Irish Masters 2022 - Army Lists

 

The IHL season rolls onto the Irish Masters tournament this weekend, hosted by Paddy McCormick at Underworld Gaming, Dublin. This is a 6 game, 650 point tournament with 16 players on the attendance list.

Before getting into the lists, taking a quick look at the breakdown we see that Legendary Legions are highly popular with 12 of the 17 total lists being Legions. The impact of the new Defense of the North book can also be seen with 5 armies coming from there. And, continuing the recent trend, Evil outnumbers Good again.

And so onto the lists:

Player Name: David Murphy 

Army: Assault on Lothlorien (LL)  

Warband 1:

Muzgur

1x Mordor Orc Warrior with Banner and Spear 

Warband 2 (Leader):

Druzhag

2x Giant Bat Swarms

2x Venomback Spiders

5x Moria Goblin Warriors with Shields

5x Moria Goblin Warriors with Bows and Spears

1x Moria Goblin Warrior with Spear

Warband 3:

Ashrak 

3x Venomback Spiders 

6x Moria Goblin Warriors with Shields 

4x Moria Goblin Warriors with Bows and Spears

2x Moria Goblin Warriors with Spears

Warband 4:

Moria Goblin Shaman 

6x Moria Goblin Warriors with Shields 

4x Moria Goblin Warriors with Bows and Spears 

2x Moria Goblin Warriors with Spears

Model Count – 47

Up first is the new Assault on Lothlorien Legion which should prove to be interesting to see in action with it's focus on Shamans and the fact that it forces the game to played in darkness.

Player Name: Stephen Devlin  

Army: Riders of Théoden (LL) 

Warband 1 (Leader):

Théoden with Heavy Armour, Shield and Armoured Horse

4x Rohan Royal Guard on Horse 

Warband 2:

Eomer with Shield and Armoured Horse and Throwing Spear

3x Rohan Royal Guard on Horse with Throwing Spear

1x Rohan Royal Guard on Horse

Warband 3:

Dernhelm 

2x Rohan Royal Guard on Horse with Throwing Spear

2x Rohan Royal Guard on Horse 

Warband 4:

Gamling on Horse with Rohan Royal Standard 

3x Rohan Royal Guard on Horse 

Model Count – 20

Next we have an old favourite in the Riders of Theoden. High mobility and big hitting power from it's multiple heroes have endured this Legion remains popular.

Player Name: Ivan Sheehan 

Army: Corsairs and Serpent Horde (Green Alliance) 

Warband 1 (Leader):

Dalamyr

4x Black Numenoreans

1x Black Numenorean with Banner 

5x Corsair Warriors with Spear

6x Corsair Arbalesters

Warband 2:

Delgamar

5x Black Numenoreans

5x Corsair Warriors with Spear

5x Corsair Arbalesters 

Warband 3:

Raza 

5x Abrakhan Merchant Guard

4x Harad Warriors with Spear and Bow 

2x Haradrim Raiders with Bow and War spear 

Model Count – 45

Here we have a primarily Corsair list bringing a Terror causing front line of Black Numenoreans with plenty of ranged firepower. Supporting them are some hard-hitting Haradrim allies.

Player Name: David Coleman  

Army: Lothlorien 

Warband 1 (Leader):

Galadriel 

5x Galadhrim Warriors with Shields 

1x Galadhrim Warrior with Spear, Shield and Banner 

3x Galadhrim Warriors with Spears and Bow 

1x Wood Elf Sentinel 

4x Guard of the Galadhrim Court 

Warband 2:

Haldir with Armour, Bow and Cloak 

5x Galadhrim Warriors with Shields

4x Galadhrim Warriors with Spears and Bow 

1x Galadhrim Warrior with Spear and Shield 

3x Guard of the Galadhrim Court 

Warband 3:

Captain on Armoured Horse with Shield 

Model Count – 30

Next is the 1st Good sided army in this Lothlorien list. High Fight values across the board, and especially on the Guard of the Galadhrim Court, mean these elves should be winning the majority of their fights.

Player Name: Alex Neaves  

Army: Army of Dale (LL) 

Warband 1 (Leader):

King Brand 

5x Knights of Dale

6x Warriors of Dale with Spear and Shield 

1x Warrior of Dale with Banner, Spear and Shield 

Warband 2:

Prince Bard

5x Knights of Dale

6x Warriors of Dale with Spear and Shield 

Warband 3:

Captain of Dale with Bow and Shield 

12x Warriors of Dale with Bow and Spear 

Model Count – 38

Another new Legion from the Defense of the North. This Legion should offer a powerful shooting threat with it's S3 bows and Legion bonus to Shoot Value.

