More Moria Goblins arrive!

Since we live on a private estate, sometimes the post van is stopped at the security office, and mail is left there for the delivery from security officers. And today, I came home from slaving away at college to find a parcel waiting for me. Now, I had struck a deal for 25 goblins from a nice man Robert Mcguire, on the Wargamers buy swap and sell. I opened it up with anticipation, and to my surprise noticed there seemed to be more than 25. So, I messaged and found out he had generously sent me 47 since he had them lying around and did not need them. This is great, as I now havequite a few to practice my painting on! I'm also working on a deal for 6 wild Wargs, which will be a nice edition to my Misty Mountains force. 

This weekend I hope to go in and finally collect my Cave Troll, as all my attempts up to yet have been been pushed back in my list of things to do! Well, I suppose I don't mind, i've been having fun helping to build pheseant pens (since my dad is a game keeper) and visiting the garden center down the road (which stock balsa wood, useful for scenery...) 

So for now, i'm content to carry on revising for my theory driving test, helping out my parents with the Pheasents, deers and all other manner of critters, and seeing what the weekend will bring! Thanks for stopping by, feel free to post a comment as feedback is always enjoyed, and drop a little note if you have a blog, i'd love to check it out! 

Below are pictures of the goblins

Until next time...

Wanted! Dead or Alive...

Greetings all, today I'd like to ask if anybody can help me acquire some models I'm after...

The things I would like are as follows:

Any Wild West miniatures, rough, thuggish looking fellows and a Sheriff, with or without deputy. Maybe on Horseback?

Wild Wargs are also needed, as they will be a part of my Moria army for points games, and will feature in some scenarios and custom scenarios me and my friend + Girlfriend like to play.

A goblin Captain and Shaman (Don't want to pay GW price for a command team, and they don't sell separate so...)

And if anybody still has the Balin's Tomb scenery that came with the Mines of Moria set, I'd be happy to strike a deal for that to.

All models can be painted or unpainted as I will strip them and redo them anyway, and if anybody can spread the word to their friends who may have the above mentioned then please do. Also, I'm willing to discuss buying any other Moria or Wild Western models. So, to contact me about a deal, please email me at Greeneye96@hotmail.co.uk

Also, I promise I will post more now that I'm over my cold! I see I'm getting around 20 hits a day and my audience is growing. So stay tuned, And I'll be back for more! Thanks guys, until next time...

Film Review - Shanghai Noon + Shanghai Knights

Hey all, i'm sorry I haven't posted much. I've been busy spending time with the other half and my parents, watching films, playing board games and taking trips out to garden centers, shopping in the local town and such. I haven't had time to nip in to the shop and pick up my cave troll which is finally here.  So until i've got something battle gamey to report, i'll be giving a film review which I strongly advise you watch. On with the review.



The Shanghai series of films both star Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson (two of my favourite actors) and are set in the early 1800's. Shanghai noon follows Chon Wang (coincidence that it sounds similar to john Wayne? I think not) and his uncle travelling to the Wild West on a train when it is robbed by Owen Wilson and gang. The adventure soon escalates as unlikely duo Chon and Roy find themselves as notorious outlaws whilst on a mission to retrieve the princess and the emperors gold. A fun, wild west themed film with lots of comedy, and Jackie Chan and his stunt team are excellent during the fighting scenes.

Shanghai Noon, a Wild West adventure!

Shanghai knights escapes it's roots which made it a success, and we are shown Chon's father murdered by Lord Nelson Rathbone, tenth in the line to the throne  who shows to be working with Wu Chow, the emperors exiled brother. Chon's sister follows Rathbone to London, and in turn Chon and Roy find themselves in the strange industrial city, searching for his sister and the imperial seal which has been stolen. The same excellent comedy and action blend to make another perfectly fun movie!

Shanghai Knights, the better of the two, in my opinion!

 Whilst both are great, I feel that Knights is the better of the two. Most sequels lack a good, interesting story, Shanghai knights definitely does not. Shanghai noon is more comedy, and a good laugh with slapstick humour and some kung-fu action, as well as some good ol' shootouts and pistols at dawn.

Shanghai Knights is a lot more interesting I feel, as politics are introduced and early on we learn that the villain is actually of royal blood, slandering the Chinese as savage barbarians fighting amongst themselves due to 'Opium wars' which we learn to not be true. There are also a great number of historical people and locations in the film, Sherlock Holmes is a name used by Owen Wilson's character as a disguise, and the chief inspector of Scotland yard 'Artie' turns out to be Arthur Conan Doyle, which is interesting. Charlie Chaplin, Jack the Ripper and Madame Tussaud's wax museum also get a mention!

