A Chance Encounter MESBG Battle Companies Campaign

We played the latest in our MSEBG Battle Companies campaign, and if the previous game was oddly bloodless and lacking in excitement, this one was very different.

The aim of the game is to inflict as many casualties on the enemy, while remaining above one quarter strength.

Set Up

The table was set up to make the most of the newly painted Ruins of Middle Earth.  These ruins would provide important shooting platforms for the game.

Neither of us suffered with troops missing due to Old Battle Wounds, but the Fiefdoms were missing one warrior, injured last game.

Surprise! The two Companies meet each other.

Opening Moves

Both sides place archers in the nearest ruins (there is a Blackroot Vale Archer under the arcade as well as one on the steps).

The melee troops advance, but the Harad cavalry stays in cover behind the wood.

Early missile fire has no effect.

The Harad troops move up, hoping that the fallen column will provide some cover.  The Knight and his retinue also advance.

Lucky bowfire takes out the Archer in the arcade.

The Middle Phase

The two forces finally clash, Harad being able to charge the Fiefdoms.  On declaring a Charge, the Knight responds with a Heroic Move, hoping to seize the initiative.  However, Qayid's Mastery of Battle allowed him to do the same, and the dice favoured him.

Despite their Charge, the Harad troops are all beaten back, and, worse, Khamsa is a casualty.

The Blackroot Vale Archer shoots true, and one of the Bowmen in the ruin opposite falls to the ground.

The action around the column hots up.  The Fiefdoms attempt a charge this time, and Qyaid tries to use his Heroic Move to foil them.  The Fiefdoms respond in kind, and this time the dice favour them.

However, the bold men of Harad slay the Knight!

But wait, his lucky charm saves him.  

The Battle's Ending

The Blackroot Vale Archer realises he is needed and begins moving towards the melee.

The Harad Bowman on the Gatehouse tries several times to shoot him, but fails.

By the fallen statue the fight continues, costing Harad another warrior.  In an attempt to bring the Fiefdoms down, even Arbea with the Company Banner and the nearby Bowmen (including Sayaad One-hand) pile in.

Weight of numbers finally defeats the Knight, and the Fiefdoms are broken.

More Fiefdoms troops fall.

Seeing how things are going, the Blackroot Vale Archer flees.  

Before the rest of the Fiefdoms can follow, the Harad troops charge them (Heroic Move) and they are pulled down.

Aftermath

Ahad, one of the Harad Bowmen is injured and will miss the next game.  The rest of the company survived OK.

Qayid gained another point of Might, but two warriors failed to gain any promotion.  Shawish managed to find some Healing Herbs.

Sadly, the Man-At-Arms sergeant succumbed to his injuries.  He was a valiant opponent.  Still, one of his companions is now a hero.

The Fiefdoms have recruited another two men, a further Man-at-Arms and a fierce Clansman of Lamedon.

This was a great fun game.  Despite all the Fiefdoms being taken out of action it was exceptionally close.  several fights were won by virtue of Shawish's Parry ability, and I think we saw more Heroic Actions this game than in the whole of the campaign previously.  They certainly help make the game more, well, Heroic.

There were several instances of me completely failing to capitalise on winning Duels.  In one instance a cavalry charge resulted in Qayid rolling 4 dice, getting nothing higher than a 2, then rerolling thanks to his Master of Poisons ability, and doing no better!  Still, he got there in the end.

My Company is now rather powerful, but there is the Clansman to face next time, and the Knight has bought himself a lance and Warhorse.  

I'm happy with the size of my Warband for now, and I'm not planning to increase it until I've caught up painting.  I'd better find a pouch for those healing herbs as well, I'm sure the Frostgrave sprues will have something suitable.

The Sons of the Serpent - A Harad Battle Company

You've probably seen my Haradrim in the MESBG Battle Companies campaign I'm playing with my son.  I showed the main paint scheme here, but since then there have been some additions, and one loss. So it's time for another look.

I've given them all names; since the films lean heavily on Arabic culture for the look of the Haradrim, I used numbers or titles, or altered them slightly to make them sound more harmonious.  Apologies to any Arabic speakers.

These minis use essentially the same palette as the test mini, the keffiyah on the original heroes is purple, but I haven't altered those where the warrior has been promoted to hero.

