Praise be to the Witch King, my lord and saviour: Day 2 of Australia's biggest ever MESBG tournament

The Witch King, shortly after saving my backfield from the Goblin hordes

After an extremely enjoyable Day 1, I was rested (kind of) and ready to make things happen on Day 2. With 85 players and one loss already, I was out of contention for the podium, but I felt like a couple big wins could push me up to the top tables.

For anyone just tuning in now, I'm running fairly standard WK/Suladân with the Mouth of Sauron and a wall of Black Numénóreans backed by Morannons. Day one has seen me face three shooting lists in shooting scenarios, and manage to clutch out two wins before going down in a tight game in Round 3. 

Pictured: a game that is not going well 

Thankfully we had now finished off the shooty scenarios, with Domination up next. It tends to favour numbers and melee, especially backed up by some fast-moving models or especially flyers. So naturally, we were done with shooting lists and onto… 

Game 4: Moria in Domination, 6:3

A lot of models and some scary monsters

Lachlan had a really fun list, with a Cave Drake, Cave Troll, two Bats and 41 models. Yikes! His strategy was clearly to anchor the centre with the monsters and push around the flanks, which forced me to commit to one side or the other or risk being torn apart piecemeal.

I ended up playing defensively on the left, with a small holding force of Black Nums and Morannons being whittled down by Groblog’s Goblins and a Marauder. Lachlan also committed a Bat Swarm here, but I brought back the Witch King (who had just Compelled the other Bat Swarm forward to be charged and killed by Suladân) to counter. 

A lone Tracker is feeling nervous about this flank

He Compelled a Goblin forward, charged it with a Serpent Rider, then Heroic Combatted off it to clear out the remaining flanking Goblins and send the Serpent Rider into the Bat Swarm to save my lone Tracker. 

Between them they couldn’t quite finish off the Bats, which won the next combat, survived a shot from the Tracker, flew away to hide on a building and eventually passed a Break check to flip one of my backfield objectives to neutral at the end. Urgh.

A picture from the final turn (spoilers!), with that damned Bat flipping the objective at the end

In the centre, the Cave Troll was somewhat stuck behind Lachlan’s lines. It slogged its way around to eventually pass two Terror checks to charge Black Numénóreans, getting some kills and standing on the central objective. The Drake did a little better, chewing through the troops I put in its way to pin it between two buildings, including with a cheeky Hurl that killed 3/4 models it hit. The Drake did some damage, but never really managed to break through to threaten my backfield.

I basically held this chokepoint all game, with the Cave Drake slowly munching its way through until I was in a position to counterattack

All of the messiness elsewhere was interesting, but the decisive play ended up being on my right flank. Here I had the Mouth’s warband facing about a dozen Goblins and a Captain, and immediately committed Suladân over as well. Lachlan reinforced this flank with about 20 more Goblins and another Captain, but my elite infantry and mounted heroes were devastating, killing about 25 Goblins in three turns.

This is the flank after a single turn of combat. Lachlan’s Goblins just disintegrated!

It was brutal, and meant I had soon Broken Lachlan and flipped one of his backfield objectives.

A couple of turns later, and Lachlan no longer has a left flank

On the other flank, the Witch King had swooped back to target Groblog, Compelling him out but failing to do a single wound in combat. I fought him off on the next turn (again failing to wound him), before finally spending my last Might point to get a single wound on the final turn. It was a little frustrating from Sauron’s chief lieutenant, but he’d otherwise performed excellently this game so I wasn’t too mad.

The Witch King manages to best Groblog, but not quite as decisively as I’d been hoping

Finally, on the last turn I Transfixed the Drake and swarmed it with Suladân and a bunch of warriors. Suladân Struck up, but rolled a 1, and lost the subsequent roll-off. The Drake Barged into my last warrior contesting the centre objective, and gobbled it up to flip my major win back to a minor. It was unfortunate, but that’s just the way things go sometimes. We submitted the score and I was pretty happy with a fun game against an excellent opponent.

Moments after the Drake had Barged away my troops and killed the relevant warrior

Of course, anyone who thoroughly read that last paragraph can see a bit of a contradiction. I had actually Transfixed the Drake, so it couldn’t have Barged over to kill my last warrior on the objective. I realised this a couple minutes after we submitted our results and mentioned it to Lachlan, and to his credit he immediately suggested we go back and change the score. Retrospective changes are always tricky, even in situations like this where it was the last thing that happened in the game, so it definitely reflected well on Lachlan how decisively he made the call.

In any case, that left me on a major win, for a great start to Day 2. Moving onto Heirlooms, I was just hopeful to avoid another list with flying models…

 

Game 5: Dunland in Heirlooms of Ages Past, 7:3

Big modelcount and a lot of anti-Terror tricks, plus another two flyers!

Andrew Colman is a hardened tournament veteran who has won many a big event, so I was certainly nervous when I saw his name on the list. I was also concerned about facing a swarming list with high numbers and a heap of fast models, including two Crébain (who absolutely love Heirlooms).

