Faramir walked ahead of his men, searching out a path through the undergrowth. It was his task to lead his troops forward, securing a position in this critical location. If this land could be held, then it would be the springboard for a fresh assault down on the Orcs holding Osgiliath, who would be taken from behind and slaughtered.
But even as Faramir had this thought, he knew that
something was wrong. The sound of whistling arrows filled his ears, and before
he could even fling himself to the ground one had pierced his side. As his men
descended into confusion and tried to find the source of the arrows, Faramir’s
keen sight settled on green-clad figures stalking through the trees. From their
lilting speech and sinuous movements, he knew that they could not be other than
the Elves of the forest.
In other circumstances, Faramir would have longed to talk
and sing with these fellow Children of Illúvatar. But Denethor himself had
tasked them with capturing this ground, and Faramir would see his father’s will
be done. Pulling the arrow from his side with a gasp, he dragged himself back
to his feet and began to rally his men.
He could only hope that Boromir would arrive soon.
As the dust settles in the wake of the new edition being
leaked, I’ve been busily testing out some of the army lists. My
first two games both involved the Eagles (because they look awesome), and saw
the big birds tear apart first a Halls of Thranduil list (which you can read
about here) and then a Reclamation of Osgiliath force led by Boromir and
Faramir.
While I’ve found these games super enjoyable, the skewed
nature of the matchups meant that they didn’t give me a great appreciation for
how well these lists would do when they weren’t facing 6 flying
monsters. The solution? Pit them against each other!
It should be a fascinating matchup. Would the elite Elven troops have the muscle to cut through the heavy Gondorian armour, or would Boromir’s rampage be too hard to stop? Have a read and find out!
Lists
We discussed this list a bit last time, but it’s had a few
tweaks since then. First, it’s gone harder on the glaives, as they seem to be
one of the best things in Mirkwood these days. An extra Attack (kind of) that
also doubles as an Elven-made spear for two points is an absolute bargain, and
I was keen to take maximum advantage.
That also involved dropping Thranduil’s Elk to fit in a few
more models. While he does look super scary while mounted, I wanted to try out
how he would feel on foot, where he could remain a bit more defensible as he
buffed up the battleline. I’m still not sure which of these builds is better,
but if the early stages of an edition are good for nothing else it’s
experimentation!
Generally, this list has crazy shooting, surprisingly decent
numbers, a huge amount of combat punch near Thranduil and the glaives to win
fights on the flanks. Outside of Thranduil’s 3” bubble it is only S3, however
(I’m still assuming that the S4 Mirkwood Elves are a typo), so it could
struggle with massed D6.
Speaking of which…
Boromir and Faramir struck me as some of the most improved
profiles of the new edition, and only one of them deserved it. Boromir’s banner
is definitely worse (it’s effectively giving Fight 4.5 instead of F5 now), but
getting a free +1 to wound when charging is an enormous buff for a hero that
sometimes struggled with damage output. Plus, he now counts as a war horn,
which is great for the army’s Courage. And Faramir has gone from F5/A2 to
F6/A3, as well as picking up two extremely useful rules that make him an
absolute menace in the lategame.
On top of all this, Warriors of Minas Tirith benefit from
both F4 (meaning that they don’t need Rangers behind them to compete on Fight
value) and the buffs to Shieldwall, which make it easier to maintain the
formation in the initial turns. And in this list they will also benefit from a
once-per-game +1 to-wound bubble around Boromir, as well as Mountain Dweller
for some positioning assistance. Nice!
Overall, this list has one terrifying combat piece, backed by an excellent second hero and a really solid battleline that can punch through on a critical turn. In this matchup its F4 will be a liability, but its D6 could give Boromir enough time to get killing.
Scenario and deployment
Random rolls picked Fog of War, To the Death and Hold Ground for veto, with Gondor immediately vetoing Fog because trying to keep anyone alive against Legolas (let alone a D5 hero like Faramir!) was a recipe for disaster. Mirkwood contemplated To the Death, reasoning that their substantial shooting advantage would give them a real edge. But in the end the thought of starting down 4VPs for not having a banner was too big of a deal, so it was time for Hold Ground!
Turns 1-2: Ambush and counter-ambush
The critical first Priority roll went Mirkwood’s way,
allowing them to choose Gondor to move first. That resulted in Faramir’s
warband entering the board and beginning to race towards the centre, before
Boromir rolled a 1 and opted not to burn Might to come on. Having the most
powerful half of the Gondorian army ready to counterattack wherever the Elves
deployed seemed like a good call!