The Sons of the Serpent*

L to R; Shawish, Qayid and Sayaad (befoer suffering his arm injury)

Shawish has a pouch of Healing Herbs, taken from the ever useful Frostgrave Soldiers sprue

L to R; Arbaea, Khamsa, Sita and Sabea

L to R; Ahad, Thamania (an early casualty), Tise and Eashra

Such is the nature of the campaign game that I'm regularly adding to the Company.  I've got three minis in the process of being painted to represent upgrades for Qayid, Arbaea and Khamsa.  You've probably seen them in part painted states in recent games, but I'll get proper pictures up in a post of their own when they are finished.

I haven't (yet) rolled any Serpent Guard, Watchers of Karna or Abrakhan Guard for The Sons of the Serpent.  If/when I do, I have both foot and mounted Serpent Guard.  I'll probably use my one Hasharin model for a Watcher, and I've kit-bashed a suitable Abrakhan Guard, you can see him here.

*I did think about calling them The Sons of the Desert, but that gives a very different feel to The Sons of the Serpent.  

Painting the Ruins of Middle Earth

Keen eyed viewers may have noticed me using my battered and unpainted Ruins of Middle Earth in the last Battle Companies game. I've always liked this set, but it seems to be no longer available now that there's a new set of modular Osgiliath terrain. I've never got round to painting it though, but the proliferation of YouTube videos about the new stuff inspired me.

Preparation and Basecoat

I managed to find all the missing components and assembled everything. Then I took advantage of fine weather to get my airbrush out and got on with the undercoat and base coat.

I primed using a 1:2:3 mix of thinner, black primer and white primer. This gave a good dark grey not unlike the bare plastic, but it covers up the white filler I used years ago and gives a great surface.

I then used white primer, but I sprayed from above so there would still be some dark shadows.

The Gatehouse after the white primer

Wash and Highlight

I felt it still needed more definition, so I experimented on the small stairs section with a wash of (roughly) 50:50 black and sepia wash, with a good amount of water added.

After the wash (a bit yellowed due to lighting conditions)

This looks good, and would make a decent light sandstone colour, but I wanted to go for that true White City look, so I gave it a good drybrushing with pure white.

After Drybrushing

This is better, just the colour I want.  Now it just remains to add some algae staining and mud splashes to give it that 'lived in' look.

For the Arcade ruin I painted the wooden floor with Vallejo Leather Brown, washed with Army Painter Dark Tone and drybrushed with VGC Khaki, then Stonewall Grey.

Finishing Details

The algae is watered down Vallejo Game Ink Black Green, applied where water might collect and algae would grow.  I used thinned Sepia Wash for the mud along the base, but this was a bit faint, so I drybrushed Vallejo Game Color Earth over this.

The Steps

The Gatehouse

The Arcade

All three ruins

I'm really pleased with these.  I've got close to what I think of as the 'Classic Gondor' look, as seen in a certain film trilogy, and they give an unmistakable 'Middle Earth' look to a battlefield.  They will be very useful for our Battle companies campaign, and are designed to provide cover and height on the battlefield.  They'll also make a good backdrop for photos of the Battle Companies.

I have another two sets squirreled away, and I have thoughts as to how to alter one set to make some different buildings.  More on that some time in the future.

A Show of Strength: MESBG Battle Companies Campaign

The latest game in our Battle Companies campaign was A Show of Strength. Victory would go to the Leader who kills the most.

Both our heroes with wounds were well enough to fight, and I got to use a Raider for the first time. I can't find my box of Raiders, so I used a metal Serpent Raider as a stand in.

Early missile fire downs one of the Harad Bowmen 

The remaining Bowmen use the ruined arcade as cover and Qayid and his retinue head for the ruins. The Raider tries to hide by the woods, waiting for the approaching Fiefdoms troops.

The Knight of Dol Amroth, supported by one of his Men-at-arms, clashes with Qayid and his retinue. Despite the superior numbers of Haradrim, they are beaten back, but avoid injury.

The Raider and one of the Bowmen charge into the Axeman and the Man-at-Arms

The Men-at-arms falls to the Bowman, but the Axeman of Lossenarch easily fights off the Raider and Sayaad.  The Warrior moves round to tackle the Pikemen supporting the Knight, but is felled for his troubles.

