The Tournament
This is probably my favourite tournament of the year, only really contested by Throne of Skulls. It's a doubles event which encourages theme, fluff and a silly attitude to the highest degree. You will see armies that no one would dream of taking to any other event and longshots will be taken that happen, leading to great stories!
Our Army
Usually, I pair with James Willson each year. However, since I wasn't certain on my availability at first, I suggested he gets someone else so that I don't let him down.
Naturally, once I was confirmed as free, he had done just that. However, I got a message from Allan Cameron offering me a space. Since he offered, we went with what he really wanted to use, The Rangers.
The only army I had that could thematically ally with them, was Rivendell. I suggested that we use Arathorn, as he is rarely seen and would be fun. So we settled on a theme based on 'Born of Hope', the idea being the elves trying to save Arathorn from the trouble he gets himself into and preserve the line of Isildur.
Our lists ended up being:
Allan
Arathorn (Army Leader)
Rangers of the North x8 w/ 5x Spear
Ranger of the North w/ Horse
Ranger of the North w/ Horse
Me
Elladan and Elrohir
High Elf Warriors x8 w/ 3x Elf Bow
High Elf Captain w/ Shield (An-Gilraen)
High Elf Warriors x8 w/ 3x Elf Bow
Might: 13+8
Numbers: 30
Game 1- Reconnoitre (Khazad-Dum/Rivendell (Joel and Elliot))
Opponents' Heroes: Elrond (L), High Elf Captain, Durin and Dwarf Captain
Opponents' Warriors: Rivendell Knights, High Elf warriors, Vault Wardens and Dwarf Warriors
Our opening game was against a tough mix of elves and dwarves, led by two strong heroes. We brought most of our forces on inside the fortress, and the two mounted rangers along with the Elf Captain's warband came on outside. Elliot and Joel did similarly, but with just the Dwarf Captain arriving outside. The Rangers opened well as they killed both of the Knights, including the banner bearer and dismounting Elrond.
Before long, my elves had formed a line across a chokepoint, with the Rangers rushing over to join. The opposing elves rushed forward, and the Captain charged two. He called a Heroic Combat, threatening Arathorn, who called a Heroic Strike in response. The Captain slew both of my elves and then rushed into the Ranger Chieftain...before lancing him through the chest and killing him in our second combat of the tournament. I felt that I hadn't carried out my duties of saving him very well.
Before long, our mounted Rangers had rushed past and off of the board, as inside the fortress, another 3/4 were making their way up. I saw a chance and charged one twin into Elrond, we had a chance to kill Daddy! The second twin then called a Strike against the Elf Captain, as a Ranger called a combat. We killed the captain and rushed Elrond, but he won the Strike off and then the combat, pushing us back. The next turn, he charged Elladan, as Durin rushed in to grab Elrohir.
Over a couple of turns, Elladan blew a chance to wound Elrond and Durin brought down Elrohir, driving the twin into a rage. He rushed forward and attacked both Durin and Elrond, calling his Heroic Challenge, which was flatly denied and he too was slain.
Outside the fortress, our Elf Captain fought with his numerically superior unit against the Dwarf Captain, but somehow completely failed to bring his numbers to bear until a few of the dwarves were dead, but so too were most of his elves. Despite this, he just about managed to stop any escaping past him.
The same could not be said inside the fortress however, as Durin and Elrond were now unopposed, save by a small handful of horribly outmatched Rangers. A large contingent of them got off the board and turned our 5-5 draw into a 8-0 defeat. But it had been a very entertaining game and a great opener for the tourament.
Game 2- Total Conquest* (Rivendell/Lothlorien (Ben and James))
*Doubles scenario
Opponents' Heroes: Elrond (L), Arwen (Representing Celebrian), Celeborn, Galadriel and Haldir
Opponents' Warriors: High Elf Warriors and Wood Elf Warriors
As I say above, usually I would double with James for this tournament. He apparently took this badly, and I found myself subjected to propaganda and challenged. Due to this, Ben and Allan found themselves pulled in when the TOs were happy to let this happen in our group.
Arathorn found himself deployed in the centre with all his Rangers against the Rivendell force, so he deployed back to allow the friendly elves to join and assist, before retreating half move. Mine and James's halves would arrive via Maelstrom, so I used a might point on the Captain, who arrived behind Arathorn (South) and began to rush forward. Meanwhile, the twins rolled a 2, and so was designated the South-West corner to arrive by James and Ben.