In return, Legolas spent a Might to deploy directly behind
Faramir with his warband. It was a gamble, but the Elves felt like they could
win a warband-on-warband duel if it came to it. That seemed particularly likely
after Thranduil also rolled a 1 and didn’t come on; this was apparently going
to be a fight between the younger family members first!
In the Shoot Phase, Legolas showed off his newfound accuracy
(hitting on a 2+ with no penalties for moving and shooting!) to slip two shots
through onto Faramir, wounding him once. Another Gondorian was also killed by
an Elf archer, increasing the Mirkwood model count advantage to 4 and opening
up a gap into Faramir for next turn.
Turn 2 saw the new Priority rules actually matter, because
the Priority rolls were tied and Gondor won the tie. Last edition Mirkwood
would have had the benefit of moving second in the previous to win the tie, but
Gondor now won the tied Priority because Mirkwood had won the roll to choose
last turn. It’s not a difference that will come up often (approximately once
every 6 games), but it mattered here.
In any case, Legolas won the Move-off against Faramir, and
decided to charge into the Gondorian hero. While Faramir’s new and improved
combat profile made this a risky proposition, Legolas was aiming to just shoot
Faramir to death before they even made it to the Fight phase. Otherwise, the
Elves swarmed over Faramir’s warband, hoping to take advantage of their initial
advantage (primarily from having glaives, and thus more dice in most of the
fights).
However, because Gondor had won Priority and chosen to move
first, they were able to respond by bringing Boromir’s warband on directly
behind the Elves, with Boromir in prime position to provide his banner effect
to all the nearby Gondorians. Thranduil then immediately came in next to
Boromir, bringing a huge force of Elves to bear against the Gondorian left
flank. However, thanks to Gondor having stolen the best spot, Thranduil would
be able to affect many less of his warriors with his banner and +1 to-wound
aura than he would have liked.
Combat looked to be a doozy, but before we got there Legolas
got to shoot Faramir three times in the face. Burning a Might to convert two
Wounds, Faramir failed a single Fate roll and was slain! This was a huge swing
for the Elves, killing a powerful combat piece while he still had two Might in
the bank. However, it’s also one that Gondor could have prevented in hindsight,
as Faramir had turned out to be just outside 3” away from Boromir (and thus
unable to use his big brother’s Might and Fate to survive). A big misplay
there!
In any case, the rest of the fights were fairly even, with two more Gondorians falling for a Mirkwood Elf and one Knight.
Turn 3: Gondor strikes back
Gondor won Priority again, and managed to win the Move-off
as well. This was critical, as it allowed them to swarm over the rest of
Legolas’ warband while pinning down as much of Thranduil’s forces as possible
out of position. Boromir’s two Knights of Minas Tirith also happened to be
outside 6” of Boromir, which allowed them to ride hard towards the middle to
give Gondor a (perhaps temporary) lead in VPs.
Thranduil’s warband responded where possible, primarily by
swinging a swathe of Elves over to start wrapping around the Gondorians. Not
only would this allow them to start getting into the fight, it would also
hopefully box in the Gondorians away from the centre (towards which the
surviving Mirkwood Knights hurtled).
Boromir was all set to ride down the Elf he was facing, but
was dismounted by another devastating Legolas shot before he could do so. He
was still able to fend off the Elf, but was unable to strike blows this turn.
Dragging himself from the wreck of his mount, he did take the opportunity to
raise his banner high and declare ‘For Gondor’, giving all the nearby
Gondorians +1 to wound this turn.
His warriors were inspired by his example, and absolutely
devastated the Elves of Legolas’ warband, who lost five models in as many
fights. However, things started to go south on the left flank, where
Thranduil’s overwhelming numerical advantage saw just as many Gondorians fall
for no response. It was looking like a real ‘tale of two flanks’ so far!
Turn 4 : Attrition begins to bite
Priority flipped back to Mirkwood again this turn, but
Gondor called a Move with Boromir again. Thranduil opted not to counter this
turn, reasoning that the destruction of Legolas’ far flank meant that there
wasn’t actually much positioning advantage to be gained by moving first in the
central melee (and needing to husband his Might to counter Boromir’s immense
store!).
As such, the Gondorians got to tie down Thranduil’s flank
again, while bringing their local numbers advantage to bear on what was left of
Legolas’ troops. However, they lacked the numbers to fully tie down those of
Thranduil’s warband who were already starting to wrap around their flank.
Nor were they able to do anything to help their Knights, who
were charged by two Mirkwood Elves and the Mirkwood Knights. One of the
Gondorian cavalry was dragged down, leaving just one model contesting the
centre.
