The Sacking of Dublin recently concluded a couple of weeks ago, with Dublin being well and truly sacked with thanks to TO Ivan Sheehan. So that means that it's time to take a closer look at the winning armies. The full list of armies can also be found here.
3rd Place
Luke O Reilly
Serpent Horde and Mordor
Warband One (Leader)
Suladan on armoured horse.
1 Serpent Rider.
Warband Two
Witch-King on Fellbeast with Morgul Crown, 3 Might, 3 Fate & 16 Will.
Warband Three
Shagrat with heavy armour + Shield of Cirith Ungol.
1 Orc Warrior with spear.
5 Black Numenoreans.
5 Morannon Orcs with spears + shields.
Warband Four
Guritz.
5 Black Numenoreans.
5 Morannon Orcs with spears + shields.
Warband Five
Gorbag with shield.
1 Orc Warrior with spear.
5 Black Numenoreans.
5 Morannon Orcs with spears + shields.
38 Models
In 3rd place was this predominantly Mordor army comprising of a Black Numenorean shieldwall with Morannon Orc spear supports. This combination is effective as it provides a F4, D6, Terror causing front line with S4 spear supports to make up for the lack of hitting power of the Black Numenoreans. The Terror wall is further buffed by the -1 Courage aura of the Witch King, who is freed up to play more aggressively due to the fact that he isn't the army Leader because of the introduction of Suladan from the Serpent Horde list.
2nd Place
Gary Doyle
Thorins Company and Army of Lake-Town
Warband 1
Thorins Company
Thorin Oakenshield with Orcrist and The Oakenshield - General
Dwalin the Dwarf
Bifur the Dwarf
Gloin the Dwarf
Army of Lake-Town
Warband 2
Bard the Bowman with Horse and Armour
Sigrid and Tilda
12 Lake-Town Guard with bows
Warband 3
Master of Lake-Town
6 Lake-Town Guard
6 Lake-Town Guard with Spears
Warband 4
Braga, Captain of the Guard
5 Lake-Town Guard
7 Lake-Town Guard with Spears
Warband 5
Alfrid
46 models
In 2nd place was actually my favourite list from the event*. This list combines the hard hitting heroes from Thorin's Company (Thorin, Dwalin and Gloin) with the numbers provided by cheap Lake Town troops. This mitigates each individual army lists weaknesses, giving them the flexibility to succeed in different types of missions. The multiple threats from the 3 Dwarves mentioned and Bard also make it harder to shutdown the list due to target saturation. And a final point to note is the quantity of Might this army can burn through, thanks to free heroics from Bofur, Bard and Braga and extra Might being generated from Alfrid.
1st Place
Mike Bradford
Depths of Moria LL
Warband 1:
(Leader) Balrog
9x Goblin with shield
9x Goblin with spear
Warband 2:
Goblin Captain with shield
3x Goblin with shield
4x Goblin with spear
5x Goblin with bow
Warband 3:
Goblin Captain with shield
Blackshield Drum
2x Blackshield Goblins
3x Goblin with spear
1x Goblin
Warband 4:
Blackshield Shaman
6x Goblin with bow
Warband 5:
Blackshield Shaman
6x Goblin with bow
55 models
And the winner of the event was the Depths of Moria. This is an army that revolves around the Balrog to deal damage and with it's stat line and free Heroic Combats it certainly can do that damage. Added to the fact that the army can't be broken without wounding the Balrog then it is a model that simply can't be ignored and will require significant resources for an opponent to combat. Backing up the Balrog is a horde of Goblins who are great for tying down the enemy and capturing objectives, while the Captains provide Might for Heroic Moves to keep the momentum with the Balrog. And enemy heroes will be nervous around the pair of Blackshield Shamans and their ability to Shatter any wargear, leaving them unarmed, not a position you want to be in when facing a Balrog.
So there's the winning lists. Also, congratulations to Donal Carroll for winning Best Sporting, David Chambers for winning Best Painted Army and David Coleman for winning Best Painted Model. I'll leave you with some photos of the event courtesy of David Murphy (too many Davids)
* What can I say, I see Thorin's Company and I automatically like it.