Player Name: Luke Revell 

Army: Isengard

Warband 1 (Leader):

Lurtz with Shield

5x Uruk-hai Warriors with Shield

8x Uruk-hai Warriors with Pikes

1x Uruk-hai Warrior with Banner, Pike and Shield 

Warband 2:

Vrasku 

12x Uruk-hai Warriors with Crossbows 

Warband 3:

Mauhur 

6x Uruk-hai Marauders with Shield 

5x Isengard Warg Riders with Shields and Throwing Spears

Model Count – 41

Up next is an Isengard force led by Lurtz and featuring a healthy amount of Uruk Hai. 12 crossbows with Vrasku will worry many armies from range and a highly mobile warband led by Mauhur allows this army to react quickly to a situation.

Player Name: Matthew Butler

Army: Return of the King (LL) 

Warband 1 (leader):

Aragorn – Strider with Anduril and Elven Cloak 

2x Warriors of the Dead with Shield and Spear

2x Warriors of the Dead with Shield 

1x Warrior of the Dead with Spear

Warband 2:

The King of the Dead

3x Warriors of the Dead with Shields 

3x Warriors of the Dead with Spears

Warband 3:

Legolas Greenleaf with Armour and Elven Cloak 

Warband 4:

Gimli, Son of Gloin with Elven Cloak 

Model Count – 15

Another ever popular Legion this army brings the hitting power of the Three Hunters and combines it with the staying power of the Army of the Dead.

Player Name: Ben Fitzpatrick 

Army: Pits of Dol Guldur (LL) 

Warband 1 (Leader):

Azog on the White Warg

4x Fell Wargs

2x Hunter Orcs with Bows on Fell Wargs

2x Hunter Orcs with Two-handed Picks 

3x Hunter Orcs

4x Gundabad Orcs with Shield and Spear

1x Gundabad Orc with Shield, Spear and Banner

Warband 2:

Hunter Orc Captain on Fell Warg

5x Hunter Orcs 

Warband 3:

Gundabad Orc Captain with Shield

1x Hunter Orc with War Horn 

2x Hunter Orcs with Bows

2x Hunter Orcs 

3x Gundabad Orcs with Shield and Spear 

Model Count – 32

Azog is one of the most formidable leaders available and will be a frightening prospect to face. Here he's supported by a good mix of 2 Attack Hunter Orcs and more durable Gundabad Orcs.

Player Name: Roman Muntean 

Army: Host of the Dragon Emperor (LL)

Warband 1 (Leader):

Dragon Emperor of Rhun 

6x Black Dragons with Shields

11x Black Dragons with Shields and Pikes

1x Black Dragon Kataphract with Drum and axe

Warband 2:

Brorgir the Conjurer 

Warband 3:

Dragon Knight on armoured Horse

3x Black Dragon Kataphracts

Warband 4:

Dragon Knight on armoured Horse

2x Black Dragons with Shield and Axe 

Model Count – 27

There's only really one thing to say about this list and that is that it's got the brand new Dragon Emperor in it. Will be really interesting to see how it performs.

Player Name: Michele Pergoraro  

Army: Riders of Théoden (LL) 

Warband 1 (Leader):

Théoden on Armoured Horse, Heavy Armour and Shield 

3x Rohan Royal Guard on Horse with Throwing Spears

2x Riders of Rohan 

Warband 2:

Eomer on armoured Horse with Shield and Throwing Spear

4x Riders of Rohan with Throwing Spears

2x Riders of Rohan 

Warband 3:

Dernhelm with Throwing Spear 

2x Riders of Rohan 

Warband 4:

Gamling on Horse with Rohan Royal Standard 

2x Riders of Rohan 

Model Count – 20

Another Riders of Theoden list. This time trading some Royal Guard for Riders of Rohan but again bringing high mobility and hard hitting heroes.

