Battle Companies: Seize Ground - Last Alliance vs Mirkwood Denizens

The Heralds and the Denizens clash again, this time attempting to gain control of another of Eregion's ruins. Here is an overall picture of the battlefield, looking south to north.

The Denizens deploy first, with Spiga and Mr. Blue appearing between a small wood and the northern swamp, and the remainder to the west and near the North-west objective.

The Heralds deploy to either side of a wood on the southern edge of the board edge.

Here is an overall shot of the battlefield.

Turn 1 - Evil

The Denizens move first this turn, and quickly seize two objectives and get in striking range of the center. Charlotte and two of the wargs move south towards the south-west objective.

Naethlang and the latest Numenorean addition move north into the ruined building with the fountain, while Dawfaron, Isilmacar and Limthol hold the south-west objective.

Cumeren skirts the shore of the murky pond to secure the south-east objective while Durandir, Alaglang and Anarmegil make their way toward the center.

Turn 2 - Good

Here is the overall battlefield at the beginning of turn two.

Dawfaron climbs onto an elevated ruin and readies his bow. Isilmacar, Naethlang and the others spread out slightly, awaiting the oncomming spider and wargs.

Cumeren moves slightly closer to the south-east objective and scans the battlefield for targets. Durandir, Alaglang and Anarmegil continue toward the center objective, using a large standing stone to cover part of their right flank.

Spiga along with Mr Orange and Mr Blonde charge forward, and Spiga shoots a web at Durandir, which he is forced to expend a Fate point to prevent.

Charlotte and company move slightly forward, skirting the edge of the ruin.

Following the movement phase, here is the battlefield.

Shooting from the Heralds is ineffective this turn, with shots either missing or doing no damage. Combat goes poorly for the men and elves, Durandir falls to Spiga's fangs, and Anarmegil is driven back by the wargs.

Turn 3 - Evil

Evil regains priority this turn. Charlotte along with Mr White and Mr Pink engage Isilmacar and Limthol. Charlotte misses her web shot as she charges Isilmacar.

Spiga and her two wargs attack Alaglang and Anarmegil, and Spiga successfully webs Alaglang.

To the west, Naethlang and Newbie charge Charlotte, while Dawfaron jumps down from the ruin and charges Mr White. Cumeren shoots at Mr. Blue, skulking behind his wall and hits, but the arrow fails to penetrate.

Spiga's fangs sink into Alaglang's arm, and he goes down. Anarmegil shields, and manages to fend off the two wargs.

In the other combat, Isilmacar's sword bites deeply into Mr Pink's hide, and the warg collapses. Limthol and Dawfaron defeat Mr White, but fail to cause any wounds. Charlotte is also defeated, but also escapes injury.

Turn 4 - Good

The battlefield at the beginning of turn four.

The Heralds get priority this turn, and Charlotte calls a Heroic Move, which Isilmacar contests but loses. Charlotte skitters up and over the ruined facade to attack Dawfaron from the side along with Mr white, webbing him in the process.

Isilmacar along with the rest of the un-engaged warriors charge the warg.

Anarmegil turns and runs to the west, attempting to reach Isilmacar's band.

Unfortunately, Spiga and the two wargs are easily able to catch up to him.

Cumeren shoots again at Mr. Blue, but the shot misses.

Anarmegil's flight is cut short, and he is felled by Spiga and the wargs.

Dawfaron feels Charlotte's venom course through his body and lies still. Mr. White, in a fit of snapping and snarling rage, fights off his assailants.

Turn 5 - Evil

Here is the battlefield at the beginning of the turn.

Priority flips back to the Denizens, and Naethlang calls a Heroic Move, contested by Mr. White. The elf pulls through, and the Heralds charge back into Mr. White. Unconcerned, Charlotte, Spiga and Mr. Orange each charge as well. Spiga shoots a web at Alaglang, but shot goes astray and hits Mr. Orange instead.

Cumeren moves slightly to try and shoot at Mr. Blue again, but finds he has no shot.

Despite the accidental webbing, combat goes in favor of the Denizens. Limthol and Newbie each go down, and Mr. White drives back Naethlang and Isilmacar.