Charlie Chaplin, portrayed by Aaron Johnson, the cheeky pickpocket who turns out to be both helpful and a burden to the adventure!

So to anyone reading, please do watch these great films. They really are amazing quality. I'm considering buying some minatures, and using EOTD's rules to re-create some of the scenes in the film with a friend, as we both thought it could be an interesting posibility. 

Thanks for reading folks, feel free to comment about the film, or maybe where I could get some good, cheap Wild West figures. 

Until next time...

A short rant!

Today, I checked Games Workshop to see the price of Uruk-hai Scouts (They'll be essential in later scenarios, and i've always liked the less typical clad in metal soldier look of them anyway, from a collectors point of view) and found that it was £15 for 12. Now, that's not too bad I suppose. I mean, I could probably (Though from reviews, I wouldn't hold my breath too much) rely on them being in good condition. I then went to check the new releases for The Hobbit, and I was absolutely appalled. Are they trying to make it so nobody plays this great game anymore? £15 for 12 is understandable, but for the same price you could only buy 3 lake town guards... and then £15 for bowmen! That means under the warband rule, it would cost £60 for a single warband... That is absolutely ridiculous. And, the cost of the trolls raised eyebrows too... Fair enough, a collector and one who relishes painting more than the game would maybe feel more inclined to dish out £50 for the three trolls. But from the gamers point of view, £50 for trolls that will appear in one, maybe two scenarios? ridiculous. I'm sad to say I won't be buying many Hobbit figures, which I was looking forward too... Maybe Goblin town for my birthday and a few others,  but if the prices rise for old Lord of the Rings models also, as well as many figures keep being discontinued (Angmar Shade, Durburz...) then it may ruin the game.

Just had to get that off my chest really, stupid prices. They'd make much more money if they were lower priced, or more things were included for the price as interest for the game wouldn't be deterred by the price (Which it is for so many of my friends i've told about the game).


In other new, stay tuned for my newest arrival, the Cave troll!

Very basic battle report!

Fed up of waiting for paint and the Cave troll, me and my girlfriend decided to have a very small skirmish.  More than anything, this is a learning experience for me. The pictures aren't the best, we only had one D6 and a Cm ruler, so play was slow, but it was fun. It took her only about 5 minutes to grasp the rules ( I sense potential, though she has always been quick at catching on). The scenario was on a small table, and the object was for the goblins to subdue (wound once) and carry the unconscious hobbit off the south end of the table (needed a 5+ to carry them). The good player (Bethen)'s objective was to rush over with boromir, and escort the hobbits off the east table edge. At the start of a turn, we rolled for each rule: I rolled for each slain goblin, and on a 5+ the goblin came back on from the west or east table edge, and could act freely. Bethen rolled for each hobbit unconscious and on a 5+, the hobbit sprang back up ready for action. If the hobbit was being carried by a goblin, it would automatically act as if the hobbit had charged the goblin. I must apologise in advance if the pictures aren't of best quality, as the table is small, it was quite hard to get good pictures at the right angle... Now without further a do...


Participants - 4 Goblin with shield, 4 with spear.


Good - Merry (0M 0W 1F) Pippin (0M 0W 1F) and Boromir (6M 1W 0F).


Brandon's strategy: I start the game with 3 of each goblin on the field. 4 facing boromir, 2 facing the hobbits. My initial strategy is to keep Boromir pinned in place whilst the two goblins subdue the hobbits. Hopefully allowing the other 2 goblins to come on and help assist in holding back Boromir, however i'm worried about the horn of Gondor... Courage 2 goblins will have a hard time winning, and even if they do overcome the horn, they then have to hope boromir fails to roll a 6...


Bethen's strategy: It's pretty obvious what I need to do. Hope the hobbits win early, and use the horn of Gondor to help Boromir get over to the hobbits! Let's just hope he doesn't get three arrows in his chest;)



And with that, let the games begin!

Turn One - The lay out. Priority: Goblins.

 Merry and Pippin eyeing up the two menacing goblins blocking their path to the rest of the company, and four malicious goblins taunt Boromir, cackling, believing they have the advantage over the man. Elsewhere, a dreaded half drank glass of Cola ominously watches the carnage that is about to happen...

