Catch Up 2 - Middle Earth Wargaming (MESBG and SOBAH)

 If I'd restarted this blog a month earlier, Middle Earth wouldn't have even featured. Mourning the loss of Forest Dragon STL files on Patreon, I spent an evening looking at where else I might  spend my money and was drawn to Davale Games who do a wonderful range of proxies for GW's Middle Earth range.

I haven't played MESBG in a long while. I'm not sure if I've totally skipped one or two editions of the rules but my last game was definitely pre-Hobbit and possibly even pre-blog!

Regardless, I had to (re)start somewhere so I've bought the latest edition of the rules and found an excellent online army builder. Despite the fact that I have fully painted Dwarf, Moria, Rivendell, Minas Tirith and Mordor armies I have decided to hit the ground running with matched forces for Arnor. I have the very old supplement from eons ago and I'm currently putting together the forces to be able to play all of the narrative scenarios within.

I'm also looking to downscale and play small games using Song of Blades and Heroes, and possibly upscale as well, to play games with Midgard and/or Dragon Rampant.

Needless to say, I've gone in to this with all guns blazing but I'm only sharing figures I've painted. The grey resin mountain in my wargames room is my business, not yours!

First up, Buhrdur and his buddies. The scenarios I want to play needs three Hill Trolls and their leader Buhrdur (Arathorn slayer!). GW produce lovely models covering everything I need but at £72 for three figures it was never going to happen! Enter stage left Davale Games and their wonderful proxies...

This is my Buhrdur proxy...

And these are his two Hill Troll buddies that the scenarios demand...

I'm pretty stoked at how they turned out. 😁😁😁😁

About 20 years ago, no exaggeration, I bought a bunch of  GW Dunedain / Rangers of the North (RotN) at a wargames show, getting there about 5 minutes before my mate Sean who would have snapped them up. No problem if I slap some paint on them and get them on the table so we can both use them, right? Yeah, that never happened, but 20 years later I've got the first six done (and the rest undercoated).

The latest edition has combined RotN and Dunedain into one profile. Fair enough, as the only difference was armour (+1 Df to the RotN). To differentiate between them I have chosen to depict the RothN with grey cloaks with chain mail and the lower Df Dunedain in green.

I present, 20 years after purchase, the first six Dunedain...

Well, it's a start... Time for a little scrap using SOBAH!

More Ponsonby's.

The last two trays/companies of infantry for my ECW regiment were finished this afternoon. Ponsonby's Regiment of Foote might not be their final name but as a working title it'll do for now. Once I get these home I'll base the whole regiment and sort out a standard.

I need to assemble the cavalry now...

Ponsonby's Regiment of Foote

A project embarked on since my last real post, English Civil War in 28mm. My son-in-law is a recent (and enthusiastic) convert to wargaming and I agreed to join him in this endeavour, ECW being something he's always had an interest in.

We went halves on a Warlord Games starter set and a few extra command figures. He painted his very quickly but sad to say I have kept him waiting... :( Still, I have my mojo back, have started to paint again (enjoying it!) And have made some good progress.

Initially at least we're planning on using File Leader as our chosen rule set. Infantry are on 'trays' of six figures representing a company. Our simple regiments will have four trays of musket and two of pike. Officers are based separately.

I painted the first two trays months ago but things stalled as they always do. Anyway, today I finished the musketeers for the other two trays and started the pikemen. I'll base them all at the same time at the end.

I'll get onto those pikemen right now!

Song of Blades and Heroes - Game on

Sean came over a few weeks ago for my first 'proper' game of Warmachine but later in the day Keith arrived so we moved on to SoBaH. I'd been itching to give this a go and had had various lists and fully painted warbands sitting on the sidelines for days.

I'd planned a classic Dwarf v. Goblins game. The dwarfs are more powerful, costing more, so were massively outnumbered. Most AAR's I've seen for SoBaH have been between two similar warbands with similar capabilities and they looked like fun games but I can sum up my feelings on how well the rules stood up to a more asymmetric scrap in one word... Disappointing.

Hordes of poor quality troops in SoBaH seem to have no chance against smaller warbands made up of high quality troops. The points system fails to allow for the massive disparity in the abilities of the troops. It was bad enough in the first game we played but once we added Leaders it was ridiculous. The dwarf player just kept shouting, "3 actions!", rarely causing a turn over. The Short movement dwarfs ran rings around the goblins, setting up advantageous fights and slaughtering them. Gruesome Kills happened all the time causing 50%+ of the goblins to flee every time the dwarfs ploughed in. I played a 3rd solo game after the others had left, same results.

I took loads of photos, planning on doing a detailed AAR/batrep but it all seems pointless now as there wasn't really a battle. My enthusiasm for these rules which was riding high has really drained. I'll give them another go with two warbands of similar size/quality but first impressions are that the game engine won't allow me to do what I want to do.

Warmachine Wreck Markers

I really like the Menoth wreck markers for destroyed warjacks but they're expensive for what they are and they're not really a 'playing piece'. Flicking through Ebay the other day I spotted some resin bases for sale with metallic / mechanical debris and figured they were just the job. They arrived Monday and they're the first thing in a long time that I've painted the very day I got them. I only got around to photographing them today though.

Not wrecks as such but it does at least look like a 'jack might have taken a pasting in the vicinity. Each one has been matched to my normal bases and has just enough crimson and white to mark it out as Menoth.

Warmachine BatRep - 15 pt. Skirmish, Menoth vs. Cygnar

Sean came around for a day of gaming on Tuesday, giving me my first chance to use my new Menoth battlegroup that I had finished painting just the day before. My only previous game was at the club two weeks ago with the Cygnar and Cryx starter boxes. I am very much a newbie... Sean has been competing in a Journeyman League in Stafford and built up quite a collection of Cygnar; he was going to have to be rules guru for the day.

