[*] Battle Companies - by Erunion

Erunion · **Posted:** Tue Feb 25, 2014 2:55 am

Battle Companies Expansion

Greetings, everyone

The latest update to my Battle Companies Expansion is now live and available to be downloaded. The Battle Companies Expansion will be hosted here on the One Ring, and it now includes all releases through the Desolation of Smaug Journeybook. I look forward to hearing your feedback and suggestions for the next update!

Nikrandonia · **Joined:** Sun Aug 14, 2011 11:52 pm **Posts:** 79

Awesome!

Really enjoying the update. I think the local gaming group are keen to start battle companies this week or next week. So hopefully we can give you plenty of feedback on how it's going

I have had a quick skim through and one of the updates I was excited for was Thranduils Hall. It looks good but I have a few really dumb questions :oops:

- Do they have the option for 100% bows? I am guessing they do as they start with 4 Mirkwood Rangers but it doesn't specifically say.
- Do the palace guards have elven blades as in their profile or do they need to purchase it for 1 gold? The option isn't there so I am not too sure.

Also liking the extra stuff like middle earth names and such :yay:

Thanks for the update :puppy:

Harfoot · **Posted:** Tue Feb 25, 2014 8:07 am

Thanks Jonathan, awesome front cover, I will be downloading in my lunch hour and can't wait to read through the updates.

Goldman25 · **Posted:** Tue Feb 25, 2014 10:12 am

Awesome, just opened it and am looking forward to reading through it after lectures.

Erunion · **Posted:** Tue Feb 25, 2014 10:36 am

Cheers, guys.

@Nikrandonia -- Forgot to put in the text about 100% bow limit for Thranduil's Halls, but yes, they have that. Palace Guard come with an Elven Blade in their base profile, so you don't have to purchase one.

Crucium Giger · **Posted:** Tue Feb 25, 2014 12:10 pm

Great work, I'll be looking over this in my spare time to see if we can get a campaign going.

Sithious · **Posted:** Wed Feb 26, 2014 4:27 am

I do love these rules. Printed out the new pages. I half expected to see Hybrid elf lists. I hope some new adds come for the mirkwood elves next expansion, Thranduil's hall is lacking variety.

Erunion · **Posted:** Wed Feb 26, 2014 12:53 pm

Yeah, we still have the armored Elves from AUJ and Thranduil on a moose/elk. If they were released in the 10 point range, you could have a pretty well fleshed-out army list.

Harfoot · **Posted:** Thu Feb 27, 2014 8:05 pm

Great update thanks, really like the roster sheets and name lists. Are group in Swindon (SAD Gamers) started a campaign of Battle Companies last night.

Erunion · **Posted:** Thu Feb 27, 2014 8:33 pm

Awesome! I hope it goes well for you all. Let me know if you have any comments/suggestions.

Captain Andruil · **Joined:** Sun Jan 20, 2013 5:19 am **Posts:** 44

How come the Guard of the Fountain Court were omitted from the Minas Tirith list?

Crucium Giger · **Posted:** Fri Feb 28, 2014 12:18 pm

Just a quick question (and it's probably me just being a bit dim) but don't these contradict each other:

Retreating
If a model cannot retreat the
required distance because its path is blocked by other models,
impassable terrain, or for whatever reason, then the model
retreats as far as it can. The model in this case is still considered
to have expended its full movement distance, so it is unable to
shoot a bow that turn, for example. However, it can still use any
magical powers it has, so long as it can normally use them while
it is moving.

