The field was strong, with many of the best Eastern players in attendance, along with Tim Hixon and Gary Lane, two very tough California players. We also had the opportunity of playing with several GW staffers, including Ty Finocchiaro, Rich Curren, and Marc Raley. Their superbly painted armies added to the number of high quality armies at the tournament.
GW staff handled the painting judging again. The terrain was the typical 4 x 6 Warhammer type boards marked off to 4 x 4 with movable terrain features.
Players & Armies:
Frank Brown – Isengard
Josh Chappell – Dol Guldur
Madelyn Chappell – Rivendell
Tom Cluchey – Isengard
Rich Curren – Gondor
Ty Finocchiaro – Dol Guldur/Moria
Paul Friedel – Minas Tirith
Reynolds Gable – Fiefdoms
Tim Hixon – Khandish Mercenaries
John Kelleher – Dol Amroth
Jake Landis – Isengard Raiders
Gary Lane – Minas Tirith
Marc Raley – Angmar
Scott Reiske – Easterlings
Ringer – Isengard
Keith Rudis – Lothlorien
Jeremy Seavey – Grey Company
Jeremy Williams – High Elves
Scenarios:
Reconnoitre
Meeting Engagement
Seize the Prize
Domination
To the Death
To the Death
Like the other GTs this year, GW had very nice prizes. All the superlative awards (best whatever) received plaques, while the top 3 overall received very nice matted and framed prints of GW original artwork from the LOTR SBG. Each award winner received quite a bit of figures, 2-3 boxes each.
RESULTS
BEST OVERALL – TOM CLUCHEY
2ND OVERALL – TY FINOCCHIARO
3RD OVERALL – TIM HIXON
BEST GENERAL – FRANK BROWN
BEST PAINTED – MARC RALEY
PLAYERS' CHOICE – TY FINOCCHIARO
SPORTSMANSHIP – RICH CURREN
FAVORITE OPPONENT – SCOTT REISKE
FRANK'S REPORT
Despite the generally good performance of my White Hand on the year, and the fact that my place atop the final Circuit rankings was assured no matter the outcome of the GT, I entered with a little trepidation. I had a handicap for the tournament, and I feared that it might prove fatal against the best armies in attendance. GW had decided to increase the army points from 500 to 600 points. I had already completed my display for my White Hand, and had no more room to add figures. There was only one way to add 100 points to my army without adding more figures. So I dropped my trusty ringwraith, my most valuable player for the year, and added Saruman. Even so, I had to shuffle my army to get the extra points needed for Saruman, and wound up with a 32-figure army. That’s less than the 33-figure army I play at 500 points. I knew I was going to be heavily outnumbered in most of the games. Only the weekend before, I had played in a 500 point local tournament with Saruman, and found myself outnumbered 3-2 in every game. To my surprise, due to good scenario draws, careful tactics, and a considerable amount of luck, I won that tournament with 2 major and 1 minor victories. It was very useful practice for the GT, but it also reinforced the fact that I would have to play defensively and carefully.
Round One – Reconnoitre vs. Ty Finocchiaro’s Dol Guldur/Moria Horde
Round One – Reconnoitre vs. Ty Finocchiaro’s Dol Guldur/Moria Horde
Ty had never played in a GT before, but was a veteran of many years working with GW and his painting skills showed it. Ty would win both player’s choice and 2d overall, with a strong across-the-board finish in battle, sportsmanship and of course painting. Ty fielded a Dol Guldur/Moria army with a Spider Queen, a few giant spiders, several wild wargs, two bat swarms, and a lot of goblins, most of which were prowlers. I know that the SQ/warg/goblin mix is quite popular in the UK GT, but it was the first time anything like this had shown up in one of our national tournaments. He outnumbered me by a dozen or so models, and had quite a speed advantage as well. We played on table 5.
At the outset of the battle, I made a couple of key tactical decisions, both calculated risks. First, instead of advancing to the center to engage Ty, I would defend deep in order to maximize my crossbows and hope Ty would separate his spiders and wargs from his goblins. Second, I was going for broke – major victory or bust. That meant I had to defend the entire boundary with strength, despite my lower numbers, and stretch my line as necessary.
Ty deployed strong right and I matched him. I deployed a couple orc spearmen on the far right, and immediately sent them sprinting to the other end of the board. They would force Ty to draw off some of his speed to deal with them. Finally, I left another strong force in the center, to parallel Ty’s anticipated sprint to my right.
