Act Four - The Siege of Minas Tirith

The defence of the Rammas had halted the orc vanguard, Gothmog had to reconstruct the assault on Minas Tirith. The Witch-king wasn't pleased only satisfied the Gondor could be felled in one final blow. However the Nazgul still had to consider the wizard in his plans. So he would have to break him...



The bolt thrower and archers volley, taking down five orcs.
Gandalf casts a spell, lifting an orb of blinding light around the men nearby



More orcs are cut down by the swathe of projectiles. Gothmog orders the ram
 to be dropped, the archers are killing too many orcs

The siege bow crumples a portion of the gate into splinters.
The defenders claim six more orcs to their arrows and bolt.

The siege bow turn on the bolt thrower and bolts through on of the crew.
A warrior takes up the charge, but the number of orcs killed is reduced.

Another ladder is dropped as the first siege tower reaches the wall



And ladders are thrown up. The witch-king shouts "Your staff is broken",
but this is lost in the background battle noises 



A ladder is cast down, while orcs ascend the other. The witch king shouts
the same spell again, but Gandalf easily resists



A ladder approaches the wall, as another orc is cut down. While two
captains duel on the tower-top, the man getting the better of the orc



The other siege tower and ladder are placed to the wall
but a defence is prepared.



The two captains duel longer, two orcs being the casualties, one more orc is shot



The orc captain vaults over the ramparts stabbing the helpless men behind it
The orc in the captains duel gets the better and carves the man to pieces

Gandalf's voice thunders over all else as he blasts two orcs back
Another orc captain makes his way onto the ramparts

The southern wall defenders are attacked on both sides

The troll chief pushes down the gate, and  through three men

One fall either side on the northern section



One fall either side here to, as more orcs try to
find a foothold in the defences

The defenders scramble around trying to slow the flow of orcs.
As one orc and a man are downed

The orc captain is surrounded but pushes the attacks back,
whilst the Gondorian fairs better pushing an orc from the ladder

The orc captain succumbs, a ladder is pushed off the ramparts
and Gandalf stabs an orc

The troll tired of the defenders, crushes a couple and swats out at three more.
A handful of the defenders see the break in their lines and rush to the gate

One orc hastens down the steps, as two orcs and men are felled by the
gatehouse by arrows and swords

The attack has weakened here



The Men here hold the orc captains

Although the gate had been breached and the southern wall section taken, Gothmog knew that the assault was far from complete. The Grey-fool had held the Men of Gondor in check.
From afar horns could be heard in the rising sun. Rohan had come. His orcs were engaged on the walls and couldn't retreat. There were several companies of orcs positioned on the northern flank, the Rohirrim had broken through them like wheat. The host was trapped against the Gondorian walls like an anvil, and the riders of Rohan were the hammer folding over the orc lines tearing the assault apart as the moved, killing, maiming, carving. Routing.

Until then

Fish

Board work 5

It has been some time since I have done any work on the boards. 
Through the previous two years there has been some deterioration. Some larger pieces have fallen off, chips and so forth have lead to un-undercoated sections of the board.

So I bought two cans of spray paint and got some PVA glue out...

I started PVA-ing this board, over the exposed polystyrene sections:

While that was happening, as you can see from the other picture, I got another board out and resprayed it black over some exposed sections, then sprayed it 'cocoa bean' brown. 

That was the only brown they had, it hasn't shown up as a decent brown, but the next layer after this should be a mid -brown, then a much lighter brown, then flocking/etc... so the difference between the two can be overlooked for now.

Also the shadow lord took some paint and he is now mostly undercoated

Missed his sword completely, oops

This means that the boards will hopefully look a lot better during any future battles.

Until then

Fish

A Shadow descends....

Thanks to this one:

I can't wait to start painting this one...if only I could gather some figures in need of undercoating to make it worthwhile.... hmm

I still needed  a spear-orc to make the 24

 So I converted a spare orc using a paper clip and a small piece of plastic

Altogether 23 orcs, and a total cost of under £15, which is 51% of the cost from GW (sorry),
the Shadowlord cost under £16 which is 91% of GW's cost (sorry again).

This brings my total orc force to 52 orc warriors (1 banner) 24 morannon orcs, 6 warg riders (1 banner), orc captain, Shagrat, Gorbag, Gothmog, Troll chieftain, The Witch-king, and The Shadowlord.

A few tweaks and I'll be ready for another spraying session :). 

Until then

Fish

SBG tournament final tallyings and tables

So with the games concluded, here's the main table:

Name	Pld	F	A	+/-	Pts
Minas Morgul	6	33	21	12	21
Rivendell	6	29	17	12	18
High king	6	22	30	-8	12
Moria	6	17	33	-16	9

And the kill table:


1. Elendil - 32
2. Numenorian captain - 20
3. Troll - 16
 -  Durburz - 16
 -  Orc captain - 16
6. Elven captain - 14
 - Grishnakh - 14
8. Ringwraith - 1


^(winner of kills gets 10pts, second = 8pts, third = 5pts, fourth = 3 pts, fifth = 2pts, sixth = 1pt)


Other sources of points:

• High king - Bold move (2pts)(2nd round), Unlucky dice(1pt)(1st round), Blessed by the valar(3pts)(5th round)
• Rivendell - (Blessed by the valar(3pts), Bold move(2pts))(2nd round), 
• Minas Morgul - Tactician(1pt)(1st round), Lucky dice(1pt)(1st round)
• Moria - None

