IHL Interviews - Dave Coleman

(Rob) After a short hiatus from the blog we're back with an interview with the new Irish Hobbit League Champion for 2020, Dave Coleman.

Welcome to the blog Dave. Could you start by introducing yourself and giving a little bit of background into your time in the hobby?

(Dave) Thanks for having me on Rob. My name is Dave and I've been completely hooked back into the ME:SBG sphere thanks to the new edition. For as long as I can remember I've been collecting and playing Warhammer since about 3rd Ed 40k but as soon as the Lord of the Rings movies came out I was hooked on the franchise. I had collected years ago when the DeAgostini magazines were in production but didn't play any games or collect since about 2005 so it's been great to be back into it!

So, you are the new 2020 Irish Hobbit League Champion, how does that feel?

It feels good, especially to have two Cork winners in back to back years! Even though 2020 has been a bit of a write off of a year we still managed to get quite a decent amount of tournaments going on our little island and I attended the majority of them. It was great to learn there was a competitive scene here in Ireland when a few friends and I restarted and given we were all competitive 40k players it came naturally.

Are there any particular types of armies that have helped you to achieve this League Title?

I suppose the two main armies I am known for bringing is both Barad-Dur and Rohan. Rohan are extremely strong edition and especially so until the recent nerf to Gamlings banner but in my eyes they're still a top tier army. I ran Riders of Theoden nearly exclusively until I turned my eye to a Rohan/Lothlorien alliance with Galadriel which certainly confused some people! I've always loved Rohan as the scene that always gives me goosebumps is the Charge of the Rohirrim on the Pelennor.

Barad-Dur have been another staple for me, consistently able to place highly with them. They're a fantastic army based around the Dark Lord Sauron but require a good bit of finesse to get them running right as you can very easily overstretch your forces allowing either your army to fold around you or getting Sauron bogged down for the game.

Any little tips or tricks to get the most out of these armies?

I think when it comes to the armies I've picked the main takeaway from them is just to practice, practice, practice. When it came to figuring out how an army like Barad-Dur worked it took multiple losses before you may realise where you can and can't engage an enemy and how you should engage them. Oh, take Shelob!

With Rohan, they're an army that can be a bit of a glass hammer (mostly a solid hammer though) due to the fact they generally rely on getting the correct Move-Off's but thankfully they have the Might to keep consistently moving and marching. With Rohan it's hugely important to correctly time when you hit your opponent and where alogn with using tactics like the Yo-Yo against low shoot volume armies where you can just send in your heros, kill 10-12 models and Heroic Combat away from them only to do that again next turn.

Are we likely to see more of the same as you attempt to defend your title next year, or are there any new projects we'll likely see?

I reckon I will definitely still have Barad-Dur and Rohan take to the field but I am currently working on getting my Army of Thror/Iron Hills list finalized along with some playing around with a Easterling/Khand alliance and a Cirith Ungol list.

I am lucky to have such a good regular gaming partner with Ivan Sheehan, last years IHL Champion where we very regularly play games, at least once a week along with rattling off our lists trying to see where the others could be improved.

Finally before you go, what's the one piece of advice you would give to a new player in the game?

I think the main piece of advice I would tell a new player would be to just pick whatever army you like the look of and go with it. With ME:SBG being such a generally balanced game, you wont particularly have any unfun games along with the whole reason we all play this game, the lore, the world, the characters, the stories. That's what it's all about.

Thank you Dave for taking the time to take part in this interview and we'll see if you can defend your new title in the 2021 IHL season.

Thanks again for having me on!

My Fantasy Fellowship

I'm sure most of my readers will by now be aware of the Fantasy Fellowship rules from the new Quest of the Ringbearer book. These rules offer people the chance to create their own Fellowship to go on the campaign to destroy the Ring and save Middle Earth from the Dark Lord. Naturally I felt like I had to jump on the band wagon and form my own Fellowship. I did set myself a couple of extra rules when starting out on this mission; firstly theme had to come first in all selections and secondly, I wouldn't use any members of the original Fellowship. So after many hours of deliberations here is my pick for a Fantasy Fellowship.

The Ring Bearer

Old Bilbo Baggins

The selection of a Ring Bearer was highly important for determining the overall theme of this Fellowship. In the end I decided on a 'what if' scenario where Bilbo didn't leave the Ring to Frodo after the Long Expected Party. So that makes Bilbo my Ring Bearer, and I gave him both Sting and the Mithril Coat because he did carry them with him when leaving the Shire.

The Three Hobbits

Dori the Dwarf (the Companion)

Bifur the Dwarf

Bofur the Dwarf

Ok, so this is bending the rules slightly, but it's done purely based on theme driven motivation. We're told in the book that Bilbo was accompanied by 3 Dwarves when he left the Shire:

"Three dwarves came out of different rooms where they had been busy.

'Is everything ready?' asked Bilbo. 'Everything packed and labelled?'

'Everything,' they answered.

'Well, let's start then!' He stepped out of the front-door."

So, with that in mind I looked into which Dwarves would have been alive at that point and were below the points limits within the rules. Those restrictions ruled out all but 5 Dwarves; Dori, Nori, Bifur, Bofur and Bombur (the Party taking place after Balin's doomed expedition). I then discounted Bombur as he's described as being too fat to walk by the time of the Council of Elrond, leaving only 2 options for Merry and Pippin's replacements, Bifur and Bofur. Out of the remaining Dwarves Dori was the more obvious choice as the companion and his special rule will help out Bilbo in his journey.