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| Opening Moves and Shooting |
Sure enough, Ty did not disappoint. Moving his fast attackers out ahead of the goblins, Ty made a 90-turn to his left with his spiders and wargs, racing for the far corner. But I had moved my missile troops – Vrasku and 9 crossbows – into firing position and they scored heavily, cutting Ty’s wargs down.
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| The Center of My Line Awaits Ty's Shift |
To counter, he charged his summoned broodlings into Vrasku and the crossbows to stop my fire. They provided only momentary entertainment, so Ty then charged his spider queen, who had taken a couple hits by this point, into my central force while she sent her giant spider escort around a group of trees to exit on the far boundary. Having used all her will, the spider queen was easily immobilized by Saruman and dispatched. Ty’s fast attackers had been reduced quickly to only one bat swarm and two giant spiders. But these would prove far more resilient than their now-dead comrades.
Ty’s prowlers continued their advance on my left, while on the far right Ty intercepted my orc runners with a swift-moving bat swarm. I managed to intercept his 2 spiders with an Uruk shield and berserker, but I knew I needed to kill the arachnids quickly as they could easily get past my Uruks when they won priority.
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| Each of Us Intercepts The Other's Runners |
My plan, after blunting Ty’s initial charge, was to move my central figures over to the left to reinforce that part of my line, then advance into combat to hold Ty away from the boundary. However, the bat swarm that charged Vrasku et al proved difficult to put away, and the spiders’ ability to hold off my Uruks kept me from reinforcing the left as quickly as I wanted. Determined to prevent exits on my right, I moved into a better position to reinforce that flank if necessary, at the expense of my left.
My plan might have worked, but I forgot that prowlers not only have throwing weapons but also a decent shooting value. When Ty moved within throwing range, his horde of prowlers unleashed a wave of throwing weapons that decimated my left wing, killing several of the crossbows that were holding that portion of the line down.
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| Ty Unleashes A Devastating Barrage of Throwing Weapons Before Advancing |
Sensing trouble around the board, I used the palantir ability to gain priority, knowing that at least my right flank would get the advantage of it. It allowed me to move my orcs, who were handling their own bat swarm surprisingly well, to within one turn from exiting. It also allowed me to charge the 2 giant spiders before they could exit. I subsequently killed the bat swarm attacking Vrasku after I had moved more figures to the left.
In another round of throwing weapon firing, Ty did more damage. The next turn, he charged forward and due to the casualties he had inflicted, drove a wedge between my left wing and my center. In the ensuing combats, Ty’s captain inflicted a couple casualties, expanding the gap. Elsewhere on the board, things went better. The orc runners killed the bat swarm and would exit the next turn. One of the giant spiders went down and I was able to concentrate on the other.
We were now approaching the end game and Ty’s captain had created a breakthrough between my left and center. Winning a heroic move rolloff, Ty had the advantage of first movement – and his captain and a prowler were only 4 inches from the board edge, with another gobbo possibly within 5! I was beaten if the third gobbo was in exit range and he certainly appeared to be from my viewpoint.
But to my amazement, Ty didn’t check on the third gobbo – he moved his captain and the other prowler into battle, to expand the breach in my line.This allowed Saruman to change the tactical situation – he blasted into the combat, knocking down everyone involved. Elsewhere, the last spider died, and I moved to close the gap in my lines. Desperate fighting occurred across the front, but Ty couldn’t achieve a breakthrough anywhere else.
As time was running out, I won priority on the last turn. By virtue of my captains I was able to pin down all of Ty’s gobbos within exit range, including his captain and prowler on the ground, and thus achieved a major victory by a score of 2-0.
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| Sauron's Blast and A Priority WIn Help Me Pin Down Ty's Army |
As we were wrapping up the post-game paperwork, a colleague pointed out to me a major mistake I had made. I was broken late in the game, and didn’t realize it. I usually place my dead figures in my box and count them every turn once I get close. But I failed to notice three figures I had set to the side in the heat of battle and forgotten to put into my box. Near the end, Ty asked if I was broken, and I counted 14 dead, but the additional three would have put me past break point. Thus, I played the last turn or two broken without testing. I pointed this out to Ty and apologized, and he blew it off, even though he had reason to be upset about it. But I probably should have offered to forfeit the game anyway. Had my captains failed their break tests, I’d not have been able to stop Ty on the last turn from getting figures off. Normally I wouldn’t make a mistake like this, but I was on the edge of defeat and so focused on finding a counter that I lost sight of the game as a whole. Nonetheless, it was a fantastic game, and Ty assured me he enjoyed it as much as I did.
Observation: This turned out to be the most difficult scenario match-up of the tournament for me. Despite my error on the break test, tactically I played the game about as well as I could have, and while my choice to go for broke almost cost me the game, it did ultimately succeed. It took a lot of luck on the dice to pull off the win, and the last turn priority roll decided the game.
