War in the North - Podium Review

 

The weekend just gone saw the War in the North kick off the new IHL season. This was a escalation event ranging from 450-1000 points. Last week I brought you all the army lists that would be competing, so let's see which of them came out on top.

3rd place
Michael Bunting
Lothlorien, Rivendell, Misty Mountains and White Council

In 3rd place is a grand alliance of multiple Good factions. At the lowest points value this army offers a large number of high Fight troops that form the core of the army as the points increase. Leading this small army are the two brothers Haldir and Rumil who, while very competent heroes for the points level, are relatively cheap for elven heroes and so allow the numbers to remain respectable. Onto this core force each points increase adds in another big hitter in the forms of Glorfindel, Galadriel Lady of Light and finally Gwaihir. Whilst this means that the overall model only increased by 10 between the 450 point and 1000 point armies, having that core in place means that those hitters can be facilitated.

2nd place
Gary Doyle
Lake Town and Thorin's Company

As I said in the army lists blog, this was my favourite army of all the ones at this tournament. This is primarily due to my ongoing love of Thorin's Company, but also because I have also started a small Lake Town force to ally with the Company. The bulk of this army comprises of a lot of Lake Town Guard. These provide the numbers that are so crucial to so many of the Scenarios. They also aren't complete slouches in combat thanks to the Master's ability to buff them to F4. The area that Lake Town struggle the most is that, apart from Bard, they lack good combat heroes (2 of the main heroes in the list are unarmed for crying out loud). That's where Thorin and Co come in with Thorin and Dwalin offering some real punch. Bifur is a great pick thanks to ability to generate free heroic moves, and Gandalf's magic is always useful to have.

1st place
David Coleman
Moria and Mordor

Defending Champion David Coleman started his title defense with another victory, although this time with a new army. The primary focus of this Moria based list is the Watch in the Water. This monster is a very adept combatant with 6 Attacks at F6 and S6 and when paired with a Bat Swarm to lower the opponents Fight Value is able to threaten any enemy heroes with a quick death. On top of that it's unique deployment rule and ability to pull models into combat with it's tentacles mean that it's a difficult threat to avoid. The Watcher is supported by a swarm of Goblins, with a handful of Bat Swarms and Spiders who can all help capturing objectives and protecting the Watcher by tying up enemy models and giving the Watcher time to do it's job. The final addition of the Witch King on Fell Beast adds an extra measure of control with his spell casting ability and also an extra big threat for the enemy to deal with.

So there's the top 3 finishers from the IHL Season Opener. Also congratulations to Marty Metcalfe on winning Best Painted with his Rivendell Elves, Gary Doyle for winning Best Themed with his Lake Town and Thorin's Company and a special thank you to Paddy McCormick for being the Tournament Organiser.

And I'll leave you with some photos from the event.

War in the North - Army Lists

 "Looks like tournaments are back on the menu." Ugluk (or something like that)

Well, it's been a while since I had one of these articles to post, but tournaments are back in the Irish Hobbit League!!!!!

This weekend sees 12 players taking to the tables for the War in the North tournament, run by Patrick McCormick at Exploding Dice Games in Bangor, Co. Down. This is an escalation event, starting at 450 points and building all the way up to the final game at 1000 points.

The breakdown of lists shows that Good just edges ahead with 7 of the 12 lists. Also of note is the high prevalence of Elven armies, with a third of forces being predominantly elves.

Army of Dunland

Up first we have a horde of angry Dunlendings. This army packs a lot of S4 and an effective use of the Dunlending War Cry could allow this army to tear through the opposition. A limited amount of spear support might cause issues, but multiple 6" banners at the higher points levels should mitigate that.

Azog's Legion, Azog's Hunters and Dol Guldur

Next we have an alliance built around the Azog's Legion and Azog's Hunters list, led by Bolg. Bolg himself is one of the top fighters on the Evil side (if not in the game) and his presence here will make enemy heroes nervous. The basic infantry force of Hunter Orcs supported by Gundabad Orcs with spears means that they should be rolling more dice in the fights than their opponents, especially when in range of a banner. The inclusion of the Dol Guldur contingent at the highest points level adds a few more tricks to the list with the Nazgul and Spiders.

