Council of Tallaght - Podium Review

 

Recently the IHL returned from it's Christmas break and held it's first event of 2022 at the Council of Tallaght, hosted at Underworlds Gaming and organized by Dan Ahern. This was an 800 point, 2 day event and was contested by 14 participants. But only 3 could make it to the podium, and here they are.

3rd Place

Patrick McCormick

Iron Hills and Erebor Reclaimed

Warband 1 (Leader):

Dain Iron, Lord of the Iron Hills on War Boar

14x Iron Hill Warriors with Spear and Shield 

1x Iron Hill Warrior with Spear, Shield and Banner

3x Iron Hill Warriors with Crossbows and Spears

Warband 2:

Thorin Oakenshield, King under the Mountain on War Goat with Orcist 

3x Iron Hills Goat Riders

Warband 3:

Bifur the Dwarf, Champion of Erebor

8x Iron Hill Warriors with Spear and Shield

3x Iron Hill Warriors with Crossbows and Spears

In the Bronze medal position was this Iron Hills and Erebor Reclaimed alliance. This basis for this list is a rock solid Dwarven shieldwall comprising of D8 Iron Hills Dwarves and a pair of powerful mounted heroes in Dain and Thorin. Bifur then makes an excellent 3rd hero due to his ability to generate free Heroic Moves, which will help prevent the slow moving Dwarves from getting bogged down with enemies. Although this list could be run as pure Erebor Reclaimed the advantage of using the alliance is that it allows Dain to be a more durable Leader than Thorin, due to his 3 Fate and Fearless rule.

2nd Place

Ivan Sheehan

Ugluks Scouts LL

Warband 1

Ugluk. Leader

5 uruks, shield.

6 uruks, bow. 

1 uruk, banner. 

Warband 2

Mauhur. 

5 uruks, shield. 

6 uruks, bow. 

1 uruk, banner. 

Warband 3

Scout Captain, shield. 

3 uruks, bow. 

Warband 4

Grishnakh, shield. 

10 orcs, shield, spear. 

2 orcs, 2 handed weapon. 

Warband 5

Snaga. 

5 orcs, shield. 

6 orcs, spear. 

1 orc, 2 handed weapon.

Warband 6

Orc Captain, shield. 

2 orcs, spear,shield. 

1 orc, 2 handed weapon. 

In 2nd is Ivan Sheehan's Ugluk's Scouts. This Legendary Legion combines large numbers with quality warriors. Uruk Hai are a very cost effective troops choice due to their stat line of F4 and S4 and here in Ugluk's Scouts they get additional bonuses to mobility and bonuses on wounding rolls. The one thing the Uruks do lack however, is spears, although the pair of banners and Orc spearmen help to mitigate that weakness, although the Orcs will need to get into combat themselves to activate the Legion bonuses on wound rolls.

1st place

Michael Bunting

Mordor and Angmar

Warband 1:

Shadowlord on Horse(Leader) 

7 Black Numenoreans 

8 Morannon Orcs shield and Spear

Banner 

Warband 2:

Task Master 

6 Black Numenoreans 

6 Morannon Orcs shield and Spear

Warband 3:

Great Beast of Gorgoroth

Warband 4:

Gulavhar

And in 1st place was this alliance between Mordor and Angmar. This list is built around the twin threats of a Great Beast of Gorgoroth and Gulavhar. The Great Beasts ability to trample enemies mean that opponents either risk taking large casualties or are forced into moving out of the way of the Beast. Meanwhile, Gulavhar is one of the best killers in the game with his inclusion being well worth the penalties of making the army an Impossible Alliance. Backing up this pair of monsters is a shieldwall of Terror causing Black Numenoreans supported by S4 Morannon Orc spears and the Shadowlord, whose Pall of Darkness helps to protect the pair from taking damage from range.

Congratulations to all the winners and to Patrick McCormick for winning Best Painted Army and David Chambers for taking the Best Painted Single Model award.

And I'll leave you with a few of the photos from the event.