Hobbit SBG Dwarves v Cirith Ungol

"...There is one dwarf yet in Moria who still draws breath!"          

                                                    - Gimli Son of Gloin, The Lord of the Ring          

Lord of the Rings battle report

The Hobbit Strategy Battle Game Rule Book

Hobbit SBG - Dwarves v Cirith Ungol, Mordor Uruk Hai 750 points

This week was a battle between Craig and myself each leading a 750 point army  between good, the dwarves of Moria v Mordor's Cirith Ungol army led by Khamul the Easterling, with Shelob.

Again, we are playing the new Hobbit SBG rule from Games Workshop. 

We set up on a 6 x 4 battle field with the clubs desert board to represent a desolate region between Moria and Mordor, where the battle between good and evil would be fought.

This is the latest SBG battle report from East Grinstead Wargamers, which sees a battle for points - killing heroes, banners, captains and breaking an army will earn points. 

Deployment was simple - same as last week, place your troops in your third of the field and fight if out. 

I took the northern end of the board positioning the Drar Hunter Dwarf Rangers on the hill, while Gimli led the rest of my army to cover the rest of the field.

Craig and Adrian, spread their Cirith Ungol Mordor Uruk Hai, with Shelob across the battlefield.
My plan was simple, wait for them to get to me, shooting what I can before they get here then smash them hard and fast (as fast as dwarves can be).

Hobbit SBG: The Deserts of Middle Earth

Gimli, Son of Gloin leads the Dwarf army

Gimli The Dwarf General Leads the feared
Khazad Guard

Drar's Hunters, an elite unit of
Dwarven rangers

Floi The Stonehand, Lore Master of Moria
command the dwarven axes.

Mardin's Guard, shielded Royal Dwarven Guard

The Mordor Army from Cirith Ungol, 
Led By Shagrat and featuring Shelob

The Mordor Uruk Hai with Captain and Banner

Shagrats Tower Guard army with deadly weapons!

The Mordor Army Deploys in Warbands
covering either side of the board

Shagrat's Tower Guard prepare to assault the hill
and the Dwarven Rangers led by Drar

Ready and waiting the rangers open fire and start to kill Uruk Hai...
Shagrat, falls back behind his cannon fodder troops

The main dwarf army holds firm in the middle, nothing will move them

Gimli calls out to the Uruk Hai and calls a challenge,
"Come and get me if you think your hard enough...!"

Meanwhile Floi, manages to avoid the orcs bow fire,
 which given suffers a -1 to hit with movement.

Drar readies his Hunter Dwarf rangers 
who will hold and fire together

The Mordor Uruk Hai march across the field...

Forward you maggots

Mordor advances onto the slopes as the
sun shines onto the Dwarven rangers - there is still hope

More casualties for Mordor as the
rangers continue to punish their every step

Khamul the Easterling leads his warband of
Mordor Uruk hai

Still Floi laughs at the orc bows who are focused on
trying to take him out

The Mordor army reaches the dwarven line and battle starts

Shelob pounces onto Mardin and his guard
have to muster their courage to attack the huge bulking beast of 
spider pass - Cirith Ungol

Mordor Uruk hai, reach the hill and Floi sounds the advance -
time to save the rangers

Surrounded, Shelob is suddenly alone and feeling the pressure

 Craig's Mordor Uruk Hai charge Drar and the dwarven rangers

"Protect the Banner" Craig cries as his
Uruk's punch into the rangers

The rangers, spurred by Drar and the support of
Floi and his axes get the upper hand on the Mordor Uruk Hai

 "KHAZAD!!!!" The dwarves are now outnumbering and beating
 the Mordor Uruk Hai

Fighting is tough for Mordor as they fail a few desperate dice rolls

Shagrat rallies his troops as Floi prepares to move in for the kill,
meanwhile a stray arrow actually kills a dwarf!

Shelob, fights on, using will and might to stay alive, while the
Khazad Guard and Gimli surround her again

 The beauty of fight values and rolling a "6"
Shelob wins and knocks the guard to the ground

Drar takes a well aimed shot and gains a point by slaying
a not so hidden Mordor banner bearer

Mordor Flank is failing, they are now heavily outnumbered!

The Dwarf rangers and Drar again lead the attack
to kill the Mordor Uruk Hai

Hobbit SBG: Down goes the Mouth of Sauron and now there is
only a small gathering of Mordor on the hill - this was almost the end for Mordor.
 
The battle ended 5-1 to the dwarves
Shagrat, 3 x banners and a Captain were killed as well as only two troops from being broken
Gimli suffered a wound from rolling a fate roll of "1"

Final Thoughts

This Dwarven army was fantastic, it looked and performed better than I thought and literally took the Mordor army to pieces.  The bow fire was good and I picked of 5 Uruk Hai before they even got to the fight.

Shelob, despite always being surrounded by 6-8 Khazad Guard just wouldn't die! Clearly she had preyed to the dice gods and secured her survival - this didn't prevent the dwarven army from taking the Mordor army apart - the Uruk Hai were simply no match for the dwarves and at every fight they got a bloody nose.

Craig was unfortunate as he didnt take any shields to aid his defence and lack spear support which is often cheap for Mordor. He also played into my arms and was forced to cross the field and attack my strongly defended lines.

Man of the Match

This was hard, Gimli never seemed to get into a fight, Shagrat held off Floi several times, but really this has to be "GIRL OF THE MATCH" Shelob soaked up the bearded ones and spat them out... yeah she didn't really kill anything, but she could have swung the tide of the game had the Mordor army been able to perform better.

Yeah, she costs a bit, but she worked well and looked very beautiful on the battle field.

A lesson for Craig - Take spear support, those extra dice rolls will be worth more than those banners and will give you more troops!

So a win for Moria's Dwarves and Gimli .

Thanks I hope you enjoyed it!

To see my fully Painted Armies please visit this blog:

Hobbit Dol Guldor / Mirkwood Army (UPDATED) 

http://eastgrinsteadwargamers.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/the-hobbit-sbg-necromancers-army-of-dol.html

LotR / WotR Dwarf Army (UPDATED) 

http://eastgrinsteadwargamers.blogspot.com/2011/10/wotr-dwarven-army.html

LotR / WotR - Moria / Misty Mountains army

lhttp://eastgrinsteadwargamers.blogspot.com/2011/10/wotr-misty-mountains-moria-army.html

LoTR/ WotR Angmar Army

http://www.eastgrinsteadwargamers.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/wotr-angmar-army.html

LoTR / WotR Huge Mordor Army

http://www.eastgrinsteadwargamers.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/6000-point-mordor-army.html

LoTR / WotR Isengard Army

http://www.eastgrinsteadwargamers.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/wotr-warg-riders-of-isengard.html

  

We are about to start playing The Hobbit SBG - both skirmish battles LotR/Hobbit and walk through the books/films as well as the odd WotR on club nights.

We welcome anyone interested in playing The Hobbit, Lotr SBG, WotR or any warhammer/40K battle - why not let us know so that we can arrange some starter battles, like the one above, or if you/your club want to challenge us. We have all the LOTR SBG figures and LOTR scenery from the Mines of Moria to the siege of Helms Deep ready and waiting.  

Feel free to email us to come along or arrange a game.

East Grinstead War Gaming club 

Sussex