Clash of Kings Charity tournament held for Chris Hobart in association with MERV

This has gone on for several years now and helps Chris in his outreach programs.

Tournament

Members tell me you need a facebook account to register.

Clash of kings Tournament with the DC Hobbit League

One of our members, Chris H, contacted Devin of the DC Hobbit League and in conjunction the two devised a tournament to highlight mighty heroes.  This involved the generation of unique scenarios (pdf) which centered around the king in your army.  This was a charity event held at our awesome FLGS Battlegrounds, which opened early and provided us with exclusive use of as many tables as we needed.  We had a total of 14 players so we took over their tabletop room which has 8 6x4 tables.  Good enough for us.  I brought 2 dozen donuts from Sugar Shack which originated here in Richmond and we started gaming about 10am.
My army list:
Warband 1
The Knight of Umbar with Fell Beast;
6 Haradrim Warrior with Spear;
6 Castellan of Umbar

Warband 2  
Suladân the Serpent Lord with Horse;
6 Serpent Guard
6 Castellan of Umbar

Warband 3
Haradrim Chieftain with Spear;
1 Haradrim Warrior with Banner;
11 Haradrim Warrior with Bow; Spear;

Warband 4  
Corsair Bo'sun with Spear;
1 Haradrim Warrior with Spear;
5 Haradrim Warrior with Bow; Spear;
5 Corsair Reaver

51 models, break at 25, 16 bows with poison as well as some poison with the serpent guard.

The first game was the Behind enemy lines scenario, I faced Cole, who brought an army led by Gulahvar with a cave troll, 3 spectres and 8 orcs in his leaders war band, then a shade and more orcs and the dwimmerlaik and black numenoreans.   Made the mistake of casting too much too close to the dwimmerlaik and my Knight of Umbar went poof.  I reduced his leaders war band to 2 and I put two wounds on gulahvar, which ended up being regenerated ( more on this later ).  we totally calculated points wrong in this game.  We stated he scored 4 for killing my king ( although Cole did not, my king lost all his will and dissipated) and I scored 2 for killing more than half his kings war band.  I should have scored 2 more since I wounded his king, but forgot.  Goes to show you, read the scenario and calculate the points correctly.
Second game was the scenario grudge match, I played Joel B who brought Elrond on horse, storm caller, captain and a mix of kings guard and regular high elves.  We started with about six or seven rounds of our kings slapping each other and not wounding, managing to remove both of our heroes mounts.  In the end Elrond removed all the fate on my king and the knight of Umber had to limp off the field. Which he did, earning me five points.  I was going to keep my kings war band back but decided to risk them in order to garner more points. I then managed to kill half Joel's king's war band earning me a further 3 points.  No one was broken so I ended with 8 points.
Third game was Regicide, I played Jacob brought the mouth of sauron( king) 6 black numenoreans, 6 morannons w/ shield and spear, a dragon with fly and breathe fire, the dwimmerlaik on fell beast and an unnamed wraith on horse.  This scenario really hurt me due to my king not being able to kill things and the two wraiths attempting to sap will my king ( and the dwimmerlaks special rule would have cost roughly 50% more will to resist).I kept the dwimmerlaik tied up in the middle with all my bowman, while chasing his king with my other units.  Jacob moved his king and favorites into the corner, I did the same in my corner.  His dragon chewed on some harad/numenoreans while I tried to chase his king with reavers and more numenoreans. Between the wraiths, the dragon and their terror a lot of my models were frozen in fear.  I finally managed to get his king trapped next to a building but with only 4-5 units, while he still had his full war band ( and his king acted as a banner).  He tried like hell to kill suladan, but never pulled it off.  I could win some fights but could not kill very well.  Ended up zero zero, no one broken and I lost only one kings favorite( black dart).
Now during this game we realized that Gulavhar should not have regenerated wounds from throwing a model, which means my fights with Gulavhar in my first game should have gone differently and I probably would have killed him.  Oh well.
My last game was against Alex ( I think, I was pretty burned out by this point ) who brought Durburz, Gundabad captain and shaman, the spider queen and a drums, spiders, marauders and goblins.  First thing I did was try and shoot the spiders and kill the spider queen.  Two turns and the knight of umber killed the spider queen, I then lost the knight of umber after rolling two 1's for a fate roll.  That did not cost me points though. I knew losing my king was not points worthy for me and used him aggressively.  His shaman got off earthquake which was very effective at killing, I will watch out for that one in later games.  So I killed his highest point, non king model with my king and it was more than half my kings cost, plus his king was still alive at the end, earning me 7 points.  I almost broke him, one more turn and I would have, but we ran out of time.
Overall I earned a 3rd place, not bad, probably could have been higher had I paid closer attention to the scenario victory points.
I will link to photos when Devin post them
Thanks for reading.

