Isengard Invades Lorien

Wow, it’s been a couple weeks since I did any gaming. The wargames bunker's been in a bit of a state of upheaval as I've been moving things about. I only just cleaned off the game table this afternoon.

Darrin stopped by this evening and we played a little Hordes of the Things. Darrin wanted to try out the Elves and I'm loving the GW/LOTR Orcs I've been painting and was especially keen to play with my new Warg Riders and Saruman stands so I cooked up a little Lord of the Rings “What If…?” scenario.

Lacking any of the pretty GW/LOTR Elves we just used my generic Elf army.... so there's some odd stands included in the army that may not be true to Tolkien... but just... y'know... go with it....

Lorien, March 15, 3019 T.A.

SITUATION

After destroying the Rohirrim at Helm’s Deep, Saruman has turned his sights to the North and the Elves of Lorien….

FORCES

Isengard
1x Magician General (Saruman)
5x Warband
1x Spear
1x Blade
2x Shooters
1x Beast

Lorien
1x Hero General
2x Blade
2x Knight
1x Magician
3x Shooters
2x Lurkers

THE GAME

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version)

The Elves marching in columns through the woods before the little known stone fortress of Lorien…!? (Uh... yeah... I really need to get working on some more strongholds....)


The Uruk-hai marches north. Warg Riders split off to flank through the woods.


The Orcs are in sight of the Elven stronghold.


The two forces close. I was really hoping to catch the elves before they could maneuver out of their columns.... but when you got spear/blade/warband.... and your opponent can't roll less than 4 PIPs.... (oh he did roll a one and a two later in the game..)


The Elves form their battle line.


The Warg riders are ambushed by dryads and leprechauns(!?) in the woods!


BOO-YAH! They live to fight another turn! But only one turn, the lurkers got them the next round.


Elvish archers force a column of Warband to recoil… I think it really just made them very angry in the long run…. On the other end of the line the Orc archers knocked out a unit of Elvish Knights?! GAH!!


The lines meet! CRUNCH!!


The lines move back and forth – the enraged column of Uruk-hai Warband begin pushing the center unit of Elf archers back… This will continue for some time… Uruk-hai blades knock out Elvish Archers.


Orc Archers finish off the second unit of Elvish Knights.


Dryads knock out Orc Warband in the woods.


Orc Warbands destroy another unit of Elf Archers while the other warband continues shoving the remaining archers back towards their stronghold.


More indecisive shoving.


Saruman tries to be sneaky and flanks the Elvish General…


… but it doesn’t work out so well… and it just got the Elf mages angry, because they came down off the hill they were standing on all game and zapped him good! Game over…

Losses

Isengard
1x Beast
1x Warband
1x Shooter
1x Magician General

Lorien
2x Knights
2x Shooters

Of Isengards losses all but Saruman were directly or indirectly caused by the lurkers ( the war band and beasts were taken out by the lurkers on their own – forced to recoil into friendlies or while flanked, and the shooters were flanked by lurkers while fighting blades to their front)

Knights continue to suck. What’s with them…!? Probably would have been better off with a couple more shooters... or magicians... or LURKERS!?

Switching Gears Again

Well productivity has dropped sharply around here this last week. That’s mostly due to me being very sick. I don’t think I’ve done any painting since last Saturday. I have a feeling, thought, that it’s not going to be back to what it was when I’m better…

The sun is out, the road is clear and I’m feeling like a fat bastard. I haven’t done any cycling all winter (or any other physical activity other than getting from here to there)… I did get a bit fitter last summer and shed a few pounds… unfortunately due to a resurfacing medical issue in the fall, followed by surgery at the beginning of December and spending the following month or so lying prone in bed or gingerly hobbling around the house… Not to mention the extremely cold winter which kept us all further housebound and going a little stir-crazy… I’ve lost any fitness I may have gained last summer and likely gained all the weight (and probably more) back since as well (I can’t say for sure because I haven’t even gone near a scale as it would be just too depressing...) and my health, both mentally and physically, has been suffering because of it. So it’s time to get back on the bike!!!

Oh, I’m still SUPER stoked and fired up for the HOTT Campaign Weekend, and I’ll still be plinking away at a few more things for that and other hobby projects…. But there won’t be posts of new figures painted every other day and weekly battle reports.