Elsewhere, Legolas had been charged by a Warrior of Minas
Tirith with a Ranger spear support. Shooting out of combat, he calmly sniped
the Ranger, before putting an arrow through the Gondorian that had charged him
as well. Across three turns, Legolas’ shooting had slain Faramir and two
Gondorians and dismounted Boromir, all while he was continuing to fight in
combat. Crazy stuff!
Across the rest of the melee, the Gondorians were also struggling
to convert their strong position into kills. Boromir slew his two opponents
(bitterly ruing that he hadn’t declared a Heroic Combat and charged onwards
into Legolas!), but the rest of his warriors were either beaten by the multiple
Attacks of their glaive-wielding opponents or unable to penetrate the thick
Elven armour.
Moreover, on the Gondorian left flank they were continuing to haemorrhage models. Most of these fights were within 3” of Thranduil, so the Elves had banner rerolls and +1 to wound as well as the advantage in dice and Fight value. It was a scary combination, and by the end of the turn 8 more Gondorians had been slain, Breaking them.
Turns 5-6: The banner falls
Mirkwood managed to win another Priority, but again the
critical Move-off went Gondor’s way. This allowed Boromir to move first and
offer a Stand Fast to all the nearby Gondorians, as well as to charge directly
into Legolas. The remaining Gondorians did their best to tie down the Elves,
but by now they were soundly outnumbered and gaps were starting to appear in
the line. However, they were able to use spear-supporting Rangers to trap
Legolas without charging him. This meant that Mirkwood wouldn’t be able to peel
off Boromir with any counter-charging Elves, while giving him a great shot at
finally killing the annoying Prince of Mirkwood.
Legolas did have one final trick, however: he shot out of
combat, firing three shots directly into the Rangers in order to hopefully kill
one and un-trap himself. But all three shots failed to wound, meaning that he had
no escape from Faramir’s enraged older brother.
Thranduil was unwilling to allow his only son to be cut
down, however, and he spent his last Might on a Heroic Combat. Boromir
responded with his last Might, but this time the roll-off went to Thranduil.
The Elven King hacked down the Ranger he was facing and threw himself at
Boromir, who now found himself trapped and outnumbered. The resulting
combat saw both leaders get the six they needed, with everything coming down to
one final roll-off. Thranduil’s Elven-made weapon proved decisive, and a hail
of blows saw Boromir slain in a single round of combat.
With the death of their leader (and the removal of his
banner rerolls), the heart went out of the Gondorians. The last Knight on the
central objective was dragged down, and several more Warriors of Minas Tirith
were slain for no response.
The game continued on for another turn, but it was all cleanup from here. The only real excitement was Thranduil deliberately charging into two warriors to trigger his full wound rerolls, killing them and getting a free Heroic Combat for next turn. Unfortunately, there wouldn’t be a next turn for him to test it out, with the one surviving Warrior of Minas Tirith calling it a day for a big 20:2 victory for the Elves!
Strategy review
This was a really interesting game, with big swings back and
forth as the two lists clashed in a messy and unconventional slog.
From Mirkwood’s perspective, the biggest mistake may well
have been throwing Legolas into Faramir. It paid off in spades, but in
hindsight it was quite a low probability play. Instead, it might have been
better to tie up Faramir with a warrior while sniping at him with Legolas
(presumably while Legolas himself chopped through Warriors of Minas Tirith).
Hopefully that would have chipped another Fate or two off Faramir, allowing
Legolas to then dive in for the big play. But hey, it worked out, so who am I
to question it?
For Gondor, putting Boromir a tiny bit closer to Faramir
would have kept Faramir alive for at least another turn, which could have been
a big swing. Heroic Combatting into Legolas one turn earlier would also have
been a great call, but that’s definitely a ‘benefit of hindsight’ issue;
counting on a foot hero to reliably kill two warriors is always a bit of a
gamble!
The only other question is whether Boromir should have come in next to Faramir, or whether his warband should have made a more direct play for the objective. As it happened, the Elves had managed to mostly box the Gondorians out of the centre, such that they would have struggled to match the Elves for score even if they hadn’t been bodied as hard as they were. This is a bit of a vexed choice, however, as without Boromir’s reinforcements and banner effect the rest of Faramir’s warband would have likely been slaughtered. And from there it would have been very hard to keep the numerically-superior Elves out of the centre, even with the benefit of an extra couple of turns of movement for Boromir’s warband.
Army reviews
The Gondorian list here felt pretty solid, but not quite as
good as I was hoping.