In their move, Elrond (Ben) rushed forward to close the gap to Arathorn, while Celebrian ran towards the two mounted Rangers, who were in front of the SW objective. James then rolled his Maelstrom rolls and had Galadriel and Celeborn arrive beside the twins and Haldir failed to arrive. In the shooting, the Rangers fired and I believe killed an elf or two.
The next turn, the Rangers rushed forward and engaged Elrond's elves, as the Captain was able to get his warriors right up behind, ready to aid next turn, as his archers claimed the SE objective. The two mounted Rangers engaged with two elves before Celebrian, and the twins rushed forward and Elladan engaged Celeborn, while a lone warrior got ahold of Galadriel. Celebrian attempted a Nature's wrath but was resisted by a Ranger.
James and Ben proceeded to have a terrible turn of combat, as Elrond fluffed his, then several of his warriors were slain by Rangers and Celeborn was brought down to 1w, 1f. One of the mounted Rangers fell to Celebrian and an elf.
Over the next couple of turns, their luck didn't improve much as the twins slew their Grandad, Celeborn, Elrond used his might for moves and combats, that they didn't win, as even more of his elves were killed. And with the Captain's unit joining, it was looking dire in the centre for them, as I sent a couple of elves to hold the NE objective.
The twins had Haldir arrive behind them and charged, using throwing knives. I desperately tried to get the twins to catch Galadriel, leading to me being told.
'You've killed Grandpa already, you can't have Granny too!'
Eventually, Haldir still having might led to him slaying Elladan and driving Elrohir mad with wrath, but the game ended before much could come of it.
In the centre, the Captain rushed from the main fight and took the NW objective. Arathorn saw a chance for greatness and with 3 other Rangers, they surrounded the Lord of the West. They proceeded to get a Heroic Strike in place, then roll a 4 highest, allowing Elrond to win and cut down Arathorn with 3 wounds! The final combat of the game and I had dropped the ball again, allowing him to die!
We owned 4 objectives and a 5th that was contested. We had broken them, but they had slain our leader, giving us a 10-1 victory. James and I agreed to bury the hatchet, or so I thought...
Game 3- Fog of War (Erebor Reclaimed/Thranduil's Halls (Natalie and Katie))
Opponents' Heroes: Thorin, King Under the Mountain (L), Kili, Champion of Erebor, Legolas and Tauriel
Opponents' Warriors: Iron Hills warriors, Palace Gaurd Banner, Mirkwood Rangers and a Wood Elf Sentinel
I have never played Natalie nor Katie before, so didn't know what to expect. But what I could see was that they had arguably the scariest army of our group!
We decided to capture the Hobbit hole to our right, defend my Captain and slay Kili, COE. We figured that the terrain was as good as any to go for, the Captain was a sturdy D7 guy, who could shield with F5, if needed. And Kili was fairly likely to be at the front fighting, but we'd have a decent shot at killing him with 2w, 1f.
We deployed most of our forces to the right, with the two mounted Rangers out to the far left, to sow doubt of what we were going for. We had Thorin with his dwarves and Kili before us, Legolas was to the far left and Tauriel in the middle.
My Captain called a March and pulled our army up the board to cross the gap as fast as possible, while the Rangers opened fire. They killed a small handful, but we managed to shoot a Mirkwood Ranger dead in response. In the second turn of shooting, I got a group of archers against the right board edge, with a view of Kili, behind the Hobbit Hole that we wanted to seize. I took my shots and dismounted him. We lost another couple of elves to shooting in response.
We then got our first turn of combat as Tauriel arrived, Thorin hit and I pushed Elrohir towards him, we got lucky and managed to dismount him too, but failed to wound the King himself. Many of our blows against the dwarves deflected off their thick armour, but we got a couple or so.
The following turn, we charged and surrounded Tauriel with Arathorn, Elladan and two Rangers, we called two Heroic Strikes to hers and won the roll off. She was cut down (and we regretted not making her our target). But that was still a big threat gone from the field.
On the far left, the two mounted Rangers hid behind a tree and engaged in a shooting war with Legolas, in which, the tree saved their lives many times. They even managed to peel some fate off of Legolas. When the elven prince make a break across the river, Allan, with my encouragement, sent the horsemen to charge him. They managed to take away his might before being slain.
In the battle, Kili joined the fray and went for the Captain, who pushed him back in the field. The next turn, Kili attempted to jump the fence, but rolled a 1 and fell on his back. Dwarves rushed to protect him, but we sensed our chance and got some bodies on him. In the combat, he managed to valiantly roll a 6 and stave off the attempt on his life.