Anyway working out the overall winner goes like:

• Minas Morgul = 21pts+5 for coming top+33pts(no. of points scored)+2pts(Lucky dice+Tactician)+6pts(3rd +6th in kill table) = 77pts
• Rivendell = 18pts+3pts for coming second+29pts(no. of points scored)+5pts(Blessed by the valar+Bold move)+1pt(6th in kill table) = 56pts
• High king = 12pts+1pt for not coming bottom+22pts(no. of points scored)+6pts(Blessed by the valar+Bold move+Unlucky dice)+18pts(1st and 2nd in kill table) = 58pts
• Moria = 9pts+17pts(no. of points scored)+10pts(3rd place in kill table twice) = 36pts

Well That means that the last Numenorian victory did actually help. Also the goblin force only achieved a single victory, I thought they would have come third, having a superiorly structured force, compared to the other forces.


Anyway I hoped you've learned a lot because I have, like Elendil alone cannot force a victory, as much as you want him too(although he did kill over 20 models warriors and three heroes). Having priority does not mean you will win, or lose for that matter.


Finally I hoped you at least enjoyed it, or learnt how not to write a battle report. For those who are interested, the next games will be more of a face off euro 2012 type thing (two guesses where I got that idea), featuring 150point forces lead by their leaders to find the best faction, or die trying.


Until then


Fish

SBG tournament 6th round Minas Morgul Vs Moria

Alas the final games are within view. The contest is still as important, if the orc forces reign victorious here, they could pick up first place in the table and maybe overall. But if the goblins win they may control the third spot, which could allow for a second place overall. 

Enough of the un-tense tension, this may be of interest.

Set-up as normal

1st turn - Minas Morgul
The forces move forward to the centre of the field. A handful of orcs trip amongst the rocks, others bound across like hares. The goblins laugh at the stupid orcs, and move forward with ease.

2nd turn - Minas Morgul
The lines meet and the battle commences, The orc captain urges his beast over the wall, but the warg refuses, hits the wall and sending him over it. The nearby goblins move it on him, hoping to catch an early kill, but their short legs deny them. The Nazgul tries to compel the captain, but the spirit loses his focus(-2will).

The clash of shields results in the troll wounded, and the death of a goblin.

3rd turn - Moria 
The goblins king's forces move onto the orcs. The ringwraith tries a different spell which stuns the captain, unable to resist.(-1will, captain + Rw)

The king and Grishnakh hurl themselves into opponents, the king killing three, and the orc only kills one, losing in his second combat. The goblins bite deep into their adversaries, felling five. The orcs respond by wounding the troll twice. Who howls in pain and wonder what caused such bad luck. The captain manages to regain his footing once the goblins had poked at his armour.

4th turn - Minas Morgul
Once again the forces collide, the goblin force seems outnumbered at this moment, unusual for a goblins. The Nazgul immobilises the captain again, this time crossing swords with him.

The leaders jump into the fray first, the king dispatching two to the orc's single kill. The orc captain evades the wraith and his companions for another turn(-2 might). The orcs fell two more goblins who kill a single orc in response.

5th turn - Moria
The king orders his minions to fight on, despite the odds, (quite difficult since they're goblins). The Nazgul paralysis the captain again and charges him (-1will).

Both leaders kill one enemy each, the Nazgul manages to stab the captain, his fate may not be with him but he still stands.

6th turn - Minas Morgul
The captain refuses to be immobilised by the wraith, so charges him. the other orcs either trap the goblins or fight them one-on-one. The king cannot remove his opponent, Grishnakh fares two better. The orc warriors kill two to one in revenge.

7th turn - Minas Morgul
The captain engages the wraith again. Although the wraith wins, he fails to wound and so disappears into the earth. Both leaders manage a kill each. four more goblins are killed. This leaves the goblins broken.

8th turn - Moria
The king rallies his few followers, the furtherest from runs from the orc opposition towards the hill, but he is caught by the orcs.Grishnakh moves his forces to the goblin king's. 

The king is wounded and his fate fails him(-2fate), but one orc is killed elsewhere. The runaway goblin survives one more turn.

9th turn - Minas Morgul
Grishnakh's sub-force arrives, the captain engages the goblins eager for revenge.

The captain losses, and the goblins stab him through a kink in his armour. Both leaders kill one apiece, and the runaway goblin is finally killed. This leaves the orc force broken.

10th turn - Moria
Durburz calls on his finally minions and charges Grishnakh. Of the other orcs many lose hearts and flee 

The leaders battle over control, The goblin fairs worse and is cut down by Grishnakh's blade. Another goblin joins him in the afterlife (assuming their is a goblin afterlife?).

11th turn - Moria
The final goblin stands firm and leaps onto the orc leader, making four more orc runaway to the horizon.

The battle is short and simple, the brave goblin is no more. Giving the orcs another victory!

The score (8 - 3) 

• Minas Morgul = 3 + 1(breaking opponents) + 4(named hero + troll killed) = 8
• Moria = 1 + 1(breaking opponent) + 1(captain killed) = 3

A bigger victory than I expected given how well the goblins tried to come back into the game.
and the kill counts:

• Grishnakh - 12
• Durburz - 8
• Orc captain - 0

Alas not much goes well for the goblins these days, four straight loses, It looks like last place for these warriors, unless The high king is defeated badly, they shall remain bottom of the table.

Finally the final game on the tourney will be up in 5-ish days, so keep watching.

A

Until then

Fish