Saturday, October 31, 2020

The Other Tabletop Game I Play

The other Tabletop game I really enjoy is Fantasy Flight's Star Wars X-Wing. Who doesn't love Star Wars, after all?*

Unlike MESBG these models come prepainted and assembled, so customisation here is really optional. The game is truly well put together and fun to play. There's a Second Edition out now that I'd missed, but the boxed set is on the way so I'm looking forward to giving it a go.

My collection for it so far is small and humble, but naturally I do have plans to expand.

The Millennium Falcon

2x X-Wings (Can be piloted by Luke, Biggs, or Wedge or basic pilots)

1x Y-Wing


TIE-Advanced (Can be Darth Vader or basic pilots)

3 TIE Fighters


To add to this, I currently have on order:

The Second Edition Box (1 X-Wing and 2 more TIEs)

1x TIE-Reaper

1x ARC-170 Bomber

I'll likely add a few TIE Interceptors and an A-Wing or two. A TIE Bomber wouldn't go amiss either, though it would be nice to get some non-TIE variance in the collection at some point, the Imperial's will look pretty impressive with them all lined up. 5 TIE Fighters might not seem like a lot of variation, but I love the idea of having a swarm of the things. You can also stock them up with more elite pilots to level the playing field if the Rebels larger ships seem to be causing too much trouble.

I would also love to get hold of a LAAT-i Dropship. Dunno why but it's one of my favourite ship designs.



Catch you next time, and may the Force be with you!

*Fools, that's who.

Thursday, October 29, 2020

The First Army Lists of 2020


So for both Rohan and Mordor, with the contents of the Starter box (see my previous post), I could just assemble the lot a call it a start. It would look something like this:

Rohan - Total: 456pts*

  • Theoden, with Armoured Horse, Heavy Armour and Shield - 100pts
  • 8 Riders of Rohan - 112pts
  • 4 Riders of Rohan, with Throwing Spears - 64pts
  • 6 Warriors of the Dead, with Shields - 90pts
  • 6 Warriors of the Dead, with Spears - 90pts

Mordor - Total: 496pts
  • The Witch King, with Armoured Fell Beast - 140pts**
  • Mordor Troll - 100pts
  • 16 Morannon Orcs, with Shields - 128pts
  • 16 Morannon Orcs, with Spears - 128pts

* The Warriors included in the box are not in the list as they would be required should the Riders get unhorsed.
**This is the minimum points version of the Witch King for simplicity, he has a tonne of upgrades in reality.

Now these lists are fine enough, at least for casual games, or narrative games like recreating the Pelennor Fields. However, these lists are imbalanced, come to odd points values in the case of Rohan, and in the current set of rules, illegal. The new rules are built around Hero-led Warbands, with hard limits on the maximum number of standard warriors that can accompany each hero (varying between heroes). Additionally, the Warriors of the Dead are not part of the Rohan Army list, and could only ally in with one of their own Heroes leading them, in this case The King of the Dead, and both forces would lose their army bonuses unless Aragorn was present also, as they would count as "Impossible Allies".

Of course, I could fluff it. Proxy in some of the Warriors or Orcs to act as the King or Orc Captains...

That would be the boring way to do it.

I need customisation, I need to cut up some plastic and bend it to my will... also, I could probably do with some structure. To this end, I've decided to put together simple 300pt value lists that will force me to do a little remodelling, include some new stuff I've never used before, and importantly give me an achievable goal that doesn't require me assembling and painting nearly 100 models. Once this batch is complete, I will up the points value to 500, and build upon each force. But here are what I've decided on for now.

Intro Two - D&D Boogaloo


The second focus of this blog will likely be D&D. I got into D&D around the time I fell out of Tabletop Wargaming funnily enough, and it wasn't via Critical Role, as many a current player can likely attest to. Instead for me it was a mix between Rollplay, another Youtube/Twitch show that predated CR, and one of the Penny Arcade live shows for Acquisitions Inc (I think it was Patrick Rothfuss' first showing).

Of course, I'd seen the D&D movie already, and read not only the original Dragonlance trilogy, but also the followup trilogy featuring the Majere brothers, and many of the spinoffs, prequels and sequels to the series. Without even realising it, I was well entrenched in the mythos of D&D, so when bored one night I started looking for how I could play myself.

I got incredibly lucky with Roll20. I joined exactly one game, and that lasted for over 3 years and led into multiple other games with much of the same group. I even ran a good few sessions myself. We played using the AD&D First Edition rules, with a few house-rulings, but for a new guy the group was welcoming, and the setting incredibly compelling. Mormon matriarchal space dwarves, trans-dimensional dragons, power armour and a tropical setting seem non-typical and "out-there" but the presentation made it all work and we were hooked and always ready for the next Wednesday night when we could play again.

It was such a great experience that I've immortalised my original character, a dwarven fighter called Axel, in model form. My other character from that campaign, a druid called Canis, got re-imagined into the new game we're playing (run by Follow Me and Die, see the link to his top-notch work in the sidebar!), a frontier spanning game with ancient temples sealing a powerful necromancer and Vikings with sand-ships!

Axel Rhom'khul - My Original Dwarf Fighter. Canis will be getting a model too.