Elladan launched a Heroic Combat off the rear of the dwarves and pounced onto the Hobbit Hole as time was called. Arathorn had ended up amongst the Mirkwood Rangers, who had run over and slew their Palace Guard bannerman. Thorin had broken away from the elves and seized a Hobbit hole to our right as the game ended.
We had taken our terrain piece and kept the Captain unharmed, while Natalie and Katie had successfully defended Kili, captured their terrain piece and broken us (don't think we were far off returning the favour). This gave us a narrow 9-6 defeat!
By the end of the group stage, we would now be ranked 1st-4th in our group, to play amongst those who ranked equally in their own groups. Day 2 would be a knockout to rank each group formed this way.
Natalie and Katie topped our group with an undefeated 3 win streak and they went on to come second overall! The rest of us all sat on 1 win and 2 losses! Meaning 2nd-4th would be entirely decided by VPD, and we had -2...
In the end, Joel and Elliot ended up taking 2nd with a VPD of 0, and we took 3rd over James and Ben, who had a VPD of about -6. This meant that Allan and I would be in the knockout for the Palantir Mugs!
But first, there was a melee to fight...
Game 4- The Arena of Champions* (All the above teams)
*Each team had a couple of Heroes of 100pts or less (including wargear). For every 5pts below 100pts, they would gain a Might/Will/Fate. These duos would fight until one duo remained, or one Hero. The winner of each group would progress into the final 8 and play in Round 2, with the winner gaining Anduril for day 2 and the runner-up claiming Orcrist for Day 2.
Our Heroes: Arathorn and High Elf Captain, An-Gilraen (Bottom)
Opponents' Heroes: High Elf Captain and Dwarf Captain (Joel and Elliot) (Top)
Haldir and Arwen (Celebrian) (James and Ben) (Left)
Kili and Tauriel (Natalie and Katie) (Right)
*In our first turn, sticking to the theme, and with a cry of "Get down, Mr President!", my Captain leapt in front of Arathorn. Who then levelled his bow and took out Kili's goat. James and Ben shuffled forward and Haldir managed to dismount the other elven Captain, we had already taken out all the mounts from the fight.
In the second turn, we edged forward and attempted another shot, but missed. We then saw Celebrian suspiciously wander over, before casting Wrath of Bruinen and us both knocking down, along with Tauriel. James then cried 'GET HIM!' I guess the hatchet has been dug up and buried in my back. XD Haldir threw himself at me and landed a blow, which I fated away. Kili followed up, giving my captain a further whack, which I used two fate to resist. And finally, Tauriel jumped in and with her knives, made a horrible end to my Captain. I had dropped out like a stone incredibly early. But I had achieved my aim, keeping Arathorn alive and letting him use my resources to stay in the fight as best he can.
There was then half an hour of the other three teams attacking each other like wild animals, Wraths of Bruinen would knock them down, Heroic Strikes would be called, fate taken away, a multitude of might spent and yet STILL nobody else had died! It was all very exciting, people crowded round, astounded that while others had long finished their round, here still was 7 players and a witness still fighting! Even with the calls of +1, +2 and +3 to wound in combat going up, still they survived! At one point even Damian, one of the TOs came over to cheer them on, with cries like 'WHAT ARE YOU DOING???' 'ITS +3 TO WOUND!!' and 'I just want to go to the pub...', it may have influenced his decision in announcing that from about that point, any model losing a fight is also trapped! This was announced just as the Dwarf captain lost to Haldir and was immediately sliced in half. This seemed to open the floodgates as soon after the other Elven Captain was slain, having just brought down Celebrian.
Kili rushed at Arathorn, who used his last two might and cut down the dwarf, only to drive Tauriel into a rage and have her leap upon him and cut him to ribbons with her knives (I was at peace with this, I wanted badly to see him win Anduril, but at least he did something heroic).
This just left Tauriel and Haldir in the arena, both on 2w, 0f. Who would win this thrilling showdown..?
Well, Haldir as it happens, he drew his bow and shot Tauriel twice, earning a chorus of boos.
*Some of this may be a bit off, a lot was happening at once
So Haldir progressed into Round 2, against the likes of Gollum, Boromir, a Hasharin, another Tauriel, the Witch King, an Orc Captain and Murin.