The two goblins that were stalking the goblins decide to strike at the Hobbits, whilst Boromir is surrounded and all fronts by the wicked litter creatures...

                                                                          Darn! as predicted, the horn of Gondor sends my goblins cowering before the valiant sound of the horn. Boromir then slashes his sword at the three goblins closest, hacking and cleaving them down to the floor!

                                                        Elsewhere, if Merry is scared he shows no sign of it, as he bests the goblin in combat sending it clattering backwards, however, due to lack of experience fighting Merry manages to stumble over his own feet and cannot lend the telling blow on the foul creature. Pippin loses his combat but the spear lunges too far to the left.

                                                                         Kill score at the end of that round!
                                                       Two goblins are added to the two that are yet to arrive to the scene!

Turn two: The Goblins revenge! Priority: Goblins.

                                                                             
                        Two crafty goblins arrive behind Boromir, whilst the one that survived last round scampered off towards the Hobbits, hoping to pick an easier fight! The Hobbits are charged again by the same goblins as last round, angered at the fact they were beaten by the hobbits...

                                                            To the horror of Merry, the goblin ducks under the sword swing from Pippin, and bashes him with his shield, forcing the hobbit to collapse to the floor unconscious! (Pippin rolled a 1, Goblin rolled a 5, and then a 6! Pippins fate role was a 3, so close yet so far...)
                               

                                                     Elsewhere, things just get worse for poor Bethen.

                                                        The Goblins not only pass their courage test, they went on to find a weakness on Boromir's attacks, and pounced, knocking the stunned man back! The spear goblin then sends his spear straight past Boromir's defences and into his shoulder, causing a wound! (1/3 Wounds) (I'm shocked) Merry fought off his goblin and yet again failed to land the killing blow. Things are looking bleak for the fellowship this round.

After the end, we rolled for reinforcements and to see if Pippin got up! Pippin failed with a 3 (5-6 needed) and remained on the floor bleeding. However, a few goblins entered play to make life difficult for Boromir...


Turn 3 - The changing tides of battle. Priority: Fellowship.

I must apologise for the lack of pictures over the next few rounds. You forget when you're having fun, especially when your partner, who was doubtful about enjoying the game at first is enjoying herself as much as you are!

                                                 A single goblin arrived from the West, and ran to pick up Pippin, and rolling a 6, He began to drag Pippin away (Moving 4cm towards the south table edge).

Merry However, managed to beat back two goblins (The spear he was fighting for the past two rounds, and the goblin that wounded Pippin) and sliced down the shield goblins face, yelling "For Pippin!", The spear goblin recoiled back in fear that his initially weak looking opponent had slain his friend.

Boromir moved up towards the hobbits and the 3 goblins on the east crawled after him, sensing him weaken.


Turn 4:  The awakening.
 Priority: Fellowship.
Again, apologies for lack of pictures. We forgot to roll for reinforcements and to see if Pippin woke up. It turns out he did. The goblin he was being carried by was therefor locked in combat (And I was so close to dragging him into the deeps!) Also, another goblin with shield came on the eastern edge of the table. Boromir charged into the goblin that had been pestering Merry since the start of the game, and then Merry moved down to aid Pippin. Boromir was promptly charged by the three cackling goblins that had been following the weakened man and with that, onto the fight phase.

Boromir used his horn of Gondor but the Goblins, being in great numbers were not phased. Boromir then rolled a 1... a 2... and a 1! bad luck. the goblins then rolled 3 3's and a 4! Boromir was knocked back and again a single spearman rolled a 6! Oh dear... (Boromir: W2/3)

Merry and Pippin won the fight and cut down the goblin, who went down with a shocked look on his face, still clutching his spear.



Turn 5: Payback. Priority: Fellowship


So after another wound (We forgot about might, tbh but Bethen was happy to carry on, as she wanted it to be a learning point for her to try and remember in future. It's true, you really do forget simple rules when having fun.) Boromir leads the charge into the same goblins. A single spearman arrives from the western table, threatening poor Merry and Pippin who do not move at all. In the fight phase, all goblins recoil from the horn of Gondor, and Boromir slashes down three of them! (That'll teach those creatures.)

Merry and Pippin remain largely inactive this turn.

No less than 5 goblins arrive on the Eastern table edge.