On the one hand, it certainly didn’t get the fairest go of
it, having its secondary hitter shot to pieces before he could even draw his
sword. And it did manage to put out some good damage on its go turn, while
Boromir’s banner and its high Defence kept it in the game even as things were
turning against it.
In saying all that, it did struggle a bit to get the killing
done after the For Gondor turn, and I imagine that would be much more of an
issue against a predominantly D6 army. Boromir can definitely kill things, but
he can only do so much, and I did find myself wishing the list had slightly
more models to back it up. Still a solid list, and one I’ll keep testing, but
maybe not quite as strong as it first seemed.
On the other hand, the Mirkwood list really felt like the
real deal.
To start with, the numbers are just weirdly high for Elves.
The two heroes aren’t cheap but they also aren’t that expensive, and the
lack of Sentinel or banner options (sorely missed!), alongside the reduced
wargear options for Thranduil and the warriors means that you actually end up
with a lot more points to play with than you expect. This list has around 6
models more than it probably would have last edition (unless you downgraded
Legolas and some Elves to Laketown Militia, which is a big step down in quality),
and that’s a big deal at 600.
Moreover, those warriors are pretty great. Glaives made a
real difference in this game, allowing the Mirkwood Elves to match the
Gondorians for dice even when outnumbered, while still threatening attrition if
they won the combat. Only being D5 was an issue, but getting the extra die to
win the fight without needing to give up the chance to kill stuff was amazing. And
obviously F5 everywhere is the gold standard that most lists dream of.
Heading up the list, Thranduil was solid but unexciting. He
didn’t initially get a chance to show off much, being pinned in place by lone
warriors for 3 turns in a row. But even with that, he still managed to exert a
considerable influence on the game with his banner and +1 to-wound aura. Those
are really very powerful buffs, and Thranduil doesn’t have to be killing to
make them work. Moreover, once he finally did get the opportunity to Combat
into a trapped Boromir, he one-shot him, so… that was pretty cool.
None of which could quite match the craziness of Legolas
though. Over 4 turns he wounded Faramir at range, charged in and shot him to
death, dismounted Boromir and then mowed down two warriors. That’s insane value
for a model that barely went up in the transition between editions, and I can’t
wait to see what other crazy shenanigans I can pull off with him.
Overall, this Mirkwood list felt very powerful. It has
tricks, great auric buffs, two excellent heroes and a surprisingly large
battleline of excellent troops. It doesn’t have March, but it does have the
trio of elite cavalry to make Reconnoitre and Destroy the Supplies winnable
(plus enough shooting that it’s unlikely to need to cross the field at pace
into enemy fire). This feels like one of the most well-rounded lists available
right now, and I think it’s one to have your eye on in the coming months. Particularly
if it turns out that the warriors were meant to be S4 all along!
Faramir lay amongst the wreck of his troops, their scattered
bodies heaped around him where they had been cut down by Elven blades. Faramir
himself had been felled by another arrow, fired with quicksilver speed by the
Elven prince he had been duelling. Elves still stalked through the clearing,
putting down the last of Faramir’s men, and he wept.
Not for himself, though he could tell his wounds were
mortal. Not for Gondor, though this inglorious defeat would open the way for an
Orc assault upon the White City itself. Not even for his loyal men, whom he had
led into this terrible slaughter.
He wept for his brother, cut down mere steps from where
he now lay. Boromir had seen the arrow that felled him from across the
battlefield, and his rage had overcome him. Raising the Banner of Gondor high,
he had cut his way through the press to avenge his little brother. But in his
fury he had not seen the Elven king, and Faramir had not had the strength
remaining to call out. Boromir had fallen and lay still, and with this the
battle had been lost.
As a nearby Elf spotted him and moved closer, glaive in
hand, Faramir wept.
And on that maudlin note, I hope you enjoyed this battle
report! I’m loving this new edition so far, so look for plenty more content in
the coming weeks, from battle reports to analysis.
Until then, may you always dismount your opponent’s biggest
hero in time!
Why on earth is Legolas buffed in this edition?? Such a incredibly stupid move on GW part. He was already an autotake hero in previous edition.
ReplyDeleteI get the desire to do so in terms of making him feel more exciting and dynamic, like he is in the films. Certainly he spends most of his time on screen clearly shooting while in combat, so that makes sense to me.
DeleteI also, separately, get why they tried to keep his points value fairly similar so it's still equivalent to Gimli and Boromir.
The problem is that these two desires are fundamentally incompatible, and have made him way too efficient. If he was 140 points then it wouldn't be an issue that he was so strong, but at 105 it's pretty absurd, given how much he gained between editions and how efficient he already was
Great BR btw:)
ReplyDelete