Highlights include the Witch King chasing an invisible Gollum and yelling 'Stop nutting me, you little bastard!' after winning and wounding the Dol Guldor wraith 2/3 times, Boromir expending 5 might to beat Haldir and the Orc Captain and slay the former and the final showdown between the Witch King and Tauriel. Eventually, the she-elf claimed Anduril and the Witch King, Orcrist for Day 2.
Game 5- No Escape* (Mordor/Serpent Horde (Ash and Jacob))
*Doubles scenario
Opponents' Heroes: Gothmog (L), Mordor Orc Captain and Mumak with Beastmaster
Opponents' Warriors: Mordor orcs, Morannon orcs and Harad warriors
*Note- we agreed that the Mumak could trample terrain on a 4+, with the largest piece having 3 wounds, as otherwise there would be no way for it to be involved in the battle.
Our run for the Palantir Mugs began with a tough matchup, as it would place Arathorn and his Rangers in the middle against Gothmog and his orc army, with a Mumak approaching them from behind. The elves would have to rush to try and save Arathorn from this very tight spot. However, this was the absolute best for capturing the theme of our army.
Gothmog and his orcs deployed before the large ruin so Arathorn started with his Rangers to their left behind a small ruin. Arathorn called a Heroic Move, while the Elven Captain called a Heroic March. The Rangers rushed forward and engaged the warg riders, blocking the chokepoint from having orcs rush through. Gothmog's unit moved towards them, with orcs spilling over either side of the two terrain pieces. The Rangers caused some early damage, killing the warg riders before them. They then won the move off the following turn and pinned Gothmog as Arathorn ran into the orcs to the left.
The elves then hit the left flank of the orcs, with Elladan fighting amongst them. Elrohir and the Captain both charged a couple of warg riders that were attempting to flank Arathorn and Heroic Combatted off of them to cover the Rangers' backs.
The Rangers and elves began cutting their way through the orcs and suddenly we found Elrohir, the Captain and a handful of elves surrounding Gothmog! An orc managed to peel off the Captain just in time for the combats to start. Gothmog and Elrohir called Strikes and, to our horror, the Orc pulled it off and got away.
Despite this, it felt like our forces were doing well, when suddenly a shadow fell over us and loud footfalls were approaching. The Mumak crashed in, having flattened the mounted Rangers and shattered a ruin, before squashing several elves and rangers.
We now had a real task to end the game before the Mumak killed us all. We got the move off and rushed as many as possible into the beast, we won the fight but only did a single wound! The following two turns, evil got to move first...
First, Gothmog pulled himself out of danger and ran round the building, then the warbeast charged, several elves and rangers were crushed until Elrohir went down to 1w, 0f and brought it to a halt. The following turn, his brother did exactly the same just as time was called, meaning Arathorn was safe from being run down. Our remaining warriors all then charged into the Harad, who had climbed down with their rappelling lines and the orcs. They just managed to break the enemy in the last few combats, while remaining unbroken by a single warrior.
We had managed to break the forces of evil, while they still had a banner, meaning that we had claimed a squeaky 5-2 victory.
Game 6- Lords of Battle (Nature itself (Callum, Katrina and Severus the Judgmental Snake))
Opponents' army: Thranduil on Elk (L), Dain on Warboar, Radagast on Sleigh, Farmer Maggot w/ Dogs, Bullroarer Took, Bill the Pony, Great Eagle, Goat Rider, Fell Warg and Rider of the Dead (Spectral Steed)
Their theme was the animals of Middle Earth, to explain the Eclectic mix.
At the end of deployment, Radagast, the Great Eagle, the Fell warg and rider of the dead are to our right, Thranduil is in the centre and Dain, Farmer Maggot and Bullroarer Took were to the left. We deployed a mounted Ranger to the left and the rest of the army to the right.
The beasties got first priority and Thranduil escaped our attempt at a Heroic Move to catch him, slipping through the gateway. Radagast cast panic steed upon the mounted ranger and the Eagle flew behind us.
Outside the gate, Maggot's dogs and Bullroarer attacked the mounted ranger, losing and having the hobbit dismounted. Severus gave us an unimpressed shake of the head. The next turn the man was ripped to pieces!
Meanwhile, Thranduil returned through the gateway with Dain and Farmer Maggot in tow, plowing into our elves and Rangers. Arathorn made the brave decision to charge into Thranduil, figuring that at D6, he was more likely to be wounded and would be worth leader VPs. They both did their strikes, and Thranduil had the edge, before brutally cutting down the Heir of Isildur.
I may have failed my duties again...
