... like from a prodigious spider's leg or some such monstrosity. 

This 700 point game of MESBG was fought in an ancient ruined area within Ilithien. Gandalf led the men of Minas Tirith, many who grumbled they wished they were still 'ATOP THE WALLS', against Cirith Ungol. Both forces had orders to rescue wounded scouts and carry them back to friendly territory. The idea for players was to simultaneously cross the board to grab, then carry, objectives while protecting their own. On the surface the advantage should have been with the larger army.   

(Theoretically, both armies could pass by like ships in the night, secure objectives and fuck off ... which seems like a pretty bloody stupid wargame concept to me. But I am a grognard.)

This is simply a gratuitous image of my favourite ruin scenery - made from Hirst Arts blocks. The rest of the terrain is scratch built, all except the trees that are hand tooled by Beijing's finest craftsmen. 

Shelob was scuttling along behind Shagrat with evil designs of her own. I deployed my orcish line across the length of my deployment zone to mask my plans. My initial idea was to punch up on the right while holding back Shelob and some orcs to pounce on incursions toward the objectives in my deployment area. Soon, this plan would partially dissolve through my poor decisions. 

Gandalf gave courage and hope to the men of the tower. Nick's army does look a treat. 

Here is his second battle group. This one was Tower guard with a front line of bows backed by spear. Cirith Ungol is greatly afeared of all missiles as it is a very low defence army. Most of my 51 models had only defence 4 ... protected by a thin front row of only D5. I've previously seen Gorbag shot to bits in one round by only four of these guard bowmen. 

And it was off! The Orcs lumbered forward. But ... and here's the funny (I should say 'cumbersome') thing about Cirith Ungol - their main army bonus, Animosity, is only active if its troops are mixed. These Uruks and Orcs can only be fielded in totally separate commands which then have to shuffle about intermixing in the first few turns of the battle to get any benefit from our only special rule. Even our two heroes, Shaggers and Nutbag, fight better together. 

It all feels a little silly and contrived. 

Atop the Walls, as with many good armies, have fairly impressive special rules that don't require much effort - ie: just stay within a certain large radius for a +1 wound bonus. In MESBG, +1 to wound is a VERY impressive bonus and much more effective than adding +1 to STR. When its +1 specifically against all the troops I'm fielding ... well ... its pretty threatening. 

Now combine this with my low defence and ... my guys are dying on 3's and 4's in many parts of the battlefield. Good thing I took 51 of the useless little scumbags. 

I pushed up on my left too, trying to draw out the forces of good or pull their two commands apart. I was trying to weaken the main target of my attack - their left wing. Unfortunately, and this suggests evidence my enormous lack of foresight, my heroes all moved over to my right leaving no might on my left side to intervene in play. This would have the consequence of giving Gandalf and pals free reign on this side of the table. In my defence, Shaggers and Nutbag function as a team (damn limitations of animosity rule again) and my task-master is only useful around heroes as he enhances might point spending. 

Here's my attack, creeping through the ruins. I had to separate my line to get through the terrain. 

Down the centre of the battlefield was much more open. I think this was a problem in my terrain set up. Such large open spaces plays into missile troops advantages. Offsetting terrain pieces to avoid open spaces, which here provided largely unimpeded 24" bow shots, would be better. I need to set up MESBG terrain the same way I used to set up FOW terrain. 

Gandalf pretty quickly figured out that there was nothing in my army to hurt him ... if he just stayed out of 10" Shelob range. He rode about in a jaunty manner hurling bolts of magic with his free will point. He acted with near impunity almost the whole game. I had nothing to oppose him, his huge store of will + fate and his blazing arsenal of magic bumfuckery. 

In any case, here's where things went to hell for Cirith Ungol. I pushed far forward with my left wing, that was unsupported by heroes. This gave Minas Tirith's guard easy prey as numbers were pretty equal on this side. One or one, Orcs can't match ... well ... even small rodents would give them a decent tussle. 

At this point, Shelob is still staying back so my plan wasn't in complete tatters yet. Shelob limited Gandalf a little through her 10" charge range and ability to scuttle along wall sections. 

My right hand push was almost there. 

Then I discarded my plan and almost the game. I engaged with my left hand orcs, when they should have scuttled back to cover, and Shelob charged. She only has 3 dice (attacks) max, and if she doesn't roll 6 then things could be bad. 

And things are really bad against this army as the special rules gives +1 to wound against Mordor and Irolas gives another +1 to wound ... meaning a monster that is supposed to be supernaturally tough is now wounded by even the most flaccid boy of the Tower on a 4+. 

And its going to get worse for Shelob ... 

Meanwhile, Shagrat and Gorbag had united their troops and smashed into the Gondorian shieldwall. It broke apart in one turn. A heroic combat which involved both orc heroes saw to that. Then, they peeled off to open the line further. At least this segment of my designs has eventuated. 

