War by Proxy

 One of the big debates within the SBG community is related to the use of alternative models in our games. There are many different arguments both for and against this straying from the Games Workshop standard but I definitely fall into the pro-proxy camp.

One of the main arguments that I have seen against the use of alternative models is that it breaks the immersion of playing the Lord of the Rings (and therefore ruins the fun) when you introduce models of someone else's vision of the armies of Middle Earth. The question I then wondered is "well who's vision of Middle Earth is the 'right' one to use? My own? My opponent's? GW's design team's? Peter Jackson's? Professor Tolkein's?" 

These versions of Middle Earth can all differ from each other. For example, the clearest description of the evil men in Sauron's service is this line, "They have black eyes, and long black hair, and gold rings in their ears... lots of beautiful gold. And some have red paint on their cheeks, and red cloaks and their flags are red, and the tips of their spears; and they have round shields, yellow and black with big spikes." (Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Book 4 Ch. 3 "The Black Gate is Closed"). This description matches none of the film depictions or any of the in-game factions that Tolkein could possibly be describing (Serpent Horde, Easterlings, Khand or Far Harad) but would it be unacceptable to create an army using proxy models based upon this description?

Artwork from Flight Fantasy Game's Lord of the Rings card game.

There are  many different instances where this variation of vision occurs between versions of Middle Earth:

• Iron Hills dwarves had round shields, mail armour and no spears in the book.
• Game Workshop's Dunlendings wearing head to toe metal armour despite both book and film versions having minimal metal.

'[The Dunlendings] were without body-armour, having only among them a few hauberks gained by theft or in loot....' (Unfinished Tales) and yet a typical SBG Dunland army is filled with armour clad warriors.

• Movie version plate vs book version chain mail armoured Gondorians.
• The book's description of Thorin's Company bares minimal similarities with the film depictions.

Spot the difference between Alan Lee's depiction of Thorin's Company and the film version.

Then there's all the areas beyond the edges of the map and those little detailed peoples or past events that barely get a mention in the lore of Middle Earth. People like the Beornings, or the other Dwarven houses and historical events such as Thorongil's adventures, the Gondorian Kin-Strife or the War of Dwarves and Dragons.

Creativity is one of the aspects of this hobby that I enjoy the most and the ability to explore these different versions to create a unique force fills me with excitement. To then limit that creativity and be forced to stay within the GW aesthetic is very disappointing to me.

Another major argument in the proxy war comes down to cost, especially with regards to out of production models. While I appreciate the view that supporting the creators of the game is important in order to ensure the future of the game I also acknowledge that this can be an expensive hobby and believe that gatekeeping based on wealth and affordability is wrong.

I'll finish by saying one thing, any deviations you do decide to make from the established Games Workshop standard should be made clear and obvious and explained to your opponent before and during the game in the interest of fairness. But as long as you stay within the spirit of the lore and the spirit of the game then in my view then work away to your hearts content.

Faction Focus - Minas Tirith

 'Have you ever seen it, Aragorn? The White Tower of Ecthelion, glimmering like a spike of pearl and silver, its banners caught high in the morning breeze. Have you ever been called home by the clear ringing of silver trumpets?'

The stalwart defenders of Minas Tirith have long been a popular force in ME:SBG and it's not hard to see why. This is an army that is iconic in the Return of the King and the army list in SBG features a lot of great options.

'Gondor has no king, Gondor needs no king'

Minas Tirith has access to some of the biggest Heroes available to the Good side in Aragorn King Elessar, Gandalf the White and Boromir Captain of the White Tower. Generally you will be limited to taking just one of these three heroes, unless you are playing a very high points level game, because of how many points they take up in your army. Therefore picking which of these to use is usually the 1st step in writing an army list. Any of the three is a viable pick to build an army around.

They all bring different strengths to the army. Aragorn is one of the best killers in the game thanks to Anduril always wounding on 4s and his Mighty Hero rule. Boromir, while not quite as potent as Aragorn, is still a top Combat Hero who also has the bonus of being able to carry the Banner of Minas Tirith to buff the Fight value of nearby troops. And Gandalf has the benefit of his magical powers which offset his slightly inferior fighting prowess.

'A chance for Faramir, Captain of Gondor, to show his quality!'

