War of the Ring Pt I

Greetings,

I went down to the shoppe on Sunday afternoon. I was suppose to play Shoppie Paul a game of the new Games Workshop's War of the Ring game, but alas he did not show. I did watch a game between Heath and Jeffy-Jeffy. Heath is running Uruk-hai and Jeff is running Dwarves like I am.

It was good to watch a game and see how some of the mechanics worked out. Heath and Jeff played for eight rounds, then packed up for food, leaving poor sad jp to sit all alone. Their was much sadness. :( However, Little John borrowed Heath's Uruk-hai, and he and I played a 1000 point game. My list consisted of:

• Balin
• 2 companies of Warriors w/ Great Weapons, Banner, Hornblower, Capt, and Shield Bearer (Common)
• 2 companies of Warriors w/ Hand Weapon & Shield (HW&S), Banner, Hornblower, Capt, and Shield Bearer (Common)
• 2 companies of Archers w/ bows & Shield Bearer (Point Filler) (Common)
• 2 companies of Scouts w/ hand weapon, thrown axes, and Capt (Common)
• 3 companies of Vault Warden w/ Tower shields and Pig Stickers (Pikes :) (rare)
• 1 company of Ballista (rare)

You must have one common formation (group of like companies) for each rare formation + your total number of rare companies must not exceed your number of common companies.

Common Formations: 4 -- Rare Formations: 2
Common Companies: 8 -- Rare Companies 4

So all is right in the world.

I placed Balin with the great weapon company and had him lead the efforts with the Vault Warden on his right flank. The Rangers went far left and Archers far right. HW&S stayed center to defend the Ballista.

Observations from the game:

• Lots of kooky special rules, and that is OK. It was a ton of fun. The Uruk-hai had a berzerker unit that could beat themselves up and Sappers that explode when reduced to 50%. I need more time with my list to see mine, but they are there.
• Vault Warden are great, but could really use a hero, which they can't have by rule.
• Bigger formations are helpful to keep you General alive
• The combats are quick. Calculating the dice took some practice, but a single roll to determine a dead guy is way quicker then other games (hence why you need bigger formations)
• At 1K we had quite a bit of stuff on the table. 1500 and 2K are just going to fill a 4x6 to the brim
• Neither player had magic on the field. Low end shamans are 100 points so I expect we will see more at higher games.
• More heroes equals more Might. Might allows you to modify die rolls and do the heroic and epic special powers. More Might is Good.
  
• More games are needed... Not to mention getting my grubby hands on the book when it is released!

All my assembled miniatures is just about 1K. I'll most likely add another company of warriors to both the HW&S and Great Weapons to make the beefier. I'll also take either Gandalf or the Great Eagle with the other coming in at 2K.

I still have plenty of plastic dwarves left. I used the basic warrior set to make my Vault Wardens. I'll post a pic when I get it painted, but I was happy with the way it turned out. Besides it would have cost me $120 for a full formation vice the ~$37 using the plastic kits! They don't have enough armor and the shield isn't quite long enough, but, in the end, it will suffice. I'm doing the same thing with the Shield Bearer, using an old WFB Empire shield for them to make them different.

I'm not sure when I'll get a second game in... Not looking good on the horizon for ANY gaming to be honest. Stupid business trips and the like getting in the way of the important things in life like gaming! Bah!

jp
And I don't like these dark birds, they look like spies of evil.