Historicon, the good, the bad and the trolls

I am always amazed that there are so many great games that go on under one roof during Historicon.  Part of the reasoning behind this revolves around the fact that they cover all ranges; fantasy, historic, modern, sci fi and include land, air and naval battles.  Seeing those 1:200 scale WWII air combat games was really neat as well as seeing the huge composite battles with so many well painted armies.
This event hosted a doubles tournament with five tables.  Most players had completely painted armies which is always a plus from an aesthetic point of view.  I was surprised by the number of evil players, I think there were three all good army, and one mixed out of 11.    Our player extraordinaire, Mr. Snack Crumbs, actually took time to take pictures during his two games (there was a oversight, his team only played twice) and posted about it here.  I did not play the same teams as they did.  This was a warm up event before the Grand Tournament up at NoVA at the beginning of September.  The rules and event for which can be found here.  Now, on to the comments and info..... More beyond the break.....

Size Comparison, alternatives to GW

So, I wanted some Men of Dale but I refuse to buy them from GW, specifically because Men of Dale only come 10 to a box.  Really?  Ten?  Were these for some kind of special set and then just sort of thrown into a  box, with the rules?  I am sure Peter Jackson probably screwed GW's plan for The Hobbit by changing from 2 to 3 movies, but really?  Ten?  Your entire army building rules revolve around groups (warbands) of 12 warriors lead by a hero.  Not even an option to build a captain.  Anyway, I wanted Men of Dale, so with a little help of another blog I found out about Thunderbolt Mountain.  You can read about them on their about us page, but I was blown away by their great miniatures, and I found my Men of Dale.  The byzantine warriors with spear and shield fit the bill.  So I ordered some up.  While trimming away the base is a little painful it really only takes about a minute with clippers.  So far I am happy with them, they are a little skinny but are the right height which to me is more important.  Below you will see a size comparison of some Games Workshop Lord of The Rings, some Thunderbolt Mountain, and a Red Box Games mini( soon to be my Men of Dale Captain).

Reward for the campaign

The diligence of participating in our current campaign will be rewarded.  Winning the most hex tiles, and therefore having the most Kingdom Points will bring you fame and fortune throughout Middle Earth!  Which means we will know who won.  To that end I wanted to bring in something that was unique and allowed everyone to have a shot at the ultimate reward.  Okay, maybe not ultimate but a prize anyway.  So at the end of the campaign we will raffle off a pair of unique dice.


Every KP you have will get you one raffle entry.  They are machined out of a single piece of aluminum and are slightly smaller than your typical 16mm dice.  Not a lot, but I thought it would be a nice unique piece to add some incentive to the bunch.

So We are starting up a campaign

I tried to be creative, while keeping this not only simple but allowing everyone to play everyone else.  Basically not letting the map dictate who can fight who, but being a little restrictive to army lists.  I think I was successful (pats self on back).  I know there will be some kind of issue at some point, because, well I can not think of everything.

