I got out our Mordor army , mostly painted by my son
Vs Sean's Rohan
1200 points

These pictures are from the 1st game , it was a bit of a non event , on turn 1 Gandalf was slain by Gothmog in a duel , epic strike is fantastic in duels , as we found out.
The special power of Khamûl the Easterling saw most of the attacking units killed.
As you can see by the photos , the orcs were sent forward and were then charged by Rohan Knights and foot , but Gothmog went berserk and killed Gandalf and a few Knights.



This photo shows how the Tainted Ringwraith cast "Wings of Terror" on the Uruk Pikemen , and then "Sunder Spirit and "Visions of Woe"
The rest of the Rohan bowmen then died in the fight phase.

The Orcs are a tempting target.

The Wings of Terror move.


We had a 2nd game that was bit closer , but the "Wings of Terror" spell can really change the game.

Lesson's learnt ?
Epic Strike is a must , don't go near an epic hero if you don't have epic strike and they do , it will end badly for your hero.
Get in and kill the wraiths with a duel or two , while the Ringwraiths also have epic strike , they only have one point of might so you may be able to smack them. (Easier said then done perhaps)
Khamûl the Easterling's ability is very very good , even better when lost of orcs are dying and maybe transferring their hits to expensive Knights.
When to spend your might points , etc , will take some time to work out.

Thoughts ?
I've only played 3 games , but all have been fun and I'm still at the bottom of the learning curve.
I think WOTR is a good fun game , very hero orientated and thats the fun of it , the phases of the game means that both players are involved in each phase , not so much of the you go I go of most other games.
Giving up priority at the right time to see what the enemy is doing etc , makes for a fun and challenging game.

Did you use the same list that we helped you build earlier on the forums, or did you make any other changes to it?

Also, were you playing with objectives or victory points, or were you just fielding armies and smashing into each other. And did you just use the basic deployment rules?

How would you say the pike-men worked with the rest of your army? This was something that I am very curious about as the list we worked on ended up being very similar to my own, but I have never considered adding pike-men to it.

Good to hear you are enjoying the game and hope to hear some more thoughts/impressions from you.

_________________
hmmmm.....

Epic Strike in a duel is a game-buster, it basically means the hero can't lose. Many think that heroes cannot call multiple Epic/Heroic actions for the same event preventing this combo.

We were just using the basic deployment and no objectives , just learning the rules.

The Uruk pikemen were just in there to make up the points, but they were very handy facing Cavalry , stopping their charge in the 2nd game they got beat up , but held long enough for Gothmog and the Warg riders to get stuck in. Any other unit would have been smashed by the Cavalry.


I agree Epic strike is pretty powerful in duels
But I think it gives the good guys a chance against some of the nasty big things like Troll captains , Dragons etc , which the good forces have none of the their own unless you take some Ents or something.
I can't see why you can't use it in duels or call call multiple Heroic actions ? It's the same for both sides , if you have the might to spend , go for it.

Would that interpretation (one I fully appreciate) allow the target of a Heroic Duel to use their Epic Strike in defence?

If there is a rules clarification for this situation, hopefully it would not allow either party to use Epic Strike.

Great post Keithandor. I'm in a similar position but I'm cramming in as many games as I can before the first WotR tournament here in Perth, in early November.

Cheers,
Steve.

_________________
My Hobby site.

I would be happy with that way of playing , one might / phase sort of restriction , but as written and as we have been playing it , heroes can spend might if they have it. I don't see any problems if both sides are playing it that way , heroes are supposed to laying waste to everyone

So I spend a might to setup the duel and before I fight I spend a might take an epic strike.

Another example is a magic user , calling a heroic move and then casting spells, or epic channeling etc , I don't see why they can'y do all that if they have the might to spend ,or free might in some cases e.g. "touched by destiny"
Spending might to up the effects of a spell etc is handy as well.

Heroes in the game are nasty, and Ringwraiths especially so, when I use my good army , I'll make sure I have some epic heroes capable of taking them out in a duel.

One thing that gets confusing is when you want to spend some might in a duel etc ,you have to give the enmy a chance to spend mighjt if they want to as well,I think it says so in the book ,and cover up the dice in the case of adding to the duel roll off.

I've only played 3 games so I'm definately no expert.

Yeah it does say that on pg. 67 in italics that if you want to use might to mod the result of your roll-off in a duel then you both determine how much you want to use secretly, and reveal at the same time.
I've said this quite a few times already in other threads, but I just want to reiterate what it says about Epic Strike. It specifically says in the description that you call it before the HERO fights. This can either be on the attack or in defense, and it makes the most sense to use it in a duel since they're both pulling out all the stops to try and kill each other. It's really not too OP as long as you don't make silly mistakes like taking a normal captain into a fight with a doom train of a fighting hero.
Like Keithandor said if you have the might then use it. Just be smart about how much you use. It's always better to have might and not need it then need it and not have it. Don't go wasting all your might on a captain when you have something like Boromir just waiting to paste you.

It's only over powering if you have a hero in a duel with no might left or no epic strike