Ty and his army would go on to achieve three major victories in addition to his close losses to Tim and me. He had me beaten, and Tim on the ropes, so I think it’s safe to say that this is a formidable army the way Ty employed it.
Ty and his army would go on to achieve three major victories in addition to his close losses to Tim and me. He had me beaten, and Tim on the ropes, so I think it’s safe to say that this is a formidable army the way Ty employed it.
Round Two – Meeting Engagement vs. Madelyn Chappell’s Rivendell
My next game was on table 3 against Madelyn’s solid high elf army led by the twin sons of Elrond. Madelyn, who had also achieved a major in the first round, had given me all I could handle in the Games Day tournament, so I expected this to be a tough battle. At least Madelyn only had a total count of 38, but those included the twins and an archer captain.
My next game was on table 3 against Madelyn’s solid high elf army led by the twin sons of Elrond. Madelyn, who had also achieved a major in the first round, had given me all I could handle in the Games Day tournament, so I expected this to be a tough battle. At least Madelyn only had a total count of 38, but those included the twins and an archer captain.
The last time we played her volley fire had done a lot of damage, so I tried to minimize it. During terrain set up I placed a large hill on my side, and then another terrain piece, a small graveyard, on top of that. My army deployed behind the hill, obstructing her sight lines, and then I had several of my crossbows crawl forward through the graveyard towards objects they could shoot from cover behind. A smaller set of soldiers moved towards another terrain piece on my left to gain another shooting angle. Madelyn countered by moving a group of her figures out towards her right to gain better sight lines. She managed to get one turn of volley fire off, but didn’t wound anything. With my crossbows crawling in both locations and the rest of my army hidden, Madelyn could not sight my troops so the next few turns moved very quickly. Madelyn decided to wait where she was for my forces to show themselves.
Once my crossbows were in place I sent everything forward over the hill moving towards her at full speed. Some of my crossbows stood up so they could shoot the next turn while the rest moved forward into better range. I soaked up two turns of volley fire but lost only one figure. Madelyn then advanced her spearmen forward to meet me while her archers moved up into direct fire range. My crossbows on my left flank were unopposed by her archers so they scored a few kills. The exchange of fire on the right side also went reasonably well and I took a slight lead in casualties inflicted. I made sure to kill enough of her archers so that she could no longer volley if that became necessary.
By now my Uruks were converging on her position and her forces were somewhat separated. The spears had advanced out of her woods, the archers were a full movement behind and the elves moving back in from the right had not yet rejoined their brethren. So I pounced, starting by moving Saruman up to the end of her line and casting sorcerous blast straight down her shieldwall. Rolling a 6-inch blast range, Saruman left a wake of elves on the ground and my Uruks charged into them. What should have been a game-winning massacre, however, turned out badly as her spearmen, trapped on the ground, won fight after fight by shielding as she rolled numerous sixes. The few of her elves still standing also won several fights. When the dust settled, I had lost two Uruks while she had only lost one elf. Not what I had planned!
I now began pressuring her center and with the benefit of my banner and phalanx, began to win fights when she couldn’t roll a six. Her spread-out army couldn’t bring its numbers to bear, but I could. The battle of attrition swung in my favor, but the twins had not yet been heard from.
When Madelyn and I played before, her mounted twins had led her attack, and they both took hits from my crossbows. This time, since I still had a few on the hill taking pot-shots at her force, she delayed bringing out the twins until I had begun to push her line back. Once the twins rode out, Saruman steadily neutralized one or the other. While they were able to inflict a few casualties, I was able to win priority several turns and soak one off while the other was frozen. One of my spear-orcs actually beat a twin in single combat – allowing him to talk a little orc-smack to the pointy-ear.
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| The Lines Engaged |
Thanks to my banner and superior strength, the battle had swung my way and I had a lead of about 5-6 models, or 60 points, as the game wore down. When we finished a turn with just under 3 minutes left, we had both been broken. We normally might have ended the game, but I knew that she would have lost on points if we stopped then, and I figured it would be sporting to give her another turn to try to catch up. Besides, if there’s 2 and a half minutes left, well that’s plenty of time to kill a few elves.
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| Saruman's Immobolize Casts Kept the Twins in Check |
I won the priority roll, and disaster struck, and struck hard! While Saruman barely passed his roll with a three (thus holding all my warriors in place), both of my captains, needing only a five (they had will left), rolled fours on their tests! The odds of both captains failing, by the way, are 1 in 36.