Shelob now battled for her life. Gandalf called a heroic, dispatched both orcs he charged, then cut Shelob for two wounds and another two were inflicted by Guardsmen. Shelob scuttled back, passing all four of her courage tests with the help of a little willpower. 

But Shelob has no might ... So in the next turn, Gandalf grabbed the initiative and slaughtered her. 

It was exactly like the first time I ever used Shelob. I had not held her back and operated too close to the centre of the battlefield. If held back, as was the plan, Shelob could have held up the enemy and protected the objectives for some time. Now ... she was dead. 

The forces of good were now unimpeded on my left and the centre of the table. They moved toward the objectives (wounded scouts ... you can just make then out if you squint) slowed only by the occasional orc I'd hussled back. 

The battle then swung on a central axis. I fed excess troops from my right into the centre but now I was on the Gondorian side of the table. These would cover my access to all three enemy objective markers. If I could slow my enemy, I might be able to steal enough objectives to get a large amount of VPs. However, another issue slowly raised its head ... if I reached my break point, my orcs would run in large numbers. My choice of a shaman was beginning to look prophetic. 

From the other side ... my orcs plugging up the centre as good eradicates the last few remnants of my left hand assault and small central reserve. It didn't take long ... consistent losses in duel rolls and my paper-like defence saw to that. 

Additionally, I was using newly painted figures ... my Uruk forces ... and these never perform well in their first game. An age old wargaming maxim. 

Shaggers and Nutbag cut the good left asunder. One objective secured and another close at hand in the centre. Could I even reach the further one?

All four of my heroes were now in one place. A earlier weakness may turn into a strength ... mainly because all my other orcs were dead and dying. 

Taking photos was not on my mind. I struggled desperately to hold up Minas Tirith while getting away with other objectives. My shaman cast 'Fury' and now courage tests were not a concern as I passed my break point. I used my Task Master to now heroic move and his ability saved me the might points. While my earlier decisions had nearly consigned me to defeat, I was just hanging on ... but it didn't feel like it. Gandalf was rampant as were Irolas and a Knight of the Tower. Good had grabbed two backfield objectives ... BUT I now had two secured in the corners and a third on the way. The task master called march moves hastening my passage to the victory point zone.  

Cirith Ungol were a whisker from being quartered and Minas Tirith showed no signs of slackening their massive kill rate. One army was specifically designed to slaughter the other and I had nothing to offset this advantage. I'd ill-used my number advantage and that was that. Any orcs outside my shaman's magic bubble were failing courage and legging it. 

I would be quartered very soon ... 

Below, a thin line of orcs is holding back the forces of good. In the last two turns, Shaggers would tackle Gandalf head on. But, like so many fights, I couldn't kill or wound him - only needed a 5 and a Shaggers 6 causes double wounds - technically I could have dropped him. My forces lacked the penetrative punch that exuded from all the 'Atop the Wall' models. Even their lowest defence was two points better than my best troops and, with shieldwall, equaled Shelob. 

The game ended soon and by a narrow margin - 13 VPs to 12 - good won. We both dragged two objectives off table but I had control of a third. Neither general was wounded, both lost their banner, and my army was broken. 

It didn't feel that narrow. Nick pointed out if I'd kept my banner a little further away, or wounded Gandalf (I had 5-6 wound rolls to do that at the end), things would have gone the other way. Then again, if the Knight of the Tower didn't slay everything in his path (he was +3 to wound and killing on 2's) then the banner would be alive too. But, I was pretty pleased the I'd manage to husband my resources, and my rapidly dwindling forces, to drag a near draw from the jaws of massacre.

To be honest, the finer side of scenario victory conditions (when there's so many) often escapes me. I'm a grognard and like a straightforward game where killing the enemy, or grabbing an objective, leads to victory. 

On the night, my mistakes were clear. I even realised while I was making some of them, but I decided on fighting not kiting as it is a wargame afterall. Guess I'm not thinking like an orc or spider too well. Hanging back and lurking should come as second nature ... I didn't do this tonight. 

It was a fun game ... but also long. An army of 51 models takes time to maneuver, and to defeat. 

My choices had given Nick a clear advantage on the left and centre - which he pressed home ruthlessly mopping up every last orc. His bow fire was scything through my line (one reason for my poor choice to engage) and he pushed up where he had the objective cutting down countless orcs. He also realised pretty early Gandalf could do anything he wanted. And he did. I think the old turd cut down 10 Orcs on his own ... maybe more. He also radiated fear and, if I hadn't taken my shaman, I'd never had passed tests to charge him. I did get a little lucky as several sizzling surges of Gandalf's divine spunk blasts didn't kill my poor little shaman. My army could have lost bigger, sooner. 