Campaign Proposal

Hero/Army selection

A player may pick an army from any of the currently available source books, with the following exceptions/additions(basically including The Hobbit armies into the sourcebooks profiles):

Angmar list: Azogs hunters, The trolls

Moria List: Goblin town

Durins Folk: Army of Thror

Eregion and Rivendell: Elrond's Household

Wanderers in the wild: Thorin's company, radagast's alliance

Rohan: Men of Dale

Once a player picks an army list, they may play any hero in that army and may ally with any other army list IN THAT SOURCE BOOK.  Ex.  If I pick Harad and Umbar, I may ally with any other list in the Fallen Realms source book, but not out of Mordor ( unless you have enough Kingdom Points, which we will cover later ).

The goal, like it is every thursday night, is to take over the world!  How do we do this?

Expansionism, Imperialism and Conquest!  The lands to the east and south of Mordor are ripe for the picking!  It is time to build your empire abroad and bring wealth and honor to your western kingdom.

The people who inhabit this eastern land are drawn to power, you must defeat your competition in combat in order to earn their trust, and more importantly their trade.  Every western lord is on a stealth campaign to gather as many trading partners as they can, without going to all out war with their neighbors back home.  To that end you are secretly fighting battles in the east, and, the politics in the western lands are tricky so neighbors come in and out of alliances as everyone strives to become the imperialist power in the east.

Each player starts out with a three hex area on the western side of “known” middle earth, these may never be lost to or annexed by another player.  To gain renown, and lands, your secret army must defeat your “friends” to gain hex tiles in the east.  Every hex tile brings one Kingdom Point, which are calculated every week, and are not cumulative.  You may freely swap tiles with other players,  negotiate at your own risk.

A win will allow players to claim up to three hex tiles that are unclaimed, a loss means you gain nothing.  If there are no free hex tiles that you wish to claim, you may annex up to 2 of another players hex tiles.   Players may also do both, a win will allow a player to annex 1 tile and grab 1 unclaimed tile.  That is it though, a ? v1(win) allows:

1)Grab up to 3 free tiles

2)Annex 2 of another players tiles

3)Annex 1 tile and claim 1 free tile

a 2(win)v ? allows:

1)The winners may grab up to 2 free tiles each

2)The winners may annex 1 tile

Hex tiles MUST be in groups of three or more to be stable.

But why annex then Jobu?  Well, if you win the next week after annexing tiles from another player, then you can annex another two or grab free tiles that connect to the annexed tile(s).  If the player does not win, or somehow negotiate a tile swap, those tiles revert back to free tiles.  Only tiles with some land on them may be claimed.  Open water may not be claimed unless it is an inland lake.

Each tile in your favor gains you 1 Kingdom Point (KP), at the end of the campaign the player with the most KP's win.  Kingdom points are calculated once a week, on friday.

What do KPs bring you?

They allow allies, they allow buying priority once a game, they allow an extra fate to be given to a unnamed/named hero, they allow you to deploy a specific terrain piece, and maybe something else if I can think of it.  You may only pick two of the following and they may not be from the same list:

1)A force of renown(based on # of models, no points values) allows allies outside the sourcebook, still limited to good with good and evil with evil:

Spend 3 KP's and you may ally up to 25% (or one warband, whichever is larger) with another force using only unnamed heroes.

Spend 9 KP's and you may ally up to but not over 50% with another force using only unnamed heroes.

Spend 15 KP's and you may ally up to 25%(or one warband, whichever is larger) with another force using a named hero.

Spend 30 KP's and you may ally up to 50% with a named hero.

2)I swear it was Deja-Vu:

Spend 6 KP's and you may automatically have priority for one turn, must be used before priority dice are rolled – NO EXCEPTIONS

Spend 30 KP's and you may do it after the dice are rolled.

3)Luckiest Red Shirt:

Spend 3 KP's to give an unnamed hero an extra fate

Spend 20 KP's and give a named hero an extra fate

May only be given to native heroes. i.e. no allies

4)Brick in the wall:

Spend 3 KP's and you may remove one piece of native terrain from the table before armies have been deployed.

Spend 6KP's and you may place one small ( about the size of a DVD) non-native terrain piece anywhere on the board.