I was so stunned that I didn’t even notice that Vrasku had a might point left which would have saved him. I considered conceding the game, but there was always the chance that fate would reverse itself on Madelyn’s rolls. All of my warriors charged her captains so that each of her warriors would have to test. Unfortunately for me, her rolls went according to the odds, and only three of her remaining elves fled the table. The ensuing combats went slightly her way, but not enough to matter. When we tallied the results, Madelyn had won by a score of 306-245, with the 120 points of my lost captains turning the result around. I had gone from a hard fought win to a loss on two rolls. Yet had I noticed that Vrasku had might left, his presence on the last turn might have saved me. So I suffered a minor defeat on points in a game that I was tactically nearly perfect in movement and fighting.
Observation: This was exactly the kind of thing I feared would happen when I selected Saruman and was left with a low model count. I had suffered my 16th casualty on the prior turn, just breaking – with even one more model in my army, I would have won the game. Despite the loss, I remained in the top six overall, so I stayed on table 3 for the next round.
Round Three – Seize the Prize vs. Jake Landis’ Isengard
The last round on Saturday was my least-favorite Legions scenario. While I don't like it, this was one scenario where I was confident Saruman would make the difference – once we got to the center, Saruman would simply clear out the area around the artifact with a few well-placed sorcerous blasts (into friends and foes, it mattered not).
I started with Lugdrash (my captain in heavy armor) in the center flanked by shields and berserkers, with the phalanx formed up behind. Vrasku and the crossbows formed on the wings with orders to run forward into firing range. Saruman stayed just behind Lugdrash as we moved forward.
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| Jake's Army |
Jake had a powerful Isengard Raiders army with a troll, Vrasku and another captain. It totaled 38-39 figures, but had several feral Uruks. For this scenario, at least, the size of my opponent’s army didn’t matter much. Nor did the troll concern me due to Saruman’s magic. Jake surprised me by setting up strong on each wing, with his archers in the middle. On the first turn, we each advanced towards the center full speed, except for his archers, who volleyed at me. On the second, Jake had to slow down due to difficult terrain and I got a slight lead.
On the third turn, as I raced to the center and Lugdrash touched the artifact, Jake stunned me by moving his army only a couple inches forward. What was he up to? Our archers began shooting at each other in earnest. I was determined to knock out enough to prevent him from volleying at me if I got the artifact and started off the board with it.
On the third turn, as I raced to the center and Lugdrash touched the artifact, Jake stunned me by moving his army only a couple inches forward. What was he up to? Our archers began shooting at each other in earnest. I was determined to knock out enough to prevent him from volleying at me if I got the artifact and started off the board with it.
When I measured I determined that none of Jake’s figures was within 6 inches of the artifact, so Lugdrash dug it up (needing both might points to do so). On the next turn, I won priority, and Lugdrash headed back to my side of the board with the artifact. I had forgotten to place an Uruk just where I needed to, and since Jake could still volley, I decided to not to pass the artifact off. At this point Jake realized that he had misunderstood the scenario – he thought I had to get it off his side of the board, so he had played defensively, planning to stop me and then recover the artifact. I was able to take out enough of his archers to stop future volleys in my fire phase, so he concentrated all his fire on Saruman, wounding him twice, both being saved by fate.
The next turn, Lugdrash relayed to Vrasku, who ended the turn about 8 inches from the edge. Jake again shot at Saruman and despite in the way rolls dropped him down to his last wound. The next turn, Vrasku relayed the artifact to a waiting orc who moved it off the board for a major victory.
The next turn, Lugdrash relayed to Vrasku, who ended the turn about 8 inches from the edge. Jake again shot at Saruman and despite in the way rolls dropped him down to his last wound. The next turn, Vrasku relayed the artifact to a waiting orc who moved it off the board for a major victory.
Observation: I couldn’t have gotten an easier victory, yet I remain confident that against an infantry-only army, this is a scenario I would have won absent extraordinarily bad dice rolls. I had planned my strategy for this one from the day I selected Saruman, and based on play-testing, it should work.
Interestingly, based on what Jake thought I had to do, his strategy was quite clever. He set Vrasku and his archers in the middle, with strong infantry forces on the wings, essentially daring me to come through the middle. The deployment was very much like Scipio’s at his signature victory at Ilipa (206 BC), which was itself a variant of Hannibal’s at Cannae. Had I taken the bait, Jake would have closed and tried to crush me in a vise, probably succeeding.
I got to watch the last 45 minutes or so of Tim Hixon’s game against Madelyn on board 2. I can’t say enough about this game – just a masterpiece of punch and counter-punch. Both of them played well, but Tim’s sequencing of his moves was simply superb, and while the balance swung back and forth several times, Tim managed to get the artifact off by the skin of his Khandish teeth.