Aragorn

Gildor

When replacing Aragorn I needed someone who could have met Bilbo and the Dwarves in the area around Bree. After some digging I found this quotation that provided the perfect solution.

"At last Frodo asked the question that was nearest to his heart:

'Tell me, Gildor, have you ever seen Bilbo since he left us?'

Gildor smiled. 'Yes,' he answered. 'Twice. He said farewell to us on this very spot. But I saw him once again, far from here.' He would say no more about Bilbo, and Frodo fell silent."

This passage shows that Gildor did actually meet Bilbo on his journey towards Rivendell, so he is an ideal thematic replacement for Aragorn.

The Wizard

Galadriel

For my Wizard I worked by process of elimination. Gandalf was out because he was in the original Fellowship, Saruman had already been turned by the time of the Party, Radagast was more interested in trees and animals than the quest, and I felt that the leader of the quest should be a powerful Hero, ruling out some of the smaller spell casters. This process left me with Elrond, Galadriel and Celeborn to choose from. Out of those I simply picked Galadriel as my favourite.

Legolas and Gimli

Arwen and Halbarad

When picking these two my first choice was that I wanted to use the gorgeous Arwen model, so she got added. At this point I considered that I had no representative from the race of Man, so looking at who would have been around that area at that time and the best person who met my needs was Halbarad. These 2, i imagine, are on their own mission to find Aragorn who was off in the wilds hunting Gollum at the time. I decided that Halbarad's 2 Attacks would make better use of the gift of Galadriel's 3 hairs than Arwen's single Attack, while having a 2nd archer in Arwen with the Galadrim bow would also be useful.

Boromir

Glorfindel

And finally we have the last member of the Fellowship. My Fellowship up to now was lacking a big combat Hero, so I opted for one of the top combat oriented Elves knocking around Rivendell, Glorfindel. It's a shame that he's doomed to fall at Amon Hen but his combat prowess will certainly help in getting the Fellowship that far.

So there we have it, my Fantasy Fellowship. It's maybe not the most powerful Fantasy Fellowship around but I love it.

Into the Wild: Beyond the Pelennor

 

A question I see a number of new players ask when starting out is what would be good next purchases for someone looking at expanding from the Pelennor Fields starter set. So I'm have set myself the challenge to create an army list for each of the three factions included in the box set plus a maximum of £50 for each army of additional models from the Games Workshop store (it will probably be possible to do these cheaper using independent retailers, eBay or buy and sell sights, but by sticking to GW it'll provide a level playing field).

Before I get stuck in a quick note on books. All three of the armies within the Pelennor Fields box will require the Armies of the Lord of the Rings book to provide rules profiles. The Gondor at War book would also be a useful addition with all three armies gaining additional profiles and Legendary Legions, so I'd also recommend picking that up too if possible.

Dead of Dunharrow

Suggested purchases:

King of the Dead £25

Three Hunters £25

We'll start with the easiest list to write. The starter set comes with a supply of Warriors of the Dead but no heroes that can lead them. There's only two options for an army list to build from, either the Dead of Dunharrow list from the Armies book or The Return of the King Legendary Legion from Gondor at War. In both of these the King of the Dead is an essential purchase so it was 1st on the shopping list. After that the Three Hunters are an excellent option, unlocking the chance to use the Legion and is probably the better of the two options.

Return of the King

Aragorn

5 Warriors

King of the Dead

5 Warriors

Gimli 

5 Warriors

Legolas

4 Warriors

745 points

Mordor

Suggested purchases:

Morannon Orc Commanders £24

Witch King on Foot (eBay or trade groups)

Again the starter set provides plenty of Warriors in the form of 36 Morannon Orcs and a Mordor Troll. However, the only Hero available is a Nazgul on Fell Beast (who I'd suggest using as the Witchking). So again we have to purchase some heroes. Firstly, you will need a dismounted Ring Wraith, and rather than using most of our £50 budget to get one from GW then they show up on trade groups or eBay fairly frequently. To this I'd suggest adding some Orc Heroes in the form the Morannon Orc Commanders set (providing a Captain, Shaman, Drummer and Banner). These will help to bolster your Orc horde by providing sufficient warband spaces and help support the Fell Beast and Troll in damage dealing. I opted against providing any further suggestions primarily because Mordor has such variety within it's selections and therefore it depends heavily on personal preference but the suggestions above will still allow you to create a solid army.

Mordor

Witch King on Fell Beast with Crown, Morgul Blade, Flail and max stats

Mordor Troll

Morannon Orc with Banner

16 Morannon Orcs (8 with shield, 8 with shield and spear)

Morannon Orc Captain with Shield

Orc Drummer

11 Morannon Orcs (5 with shield, 6 with shield and spear) 

Orc Shaman

6 Morannon Orcs (3 with shield, 3 with shield and spear)

794 points

Rohan

Suggested purchases (if you don't mind waiting until things get restocked):

Eomer £20

Gamling and Hama £25

Suggested purchases (if you want to get stuck in straight away):

???

Rohan has a huge array of options for different armies thanks to a wide selection of Legendary Legions to choose from. For example, you could pick up Helm Hammerhand from Forge World and a Rohan Command set to run Helm's Guard, or Theodred and Grimbold to run Theodred's Guard, both for £50 or below. However, if you are willing to wait for a restock then picking up the gorgeous new Eomer and a Gamling and Hama pack will provide a solid start to the muster of the Rohirrim, with both of them frequently appearing in top lists within IHL events.