If you’re really desperate to know what I’m up to otherwise you can follow all my cycling shenanigans over on the Other Blog.

I have no plans to do any racing this year so there won’t be any “training”. Just a lot of long distance riding; some Centuries or longer “randonnées” and maybe a few short tours with the family.

I thought “switching gears” would be a clever title because of the figurative meaning - switching from focusing on one passion (the hobby) to another (cycling), but also it alludes to something many do while cycling. It’s not all that appropriate for me however as all the bikes I currently have operational are singlespeeds, a couple of which are fixed gears…. Ah well… you get the idea right?

Horsemen and Other Stuff…

Well I’ve been busy with the HOTT Campaign playtest… and playing games… and other stuff…. But I have still been painting! I’ve just been doing little bits on this and that and working in large batches. So today I have a MEGA painting update!!

First up the last of the Normans for CVT’s DBA/HOTT army…

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version)


Some Knights – these are a mix of Gripping Beast and Old Glory.


Some Cavalry and Light Horse (or “Riders” in HoTT)– these ones are just Old Glory.


Crossbowmen - Gripping Beast


…and here’s the whole army together! What he’s got here is:

1x Knight General (or Hero General for HOTT..?)
8x Knights
1x Cavalry (or “Riders”)
1x Light Horse (or “Riders”)
2x Bow (well… Crossbow…) (or “shooters” )
3x Spear
2x Psiloi
1x Cleric

I still have some Dark Age civilians to paint up as “Camp Followers” but that’s about it… Now to finish painting MY Norman army!!

I have been working on a few mor things for myself in the meanwhile…


Two more stands of Riders for my Rohirrim (Lord of the Rings figures from Games Workshop)


A stand of dismounted Rohan Archers (GW/LOTR as above)


The mounted Rohirrim, so far... I have another 12 horsemen (6 stands worth of "Riders") and a mounted version of Eowyn and another Mounted Royal Guardsman on the way - these I will mount with yet another Mounted Guardsmanto make a third stand of "Knights"... or maybe I'll track down an ERkenbrand or Theodred... we shall see... Whatever I end up doing I shall be able to field an entire mounted army!!


Because I apparently can't take enough pictures of these... here's the entire army of Rohan... so far... in addition to the extra mounted mentioned above, I think I'd like to pick up a box of Warriors of Rohan and make a couple more stands of bow, spear, and blade.


Finally a stand of old Games Workshop/Marauder Miniatures) Dark Elf Witch Elves. These are for Amanda’s “ALL-HOTT Chick Army” (the Saphistic League of Unity and Togetherness). I’ve got another stand of these I’ll probably finish up in the next week or so…

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

What next indeed…? I have enough stuff I could run my Campaign Weekend right now if I had to. I think I’ll try and finish up a few more Dwarves and Orcs…. Maybe plink away at the Rohirrim… Definitely need to work on some terrain… There are a few other things CVT send along I ought to paint up and send home with him…

HOTT Campaign Play-Test: Autumn 824

Autumn 824

(Refer to the map here: Campaign Map)

The Orcs celebrated the relief of Nalgabad for some time – much to the chagrin of their commanders. The undead partake in no celebration, and indeed had nothing to celebrate so they were back to Nalgabad before the Orcs could even be marshaled to march on the capitol of Amundabad. The undead fought like the mindless automatons that they are… but were vastly outnumbered by angry drunk Orcs. The battle was fierce, but short and largely one-sided. After the second defeat of the Undead minions, the Orcs continued their celebrations well into the Autumn, and indeed the winter, hardly noticing the seasons had passed.

The Dwarves having secured their new territory marched to the sea via Sykl and there boarded longships abandoned by the Nordlanders. They made sail for Boulgeaus. They invested the city, which fell shortly thereafter – wild rumours of the impatience and cold-bloodedness of the Dwarves and what they might do to the inhabitants if they were forced to maintain a long siege had a large part in the garrison commanders decision to quickly seek terms.

The Narns concerned with their reputation could not let their latest defeat go unpunished and sailed back for Morgond in the fall and met the Anglanders in battle for a third time this year. The “invasion” turned out to be little more than a raid, and when the “armies” met, exhausted and much reduced, they fought what amounted to little more than a short skirmish. Once again an Anglish General was sniped, apparently, by a dastardly Halfling woodsman and the force retired to Galordon.