Spend 9 KP's and you may place one medium ( about 2x DVD ) non-native piece of terrain in your deployment area.

Fortunes/Fates

Hero of renown-You may nominate one hero in your army, that hero now acts as a banner for native troops( not allied ones).

Heroic Intervention-One nominated hero may call heroic fights without using any might.

Courageous charge-You may nominate one hero, during the game all units who begin the turn within 6 inches of that hero will automatically pass all courage tests.

War Chant- You may nominate one hero, during the game all models who begin the turn within 6 inches of that hero cause terror.

Faltering nerve-Before priority and for the duration of the game you may nominate one enemy hero, if that hero wishes to use might the controlling  player must role a d6, on 4+ nothing happens and the might is used normally, on a 3- the might does nothing and is lost.  This is only effective on the first might that hero spends each turn.

Ancient Lore-If a model or hero is the victim of a magical power, any native or allied hero within 12 inches may expend will points to help the model resist, the dice are added to the regular resist roll.  This is only allowed to be spent to resist magical powers.

Good Counsel- Before priority and for the duration of the game you may nominate one friendly hero, if that hero wishes to use might the controlling  player must role a d6, on 3- nothing happens and the might is used normally, on a 4+ the might is free.  This is only effective on the first might that hero spends each turn.

Counterspell-Nominate an enemy spellcaster, during the game if a spell is successfully cast that caster must reroll all the dice used to cast.  The second roll stands.

Mithril Coat-At the beginning of a turn declare this fortune/fate.  All wounds during the turn may be rescued on a roll of 5+.   Use this before rolling fate on heroes.

Last week's roundup

If you haven't had a chance to stop by FTW Games in awhile, I recommend trying to make a Thursday game night some time soon. There's always fun to be had, and this past Thursday, we had an action packed game! The game was a total of 4000 points between 4 players.



 I originally started collecting the GW Lord of the Rings miniatures as a hobby to paint and play SBG. I never got around to playing SBG much, and after 7 years in mothballs I resurrected what I could find of my collection and started to finish painting and collecting them again. My wife purchased me a box set of Riders of Rohan after I broke my collar bone as a way to ease the pain of not mountain biking, and the addiction started again!

 

These pictures include models from the battle that took place on 1/24/2013. It is always fun to watch the armies of Middle Earth clash together and see the outcome of an army build against someone else's.



I hope this inspires some of the "retired" folk to come out of their Hobbit holes and get down to FTW this Thursday for an adventure in Middle Earth again!



An album of all pictures taken during the game.

Februa...wwhhhhaaatttttt!!???

So, here we are nearing February and GW has put up some advanced order for The Hobbit.  Now, let me say these are some nice looking plastic models, you can't tell from the paint jobs ( especially when you compare them to the Warriors of Chaos ) but looking at the sprues shows they have a great level of detail.
Great job GW, those elf cavalry look great, as do the grim hammers.

Now, if only I could afford them. Okay,I can afford them, but I can not justify them.  Wargames factory offers 12 cavalry or 32 infantry models for less than $20.  Gripping Beast offers 44 infantry for @ $30 and Perry miniatures offers at least 12 cavalry for @ $30. True mulitpart, variable models.  Do they look as good as GW do in relation to the Hobbit?  No, but they are more than usable, and a good paint job will take them far.   We also do not play in a GW store, so no one cares what miniature represents rohan, elves or orcs.

I can not, for the life of me, figure out how 6 Rivendell Knights can be more expensive than 6 Morgul Knights when they are all made out of the same material.  They are almost 30% more, where does that price difference come from?  Those 2 dead extra models? I was really looking forward to these, was planning on buying them too.  Will I now? No.  I simply can not justify the price.  I thought the grim hammers might be less expensive than the hunter orcs. I know, I know that was a pipe dream but I really wanted them, I still want the hunter orcs on wargs, but I will not pay this price.