Rohan

Theoden with Armoured Horse, Heavy Armour and Shield

4 Riders with throwing spears

Gamling with Royal Standard

4 Riders

Eomer with Armoured Horse, Heavy Armour and Shield

4 Riders

Hama 

10 Warriors (4 with throwing spears and shield, 6 with shield

650 points

Bonus list

Another option with the Rohan models is to opt to go for the Defense of Helm's Deep Legion from the War in Rohan book. For this I'd suggest getting the Three Hunters (getting some extra utility from your purchases as they also work well with the Dead of Dunharrow) and a box of Galadrim Warriors*. This option gives you a start on another army while still allowing you to play with the models you have. 

Defence of Helm's Deep

Theoden with Heavy Armour

18 Warriors of Rohan (8 with shield and spear, 8 with shield, 2 with bow)

Aragorn with Armour

Gimli

Legolas with Armour

9 Galadrim Warriors (7 bows, 2 shield and spear)

700 points

* Ok, they technically come to a total of £51, but who's going to quibble over a pound?

Desolation of the North Podium Review

 

Last week I showed you all the army lists that would be competing at the Desolation of the North event. This was an 850 point Good vs Evil tournament with 14 players entered. So which lists came out on top? Let's take a look at the 3 podium positions.

3rd Place

Ivan Sheehan

Good – The Rangers & the Shire:

Warband One (Leader):

•Aragorn, Strider on horse with armour + Anduril.

•8 Dunedain.

Warband Two: 

•Halbarad on horse with Banner of Arwen Evenstar.

•6 Dunedain.

Warband Three:

•1 Dunedain.

Warband Four:

•1 Dunedain.

Warband Five:

•Farmer Maggot.

Warband Six:

•Lobelia Sackville-Baggins.

Warband Seven:

•Bilbo Baggins with Mithril Shirt.

Evil – Serpent Horde: 

Warband One (Leader):

•Suludan on armoured horse.

•18 Haradrim Warriors with spears.

Warband Two:

•The Betrayer on Fellbeast.

•15 Watchers of Karna with bows with poisoned arrows.

Warband Three:

•Harad Taskmaster.

•3 Haradrim Warriors with spears.

•3 Watchers of Karna with bows with poisoned arrows.

•2 Serpent Riders.

Warband Four:

•Raza.

•3 Haradrim Warriors with spears.

•9 Watchers of Karna with bows with poisoned arrows.

Ivan's Rangers is an army that I have been wanting to wanting to cover here after it helped him to become the 2019 League Champion last year. This army carries lots of might and managing that might is key to it's success. Knowing when to call Heroic Moves or Combats is important in order to avoid getting bogged down and achieving your objectives with this low model count army. Added in to a healthy supply of 2 Attack Rangers are 3 Hobbits from the Shire, all of whom add something special to the list; Bilbo has the One Ring which helps tackle big Heroes, Lobelia prevents standfasts for Warriors (which doesn't affect the Rangers as they are all Heroes) and Farmer Maggot has 3 fast moving dogs who are great for capturing objectives. And on top of all that is Aragorn who makes an excellent leader thanks to his combat prowess and free might points.

The Serpent Horde army that Ivan used on the Evil side makes full use of the shooting potential that this army posseses. 27 Watchers of Karna all with bows and poisoned arrows offers a frightening ranged threat especially when buffed by the Betrayer to allow a re-roll on all failed wound rolls. Anything that survives that hail of poisoned arrows then has Suladan and a Fell Beast to contend with, both powerful Heroes.

2nd Place

Dan Ahern

Good – Return of the King: 

Warband One (Leader): 

•Aragorn, Strider with Anduril and Elven cloak.

•1 Rider of the Dead.

•11 Warriors of the Dead: 3 with shield and 8 with spear + shield.

Warband Two:

•King of the Dead.

•2 Riders of the Dead.

•13 Warriors of the Dead: 1 with banner, shield + spear, 2 with shield and 10 with spear + shield.

Warband Three:

•Legolas with armour and Elven cloak.

Evil – Angmar: 

Warband One (Leader):

•The Witch-King of Angmar on Fellbeast with Morgul Crown, Morgul blade, 3 Might, 3 Fate and 20 Will.

•1 Cave Troll with hand and a half hammer.

•1 Dead Marsh Spectre.

•2 Angmar Warg Riders with shield.

•10 Angmar Orc Warriors: 1 with banner, 4 with shield, 3 with spear and 2 with two-handed weapon.

•1 Wild Warg.

Warband Two:

•The Tainted on horse.

•1 Dead Marsh Spectre.

•1 Wild Warg.

•12 Angmar Orc Warriors: 5 with shield, 5 with spear and 2 with two-handed weapon.

Warband Three:

•Barrow Wight.

•1 Dead Marsh Spectre.

•6 Angmar Orc Warriors: 3 with shield and 3 with spear.

Warband Four:

•Barrow Wight

•5 Angmar Orc Warriors: 3 with shield and 2 with spear.o

The Return of the King legion is a really solid and dependable army. Warriors of the Dead are tough to kill thanks to them being D8 with shields and can hit hard despite only being S3 thanks to Blades of the Dead (especially when the enemy courage is lowered by the King of the Dead's Harbinger of Evil). Talking of the King of the Dead, he poses a threat to enemy heroes who will try to avoid him and not risk being killed by a single blow. Legolas meanwhile offers some ranged capability in an army that is otherwise lacking in this department. And then there's Aragorn again as leader who I've already covered up above.

