There were only eight of us but it was still quite a challenging event with three circuit veterans – Gary Lane, Tim Hixon and I – as well as some good circuit newcomers, including Matthew Johnson, the eventual tournament winner.
Players and Armies:
Frank Brown – Isengard/White Hand
Rob Foley – Isengard/White Hand
Andrew Hastings – Dwarves/Erebor
Jack Hempel – Isengard/White Hand
Tim Hixon – Dwarves/Erebor (all rangers)
Matthew Johnson – Gondor/Ecthelion
Gary Lane – Gondor/Ecthelion
Thomas Porteous – Gondor/Ithilien
Most of the players were from the L.A. area, the exceptions being Gary Lane and Tim Hixon from Sacramento, and yours truly from Florida. Thomas Porteous is an exchange student from New Zealand living in the Ontario/San Bernadino area through this fall, so he gave the event an international presence.
Scenarios:
We played three 2-hour rounds with Swiss system pairings. Scenarios were
1. Reconnoitre
2. Meeting Engagement
2. Meeting Engagement
3. Domination
As at Baltimore Games Day, we ran our games concurrent with the other systems, so we were all on the same clock. As usual, we played on 4 x 6 Warhammer boards which were marked out at 4 x 4. The terrain was more diverse than some prior tournaments. We had a number of buildings in addition to hills, woods and rocks.
RESULTS
GAMES DAY AWARDS
BEST OVERALL – MATTHEW JOHNSON
BEST APPEARANCE – FRANK BROWN
BEST SPORTSMAN – JACK HEMPEL
CIRCUIT BONUSES
Best General – Tim Hixon
Best Painted – Frank Brown
Players Choice – Frank Brown
Sportsmanship – Jack Hempel
Favorite Opponent – Matthew Johnson
Although I had not planned on going to this event, my OCD alter ego convinced me it was illogical not to go when I had been to every other LOTR tournament in the circuit (and I've already purchased my tickets to the Baltimore GT in November). So I checked right after the Chicago GT and discovered I could get a first class round trip for a reasonable number of FF miles, and I got a night’s hotel for about $100. With meals and car rental this turned out to be the cheapest trip of the year, and the first class ticket gave me a chance to arrive fairly rested, not having to spend all day with my 6’1” frame crammed into a coach class seat.
Round One – Reconnoitre vs. Rob Foley’s White Hand
Round One – Reconnoitre vs. Rob Foley’s White Hand
Rob Foley, playing in his first tournament, fielded an Isengard army that was fairly similar to my own, except that I had a wraith and more crossbows, while he had lots of shield-bearing Uruks. I set my crossbows on either flank while the bulk of my army formed a battle line in the middle of the table. I advanced for a couple of turns to get my xbows in good firing position and then waited for Rob’s army to close. My shooting was good early, and I managed to knock out a couple of his crossbows, but my attempts to bring down his banner when he left it without a companion were unsuccessful.
As he neared, Rob advanced incautiously on a turn where he had priority, and my counter-charge caught several of his Uruks without pike support and with his banner still out of range. Killing 4-5 Uruks on that turn with no losses, combined with my lead in the crossbow shooting, gave me a comfortable edge in casualties once the lines engaged in earnest. My wraith transfixed Lurtz and my captain beat on him, bringing him down to one wound. However, Rob scored several kills, and things tightened up and down the battle line. Since Rob had more figures overall, I had pulled in two of my crossbows from the extreme right flank to bolster the right end of my battle line, while the other three took off for the exit end of the board. These runners were past all of his figures, and had some cover, but they would still have to survive a few turns of xbow fire to make it off.
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| The Lines Engaged |
Everything looked good for me when suddenly, in one turn of combat, Rob caved in the right end of my line, killing all the xbows I had just moved in and overlapping. While I had just broken Rob, he now had three models with a path to exit the board and they would only need three turns of movement to make it. While I hoped Rob would use the figures in a vain attempt to encircle my right flank, Rob was having none of it, sending them straight for the board edge while I poured reinforcements into the area, having killed Lurtz while collapsing Rob’s right flank. Meanwhile, my few unengaged xbows (far left in photo) shot at Rob’s (off screen to left) in order to cut down the number of shots he could pour into my runners.
When Rob won priority the next turn, I decided to call a heroic move with Vrasku, for the sole purpose of transfixing Rob’s captain before he could use his stand fast. Rob had blocked my line of pursuit well, so the only chance of stopping his runners was by shooting or courage checks. For the third time in the game, my wraith rolled a one, needing only a 2+ since he had a might point remaining. With his captain passing stand fast, Rob’s runners advanced to within one turn of the board edge.