I got to watch the last 45 minutes or so of Tim Hixon’s game against Madelyn on board 2. I can’t say enough about this game – just a masterpiece of punch and counter-punch. Both of them played well, but Tim’s sequencing of his moves was simply superb, and while the balance swung back and forth several times, Tim managed to get the artifact off by the skin of his Khandish teeth.
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| Tim and Madelyn's Epic Game |
I also saw a little of Gary Lane’s game. His trebuchet was not paying for itself, making his games a real challenge.
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| Gary Lane vs Marc Raley |
After the round, I went to dinner with some of the gang. On the way back, I checked the schedule for round four. My victory had moved me into third place at 41 points. Tom Cluchey had swept to 3 majors and was at 51, while Tim had two majors and a minor and was second at 47. Four people – Madelyn, Ty, Rich Curren and Jeremy Seavey – were tied for fourth at 37. I had expected a matchup against either Tom’s or Tim’s hordes in Domination, knowing I would be smashed, but I got the best army matchup I could have hoped for. Rich Curren had an all-elite force, and with Aragorn Ellessar fully kitted a definite threat against most evil armies. However, he only had 24 figures, not so good for Domination, and with Saruman I knew I could neutralize the King while I fought elsewhere. I went back to my room to plan my strategy for the next day.
Round Four – Domination vs. Rich Curren’s Gondorians
Rich’s army was composed of three allied Gondorian lists – Aragorn led an Ecthelion contingent of 4 Guards of the Fountain Court with shields; Cirion led an Ithilien contingent of 8 Osgiliath Veterans; and Forlong led a group of 9 Axemen of Lossarnach including a banner. Playing against such a small force, I knew I had to be careful. Killing too much too soon was a real problem if I allowed Rich to draw me into bloody battles far from the objectives.
We managed the terrain set up as follows: my base (1) was a copse of trees in the bottom left corner; Rich’s (2) was the small cemetery in the top right; a tree stand in the top left (3) and an set of rock outcrops (4) were the side objectives.
We managed the terrain set up as follows: my base (1) was a copse of trees in the bottom left corner; Rich’s (2) was the small cemetery in the top right; a tree stand in the top left (3) and an set of rock outcrops (4) were the side objectives.
Since Rich had no shooting, I sent Vrasku and the crossbows into the center of the board to cover all approaches. Rich sent Aragorn and the axemen and a couple guards towards the tree stand and Cirion and the Osgiliath veterans to the rocks. Forlong and the remaining guards covered his base. I countered with Saruman and the bulk of my infantry heading for the trees, and Lugdrash, the banner, and a handful of troops seizing the rocks. I left only one crossbow to secure my base, but I had several others who could fall back if necessary.
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| Movement and Shooting of the Armies |
Vrasku had received orders to cherry-pick Rich’s heroes and banner so that I could score quality kills, not quantity. As Rich advanced on my right, I targeted Cirion with every crossbow. In two turns of firing he had been brought down, along with a couple veterans who had gotten in the way. Then I engaged the veterans just off the objective, by now having a numerical advantage as well as the only hero and banner.
On the left, Rich advanced along the board edge towards the trees. Vrasku and a couple boys shot at the banner, which was unobstructed and unaccompanied, but could not bring it down. Rich charged a couple axemen directly at the crossbows to draw their fire, but I ignored them until they got close enough to charge.
At this point Rich’s strategy became clear. Playing very aggressively, he clearly wanted to sacrifice troops to reach break point as soon as possible. His axemen, for example, almost invariably fought two-handed. He also charged my captain along with a spear-orc that I had been using to support my captain with one veteran and my banner with another. A rule discussion led to an agreement that my banner, who was touching the spearman that Rich had charged along with my captain, would be considered “separated” from the spear for pick-up purposes even if the spear was no longer engaged when the banner fought. To avoid possibly losing my banner, my captain had to call a heroic combat, dispatch his opponent and then kill the one charging the banner. As a result, Rich had reached eight casualties. I had to avoid breaking Rich too early at all costs – something told me this game would end very quickly upon breaking.
So I started shielding where possible. When I had priority, I charged his few remaining veterans with only one fighter, leaving the rest holding the objective. I also picked up the pace of my offense. Saruman and his gang had steadily advanced on the trees, and at this point Vrasku and several crossbows charged towards the cemetery. I also sent three figures out of the group holding the rocks towards the cemetery. If I could avoid either taking or inflicting many casualties for three turns, I had a chance for a major victory.