Some will say, " just go on the internet and get them for at least 15% off".   No, If I do that then there is no reason for Rob to have a game store, he could just stick to internet sales.  Then I will not have a place to throw dice.  My friends and I do not have the space to hold all the warmancers and game at the same time.

More to come.....

the Hobbit & SBG

LotR SBG rules got an update in the form of the just released Hobbit rules. The major changes are as follow:

Heroic Uses of Might.
Heroic Move, Shoot, and Fight remains unchanged. There are four additional heroic actions.
Heroic March: allows all friendly models within 6" to increase their movement by 3" if on foot, 5" if mounted. Models cannot charge as part of the march. It is not clear to me whether this increases movement is in addition to other bonuses, such as that provided by a Uruk Hai drummer for instance.
Heroic Channelling: allows magically effect of spells casted to be more powerful.
Heroic Accuracy: allows all friendly models within 6" to reroll their in the way roll when shooting.
Heroic Strike: allows the hero to increase his Fight by D6 and it applies before any other effect (such as transfix).

Monster and Monster Mount Attacks.
Rend: all attacks against one model but applied against its strength rather than defense.
Hurl: allows the monster to grab a model in base to base whose strength is less than the monster's, compare Strength +D6 and if the monster's is higher, the model is thrown a number of inches equal to difference in the modified roll off. The hurled model suffers a S3 hit for each model caught in the path of the hurl, and an additional S6 hit at the end. This appear great against multi wound models.
Barge: all enemy models in the fight back away 3" chosen by the monster and the monster then gets a D6" charge to fight again. This seems the equivalent of heroic fight and thus not available if the monster is part of a heroic fight.
Note: a chariot is considered a monstrous mount so it can hurl, rend and barge? LOL!

Special Weapon Attacks.
Declared before the Fight/Duel rolls.
Piercing strike with axes and picks: wielder gains D3 strength but defend at minus D3. Does a two handed axe also get to pierce?
EDIT by Jobu: special weapon rules only apply to one handed weapons, so a two handed weapon does not get any special rule.
Stun with clubs and staffs: wielder cannot wound but a defender is reduced to Fight 1 and Attack 1 on a roll of 4+. This is only good when attacking with a companion. But since this attack is declared after the fight/duel has already been won, I am not sure how reducing the enemy's Fight makes a difference.
EDIT by Jobu: This applies until the end of the FOLLOWING turn, so it may be useful if you need to get another model into the fight the next turn.
Whirl with flails, scourges and whips: wielder is fight 1 but a win allows a strike against all enemy models in base to base. This should be used when surrounded.
Bash with maces, mauls and hammers: allows the wielder to roll off on a D6 + Strength against a single enemy model in the fight. If the wielder's roll is equal to or greater than the defender, the defender is knocked to the ground. Not sure if an infantry model can bash a cavalry model to the ground, or even a monster/monster mount.
EDIT by jobu: this is very useful to trap a model for any subsequent strikes against it in the same duel/fight.
Feint with daggers and swords: allow a model to fight at minus D3 fight but reroll to Wound roll of 1. Should always be used when facing a higher Fight enemy.
Support with spear and pikes: allows a model to directly fight one base away rather than adds an attack to the front model. It appears pikes are no different from spears.
EDIT by Jobu: yes, but at least a pike can support another pike.  Pike blocks just got more expensive.

Elven blade wielder wins tie Fight rolls on 3+ rather than 4+ unless fighting against another elven blade. Khand chieftains and kings wield elven blades by the way.
Edit by Jobu: they are also usable when mounted now, which they were not before.