Minas Tirith has access to a wide array of mid and low tier heroes and they can all offer something different for the army. I'm not going to go through all of them in depth here (there's plenty of other places that have though) but the important point to think about is what each Hero can bring to the army to fill out the gaps in your list.

For example, neither Boromir or Gandalf have Heroic March so a Hero like Madril is a very good pick to fill that gap. Faramir or Hurin offer a good secondary combat Hero to back up your big Hero and take some pressure off them. Ingold is good for holding your battleline in place and making the most of Shieldwall. And the cheaper heroes such as Damrod or Beregond can allow you to bulk up your numbers with cheap warband drops (special mention to Denethor in this role who can do this with a warband of 15 men, and by being the army leader removes some of the pressure on your big hitters).

That's just scratching the surface of the heroes available within the Minas Tirith army list.

'You are soldiers of Gondor! No matter what comes through that gate you will stand your ground!'

Like with the Hero options, Minas Tirith has plenty of options in their warriors. The most basic of these is the Warrior of Minas Tirith, who can provide a very solid battleline thanks to the ability to reach D7 with the Shieldwall special rule. The 2 Guard models in the Minas Tirith list both offer F4 spear support as well as Bodyguard, although Guards of the Fountain Court edge the contest due to their shield option allowing them to reach D7 as opposed to the Citadel Guard's D5.

As for cavalry, Minas Tirith's only options are their Knights or Mounted Citadel Guard. The knights have more hitting power thanks to their lances but only have F3, which can leave them losing more fights.

'Aim for the Trolls! Kill the Trolls'

Within the Minas Tirith list there are several different options for ranged warfare. Rangers have the important 3+ Shoot value to set them above most of the other options such as Warriors or Osgiliath Veterans with bows. As well they can also be used as F4 spear support for your more heavily armoured battleline. In my opinion these points make them the better option for shooting, however, Citadel Guard with Longbows can be a reasonable option because of the S3 Longbows that they carry.

The other ranged option is to bring along a seige engine or two. I'll not go into too much detail here because I don't personally have much experience with seige engines but both Trebuchets and Bolt Throwers are options for ranged fire support. A trebuchet will force your opponent to come towards your army for fear of a direct hit on a key model, whereas the Bolt Thrower functions more like a group of high strength archers.

Example Army List

Here's an example 750 point army list that I threw together that hopefully covers all the points above. Boromir is the Big Hero, Faramir and Madril the supporting cast, then a solid block of Fountain Court Guard and Warriors of Minas Tirith with Rangers providing ranged fire.

Boromir Captain of the White Tower (horse, shield and Banner)
8 Guard of the Fountain Court with shields
7 Warriors of Minas Tirith with shields

Faramir (Heavy armour, horse, lance and shield)
3 Knights of Minas Tirith with shields
6 Warriors of Minas Tirith with shields
6 Warriors of Minas Tirith with shields and spears

Madril
7 Rangers of Gondor with spears
3 Rangers of Gondor

Army Showcase - The Fellowship of the Ring

"Nine companions. So be it. You shall be the fellowship of the ring."

It may be a surprise for some but despite being involved with ME:SBG for a decade I had never painted the Fellowship. In fact I had never painted a Fellowship model (unless you count the Escape From Goblin Town Gandalf, who is more Thorin's Company than Fellowship). Well last year I decided to rectify that fact and finished off painting them last month. 

Now hopefully I'll get a chance to use these models sooner rather than later, especially now that we have so many fun looking scenarios and a Legendary Legion for them in the Quest of the Ringbearer book. 

50th Post Special

 

So this is officially my 50th post on this blog. There's been some bumps along the way but we made it to 50. To celebrate this I decided to continue my interview series but instead of being the interviewer I asked members of the IHL community what questions they wanted to ask me. So here goes.

How did you become a Wargamer?

My journey into wargaming started way back in secondary school when some of my friends were playing 40K and a bit of Lord of the Rings. They let me read their copy of White Dwarf and watch a game or two, even bought me my first models as a birthday present. At the time I had the mistaken believe that I was too cool for this (bear in mind I became the school chess captain shortly after this) and it passed out of all knowledge.

