Hobbit SBG Galadhrim Guard vs Dol Guldur

"It seemed that the evil power in Mirkwood had been driven out by the White Council, only to reappear in greater strength in the old strongholds of Mordor..."          

                                                    -  The Fellowship of the Ring          

Lord of the Rings battle report

SBG Galadhrim Guard vs Necromancers army of Dol Guldur 1000 points

The Hobbit Strategy Battle Game Rule Book

This week saw Sam, Louis, Craig and myself each lead 
a 500 point army in a 1000 point a side battle between good, Galadhrim Guard Elves, led by Thranduil, Legolas, Haldir and a stormcaller.  Dol Guldur would be led by the Necromancer himself, the spider queen and a hoste of orcs. Playing the new Hobbit SBG rule from Games Workshop. 

We set up on a 6 x 4 battle field with the Elven ruins in the center - the objective - to take and hold the courtyard of the ruins, the side with the most troops in the middle would win and force the other army to retreat back from the battle field.

Games Workshop Book

This is the latest SBG battle report from East Grinstead Wargamers, which sees a battle for the “Hill of Sorcery"  - Dol Guldur.  Who will win the host of heavily armoured and pike elven warriors (they actually seemed to out number the orcs) or the Necromancer and his motley crew...

Deployment was simple - place your troops in your third of the field and fight if out. 

Sam and I took the southern end of the board positioning the Dol Guldur army just short of the ruins… our plan to engage and wipe out the elves before they could take the ruins.  Craig and Louis split there army into two forces of Galadhrim warbands with pikes and sentinels each, they were either side of the ruins.

The Galadhrim Guard - Led by Thranduil and Legolas 

Orc army of Dol Guldur, led by the Spider Queen

The Necromancer and his Dol Guldur orc army

Dol Guldur ruins in the heart of Mirkwood
Objective - capture the courtyard (most troops inside wins)

Haldir and Thranduil with the
Mirkwood Sentinels and Galadhrim Guard

Legolas and Rumil with the
Elven Stormcaller and Galadhrim Guard

Dol Guldur deployment -
Necromancer and Thranduil Galadhrim Guard

Necromancer leads his Dol Guldur orc warbands

Necromancer and Shaman

Orcs in front of the Spider Queen and Shade

Deployed and ready to roll for priority....
...The Necromancer and his army is ready

Dol Guldur orcs charge towards the ruins setting the pace
 and running for the objective

The Necromancerr approaches the
ruins of Dol Guldur in Mirkwood

The Necromancers army suddenly splits
 - ignoring the objective and goes for the kill "ELVES"

Haldir and Thranduil with the Mirkwood Sentinels and Galadhrim Guard 
hold ready to fight the advancing orcs

The Necromancer moves through the ruins of Dol Guldur
to flank the Galadhrim

My Bat swarm hides and waits to ambush the elven banner bearer from the rear

Mirkwood Orcs charge the Galadhrim, but they seem to have the upper hand with the number of Galadhrim Guard, pikes and banners

Haldir and Thranduil with the  Mirkwood Sentinels  harry my army - 
pushing the captains and monsters this way and that
- their songs and my low courage means that my orcs are suddenly leaderless
and without decent support, the Galadhrim Guard look set to wipe them out and clear mirkwook of their stench

Legolas and his Galadhrim Guard are battling it out on the other flank

Haldir and Thranduil still push everything back, time for me to change tactics... 
full frontal attack and out number the elves is not going to work this time....

Rumil is in the thick of the fighting as his Galadhrim Guard
start to push the orcs back

Withdraw to the objective and hold out...
my new tactic - Leaving the broodlings and a few orcs to slow the elves down,
Louis is cautious and will clear them all before sieging the ruins; can I hold out long enough?

The Spider Queen and Necromancer organise the orcs to defend the ruins......the battle is about to get intense

Dol Guldur orcs fall back inside the ruins and start blocking the entrances

Haldir and Thranduil Galadhrim Guard take the bait
and slowly fight the few orcs outside the ruins... my eye is firmly on the clock

The ruins of Dol Guldur, infested with orcs, spiders and bats

Finally my bat swarm ambushes the banner bearer who is not in base contact...
and fails to wound - "nice try!"

Rumil fights on and his Galadhrim Guard seem to be winning
in go my spider to support the orc flank

The Battle of Dol Guldur so far

Necromancer, Spider Queen and shade lay in wait for the Galadhrim Elves

With Thranduil about to enter the ruins -
I place my spider queen and bat swarm on the battlements to attack from above
and kill any Galadhrim Guard who manage to break through.