The Hobbit Starter set:Escape from Goblin Town

So, I already posted the contents of the starter set, but a few more details have become apparent as some early sets have leaked out.  Well, there are apparently no POINTS VALUES FOR ANY OF THE MODELS IN THE STARTER SET.  Profiles, yes, points value, no.  Now I thought the price of the starter set was a bit high, but within reason as the set contains 55 models, scenery, rulers, dice and a mini rule book.
To put this into perspective:
Well, it is more than that. I personally spent $185.00 on the source books that were released earlier in the year so I could play with the latest army building changes and have all the point values for the models I already own. Well, I purchased the starter set so I could incorporate some of the starter models that I wanted to use/like into the armies that I already have, as well as get a handle on the new rules. If there are truly no points values for any of the models in the starter set anywhere in the starter set, then I will just send it back.  Let me tell you something Games Workshop, a starter set is not just for getting people into the game, you are revamping the game and a lot of us who are long time players are interested in those revamps.  Well, this starter set is not good for anything other then the couple of scenarios that you, GW, have in the set. How will this get people to buy more models?  Oh, you want them to buy the $85 dollar rule book?  They will not do that, you might sell one or the other but not both a rule book and a starter set.

Maybe that is your plan.

Hey all you vets, just get the rule book, don't buy the starter set.

Hey all you people interested in starting the game, don't buy the rule book, just buy a starter set. Which does not really lend itself to other purchases without getting the full size rule book or a LoTR source book, which you may not understand.

Updating later

SBG rules changes we know about

I will update this as I learn more:

There is hero synergy, i.e. two heroes next to each other increase each other effectiveness in some way.
There are The Hobbit specific scenarios in the new rule book as well as some from The War of The Ring period ( not rule book/company/formation rules)

There are four new heroic actions:
Heroic Channeling, which gives access to more powerful spells
Heroic Accuracy, which gives an accuracy boost to archery
Heroic Strike, which gives a boost in combat
Heroic March, which gives a movement boost

All monsters gain three power attacks: Barge, Hurl and Rend.
Apparently, Hurl gives you the ability to pick up enemies and throw them.
Rend is apparently useful against models with high defense.

Hand weapons such as swords and daggers allow you to Feint (no clue on what it does)
Two-handed weapons allow you to Bash.

The game remains fully compatible with the current source books.

Hobbit info

So, this is what the tubes with cats say: edited 11-20 fyi 1 euro is about 1.25 dollars

Escape from Goblin Town Limited Edition: 100€ (56 figures!)
Hobbit Rulebook: 65€ (288 pages)
Hobbit Paint Set: 35€
Custom Figure Case: 50€
The White Council: 60€ (4 fig box)
The Trolls: 65€ (3 figure box)
Goblins of the Misty Mountains: 30€ (18 figure box)
Goblin Town: 45€ (scenery set?)
Hunter Orcs: 30€ (12 fig box)
Hunter Orcs on Fell Wargs: 35€ (6 fig box)
Bolg: 20€ (clampack)
Narzug: 15€ (clampack)
Goblin Captain: 13€ (clampack)
Fimbul the Hunter (ft & mtd): 35€

Everything is plastic except the clampacks and the White Council. Yes, the Trolls are plastic.

LoTR:SBG will be renamed The Hobbit:SBG

There will be a new boxed set : Escape from Goblin Town, which will have about 48 miniatures a mini rule book and some scenery.  It will be about $100,

There will be some changes to the rules, but I do not know what they will be and they are supposed to be minor.

New FAQ and DMCA

Here are the new FAQ's.

some notes:
Command/Transfix/immobilize etc just became better, because now you can no longer support that model with a spear :( and special rules that need to be activated can not be used.

Gildor just became usable.

Kings Huntsman special became more useless.

Galadhrim knights move full through woods with charge bonus.




There will be a new LoTR FAQ very soon according to GW on Facebook.
Also the radagast images are being pulled down on all the LoTR forums.  Whoops.  Get it while you can.

Radagast in plastic

Thanks to some one ring members and a Russian site we have our first look at a new Hobbit mini. http://www.one-ring.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=23932&start=40#p292755
You will have to click the link until I get the pics up.

Battle company blog and news

So, word on the street ( kids effect on my brain......I can only picture Murray from sesame street when I type that ) ........
anyway, The Hobbit minis from games workshop will be out on Nov. 3rd.  There will probably be a journey book ( ala The Fellowhip/TTT/RotK ) and maybe a new version of the core  rule book as well.  Looking forward to seeing what kind of starter set gets released.