Models That Have Retreated
Models that have retreated may not shoot or use
magical powers

Sithious · **Posted:** Sat Mar 01, 2014 5:14 am

So I hosted Battle Companies tonight against DavFlamerock. Such a great session. I played my Isengard list which is filling out very well. Dav Brought Easterlings first which was nice to see on the field. We played Fog of War, interesting scenario. It was a starting easterling BC and my Isen force is vetran, they did not fair well, but every match is a step forward for any BC. Next he brought his Gondor force in Contest of Champions, His Gondor force has faced my Isen one before. My champion earned 6 points and victory, Gondor's Lt did not survive his wounds, the BC is no more. Ill news will reach Denethor's ears this day. Dav was hoping to play Gondor again To build them up a bit, unfortunately he had to move on. He brought a Dol Guldor BC next. This was the Rescue scenario, Dol Guldor defended. Spider faired well for a little while, but isengard just had two victories in a row so promotions had happened (third time for some in this BC), They were strong enough to break through. Eventually overtaking the defenders and securing victory. Dol Guldor did well for it's first time, I expect I will meet them again on the field of battle. Dav was a great sport and I am sure that as his BC's get more dice rolls he will start causing isengard a hard time. I also have other BC's to play so next session I may play the swapper and let him build up some of his BC's.

So a good night for Isengard. We have not encountered any problems with the rules yet. Except the contradiction mentioned above. I think no spells when running away is the best answer.

I do see openings for hybrid or allied lists. I had the idea that when your BC reaches a rating of 200 points it may choose an ally (within good and evil terms) BC list to roll recruits on, it costs 5 gold to recruit from an ally list. Allies can be promoted as per their BC rules, but may not become a hero while an ally. Once an ally Force is chosen it becomes the only faction that may be allied with until all allies in that faction are retired or dead. Then a new ally may be chosen. Put simply, you can only be allied with one other BC faction at a time. An ally force may not be more than 1/4 of the BC's total number of models (when full, not counting missed matches for injury).
A great story builder is that an ally may retire from the bc to start it's own as a new Lt. as this opens new possibilities for chaining the BC's together in a storyline.

VandalCabbage · **Joined:** Sun Jan 19, 2014 1:12 pm **Posts:** 286

Pure awesome. Everything is improved, from balancing to making it less complicated to new lists to improved old lists and even the names (which are very helpful, especially for orcs).
Well done, man, well done.

the big goblin · Last updated 7-1-15

The new update is great!I would like to see a few new scenarios in the next update.

Erunion · **Posted:** Mon Mar 03, 2014 12:09 am

@Captain Andruil -- GotFC were left out because they are an honor guard type unit and are only ever deployed inside the walls of Minas Tirith. You wouldn't see them running around taking orders from a young green commander. If you want to include them in your BC, it's easy enough to add them in.

@Crucium Giger -- These are basically the old pre-One Rulebook Courage rules. I just double-checked and models CAN cast magic because they are allowed to move, however, they CANNOT shoot because they have to move the full distance. I never noticed that contradiction before. I'll fix that for the next update. Good Eye!

@Sithious -- Sounds like you and your buddy are having a good time with this. Awesome! We also usually have multiple BCs for variety and to keep things from getting too lopsided. The idea of allied BCs is interesting. There are some BCs that kind of incorporate this idea (like the Last Alliance & Dale), but I wonder thematically if you wouldn't need a Sergeant from the allied list. I'd love to talk more with you about this idea.

@VandalCabbage & the big goblin -- Thanks! I'm glad you guys liked it. I would love to see more scenarios as well. I will continue to work on new ones, but would gladly accept contributions from others (and give them credit in the next edition).

belgiumfire · **Posted:** Mon Mar 03, 2014 12:27 am

I just want to tell you, that you did a amazing job.
The looks of the whole document look great. (fills in well on my tablet)

I'll try to start a Campaign in my local gaming group and I'll probably will come up with new (thematic) scenarios which I definitely will send to you.

Keep up the great work.

Crucium Giger · **Posted:** Tue Mar 04, 2014 3:14 pm

@Erunion Ah, all sorted in my head now and again awesome job

Phantom_Lord · **Posted:** Fri Mar 07, 2014 11:02 am

Just a quick reply because I want to keep following this thread and let you know you did an awesome job! We are currently planning our own battle companies campaign using these rules, so thank you!

Sithious · **Posted:** Fri Mar 28, 2014 6:04 pm

I am playing a few BC matches tonight with DavFlamerock again. I have played several different BC's so far but want to try something new. Any suggestions?

[*] Battle Companies - by Erunion

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