Player Name: Pearce Condren   

Army: Breaking of the Fellowship (LL) 

Warband 1 (Leader): 

Aragorn – Strider with Elven Cloak 

Legolas Greenleaf with Elven Cloak 

Gimli, Son of Gloin with Elven Cloak 

Boromir, Son of Gondor with Elven Cloak and Shield 

Frodo Baggins with Sting, Mithril Coat and Elven Cloak 

Samwise Gamgee with Elven Cloak 

Meriadoc Brandybuck with Elven Cloak 

Peregrin Took with Elven Cloak 

Model Count – 8

There are few more thematic armies in the game than the Fellowship of the Ring. The Breaking of the Fellowship Legion gives each member significant buffs while maintaining that themeyness.

Player Name: Gary Doyle    

Army: Army of Dunland (LL) 

Warband 1 (Leader):

Thrydan Wolfsbane with Horse 

2x Dunlending Horsemen 

2x Dunlending Warriors with Shields 

1x Dunlending Warrior with Shield and Banner 

Warband 2:

Gorulf Ironskin 

5x Dunlending Warriors with Shield 

5x Dunlending Huscarls 

Warband 3:

Frida Tallspear

5x Dunlending Warriors with Shield 

5x Dunlending Huscarls

Warband 4:

Dunlending Chieftain with Bow 

12x Dunlending Warriors with Bow 

Model Count – 41

The Army of Dunland brings a lot of high strength warriors to the field led by some decent mid-tier heroes. Thrydan is a solid enough Leader at this level, while Gorolf is excellent at stalling enemy heroes.

Player Name: Peter Fenton  

Army: Assault on Lothlorien (LL) 

Warband 1 (Leader):

Muzgur 

5x Orc Warriors with Shield 

5x Orc Warriors with Shield and Spear

Warband 2:

Ashrak 

3x Venomback Spiders

5x Moria Goblin Prowlers 

5x Moria Goblin Warriors with Shield 

2x Warg Marauders

Warband 3:

Druzhag 

8x Moria Goblin Warriors with Bow 

2x Moria Goblin Warriors with Shield 

2x Warg Marauders 

Warband 4:

Wild Warg Chieftain 

Model Count – 41

Another Assault on Lothlorien list. This time with more of a mix of troop types with more Orcs, Prowlers, Warg Marauders and a Wild Warg Chieftain.

Player Name: Dan Ahern   

Army: Angmar 

Warband 1 (Leader):

Witch-King of Angmar on Fell Beast with Crown of Morgul (3/20/3)

4x Angmar Orc Warriors with Shield 

4x Angmar Orc Warriors with Spear

1x Angmar Orc Warrior with Banner and Shield 

1x Dead Marsh Spectre

Warband 2:

The Tainted on Fell Beast 

4x Angmar Orc Warriors with Shield 

4x Angmar Orc Warriors with Spear 

2x Angmar Orc Warriors with Two-handed Weapon

1x Dead Marsh Spectre 

Warband 3:

Barrow-wight 

3x Angmar Orc Warriors with Shield

3x Angmar Orc Warriors with Spear 

Model Count – 30

Another perennially popular choice in the IHL is Angmar. This army features a double Fell Beast threat for some serious hitting power.

Player Name: Matt Hamill    

Army: Angmar 

Warband 1 (Leader):

Barrow-Wight 

6x Angmar Orc Warriors with Shields 

2x Angmar Orc Warriors with Spear 

2x Angmar Orc Warriors with Two-Handed Weapons 

1x Dead Marsh Spectre

Warband 2:

Barrow-Wight 

6x Angmar Orc Warriors with Shields 

2x Angmar Orc Warriors with Spear 

2x Angmar Orc Warriors with Two-Handed Weapons 

1x Dead Marsh Spectre

1x Angmar Orc Warrior with Banner and Shield 

Warband 3:

Wild Warg Chieftain 

9x Wild Wargs 

2x Angmar Warg Riders with Shield and Throwing Spear 

Warband 4:

Angmar Orc Captain on Warg with Shield 

5x Angmar Warg Riders with Shield and Throwing Spear 

Warband 5:

Angmar Orc Captain on Warg with Shield and Throwing Spear 

4x Angmar Orc Warriors with Orc Bows 

And another Angmar army. However, this list takes a very different approach by dropping the big Wraiths in exchange for low level heroes like Captains and Barrow Wights and extra numbers of troops.

