Frodo's Quest: Mines of Moria Merry

My weekend was crazy, so the final brush stokes on this stout fellow had to be postponed until today.

I still do not dare try painting the eyes on these tiny faces, but I may go back and do them at a later point, when I feel more confident.

Nevertheless, I now have all four Fellowship Hobbits painted up, two from the Fellowship of the Ring set, and two from the Mines of Moria set (and I shall, of course, do both versions of the entire Fellowship in due time, but for now I have to focus on the minis needed for the first installment of Frodo's Quest).

As mentioned earlier, these minis are REALLY tiny, and I find it hard to paint their faces (and it shows in the not-so-accented facial features). Maybe I shall try redoing the faces some day, but for now they will have to do as is.

I am not quite sure about Merry's hair; I think it turned out a bit too orange, but it was the closest I could get to the colour shown on the Fellowship box (which is not quite the 'live' colour from the movies, either, though).

The waistcoat buttons also are a bit different than I think they should be; I used a painted mini as reference, and it had silver buttons, whereas the movie stills show cloth-covered buttons the same colour as the waistcoat itself. So, I dotted in the pale yellow (Warzone Vega Sand) I used for the waistcoat before covering it with Iyanden Yellow, leaving the Chainmail edges visible.

There will be no family portrait this time, not until I have to put painted models in the storage box, as it is stoved away in a larger crate at the moment (I need to keep the storage boxes from spreading all over the ground floor of our home).

I am quite pleased with his cloak and jacket - the trousers are not quite as dark when seen with the naked eye, but I have a little trouble getting the light settings of my camera just right (which is also why the pics are a tiny bit blurred; I have to turn up the Gamma output in GIMP to keep the photos from having too bright unnatural colours).

I am happy to report that I have found all my Middle-Earth Ranger figures (bar one Ranger of Ithillien from the set with Faramir and the Hobbits), including the Grey Company and the Guardians of the Shire, so that is one task to check off!

Frodo's Quest: Aragorn and Pippin Bases Altered

 I lightened up the Moria-themed bases of these two protagonists a bit, I think they look a bit better now.

Frodo's Quest: Mines of Moria Pippin

Another one of those diminutive plastic minis; I had to take a lot of breaks from painting this (working on other bits and bobs), as it was really putting a straikn onm my ageing eyes.

I did not take a pic of him with Aragorn, as I want to redo the ranger's base, first, there'll propably be a group shot when I finish Merry (somewhen next week, he is just as fiddly as this one).

Frodo's Quest: Some Moria Scenery

These are the plastic columns from the Mines of Moria boxed set, finally painted up and ready to provide some cover from Goblin arrows.

Frodo's Quest: Mines of Moria - Aragorn

This mini gave me several headaches because of its tininess, but I think I have got it down, now.

I wanted an almost black coat, like it is in the movie, and I think I almost got it right. All in all this version of Aragorn is much more muted than the painted examples shown on boxes and in rulebooks by GW's painter, but I like that look, and it fits with the way I have painted other LotR minis.

I think the dark grey basecoat on the base is a bit too dark, I shall have to try a slightly lighter shade on the next MoM character I do (which will be Merry or Pippin, just primed them both today).

Goblins Rebased

I am going to use these guys as my Hearthguard in tomorrow's game of SAGA Age of Magic. I finally finished rebasing them yesterday (I started before out summer vacation), and now they are ready for some action!

2019-07-03: SAGA Age of Magic, Goblins versus Gondor

Today, I introduced Emil to AoM; I had prepared two 5-points lists (Horde and Kingdoms), but without any fantasy elements (basically, it was like playing with 'historical' warbands).

I skipped the 2nd Ed. rule about having to end the movement of each model within S of the first moved model (I plan to go back and also play with the 1st Ed. rule that only models within a certain range of enemies add dice to the Combat Pool), and this eased Movement quite a lot.

Emil was 1st player, and we both advanced; I even used some extra SAGA Dice activations to move a bit further.