Turn 6: The long run home. Priority: Fellowship

Seizing the priority, Boromir, Merry and Pippin all move their full move distance and engage in combat with the goblins on the Eastern edge (Boromir does anyway) and the western goblin scampers up behind the two hobbits, threatening to seize them. In the fight phase, Boromir rolls a 6 which means, with a great swing of his sword and a quick bash with his shield, all goblins are sent reeling from the fight. He then rolls another two 6's and a 5! Neatly slicing the three goblins where they stand!

This picture was taken after casualties were removed. 

Turn 7: The last mile. Priority: Fellowship (I seem to be rolling 1's and 2's every time!)

At the end of last turn. a goblin came on the eastern edge to support the shield in the picture above. Boromir was charged by a lone goblin.

In the fight phase, Merry and Pippin both rolled a 6, beat their trapped opponents and then rolled 5's and 6's, slaying both of them. Boromir, with tonnes more experience, strength and better gear easily dispatches the lone goblin, sealing it's fate. Things aren't looking good for the denizens of Moria.

Turn 8: The end. Priority: The Fellowship.

With extremely, and I mean extremely bad luck, I do not roll a single goblin back on the table.  And all three heroes move off the table before I can do anything about it! 

The heroes looking all smug, make it back to the others!

So with that, the Fellowship score a victory. This was a fun little scenario that we both enjoyed. Sure it went slowly with taking pictures, looking at the rules every now and then, and forgetting a few of them. But it was an extremely good game, one that we both agreed we would play again.

Unit of the match for Moria: Goblin spear man. Inflicting two wounds on Boromir? I believe there is a promotion to goblin captain available in there somewhere.

Unit of the match for the Fellowship: Boromir. Could there be any other?

And with that, that concludes this report. Thanks for reading, please remember it is my first ever attempt, and the quality of pictures wasn't exactly the best, and rules were forgotten, but we are both new to the game, and loved it.

Until next time...

apologies, excuses etc...

I must apologise but due to a sudden cold /man flu, over the past week or so i've been doing nothing save maybe a bit of cluedo from time to time with my girlfriend and mother. But, i've not been completely idle, as i've been looking into things and have decided one or two ways to change Balin's Tomb scenario to make it fairer for the evil side, and more a challenge for the Fellowship.

First off, making it canon to the book, Uruk-Hai were present in the mines, attacking the fellowship. I will be using Mordor Uruks as they suit the theme more with their over all appearance. The two handed support also can come in handy. These will not take the place of or replace anything, and there will be 6 (yet to be decided fully).


Secondly, in a what if scenario (and mainly for fun) i'll say that gollum sees his chance (since he'd been stalking them since they arrived) and has arrived to fight for the forces of evil. However, he'll have no might, no will but 2 fate, more of an annoyance to enemy heroes. (this shall be used in a game without Mordor Uruks)


Thirdly, i'm limiting Gandalfs abilities. He'll only be able to cast Blinding Light, and Sorcerous Blast. As well as Aura of dismay. This means no more quickly immobilising the cave troll and hacking it down.


Fourthly, there will be the main door. A trap door near the well in the center of the room, and as an extra access points for the goblins, they may climb down the beams along the outside of the room and enter play from that way.



Not all goes for Evil though, as i'm deciding to put a silver mirror near the well which -1 courage to all evil near by, which should help balance the scales a little.


So by all means this should be a fun scenario. Be interesting to see if I can hold off goblins, cave trolls AND Uruks.


As another little note i've also been busy helping my dad (no rest for the ill or wicked eh?) with washing, and priming two new benches. I'll be helping paint them soon for a bit of money which i'll put to good use! I'll either buy Farmer Maggot, all three hounds  and an unnamed Ringwraith (for the scenario mentioned in a previous post) or, i'll buy some supplies such as green stuff, an extra few pots of paint (Going to order the Mines of Moria paint set from a rogue agent this weekend) and some material to make scenery.

As always feel free to let me know any advice, any help you could give with painting, scenery making etc what you think of the custom scenario...


Until next time!

Update

Sorry for the lack of posting. Not much has been happening hobby wise lately, been very busy coursework wise instead. All that's really happened is as follows:

The shop I ordered the Cave troll from hadn't been in touch for a while, so I went in to see what happened. I was told that GW didn't bring it with their latest deliveries, but they rang them whilst I was there and told them to make sure it is here by this Saturday. Whilst I was there I bought 12 more goblins second hand (Because why not? at least I can practice painting on the second hand ones)

Terrain wise I've salvaged some wood, and as soon as I get chance I'm going to start cutting it into platforms and ladders to make scaffolding that would of been largely present in Moria. I'm also looking at buying a big enough table for gaming on.