Turn 6 - Evil

Status of the table at the beginning of the turn:

With the Denizens in control of priority and the Heralds out of Might, the end is near. Spiga and Mr. White attack Isilmacar, and Charlotte charges Naethlang.

Naethlang actually defeats Charlotte and scores a wound. Charlotte fails her Bloated Creature check, but successfully save with a Fate point. Isilmacar is not so lucky, and falls to Spiga and Mr. White.

With this, the casualty limit has been reached, and the game comes to a (merciful) end. In the cleanup, Durandir suffers an Old Battle Injury and Mr. Pink is injured, and must sit out the next game. All others make a Full Recovery.

The Mirkwood Denizens seem to have a lot in common with a wood chipper as evidenced by this actual footage from the match:

They are absolutely brutal. I just could not seem to win fights. And the ones I did win, I almost never actually caused damage even with relatively low defense. 

With my opponents gracious suggestion, we have decided to shelve the current companies and pick new ones. The idea is to do our normal swapping of sides, so I will be picking an evil company for the next round. Once again the hard part is actually picking a battle company...

Battle Companies: Recovery - Last Alliance vs Mirkwood Denizens

Rumors tell that one of the ruins of Eregion holds a lost relic that could prove useful in the war against Sauron. Both the Heralds of the West, and the Mirkwood Denizens have been dispatched to locate and secure it.

Here is the layout of the board, south to north, and then north to south. Five 25mm bases serve as the markers, each with a number painted on the underside, one through five. At the beginning of the game, we mixed them up before placing them down, and then rolled a die to see which would be the relic (#4).

Turn 1 - Evil

The Denizens get priority for turn one, and choose the north table edge for their own.

The Heralds appear from the south, spaced out along the edge to try and cover as many possible locations as they can.

Turn 2 - Good

Good moves first this turn, and the elves and men hurry north as quickly as they can.

The Denizens in turn rush south, the wargs howling and spiders chittering in anticipation.

Turn 3 - Evil

Here is the board at the opening of the turn.

Evil is the first to act this turn, and warg 5, Mr Blue, scampers up to second from the east objective marker. Flipping it over, low and behold, the relic has been found!

Chagrined, the Heralds alter their course and head toward the lucky warg as quickly as they can. Cumeren and Dawfaron each make half moves to ascend the hill and fire their bows. Sadly, their arrows either miss or cause no damage.

Turn 4 - Evil

Evil retains priority this turn, but Durandir calls a Heroic Move, which Charlotte counters with her own and wins the roll-off. Charlotte and Spiga (spiders 1 & 2), move south to block the Heralds advance while Durandir and Anarmegil charge them. Mr Blue heaves the relic onto his back and begins to move north. Warg 3, Mr Blonde, moves up to assist him.

Cumeren and Dawfaron reach the top of the hill, but neither score any hits with their arrows. Combat goes poorly for the Heralds, Anarmegil falling to Charlotte, and Durandir being pushed back, albeit unharmed.  

Turn 5 - Evil

Evil is again in possession of both priority and the relic, and wastes no time in running it off the northern board edge resulting in victory.

Following clean-up, Anarmegil makes a full recovery, but neither Cumeren or Alaglang receive any positive results on their progression rolls.
The Heralds receive four influence points, and the Denizens receive two.
The Heralds add a Warrior of Numenor with Shield, while the Denizens hold onto their own influence points.

Grim Hammer Captain

Started work on my Grim Hammer Captain, fairly simple paint scheme as with the other Grim Hammers.

Stirland Mud on the base, Codex Grey on the hair and beard with a Skull White highlight.

Here he is with Leadbelcher on the armor, as well as the hammer head and end of the haft. Also Scorched Brown on the gloves and belt.

And here with a Nuln Oil wash over most of the model, and then a light highlight of Leadbelcher over the armor. Also added a stripe of Mithril Silver as embroidery (he's a captain, so he gets two stripes ;) ). He's essentially done now, I just have to go back and add the highlights to the base and apply some static grass. Hope you enjoy :)