Face-off 2016 Final Théoden's Host Vs Rivendell

And finally the Face-off 2016 Final! The elves defeated the Serpent Horde from a heroic duel between the elven captain and Suladan, after a very close encounter with the Mordorians which also resulted in a heroic duel that the captain got the better of the orc from. The Rohirrim, meanwhile took a close, but deserved, victory over Moria in the first round from Erkenbrand's special rules, then a well fought victory over the Fiefdoms.

Rivendell Vs Théoden's Host (Domination)
Whoever claims more of the five objectives after one side is broken and a 1 or 2 is rolled on D6 (in end phase). Objectives are claimed by having more models within 3''/8cm when the game ends.


Setup

The elves fan out, and the Rohirrim concentrate on their left flank.

One of the elves gets caught in the bush and his brains are dashed
across the floor! The elves advance un-phased.

The Rohirrim stand off their adversaries, who simple charge them. 

Then both captain call a counter charge...

There is tremendous crash of steel as the sides clash, the elven captain
slices through two royal guards, who were looking at Erkenbrand stab
an elf in the face. Also another Rohan warrior falls to an elf spear.

Erkenbrand calls another charge allowing them to surround the elves,
and an elf is speared from three foot away.

Initially the elf captain took a deep leg cut from a throwing spear and
as he bent over to grab it Erkenbrand clove him in twain.
Another Rohan warrior gets speared too. 

Things are looking bleak for the elves, who have been broken,
but they stand fast hoping the battle will turn in their favour.

And so two more elves fall beneath either spear or sword of the Rohirrim.

Erkenbrand orders his guard to claim the remaining objectives.

While he fights fiercely with an elf, but knocks aside his shield
and drives his sword into the elven warriors gut.

The last elf stands, and fights a royal guard, although
neither has the better of the other.



Erkenbrand hastens to remove the faithful elf.



But his guard manages without...

And so the Rohirrim remove all the pesky elves from the field, and claim total victory!!

Théoden's Host = 10 + 5(breaking elves) + 3(killing elven captain) + 5(number of objectives claimed) = 23 
Rivendell = 4

This victory was far too easy for the Rohirrim. Their throwing spears really gave them the edge, allowing them to effectively roll-to-wound on a 4+, not only that but the initially killed elf really meant that the elves had to charge into the Rohan line in order to win the well or the number of objectives would be against them once either side was broken.

Overall Hero Kills
Erkenbrand = 12 (16)
Elven captain = 9 (15) or 19 (27) inc. play-offs
Suladan = 9 (11)
Duinhur = 8 (8)
Shagrat = 3 (3)
Goblin captain = 3 (3)
Goblin Shaman = 2 (2)

There are some clear candidates for the person of the tournament, Sadly Suladan won't be taking it this time, as despite the number of kills he was too easily neutralised by other forces in the last two scenarios. Erkenbrand fought well in his three scenarios, getting a reasonable amount of kills, however a decent portion of his sides kills were from his bodyguard. The elf captain, however, has played a key role in the elven successes, destroying the dwarves in the play-offs, killing Shagrat and Suladan in the first round and the semis with many other kills along the way, although the final was  a poor showing from the elven force, he still earns himself the Elf of the Tournament award for carrying his warband to the final battle.

So this concludes the Face-off 2016, albeit 5 months later than intended. I have done some other things over the Easter break, and they will be put up in due course :)

Until then

Fish

Face-off 2016 1st Round Cirth Ungol Vs Rivendell

After easing through the play offs the elves get more action in the shape of a pack of Shagrat's orcs. This looks simple enough or the elves, with higher courage, high and defense values the orcs seem to only have their numbers as an advantage. However, they also have Shagrat, who has an extra might point and fight value is equal to the elves.

Cirth Ungol Vs Rivendell (To The Death!)

Setup

Both sides move closer to the barrier, whoever gets
there first wins the barrier combat bonuses.

The orcs get there first, and Shagrat sends a group to flank the
elves, who stand-off the stone wall.

But the flankers simply vault back over the hedge.
The elves must now attack the barrier. And they do.

They are repelled from the wall, but attack again this time also over
the other side of the wall, where one unfortunate elf trips
and his blood spills across the ground.

The Elf captain un-phased by the wall, slices through his opponent
and takes his place on the other side. 

Shagrat calls his orcs into the melee engaging and trapping the elves,
while another elf trips over the wall, but only takes a gash to the knee.

Despite being pinned down, the elves manage to break a hole in a
section of the orc's line, with the captain again cleaving up an orc.

The elf captain seeing a glimmer of fear in Shagrat's black eyes,
calls the elves to charge the pesky orcs.

And the captain promptly cuts down two orcs in front of the banner bearer.

Shagrat tries to swing the battle in his favour and orders the
orcs to go on the attack again!

Both leaders kill their opponents, and another elf falls to a cunning orc
spear thrust, that leaves both sides broken and wondering
if leaving home was at all a good idea.

Although Shagrat calls the orcs to stand their ground, one doesn't,
but another elf is downed so things are evened up.

Shagrat's bellows fill the field again and the
orcs pin down the elves again.

It's the elf captain to, who engages Shagrat who can only defend
himself as two of his followers can't take the
pressure any longer, so flee! 

Shagrat gets his revenge stabbing the annoying elf in the chest,
yet another of the orcs is wounded in response.

The elf captain encourages his last remaining follower to attack again,
while the other orc sees his captain engaged so flees
while he can't do anything about it!

But the Uruk captain is not to be underestimated, parrying the feeble
elf attacks, and punching the elf warrior unconscious. 

This leaves both leaders, standing toe-to-toe. a fierce melee
ensues, either side cutting and piercing the other,
blood staining cloak and ground alike...