I said in the Army List blog that Angmar is enjoying a lot of popularity at the moment. The magical potential of this list is immense with 2 Wraiths and 2 Barrow Wights. These work well together with the Wraiths able to Sap Will enemy heroes to set them up for the Barrow Wights to Paralyze them. The Cave Troll and Fell Beast provide hitting power, the Wargs offer mobility and a horde of Orcs form up the main battle lines (helped by the fact that they cause Terror when near the Heroes).

1st Place

Dave Coleman

Good – Rohan & Lothlorien:

Warband One (Leader): 

•Galadriel with the Mirror of Galadriel.

•Mirkwood Sentinel.

Warband Two: 

•Theoden on armoured horse with heavy armour and shield.

•8 Rohan Royal Guards on horse with throwing spears.

•2 Rohan Outriders on horse.

•2 Warriors of Rohan: 1 with bow.

Warband Three:

•Eomer on armoured horse with shield.

Warband Four:

•Gamling on horse with Rohan Royal Standard.

Warband Five:

•Dernhelm.

Warband Six:

•Deorwine on horse.

Evil – Barad-Dur: 

Warband One (Leader):

•Sauron.

•20 Orc Warriors: 10 with shields, 9 with spear and 1 with spear + banner.

•2 Orc Trackers

Warband Two:

•Witch-King of Angmar on Fellbeast with Morgul Crown, 3 Might, 3 Fate & 16 Will.

Warband Three:

•Shelob.auseve has become something of an expert in a Good vs Evil environment within the IHL having won the last two of these style of tournaments with Rohan and Barad Dur.

Rohan is very good against Evil armies because of the hitting power provided by their numerous heroes. The change to the Royal Standard has curtailed this slightly but it still proved successful here. This time Galadriel was added to the list bringing the Mirror which helps to keep those Rohan heroes alive longer by restoring their Fate while also adding some magical support to the Horse Lords.

This Barad Dur army is built around the multiple threats of Sauron, the Witchking and Shelob. Each of these individually is able to inflict significant damage and when combined it creates a very potent force to be reckoned with.

Congratulations to all the winners; Ivan, Dan and Dave as well as to Patrick McCormick for winning Best Painted Army and Model.

And here's a few photos of the action last weekend.

Desolation of the North - Army Lists

 

Once again the IHL is going to war in Exploding Dice in Bangor. This time it's a 850 point Good vs Evil event which is again at the Covid restricted maximum attendance limit of 14 players. That means we have 28 army lists to get through so let's get cracking.

Looking at the breakdown of the armies we can see that Pure armies make up over half of the forces attending this weekend. One interesting point is the low amount of Legendary Legions, just one, when historically they have made up nearly a quarter of armies. Could this be the Gamling nerf showing an early impact by reducing the popularity of the Riders of Theoden?

David Murphy

Good – Erebor Reclaimed & Iron Hills: *Historical Alliance*

Warband One (Leader):
Thorin, King Under the Mountain on War Goat with Orcrist.
1 Iron Hills Goat Rider.
10 Iron Hills Dwarves: 3 with crossbow + spear and 7 with spear + shield.
Warband Two:
Dain Ironfoot on War Pig.
11 Iron Hills Dwarves: 4 with crossbow + spear, 6 with spear + shield and 1 with banner, shield + spear.
Warband Three:
Dwalin, Champion of Erebor on War Goat.
10 Iron Hills Dwarves: 3 with crossbow + spear and 7 with spear + shield.

Evil – Azog’s Legion & Azog’s Hunters

Warband One (Leader):
Azog on the White Warg with heavy armour + Stone Flail.
16 Gundabad Orc Warriors: 1 with banner, shield + spear, 8 with shield and 7 with spear + shield.
Warband Two:
Bolg on Fell Warg.
14 Gundabad Orc Warriors: 7 with shield and 7 with spear + shield.
Warband Three:
Fimbul on Fell Warg.
Warband Four:
Yazneg on Fell Warg with lance.

First up we have a pair of armies built around multiple big heroes. Thorin and Dain lead the shieldwall of Iron Hills Dwarves which will prove to be a tough one to break through. Meanwhile, their thematic opponents are the forces of Azog led by the Pale Orc himself and supported by his number 2 Bolg, who are certainly capable of doing a lot of killing between them.

Luke O’Reilly

Good – The Rangers

Warband One (Leader):
Aragorn, Strider on horse with armour, bow, Elven cloak and Anduril.
8 Dunedain; 3 with spears.
Warband Two:

Halbarad on horse with Banner of Arwen Evenstar.
8 Dunedain; 2 with spears.
Warband Three:
Dunedain.
Warband Four:
Dunedain.
Warband Five:
Dunedain.
Warband Six:
Dunedain.

Evil – Angmar: 

Warband One (Leader):
The Witch-King on horse, with Morgul Crown, 3 Might, 3 Fate & 20 Will.
2 Angmar Warg Riders with shield.
8 Angmar Orc Warriors; 2 with two-handed weapons, 3 with shields and 3 with spears.
Warband Two:
The Tainted on horse.
8 Angmar Orc Warriors; 2 with two-handed weapons, 3 with shields and 3 with spears.
Warband Three:
Burdhur.
9 Angmar Orc Warriors; 1 with banner + shield, 2 with two-handed weapons, 3 with shields and 3 with spears.
Warband Four:
Barrow Wight.
1 Spectre.
8 Angmar Orc Warriors; 2 with two-handed weapons, 3 with shields and 3 with spears.
Warband Five:
Barrow Wight.
1 Spectre.
8 Angmar Orc Warriors; 2 with two-handed weapons, 3 with shields and 3 with spears.