The lines closed in.

The Gondorians kept Manoeuvering closer...

...while my Goblins rested to get rid of some Fatigue.

The Gondorians converged on my center. We did not adhere rigidly to the rules on gaps between units.

There was blood. Much Blood. First, my Hearthguards charged a warrior unit, rolling perhaps 20 dice, inflicting 4 hits. The, my Warlord charged the same unit, also failing to wipe it out. Finally, my Hearthguards took a Fatigue to charge again, this time annihilating the stubborn Gondorians.

Then there was more fighting. My last Hearthguard barely survived a Hearthguard versus Hearthguard scrap, after fending off another Warrior unit. On my right, my Warriors beat the crap out of some cocky Humans.

The Levies on both sides moved towards the center (neither side had fired a single shot), but the dwindling number of SAGA Dice was beginning to be felt.

Emil went all in on attacking my Warlord, but failed to kill him (he was saved twice by his Resilience). On the end of Emil's turn, both Warlords were Exhausted, and it began to resemble the old Robin and Marian movie. We called it a day, and did not count the Massacre Points.

We both had some horrific dice rolling at certain stages in the game, but Emil suffered badly from his as it occurred late in the fight, and thus was rather decisive.

Understandably, Emil was not all that excited about the game, but he agreed to try it again when we meet up after the summer holidays. If he still dislikes SAGA, I shall read up on Age of Fantasy (non-skirmish version), and see how many units I can field for that game (or how many I have to paint up - I intend to get some of the new Citadel Contrast Paints to use for unit painting, so as to be able to get some models ready for the table faster).

2019-06-23, SAGA Age of Magic, 2nd Test Game

This time we added the rules for Lieutenants and Creatures. Ulolkish brought his Dwarves and borrowed my two bears, and I fielded a force consisting of Moria Goblins and some Citadel Dire Wolves I bought painted a couple of years ago, as I only have two painted riderless Wargs, and needed four for this warband.

On my first turn (above) I let the Wolves advance fast on my right flank, while the rest of my warband manoeuvered forward.

The Dwarves (below) also advanced, but kept their Bears close to their flank.

On my second turn, my Wolves swept in and attacked the Bears. I annihilated the enemy Creatures (I rolled a bucket of dice, and we got the Resilience rule wrong), but two of my Wolves also bought it in the process.

Then the Dwarven Warriors killed off my Wolves (Creatures are really a glass hammer, even though we did not get the Resilience rule right), and both some Warriors and their Hearthguards advanced on my left.

My Warriors then fought the Dwarves who just killed the Wolves, but failed to defeat them and had to retire. My Hearthguards charged the Dwarven Lieutenant, killed him losing 3(!) models in the fight, while my Warriors an the left fell back behind the woods to avoid getting hammered 1-2 by the two units threatening them.

The Dwarves followed and charged my Warriors on the left, but the fight was a drawn, and the Dwarves had to fall back.

Then, I lost the game by the Dwarven Levy scoring 3 hits on 4 dice on my Hearthguards with their bows. I did not manage to save any if the hits, and my Hearthguards were annihilated. Sorely disappointing performance, but, well, it is Goblins...

The next turn, on the right my Goblins and the Dwarves decimated each other, and my Warlord finished off the enemy unit. There was some ineffective fighting on the left.

On the next turn, my Warriors on the right were reduced to 3 figures, and I would now had only my Warlord generating SAGA Di(c)e, and I did not see any reason to continue the fight. Again, one single roll completely statistically off was the main reason for the final outcome; had my Hearthguards unlikely demise not happened, they could have charged the Levies and probably dispatched them without being wiped out themselves, I would still have a SAGA Dice generating unit, and would have stood a chance against the Dwarven Hearthguards.

Conclusion:

We still need to play more times to get the rules properly memorized, but this game gave me some understanding of how this edition of the game works.