Player Name: Micheal Bradford

Army: Assault on Lothlorien

Warband 1 (Leader):

Druzag

5 x Goblin Warriors with Bow and Spear

2 x Goblin Warriors with Spear 

7 x Prowlers

Bat Swarm

Warband 2:

Muzgur

Orc Warrior with Banner

3 x Orc Warriors with Spear

5 x Wild Wargs

Warband 3:

Ashrak

3 x Vemon Back Spiders

6 x Goblin Warriors with Bow and Spear

6 x Prowlers

Warband 4:

Moria Shaman

5 x Goblin Warriors with Bow

4 x Goblin Warriors with Spear

Well the Assault on Lothlorien has certainly made an impression, with this it's 3rd appearance in these lists. It will definitely be interesting to see how they perform.

Player Name: Patrick McCormick (TO & Bye-Buster) 

Army: Army of Dunland (LL) 

Warband 1 (Leader):

Thyrdan Wolfsbane on Horse 

3x Dunlending Warriors with Shield

1x Dunlending Warrior with Banner and Shield 

2x Dunlending Horsemen 

4x Dunlending Huscarls

1x Crebain

Warband 2:

Gorulf Ironskin

3x Dunlending Warriors with Shield 

3x Dunlending Huscarls

3x Dunlending Warriors with Bow 

1x Dunlending Warrior with Banner and Shield 

Warband 3:

Frida Tallspear

3x Dunlending Warriors with Shield 

3x Dunlending Huscarls 

3x Dunlending Warriors with Bow 

Warband 4:

Wildman Oathmaker 

5x Wild Men of Dunland 

Model Count – 39

And finally, the bye buster list is another Army of Dunland. This is similar to the other Dunland army, although it swapped out the Chieftain for the Wildman Oathmaker and some Wildmen to bring some Fearless models to the fray.

So there's all the lists. Only thing now is to see who emerges victorious.

Not so New Year, Not so New Army

  

“Still round the corner there may wait  

A new road or a secret gate  

And though I oft have passed them by 

A day will come at last when I 

Shall take the hidden paths that run 

West of the Moon, East of the Sun.”

As I'm sure many of you are aware Games Workshop promote a 'New Year, New Army'  initiative a the beginning of each year. This year, in addition to the usual hype over new armies, Games Workshop have tied it in with their annual Armies on Parade competition, which challenges people to create impressive display boards for their forces.

Now towards the end of 2021 my wife and I had a new baby and so hobbying took a back seat to night feeds and dirty nappies for the tail end of last year and beginning of this year. But following the excellent Battle Companies Challenge I recently took part in (see the results of that here) I have once again caught the hobby bug. And so thoughts turned to this New Year, New Army concept again. 

Now while I really wanted Razgûsh's Elf hating Orcs and beasts to be my main focus, the eternal wait for Defense of the North has put a small pause on that project (I didn't want to get halfway through painting an army only for the rules to change or a new Legion land that changes how I'm building my army). So instead I turned my attention further South when looking for inspiration and found this scene:

And then a trumpet rang from the Citadel, and Denethor at last released the sortie. Drawn up within the shadow of the Gate and under the looming walls outside they had waited for his signal: all the mounted men that were left in the City. Now they sprang forward, formed, quickened to a gallop, and charged with a great shout. And from the walls an answering shout went up; for foremost on the field rode the swan-knights of Dol Amroth with their Prince and his blue banner at their head.

'Amroth for Gondor!' they cried. 'Amroth to Faramir!'

Like thunder they broke upon the enemy on either flank of the retreat; but one rider outran them all, swift as the wind in the grass: Shadowfax bore him, shining, unveiled once more, a light starting from his upraised hand.

The Nazgûl screeched and swept away, for their Captain was not yet come to challenge the white fire of his foe. The hosts of Morgul intent on their prey, taken at unawares in wild career, broke, scattering like sparks in a gale. The out-companies with a great cheer turned and smote their pursuers. Hunters became the hunted. The retreat became an onslaught. The field was strewn with stricken orcs and men, and a reek arose of torches cast away, sputtering out in swirling smoke. The cavalry rode on.

Minas Tirith (and Gondor in general) is one of my favourite factions in the game, there's just something about the fight against all hope from the diminished remnants of a once great kingdom that appeals to me. However, I've always run it as predominantly infantry, with only one Swan Knight currently the only cavalry having been painted. So despite the fact that Gondor isn't technically a new army for me, an all cavalry army feels like a brand new army because it'll have a completely different play style to my normal Gondorians. 