Paint wise, it's just a matter of helping out around the house until Saturday, which then I can use the money I've earned to buy the Mines of Moria paint set.


Other than that, I've just had a few games with a friend, but with no terrain and unpainted models I didn't bother taking pictures. It was just a very basic, get to grasp with the rules scenario, Strider vs 10 goblins, and I thoroughly enjoyed it and cannot wait for larger battles with painted models and scenery!

So keep watching, as soon more things will creep on to this blog

Thanks, until next time!

Another Custom Scenario

Turns out they may already be a 'Hounds of Sauron' scenario after all. Drat!

However, I came up with another earlier on... Whilst I was ordering Farmer Maggot and his Hounds, Grip Fang and Wolf it occurred to me. SPOILERS ALERT TO THOSE READING/HAVEN'T READ BUT WISH TO READ THE BOOK, that Farmer Maggot and the Ring Wraith had a falling out earlier on in the story, before he helps Frodo and company make it to the Buckleberry ferry. So, in a 'What if' scenario, What if the Ringwraith had sent some kind of foul servant out for revenge on the farmer, on his way back with his two sons in the dark on his cart, after dropping Frodo off. 

Now, I'm not exactly sure what type of Evil force would work here. Good would be easy enough. Farmer Maggot, his three hounds (For the purpose of this scenario they were sleeping in the cart on the way there. I mean, I'd take my scary, fierce hounds if I knew evil was afoot!) and his two sons, which should be represented by a Hobbit Shiriff, since I'm sure they'll have more fight in them than a standard hobbit would, being Maggot's sons after all!

As I say, evil forces is something I'm stumped on. Orcs were my first guess, but how would the Orcs have gotten to the Shire? My next thought was Wargs, but no Wargs/Wolves had been in the Shire since the Brandywine froze over long ago. So I'm truly stumped on that one. Maybe 4-5 Orcs and a Ringwraith or, A couple of Ruffians to represent Sauron's spies from Bree that have travelled to the Shire to aid the Ringwraith? Feel free to comment, and give any ideas over, I'll continue to work on it myself and hopefully come up with a pretty balanced force list! 

The scenario would be a sort of last man standing. Nobody flees, it's a grudge between Farmer M and the Ringwraith. The layout would be a big field with plenty of open space, and the cart has it's back wheels suspiciously broken, meaning it cannot be driven. Due to the hobbits small size though, it can be used as cover! 

So, though my blog may not get many visits yet, I notice it gets around 10-15 a day so feel free to comment, leave feedback etc, I'm keen to hear opinions!

Until next time!

Custom Scenario!

Since my paints haven't arrived yet, i've got a time period between 9AM-4PM whilst Bethen is at college. So in this time, I'm ploughing through Walking Dead Season one, since i've got to catch up now we're also watching season 4 with Bethen's family, and i'm also going through the book Lord of the Rings, and found a part that interested me today. I'm sure there's no scenario of it, but when the fellowship are forced down the mountain due to the snow, and they are camping for the night when they are attacked by the hounds of Sauron, lead by a Wolf Chieftan. So I tried to create my first custom scenario:


Layout: A mountainous area with a ring of trees on a hill in the center of the map. A large fire is in the middle of the camp.


Forces:

Good: The fellowship including Bill the pony.



Evil: 15 Wild Wargs lead by a Wild Warg Chieftain.

Deployment: Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin all deploy within an inch of the fire. Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Boromir and Gandalf deploy around the edge of the
camp.
The Wild Wargs and Warg Chieftain start 10 inch from the edge of the ring.


Special rules:

Gandalf the mighty: at the start of each turn after turn 3, Gandalf may expend a will point to set fire to the trees around the ring, after this all Evil forces must take courage checks to charge evil models.

Flaming Brand: this works the same as in the 'Battle at Weathertop' scenario.

Exhaustion: due to all the endless marching halg way over the snow filled mountains and then back, all heroes have -1 Will, Might and Fate (Unless their base Will/Might/Fate is already 1, then it is unaltered).


Gandalf may only use 'cast blinding light' and Sorcerous blast in this scenario.






So there we go! May need balancing, rules may need changing/removing, forces may need swapping around or having some set as reinforcements? Let me know what you think, comment any ideas, and feel free to try it out and let me know how you got on!