Well that’s it for this little play-test! Thanks so very much to all who participated – it gave me a good idea of how things might play out on the Campaign Weekend) and gave me some things to think about…. Most of all it got me totally STOKED about running the campaign weekend and an extended email campaign afterwards!!

The prestige points listed below are the amount gained through battles and taking cities plus the points for cities controlled at the end of the campaign, followed by the total. Looks like Bob turned out to be the clear victor, followed by Joe, and then Cory… Woody kind of got crunched hard – I think his position on the map had a fair bit to do with that!

I’m considering how I might redraw the map…. Since there  won’t be any undead I can lose the odd little bit of desert in the corner… I might make it all on one continent - without islands. There was a LOT of sea travel and for the most part players were very lucky only one journey got caught in a storm and luckily only lost two stands worth of troops! Considering how harsh the outcome of battles is on armies I might just remove the need to worry about losing further troops at sea…


Now… back to painting and terrain making!!!

The Stats

Orcland
Field Army Location: Nalgabad
Field Army Size: 14AP
Areas Controlled: Korrt*, Underyun, Garlac, Nalgabad
Prestige Points: 12 + 24 = 36

Amundala
Field Army Location: Amundabad
Field Army Size: 2AP
Areas Controlled: Amundabad*, Tashaklabad
Prestige Points: 0 + 12 = 12

Narn
Field Army Location: Morgond
Field Army Size: 7AP
Areas Controlled: Nean*, Relais, Morgond
Prestige Points: 39 + 18 = 57

Dwarvia
Field Army Location: Starsgard
Field Army Size: 22AP
Areas Controlled: Bohl-dur*, Harra-dur, Khalin-dur, Behln-dur, Hammar, Starsgard, Boulgeaus
Prestige Points: 28 + 42 = 70

Nordland
Field Army Location: N/A
Field Army Size: 0AP
Areas Controlled: N/A
Prestige Points: 0 + 0 = 0

Angland
Field Army Location: Mrognd
Field Army Size: 8AP
Areas Controlled: Galordon*, Scael, Sykl,
Prestige Points: 30 + 18 = 48

Eilf
Field Army Location: Quewedel
Field Army Size: 6AP
Areas Controlled: Quewedel*, Andild, Lyeldil,
Prestige Points: 0 + 18 = 18

HOTT Campaign Play-Test: Summer 824

Summer 824

(Refer to the map here: Campaign Map)

The summer started with the fall of Starsgard. A year and a half of war on two fronts exhausted the Nordlanders. Their army was vanquished and dispersed. Many marched east to live in the Anglaw – which was at least ruled by humans, others sailed for new lands – some would settle in Angland, some in Narn, some ventured further in seek of richer lands. Some accepted their fate and their new rulers the, The Dwarves, and hoped to make the best of it and live in peace with them. A few remained to bide their time, sabotaging the Dwarves were they could and wait for the return of their King!

Meanwhile the Orcs abandoned their siege at Sykl to relieve the siege on their “oasis resort vacation land”. The Orcs and undead battled it out in the shifting dunes and the undead were thrown back into the desert from whence they came. The shattered remains of King Christiankhamun V retired to the Necropolis at Amundabad.

The arrival of King Aethelbert at Galordon rallied the spirits of his men and they marched with all haste back to Morgond. Just west of Morgond they met the army of Narn already marching towards Galordon. The men of Angland gave a better account of themselves in this battle – led by their king who it was rumoured had “returned from the dead” to lead the Anglish to victory over their invaders! The Narns were beaten down hard and retired to their ships and sailed back to Relais.