The Knight once more beats back Qayid and Shawish, but they avoid injury

The view from the other side of the battlefield 

At this point the Haradrim were Broken. Qayid saw that he stood no chance against the Knight, so ran (hobbled) away, most of his troops followed. The brave Raider held firm, and even managed to knock the Axeman down, but failed to injure him.

At the end of the skirmish neither leader had felled any opponent, so it was a draw.

Aftermath

One of the Fiefdoms will miss the next game. My warriors were all fine, but disastrously, Sayaad, my great bow hero, got an arm wound, making him much less effective. I'll just have to hope he gets that recovery result should he be put out of action in a future game.

Two more of my Warriors have become Heroes, clearly they watched Qayid and thought they could do just as well.  I've now got a good amount of Influence to spend on my Battle Company, I've already got some thoughts in that direction.

This was an odd game. It's fair to say that it was the first game of the campaign that neither of us particularly enjoyed, it wasn't a bad game, just dull.

From my point of view, I rarely managed to win a duel, and even rarer wounded my target. The dice were not kind to me, often teasing with 6s to hit with a bow, then another 6 for the 'in the way' roll, then a 2, or that's how it seemed.

I didn't make the most of my numerical advantage, but I was hoping that Qayid would get at least one 'kill', so I probably held the rest back too much.

One interesting point, this is the first time we've actually used the recommended four foot square table (Citadel's Realm of Battle), rather than our usual three foot square mat. We found there seemed to be too much space, it took a lot of moving just to get close enough to do much. We'll stick to the mat for future games.

Kings of War Ambush, Karpath vs Basilea.

I played another Ambush game with my Karpath Kingdoms of Men recently, this time against my son in law's Basileans.

Set Up

We chose the Pillage scenario, so placed five objectives around the neutral ground between our forces.

Even before the action began, the Sisterhood Scouts snuck forward to claim one objective. 

Before the action

Opening Moves

The Basileans seized the initiative and marched forward. The Spearmen claimed another objective, as did the Gur Panthers.

The Sisterhood took out a few of the Mounted Scouts facing them, though they held steady. The War Wizard chose to remain safely out of sight behind the lines.

In response the lead Karpath Phalanx advanced to claim an objective and the Mounted Scouts moved to loose a volley at the Sisterhood. The Bowmen targeted the Basilean Spearmen, but none of the Karpath arrows struck home.

 

The Sisterhood Scouts turn to face the main action, casually loosing a volley that finishes off the Karpath Scouts.  The War Wizard bravely steps out of cover to enspell the Bowmen, some fall, but they hold steady.

The Basilean Spears charge the leading Karpath Phalanx causing some casualties, but not enough to daunt the brave men of Karpath. 

The Bowmen exact their revenge against the War Wizard, despite him being a small target they bring him down in a hail of arrows.

The Phalanx hits back against the Basileans, causing some damage, but the power of their faith lessens this.

Middle Phase

The Sisterhood are able to draw a bead on Artem, but the Karpath leader survives, blooded, yet unbowed.

The Basiliean spearmen continue their assault on the Karpath Phalanx, while the Gur Panthers lurk, ready to spring in to action when the time is right.

The Bowmen shoot at the Sisterhood.  Despite them being partly obscured, the archers cause sufficient damage to waver the Scouts.

The 'spear grind' continues, and the Basilieans take more damage, wavering them too. 

Basilea's choices are severely limited, with only the Gur Panther reserve unwavered.

The Karpath Bowmen eschew their arrows and swing round to hit the Basileans in the flank.  This is enough to finish them off.  After disposing of the Men-at-arms, the Bowmen turn to face the Sisterhood and the victorious Phalanx advances.

The Bowmen swing into the flank of the Basilean Spearmen. It's enough to seal their fate.

The Battle's Ending

The Sisterhood loose arrows at the Bowmen, wavering them.

The Gur Panthers seize their moment, crashing into the flank of the Karpath Phalanx and wiping them out completely.

The Wavering Bowmen can't shoot, so they retire to claim an objective.

The second Phalanx charges the Panthers, along with Artem. They hit hard, but not hard enough to get rid of the Gur Panthers.

At the end of the battle each side controls one objective, so it's a well fought draw.

This was a great fun game, the Basilean tactics were sound and I felt he made me work hard for the draw. I had some bad luck with the dice, but it probably balanced out over the game (taking out that pesky Wizard when I needed 6s to hit was great).  Once again the Mounted Scouts survived the first turn, though they fell soon after.

