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So, this isn't a full blow-by-blow analysis of the game, just a sort of informal 'debrief', a broad overview of what happened, and what I learned.
So, Mordor and Angmar faced each other in a 1500 point game, played out on a 6x4 battlefield with sparse terrain. We played shield-wall deployment, and had secret objecctives (it later turned out we both had the 'kill-the-heroes' objectives) Here's what was used:
Gorgoroth Orc Horde (Placed in the very centre of the army)
Morgul Knights (4 coys) lead by Dark Marshall (Making The MK's core, left most flank)
Morgul Knights (4 coys) Lead by Khamul (right-most flank)
Black Guard of Barad Dur, lead by Gothmog, (centre-right)
Shagrats Tower Guard ((centre-left)
3xSiege Bows (Back left corner)
I can't quite recall the Angmar force, perhaps something to do with their insidious supernatural influence. It comprised The Spirirt legions of Angmar battlehost W/both ringwraiths. A large group of Warewolves in the centre, some Cairn Dunn zombie dudesmen, and some other ghosty types, as well as Buhrdur on the right flank, in front of a battery of 3 coys of Angmar Orc archers.
Here's what I learned, as The Mordor Player:
-Don't give in to fear! Fiiiiight! I was on the back foot for the first few turns. Some important units, which I misused, were destroyed early. The enemy was in good shape, closing in rapidly, and it looked like I may not be able to redeploy and compensate. I kept losing the priority rolls. His Ringwraiths approached with a glint in their 'eyes'. But I managed to hold firm, pick my targets wisely with my ranged attacks to blunt the impact of his advance, and fight back. In a war of attrition, the expensive units of Angmar will run out of numbers before Mordor does. The battle had a real 'fight-back' feel from my perspective, and shows what I've always thought true; that a game of WotR can go any way at virtually any point. This happens due to the actions of the players more than luck, and is why I love, love, love WotR.
- Ring Wraiths are not the invincible uber-broken mega-smashy units people think! They still have to be used carefully. I made a huge mistake, rushing my two units of Morgul Knights ahead early in the game. They were shut down by their robe-wearing breatherine using Pall of Knight, isolated, and rapidly destroyed. Subsequently, the Angmar Wraiths were free to use their magic and abilities to wreak some havok on my lines.
-Spirit LEgions of Angmar rocks! It really negates a lot of the weaknesses of the force, and makes it a tricky force to tackle. The fighting units become a threat, and the game changes to one in which Shades are a vital node in The Angmar plan. The oppoent will be trying to destroy them, the Angmar player will be trying to protect them while also throwing them close to the battlelines. It creates a tactical objective for both sides, and made for a thrilling element in the game.
-keep your objecctives secret! This is the first time we did, and it was great fun, trying to figure out what the other guy's trying to do. If you have spectators, let them in on the objectives, but trying to do what you want to do when you don't know if you'r playing rright into your enemies hands is tremendous fun.
- Firepower rocks. 50 points for S8 Mordor Bows is a steal. Great at taking down tough units and formations equally, they're versatile, project force with ease, can't be avoided or ignored, but, if deployed correctly, can't be goten to easily either. If you've not used ballistas or the like in games yet, consider it! I prefer the reliability of the 'little artillery' over the likes of catapults. You don't really NEED S10 and the like, S8+ is easily sufficient for what you need to do with these things.
- Gorgoroth Orc Horde = Gorgoroth Orc Awesome. A great brick of infantry that can do ANYYTHING. HAving said that, I highly recommend doing the 'Heroes that aren't part of the Battlehost can't join it' thing. We agreed on that rule, and I really think the game would have been unfair had we not.
- Field those super units! I consider The Black Guard and Shagrat's guard to be classed as such. While the prosaic approach of fielding more troops and 'bread-and-butter' units is always prudent, there's nothing quite like having a few units of hard-hitting super-units to add to the fun of the game. Gothmog and the Black Guard fought through some lesser units, then the Legendary Castellan duelled with Buhrdur, cutting down the mighty troll in singular combat, before weathering a hail of arrows as he marched to scythe through the archers. Shagrat and his Orcs took on a counter-point unit, the warewolves, and the elite troops fought hard as fangs and claws lashed out at them. After smasing the doggies in the face, the unwieldy might of The Gorgoroth Horde struggled to wheel around to meet a threat from the spirits on the left flank, but Shagrat hurled himself forward ready to meet the superior force that now owned a corner of the board that had once been mine (Spirits ahad dvanced killed a unit of MK's and then easily destroyed the siege bows on the back-left corner of the board). It's a lot of fun, and kind of one of the key points of the game, to have some genuine heroes you can get behind and sort of tell a story with during the game.
All I can say is, I really enjoyed the game, WotR has some flaws, sure, but is tremendous fun for those who want to enjoy it. I can't wait for my next battle!
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