So I started shielding where possible. When I had priority, I charged his few remaining veterans with only one fighter, leaving the rest holding the objective. I also picked up the pace of my offense. Saruman and his gang had steadily advanced on the trees, and at this point Vrasku and several crossbows charged towards the cemetery. I also sent three figures out of the group holding the rocks towards the cemetery. If I could avoid either taking or inflicting many casualties for three turns, I had a chance for a major victory.
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| Saruman Immobolizes Aragorn As I Press into the Woods |
Rich sent Aragorn out to attack my band – he managed to repel my immobilize cast, but burned all three will points doing it due to my high roll. Aragorn dispatched 2-3 warriors due to his heroic combat. I made sure Saruman stayed safely away from him and heavily protected. The next turn, I gained priority, froze Aragorn and surrounded him. I inflicted a few wounds, but didn’t expect to take him down in one turn. Elsewhere, battle began in earnest with both sides engaging. I had to shield where possible to avoid death for either side, and the combats were fairly bloodless, mostly jostling for position. Aragorn called a heroic movement the next turn, but as he was surrounded he couldn’t move very far. I froze and surrounded him again, this time finishing him off. My numbers had begun winning the battle elsewhere in front of the trees, as I steadily pushed Rich back. After Aragorn fell, I was able to get a foothold in the trees and continue driving forward in order to gain the numerical advantage. Even when Rich won fights, I was typically able to retreat my figures so that they remained in or touching the woods.
As we entered the next turn, Rich was only one casualty from breaking, and my plan was holding up. Vrasku and his band had arrived at the cemetery, Vrasku had killed one of the guards, and a heroic movement rolloff between Vrasku and Forlong saw Vrasku pouring troops into the cemetery while others tied up Forlong’s guards outside it. The three fighters from the rocks also arrived by this point, and in regular movement reached the cemetery.
As we entered the next turn, Rich was only one casualty from breaking, and my plan was holding up. Vrasku and his band had arrived at the cemetery, Vrasku had killed one of the guards, and a heroic movement rolloff between Vrasku and Forlong saw Vrasku pouring troops into the cemetery while others tied up Forlong’s guards outside it. The three fighters from the rocks also arrived by this point, and in regular movement reached the cemetery.
On the left, Saruman blasted away towards the banner, and killed the warrior in front of it. Rich was now broken entering his movement phase, but we confirmed that he did not need to test until the next turn’s movement phase – assuming there was a next turn. Combats generally went my way across the board due to my numbers, and although Rich managed to retreat two of his guards into the cemetery, I still had numerical advantages at the tree stand and cemetery. As I had expected, Rich rolled a two on the first sudden death roll, ending the game with me holding all four objectives and a major victory.
Observation: Rich played this about as well as he could have. At first I thought he might have erred by bringing Aragorn out instead of using him to block access to the trees, but on further reflection that sacrifice could have helped his plan. The scenario match-up just didn’t favor him, and my past experience in this scenario helped me avoid falling prey to his strategy. Still, it was a challenging game where I had to plan every move carefully to get the battle matchups I needed. Rich had a beautiful army, and since I’m a huge Gondor fan, there were moments in the battle where I couldn’t help staring at his troops and thinking, “they should be winning this game!” Rich was a blast to play against, and he won best sportsman for the tourney.
I managed to catch some of Tim and Tom’s game on board 1, and was hardly surprised when it ended in a draw. Tim always draws in Domination in crucial games! However, the fact that Tim’s largely D4 army hung in there against Tom’s horde of Uruks was very impressive. The result of that game left Tom in first with 61, me in second at 58, and Tim just a point back at 57. Ty had just won his third straight major and was in fourth at 54, with Madelyn at 50 having secured a minor. Now all I needed to do was something no one else had done – beat Tom Cluchey! Tom is a veteran, true gentleman and excellent gamer as he had proven before. He also had a large, powerful Isengard army. I knew this would be an extreme challenge. So off I went to table 1 for the only round in the tournament.
Round Five – To the Death vs. Tom Cluchey’s Isengard
Tom’s list was as follows: Isengard – Uruk captain with heavy armor and shield, uruk banner, 11 shields, 7 pikes, 8 crossbows, 2 berserkers; Raiders – Sharku, 7 warg riders (2 shield and throwing spear, 2 with swords only, 2 with bow, 1 with throwing spear), 3 scouts with shield, I with hand weapon, 2 feral Uruks, for total of 44. Not only did he outnumber me by 12, but if he could catch me on the charge, he had the possibility of bringing as many as 21 more attacks to bear, a total of 58-37. While my Isengarders often fight outnumbered, this time my opponent matched me in fight value and strength, meaning that the numerical advantage was a real advantage.
