[Battle Report] Not One, Not Two, But Two-Ish Battle Reports! [Part 2] (Lothlórien and Survivors of Lake-Town vs. The Army of Gothmog Legendary Legion - 650 Points)

My second game of the weekend was against Isaac and his Army of Gothmog force. Isaac has quite a few armies at his disposal but decided to play this one as he wanted to see how it would stack up against all the bodies I was bringing. So far I've only had one other game against Isaac, my very first demo game a few months back, but I think we are both more competitively minded so I was really looking forward to this match.

As always this write-up is intended to help me improve my play and provide entertainment, not tear anyone down. Discussion of mistakes and the like are not intended to be mean-spirited so please don't take them that way. :]

 

Lothlórien and Survivors of Lake-Town - Convenient Allies

Galadriel (Leader)

• 2x Guard of the Galadhrim Court
• 6x Wood Elf Warriors w/ Elf Bow, Wood Elf Spear
• 10x Wood Elf Warrior w/ Wood Elf Spear

Bard the Bowman w/ Horse (Proxied as Elrond)

• 6x Lake-Town Militia w/ Axe, Bow
• 12x Lake-Town Militia w/ Axe

Hilda-Bianca (Proxied as Gandalf)

• 4x Lake-Town Militia w/ Axe, Bow
• 8x Lake-Town Militia w/ Axe

 

The Army of Gothmog Legendary Legion

Gothmog, Lieutenant of Sauron (Leader) w/ Shield, Warg

• 1x Morannon Orc w/ Shield, Spear, Banner
• 5x Morannon Orc w/ Shield, Spear
• 6x Morannon Orc w/ Shield

Goroth, Captain of the Morannon

• 6x Morannon Orc w/ Shield, Spear
• 6x Morannon Orc w/ Shield  

Morannon Orc Captain

• Orc Drummer  

Orc Shaman

• 3x Morannon Orc w/ Shield, Spear
• 3x Morannon Orc w/ Shield

Scenario

Isaac rolled up Domination, Lords of Battle, and Divide and Conquer for our three Scenarios, I won the roll for first ban. Unfortunately for me there are two bad ones in here as Lords of Battle makes my numbers a weakness, especially against an army with Hatred (Man), and Divide and Conquer has a pretty disastrous deployment style. I don't think I'd be able to link up my Warbands in the latter before Isaac was able to stop me, he has access to both a Drum and Heroic March whereas I have neither. I decided to ban that one as I felt I had more of a chance with Lords of Battle.

To my surprise Isaac banned Lords of Battle, which I thought was his best Scenario. In Domination I have more models to spare to go for Objectives, he has no non-Hero Cavalry, and I have the only Shooting attacks between us. At this point I don't know what the game plan is for Army of Gothmog but I think I dodged a bad Scenario here. We throw down our Objectives with two being on the left flank, one in the center but away from the middle, and one on the right.

 

Terrain & Deployment

Losing the roll for table side, Isaac takes the side he's near which gives me access to a Forest that has an Objective in it and a Hill with the same. I think this is the side I've had preferred as I can move around the Forest with my Elves and the other Objectives afford no In The Ways which might have been nice for the Orcs.

Dropping first, Goroth goes down on the right side with his Morannons. This is further away than I expected since I have the Bows but there is a 24" Deployment in this Scenario, Isaac has nothing to soften me up with and wants to get stuck in as quickly as possible, or so I assumed. I reply with Bard and after looking at a few options decide to drop somewhat aggressively and line up against the Shallow Water near the center.

Next the Captain and Drummer go with Goroth so now I know where his speed up bubble will be concentrated. Galadriel goes down behind Bard's lines as normal, hedging to the right. Next up is Goroth, deploying across from me and the Shallow Water more in the center, this caught me off-guard but isn't too worrying. Either Gothmog has to commit his forces early, giving me a chance to envelop them, or he has to wait for the rest of the army to catch up which will allow me time to maneuver in return. Finishing deployment I place Hilda to extend me line to the left and the Orc Shaman goes next to Gothmog, providing more bodies to the front.