As a lot of tournaments in Ireland run at 800 points that seemed like good target to aim for, especially considering the Heroes I'd want to feature based on the book passage above. So currently looks something like this:

Knight of Dol Amroth - Art by Imad Awan

Warband 1

Prince Imrahil on Armoured Horse with Lance

6 Knights of Dol Amroth on Armoured Horse with Lance

Warband 2

Gandalf the White on Shadowfax

1 Knight of Minas Tirith with Banner and Shield

7 Knights of Minas Tirith with Shield

2 Citadel Guard with Horse and Longbow

Warband 3

Captain of Minas with Horse, Shield and Lance

3 Knights of Minas Tirith

800 points

22 models

At 22 models it's definitely on the low side but everyone is mounted so mobility isn't an issue. With nearly every model carrying a lance this'll hit hard if it can get a good charge off. As far as heroes go I've got a good all-rounder with some excellent magic in Gandalf, a powerhouse hitter in Imrahil and a support hero in a generic Captain whose job will be to call the Heroic Moves to get the rest of the army charging into combat. Is it the most competitive army? No. Is it thematic? Hell yeah.

I only hope for a better outcome than Faramir had.

And as for display boards, since creating a Laketown tray for my Thorin's Company last year I really got into the idea of display boards for showpiece armies and with the new. And boy do I have an ambitious plan for this army. But I'll leave that for another day. 

I hope you'll enjoy this journey with me as I attempt to recreate the Gondorian Knight's glorious sortie.

Battle Companies Community Challenge

 

'But it is told that he was a renegade, who came of the race of those that are named the Black Númenóreans.... And he entered the service of the Dark Tower when it first rose again, and because of his cunning he grew ever higher in the Lord's favour; and he learned great sorcery, and knew much of the mind of Sauron; and he was more cruel than any orc.'

A while ago I got asked by some Welsh man if I wanted to take part in some content creator painting challenge alongside other MESBG bloggers and YouTube creators. After first getting over the shock of being recognized as a content creator I tentatively asked what this would entail. "Don't worry, you'll only have to paint about half a dozen models and you'll have a couple of months to do it. Loads of time," was the reply. For context, my painting slowed to half a model painted in the 3 months prior to this conversation since the birth of my son. "Sure, why not" came my foolishly over eager response. Then I found out about the rules. Those rules were:

Each participant had to submit 2 colours to the organiser, Dewi (the aforementioned Welsh man).
We would then all be assigned a random colour combination from these submissions and a random Battle Company to build and paint before the deadline.

Easy, no problem. Unless I randomly drew either a company with models that I don't like (like Elves or Black Numenoreans) or colours that are hard to paint (like yellow). But what are the chances of that?

And then the draw happened...

@?$#@

Yellow and purple Minas Morgul.

Hitting not one, but two of the things I didn't want. Well at least it wasn't Elves.

The only yellow paint I own came from the 1st paint set I got when I started this hobby, now more than a decade ago. In this case my dog genuinely did eat my homework after I caught her chewing on the bottle several years ago.

After getting over the initial disgust I eventually got into chopping, glueing and painting my Battle Company, consisting of 2 Black Numenoreans, 6 Orcs and their faithful canine companion. And here they are in all their splendor.

Herumor leading the Company through the ruins of Middle Earth

"Shar? Shay-ah? Ba? Bac-eens? Bagg-eens?" queried Fuinur, trying to wrap his tongue around the strange syllables as he paced about the dimly lit room. "What is this supposed to mean?"

"How am I supposed to supposed to know?" Snapped back Herumor, angrily shooting forth a shower of sparks from an outstretched palm that briefly illuminated the small space. "If we knew that the the Master wouldn't be tasking us with finding out. That's all the whips and flaying knifes of the Tower could get out of the sniveling creature they captured. Not even the Black Hand himself could get anything else out of it."

"Maybe if they hadn't flogged it half to death they might have gotten something more to go on. I've seen those cutthroats at work, probably cut it's tongue out to get it to speak. And now we're to find information on what this wretch meant? What's so important about it anyway?"

"Some weapon for the war the Dark Lord is after." replied Herumor, summoning another shower of sparks as he peered at the rudimentary map laid out on the rough-hewen wooden table. "There were rumours of strange happenings surrounding the Lonely Mountain when the Dragon fell, that's where we'll start looking. See if we can't lure the Naugrim with a little something," he said as he pulled out a heavy gold ring set with a blue gem from a pouch he had on his belt and set it on the map. It sparkled in the dim light, seemingly with a glow of it's own.