Both the Rangers and Angmar have proven to be tournament winning factions over the last couple of seasons of the IHL. The Rangers have bucket loads of Might and an excellent leader in Aragorn. This Angmar army runs double Wraiths and double Barrow Wights, so enemy heroes will be rightly nervous against it.

Paddy McCormick

Good – Fiefdoms & Minas Tirith:

Warband One (Leader):
•Denethor.
•6 Fountain Court Guards: 3 with spears.
Warband Two:
•Imrahil on armoured horse with lance.
•2 Knights of Dol Amroth on armoured horses with lances.
•16 Dol Amroth Men at Arms.
Warband Three:
•Angbor the Fearless.
•9 Clansmen of Lamedon.
Warband Four:
•Duinhir.
•15 Blackroot Vale Archers: 5 with spears.
Warband Five:
•Forlong the Fat on horse.

Evil – Mordor:

Warband One (Leader):
•The Witch-King on armoured Fellbeast with 3 Might, 3 Fate, 19 Will, Morgul Crown and Morgul Blade.
Warband Two:
•Khamul the Easterling on Fellbeast.
Warband Three:
•The Undying on Fellbeast.
Warband Four:
•The Knight of Umbar on Fellbeast.
Warband Five:
•Shelob.

Continuing with the thematic pairings next there is a combined Gondor army and their historical enemies in Mordor. The overlapping buffs provided by the numerous Fiefdoms heroes make even the basic warriors a threat. And the Evil side sees the return of the Nazgul Flying Circus that proved highly competitive in the previous edition of the game, will it do so again?

Michael Bunting

Good – Rivendell & White Council:

Warband One (Leader):
•Elrond on horse with heavy armour.
•9 High Elf Warriors: 8 with shield and 1 with spear + Elf bow.
Warband Two:
•Gil-galad on horse with shield.
•2 Rivendell Knights.
•15 King’s Guards: 8 with shield + spear, 1 with banner, shield + spear and 6 with Elf bow + spear.
Warband Three:
•Galadriel, Lady of Light.

Evil – Barad-Dur:

Warband One (Leader):
•Dark Lord Sauron.
•9 Black Numenoreans: 1 with banner.
•9 Orc Warriors: 6 with spear + shield and 3 with bow, spear + shield.
•1 Orc Tracker on Warg.
Warband Two:
•Mordor Troll Chieftain.
•4 Black Numenoreans.
•4 Orc Warriors with spear + shield.
•1 Orc Tracker on Warg.
Warband Three:
•Mordor Siege Bow.

Again, two armies that have shown previous event winning potential. Micheal won the Battle on the Plains of Lisburn with a list very similar to with his Good force here comprising some of the toughest Elf Heroes around and Barad Dur has previously won at Good vs Evil events at Gaelcon and Cork.

Gerard Bunting

Good – Minas Tirith & Fiefdoms:

Warband One (Leader):
•Aragorn, King Elessar on armoured horse.
•18 Minas Tirith Warriors: 9 with shield and 9 with spear + shield.
Warband Two:
•Hurin on horse.
•12 Minas Tirith Warriors: 6 with shield and 6 with spear + shield.
Warband Three:
•Prince Imrahil on armoured horse with lance.
Warband Four:
•Avenger Bolt Thrower.
Warband Five:
•Avenger Bolt Thrower.

Evil – Moria & Dark Denizens of Mirkwood:

Warband One (Leader):
•Balrog.
•18 Moria Goblins: 9 with shield and 9 with spear + shield.
Warband Two:
•Druzhag.
•10 Moria Goblins: 5 with shield and 5 with spear + shield.
•1 Giant Bat Swarm.
Warband Three:
•Ashrak.
•9 Moria Goblins: 3 with shield and 6 with spear + shield.
Warband Four:
•Spider Queen.

With two Bolt Throwers then this Gondor force's opponent is going to want to close the distance quickly, only trouble is when they get there they'll be faced with some of Gondor's finest heroes in Elessar and Imrahil. Meanwhile, on the evil side, we find a Balrog backed up with a horde of Goblins and a Spider Queen who can be buffed up by the list's two Shamen.

Colleen McConnell

Good – Fangorn:

Warband One (Leader):
•Treebeard.
•1 Ent.
Warband Two:
•Beechbone.
•1 Ent.
Warband Three:
•Quickbeam.
•1 Ent.

Evil – Desolator of the North:
Warband One (Leader):
•Smaug.

I don't really know what to say about either other than to remind everyone to ' Never laugh at live dragons'.

Matt Hamill

Good – Radghast’s Alliance and Misty Mountains

Warband One (Leader):
•Radaghast on Great Eagle.
•2 Great Eagles.
Warband Two:
•Gwaihir.
•3 Great Eagles.

Evil – Angmar:

Warband One (Leader):
•The Witch-King of Angmar on horse with Morgul Crown, 3 Might, 3 Fate & 17 Will.
•2 Cave Trolls with hand and a half hammers.
•15 Angmar Orc Warriors: 7 with shields, 7 with spears and 1 with banner + shield.
Warband Two:
•Barrow Wight.
•1 Dead Marsh Spectre.
•1 Cave Troll with hand and a half hammer.
•10 Angmar Orc Warriors: 5 with shields and 5 with spears.
Warband Three:
•Barrow Wight.
•1 Dead Marsh Spectre.
•11 Angmar Orc Warriors: 6 with shields and 5 with spears.