‘Winning’ Priority on the first turn certainly didn’t help, but I was at least able to get everyone in fairly close together by spending a couple of Might. Andrew responded (after some iffy Maelstrom rolls of his own) by bringing in three warbands to threaten the Witch King, while Frida’s little band popped up on the other side to threaten the objective I was trying to keep safe.

My Witch King was not feeling good about this situation

Some back and forths (including a natural six from Gorulf to Resist being Compelled forward and slaughtered, before being pushed back and wounded by some random warriors) ensued, with a handful of casualties on either side.

Seconds before disaster for Gorulf here

One of the archers in Frida’s warband shot out my Serpent Rider, and the game was looking extremely interesting.

A wide shot, with Frida’s warband just out of view at the bottom right and the main melee at the bottom left

I’d also Compelled out one Crébain to die at Suladân’s hands, making this the third swarm of flying creatures he’d ridden down this tournament.

I pull back to reset my position and take out a Crébain, only for things to go very wrong elsewhere

Then, just as our lines were properly starting to clash on my left flank, the other Crébain in Andrew’s backfield rolled a six and picked up the objective. Andrew’s girlfriend Kate was doing a lot of his dice rolling, and is apparently excellent at doing so. Andrew was thus suddenly 6 points up, just as the battle was really beginning.

Oh no. This is very bad. Very, very bad

I briefly contemplated committing all three of my heroes fully to combat to try to Break Dunland in the hope that the Crébain would flee, but following turn of combat rapidly dissuaded me from this. Andrew called the War Cry for +1 to-wound near Thrydan, alongside Heroic Combats from Gorulf, the Oathmaker and Thrydan himself. The resulting melee was devastating, with about 8 models being carved through for almost no losses back.

At this point, and after losing the following Move-off, I realised that I had no chance of winning a straight slog fast enough to claw back a win. Thankfully, however, Andrew had made two tiny mistakes that gave me a route back into the game. Firstly, he’d moved the Crébain a little back towards the centre, obviously hoping to get a hero over there later to provide a Stand Fast if needed. And secondly, he’d charged one Dunlanding Horseman around my right flank in order to get into a Morannon without needing a Terror check. This otherwise-savvy move meant that my Witch King could charge about 10” to wrap around this horseman a little, Heroic Combat off him, and then ride another 10” north towards the Crébain. Sulâdan was also able to Combat away towards the relic, with the Morannon assisting him in the fight even being able to block off Thrydan after I won the Heroic Combat roll-off.

My troops continued to be shredded, but on the following turn I was able to win Priority and Compel the Crébain forward to be charged by both of my heroes (the Mouth was busy sacrificing himself to hold up Thrydan another turn). Suladân got peeled off by the last Dunlanding Horseman nearby, but the Witch King should have been easily able to ride down the Crébain.

I’m feeling dramatically better about this situation now

Then a lone Dunlanding archer moved into range, and managed to hit, hit me, hit the horse, and successfully dismount the Witch King. I had joked that I’d cry if it worked, and while I didn’t quite do that I definitely had to sit down and take a little moment.

Pictured: the little skirmishing clash over on this flank between Frida’s warband and my nearby troops. Notice the 4 Dunlending archers, the bane of my life

Mercifully, it didn’t quite come back to bite me. I won Priority on the next turn and was able to pile some warriors and the two heroes into the Crébain, shredding it (accidentally doing so with a Black Numénórean and not Suladân!) and Heroic Combatting away to safety. The lone Dunlanding archer had managed to hit Suladân’s horse, but thankfully didn’t quite get the kill this time around. Time was called, and Thrydan wouldn’t have been able to reach me on the next turn regardless.

The Dunlendings did managed to exactly Break me in the final melee, but in the end it came out to an incredibly nerve-wracking 7:3 major win!

This game was easily my highlight out of all the excellent games this weekend. For starters, Andrew was a top class opponent, both in terms of being fun and easy-going to play against, but also by being incredibly switched on. Throughout the game my eyes would often light up a little at a potential opening for some ploy or other, only for him to head off the threat by the end of the phase. I’d absolutely love a rematch, although perhaps without Kate rolling his dice for him; I don’t think my heart could take many more of those sixes at critical moments!

I was also really proud of my play this game. I underestimated the Dulanding damage output a little, but once everything had gone wrong I was able to stay calm and plot out the one way that I could clutch a win from the jaws of defeat. It felt awesome to sprint the Witch King 30” across the board to Compel out and ride down the Crébain, and the desperation of my banner, leader and the relic all fleeing for the corner at the end was super fun. Absolutely awesome game, would play again.

Overall that put me on three major wins, one minor win and one minor loss, which is an outcome I’ll take any day. With such a large field that ended up putting me in 16^th, which is about where I was aiming for. Definitely a great run for my first event of this size!

The winning list. Maybe I should have left the Mordor side of things at home

Tournament Review

Clash was awesome. It took place in a school, so all the games were set up in different classrooms in one big block. That worked surprisingly well, because everyone was close enough together to mingle without ever feeling too claustrophobic.

Speaking of mingling, the social scene was awesome. It was great having about 90 wargamers swarming around each other, chatting about everything from their games to the next releases and it was so lovely to make new friends and reconnect with old ones.

