Battle Report! (no pictures)

Hey guys, hope you are all doing well.

Lastnight my girlfriend and I played a small battle on the 4x4 board i've recently been working on.  Sadly, I didn't feel the pictures would look so good as it's still missing terrain (bits of flint filled in as rocky mounds) and my hobbits aren't properly painted yet (about halfway there, just got a few minor bits left to do). But anyway, on to the report.

Participants:

Evil: 4 Ringwraith with 0M/4W/0F

Good:
Frodo baggins with Barrow blade (2strength instead of Sting's 3)

Sam with Barrow Blade and frying pan (useful for cooking some nice sausage and bacon on the go!)

Pippin with Barrow blade

Aragorn - Strider.

The backstory:
As Frodo, Sam and Pippin make there way through to Crickhollow, they are beset by Ringwraiths arriving from two different directions. Not known to the hobbits, Strider is nearby and hears the wails of the Nazgul, and rushes to help them.

So basically, a what if scenario where instead of Gildor, Strider happens to be patrolling the area instead. I didn't go rule heavy for this scenario, missing out courage checks for example, as it was an introductory scenario for my girlfriend, as we hadn't played except once, quite a while back.

The hobbits deploy on the west edge, and the objective was that Frodo is slain for the Ringwraith to win, or Frodo escapes off the East edge of the board to win.


I played Evil, and she played the forced of good, so without further a do:

Bethen rolled three dice for the three hobbits, and on a 4+ they could have one free move before the forces of evil arrive. Rolling a 5 for Frodo, 5 for Sam and 3 for Pippin, the two hobbits gingerly move forwards to the Eastern edge, whilst Pippin is distracted by some mushrooms.

Turn one: Priority: Evil.

Rolling a 4+ for each Ringwraith to arrive anywhere on the North and South edge of the board, only one arrives, filling the air with fell shrieks as he steps on to the North edge of the board, close to Sam and Frodo, and casts Compel on Frodo, moving him two inches towards the Ringwraith, ready to pounce the next turn!

Turn two: Priority: Good.

Sam swerves to the North moving at a diagnal line, whilst Frodo continues to run forwards to the Eastern edge. Pippin runs towards the ringwraith, blocking line of sight to Frodo.

No Ringwraith arrive this turn, so Pippin is charged by a lone Nazgul! However, Pippin may not be skilled with his blade, but that doesn't stop him flailing it around like a speed demon, in his panic to get away, and it is this unskilled act that stops the Ringwraith from being able to find an opening to strike down the hobbit.
However, Pippin is unable to land a killing blow (rolling a 6 and then a 4 is not easy!)

Turn 3: (from this turn onwards, Bethen could bring on Aragorn anywhere on the Eastern edge, with a dice roll of 4 or more!) Priority: Evil.

Rolling two 5's, a Ringwraith arrives on the North, and Southern edge of the boards. Frodo continues to hurry forwards, and Sam follows suit. Pippin is charged again by the wraith, and the second Northern wraith attempts to compel Sam away, but fails the spell. Again Pippin fights back the Wraith, but fails to land the telling blow again!

Turn 4: Priority: Evil.

No other Wraiths arrive this turn, and with one that has only one will remaining, it was now or never. I risked the will to cast Black dart at Frodo, and hits! But fate saves it (darn). However, both fate points were wasted on saving the wound.

The Ringwraith dissipates with a fell shriek, angering the other Wraith.

Again, Aragorn fails to show.

Pippin makes a break for the Eastern Edge, as do Frodo and Sam.

Turn 5: Priority: Good.

Aragorn arrives! However, Frodo now leaves the board. And that ends the scenario.

A nice simple scenario, which was a lot of fun. Things didn't go right for me at all, except in obtaining priority. Where I really needed them, the dice failed me!   But perhaps for next time I will try a more sneaky, ambush like approach.

Bethen did well, choosing when and where to move, and used some good techniques such as blocking line of sight to frodo, so he could not be hit by compel.

All in all, very fun. We plan on playing it again tonight, with her controlling the forces of Evil.

Thanks for reading, and watch this space for more!

Until next time.

Another update!

With my PC still being broken, I apologise for the lack of updates.

Whilst on the Facebook grop Orc-ward battles, a gaming shop not far from me (Link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/102858379815743/?fref=ts) I met somebody who lives 10 minutes away who also plays Lord of the rings. So of course I messaged him and we both agreed to arrange a game for next week. A few moments later my girlfriend identified him, as her friends brother! Small world!
It goes without saying I am excited for my first sort of points match. But I realised, I have no heroes to lead my Goblins, and no heroes to lead my high elves (Or enough elves for that matter) So I've settled with The Fellowship.

We plan on 600 points, so my list is:

Legolas with elven cloak and armour - 105 ponts. My ranged aspect, 3 shots a turn against Mordor orcs and haradrim, or 1 shot a turn against Khamul+ The witch king. Armour makes him also more versatile, and can go toe to toe in melee now. Elven cloak is protection from spells.

Gandalf the grey - 170 points. A big amount of points! But with Aura of dismay, Mordor orcs will have a hard time charging. And with his versatile list of spells, what could go wrong?