When Rob won priority the next turn, I decided to call a heroic move with Vrasku, for the sole purpose of transfixing Rob’s captain before he could use his stand fast. Rob had blocked my line of pursuit well, so the only chance of stopping his runners was by shooting or courage checks. For the third time in the game, my wraith rolled a one, needing only a 2+ since he had a might point remaining. With his captain passing stand fast, Rob’s runners advanced to within one turn of the board edge.
The next turn I finally pulled off transfix on Rob’s captain, and two of his 3 runners failed courage. The third passed and exited the board, giving Rob a 1-0 lead.
By now I had reestablished the battle line and with Rob’s army depleted, his chances of getting anything else off was extremely low. The result would turn on how many of my three runners got off the board. I had 2 enemies – time and Rob’s xbows. When Rob pulled back his line to reform it, I decided to stay out of combat, since it would waste precious time and I wasn’t that far away from my own break point. Instead, I poured shots into his remaining xbows, whittling them down. With no combat and Rob’s remaining warriors confronting break tests, the next two turns passed quickly. I whittled Rob down to one crossbow, who was not able to kill any of my runners. All three exited with time to spare, and I picked up a minor victory.
Observation: My tactic of sitting back and playing defensively in this scenario nearly bit me in the backside, but thanks to my wraith, who is invaluable after my opponent breaks, I was able to limit his exits. I made a mistake in not shifting reinforcements to the right before he broke through – if I had, I could have intercepted his runners and secured a major victory.
Round Two – Meeting Engagement vs. Gary Lane’s Ecthelion Gondorians
Round Two – Meeting Engagement vs. Gary Lane’s Ecthelion Gondorians
My army is built for this scenario and I had never lost it to a human army coming into this tournament. Gondorians are my specialty – tasty man-flesh they are. Nor had my White Hand been broken a single time in 20 total national tournament games this year. This was all about to change in the most hideously unfathomable way.
Gary is a cunning player and having felt the stings of my xbows back at Vegas – a game he managed to win despite my outshooting him – he made it clear that he was content to sit back in his corner and volley fire all game. Well, I have dealt with this tactic before, and with my high defense I bravely advanced. Unfortunately, most of the terrain on the board ran along either side, leaving me the choice of advancing with most of my force exposed, or splitting my army in half. With Gary having a squadron of 7 knights including a captain and banner, I ruled the latter option out.
I began to get a little concerned when Gary’s 12 archers scored four hits on the first turn of volley fire, but he managed only one kill. Next turn, things got worse – 2 more kills. Then 2 more. Keep in mind that 12 archers should average about .48 kills per turn, assuming half their hits were directed against my D4 orcs which Gary was targeting. Gary was running about 400% of projected kills.
However, now I was in direct fire range with Vrasku and my 7 remaining xbows, and Gary would pay! Or not. This is where bad went to worse. Gary’s archers began hitting and rolling 6s like an assembly line while my crossbows did nothing. Vrasku was quickly down to his last wound. Meanwhile, Gary moved his knights around cover, threatening the right flank of my advancing but rapidly depleting phalanx. I poured three rounds of xbow fire into his knights without a single knight or horse dying.
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| Incoming |
With Gary still 3 kills short of the necessary 75% total, and only 1 minute and a half left in the round, he offered to end the game, but I told him to roll for priority. The final turn he scored two more kills with his bows, but most of my army was now behind cover and a couple guys were saved by in-the-way rolls. Again, my wraith had kept my army together and my captain passed his check. Gary finished one kill short of what he needed, so I escaped with a minor defeat on points. Final tally from shooting: Gary’s 12 archers – 20 kills, including Vrasku. Frank’s Vrasku and 9 xbows – 0.
Observations: On one turn, Gary and I each scored 4 hits (a game high for me) with our archers. To wound, Gary rolled three 6s – I rolled four 1s. That pretty much tells you everything you need to know about this game. Strangely, Gary seemed to kill every Uruk he shot at, but had little success against my D4 orcs. I guess he was just shooting too high.
This game set up the first place final, which surprised no one – Gary vs. Tim Hixon, who defeated Matthew Johnson in the other "semifinal." Tim continued his habit of drawing important games and knocking himself and his opponent out of contention for first overall.
Round 3 – Domination vs. Thomas Porteous’ “Winter” Rangers of Ithilien
Round 3 – Domination vs. Thomas Porteous’ “Winter” Rangers of Ithilien
Thomas had painted his rangers and veterans with a snow effect to simulate a winter battle in Ithilien. Domination is another scenario my army does well in and I would win again – but just barely.