That is until I hit my early 20s. I was suffering from depression at the time and my girlfriend suggested that I find myself a hobby to help motivate me. It was then that I remembered about these little figures that my old school mates used to paint. So I went and bought myself a few models and a starter paint set and that's where it started. Since then, luckily I've left depression behind me but wargaming has helped me get through some difficult times, by helping me to relax for an hour or two. Just being able to sit down with a handful of models and some paint with your only concern being getting that highlight in just the right place and forgetting about all the other stuff going on around you is it's own form of therapy.

Why did you create your blog?

To be honest I initially created this blog with the intention that it would be more of a painting log than anything. However, as anyone who knows me will tell you, I am an incredibly slow painter so I had nowhere near enough content for a regular blog so I branched out from there to other areas such as tournament reporting and beginners guides.

What tips can you give to those starting out?

My main tip is to just get stuck in. Pick an army you like the look of, buy a box or two of models and a couple of heroes and give it a go. Play a few games, find out what you enjoy and build from there.

How did your involvement with the IHL at the beginning start?

I 1st found out about the IHL when someone being interviewed on the GBHL Podcast mentioned that some lads had set up a Facebook page for players in Ireland shortly after moving here. So I joined the group and a few months later they ran a small tournament in Dublin which I decided to head along to for the craic. I took a 500 point force of Thorin's Company who acquitted themselves well, with Ori starting on the path of infamy by taking out Balin and 6 Erebor Dwarves in one game with his slingshot. It wasn't long before I was TOing my own tournament at the Desolation of Derry later that year and the rest is history as they say.

How did a Brit end up staying in Donegal?

There's basically only 2 reasons why people live in Donegal. Either they grew up in the county, or they married someone who grew up in the county. I fall into that 2nd category.

For those who don't know Irish geography, Donegal is a county in the extreme North West of the island of Ireland that while part of the Republic of Ireland shares most of it's border with Northern Ireland, which leaves it's somewhat cut off, remote and forgotten about (it's nicknamed the Forgotten County). Having said that it is a great place, filled with stunning coastlines, majestic mountains and sensational countryside and at times it feels like you've stepped over the edge of the wild and into Middle Earth itself (hence the name of the blog). It is clearly the best county in Ireland and well worth a visit.*

Donegal, Ireland's best county

Why are Thorin's Company the best faction in the game?

Why would they not be?

Why are you so interested in theme in your army selections?

I love the Middle Earth lore and the reason I play this game is because of the lore created by Tolkein. If that theme wasn't important to me and I just wanted to play a tabletop wargame then I could go and pick up any amount of other games. It's the love of that theme that has ensured that MESBG has remained my main game even though only 1 other person occasionally plays it locally and I generally have to travel 2+ hours for any other games.

Ultimately we're playing Middle Earth SBG, not Generic Fantasy SBG and therefore I feel that the choices we make should reflect that Tolkeinian lore.

And there we go, 50 posts published on the blog, now onto the next 50...

*Honestly this post is not sponsored by the Donegal Tourist Board, but if anyone from there is reading this I am open to donations.

New Year, New Stuff

 "Still around the corner there may wait

A new road or a secret gate,

And though we pass them by today,

Tomorrow we may come this way

And take the hidden paths that run

Towards the Moon or to the Sun."

Well, I got through 2020 and now proves an ideal time to look back at what I've achieved hobby-wise over the last 12 months.

Firstly, let's address the elephant in the room, Covid-19. This stopped a lot of gaming and tournaments, all told I only got to attend 1 in the whole year and that was way back in January. Even during the couple of months over the Summer when IHL events were able to resume in a limited capacity I had to pull out of the 2 I was due to attend (the 1st due to being in a significant car crash and the 2nd when I caught the virus a week before and had to isolate). Hopefully tournaments can resume at some point in the coming months and I can end this drought.

Although my overall painted model count is vastly outnumbered by some members of the community I'm pretty pleased with what I did get done in 2020. Finishing off my Thorin's Company, painting up a Fellowship and making good progress on both Lake Town and Khand (among other things) as well as terrain making represent a decent return for me. My favourite piece is probably my Lake Town tavern  that I scratch built with a lot of patience and a ton of coffee stirrers. 

In the Warhammer Community Hobby Bingo I didn't quite do as well as I had initially hoped, but I did do fairly well with most of the painting squares although there's a few I had hoped to get but missed out on and the gaming squares were stopped due to Covid. Hopefully I can beat my score in the 2021 Bingo.

