After a long time the ‘dungeon/shed’ saw a Lord of the Rings Battle. Paul was interested in trying the Oathmark rule set which he had recently purchased. Always happy to try something new I dug out my Gondorians, turns out I have quite a lot ! Anyway a couple of shots of the game which was really just to work through the mechanics of the rules a note on them later.
Three solid blocks of Gondorian Infantry advance towards the enemy with a couple of units of archers
….and some heavy cavalry
Against them the Orc horde
In a test battle no point holding back so the heavy cavalry charge in
Bounce back ?
But then charge in again
As we worked through the mechanics the Gondorians got the upper hand, the Orcs failing some activation which prevented them from charging in
In the end the Gondorians were too strong. The rules are adequate, they clearly hark back to Warhammer with with five man frontage and rank bonuses etc. But are simpler in the options you have. So I would sit them between warhammer and Kings of war. One slight variation being they use D10 rather than D6. We felt we had the basics in the bag by the end of the battle but discovered later we may have given the cavalry too many attacks. Worth a few more games if nothing else to get the LOTR on the table. Longer term I am not sure they are significantly different to other rulesets for me to purchase a copy. I should say flicking through the book it has some lovely illustrations.
Before the battle I had set out my Gondorians, who knew I had such a large Gondorian army ?
A bit of painting this week
A long time ago I picked up off eBay some musician arms with a view to converting some Perry figures into ACW musicians, the arms whilst very old fit almost perfectly. As a real dalliance I wasn’t planning on a full band so I made four Union band players
And a couple of Confederates they can sit somewhere at the back cheering on their forces
Also finished off another battalion of Austrian Grenadiers
That’s all for now off to set up for a Greek/Persian battle ๐
Nice photos. I think when we introduce characters it will change the game significantly.
ReplyDeleteThanks sounds like I need to paint up The mounted Boromir figure who I have had for a very long time ?
DeleteHey day gotta band! Neat additions Matt. Strange I was only thinking the other day when I came across my Copplestone 15mm Northmen in the lead pile you hadn't done a fantasy game for while and here we are, voodoo magic no doubt.
ReplyDeleteThanks Phil…I know it is not everybody’s idea of fun but I am happy to maintain a a broad church of interests ๐
DeleteA lovely looking game and interesting to read your initial thoughts on where the rules sit etc. LotR is always a favourite setting and one that allows skirmishes all the way up to grand battles. Nice to see a mix of other figures coming off oyur painting table too.
ReplyDeleteThanks Steve and yes I am an unashamed Tolkien fan๐
DeleteLovely game in my favourite fantasy universe!
ReplyDeleteThanks Michal ๐
DeleteThe game looks as visually attractive as we expect from the dungeon Matt! Nice figures too and the new additions are great as well.
ReplyDeleteThanks Keith more to come soon ๐
DeleteWell, I didn’t realize you had such a large Gondorian Army! Very handsome game and a very handsome addition to your SYW project? Greek/Persian battle up next? Looking forward to it!
ReplyDeleteThis is the exact reason I should perhaps keep some records or lists of what I have ๐ the grenadiers we’re fairly quick so a nice little addition
DeleteLoads of cool stuff, loving the band.
ReplyDeleteCheers Martin
DeleteLovely work on those musicians, Matt! Haven't played Oathmark before, but the look of the units definitely remind me of WAB.
ReplyDeleteThanks the musician came out ok, the old adage that there is little new in this hobby in relation to rules, rather they build or develop previous ideas. They seem ok but are they better ?
DeleteLovely looking game. It's a ruleset I want to try for my own LOTR collection
ReplyDeleteThanks Neil, although it was Paul who purchased the rules I did have a flick though and although a slight indulgence it does contain some really lovely illustrations where the rules are any good or not.
DeleteGnomes and Fairies! Fantasy gaming? Musical arm transplants! Diddy Men from Austria! All go Oop North.
ReplyDeleteHaha an uncompromising stance David๐
DeleteNice job on the Austrians, a stunning addition to the line. (are they Pendraken?)
ReplyDeleteAlso trying to work out the source of the Union musicians and would take a punt that they come from the 28mm plastic artillery set?
Thanks Norm, yes the Austrians are from my quite large lead pile of Pendraken figures 10mm of course easy to paint given the scale. Well spotted yes the Union musicians are the artillery set as they are the only figures which come without either arm attached and the ‘musician arms’ I picked up were double arms. They are not ideal as the uniforms could be slightly more elaborate but after all they are musicians so something of an indulgence !
DeleteA nice change of pace in terms of gaming, and some lovely new additions on the painting front.
ReplyDeleteThanks Lawrence variety the spice of life as they say ๐
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