high dwarf wrote:
thank god Rohan has no bow limit in the new rules and 8 inch spear throw
I just had my first game last night with the new rules: a warband of Erkenbrand + 12 upgraded RoR, allied with 2 and a half warbands of Galadhrim. My son took mostly elite Urukhai (lots of berzerkers), a Troll, Saruman, and a load of xbows. We were playing the Lords of Battle scenario.
I can tell you that moving RoR are as frustrating as goblin archers and about as effective. My son played it smart and Heroic Marched a retreat to hunker down on a hill with his xbows, from which vantage point he proceeded to lay waste to my riders. I would have just charged in sooner, but I was curious how effective the bows would be in "real life" as opposed to on paper.
Elf bows are also not as satisfying. I think the result is that xbows are a big winner with these new rules, because your odds are so much lower if you move, that xbows don't lose as much as they used to in compared opportunities.
We also wanted to see what the troll would do, but unfortunately my elves beat him in combat every turn and I managed to roll box-cars the first turn in combat, so he spent most of the game with one wound left.
The game could have been closer, but in the last turn, Erkenbrand and a rider failed to win the fight against a single uruk xbow (the uruk rolled a 6, Erk and rider didn't roll higher than 3) which blew that heroic combat and allowed Vrasku to complete *his* heroic combat and kill Erkie; and my stormcaller rolled two 1s when casting Nature's Wrath while Rumil was transfixed so Rumil went down...
Lessons:Bows: find a perch and stay there. Act like crossbows! Elves have a bit more latitude for movement, but everything else sucks, and allowing RoR to keep all their bows doesn't overpower them. I think elf bows in elf hands are still worth 2 points, but, say, longbows in Citadel Guard hands are no longer worth 2 points...or xbows are worth 3.
Spells: I like the tweaks. A channeled sorcerous blast wreaks appropriate havoc, while an unchanneled one is still potent, but not overpowered. Transfix is no longer hopeless.
Monsters: the troll never won a fight!
I wanted to see it in action, even though I'd suffer
Pikes: this was a big change for me because you need two pikes to get support. I took all 6 of my Guards, and it was good I did, but several times I forgot and moved models thinking in the old way, and that prevented me from maximizing support. It's a lot harder to line them up, and now I'm tempted to get another bunch of Guards and take more of them. They need to stick together, or you need to have enough around to remain flexible in your movement, and having 1 or 2 or even 4 is pointless.
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