This weeks club match was my first trial in anger of the new Middle Earth SBG rules from GW. Playing against Kevin with him supplying the forces as usual in the form of Theoden and his Riders pitted against the vile Lurtz and his gang of Uruh-Hai thugs. I of course chose to play Lurtz's force.
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| Forces close |
Early shooting worked well for the Uruk-Hai and 2 or three Rohan unhorsed and three or more Royal Guard are shot in the first couple of rounds, the Uruk-Hai hero claiming a couple on his own.
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| Lurtz gets pinned in the doorway |
Kev goes for the charge and a line develops across the field but this limits shooting so everyone pretty much piles in.
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| Rohan charge in to the pike block and bounce while the Warg Riders counter charge the centre |
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| The fight on the right begins to go Evils way with numbers telling |
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| Cavalry dual goes Evils way with the Rohan failing to get the kills |
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| Theoden rides tp buff up his forces on the Evil left flank |
The mid game goes by with priority shifting and a couple of heroic charges declared and countered. Rohan gets the hits but the Uruk-Hai get the kills. Rohan failing to close the gap in numbers that they need to.
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| Numbers thin mid game with Rohan getting a good round |
In the end the Rohan centre disintegrated and the melee seperated into two fights around the ruins and the two Rohan main hero's with Rohan doing slightly better on the left and clearing the far side of the ruins but the Uruk-Hai doing the same between the ruins.
End mid game the Rohan force was broken.
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| End game? Theodens line looks about to end as the king and his son are cut off and surrounded |
Even though the Rohan force is broken it doesn't lose many to rout due to good courage and buffs but continue to lose to the Uruk-Hai attrition. With the Uruk-Hai looking to have already won and still unbroken things look grim but it's still not all one side.
The end nears and playing through the final round to see how things pan out Kev manages to take out a couple of the general Uruk and Theodred cuts down Sharku and thus gets the Uruk-Hai below break point and despite overwhelming numbers Theodred miraculously survives the final round.
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| Theodred likewise surrounded but manages to survive |
The other side however Theoden and the Rohan Captain are cut down by Lurtz and Ugluk and the massing Uruk-Hai.
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| Surrounded, Theoden is cut down by Lurtz and his Uruk-Hai |
In the end we totaled up the victory points and the death of Theoden proved to be the clincher with a narrow 6 to 5 victory going to the Uruk-Hai but with the Rohan force scattered and only 8 left on the board and the Uruk-Hai broken but with 17 or so left fighting. Rohan closing the gap near the end but not enough to tip things
Very enjoyable game all in all. Kev felt it to be a bit one sided and Rohan getting beaten up due to his inability to get the kills despite hitting lots. I felt the game was pretty even but the numbers on the Uruk-hai side giving the edge and limiting the Rohan Cavalry charge advantage.
Definitely up for another rematch on the matched play or give a scenario a try.
The rules were all pretty familiar with really only the changes to the hero rules to pick up on. Certainly seem to be reasonable and will be up for more trials soon.
Great looking game.
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