Haldir and Thranduil with the Mirkwood Sentinels 
and Galadhrim Guard stack up ready to lay siege

Mirkwood Bat swarm view of the court yard (objective)

Rumil is slain and the remaining Galadhrim Guard
are starting to buckle - the spiders timely entrance swung the tide and balance
 and finally the orcs start to win

Thranduil with the  Mirkwood Sentinels push into the entrance, 
the shade is waiting

Galadhrim Guard try to push into the courtyard,
the Necromancer is ready to cast

The last few Galadhrim Guard defend the stormcaller
while Legolas tries to rally his troops

Haldir and Thranduil with the 
Mirkwood Sentinels and Galadhrim Guard start to battle the orcs

Haldir and Thranduil with the 
Mirkwood Sentinels and Galadhrim Guard finally enter the ruins 

Haldir and Thranduil with the 
Mirkwood Sentinels and Galadhrim Guard

The Ruins of Dol Guldur, Mirkwood

Legolas and the last of his Galadhrim Guard fall back

Legolas' Galadhrim Guard try to hold on

My orcs double up with support - nothing is coming through...

The Old Elven Ruins occupied by Necromancer Orcs

Thranduil sets his plan into motion "I CALL NATURES WRAITH",
I then realise, unless I roll a very fortunate roll everything inside the ruins is going to be knocked onto their backsides
with a host of  Mirkwood Sentinels and Galadhrim Guard to mop them up 

Haldir and Thranduil with the 
Mirkwood Sentinels and Galadhrim Guard

Picking up a dice and using one of the Spider Queens rolls,
I attempt to stop Thranduils cunning plan...
...the dice, bounces and settles "YES!" both Sam and I are amazed,
it's a 6 and Louis finally realises that his plan,
which was so close to defeating the Necromancer failed at the crucial moment.

With no time to lose I push everything into the courtyard,
no elf is going to step foot in here!

The last of Craig Galadhrim Guard
are surrounded and defeated

The Hobbit SBG: The Necromancer, victorious, settles into Dol Guldur,
deep in the heart of Mirkwood to grow his strength and power

Final Thoughts

The Elven army absolutely looked fantastic, all metal hard hitting and with pikes and with the sentinels, they made good use of their singing abilities - pushing the Dol Guldur Monsters out of the way and the captains picked off at will.  However, when hit with the press of yet more orcs they crumbled and could get a hold in the ruins, which was the aim of the game. Although the strategy could have worked if their tactic to cast natures wraith work and my spider queen didn't roll a very timely and vital 6.

Craig was unfortunate as he lost the majority of the elven Galadhrim Guard at a crucial point, this stopped the press of elves on the ruins and allowed the orcs to take and hold all the entrances. Louis’ approach was very cautious and steady, which meant when my orcs broke rank and withdrew to take the ruins, he slowly mopped up the few remaining orcs and spider broodlings, which left me with time to cover every entrance and position support and shades, especially chosen for that purpose.

Man of the Match

The Hobbit SBG: Man of the Match -
The Necromancer of Dol Guldur

The Necromancer, despite his points Sam was able to use him to good effect to flank and push the Galadhrim flank, he also supported when the final push from the Galadhrim came. Yeah, he costs a lot, but he worked well and looked very nice on the battle field.

A lesson Louis pointed out - learn the rules for magic and bring a shaman - his Sentinels were able to disrupt my orcs far too easily.

So a win for Dol Guldur and the Necromancer - and for me and Sam.

To see my fully Painted Armies please visit this blog:

LotR / WotR Dwarf Army: 

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

LotR / WotR - Moria / Misty Mountains army please visit this blog:

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

Other Mordor Armies: 

Mordor: 

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

Morannon: 

http://eastgrinsteadwargamers.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/wotr-battlehost-gothmogs-morannon-orcs.html 

Cirith Ungol Uruk Hai: 

http://eastgrinsteadwargamers.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/hobbit-sbg-garrison-of-cirith-ungol.html 

Dol Guldor / Mirkwood Army: 

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

Angmar Army 

http://www.eastgrinsteadwargamers.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/wotr-angmar-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 LOTR & Hobbit SBG - both skirmish battles and walk through the books/films each Monday night and WotR on club nights.

We welcome anyone interested in playing The Hobbit 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