So how will D&D appear on this blog? I will likely go through my experiences firstly, I've played a mix of 1e and 5e, enough that I have my own thoughts and even house-rulings for each. Perhaps few posts for fun sessions I play, and will likely do a series covering my own setting, Alenostr, in an effort to flesh it out and finish that project properly.

Alenostr is an ice-and-snowbound southern continent, with games set shortly after the fall of the Dwarven Empire, overthrown by their own Ogre vassals under the leadership of the mysterious Ogress known as the Enchantress. It features pervasive magic, fallen Orc civilisations, necromancer Vampires and school's for ghost-busting Paladins! I'm really looking forwards to returning to development for it.

That's where I'll leave this post. I hope it's entertaining for you all!

Wednesday, October 28, 2020

Introductions - A Return to the Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game


So here it is! A blog!

I've considered making a blog for many years about various things, but with 2020 being what it is, I've found more time for two hobbies that have a lot of crossover. That is, D&D and Tabletop Wargames, with the latter more specifically being Games Workshop's Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game (which I've learned these days is called Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game).

I fell off of the Games Workshop hobby a good 6 or 7 years ago, after a stint in Warhammer 40k. There, I played Orks, which was a great army to play for all sorts of conversion and customisation opportunities. But inevitably, with minimal time to play, minimal funds and minimal motivation, it got put aside and many of models were sold off. 40k was a cool game, but I think the problem was that it wasn't The Lord of the Rings. 

It was LotR that got me into the hobby in the first place. I'd read the trilogy at the tender age of 10 or so, and the game and Peter Jackson movies came not long after this. It was prime timing! Games Workshop also partnered with Deagostini, known for many a weekly/monthly subscription magazine, to release a LotR magazine that provided models, paints and taught your the rules over several months. Long term subscribers would find themselves with small armies for every faction, the full Fellowship of the Ring, and numerous supporting characters both Good and Evil.

I was one such subscriber, but unfortunately time and younger siblings mean I have very few remaining, and what does sits likely damaged and badly painted in a box in a storage unit miles away.

However! It is seems the game had a resurgence over recent years, and although you can no longer walk into the local Games Workshop store (now renamed Warhammer store) and see the collection of LotR boxes, they are still available on the online store, including several Forgeworld models, or from Independant Hobby stores. It is from here I dived back into the hobby with The Battle of the Pelennor Fields.


As starting points go, at least for a returning player, this box is absolutely fantastic. 

From what I remember, you never got this level of contents in the old starter boxes. Firstly, the rules book. Instead of a cut down, simplified "mini-booklet", they provided the full 200 page hardback rules manual for the latest edition. The only thing missing from this book is army profiles, though there is a small booklet that covers the models included in the box. A downside for sure, as expansion would require the purchase of another two books (one for LotR era armies, another for The Hobbit era), but this is Games Workshop after all!

Aside from the book, you also get dice (great since I'm a D&D player, just a shame there's only D6s!), tokens for marking conditions and statuses for models, and a stylised measuring ruler for each faction.

But the models, the models are where it really shines. Old starter sets came with a handful of models, usually a dozen or so warriors for Good and Evil each. This one comes with over three dozen for each side, the individual pricings for which would be well over double the cost of the box alone.

Representing the side of Good is Rohan, led by King Theoden himself. This model is a new plastic sculpt that didn't exist when I played before, and is one of the most stunning and well made models GW has done in my opinion. The old Theoden model was metal, and whilst it was detailed, it was fairly static and stiff-looking. I'm very much looking forwards to painting this up.



Old (Left) vs New (Right)

Following Theoden is 12 Riders of Rohan, these are the classic models and essentially two sets of the 6 variants. There are also 12 Warriors of Rohan, but foot soldiers tend to be rare on the tabletop outside of Helm's Deep recreations, and will often be relegated as replacements for when the Riders have their horses shot out from beneath them. The final set contingent is 12 Army of the Dead, which I believe normally can't be fielded without Aragorn or at least their King, but it's a cool inclusion and another example of previously metal models being reproduced as great plastic sets.

The opposition is a little more simple, but includes two great models. The mainstay of the forces of Evil are 36 Morannon Orcs, who bear better armour and hit harder than the standard Orcs, as these are Gothmog's elite forces. Supporting them is no less than a Mordor Troll, a beast that could likely smash its through most of the Rohirrim forces solo, especially if fielded as a Chieftain. I never owned any of the larger monsters Middle Earth had to offer, they were too expensive for me back then, but now I don't get just one, but two!

As leading the Evil side is none other than the Witch King himself! And he comes on a Fell Beast, another expensive model I never expected to own back in the day.

Who needs horsemen when you have a flying mount?

This is the second model I'm looking forwards to putting together, because the Witch King is metal as heck.

So I'm throwing myself back into the hobby full speed, and will be constructing both Rohan and Mordor armies in parallel. With luck, I can entice my siblings into playing a few games whilst I look to see what the local scene offers (all depending on the old pandemic going around of course!). To this end, I've already purchased more Riders, the Forgeworld rendition of Deorwine, Captain of the Royal Guard, and some Warg Riders. I've also got plans for a conversion or twenty, naturally.

Future posts will go over the initial army lists, and progress for each one, and I'll look to expand each force in parallel, slowly building up the points levels, so consider subscribing and keep your eyes peeled for all that. I may also put together my painting and conversion processes, and if we're lucky, a battle report or two as I relearn the rules and hopefully claim victory.

Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time!