Warband Four:

•Barrow Wight.

•3 Angmar Orc Warriors with Orc bows.

After his victory at the latest event Matt returns again with an Angmar army with multiple Barrow Wights. As I said previously, Paralyze is a great spell that challenges even the most powerful of Heroes. On the Good side we have an all Eagle force that should offer plenty of mobility and hitting power in combat.

Marty Metcalfe

Good – Rivendell: 

•Elrond on horse with heavy armour.

•16 High Elf Warriors: 1 with banner, 7 with Elf bows and 3 with spears + shields.

Warband Two:

•Glorfindel on Asfaloth with the Armour of Gondolin.

•5 Rivendell Knights with shields.

•5 High Elf Warriors: 2 with spears + shields.

Warband Three:

•Cirdan.

•6 High Elf Warriors: 1 with Elf bow and 3 with spears + shields.

Evil – Isengard: Single Faction

Warband One (Leader):

•Saruman on horse.

•12 Uruk-Hai Scouts: 1 with banner + shield, 5 with Uruk-Hai bows and 6 with shields.

•Grima Wormtongue on horse.

Warband Two:

•Lurtz with shield

•8 Uruk-Hai Scouts: 5 with shields and 3 Uruk-Hai bows.

Warband Three:

•Mauhur.

•8 Mauhur’s Marauders with shields.

Warband Four:

•Ugluk.

•6 Uruk-Hai Scouts: 2 with shields and 2 with Uruk-Hai bows.

Warband Five:

•Gorulf Ironskin.

Another Rivendell army led by a pair of the great Elf Lords who really provide plenty of punch in combat. This is paired with an Isengard army led by Saruman to offer magical support and a mass of Uruk Hai Scouts to provide combat punch.

Dave Coleman

Good – Rohan & Lothlorien:

Warband One (Leader): 

•Galadriel with the Mirror of Galadriel.

•Mirkwood Sentinel.

Warband Two: 

•Theoden on armoured horse with heavy armour and shield.

•8 Rohan Royal Guards on horse with throwing spears.

•2 Rohan Outriders on horse.

•2 Warriors of Rohan: 1 with bow.

Warband Three:

•Eomer on armoured horse with shield.

Warband Four:

•Gamling on horse with Rohan Royal Standard.

Warband Five:

•Dernhelm.

Warband Six:

•Deorwine on horse.

Evil – Barad-Dur: 

Warband One (Leader):

•Sauron.

•20 Orc Warriors: 10 with shields, 9 with spear and 1 with spear + banner.

•2 Orc Trackers

Warband Two:

•Witch-King of Angmar on Fellbeast with Morgul Crown, 3 Might, 3 Fate & 16 Will.

Warband Three:

•Shelob.

Dave has shown previously that both his Rohan and Bard Dur armies can thrive in a Good vs Evil environment after victories at Gaelcon and Cork. This time, however, Gamling's effectiveness has taken a hit from the latest FAQ and Galadriel has been added to the forces of the Horse Lord's. Will these changes make the difference or will Dave continue his good form?

Dave Chambers

Good – Minas Tirith & Fiefdoms: 

Warband One (Leader):

•Forlong the Fat on horse.

•5 Knights of Dol Amroth on armoured horse with lance.

Warband Two:

•Boromir, Captain of the White Tower on horse with shield + Banner of Minas Tirith.

•2 Guards of the Fountain Court with shield.

•7 Osgiliath Veterans: 1 with shield and 6 with spear + shield.

Warband Three:

•Madril.

•2 Guards of the Fountain Court with shield.

•9 Rangers of Gondor with spears.

Warband Four:

•Hurin on horse.

•4 Knights of Minas Tirith with shield.

Warband Five:

•Avenger Bolt Thrower.

Evil – Isengard: 

Warband One (Leader):

•Saruman on horse.

•Grima Wormtongue.

•1 Uruk-Hai Scout with shield.

Warband Two:

•Lurtz with shield.

•1 Uruk-Hai Scout with banner.

•14 Uruk-Hai Scouts with shields.

Warband Three:

•Vrasku.

•12 Uruk-Hai Warriors with crossbows

Warband Four:

•Mauhur.

•12 Mauhur’s Marauders with shields.

Another Isengard army with a similar composition to the previous one, having Saruman and Uruk Hai Scouts. And another combined Gondorian army although this time with Boromir carrying the Banner to boost the fight value of his Swan Knights, Osgiliath Veterans and Fountain Guard to F5, giving them an edge against most Evil troops.

Stephen Devlin

Good – Kingdom of Moria: 

Warband One (Leader):

•Balin, King of Moria.

•5 Iron Guards.

•8 Khazad Guards.

•5 Dwarf Warriors: 3 with shield and 2 with two-handed weapon.

Warband Two:

•King’s Champion.

•5 Iron Guards.

•5 Khazad Guards.

Warband Three:

•Floi.

•9 Dwarf Warriors: 2 with shield and 7 with Dwarf bow.

•1 Iron Guard.

•2 Khazad Guards.

Warband Four:

•Dwarf Ballista with 1 extra crew.

Evil – The Serpent Horde & Mordor:

Warband One (Leader):

•The Witch-King on horse with Morgul Crown, 2 Might, 2 Fate & 13 Will.