Minas Tirith

King Elessar leads this Minas Tirith and provides most of it's damage potential in the early games. Because he is such a weighty hero them numbers are generally on the lower side with even the 1000 point army being fairly hero heavy. However those heroes should pack a punch and 20 Guard of the Fountain Court should prove to be tough to break through quickly, giving Aragorn and the rest of the heroes time to do the damage.

Serpent Horde and Mordor

3 Ring wraiths (including 2 on Fell Beasts) are going to make this a worrying prospect for enemy heroes (and especially their mounts following the latest FAQ) to face. Those 3 combined with (nearly) fully mounted Harad contingent makes this the most mobile army in attendance.

Moria and Mordor

Release the Kraken... erm I mean Watcher. I'll be honest and say that I'm fully up to speed on The Watcher's rules, but apparently he's quite good. A healthy quantity of Goblins provide back up for The Watcher and a few Bat Swarms help deal with high Fight does while the addition of the Witch King at 1000 points offers another big threat.

Angmar

If you thought 3 spellcasters was a lot, well here we get up to 5. 2 Wraiths and 3 Barrow Wights is an incredible amount of magical power. It's then coupled with a big horde of potentially Terror causing Orcs backed up by a Shade, certainly terrifying.

Rivendell

The 1st of the 4 Elf lists, and also the only one that remains a pure army. Elrond makes for a solid leader and here he is supported by a good quantity of Elven warriors. Cirdan's magical prowess should be very useful in providing the buffs the army requires no matter the situation.

Thranduil's Halls, Fangorn and the Misty Mountains

This army combines a solid core of Elves with some big monsters to do some damage. Thranduil, Treebeard and Gwaihir should pose some questions to the enemy of how to stop all 3 of them and who to target 1st.

Lothlorien, Rivendell, White Council and the Misty Mountains

Well what can I say about this conglomeration of armies. Another army bringing in Gwaihir into an Elven army, this time mainly Galadrim with a smaller contingent of Rivendell. Similar to the last list although with Galadriel providing the magic and Glorfindel some of the hitting power.

Thranduil's Halls, Numenor and Rivendell

And the final Elf army features an alliance of Mirkwood and Rivendell Elves as the mainstay of the list. These 2 Elf lists offer powerful heroes in the form of Thranduil, Glorfindel and Legolas. The addition of Isildur with the Ring is an interesting one which gives this army a few different tricks to play with.

PS. Note that the points cost shown here for Legolas is incorrect due to the change to his Elven Cloak in the Erratas. Therefore the army is within the points limits for the event.

Laketown and Thorin's Company

Probably my favourite list from a purely theme based view point, although that's really just because it's an alliance I've been waiting a long time to try out. Laketown brings big numbers to the army while Thorin's Company provide some fighty heroes that Laketown otherwise miss (with the exception of Bard) and magic from Gandalf. My only criticism is that it's missing Ori and that slingshot.

Return of the King

And finally we have the Return of the King legendary legion. A highly durable core of Warriors of the Dead will make this a tough nut to crack, especially when led by their King. Then Aragorn then brings Might and damage potential to the army and Legolas offers a ranged threat.

So there are all the lists competing. May I wish all the players good luck and I'll be back here next week to break down the top 3 finishers.

Army Showcase - Khazad Dum

 "Dark is the water of Kheled-zaram, and cold are the springs of Kibil-nala, and fair were the many-pillared halls of Khazad-dum in Elder Days before the fall of the mighty kings beneath the stone." Galadriel

I have long been a fan of the Dwarven race in Middle Earth and indeed, one of my first armies was the old Durin's Folk list. However, some of the paint jobs on those old models were beginning to show their age and therefore at the start of this year I decided to undertake a revamp of my Dwarven force. I opted to initially tackle a 600 point army, partially so as not to intimidate myself too much and also to be able to cross off one of the boxes on the Hobby Bingo sheet.

After about 5 months of painting they are finally finished (and as anyone familiar with my painting will tell you that's practically light speed for me). So here is the Army of Khazad Dum.