Also, there is a battle companies blog.  It has the core upgrade/company requirements as well as some other  companies outside the originals.

Someone somewhere may be in some trouble...

This is posted elsewhere, and may be complete rubbish, but when have we ever shied away from rubbish?

This is a lost, of supposedly leaked names of units/boxes from GW coming out next year for their The Hobbit range.

This does not contain sets that are already in production.
Seems like I will have to save some money, since GW stuff is so expensive now.
Some will be finecast as well......"shiver"
GOOD

Dwarves: Kili & Fili & Longbeard Archers 
Dwarves: Bombur with Kettle 
Dwarves: Drogo Baggins & The Tavern Maid 
Dwarves: Dáin & Iron Hill Berserkers 
Dwarves: King Thráin & Longbeard Vanguard 
Dwarves: Young Thorin & Longbeard Mattockguard 
Dwarves: King Thrór 
Dwarves: Dragon Mithril Company of Dwarves 
Dwarves: Dáin Ironfoot & Iron Hill Boar Riders 
Dwarves: Dís, Mother of Kili and Fili 
Dwarves: Gimli (Stubble) 
Dwarves: Samwise Gamgee (Red Book) 

White Council: Mounted Rivendell Nobles 
White Council: Lindir the Harper 
White Council: Arwen & Estel 
White Council: Galadriel (Barrel) 
White Council: Radagast with Roäc & Swoop 
White Council: Galadriel (Water Steed) 
White Council: The War Council 
White Council: Galadriel & Lórien Drumhooves 
White Council: Chief Aravir & Dúnedain Rangers 
White Council: Dúnedain Runecaster 
White Council: Elrond & Rivendell Spearguard 
White Council: Elros & Rivendell Outriders 
White Council: Radagast's Chariot / Spellfire Cart 
White Council: Cirdan the Shipwright 

Men of Esgaroth: King Girion 
Men of Esgaroth: Fram the Watchman 
Men of Esgaroth: The Master of Lake-Town 
Men of Esgaroth: Bard & Greystreak Bowmen 
Men of Esgaroth: Bain & Quickstrings Gang / Trout Guild Militia 
Men of Esgaroth: Alfrid & Loyal Town Guard 
Men of Esgaroth: Garf & Footsoldiers of the Dale 


Beornings: Woodmen Healer 
Beornings: Fair Daughter 
Beornings: Meneldor & Swiftbeak Flock 
Beornings: Gorm & Woodmen Axethrowers / Skin-Changers 
Beornings: Whisperbark / Gnarlfir 
Beornings: Black Bear Pack 
Beornings: Enraged Beorn 
Beornings: Grimbeorn (Greataxe) 

Silvan Elves: Legolas & Mirkwood Fire Archers 
Silvan Elves: Mirkwood Warhost 
Silvan Elves: King Thranduil (Battle Garb) 
Silvan Elves: Tauriel (Mounted) 
Silvan Elves: Castellan Amroth 

Smaug the Golden 
Gandalf (Dual Sword) 
Turin, The Dragonslayer 

EVIL

Smaug the Golden 

Mountain Orcs: Azog & Orc Needlers 
Mountain Orcs: Azog (Wounded) 
Mountain Orcs: Bolg & Great Goblin Bodyguard 
Mountain Orcs: Armoured Hill-Trolls / Frenzied Trolls 
Mountain Orcs: Orc Stone Thrower 

Wargs: Dire Warg 
Wargs: Grinnah & Mirkwood Werewolves 
Wargs: Feral Wolf Pack 
Wargs: The Werebeast 
Wargs: Lagdush & Orc Wolfcloak Warriors 
Wargs: Narzug & Orc Warg-Riders 
Wargs: Dol Guldur Orc Overlords 
Wargs: Orc Chieftain on Warg 
Wargs: Orc Wolfbone Shaman 