I had two chances to win – break Tom fairly quickly and hope courage tests did the rest, since I had an advantage with Saruman’s Voice of Command if I could keep him unengaged. The other was to fight hard and hope for a points victory since “Kill Them All,” as Tim Hixon calls it, often comes down to points when high defense armies play. Either way, my goal was to inflict casualties as fast as I could. I also had to decide where we would fight. Playing Tom in an open field would be a disaster – that much was certain. So I chose, during set-up, to position two terrain pieces near each other. Tom had to deploy first, giving me an advantage of hiding my intent, and we both rolled for all our groups to deploy in the middle part of the board. We would be at each other quickly. Thus, I was able to bring off my strategy – a Rorke’s Drift/Alamo-type defensive stand in difficult terrain, to channel Tom’s advance and to prevent his wargs from catching me in the open field. I'll call my area "Orc's Drift.”
I had two chances to win – break Tom fairly quickly and hope courage tests did the rest, since I had an advantage with Saruman’s Voice of Command if I could keep him unengaged. The other was to fight hard and hope for a points victory since “Kill Them All,” as Tim Hixon calls it, often comes down to points when high defense armies play. Either way, my goal was to inflict casualties as fast as I could. I also had to decide where we would fight. Playing Tom in an open field would be a disaster – that much was certain. So I chose, during set-up, to position two terrain pieces near each other. Tom had to deploy first, giving me an advantage of hiding my intent, and we both rolled for all our groups to deploy in the middle part of the board. We would be at each other quickly. Thus, I was able to bring off my strategy – a Rorke’s Drift/Alamo-type defensive stand in difficult terrain, to channel Tom’s advance and to prevent his wargs from catching me in the open field. I'll call my area "Orc's Drift.”
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| Opening Assault and Shooting |
Static defense is a specialty of this army, and I set up to receive Tom’s charge while making sure all of my crossbows were in good shooting position with cover to protect them. Getting a few kills early with my crossbows is the key to this strategy. I must have forgotten to tell them that today, however.
I had first movement and since Tom was already within charge range for his wargs, I skipped the usual first-turn cast of terrifying aura in order to sorcerous blast a couple of Tom’s wargs. The spell came off perfectly, knocking down two wargs, killing one of their riders who failed his thrown rider test, and both wargs panicked and fled. In his movement, Tom’s first few figures came into contact with my phalanx while the others streamed over. Tom also moved up his wargs to be able to use their mobility to circle around the battle line.
In shooting, my crossbows scored several hits, but they seemed to be stuck on “fours” on the wound rolls, so they did little damage. This would repeat throughout the game. My crossbows were virtually useless in shooting, and despite the fact that their lower defense was irrelevant in a battle against other Uruks, they stank in hand-to-hand also! Fortunately, Tom decided not to waste much time shooting, and most of his crossbows charged in to help their comrades in hand to hand. He kept only 3 or so back for shooting and they were also largely ineffective.
In battle the first turn Tom had charged with only a fraction of his force, apparently tempting me to move up and overlap his line while possibly exposing my own to counter-attack. I did move a few extra figures into combat and inflicted a few casualties, gaining a lead in kills at this point, but managed to do so without exposing my flank very much.
In battle the first turn Tom had charged with only a fraction of his force, apparently tempting me to move up and overlap his line while possibly exposing my own to counter-attack. I did move a few extra figures into combat and inflicted a few casualties, gaining a lead in kills at this point, but managed to do so without exposing my flank very much.
The next few turns were similar – my crossbows shot ineffectually, Tom poured more figures into the battle on the right hand of my line, and Saruman eliminated two more warg riders. Battle again saw me inflict more casualties thanks to my formation and the banner. On my left, Tom's right wing began pouring towards my force defending the gravesite.
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| Tom's Right Wing Advances |
By the third turn, Tom’s wargs had begun to circle around probing the back side of my line on the far right. As he added more troops to the battle, I refused the end of my line back into an arc, to prevent him from encircling the flank.
It was about this time that Tom, sequencing his moves well, managed to charge an Uruk into Saruman as I had left my wizard just a little too close to the line in order to cast at the distant warg riders. Because I hadn’t had time to cast terrifying aura, the Uruk didn’t have to test. I wasn’t worried about losing Saruman, but since he was charged before my movement, I had lost a chance to cast that turn. Lugdrash came up to support his commander, but couldn’t make it into combat because of a tree in the way. I supported Saruman with a spear, and he won his battle easily but failed to kill the Uruk. The next turn, Tom again charged Saruman, but this time Lugdrash was able to intervene, and calling a heroic combat killed the Uruk. That allowed Lugdrash to advance into another combat while Saruman retreated into a safer spot.