And finally, the captain thrusts his blade deep into
the uruks belly leaving him prone on the floor.

So the elves snatch a very, very close victory over the orcs!

Rivendell = 10 + 5(breaking enemy force) + 3(killing Shagrat) = 18
Cirth Ungol = 4 + 5(breaking enemy force) = 9

Despite the orcs reaching the barrier first they only had the barrier advantage for three turns, but the banner was effective for around 6-7 turns, still the elves defense and fight advantage took it's toll and thanks to the Elven captain getting a stream of kills the orcs were broken at the same point as them. 

But the orcs still put up a good fight, Shagrat's stand fasts and occasional kill kept the battle within reach. Until too many of the orcs had fled, and only the captain were left, which was to the elves advantage.

Hero kills
Elven captain = 6 (8)
Shagrat = 3 (3)

So the Elves manage to progress again, and the orcs eliminated for the third time in a row. Up next is Isengard Raiders Vs The Fiefdoms.

Until then

Fish

Face-off 2016 teams and analysis

Face-off time!

This time there is an extra team and three more battles than normal. Moria have re-entered along with the Fiefdoms, while the last winners (Tower of Ecthelion) are absent.

The force composition rules are similar to last time:

• Must include one hero
• Must be no more than 150pts
• The force must not include more than 15 models, that are non-heroes (such that each side represents a warband not an army)

Here are the teams:

Cirth Ungol

The same force as last time around. The banner will hopefully be used to win more of the combats, meanwhile Shagrat is a solid hero that should be able to fight against most of the enemy heroes.



The Serpent horde

Again this force is the same as last time around, Suladan leads half a dozen infantry from horseback. The Serpent lord will provide the main threat and killing power while his guards go off and secure objectives.

Erebor

The dwarf captain with shield leads the side again, however the number of dwarf warriors has been changed to 9, three of them have shields. The main aim here is to use the two-handed axes to be able to kill better armoured enemy warriors.

Théoden's host

Erkenbrand gets another go at leading the Rohan forces, last time they left despite clearing the field of Haradrim. They must have done something right so the same force will be used here again. His supporting cast are 4 royal guard and 5 warriors with throwing weapons.

 

The Fiefdoms

After the debut success of this force, there are no changes. Duinhur is in command, and is supported by 6 knights of Dol Amroth and 4 clansmen of Lamedon.

Isengard raiders

Lurtz is the leader of the pack here, providing a stalwart melee and ranged capabilities, while the ten warriors have higher strength values that will be utilised to break down higher defence enemies.



The Easterlings

These Easterlings actually managed to get into the final battle last time around, so this force remains unchanged. They'll utilise the high defence warriors to phalanx their way to an ambitious third place.

Moria

The goblins have gone for a different approach, the captain and his 13 warriors will be attacking everything. Failing this the shaman will add some of his furious magic to help them along the way. This force could either flabbergast or flop in my opinion.

Rivendell

The heavily armoured elven captain leads the 7 heavily armoured elf warriors, 5 of whom have shields. This forces has the advantage for very long battles where courage values become important.

More of the same as last time apparently is the theme. Each force seems to be very well rounded, and no clear side stands out as being a favourite. Although the fiefdoms and the Serpent horde may edge the odds in both of their favours.

As mentioned previously the scenarios used for each of the first three battles are:

Rivendell Vs Moria (Reconnoitre)

Erebor Vs Rivendell (A Clash of Piquets)

Moria Vs Erebor (The High Ground)

And these three shall become two that'll go into the knockout stages.

Until then

Fish

Face-off 2014 1st round Cirth Ungol Vs The Easterlings

The orcs have the advantage of a banner bearer to try and win more fight, which should be useful if there is a concentration of fighting, Shagrat is superior to the Easterling captain and the orcs have more spears allowing more warriors to be involved in the melee.
The Easterlings have a wounding advantage, needing only 5's compared to the orcs 6's.

Cirth Ungol Vs The Easterlings (Domination)
 

Both forces approach the well, leaving some of their forces
to gather at objectives

Shagrat holds an defensive block by the well, as one cohort
of Easterlings flanks their position

The Easterling captain easily dispatches his opponent in the first melee

Then the sides join in a foray

The flankers outnumber the orcs, but none of them appear afraid

Both captains kill their respective opponents, hoping to raise moral

The brave orcs are easily beaten back with two being cut down

While all's square on one side, the Easterlings are
 gaining a huge advantage on the other



Shagrat smashes his sword through two Easterlings caught off guard,
The banner bearer loses his arm, but the orc behind catches the banner
as it falls and another orc is brought down at the well

The orcs become frightful of the shiny men, but Shagrat orders them to
hold their ground, the battle could still be won



The captain takes the opportunity to slice through two orc still trying to
muster themselves, leaving the well in the hands of the Easterlings



Both leaders now know who has the upper hand as too few orcs remain

The Easterlings claimed three to the Orcs single objective, meaning they are victorious!

The orcs knew that simply trying to retain both other objectives would mean the attack on the well, would favour the Easterlings and committed warriors into the well, which wasn't winnable.
Shagrat was by far the most effective, as the other orcs couldn't go toe-to-toe with heavy armour, so could used to beat their captain in two or three rounds of combat, leaving them vulnerable from priority, allowing the orcs to choose more winnable fights etc.

Easterlings = 18 
Cirth Ungol = 5

Easterling captain = 3 (3)
Shagrat = 3 (3)

The Easterlings achieve revenge over the orcs and will face either The Serpent Horde or Théoden's host in the next round, The battle between those two is next in a contest of champions.
 
Until then

Fish