(Rob) In this new installment of my interview series I decided to not interview an established tournament player but instead get the views of a player near the beginning of his SBG adventure.
Hello and welcome to the blog. Would you like to introduce yourself?
(James) Hello, thanks for inviting me on. I’m James, long time ME:SBG observer, now attempting to build a competitive and worthwhile fighting force.
What convinced you to start playing ME:SBG recently?
Well. A big part of it was yourself. I remember a few years ago I got home from work and returned to find a box with Gil Galad and some high elf warriors in! I’m pretty sure that was a major hint or persuasion technique in itself.
But also my two cousins and I had been looking into starting a new hobby last year. When I sent a message out to one of them asking if they’d be interested in ME:SBG he also said he’d been looking into it and wanted to make the plunge right away! (he’d been a previous collector before when he was a child)
Along with this I’ve always loved the Lord of the Rings and had previously collected models from when I was younger around 13/14 however never really battled with them. So it was probably a no brainer that I’d get drawn in eventually!
Ah yes, the incident with the High Elves, I was barely involved, I just gave them a little nudge out of the door.
So apart from a surprise package of Elves, what army did you decide to start with and how did you go about building it?
Haha! Well seeing as they were painted extremely well they’re definitely welcome in my collection! Especially as I am also aiming to create a last alliance force in the near future.
So it started with going halves with one of my cousins on the battle of Pelennor fields box set. Which may I add is a damn good set especially helpful are the starter scenarios which really helped us ease into the rules.
The half I opted for was the forces of Mordor. If I’d known how powerful Rohan were going to become when purchasing it I may have tried to prise them away from my cousin. Ha! But I’ve had some serious fun with the forces of Mordor and I quickly added Gothmog, Shagrat and Gorbag to the collection. I’ve had little use of the Witch King which I’ve mainly put down to not being experienced enough to get the best out of him and the troll just hasn’t performed. I will say however that when I’ve used him as a troll chieftain in some friendly battles with my cousins he has performed remarkably well. Killing Celeborn numerous times. Actually now I come to think of it I’ve used him three times as a chieftain (using the black gate list) and he hasn’t died once.
My aim at the moment is to head towards a Cirith Ungol inspired force of around 500 points. Lead by Shagrat with Gorbag tagging along and get Shelob involved too. However to keep it quite competitive with my cousins army of a Rohan and Lothlorien alliance I’ve kept the Morannon Orcs in, instead of Mordor Orcs as they’re just so beefy for their points and a few black Numenoreans have been thrown in mainly for their terror but also to make up the points. I don’t own any Mordor Uruk hai yet but probably will soon enough. Especially as they’re more easily available now.
The overall aim for my two cousins and myself is to have two armies of 750 points one being good and the other evil. So at the moment my forces of Mordor are battling a Rohan/Lothlorien alliance and an Isengard force quite regularly.
We have all played with each other’s armies which has made it very interesting and I’ve also used the fellowship in a battle which was extremely fun to try, especially seeing my opponents face as hobbits were felling Uruk hai to win me the game.
What is it about this game that you have enjoyed best since starting?
Definitely the battles. Controlling the heroes I’ve become attached too and tearing the opponents army apart with them, looking at you Gil Galad.
Have you encountered any difficulties or challenges as a newly starting player?
A few. Painting has never been my strong point and I have grown quickly frustrated in the past, mainly when I was a teenager about my lack of skill and the amount of time taken.
This time around I’ve vowed to spend some more time with the modelling aspect than I did in my teens.
On the advice from some GW staff I ended up buying quite a few contrast paints and followed a few guides on the GW painting app. The results were terrible. I was painting a Morannon Orc and other than the cloth the model just didn’t look right. So after seeing some other advice online about using it as a tool rather than an alternative it’s decreased my frustrations at it.
Another frustration has been elves. Fighting elves is sooo annoying. Ha
I know you haven't been to any SBG tournaments yet, but is that an aspect of the hobby you would be interested in and what would you be looking for in a tournament as a new player?
Yes it will be something I’ll hopefully look into. Especially once I’m confident in all the rules and battling.
My local group* (which I’m still yet to meet) were due to hold a small tournament. However this was put off due to the recent Corona pandemic. Once this is rescheduled I will aim to attend that as my first one.
Having my army painted is a priority first.
Hmm. What do I want in a tournament, well for a beginner like myself I’d want it to be friendly first and foremost just in case I get some rule wrong and seeing as I’m quite competitive I’d probably like to see myself win at least one game! Ha ha
*Sheffield and Chesterfield Middle Earth SBG
Thank you greatly for being a great interviewee and hopefully we'll be able to catch up with you soon to catch up on your SBG journey and how you get on in your first tournament.
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