Now For Wrath

  In today's game we ask the question: What if Gondor DID show up as the Westfold was falling, and the Westfold looked a lot like Osgiliath? Read on to see!

A few days ago I got to play in the 2nd "To War!" escalation event hosted by the inimitable Fredericksburg VA crew. The last time around I ran Rivendell and did quite well! For this round I am only able to make the first game (due to getting married in November! Sorry to my friends who are missing the second round on the same day!) I set out to make a list and, to be totally honest, hemmed and hawed until the last possible second. The list I cam up with did not have me super excited, but to War I go!

 We've been doing quite a bit at 600 lately! It had been a while since I ran my Minas Tirith forces and Andrew was eager to give Gil-Galad and Elendil a shot so... we did just that.

Finally, the Shadow to the East has been unleashed! As the dark lord Andrew marches his evil forces to war, the Noble and good Gondorians under Steward Steve were ready to stand their ground and take the brunt of the dark forces' initial bid for control of Middle Earth.

Our local season 3 league is officially begun, and Andrew and I are up first! So, our lists are a rematch of a few days ago , but this time "for real". This time we rolled for Contest of Champions (hmm Gwaihir vs the Witch King? I veto'd), Domination (Andrew Veto'd) and Lords of Battle. I felt on my backfoot with Lords of Battle, but figured the Great Beast could maybe keep me caught up... the game did not go how I expected. Gandalf's in the Danger Zone

Well, this was a doozy! With two really cool new models done ( Gwaihir and the Great Beast ), Andrew and I were keen to see them on the table. We did the veto system, with Andrew nixing Domination and me killing Fog of War, which left Hold Ground.

  Having recently completed a good bit of Iron Hills ; and ahead of the Richmond Open, Andrew and I wanted to throw down with two 800 point lists to warmup for the coming weekend tournament. Andrew is running Minas Tirith with Gandalf at the event. I am opting to revisit Rivendell , but decided I didn't need much practice with them so was excited to put the dwarves on the table for the first time!

I was really excited to see Connor's Last Alliance coming together. The last time he and I faced off, it was pure Numenor and it was a heck of a great game ! Connor had since added Elendil to his army, and as I am working on an Elendil model myself, I was so stoked to see him in action. 

On the last day of April, I managed to get my 650 point league games in vs Connor and Erin. Connor and I previously faced off at 300  while Erin and I last battled it out at 500 . Erin was up first, and made the trek to my place to play... hilariously, just before she got here, my whole block inexplicably lost power. But, the game must go on!

  Finally, it was time to put Boromir, Captain of the White Tower on the board. Alongside Boromir, I'd be putting an Avenger Bolt Thrower down- two brand new elements of the Minas Tirith army I've been excited to try! We rolled up three scenarios: I veto'd Hold Ground and Andrew veto'd Contest of champions which had us settling on Domination. Finally, I also recently finished a new terrain piece so opted to play on a heavy Osgiliath-themed board.

Here they are- the first siege engines I've painted for the Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game! I have yet to use one on the table, but I am excited to try them out!

As part of our current Escalation League, Chris and I are up for our first round together! My previous games in the league can be seen here: 300 points vs Numenor followed by Rivendell 500 points vs the Return of the King

Over the weekend, I got to play a game with a new opponent- Erin! Erin was running the Return of the King Legendary Legion, while I was running essentially the same Minas Tirith list I ran in my last game against Andrew . This will be a short one as I didn't take too many pictures!

 After a bit of a hiatus (a deep dive into Battletech... a topic for another day?) Andrew and I got MESBG back on the table to try out some 500 point lists. Having just completed some Knights of Minas Tirith , I was excited to get the cavalry on the table! The mission today was Command the Battlefield.

  After a few games with Minas Tirith- it was clear I needed both mobility and some hard-hitting killing power. Thankfully, Knights of Minas Tirith fill both roles exceptionally for a really reasonable price point! Plus- their models are pretty fantastic! I'm quite happy with these guys- but they took me a lot longer to complete... only because I got distracted by Battletech!

  Brief update today! Just expanding the Gondor forces. Been a bit sidetracked by Battletech, but more MESBG is coming! Please note the exaggerated tomato juice on Denethor's chin- it's the most important detail.

It's back! Our little friend group is doing an escalation league tournament. With just 5 of us, it's a little odd- but essentially we will each play each other person twice at differing point levels. Starting with 300, then 500, then 650, and finally 800. I was lucky enough to get both of my games in back to back- playing Andrew running Rivendell after facing Connor running Numenor. Here's a brief report on each game!

  After our last 300 point skirmish , Andrew wanted another crack at it with his Elrond and Knights list. I liked the list, but spread out my troops in the warbands a little differently. I was glad I did, since we rolled up Command the Battlefield. A chance for Madril to show his quality (by manipulating my Maelstram roll!)

The Guards of the gate were robed in black. Upon the black surcoats were embroidered in white a tree blossoming like snow beneath a silver crown and many-pointed stars. This was the livery of the heirs of Elendil, and none wore it now in all Gondor, save the Guards of the Citadel before the Court of the Fountain where the White Tree once had grown.

Our little local friend group is planning to do a mini escalation league so we can all work on new armies together. I've been chipping away at my Minas Tirith, having just wrapped up Madril . Andrew has been keen to run Rivendell Knights at 300- knowing it's a tough list at that price point but also knowing it'll take some practice to get the most out of.