Looking ahead at this years painting, I'm planning on participating in Hobby Bingo again. The 2 big squares I want to cross off are the 600 point Good and Evil squares, so to that end I'm starting work on 600 points of Khazad Dum which will keep me occupied for the foreseeable (along with a few other bits and pieces along the way).

As well as attempting Hobby Bingo again I'm also planning to take part in the Drawn Combat blog's painting challenge (found here) which involves painting a model based on a particular theme each month, first up Rohanuary.

The other big highlight of the year was this blog. I feel that there have been some great articles over the past 12 months and I hope to continue with that going forward. At times it's proved challenging to come up with ideas for content, particularly due to the cronic lack of gaming, but I have a few ideas brewing that I hope to unveil in the coming weeks and months (we might even get to go on a Quest).

Well there's a lot of stuff to be getting on with so I'd better get cracking.

IHL Interviews - Dave Coleman

(Rob) After a short hiatus from the blog we're back with an interview with the new Irish Hobbit League Champion for 2020, Dave Coleman.

Welcome to the blog Dave. Could you start by introducing yourself and giving a little bit of background into your time in the hobby?

(Dave) Thanks for having me on Rob. My name is Dave and I've been completely hooked back into the ME:SBG sphere thanks to the new edition. For as long as I can remember I've been collecting and playing Warhammer since about 3rd Ed 40k but as soon as the Lord of the Rings movies came out I was hooked on the franchise. I had collected years ago when the DeAgostini magazines were in production but didn't play any games or collect since about 2005 so it's been great to be back into it!

So, you are the new 2020 Irish Hobbit League Champion, how does that feel?

It feels good, especially to have two Cork winners in back to back years! Even though 2020 has been a bit of a write off of a year we still managed to get quite a decent amount of tournaments going on our little island and I attended the majority of them. It was great to learn there was a competitive scene here in Ireland when a few friends and I restarted and given we were all competitive 40k players it came naturally.

Are there any particular types of armies that have helped you to achieve this League Title?

I suppose the two main armies I am known for bringing is both Barad-Dur and Rohan. Rohan are extremely strong edition and especially so until the recent nerf to Gamlings banner but in my eyes they're still a top tier army. I ran Riders of Theoden nearly exclusively until I turned my eye to a Rohan/Lothlorien alliance with Galadriel which certainly confused some people! I've always loved Rohan as the scene that always gives me goosebumps is the Charge of the Rohirrim on the Pelennor.

Barad-Dur have been another staple for me, consistently able to place highly with them. They're a fantastic army based around the Dark Lord Sauron but require a good bit of finesse to get them running right as you can very easily overstretch your forces allowing either your army to fold around you or getting Sauron bogged down for the game.

Any little tips or tricks to get the most out of these armies?

I think when it comes to the armies I've picked the main takeaway from them is just to practice, practice, practice. When it came to figuring out how an army like Barad-Dur worked it took multiple losses before you may realise where you can and can't engage an enemy and how you should engage them. Oh, take Shelob!

With Rohan, they're an army that can be a bit of a glass hammer (mostly a solid hammer though) due to the fact they generally rely on getting the correct Move-Off's but thankfully they have the Might to keep consistently moving and marching. With Rohan it's hugely important to correctly time when you hit your opponent and where alogn with using tactics like the Yo-Yo against low shoot volume armies where you can just send in your heros, kill 10-12 models and Heroic Combat away from them only to do that again next turn.

Are we likely to see more of the same as you attempt to defend your title next year, or are there any new projects we'll likely see?

I reckon I will definitely still have Barad-Dur and Rohan take to the field but I am currently working on getting my Army of Thror/Iron Hills list finalized along with some playing around with a Easterling/Khand alliance and a Cirith Ungol list.

I am lucky to have such a good regular gaming partner with Ivan Sheehan, last years IHL Champion where we very regularly play games, at least once a week along with rattling off our lists trying to see where the others could be improved.

Finally before you go, what's the one piece of advice you would give to a new player in the game?

I think the main piece of advice I would tell a new player would be to just pick whatever army you like the look of and go with it. With ME:SBG being such a generally balanced game, you wont particularly have any unfun games along with the whole reason we all play this game, the lore, the world, the characters, the stories. That's what it's all about.