Aragorn - strider with bow and armour - 185 points. Again, a massive amount but for me the armour is a must. 6Def will make a difference, and with a bow, a couple of pot shots every now and can't hurt.

Merry, Pippin and Sam - 50 points. Sam's extra might point may come in handy at some point, and these three will raise my model count. 3 of them swarming one foe may be useful, or to tie down an enemy hero for a turn. Also 3 stones thrown a turn if stood still, can be effective against low defence orcs.

Gimli - 90 points. Def 8, 3 attacks or 2 attacks with + 1 to wound. A great investment. Will be able to tank the stronger haradrim/easterlings.

So this is my list. Gimli, Aragorn and Gandalf on the front, the three hobbits and Legolas at the back. Any suggestions are welcome, but I'd have to drop either Gimli and two hobbits, or Legolas to include Boromir, which lowers my model count, or gets rid of my archer. This is why I have left him out.


On the terrain front, still can't find any extruded polystyrene... which is a big shame. I will continue to look.

However, my girlfriend and I have a little project going on where we are using bark off a tree, and painting it different greys to create big rocks, to use for certain scenarios. It is good to spend hobby time, with my girlfriend, it is more enjoyable, and she has agreed to play a few Fellowship scenarios with me, mainly the first few involving escaping Ringwraith, and some centred in Moria.


Painting, largely nothing has been painted. However, I am going to Nottingham with Bethen, her mother and mine this Friday, and I plan on getting all of the paints needed to paint the hobbits, now I know their new names!


So keep watching this space,

Until next time

Another bargain!(Video game)

Last night my girlfriend surprised me, and brought me home The Two Towers, for the Playstation 2.

I hadn't played it since I was around 7-8 and used to play it two player with my older cousin. It took me all of 5 seconds to remember 90% of the game and loved every second.

Now, an interesting thing is that, EA only obtained the rights to the movies, where as another company obtained rights to the book. The other company released 'The fellowship of the ring' which barred EA from releasing the same game. So, the first two movies are rolled up into this one game.

Legolas, battling orcs atop the Deeping wall.

Gimli, battling orcs in a village on the Plains of Rohan

The Fellowship fight for survival in Balin's tomb.

The game starts off at the battle of the Dagorlad, with Isildur marching towards Mount Doom. The movie then changes, and the scene is the exact same as the movie, but in the Video game's graphics settings, which is pretty cool.

Once you have done this sort of tutorial mission, you go on the real adventure. From Weathertop, to Balins Tomb, to the Westfold, To the battle of the Hornburg! and for 99p, how could you go wrong?


Definitely a fun little game, and I recommend those who haven't yet, to try it out!

Apologies

Hello all, I'm writing a quick update to apologise for the lack of content on this blog lately. My PC has ran into some problems, and probably won't be fixed for a week or two. Also, I'm preparing for the usual family holiday (with Bethen, my other half as well, of course.) to Cornwall for 2 weeks, in a few weeks time. So, hobby time is at a loss right now, as I'm busy shopping for clothes, and all other manners of things needed. I do however find time to sit down and paint one or two of the 50 odd Goblins I have left to paint. 

So, do not abandon my blog please, I do enjoy blogging, but until I get my PC set up in a week or two I don't have access to Blogger often. But check back this weekend, as I have purchased a box of wood elf warriors, and some paints to paint my 4 hobbits, and maybe, just maybe if I can finish my board in time, a battle report of 'Shortcuts make long delays'! So watch this space!

Until next time.

Update!

Hi guys, these past few days I've been revising heavy for the exam I sat today. I think I did well, but I won't say that I DID do well, as it's come back to bite me in the past. So not too much done hobby wise. However, I have managed to paint up another 3 goblins, and base coat another 7. I've also bought 'Standard mechanised grey' I think its called? paint, which I'm hoping to paint Moria bases with, and rocks and such. I also bought the Fine Detail brush from the citadel range with a £2 discount from the local wargaming store, https://www.facebook.com/TheGamesEmporium?fref=ts which was a great bargain, and has been excellent in aiding me paint the goblins hand which holds the bow! Unfortunately I have not yet taken any photos, but will do once I have finished them fully.


On the terrain front, I'm struggling if I'll be honest, in getting hold of the material. I know it's Polystyrene I'm after, but I'm having trouble finding any... But I have had a go at painting some bark off a tree, which looks great when glued to another piece as a big rock, or a mountainy type of pass.


On the gaming front, nothing to report War game wise. However I have been ever tempted these past few days to get back in to my half completed Battle for middle earth campaign on the PC! Another distraction!


And finally, on the trade front this week, I've been asking around and seem to have found a deal for some Wild Wargs, since the last deal fell through.



So keep an eye out soon for pictures of some scurrying goblins, and I may even have a little surprise.


Until next time...

Painting and another expansion.

This week I went off to Nottingham with my girlfriend to spend all her Birthday money, which meant I could take a trip to Games Workshop. I must say the staff there weren't all too bad, and after asking for help on what brushes, paints etc to get, I came home with a standard brush, and all the paints necessary to paint Moria Goblins. I thought, To practice painting, why not paint lowly, cheap minions first rather than heroes, and mess up the paint job? Below is the first goblin I did.