Warband Two:

•Suludan on armoured horse.

•7 Serpent Riders.

•2 Watchers of Karna with twin blades.

•2 Abrakhan Merchant Guards.

Warband Three:

•The Betrayer on Fellbeast.

•12 Harad Warriors with spears + bows with poisoned arrows.

Warband Four:

•Raza, Fang of the Serpent.

•5 Watchers of Karna with twin blades.

•5 Abrakhan Merchant Guards.

•1 Harad Warrior with war horn.

The traditional Lord of the Rings era Dwarves have not tended to be hugely common in the IHL events recently so seeing them represented here is great. This Moria list has a plentiful supply of elite infantry and a couple of solid Heroes. The Evil army here is a predominantly Harad force led by the Witchking from Mordor, providing a double magic threat.

Mike Bradford

Good – Rivendell, Numenor, White Council & Thranduil's Halls

Warband One (Leader):

•Gil-galad on horse with shield.

•1 Rivendell Knight with shield + banner.

•1 High Elf Warrior with banner + shield.

•12 King’s Guards: 6 with shield, 4 with spear + shield and 2 with spear, shield + Elf bow.

Warband Two:

•Isildur on horse with shield and the One Ring.

Warband Three:

•Galadriel, Lady of Light.

Warband Four:

•Thranduil on horse with heavy armour, extra Elven made sword and Circlet of Kings.

Evil – Azog’s Legion, Azog’s Hunters & Dol Guldur: 

Warband One (Leader):

•Azog on the White Warg with heavy armour + the stone flail.

•1 War Bat.

Warband Two:

•The Necromancer.

•Abysmal Knight.

Warband Three:

•Abysmal Knight.

Warband Four:

•Bolg on Fell Warg with Orc bow with Morgul arrows.

Here we have 2 armies bringing some big Heroes to the field. On the Good side there's the great Elven Lord's (and Lady) backed up by F6 Warriors while on the Evil side there's Azog and Bolg providing the punch. Low numbers could be an issue for both these armies but their big heroes will hopefully cause some damage to the enemy.

Dan Ahern

Good – Return of the King: 

Warband One (Leader): 

•Aragorn, Strider with Anduril and Elven cloak.

•1 Rider of the Dead.

•11 Warriors of the Dead: 3 with shield and 8 with spear + shield.

Warband Two:

•King of the Dead.

•2 Riders of the Dead.

•13 Warriors of the Dead: 1 with banner, shield + spear, 2 with shield and 10 with spear + shield.

Warband Three:

•Legolas with armour and Elven cloak.

Evil – Angmar: 

Warband One (Leader):

•The Witch-King of Angmar on Fellbeast with Morgul Crown, Morgul blade, 3 Might, 3 Fate and 20 Will.

•1 Cave Troll with hand and a half hammer.

•1 Dead Marsh Spectre.

•2 Angmar Warg Riders with shield.

•10 Angmar Orc Warriors: 1 with banner, 4 with shield, 3 with spear and 2 with two-handed weapon.

•1 Wild Warg.

Warband Two:

•The Tainted on horse.

•1 Dead Marsh Spectre.

•1 Wild Warg.

•12 Angmar Orc Warriors: 5 with shield, 5 with spear and 2 with two-handed weapon.

Warband Three:

•Barrow Wight.

•1 Dead Marsh Spectre.

•6 Angmar Orc Warriors: 3 with shield and 3 with spear.

Warband Four:

•Barrow Wight

•5 Angmar Orc Warriors: 3 with shield and 2 with spear.

The penultimate pair of lists sees the only Legendary Legion in Return of the King and another Angmar army. Aragorn makes an excellent leader thanks to Mighty Hero and Anduril while the Dead provide some of the toughest Warriors in the game. And as has been seen already, Angmar is experiencing a surge of popularity at the moment with several armies here.

Ivan Sheehan

Good – The Rangers & the Shire:

Warband One (Leader):
•Aragorn, Strider on horse with armour + Anduril.
•8 Dunedain.
Warband Two:
•Halbarad on horse with Banner of Arwen Evenstar.
•6 Dunedain.
Warband Three:
•1 Dunedain.
Warband Four:
•1 Dunedain.
Warband Five:
•Farmer Maggot.
Warband Six:
•Lobelia Sackville-Baggins.
Warband Seven:
•Bilbo Baggins with Mithril Shirt.

Evil – Serpent Horde:

Warband One (Leader):
•Suludan on armoured horse.
•18 Haradrim Warriors with spears.
Warband Two:
•The Betrayer on Fellbeast.
•15 Watchers of Karna with bows with poisoned arrows.
Warband Three:
•Harad Taskmaster.
•3 Haradrim Warriors with spears.
•3 Watchers of Karna with bows with poisoned arrows.
•2 Serpent Riders.
Warband Four:
•Raza.
•3 Haradrim Warriors with spears.
•9 Watchers of Karna with bows with poisoned arrows.

And finally we have the current IHL champion, who is bringing back the army he's probably best known for with the Rangers. These bring tons of Might while his Hobbit allies each add unique special abilities. And on the Evil side there's a Harad force with loads of poisoned bowshots, which will be buffed by the Betrayer.

So there's all the lists, we'll see who stands victorious on Sunday evening.

Boardwalk Basing Tutorial

 

Recently I showcased my completed Thorin's Company force and received several compliments on the wooden walkway bases that I had added to them, so I thought I would show my readers exactly how I went about creating them.