Looking at the state of things I feel okay about Deployment. I don't think my Bows will get a ton done this game because of the consistently high Defense of the Morannons but any damage I can do is welcome. I feel good about combat as I have the Fight Value and even though I'm against a lot of Might Isaac will have to frequently Heroic Strike with his Heroes. The scariest thing is how easily the Morannons can kill my Militia thanks to the +1 to Wound, needing 3's is a lower bar than I'd otherwise present. If my dice go cold I could lose a lot of models quickly and struggle to resupply my lines but mostly the advantages are with me.

Turn 1 - Priority: Me

Isaac calls the Drum and a Heroic March with the Captain, seemingly intent on closing the gap quickly. I call nothing as I have no need for Blinding Light in this game, I'm content to sit on my Might. My lines barely move at all since I want to see what Isaac does first, I move Galadriel up and swing the left side of my line more to the right. Galadriel tries a two dice Command on the Shaman but I fail to cast, I was hoping to move him back prevent Fury from going up, although with no Heroic Channel I'm guessing it wasn't going up this Turn anyways.

Isaac joins his Warbands together, staying on the far side of the Shallow Water for the most part and forming a wedge. This doesn't give me a ton of information as to where he's going but if he tries to cross the Terrain it'll take a few Turns, especially if I back up. Shooting goes well as I manage to kill 3 Morannons, putting a nice dent in the battle line.

Turn 2 - Priority: Isaac

Once again I have no Heroic Action, Isaac calls the Drum and a Heroic Channel with the Orc Shaman. Going to Movement the Orcs start to move around the Shallow Water on my right, moving as one and leaving nothing behind. Fury is cast successfully which pretty much gets the whole army in the bubble as well.

For my part I continue bringing my models from the left to the right and also send two Elves with Bows towards the Forest and the Objective therein. My hope is I can get Isaac to chase them around with a few models or just surrender the Objective to me and ignore them but still allow me to Shoot and have them join in a Fight should I need. Galadriel again throws two dice at Command but fails to cast, I still wanted to move the Shaman back so I could Shoot and not deal with Fury.

Shooting is short and sweet as I pick up another Orc. I'd tried some shots into the Warg of the Shaman but none made it through.

Turn 3 - Priority: Me

With no Heroics on either side, nor a Drum, I'm a little unsure of my position. Since the Shallow Water is still impeding us both I decide it'd be alright to engage and continue swinging to the right, setting up a decent line but not as cohesive as it should be. Command is cast on Gothmog with one dice and he allows it, I just move him 5" back. My reasoning here was to prevent Gothmog from getting to the front, meaning he won't be involved in Fights for another two Turns.

Isaac surprises me yet again by moving a small force back to the left but committing the rest of the Orcs to the right. This gives me a solid numerical advantage but threatens to sweep around the left, however even with a Drum that will take another two Turns and none of the Heroes followed to call a Heroic March/Move. My Shooting is pretty bad and I pick up one kill among the far-side Orcs with Bard, expending a point of Might to do so (on the Wound).

Turn 4 - Priority: Isaac

Looking at the board I've been a bit careless with some of my Movement and decide to call a Heroic Move with Galadriel, Isaac counter calls with his Captain (now out of Might). Fortunately I win the roll-off but make a major mistake, Charging where I can but not having a cohesive line. This will allow Isaac to flank me towards the bottom of the table and potentially Engage some of my Elves which is not what this army wants. Galadriel is able to cast Command on the Banner, keeping it out of the combats.

Isaac does as expected, Charging where he can and even getting Goroth involved, although he makes a mistake and is Engaged with a Militia supported by a Court Guard (giving me the Fight Value). Gothmog also surprisingly goes to the left side with the small portion of the army, I'm now fighting about 2/3rds of the total force and without the best Hero being nearby.

Combat goes badly for me as I lose a lot of Fights despite having a Banner and Fight Values, netting Isaac three kills to my one. I do win against Goroth and sneak a Wound through his point of Fate so that's a solid prize. I believe we also made a rules error here as the Hatred (Man) is a 12" bubble from Gothmog, well outside most of the Fights but I recall it being used on the Wound rolls. Hard to tell how often that happened but I believe there were at least a few instances.