My list - Menoth - 15 pts.

Kreoss

Castigator

2 x Revenger

No min-maxing here, it's all the 'jacks I own and everything I had painted.

Sean's list - Cygnar - 15 pts.

Stryker

Ironclad

Lancer

Charger

Black 13th Strike Team

We played along a 4' x 2' strip at one end of my table though pretty much all the action would play out in a 1' square!. The photo's show the initial deployments.

I knew I couldn't pussyfoot around as Sean had shooty goodness and I had none. I ran everything forward inc. Kreoss so he didn't get left behind. This meant no defensive spells. I figured I'd be out of range for at least one turn. Wrong. My Castigator took a real pasting and I was struggling to see already how this could go my way. Turn 2 Kreoss walked and cast Defensive Ward on the Castigator (below).

Sean's Ironclad knocked Kreoss and both Revengers down but was pushed back and couldn't capitalise on the situation. The charger moved up to block the Castigator.

I then forgot to take photo's for several turns so things get a little sketchy here. Kreoss popped his feat and the Castigator slaughtered the Charger in fine style. The Revengers made little impression on the Ironclad however even with auto hitting but they made a start.

Sean tried to run Stryker and the 13th around the Castigator but they were trapped against the 'edge of the world' and were truly 'castigated' with Combustion. The Castigator had one arm functioning at this point and about 3 boxes left - turning his back on the Charger didn't seem to matter.

Stryker popped his feat but even so two of the 13th died in the conflagration though Stryker took just 3 damage... With no cortex the Castigator couldn't 'focus' on the job and finish Stryker for me. The Revengers pulled a neat maneuver and kept Kreoss covered.

Confident that Stryker could deal with the Castigator, Sean moved both his other 'jacks in for the kill. The Ironclad finished off one Revenger while the Charger started to take potshots at Kreoss.

Stryker fluffed it and so the Castigator used combustion again leaving Stryker on 1 box left! The final 13th chap was incinerated too.

Stryker's flames were extinguished and he finally eliminated the Castigator. The Ironclad advanced across the wreck of the Revenger and Kreoss finally got a pair and smacked him down, opening up a route to Stryker.

The game now devolved into a pair of duels. The first. the Charger attempting to shoot down Kreoss sheltering in the cover of a wreck, gradually chipping off boxes. The second, the Revenger trying to assassinate Stryker.

Stryker was also benefiting from a wreck and kept disrupting the Revenger. Without focus the Revenger couldn't get the single damage point I needed. Desperate times call for desperate measures; the Revenger moved to the side and Kreoss moved forward to get LoS. Two attempts at Immolation with every spare focus used on boosting and Stryker was gone. Phew! Win: 'caster kill!

The most fun I ever had with just four figures; I think I may be hooked on Warmachine already. I think Sean was going easy on me as it was my first 'proper' game, he could have done a lot more shooting before engaging but I was never going to enjoy THAT game. With less figures and Sean having ranged attacks I felt that Kreoss was very vulnerable and like I had no options. I'm looking forward now to upping the limit to 25 pts.

Weekend Challenge V

OK, so the weekend has long passed but (thanks to the bank holiday) I did complete the painting task and I'm pretty chuffed with the results. Pinker then expected if I'm honest but I really like the look.

Alternate metal Kreoss1 (is that the same as pKreoss?)

 Classic metal Castigator in classic Fonzie pose.

 

 

 Revengers.

Group shot. 15 pts. ready to play.

Weekend Challenge IV

After a full evening's painting I finally finished the rest of the 15 pt. battlegroup; Kreoss, a Castigator and the second Revenger. Now for basing, ready for tomorrow's gaming.

Weekend Challenge III

Rainy morning and so with the gardening schedule pushed back I've started painting the first 'jack. This took way longer than I expected, even with the limited palette so the alternative 15 pt. battle group is looking unlikely at the moment. I've gone vanilla Menoth with a conventional colour scheme. First photo is just after blocking in the colours.

It's particularly garish and very 'Hello Kitty' but it'll calm down with a good ink wash. The pink is Warlord Purple from the Game Color range. Thank goodness I'm using a white primer, I'd have needed 10 coats over black! Second photo is after a wash, white highlights and painting in the eyes.

Well, I think I've managed the tabletop standard I aspire to; I don't have the patience for anything else. The pink is now the crimson I was aiming for and I'm happy to move on to the other figures with this scheme now. I'll base them all together and then show off the battle group in another post.

Weekend Challenge II

The 15 pt. force I've selected to start with consists of Kreoss and 3 jacks, a Castigator and 2 Revengers. A 15 pt. force normally seems to fit in a unit as well but the three Menoth jacks are expensive pts. wise. All the figures were undercoated in black or badly painted, both Revengers were damaged, one had an arm that had snapped in two different places.

I drilled and pinned the damaged arm and took the opportunity to repose the figure as the two Revengers were almost identical. The second Revenger's 'loin cloth' was missing. The ebay lot had come with several mystery fabric loin cloths that didn't fit any of the figures so I added one of these. The Castigator is in a weird pose, like it sagged while the glue was drying. I decided to live with it, not knowing where the joins were to break them apart.

The next big decision was base colour. I nearly always favour black but for Menoth thought white might be worth a try / good idea. It'll certainly take me out of my comfort zone wrt. painting. A quick spray of Halford's acrylic primer and I'm done for the night.

It seems unlikely that I'll manage 25 pts. for the games on Tuesday but if I get the chance I'll paint a few figures for a variant 15 pt. list. I've fixed up minimum strength Temple Flameguard and Choir units and sprayed them in case I get the chance. Points wise they'll replace one Revenger. More tomorrow.