Dol Guldur: Leaping Spiders / Shiverfang Spiders 
Dol Guldur: Spiderlings 
Dol Guldur: The Willowhags 
Dol Guldur: Bloodwraiths 
Dol Guldur: Gwethil 
Dol Guldur: The Necromancer / Flesh Avatar 
Dol Guldur: Narzug & Orc Summoner Coven 
Dol Guldur: Tomb Wights 
Dol Guldur: Mounted Tomb Wights 
Dol Guldur: Saruman & The Ringwraiths 
Dol Guldur: Vampire Bat Swarms 

Grey Mountain Dragons: Fire-wyrms 
Grey Mountain Dragons: Braga & Goldscale Worshippers 
Grey Mountain Dragons: Venomblade Assassin 
Grey Mountain Dragons: Goldscale Priest 
Grey Mountain Dragons: Bofur on Cold-Drake 
Grey Mountain Dragons: Dragon Thrall 
Grey Mountain Dragons: Money Bags & Hired Knives 
Grey Mountain Dragons: Fell Hatchlings 

ADVENTURES

Adventure: Gandalf's Quest 
Adventure: The Battle at the East Gate 
Adventure: The Fall of Dale 
Adventure: The Belltower 
Adventure: A Thief in the Night 
Adventure: The Clearing of Foul Roots 
Adventure: Assault on the Barrows 
Adventure: Clash of the Beasts 
Adventure: The Last Stand 
Adventure: The Raven Hill 
Adventure: Thorin's Folly 
Adventure: The Battle of Five Armies 
Adventure: Breaking the Siege 
Adventure: Revenge of the Goblin King 
Adventure: Blacksoil Slope 
Adventure: The Final Onslaught 
Adventure: The Clouds Burst 
Adventure: The Ritual 
Adventure: The Haunted Tombs 
Adventure: The Blight Breach 
Adventure: Gollum's Escape

So here we go again...another big finecast relaunch

With daaa da daaaaahh, another price increase.  You can now get 4, count them 4, finecast LoTR models for the price of $26.50, which is what we used to pay just last year plastic kit with 20/24 soldiers or get you 2 metal blisters of 3.  And honestly,figures that are cast in finecast (AKA:resin) blow.  I have had to get replacements for every one, ranging from missing faces to big visible bubbles obscuring detail to subsurface bubbles causing the model to bend.
here is a list of what will be new or relaunched in August:

On another note I have been working on a couple of posts but have been crazy busy at work.  I will get to them soon.....

The new filth

A previous GT winner posted a couple of lists-as I have said before, reavers are filth......combine them with a shade and they become just stupid.......previously it was hard to get them in the same list due to legions of middle earth restrictions.


All lists are 1v1 lists for games with a model limit of 75.

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500:

3 Corsair Captains
24 Reavers
7 Watchers of Karna with Bows
5 Haradrim with Bows and Spears

Total 39 models, 12 bows, 6 Might.

==========
750:

Dalamyr, Fleetmaster of Umbar (or 2 Captains)
1 Captain
1 Bosun
1 Shade

24 Reavers
6 Watchers with Bows
6 Haradrim with Bows and Spears
11 Orcs with spears (10 shields)
1 with banner

750, 52 models, 3 Might.

=========
1000: 

3 Captains
2 Bosuns
1 Shade

39 Reavers
12 Watchers with Bows
8 Haradrim with Bow and Spears
9 Orcs with Spears
1 Orc with Banner

999, 75 models, 20 bowmen, 6 Might.


Shadow Lord
Dark Marshal / Undying / Tainted (??) / Another Named Wraith?
Shade
3 Bosuns

21 Orcs with Spears
11 Orcs with Spears and Bows
21 Reavers
11 Watchers with Bows

Total 998 points, 70 models, Shade, Anti-Arrow, 2x Wraiths. 22 Bows. 

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For those who are not aware: A Reaver with Spear Support, Banner effect and Shade effect kills Khazad Guards in a ratio of 7:1.