Fuinur looked on in amazement, finally stopping his pacing to gaze in wonderment at the gem. "Is that..." He stammered, "How..."

"Indeed it is. One of the Seven. We're to tempt the Naugrim of the Lonely Mountain with it in exchange for information on this Shire Baggins," replied Herumor, stowing the Ring securely back in it's pouch. "We'll gather a squad of Orcs, lads we can trust, and head North. No more than half a dozen, secrecy is key."

Fuinur thought for a moment before a crude smile spread on the grizzled old warrior's face. "Lagduf and his lads were reliable enough in the Eastern Campaign and he owes me a favour after I saved his skin against those Dwarves in the Orocarni."

After studying the map for an extra few seconds Herumor finally stood from the table, rolled up  the map and stowed it beside the pouch on his belt "That's decided then. We leave at dusk tomorrow."

Herumor the Sorcerer, the leader of the company

Fuinur the Warrior, 2nd in Command

Lagduf, the leader of the Orc pack

Ufthak

Othrod

Belameg

Gorgol

Radbug

Beruth the hound (because why wouldn't I take a dog?)

So that's my Minas Morgul Battle Company ready to seek out information on Baggins and the Ring. 

When creating them I wanted everyone to be converted (with the exception of the dog) to really generate some individuality. With the Orcs this just involved a host of chopping and changing within the Mordor Orcs and Warg Riders kits, both of which are great for kitbashing like this. 

However, with the Black Numenoreans a little more imagination was required. As I mentioned above I really dislike the Games Workshop design for Black Numenoreans and don't feel that the aesthetic fits with my view of Middle Earth and that the scale and look fit better with Warhammer Fantasy or Age of Sigmar. 1st thing to change on them was the outlandish helmets that they sport and to reduce the excessively spiked pauldrons. It was while I was searching for inspiration on what I wanted these two models to look like that I came across the opening quotation of this article. This confirmed that Black Numenoreans could learn sorcery and so immediately I wanted my leader to take the Path of the Sorcerer and I settled on the hooded ominous figure summoning fireballs. This was created using a head from the plastic Eowyn model with a green stuffed hood and flame, as well as trimming down the wildly impractical sleeves. As for the 2nd Numenorean, I rummaged through my collection and found some Army of the Dead. Having seen some people paint these up as living men of Carn Dum in the past I felt that one of these heads could work to give an old veteran warrior vibe.

When it came to painting I knew I had to stick with Yellow and Purple as my main colours but I wanted the Black Numenoreans to still retain that dark, menacing colour scheme, so chose to use dark purple as the main colour on them. This was done by liberal use of purple washes over a grey base coat then highlighting back up with some yellowish object source lighting from the flame on Herumor and with greys and purples on Fuinur. Having chosen purple as the main colour on the Black Numenoreans that meant I had to feature yellow prominently on the Orcs, not normally an Orcish colour. In order to avoid it looking too bright and garish I started with a beige and layered up multiple washes of Agrax and Sepia with yellow highlights to give a dirty, grimy appearance more in keeping with Orcs. The armour and skin tones were again based on purple washes similar to the Numenoreans. 

And finally I decided to make a display board for the Company using an Osgiliath Ruins kit that's been waiting for some paint for many years. This was painted simply with numerous dry brushes of greys and browns over a grey prime and mounted onto an MDF base taken from a broken photo frame with sand glued down for ground texture.

.

And so there is my attempt at this challenge, but be sure to check out all the other excellent contributions from these other brilliant content creators:

Dewi Evans - Guardians of Wiltshire

Steve Crowe - Top Table Gaming

Cameron Cochrane - PaintsOnA4Up

Dan Slobodian, Steve Thorley, Colm Browne, David Cooper and Dan Stuart - Drawn Combat

Sam Huddy, James Willson and CJ Millar - At Dawn, Look to the East

Dene Palmer - Dene Paints Things

Harry Parkhil - Battle Games in Middle Earth

Damian O'Byrne - Battle Streams in Middle Earth

Benjamin Bowles - Benji's Hobbies

Alex Temple - Battle Camper

Alistair King - GBHL Blog

Nírnaeth Arnoediad 2022 - Podium Review

Recently the Irish Hobbit League held it's largest event ever at the Nírnaeth Arnoediad tournament in Underworld Gaming, Dublin. 23 players battled it out over 6 games (you can see all the lists here), but only 3 made it to the podium. Let's take a closer look at them.

