Well, I got a chance to play-test two of the suggested lists today! I was up against Charles, who is organising the tournament at the end of the month for the Great British Hobby League.
First of all, this guy was sharp with the rules. I really enjoyed playing him because he knew things I simply didn't, he didn't seem to miss a thing on both sides (many things I just weren't aware of or completely forgot) and he did help teach me some sides of the game I haven't had a chance to learn yet.
Thanks Charles!
Game 1 -
Decided to go for a standard To The Death game... straight forward and would allow us both to focus more on the armies, rather than the scenario. I took the following list...
Eomer, MotR (horse, shield)
2 x Sons of Eorl
2 x mounted RRG (throwing spears, 1 x banner)
2 x Outriders
3 x Westfold Redshields (throwing spears)
Erkenbrand (horse)
2 x Sons of Eorl
2 x mounted RRG (throwing spears)
2 x Outriders
3 x Westfold Redshields (throwing spears)
My opponent brought a nasty Harad build army, three full warbands I think, with something like 12 Watchers of Karna, Serpent Guard with spears supporting, along with some standard Haradrim spears and bows... there were a few Abrakhan Guard in there, a solitary serpent rider and I think he had two corsair captains leading two of the warbands and hasharrin leading the other.
I rolled to deploy first, first warband deploying 12 inches from centre, second doing the same. Both arranged to be hidden behind two big rocky outcrops on the flanks whilst he deployed a battle line further back. I had Erkenbrand on the left and Eomer on the right (banner too)
In an effort to avoid this post becoming a battle report, I kept my force on the left flank hidden to remain a threat and effectively had the right flank run a gauntlet between the rocky outcrop and a wooded area on his right flank, picking him off with outriders firing from cover.
The tactic seemed to be working well... forcing his mainly bow based army to move to have to shoot anything... and negating much of that shooting... whilst my own shooting did pretty well. In fact, throwing spears gave me the majority of my kills in this game and I think it's the first game where they have had such an impact.
I think partly this was due to being up against a mostly D4 army... when I did hit, especially from static with the forces that made the gauntlet on his right flank, I was getting the kills.
I was also pleased with the outriders... they posed enough of a threat to be target priority quite a bit of the time and the shoot value was very handy... nearly all of my kills in this game came from missile fire.
However, I made a mistake in the gauntlet run, using Eomer to protect the banner as they made the run. In hindsight, I should have ordered it so Westfold Redshields and even the royal guard were covering the others on the move... instead, they paired up with the sons of eorl helping them get across through the bowfire.
Eomer's horse went down and that immediately limited his capability in the game.
But with much of his battle line now wheeled toward my probing right flank taking the woods, I now brought my left flank up... and made the cardinal sin of sloppy measuring. I completely mismeasured whether I was in or out of range of his guys and as a result, one or two of his models could get into contact with one of my riders... and more supporting. Since one was his captain, his heroic combat allowed him to move onto more riders... With Erkenbrand down to a single wound through some lucky shooting which burnt his fate too, he soon went down and with him (and successive priority losses with no might to heroic move) that left flank was destroyed. I had more success on the right, but Eomer's lack of horse was a kick in the teeth.
Although he was a couple of models from breaking, it was in the end, a complete victory for Charles when I reach 5 models and the game ended with me being at 25%
Tactical thoughts - I really enjoyed this game... it started out like chess and it's a shame that some sloppy mistakes really swung it, although it would have been tough for me with those Watchers in the battle line.
1) Be careful with my measuring! Very sloppy! But I guess we learn from making those mistakes.
2) Poisoned weapons are a bitch. Haha rerolling those ones was pretty cool for him and really did have an impact.
3) Banner - Very very tricky to deploy in this force. Because you're looking for angles on the charge and positions for the counter charge, rarely will it come into play. Maybe worth it at a points level where Gamling can be carrying one, but 3" just isn't enough with the cavalry.
4) Hero horses are target priority. Losing Eomer's horse was a kick in the teeth and that really hindered my ambitions on the right flank. Keep that hero and his horse obscured from bow fire if you can!
5) Throwing spears can be really effective! First game this has happened, but they accounted for most of his losses, with the outriders chipping in. Think I killed about 15 of his models by the game end, a good number from throwing spears... easily earning their points back.
6) Redshield upgrade - Even though we didn't get many charges in this game and when we did, they were countered, the fight 4 did come into it and allowed some of the redshields to win the fight when they shouldn't have... giving them another turn before they lost priority and again were overwhelmed!
7) Those extra Sons of Eorl, RRG and Outriders... prefer this balance of build much more. It meant the sons of eorl were no longer target priority, which they have been in games I've brought two and that in turn meant they could actually do something. Same with the RRG, the extra defence made a big difference in the combats... much more survivable. And the outriders play a great little part. Funny that against a 50% bow Harad force that I would win the shooting match, but it just showed that careful manoeuvring can balance the odds, nipping in and out of cover and using angles to pick off the enemy.