We pulled back towards the Eagle and the next turn called a Heroic Move, using the chance to pin the eagle in place before Heroic Combatting more of our troops off of it onto the Rider of the Dead, which we also slew. Severus was once again displeased.
It's at this point that I should mention that, as an award for their dedication to theme, Callum and Katrina had been awarded Anduril for day 2. They had given it to Sebastian, the hedgehog in Radagast's care. I felt that it was my duty to seize that weapon and return it to Arathorn's heir, so began a mission to catch him.
Over the rest of the game, I threw Elladan, the Captain and several elves into the wizard desperately. Only, many, many times the wizard won and three times Sebastian slew an elf with Anduril!
Back in the centre, Thranduil and Dain were spinning out of our control, as they had only had a wound on their mount each. They both killed three Rangers between them and Thranduil used a reclaimed might to shatter Elrohir's defence and slay him.
This now meant that Elladan, who was in combat with Radagast, went up to S5 and shattered the Sleigh at last! I have to admit that in my excitement as getting the following priority, I forgot that Elladan should have made a beeline for Thranduil (my bad!), as I threw him after Radagast with the other elves and failed to finish him off!
In this final pic, simply enjoy the immortalisation of Farmer Maggot's dogs learning how to use siege equipment.
By the end of the game, we had been truly bested by our opponents. They had 55~ wounds caused to our 15~, had slain Arathorn and broken us, earning them a well deserved 12-0 win.
Game 7- Seven Stones Domination* (The Army of Brothers (Matt and Jon))
*Same as Domination, except there are 7 objectives for a max of 16VPs across the scenario and they can be placed 10" apart
Opponents' Heroes: Isildur (L), Boromir of Gondor, Faramir, Elladan, Elrohir, Fili the Dwarf, Kili the Dwarf, Murin, Drar, Nob and Hob (One used Gaffer Gamgee's profile, the other Folco Boffin, I forget which way round though, apologies).
Opponents' Warriors: A Warrior of Numenor (Redacted Anarion)
We were offered the chance to have the sets of twins duel and agreed that as soon as one twin dies, the other three will all be enraged. (Take a minute to admire the insane conversion work on them!)
We ended up deploying in two thin lines across the middle ready to rush in and fight. The twins all rushed with Elladan fighting Elrohir and Elrohir fighting Elladan, all going 2h. And we ended up winning both duels and wounding both twins. Boromir used several might to plow through our lines with a Heroic Combat. But the rest of their combats seemed to backfire, and a lot of might was being spent to keep afloat.
In the next move phase, a mounted Ranger got around their rear and fired at a hobbit, shooting him dead! Arathorn attempted to leap over a low wall and landed facefirst on the other side, only to have Faramir pounce on him, a true chance to show his quality!
Boromir ended up having to use yet more might to avoid taking heavy damage as he was surrounded and the twins all fought again, this time our Elladan lost and took a wound, but their Elrohir was reduced to 1w, 0f. Arathorn managed to survive the attempt on his life and get back on his feet.
The next turn, our Captain charged and duelled Boromir over two turns, before slaying the Captain of the White Tower. Faramir over these two turns, ended up slaying two of our Rangers and Kili fell to a few Rangers and elves. In the twins' duels, our Elrohir brought down their Elladan, before our Elladan slew their Elrohir the next turn!
Our Captain then ended up in a duel with Isildur, they crossed swords for another couple of swords, before Isildur brought him down and avenged Boromir. Fili was laid low beside them by two Rangers. Isildur would have turned to avenge him also, had Elrohir not then rushed in, in fury, and fought him for the last turn! And managed to land a lasting wound upon him. But where had Elladan gone...?
Well it turned out that the closest model to Elladan was the poor surviving Hobbit. Seeing the seething elf coming running towards him, he ran as fast as his legs could take him off the objective and out the door of the ruins, hotly pursued.
However, just as he was about to be captured, the Hobbit got priority and failed his broken courage test, fleeing the field and narrowly avoiding death.
By the end of the game, we had full control of 6 objectives and had a majority on the centre, we had wounded Isildur and both armies were broken, giving us a 15-1 victory. This left us in 3rd place for the Palantir Mug.
This is one of my favourite events of the year and thanks to Allan for tolerating my dice rolls for the weekend! Anyone looking for a good doubles event, this is THE one!
Events that I'll attend
Suffolk Under Siege (GBHL 90pt)- 25th June
A Clash of Kings 2: The Hand's Tourney (EAHC)- 8th July
The Wolf's Lair (GBHL 100pt)- 12/13th August
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