1.  Materials required

Standard Games Workshop bases for the required models.
Coffee stirrers (you could use lollypop sticks bit I found that coffee stirrers fit the scale of the models better)
Wood glue
Super Glue

Tools required
Snips
Craft knife

Paints required
Primer (I used grey but any colour will be fine)
Mournfang Brown
Agrax Earthshade
Gorthor Brown
Usabti Bone

2. Cut stirrers to length.

First you want to cut the stirrers to match the size of the bases using the snips. I found 4 pieces fits a 25mm base. This wants to look uneven so don't worry too much about being neat about this.

3. Score a more defined grain into one side of the coffee stirrers

Although they already have a wood grain in them I found that once they are primed and painted this doesn't show through so using the back of a craft knife I scored lines down the length of the stirrers to create more definition.

4. Rough up the edges.

Here the goal is to make the planks look worn and damaged by cutting chunks out of the straight ends or edges with the craft knife. Again this is meant to look uneven so try to avoid making the cuts too similar on different planks.

5. Glue to the base.

Simply cover the top of the base with wood glue and place your planks down. Leave the glue to dry before continuing further.

6. Painting

Once the glue has set then prime the bases as normal. For painting I used a base coat of Mournfang Brown followed by a heavy wash with Agrax Earthshade. Then dry brushed them with Gorthor Brown and Usabti Bone to give them a worn look.

7. Attach the model

Now all that remains is to attach the model to the base using Super Glue. I was initially worried that this wouldn't be a strong enough bond and that I'd need to pin the feet but I accidentally dropped a model from 6 feet and it survived so it should be strong enough.

Breakthrough of Bangor Podium Review

 

Last Saturday saw 14 generals gather to reignite the 2020 Irish Hobbit League at the Breakthrough of Bangor. I previously provided a rundown of most of the armies competing at this event (see here) but now let's take a closer look at which of those prevailed over all the rest. As before models or warbands within square brackets were only part of the 650 point army, not the 450 point version.

3rd Place
Micheal Bradford
Thranduil's Halls

Warband 1
[Thranduil on horse with sword, heavy arm and circlet
2x Mirkwood Rangers]
Warband 2
Legolas on Horse with Elven Cloak
3 x Mirkwood Rangers
Warband 3
Tauriel with bow
10x Mirkwood Rangers
1x Wood Elf Sentinel
1x Mirkwood Elf with shield and banner

Generally speaking I am not a fan of Elves, falling more on the Dwarven side of the debate (Never trust an Elf). However, of all the possibilities within elven armies the one that interests me the most is the Mirkwood Rangers. The 100% bow limit provided by the army bonus means that nearly every model has a bow giving this army a potent ranged threat despite it's low numbers. Despite this leaning towards bow fire, these Elves are also highly competent fighters thanks to their F5 and ability to gain extra attacks when fighting multiple foes. The three Heroes are also no slouches in combat and are well able to mix it up with the best of them at these points levels. The armies primary weakness is it's low Defence but if you can mitigate this it has proven here that it is a capable force.

2nd Place
Paddy McCormick
Riders of Theoden

Warband 1 (Leader)
Theoden King of Rohan
6x Rohan Royal Guard
[3x Rohan Royal Guard]
Warband 2
Deorwine, Chief of the King's Knights
4 Riders of Rohan
Warband 3
Dernhelm
3 Riders of Rohan
Warband 4
[Gamling, Captain of Rohan with Royal Standard
3x Riders of Rohan]

Riders of Theoden has been a regular feature of the top tables of the IHL since I began these podium reviews. The combination of tons of Might, highly mobile cavalry and the ability to deal plenty of damage made it one of the more popular armies on the scene here. A large part of that potency was built around the multiple free Might points that Gamling could spread around the Rohan Heroes. That ability has now been curtailed by the latest Errata and it should be noted that this change was not in effect for this event. Will this rule change knock the Riders of Theoden out of the top spots they've come to enjoy? Will this be Gamling's last hoorah? Or will we continue to hear the cries of Death! from the horselords upon the IHL's top tables? Only time will tell.

1st Place
Matt Hamill
Angmar

Warband 1 (Leader)
[Witch King on Horse with Crown (3/17/3)
4x Wild Wargs]
Warband 2
Barrow-wight
1x Dead Marsh Spectre
4x Orcs with shield
5x Orcs with spear
2x Orcs with two handed weapons
Warband 3
Barrow-wight
1x Dead Marsh Spectre
4x Orcs with shield
5x Orcs with spear
2x Orcs with two handed weapons
Warband 4
Barrow-wight
1x Dead Marsh Spectre
4x Orcs with shield
3x Orcs with spear
1x Orc with Banner and shield
Warband 5
Barrow-wight

Paralyze is one of the most powerful spells in the game, able to bring even the top class Heroes to their knees by preventing them from moving, making them automatically lose fights if they're without backup and causing them to be trapped when they inevitably suffer strikes. Luckily, few models have access to this powerful ability. This army however maximizes the potential for Paralyze by taking 4 Barrow Wights, which should enable them to stop any Hero in their tracks. Even just the Paralyze potential will be enough to frighten enemy heroes into playing very cautiously and hence not to their full ability.

So there's the podium winners, congratulations to all 3 players as well as to Stephen Devlin for winning best painted with his stunning Shire army.

Thank you to both Patrick McCormick for organizing this and to all the players for attending in these strange times. I'll leave you with some photos of the action on Saturday.