Turn 5 - Priority: Isaac

Without any Heroics things get to Charging pretty quickly and we mostly re-Engage. It's becoming clear the Shallow Water is now working against me and I'm having a tough time getting my Militia in the combats yet they're melting pretty fast. With Gothmog and his band still on the far-side I believe I have to push through the Terrain a bit or risk being flanked, so I'm slowed down with a majority of my army. Galadriel gets another Command on the Banner with two dice, having to burn a Might as well, keeping it out of range

Bard picks up two kills by spending a point of Might via Shooting, I am burning through Might pretty quickly but I feel pressured to get kills quickly because of how disjointed my lines are. Most Fights are inconclusive but I manage a Wound on the Captain in exchange for losing a Wood Elf, mostly pushing the Orcs back.

Turn 6 - Priority: Isaac

This was a bad Turn to lose Priority as if I'd had it I could have fixed my lines and continued to keep the far Orcs out of things, or at least costing Isaac some Might for his trouble. Most everything Charges including some of the far Orcs and Gothmog. I'm able to pull the Banner away again with Command but it costs me my last Might from Galadriel. I've also ran a model towards each Objective on the left, hoping to give Isaac something to think about.

Both Gothmog and Goroth call Heroic Combat, and The Time of the Orc Has Come is burned, leaving them with 2 and 1 Might respectively. I'm able to beat Gothmog but lose a Militia to Goroth who then loses his subsequent Fight. Both of us lose models but I don't recall how many, I certainly lost more because of the re-rolling Wounds. I'm also losing most Fights even though I have Fight, Banner, and in some places more Attacks which is deeply frustrating.

Turn 7 - Priority: Me

At this point we're mostly just ramming into each other and fighting it out but there are some wrinkles. I again move the Banner as Command continues firing, Bard is also slowly getting more involved and working towards the Shaman/Captain. Both of us have to pull some desperate Charges, pinning a few models with one and hoping to win via Shielding.

Unfortunately I keep losing Fights even when heavily advantaged, losing a lot of Militia and only picking up two Orcs. I do manage to finish off the Captain and cut the Warg out from under the Shaman (passed Thrown Rider) but it's clear that I now have Elves in the front and Militia struggling to get involved.

Remaining Turns

I forgot to take pictures around this time as the game was becoming very frustrating for me due to both dice rolls and my own mistakes really catching up with me. Luckily the game was pretty committed by now so I can talk through it.

The next two Turns go as before with me moving the Banner away with Command, losing most Fights and suffering losses while doing little in return. On Turn 10 I'm Broken whereas Isaac is one model off, over the next two Turns both models I had on the far Objectives run from Courage. I'm able to pull Galadriel back and use her Stand Fast to keep the Militia on the hill around, I'm also slowly taking over the center Objective which just leaves Isaac with the one in the Forest.

During this time Bard loses his Horse and take a few Wounds by continually losing to Goroth, although he is drained of Might from a Heroic Strike. Gothmog loses his Warg and also can't win a Fight. On Turn 11 or so I break Isaac but he's mostly able to ignore it because of Fury and I cannot kill the Shaman. Eventually I'm able to get all my models involved and start winning a lot of Fights, with Traps, near the center Objective and crush that side as I'm being crushed near the Forest. The turning point comes when I kill Gothmog with a Trap, in the same Turn I kill the Banner and leave Isaac on ~12 models, we decide to call it there. This leaves me with control of two Objectives to one, both of us are Broken, and I've killed Gothmog.

Final Score

6 to 3 for Lothlórien and Survivors of Lake-Town!

 

Post-Game Thoughts

I have to say this was a very sloppily played game in terms of both strategy and tactics, mostly on my side, although we both made mistakes. I was also getting VERY tilted by dice towards the middle and end of the game, which I'm ashamed to admit and need to work on. While it does suck to continually lose Fights that really lean your way that's just how things go sometimes, I think I was also frustrated at my numerous blunders which compounded the dice not playing nicely. Isaac was a sport the whole time and a great opponent so full kudos to him.