I chose a sword and shield goblin, with a helmet. I began by base coating the figure in Abaddon black, and then (as best I could with just the standard brush) dry brushed the armour with Leadbelcher. Once this had dried, I went over the cloth with Khorne red, and the skin with War Boss Green mixed with Death World Forest. At the end, I mixed Mournfang brown with water, and very gently applied it onto the shield, helmet and leg to give the metals a rusty look. All in all I was quite impressed. To tell the truth, I had been dreading painting. I've seen all those great painters out there, and it was in fact http://scottswargaming.blogspot.co.uk/ Scott, that got me wanting to paint. His painting skills and terrain making skills have inspired me, and I too hope to be that good one day. But as I say, I'm quite happy with my paint job, I think it'll look good on the table, and I learned painting is actually quite addictive. So addictive, that I went on to paint three more at the same time!

My first goblin.

Rusty shield

Bit blurry but you get the idea.

And the other side.

This time I got a bit adventurous, and painted the tips of another sword goblin, and a spear goblin's weaponry red, from past conflicts. Here I must apologise, as the pictures aren't the best...

My first archer, using Mournfang brown for the quiver and bow.

From the back

You can just see the tip of red on his blade.

And last but not least, I went into Games Emporium, the local hobby shop, and fell victim to the well known 'Cannot go in without buying something' curse that shop if known for in that area. And after a bit of haggling, left with 14 black primed High elven warriors of the last alliance. 8 with two handed Elven blade, and 6 with bow.

A close up of the bladesman.

The archers stand behind a wall of swordman, waiting to fire at the orcs.

So with the initial dread of painting wearing off, I'm saving up for a dry brush, a detail brush etc, more paint, and as you may of noticed from above pictures I now have the Fellowship journey book! So I'm going to be following the terrain making section closely.

Thanks for reading, feel free to comment I do like receiving them,

Until next time...

Shire... Baggins...!

That's right you guessed it. My Ringwraith have arrived!
And how happy I am with them indeed.

The three painted, and one unpainted as pictured below. What I plan to do is bide my time with these guys until I feel confident that I could paint them to a good standard (More on painting below) I will then strip them of paint, and give them my own style. I like the paint job, but a model isn't complete until it has been given all of your love I feel.

One of the nine, posed as he is swinging his sword in a two handed fashion.

I really do like the Nazgul. I mean, who doesn't? For me when I first saw them many a year ago in The Fellowship of the ring, I didn't know anything about them, other than they hade an aura of evil and malice, and a sense of foreboding about them. They long remained one of my favourite characters, and as I've mentioned before some of my favourite scenes and chapters are the ones involving the Hobbits trying to get to Rivendell, relentlessly perused by these 'Riders in Black'

So please, enjoy the pictures. They aren't the best quality, but you can still see.

Read below after the pictures for the other updates.

Ignoring the Dreadnought which has been sold for £16 in the background, The four Wraith stand firmly on my desk.

The unpainted Wraith, with it's hand extended out, just centimetres from the ring? 

Another pose, this one stood ready to strike, holding it's sword in a threatening manner.

And the final Ring Wraith, perhaps my favourite pose. To me it is an 'Alert to danger' pose, grasping it's sword and waiting to strike.

A Nazgul consorts with an Orc spy on the safest route into the Shire.

Of course, my mind is now thinking of scenarios I can play with these. The obvious ones are the ones in the Fellowship, as I have mainly the models required for the ones involving the Hobbits and the hunt (Maybe proxying Gildor with Legolas in one of them). However, I'll recall back to an earlier post with a Farmer Maggot custom scenario I thought up, and hopefully will be able to play that in the future. 

Which links in to the Terrain front. Not much else is happening. My father keeps gathering my Plywood from the 'Works yard' and is trying to get me some Styrofoam to begin creating Hills and whatnot for my first Board (An all purpose, rural setting board). But in the mean time, I am going to scour every shop I can in my local towns and Nottingham, for anything I think I can use to help, one thing in particular is scenic grass! 

A Nazgul, stalking it's Hobbit prey.

Which nicely links in to the Painting front. I have ordered a three set of brush's from Army painter. These are just a sort of a 'starter pack' if you will, with a regular, detail, and another brush in it. I'm sure it will suit me well for my start. So whilst at Nottingham, I'll head into GW (Even though I despise them for the prices they have unfairly put everything at lately, especially to the poor folks over in NZ) And pick up paint, to begin painting my Goblins. I feel practising painting on those first would be a good idea, since I have so many. Hopefully I can learn through trial and error, and produce a fairly basic (But playable with) condition paint job. I must confess I do love painting, but I'm just worried I'll be demoralised if I paint and that result is less than expected... But I'm still determined to learn.

Other than that, Not much else is happening. I've sold a plastic Dreadnought from the Blackreach box set for £16, as mentioned above, but not much else.

Aragorn - Strider keeps a watchful eye out for the Ringwraith.

Thanks for reading, feel free to comment :)


So, Until next time...