“You like killing things, Orc? You like death? Then let me give it to you! "
Tauriel, Desolation of Smaug
With the end of the month looming, I arranged a battle with Justin for my Tale of X Gamers list (Mirkwood). With Justin winning with his Galadhrim Knights earlier in the month, I knew I would have to win this battle to stay in the hunt for the 1st spot.
So I bought my Mirkwood list led by Tauriel and Justin bought a tough mordor force including the Dark Marshall, a Taskmaster, Shaman and Morgul Knights. We rolled for scenario and it was Reconnoiter. 
The board is set and the pieces are about to move.
Elanor, Lieutenant of Mirkwood leading her warband of Rangers and a single Palace Guard.
Tauriel and her warband of woodland warriors prepare to repel the invading orcs.
The Shaman and his warband of vile mordor orcs.
The Taskmaster whips his orcs into a frenzy.
And the Dark Marshall leads his Knights of Morgul to crush all those before him.
The Elves deploy either side of the house to deter any orcs who may want to exit off the board edge.
The Morgul Knights deploy on the right flank and aim towards the shelter of the trees.
The Orcs seek shelter in the ruins and woods.
They are pinned down by the arrows of Mirkwood, a few orcs die in my opening volley.
Out of range for this turn, Elanor instructs her rangers to advance.
The Orcs think about breaking cover...
...while the Morgul knights reach the trees and begin to navigate through them.
Tauriel's keen elf eyes spot the sneaky knights and wheels her warband to face the threat.
Elanor is nearly in range...
Tauriel and her elves loose a volley, killing the steed of a Morgul Knight. The Dark Marshall hides like a baby behind a tree (a clever baby though).
''Hold!'' The Rangers have reached position...
The Orcs see their chance and break cover while the elves are distracted.
More arrows are fired in to the trees and a Morgul Knight falls to the ground with a elven shaft in his neck.
The Orcs march into charge range and the Palace Guard heroically charge into the hoard...a vain sacrifice that allows the elves to retreat while firing.
The Dark Marshall spurs his Knights out of the woods and into the oncoming bow fire, another horse is killed.
4 rangers make a break for freedom - after 4 turns they eventually get off and score some valuable points.
The Elves realise they are cut off from the main battle and jump over the wall.
Tauriel retreats again and fires desperately into the oncoming hoard.
The elves on my left flank advance while firing but the orcs are too furious to even feel death.
The Knights prepare to charge but are halted when the Dark Marshall has his horse shot out from underneath him.
They think about running off but a red mist desends and the Dark Marshall instructs them to wipe out the she-elf once and for all.
Getting close...
Combat is joined and many die...both orcs and elves. I cant seem to roll any 6's.
Tauriel tries to flank and calls a heroic combat to kill more orcs.
Elven reinforcements on the way!
My Lines are starting to look thin as the Dark Marshall freezes Tauriel on the spot. Elanor is victorious against the orcs and makes good use of her bonus strikes.
The last turn and more elves die, Tauriel is wounded but thanks to more heroics from the captain, I manage to break the orcs. After combat we count up and I am down to 25%...game ends there. We count up the victory points...
...a 5-2 win to Mirkwood! Yay! With the 4 models I had off the board, +1 for breaking the evil force I had just got enough VPs to win. Justin has broken me also and wounded Tauriel so had got 2 VPs.
Final Thoughts:
This battle was a very close battle and eventually saw a win for good and my new mirkwood elves. The elven bows in this game were pretty handy and allowed me to severly reduce the numbers before combat but even then I struggled to kill the orcs in combat.
I was lucky that Justin saw red and went in for the kill because if he had run his Knights off when he had the chance, I would have lost.
This battle was a very close battle and eventually saw a win for good and my new mirkwood elves. The elven bows in this game were pretty handy and allowed me to severly reduce the numbers before combat but even then I struggled to kill the orcs in combat.
I was lucky that Justin saw red and went in for the kill because if he had run his Knights off when he had the chance, I would have lost.
Man of the Match:
Well, woman of the Match this week.
I think I would have to give it to Elanor, the Mirkwood Ranger Captain. She was able to kill the orcs require to break Justin and tie up a bunch when she needed too. The bonus attacks really came in handy.
 |
| Woman of the Match: Elanor, Lieutenant of Mirkwood |
All in all another brilliant match, an enjoyable battle and more importantly, a win in Tale of X gamers so maximum points scored in Month 2. Stay tuned for Month 3 were I am painting my center piece model...RAWR
We welcome anyone interested in playing The Hobbit SBG, 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/Hobbit SBG figures and LOTR scenery from the Mines of Moria to the siege of Helms Deep, snow fields to desert boards ready and waiting.
Why not join our watch list for updates and look out for March Great British Hobbit League battle event... a full day of fighting in the ruins, forests and hills of Middle Earth, you cannot afford to miss it.
Feel free to email us to come along or arrange a game.
East Grinstead War Gaming club
Sussex
At East Grinstead War Gamers we often play Hobbit/LOTR 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, 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/Hobbit SBG figures and LOTR scenery from the Mines of Moria to the siege of Helms Deep, snow fields to desert boards ready and waiting.
Why not join our watch list for updates and look out for March Great British Hobbit League battle event... a full day of fighting in the ruins, forests and hills of Middle Earth, you cannot afford to miss it.
Feel free to email us to come along or arrange a game.
East Grinstead War Gaming club
Sussex
At East Grinstead War Gamers we often play Hobbit/LOTR SBG - both skirmish battles and walk through the books/films each Monday night and WotR on club nights