Thank you Dave for taking the time to take part in this interview and we'll see if you can defend your new title in the 2021 IHL season.

Thanks again for having me on!

My Fantasy Fellowship

I'm sure most of my readers will by now be aware of the Fantasy Fellowship rules from the new Quest of the Ringbearer book. These rules offer people the chance to create their own Fellowship to go on the campaign to destroy the Ring and save Middle Earth from the Dark Lord. Naturally I felt like I had to jump on the band wagon and form my own Fellowship. I did set myself a couple of extra rules when starting out on this mission; firstly theme had to come first in all selections and secondly, I wouldn't use any members of the original Fellowship. So after many hours of deliberations here is my pick for a Fantasy Fellowship.

The Ring Bearer

Old Bilbo Baggins

The selection of a Ring Bearer was highly important for determining the overall theme of this Fellowship. In the end I decided on a 'what if' scenario where Bilbo didn't leave the Ring to Frodo after the Long Expected Party. So that makes Bilbo my Ring Bearer, and I gave him both Sting and the Mithril Coat because he did carry them with him when leaving the Shire.

The Three Hobbits

Dori the Dwarf (the Companion)

Bifur the Dwarf

Bofur the Dwarf

Ok, so this is bending the rules slightly, but it's done purely based on theme driven motivation. We're told in the book that Bilbo was accompanied by 3 Dwarves when he left the Shire:

"Three dwarves came out of different rooms where they had been busy.

'Is everything ready?' asked Bilbo. 'Everything packed and labelled?'

'Everything,' they answered.

'Well, let's start then!' He stepped out of the front-door."

So, with that in mind I looked into which Dwarves would have been alive at that point and were below the points limits within the rules. Those restrictions ruled out all but 5 Dwarves; Dori, Nori, Bifur, Bofur and Bombur (the Party taking place after Balin's doomed expedition). I then discounted Bombur as he's described as being too fat to walk by the time of the Council of Elrond, leaving only 2 options for Merry and Pippin's replacements, Bifur and Bofur. Out of the remaining Dwarves Dori was the more obvious choice as the companion and his special rule will help out Bilbo in his journey.

Aragorn

Gildor

When replacing Aragorn I needed someone who could have met Bilbo and the Dwarves in the area around Bree. After some digging I found this quotation that provided the perfect solution.

"At last Frodo asked the question that was nearest to his heart:

'Tell me, Gildor, have you ever seen Bilbo since he left us?'

Gildor smiled. 'Yes,' he answered. 'Twice. He said farewell to us on this very spot. But I saw him once again, far from here.' He would say no more about Bilbo, and Frodo fell silent."

This passage shows that Gildor did actually meet Bilbo on his journey towards Rivendell, so he is an ideal thematic replacement for Aragorn.

The Wizard

Galadriel

For my Wizard I worked by process of elimination. Gandalf was out because he was in the original Fellowship, Saruman had already been turned by the time of the Party, Radagast was more interested in trees and animals than the quest, and I felt that the leader of the quest should be a powerful Hero, ruling out some of the smaller spell casters. This process left me with Elrond, Galadriel and Celeborn to choose from. Out of those I simply picked Galadriel as my favourite.

Legolas and Gimli

Arwen and Halbarad

When picking these two my first choice was that I wanted to use the gorgeous Arwen model, so she got added. At this point I considered that I had no representative from the race of Man, so looking at who would have been around that area at that time and the best person who met my needs was Halbarad. These 2, i imagine, are on their own mission to find Aragorn who was off in the wilds hunting Gollum at the time. I decided that Halbarad's 2 Attacks would make better use of the gift of Galadriel's 3 hairs than Arwen's single Attack, while having a 2nd archer in Arwen with the Galadrim bow would also be useful.

Boromir

Glorfindel

And finally we have the last member of the Fellowship. My Fellowship up to now was lacking a big combat Hero, so I opted for one of the top combat oriented Elves knocking around Rivendell, Glorfindel. It's a shame that he's doomed to fall at Amon Hen but his combat prowess will certainly help in getting the Fellowship that far.

So there we have it, my Fantasy Fellowship. It's maybe not the most powerful Fantasy Fellowship around but I love it.