The event itself was tightly run, sticking as close to schedule as one could expect for an event of its size and doing a great job of fitting in the silly things like the War of the Great Houses (in which Team Parliament House came a close second!). The meme war leading up to it was also great, with the winning meme being as excellent as one would expect from such high-calibre comedians.

The winning meme!

My only two critiques were that a handful of boards were a bit too intense to be really enjoyable (e.g. my Game Two), and that Storm the Camp and Heirlooms just aren’t great scenarios to include in a pack. I admire the integrity of sticking to random rolls, but Storm is so prone to producing boring games and Heirlooms is often like playing a slot machine. I had an awesome final round, but it sounded like a lot of games ended up being determined by one side picking it up early and instantly winning. That’s rough in any matchup, but particularly for Game 5 at a prestigious event.

If this had happened to any other list, then that one piece of luck would have ended the game

Still, it was an excellent weekend. I played 5 enjoyable games against really great opponents, and didn’t have a single tense moment in the whole tournament. That really speaks to the positive atmosphere of the event, and the good vibes that everyone brought with them into their games.

Lachlan truly didn’t even hesitate in telling me to change the score and downgrade him to a major loss. Impressive stuff

List review

Look, it’s a great list. You know it, I know it, and I’m pretty sure my opponents knew it too. I’ve said it many times, but the combination of good numbers, elite infantry, devastating magic and triple combat threats is extremely flexible and powerful.

I think what this tournament really highlighted is how good the list is at staying in the game even when the odds are against it. If I had been crafting a run with these five armies in these five scenarios, and trying to make it as hard as possible for a list like mine, it would probably have looked exactly like this. The three shooting lists were in the three shooting scenarios, then the two lists with numbers and multiple flying models were in Domination and Heirlooms.

In spite of that, the list just kept on trucking, pulling out wins in situations that felt totally stacked against it. Even my loss in Game 3 was a total knife-edge that could have gone either way until the very last turn, thanks to the flexibility and bucket of tricks it could dip into when needed.

Two more kills here and I’d be writing a very different tournament report

My MVP for the day was absolutely the Witch King, without a doubt. In Game 1 his Harbinger was critical, Sap Will rendered the Shaman irrelevant, and his sneaky Compel opened up the Goblin Captain to being charged to win me the game. In Game 2 he helped shut down Elessar, and in Game 3 his Black Dart on the Elf banner was the only reason I had a chance to win. Game 4 he Compelled out a Bat Swarm to die, ricocheted the Serpent Rider back to save my backfield, headed off the Goblin threat to my left and then wounded Groblog. And in Game 5, of course, he Compelled out a Crébain before zipping 30” across the board to win me the game.

Yeah, turns out that a rerollable Compel on a mounted F5/A3 combat hero is pretty good. Who knew?

As far as the controversial parts of the list went, I was really happy with them overall. The Witch King could have used an extra Will or two in Game 3, but had just the right amount in Game 5 and more than I needed in every other game. And he used literally zero Fate all weekend, so clearly two was plenty there.

Adding some more Trackers might have helped in a few of the games (particularly 1, 3 and 4), and probably is the right call for the list overall. Hobby lag is the culprit there, but the Trackers are competing with preparing a Pits of Dog Guldur list that I may run for Masters.

And finally, to continue my long advocacy for him, the Mouth was awesome. In Game 1 his killing power was critical, in Game 2 he shut down Aragorn while also chopping down a bunch of warriors, and in Game 3 he forced Théodred to go deal with him instead of hunting the Witch King or Sulâdan. In Game 4 he Transfixed the Cave Drake a couple of times and carved through a Captain and about 8 Goblins, and then in Game 5 he sacrificed himself to pin down Thrydan and prevent him catching the Witch King or Sulâdan once more. Consistently great, I think he’s the best third hero for this list at any points level.

Aragorn never moved from this exact spot until the end of the game, primarily because the Mouth kept Transfixing him

Tournament Wrap-up

This was an awesome tournament, and I’m really happy with how I performed. Every game felt tough, and I’m proud that I could pull back from some rough situations to eke out the wins.

More importantly, I had an absolute blast. Every opponent was lovely, every game was interesting and tight, and there were no properly contentious moments in the entire tournament. The weekend did take a lot out of me, even as a very extroverted ‘people person’; it turns out that cramming 31 hours of socialising into 48 hours is a lot of conversation time! Huge shoutout to Andrew for the lift up and back, and for putting up with 8 of those hours of conversation. And obviously an extra huge shoutout to Andreas, Kylie and everyone else involved in organising such a large and successful event.

The next ‘tournament’ coming up will be a cute little 200-pointer games day in Canberra, then the big excitement of Masters. It’ll be at 550 points, which opens up some interesting questions for listbuilding. Do I stick with Witch King/Suladân (which probably hits 38 models at 550), swap across to Pits, or even do a nasty Azog’s Hunters/Azog’s Legion combo? There are a lot of interesting options available, and I’m looking forward to some good practice games to help me decide.

Comment below what you’d be scared of seeing at 550, and of course your thoughts on the tournament and list.

Until next time, may you always be the one to pick up the Heirloom!