Tom's successful tie-up of Saruman allowed him to close with his remaining warg riders including Sharku. A heroic movement or two allowed me to minimize the charges, but they were not the only problem. Up to now, I had pretty much had my way, despite the lousy crossbows, but Tom was cranking up the pressure all over the board. On the right side, although I still gave as good as I got, Tom had the bodies to replace his fallen warriors, while I did not. I had to slowly but steadily fall back to tighten my lines, and on occasion that permitted Tom to trap and dismember a warrior or two, including a berserker. On the left, things were even worse. I had kept my crossbows holding the gravesite in hopes they would eventually hit something, but they failed in shooting and in hand-to-hand. Losing battles quickly, I used heroic moves to fall back and reform my lines inside my perimeter, saving me from being overwhelmed. However, that retreat allowed Tom to pick his fights and avoid Vrasku while he was supported. Instead, Tom isolated and killed the remaining crossbows. I wasn't happy with this at all, but the only other option was to bring Vrasku and my warriors outside to challenge his captain, and had Tom's captain killed Vrasku (needing only 4+ to wound) I would have been finished. After mopping up the gravesite, Tom circled around trying to flank me.
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| After Mopping Up the Graveyard, Tom Attempts to Flank Me |
Meanwhile, on the right Saruman had frozen Sharku allowing a pikeman to kill his warg, and then I simply kept Sharku immobolized. Lugdrash helped hold the line, but Tom's berserkers and feral uruks were a constant menace. We kept hammering at each other as time wore down.
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| The Battle Continues on My Right Flank |
With just a couple minutes left, I finally reached break point. We both called a heroic move, and it's perhaps fortunate that Tom won. He charged both of my captains to tie them down, but in reality he did me a favor as neither had to test. Saruman easily passed his test, but failed a sorcerous blast that could have knocked down three uruks. Only one of my warriors was not in range of Saruman's Voice, but he passed anyway. When time was called, we had to decide the game on points. I had suffered 188 points in casualties, but thanks to Saruman and my phalanx I had inflicted about 30 points more. So I achieved a desperate, hard-fought minor victory.
Observation: I was hanging on for dear life at the end. The last turn or two I had trouble killing anything, and Tom was still about 4 figures away from breaking when the game ended. Had the game run a couple of more turns, we would have found out if this was going to finish like Rorke's Drift or the Alamo! If I had broken him within a turn or two without losing my captains, I had a good chance of surviving. Otherwise it could have fallen apart.
Wrapup: By virtue of my win against Tom, I finished the tournament with 71 points and won the Best General award, nipping Tim Hixon who had pulled a minor victory over Ty Finocchiaro and finished with 70. Tom dropped to third in battle with 68, but won the tournament's Best Overall award with a ton of points across the board. Madelyn finished with 63 battle points and Ty with 61. Ty won Second Overall and the Player's Choice award. Not bad for a guy entering his first ever GT. Madelyn deserved something for her efforts too. She stayed in the top 3 boards all tournament and as such also played a monster schedule. The only real surprise was Gary's Lane middle-of-the-pack finish due to his trebuchet, as he had never finished below 3d place in battle points before.
While I won Best General, that title could easily have been given to Tom, who led the entire tournament until the final moment and faced the toughest possible opponents each round. Having "been there" in Las Vegas, I know first-hand how difficult it is to hold a lead for several rounds against the stream of strong challengers a Swiss system tournament throws against you. Or it could have been given to Tim, who was the only player to go undefeated and did so with an army most of us wouldn't have dared to bring to a tournament of this magnitude. Regardless, this was easily the best I've ever played in a tournament against this kind of competition. The pressure of playing an undermanned army forced me to play as intensely as I ever have – perhaps too intensely. I didn't have a single "bad game" tactically and a couple were nearly flawless. Tim Hixon told me that the challenge of playing an army with an obvious weakness would make me a better general. He was certainly right about that. The irony was that I wasn't really playing to win, and didn't expect to do so. I was really playing to avoid getting trounced, and wound up on the top of the charts when the dust settled.
Here's the list I used:
Here's the list I used:
Saruman
Vrasku
Lugdrash, UH captain with heavy armor and shield
Vrasku
Lugdrash, UH captain with heavy armor and shield
3 UH berserkers
6 UH shields (heavy armor)
9 UH crossbows
4 UH pikes
1 orc banner (I had an UH banner I kept as a backup figure)
6 orc spears