MotR or KotP...? Well, In the next game, I reverted back to Knight of the Pelennor... much more survivable, with a more survivable horse too... this game made me remember why I enjoyed playing him instead of MotR. When I first started playing, I always used MotR... but I forgot until today the extra confidence having a hero like KotP brings. I'm just more cagey with MotR and don't really trust him in those potentially game changing moments whereas KotP does help me play with a little more confidence...
So based on the above, I reverted to list list for our next game.
Eomer, KotP (armoured horse)
2 x Sons of Eorl
2 x mounted Rohan Royal Guard (Throwing Spears)
2 x Outriders
3 x Westfold Redshields
Erkenbrand (horse)
2 x Sons of Eorl
2 x mounted Rohan Royal Guard (1 x throwing spear)
2 x Outriders
3 x Westfold Redshields
To bring back KotP, the Westfold Redshields and one RRG would lose their throwing spears and the banner would go... well worth it I think.
Charles decided to test me with another force he felt my list would struggle against... a monster based list.
From memory, he brought The Beastcaller as his leader, a bat swarm, the Spider Queen and a bunch of spiders (maybe 6 or 7??) and two Dwellers.
We decided to roll for this scenario and got hold ground... at which point I immediately learned another lesson. It is best NOT to get turn one priority/deploment in this situation. I rolled and deployed on North and East edges. He rolled and was immediately behind (and his bat swarm in front of) Erkenbrand's force in the East.
Upon losing priority, I then learned another few lessons. When calling a heroic move, your hero must move first. So with how I had deployed, he was effectively trapped. Also, I didn't know that models performing "with me" had to finish within 6" so again, it limited what I could do. However, Erkenbrand could move about a quarter on an inch so that was used to get all sorts into combat.
Since the cavalry did not get their charge bonuses against his two dwellers, spider queen, and because he had low force numbers, my goal was to try and kill off the mini spiders first but most importantly, keep him bogged down.
In the meantime, I moved my outriders to the central objective with some redshields, whilst the sons of eorl got themselves into 12" counter charge range (got to love those horses) and Eomer KotP and the RRG moved up to rescue erkenbrand's force. With his positioning, there was a chance he would kill me quite quick and hey, if I had points on the objective and the game ended, I could win by losing!
They swarmed in on the spider queen, and I successfully used my first ever heroic combat, killing her with the sons of eorl and eomer and moving on to kill the bat swarm.
What ensued was a very tasty struggle...
By the end of it, lots of hurling had left very little on horseback. But again, with the right combo of calling heroic moves and combats, with no might left to counter, I wrestled the upper hand, slaying the beast caller. The RRG were invaluable for getting the charges on the Dwellers (especially once Erky bit the dust and I couldn't rely on his horn) and pinning them back and D6 was helping me survive all these S3 hurls hits no end, although I had no horses left!
With only the dwellers left, we were rolling to end the game... which continued, to my dismay, for another 4 or 5 turns! Over which time, his dwellers would continue to roll sixes against mightless Eomer and company and whittle me down until I myself was broken. But still the Dwellers were tar pitted and I was on the objective... losing more men to failed courage tests now than to them! Finally he broke loose with one dweller and made for the objective. I swarmed around him, and began to roll my courage tests when suddenly, Charles remembered he had forgotten his own courage tests! He rolled... double ones and failed! One Dweller left on the table with two SoE on foot, Eomer on foot, 2 outriders and 1 westfold redshield and finally the game ended with an epic handshake, 7-2 victory for me.
So 1-1 the score today and much learned.
A successful play test... I definitely prefer the new builds with the extra SoE, RRG and Outriders.
I also prefer KotP and how he affects my mentality when I play (I trust him, if that makes sense)
I think banner is tough to play with an all cavalry at this points level. I still see the theory of it working, but it didn't do anything in that game and it was always going to struggle.
Throwing spears were effective! I don't mind sacrificing the 6 on the red shields to allow KotP into the game though.
RRG... great for tying up those monsters. Extra defence was very handy.
Being hurled or hurled into in a cavalry army isn't fun (well, fun to watch actually but you know what I mean!)
Well used heroic combats can really be a game changer... I honestly thought dying quick whilst holding the objective might be my only chance after seeing him deploy and learning that Erkenbrand's heroic move wouldn't be as effective as it should have been in that situation. But two heroic combats swung that last game in my favour.
I hope you have all enjoyed my quick run through of what happened today! More games tomorrow with The_Newbie (Jamie Giblin), Louis Aplin, JT Noble, Charles and maybe Ste so will let you know how we get on!
{ PORTAL }
Print view
Top
Maybe I don't want that long awaited game at Preston... How have you managed that then? That can't be Erebor, must be Khazads? Unless I'm getting deeply confused and my memory's playing up, I'm sure Grimhammers were D6 no?
). 