I didn't play the beginning well but I stuck in the game and stayed fixed on taking, rather than defending, the objectives. The forces arrayed against me, although outnumbered, were too powerful for the orcs to handle. Fight value, strength, defence, courage (the troops who fought Shelob were fearless) and shoot value ... all were superior. Movement was equal, and Cirith Ungol has no mounted troops - only Shelob - so lapping around is hard. In shooting, I had 4 bows who barely every hit against 8 or so who rarely miss and wound on 5's. 

To maxmise their slender (single) advantage, Cirith Ungol requires considerable movement precision (particularly with Shelob who is a 'scalpel' not a hammer) made even more vital by the fact half, or more, of my army was only defence 4. Totally pissweak exacerbated by +1's to wound. My lads were dying on 3's and losing more duel rolls with inferior fight values. This was very evident as almost 40 orcs died and I couldn't get Minas Tirith to their 50% break point. Its a tricky army to play who needs to overwhelm but lacks some of the tools of the trade to bring this about. Much rests on Shagrat and how Shelob is used. 

And tonight, Shelob was misued ... and Shagrat failed to kill too often. 

In any case, I'll only learn through experience ... and that's what I intend. And, those freshly painted troops, won't be fresh in the next game. 

(Okay ... one final point - whinge really - terror in MESBG! What a swindle! Evil has it, most good is immune to it! What's the point??? It makes evil models MORE expensive but for no advantage. In return, evil models have very little defence against it and terrible courage. Shelob's a giant spider descended from one of the most evil creatures imaginable ... and every Tom, Dick and Fatty can attack her with total impunity. Okay ... done now. Good night.)

Baron's War - Rules of Tedium

Okay ... this one is a little difficult. This was my 4th battle of the much praised 'Baron's War 2nd Edition.' It took me several attempts to slog through the rules which I found difficult and repetitive to read. Afterwards, I made my own rules reference sheet as I wanted to avoid constantly flicking through the rules when gaming. It was a very long process to create this resource. 

In any case ... I think I've typed this in a previous post. To the game!

I returned to a previous medieval passion ... the Baltic Crusades. I dusted off my copy of Eric Christiansen's very good book 'The Northern Crusades' and selected the Brotherhood of the Sword's push up the rivers of Livonia at the urging of the Bishop of Bremen. I poured more time into writing two army lists with easy references to the special rules, abilities and equipment - to make the game easier. 

The scenario I set up was raiding a village. The stream was ankle deep and easy to splash through. The knights consistent of 3 fully armoured and barded warriors, there were also three mounted men at arms, then two groups of 6 spearman and finally 6 green crossbowmen. 

In opposition were the Livonians, eager followers of the goddess of the forest and her large, mystical rabbit. They included 6 mailed veterans, 4 mounted warriors with javelin and two groups of 8 spearmen. 

The Livonians deployed first giving the aggressive knights time to observed their positions. A group of green spearmen with only shields held the ford. Behind them, the Livonian warlord with his picked mailed warriors. 

The Brotherhood pushed their crossbow and mounted serjeants up quickly. The knights lagged behind and their spear groups slowly made it around the wood. Here running or moving twice would have been beneficial but the knight commander only had one thought .... shoot the pagans with crossbow bolts. 

The knight player hadn't read the rules - even though he'd owned them for longer than me - and really didn't pay attention to his time limit. The knights had 6 turns to plunder the village, driving away its inhabitants. 

Ah, the knight commander. These are Fireforge miniatures I initially painted for Lion Rampant. The lances are extremely long but, much to my surprise, have not yet snapped (yep, that comment tempted fate, didn't it!) 

Both cavalry now advanced down the road. I fear the knight's plan did not involve any subtlety. 

The Livonian spear levy absorbed the shots. Their aim was to man the bank and use it as a defensive obstacle against a cavalry charge. I also hoped the 'brace' special rule would aid their efforts. 

Bolts rained down. Few fell initially. But we were getting something wrong. The crossbowmen were firing twice per round. This is not allowed. In my defence, I did type this on the army list reference sheet ... but my opponent missed this. 

To be honest, this is a problem with the lists and rules. Bloody hell, there are a lot of rules for each and every unit fielded. A player, especially an inattentive one, can easily miss something in this game. Take for example the "Ride Down' knightly rule. What a whopper! Just trying to keep that one rule in your head is problematic but the knight group also had rules for ... (taking a deep breath) ... 

... command, inspire, live by the sword, chivalry, ride down, banner, barded horse, mace, medium shield! 

This is just overkill and only ONE unit in the army. 

The pagan cavalry (I think the horses denied the divinity of Christ .. the men were ready to listen) rode around to come upon the crusaders from the flank. 

The mounted serjeants rode out to meet them. A shower of javelins felled a crusader. Little else happened as saves where made. This would become a theme for the night. 