Orcland
Field Army Location: Nalgabad
Field Army Size: 14AP
Areas Controlled: Korrt*, Underyun, Garlac, Nalgabad
Prestige Points: 8

Amundala
Field Army Location: Amundabad
Field Army Size: 6AP
Areas Controlled: Amundabad*, Tashaklabad
Prestige Points: 0

Narn
Field Army Location: Relais
Field Army Size: 7AP
Areas Controlled: Nean*, Boulgeaus, Relais,
Prestige Points: 29

Dwarvia
Field Army Location: Starsgard
Field Army Size: 22AP
Areas Controlled: Bohl-dur*, Harra-dur, Khalin-dur, Behln-dur, Hammar, Starsgard
Prestige Points: 24

Nordland
Field Army Location: N/A
Field Army Size: 0AP
Areas Controlled: N/A
Prestige Points: 0

Angland
Field Army Location: Mrognd
Field Army Size: 10AP
Areas Controlled: Galordon*, Scael, Sykl, Morgond
Prestige Points: 30

Eilf
Field Army Location: Quewedel
Field Army Size: 6AP
Areas Controlled: Quewedel*, Andild, Lyeldil,
Prestige Points: 0

Send out your WARG RIDERS!!

As promised in a previous comment here are some pics of the freshly painted Warg Riders!

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version)


Again, Lord of the Rings figures from Games Workshop.


Another view. I have a few more of these coming in the mail… or at least I HOPE so – the person I bought them from is suddenly no longer a registered user of ebay!? Wonder what’s up with that!?

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

Um…. Normans…? Rohanians…? Some kind of humans on horsies… or maybe dwarves…

HOTT Campaign Play-Test: Spring 824

(refer to the map here: Campaign Map)

The Sping of the year 824 of the new age was a spring of sieges.

The Dwarves marched east from their new territory of Hammar to the Nordlanders capitol of Starsgard. King Njarl refused to meet the Dwarves in battle and burned all fields and stores in the path of the Dwarves march. He scattered the remains of his army to the hills and harassed the Dwarves with raids and murder in the night. The Dwarves laid siege to the city of Starsgard – and the pitiful few that remained there held on through the spring….

Meanwhile Orcs marched down the coast to once again invest Sykl. The Anglanders were ready and prepared to hold for some time.

The Army of the Undead King Christiankhamun V rose out of the desert at Nalgabad and besieged the Orcish garrison within. The orcs, too, held on through the spring….

The Anglish made ready at Morgond for another expedition to Relais. But the Righteous fury of the new King of Narn drove him to take risks. He set sail for his return to Angland before the seas had settled. Some ships were lost at sea, but despite this the risk paid off as the Anglish were caught still making their preparations when the Narns arrived on their coast!

King Aethelbert quickly marshaled his troops and marched to meet the Narns. They met on a hill near the town of Bastings. The Battle was short and relatively bloodless (compared to the bloodbaths of the previous year...!). After a short sharp clash a rumor spread through the Anglish ranks that King Aethelbert had fallen, struck in the eye with an arrow (Again with the arrow in the eye!?). His army panicked and abandoned the field. Many deserted and headed for home. Some retired to the capitol of Galordon. Rumors continued to spread – was the king really dead and left on the field of battle? Had he been captured? Gone into hiding? No one seemed to know for sure…

The Elves decided they’d had enough of the wars of men and abandoned them to their own fate. They began to rebuild. They would not venture forth from their island homes for some time...

Orcland
Field Army Location: Sykl (besieged)
Field Army Size: 18AP
Areas Controlled: Korrt*, Underyun, Garlac, Nalgabad
Prestige Points: 4

Amundala
Field Army Location: Nalgabad (besieged)
Field Army Size: 14AP
Areas Controlled: Amundabad*, Tashaklabad
Prestige Points: 0

Narn
Field Army Location: Morgond
Field Army Size: 17AP
Areas Controlled: Nean*, Boulgeaus, Relais, Morgond
Prestige Points: 29

Dwarvia
Field Army Location: Starsgard (besieged)
Field Army Size: 22AP
Areas Controlled: Bohl-dur*, Harra-dur, Khalin-dur, Behln-dur, Hammar
Prestige Points: 20

Nordland
Field Army Location: Starsgard
Field Army Size: 10AP
Areas Controlled: Starsgard*
Prestige Points: 0

Angland
Field Army Location: Galordon
Field Army Size: 16AP
Areas Controlled: Galordon*, Scael, Sykl
Prestige Points: 22

Eilf
Field Army Location: Quewedel
Field Army Size: 6AP
Areas Controlled: Quewedel*, Andild, Lyeldil,
Prestige Points: 0