It was also great to face the Basileans, my first experience of fighting them. I had wondered if the two human armies would seem a bit samey, but the Basileans are quite different.  I'm looking forward to facing them again.  I wonder how they'd fare against my Orcs?

Kings of War Demo Game

I finally got to show my nephew how to play Kings of War. He has lots of experience with other wargames, but this was his first try at Kings of War.

We used my standard 500 points Orcs and Kingdoms of Men forces and a simple 'last army standing ' scenario. I gave him the choice of army and table edge and he chose Orcs.

Set-up

The men of Karpath deployed in the gap between the wood and the cliffs, the bulk of the Orcs were poised ready to advance to the wall, while the Gore Riders prepared to march round the human flank. the Mounted Scouts were ready to try and stop the Gore Riders from rolling up their flank.

Turn One 

The Orcs advance, not to hold the wall, but around it, meanwhile the Gore Riders begin their flank march.

In response, both Spear Phalanxes advance and the Mounted Scouts ride up to the wall. The Bowmen shoot at an Ax regiment and the Scouts at the Gore Riders, but neither are able to cause any damage.

Turn Two

Both Ax regiments advance further, being too far away to charge. The Gore Riders ignore the Mounted Scouts, focusing on getting behind the Human line.

In response one of the Spear Phalanxes charges an Ax regiment,  the other advances to protect their comrade's flank, but is too far away to charge the other Ax regiment. The Mounted Scouts manoeuvre to keep the Gore Riders targeted. Archery is slightly more effective, both targets take slight damage, but not enough to stop them. Similarly, the Spear Phalanx damages the Axes, but not enough to slow them.

Turn Three 

The Gore Riders ignore the Human cavalry and trot on towards their goal. The unengaged Ax regiment charges the Spears facing them while the Krusher looks on.

Both Ax regiments damage their opponents, but the Humans stand firm under the watchful eye of their leader.

In response the cavalry and the Bowmen turn to face the Gore Riders. Their archery does some damage, but not enough to stop them.  Both Spear regiments damage the Orcs; the regiment near the cottage is hurt enough

Turn Four

The Gore Riders see their chance. They smash into the Human Hero. Once they have trampled him into the mud, they do a smart about face, ready to tackle the Scouts. One regiment of Ax wipes out their Spear Phalanx, but by the cottage, the Orcs are still reeling from the damage they took previously. The Krusher is able to charge the Humans, but on his own can't do much.

This is the sort of luck the Orcs were having

Determined to avenge their leader, both the Mounted Scouts and the Bowmen charge the Gore Riders.  Despite the sheer number of attacks, they are unable to destroy them.  The remaining Phalanx wipes out the Orcs they are facing, then readies to face the  Krusher.

Turn Five 

The Gore Riders are still reeling from the damage they took, but the remaining Ax regiment charges the flank of the Bowmen, who are destroyed in short order.  They then turn to face the remaining Phalanx. The Krusher continues to fight the Spearmen.

The Spear Phalanx knock the fight out of the Krusher, the Scouts continue to keep the Gore Riders on the back foot (hoof?).

Turn Six

The regiment of Ax charge the flank of the remaining Phalanx, quickly finishing them off. They then turn to face the remaining Humans, the cavalry engaged with the Gore Riders.

The Scouts finally finish off those pesky Gore Riders and turn to face the threat of the remaining Orcs.

The Final Turn

With a seventh turn rolled, the Orcs take the obvious choice. All their remaining forces charge the Mounted Scouts. Although they can't quite destroy them, they are unable to fight back, so merely withdraw prior to, presumably, retreating to safety.

This was a great fun game. Despite only having 500 points each, there was enough to allow tactical manoeuvring, and the action was tense. I felt that the Men of Karpath seemed to be doing well to begin with, but there were several combats and volleys where I just failed to break the Orcs. The Orcs' high defence definitely helped them. In melee I needed 5+ to damage the Orcs, but they only needed 3+ to damage the Spearmen. If Orcs can hold out long enough to make contact they tend to do well.

My nephew had a good grasp of the tactics required, managing flank charges and picking off my units. I'm annoyed with myself for leaving my Leader exposed and vulnerable to the Gore Riders though.