Going back to the start of the game I think Isaac made a mistake not choosing Lords of Battle for the Scenario, that would have put me in a really tough spot. Speaking after the game he seemed to think I would kite him around more than I did and there's some risk in the game ending pseudo-randomly, however I have almost 20 more models than the Evil army so the odds seem with them.It also has 24" Deployment so there's not as much room for me to run around compared to a 12" Deployment.

From there I was also surprised at Isaac's overall Deployment. The side of the table he took makes sense in hindsight as he might have been fearful of me using the walls against him, placing an Objective there is a tad confusing if that was the goal. I'm also not sure why some of the army went so far to the right and back, that seemed to burn a point of Might for a Heroic March. Overall not deploying on the line, or close to it, remains puzzling to me just because the path to victory was through combat, why not get there as soon as possible?

After that, it was mostly my mistakes. I'm again not sure why Fury wasn't cast Turn 1, I have Bows so that could have potentially saved a model and I see no advantage to saving the spell. What the game really came down to were my failures in the Movement Phase, which I both love and hate. It's great because being able to win through Movement feels amazing for any player, just as losing through it feels horrible. As Isaac was bringing his army around I should have pulled back, either continually moving around the Shallow Water OR setting up between the Hills/Hill and Rock. This would also have afforded me access to two Objectives no matter what, no need to risk the Scenario.

Eventually I'd get caught because there's a Drum on the Evil side and I want to move some things 3" to keep using my Bows but I would have A. delayed combat for maybe another Turn or two and B. not gotten caught with a poorly organized line. Both Isaac and I agreed I had the advantage in army against army: I win on Fight Value, number of dice in many cases, and my Banner is wider. All the Evil side has was more capable combat Heroes and more Might, neither of which felt like it was going to be that impactful in this particular game.

You can clearly see how my failure to maneuver correctly could have cost me the game. I Broke first and lost a lot of models I didn't need to as my half-hearted formation started giving way, using my own numerical advantage against me and also ruining my Objective play. What I wanted to do was take the Orcs head-on, then start to flank them on either side to get kills and peel off Spear supports. Against an Infantry army that wants to punch that's a very strong tactic, I just wasn't able to execute it.

Within the game I think there were a few smaller mistakes by each of us as well. It took Isaac awhile to put his Banner touching his lines, meaning that when I moved it 3" at least a few Fights would still benefit. Losing that initial Fight with Goroth was also a mistake, he could have either not committed while I had a Court Guard nearby or went for a Heroic Strike/Heroic Combat to try and either win, or just hope for a win and then punch through to the Elf.

For my part I had some bad target selection with my Shooting, opting for the smaller Warband on the far side once Gothmog split off instead of the blob right in front of me. I should also always aim for Spears/Pikes, I usually do but just didn't this game for some reason. Lastly I burned Might on Bard to pick up Great Bow kills that I didn't need, I need to get a better handle on when he's primarily a support Hero vs. games when I'll need him to get his hands dirty. I'm sure there were some minor positional mistakes too, I just don't recall them.

Overall it was good to get the win and I think I'm developing a good strategy for how to deploy this list, at least most of the time. I'm going to put the Militia with Bows on the frontline and have the Elves behind them, this does mean they'll get Engaged but with a Good Army your Bows mostly turn off once combat is joined anyways, this way they'll have consistent Lines of Sight until that happens. Besides that I need to extend my lines out but not too far, just enough to still make 6" Charges and start flanking. I can also inter-mix some Militia into my second rank, allowing me to plug holes if I get Priority. I've noticed it's very easy to move the Elves around and support where I need to but it's not easy to get the Militia back up-front even when I have the opportunity.

By next week I should have no further proxies and be looking a lot better, in addition to making the changes to my Battle Report process that I discussed in the other post. Looking forward to improving and providing some decent content for the MESBG community, just need to keep working at it!