Thomas and I set up in similar fashion. Each of us put our archers in the middle and sent a column towards each of the flank objectives. I had managed the terrain set-up well, and both of the side objectives were closer to me than to Thomas.
Thomas and I set up in similar fashion. Each of us put our archers in the middle and sent a column towards each of the flank objectives. I had managed the terrain set-up well, and both of the side objectives were closer to me than to Thomas.
D4 rangers are a favorite prey of my xbows and I managed to leave behind my abysmal luck from the prior game, scoring kills early. After reducing his rangers, I poured fire into the large force advancing on the right objective. I was actually more concerned with the left flank objective, but Thomas had good cover around that one.
Each flank battle turned into a bloodbath. Thomas hung Faramir out to dry, and I swarmed him with half my left flank band, holding on for dear life with the others. Faramir stubbornly resisted transfix twice, and even when depleted of might managed to roll the 6 he needed for a rolloff, which he promptly won. On the third turn of combat, however, his luck failed and he went down in a hail of blows.
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| Faramir Trapped |
My concentration on Faramir had cost me dearly elsewhere on the flank, but with a berserker and captain against Thomas’ infantry, I expected to mop up quickly. However, my captain struggled to wound anything, Thomas' Osgiliath Veterans made mincemeat of my berserker, and I had to pour reinforcements into that battle that would have better been used attacking Thomas’ home objective.
The right flank had favorable terrain, and although heavily outnumbered by Thomas I inflicted several casualties. Cirion was down to his last wound when he suddenly decided to take things into his own hands. Calling a heroic combat – and winning a rolloff over Vrasku’s heroic combat – he killed two Uruks, then attacked my banner. My captain and three Uruks swarmed him, but he still won the battle and forced my warriors back. Thomas and I had a disagreement about the backing away rule, which turned out to decide the game. Thomas believed one of my warriors Cirion defeated was required to back away from Cirion in a direct line following their angle of contact, and thus away from the edge of the objective, since that was a legal retreat. My contention is that a warrior can retreat at any legal angle. Just at the point the referee seemed about to rule against me, Thomas and I agreed to a roll-off, which I won. Since the warrior could now back up against the objective, I managed to win the right objective 6-5, the left one 3-2, and secured a minor victory. The game shouldn’t have been that close, since I outnumbered Thomas around both objectives, but after two days with little sleep finishing my display’s terrain pieces, and a pounding headache from the incessant screaming and table pounding of the 40K fanatics in the “big game,” it was a miracle I remembered what game I was playing.
Observation: FAQ #12 from the original FOTR FAQ seems to answer the rule question that came up in our game. The backing away rule hasn’t changed since FOTR in 2001 and the FAQ says that “backing away does not need to be done directly away from the winner, but can be done at an angle as long as the two models are separated.” This is the way we’ve always played it everywhere I've been in the States, at least, though our judge thought otherwise. Since the FAQ addresses a question when the figure can't back away directly, I guess one could argue that you can only move at an angle when that's the only legal move, but neither the rule book nor the FAQ says that.
Observation: FAQ #12 from the original FOTR FAQ seems to answer the rule question that came up in our game. The backing away rule hasn’t changed since FOTR in 2001 and the FAQ says that “backing away does not need to be done directly away from the winner, but can be done at an angle as long as the two models are separated.” This is the way we’ve always played it everywhere I've been in the States, at least, though our judge thought otherwise. Since the FAQ addresses a question when the figure can't back away directly, I guess one could argue that you can only move at an angle when that's the only legal move, but neither the rule book nor the FAQ says that.
Final thoughts: With what was easily my weakest overall performance of the year on the field of battle, and a middle of the pack finish seemingly looming, I began to second-guess my decision to spend two whole days flying out and back for a one-day tournament. Of course, it was great to see Gary Lane and Tim Hixon again, and to make a few new friends. I was chatting with the guys when Gary told me my name had been called for a LOTR award. I thought he was pulling one over on me, but the announcer called for me again. I was so stunned when I reached the awards stand that I asked him if he had indeed called my name, and he said yes and handed me the best appearance award. This was an award I never thought I would win, and I assumed there had been a mistake in entering the judging results. Turns out I was wrong, and moreover, the painting scores and the 5-point player's choice bonus bumped me into 2d place overall for the tournament. Now I have a hat-trick of the Games Day LOTR tournament awards, one of each – Best Sportsman (Atlanta), Best Overall (Baltimore) and Best Appearance (LA), and the circuit points probably clinch the championship. So it wasn't such a bad trip after all.