3rd Place
Ellis Priestley
Corsairs of Umbar

Warband 1
DALAMYR (LEADER)
8X BLACK NÚMENOREAN
1X BLACK NÚMENOREAN WITH BANNER
9X CORSAIR OF UMBAR w/ Spear and sheild

Warband 2
DELGAMAR
3X BLACK NÚMENOREAN
1x CORSAIR OF UMBAR w/ Sheild
10x CORSAIR OF UMBAR w. Spear and sheild

Warband 3
CORSAIR BO’SUN with shield
5xCORSAIR REAVER
5xCORSAIR OF UMBAR w. Spear and sheild
1xCORSAIR OF UMBAR w. sheild

CORSAIR CAPTAIN with shield
12xCORSAIR ARBALESTER

59 models

In 3rd place was Ellis Priestley with a large Corsair army. At 59 models this was one of the largest armies at the event (with only one other bringing more models). This gives the army great board presence, being able to cover a large amount of ground just by flooding it with weight of bodies. The other point to note is that most of those large amount of troops have some form of ranged weapon, either crossbows or throwing weapons. This makes a Corsair army a very frightening prospect to face at range and also on the charge.

2nd Place
Ivan Sheehan
Ugluks Scouts

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
Uruk hai scout captain, shield
Drummer
6 uruks, bow

Warband 4
Grishnakh, shield
10 orcs, spear, shield
2 orcs, 2 handed weapon

Warband 5
Snaga
5 orcs, shield
3 orcs, spear
3 orcs, spear, shield
1 orc, 2 handed weapon

60 models

Following his 2nd place at the Scouring of Che-Shire last month, Ivan has once again finished 2nd with his Ugluk's Scouts. At 60 models this goes 1 better than the Corsairs of Ellis above and it's those numbers combined with the extra pace provided by the Marauders upgrade and Drummer that gives this army great board control. Although the Orcs in this army don't benefit from those speed bonuses they do play an important role in allowing the model count to be so high, providing Spears to support and unlocking the Animosity Legion special rule that greatly increases the killing power of the army. The final point I'd like to mention is that this army doesn't have any stand out heroes, instead relying on its warriors to get the job done. This means that there is not a clear target for enemy heroes or spell casters to target, reducing their effectiveness.

1st Place
Alexis Dufrasne
Angmar

Warband 1
Witch King with 3M, 15W, 3F, Crown of Morgul, Morgul Blade and Fell Beast
5 Angmar Orcs with Shield
3 Angmar Orcs with Spear
2 Spectres
1 Wild Warg

Warband 2
Gulavhar
4 Angmar Orcs with Shield
1 Angmar Orc with Banner, shield and spear
3 Angmar Orcs with Spear and shield
2 Spectres
1 Wild Warg

Warband 3
Barrow Wight
4 Angmar Orcs with Shield
3 Angmar Orcs with Spear
1 Wild Warg

Warband 4
Barrow Wight
4 Angmar Orcs with Shield
3 Angmar Orcs with Spear

41 models

And the winner was, taking the title back to Belgium, Alexis with this Angmar army. I'm sure I've spoken before about the competitive power of Angmar as it is a popular choice in the IHL. A large portion of this power comes from the magical proficiency within the army list, led here by the Witch King (who gets rerolls on casting thanks to the Morgul Crown) and very ably backed up by a pair of Barrow Wights (whose Paralyse spell is rightfully feared by enemy heroes). Having 3 powerful casters means that there are very few opponents that can withstand the magical onslaught for long. Then, once that magic has neutralized the enemy threats the pair of flying monsters, Gulavhar and a Fell Beast are ready to sweep in and slaughter their helpless foes.

Congratulations to Ellis, Ivan and Alexis for earning their places on the podium and to all the other winners on the day; Louis Vanhecke (whose stunning Riders of Theoden won Best Painted), Matthew Butler (who won both the Favourite Army and Best Model awards with his Azog's Signal Tower) and Tom Armitage (who won the Favourite Opponent Award) as well as all the winners of the various spot prizes throughout the weekend. And a special thank you to the TO, Michael Bradford, who by all accounts ran an incredible tournament. And so all that's left for me to do is to leave you with a tiny snippet of some of the photos taken during the event.