The crossbows shot and shot again. Slowly the Livonians fell back but the turn clock was ticking by. Not enough alacrity was displayed to move up the spearmen to threaten the other objectives. 

Yep, that's the slothful spear off in the distance near that wood. Miles to go after their stroll around the lovely little copse. 

The javelin horse finally dispersed their foes. (Losing an entire unit has less impact on the game than having a routing or broken unit as we, and you, will soon discover.) But now they were a long way from the next enemy and were out of command range (only 6" without a banner) to gain the advantage of a second activation. They did gallop their horses but not far enough. The knights, it seemed were about to ... 

Would the knights ever charge ... wait for it ... 

Yes, they finally did but waited too long. They fluffed almost all their attack rolls on the green spear who were now heavily shot up. The spear used 'brace' to fight back and inflicted 3/4 hits but ... the knights refused to fail a single armour or shield roll. Their armour was a very low '4' with mail, shield and barded horse. 

One the right, the Livonian warlord and his followers gleefully charged the now exposed knights. They rained down 5 or 6 blows, not once, but twice. The knights just held firm on their armour rolls. In reply, the Livonians failed their rolls of 5 but still had a shield at 8+. It was then we realised the insane benefits of having a mace. It makes shield useless! Shields are quite expensive to buy per warrior and maces are half the price. Shield rolls in Baron's War are very important and ignoring them is a very large benefit. The Livonians veteran troops were slowly dismantled. 

The green warriors ran for it. The dice marks morale penalties. We would soon discover having a broken or fleeing unit was crippling. A broken unit is a compulsory activation and must move first. So, even if you win initiative, the broken unit moves first robbing the player of the ability to act first. If you DON'T win initiative, the enemy essentially gets to activate two units before a player with a broken unit can reply. As units break later in the game, when combat is widespread, this gives the other player a tremendous advantage as units that activate and attack land their blows (and remove enemy casualties) BEFORE the defended can react. 

And my Livonians had a broken unit and lost initiative, so I asked for the lube. 

Oh yes, the spear eventually went in by turn 6. The slightly larger Livonian unit was able to hold their attacks off. Again, the variability of a D10 shone bright with few Brotherhood forces falling. A D10, as its been explained to me, should even out a game and create more 'granularity' in differences between classifications of warriors and weapons. 

I have never found this to be so. I find it just produces more wildly unexpected and implausible results. You know, like knights who can absorb 14 hits and not roll a single result under 4. 

(This picture is an oddity as it actually contains an image of my opponent opening his rulebook. Don't fret gentle reader, it hasn't happened since. No need to wonder why he wants to keep playing this set.)

An the above more or less shows the end of the battle. The knights had taken the objective but the other objectives had not been taken. Both generals were alive and only one Livonian unit was broken. Not sure where the narrative would take us next as I ... well ... am pretty sick and tired of these rules after 4 games. 

I'm reluctant to give up on them mainly because its been a massive investment of time in order to become familiar with them, create a summary sheet and several army lists. The games themselves are okay ... but there's just so many rules. The games aren't too long, but they shouldn't be since a typical army only has about 25 models. There is quiet a lot of referencing rules and trying to remember what rules apply in a giving sitiation. You may notice we don't use markers, but I found this wasn't a problem. With only 4 units, I can easily remember who has acted in each turn. I simply struggled to find rules - especially rules for fighting in terrain. The defend obstacle rules are easy to find, but still no idea if a knight has a penalty for standing in a shallow river and fighting. 

As we all know, time is short in this busy modern world and the time we all have to invest into our beloved hobby of wargaming is never enough. So, is Baron's War 2nd Ed worth the very large investment in time required. I answer - no. 

What does it give that other rules don't? More complicated rules for each type of warrior and equipment. 

The command system is probably works best. Your commander has one or two points to use each turn to make another unit move, or react, or to add a combat/defence or initiative dice. Not a bad system but nothing that wonderful either. This is almost the highlight for me of the rules.

 Elsewhere the rules are just clunky. Combat is too broken down and sluggish for a skirmish game. There are 10 stages for the charge action, then another 6 stages to determine and resolve attack dice, then another 5 stages to determine combat resolution. 

Within this maelstrom of rules lies confusing aspects such as why the morale melee modifier table is step 4 - located before the legality of the charge move is established - when it clearly belongs in the step 10 'generate attack dice.' Why??? Thats should have been picked up in editing or play testing. 

Oh, and if I have to read another Line of Sight table ... these appear on pages 6, 25, 31, 39 and 82 (with extra rules on page 81 as well.) It should be one page!

Dear god, Andy Hobday, your written style and verbiage is inimical with the concept of being succinct or concise. Perhaps turn to writing government policy documents or epic poetry?

Give a tired, barely literate, wargamer a break!