Tactics are not really important; you do not get a bonus from charging, and the 2nd Ed. rules have all members of a unit in combat fight, so you cannot out-manoeuver an enemy unit, hitting it in the flank to reduce the number of models fighting your charging unit (this was possible in 1st Ed.).

Instead, it is important to hold off, until you have those killer combos on your Battle Board, giving you an edge when actually duking it out with the enemy.

Characters, although packing a lot of dice for single minis, are not really fighting  machines. They are great for mopping up the leftovers from earlier scraps, but as the Warlord's ability from 1st Ed. to fight 'side by side' with another unit by using 'We Obey' has been left out of 2nd Ed., I find him too difficult to use in an offensive role, as his Hearthguard Bodyguards are often too far away.

I may suggest we go back to using some of the rules as they were in 1st Ed., to add more tactics to the gameplay, as games may otherwise turn into very defensive affairs, if none of the sides can get the SAGA dice results they want, and do not want to risk their troops without proper Battle Board support.

Moria Goblin 'Character' Re-based

Another metal Moria Goblin mini not painted by myself, but bought as part of a second hand lot.

I am going to use it as a 'Hero' in Age of Fantasy Skirmish, and a 'Lieutenant' in Age of Magic (if the list I use permits it - I actually have not checked it, yet...).

Again, his eye(s) need some attention, but that will be for another day.

I am trying to get a game arranged this weekend, so he has gotten ready just in time for joining the carnage!

Another Batch of Goblins Re-based

Another unit (not painted by me) for Age of Fantasy Skirmish rebased. Again. I shall probably have to go back and dot in some eye pupils, but right now I am too busy getting a bunch of minis re-based for AoFS and SAGA Age of Magic, and am about to paint a couple of models for the same purpose so I am skipping it for now.

Moria Goblin Characters NIB

I found these today (an also the War Drums), and I have already broken one of the Shamans open and started cleaning it up, as the last game of Age of Fantasy Skirmish told me that I have to bring a Wizard to the table.

I had to leave it half done, as the grass in the backyard needed mowing, and the weather was quite summerly today, and this evening we went to watch Dark Phoenix, but I expect to have plenty time for tinkering with little metal men tomorrow.

Moria Goblins Rebased

I finished the bases on these two units for One Page Rules Age of Fantasy Skirmish (I did NOT paint the guys in red), and they should see some action later today, when I have an appointment with Emil and a couple of beers.

As with all my Moria themed stuff, I went for the grey rubble look. That may make them stand out a bit from my other minis, but when gaming in their natural habitat, it should enhance the overall experience!

2019-06-10.: SAGA AoM, Kingdoms vs Horde Test Game

Ulolkish and I met up in Argonor's Attic yesterday evening to finally try out SAGA Age of Magic.

We had agreed to play 4 points 'plain', that is without any of the new stuff, such af Creatures and Magic, and I had built a Gondor warband using the Great Kingdoms, 3 points of Warriors in 2 units of 12, and 1 point of Levies in 1 unit.

Upon Ulolkish' arrival, he made a Goblin Horde list comprised of 1 point of Hearthguards, 2 points of  Warriors in 2 units of 8, and 1 point of Levies in 2 units of 6.

We simply lined up our warbands 12" in on my large table, and Ulolkish started his first Turn.

Both warbands made extensive use of the Manoeuvre rule during the first two Turns, only rolling and placing SAGA Dice for practice purposes.

On my third Turn, both my Warrior units charged home, the first annihilating the Goblin Hearthguards, the second almost destroying a Hoblin Warrior unit. We forgot to use each other's Fatigue during the Melee, but that is just a lesson learned.

The Goblin Warlord then charged and beat back the Warriors on my flank -

- and the other Warrior unit took one casualty from the Goblin Levy on the hill.

By then, it was almost 11 pm, and as I wanted to get up early and see off Lea for a four day field trip to Copenhagen, we called it a night.

Casualty count was very even, I think I may have been slightly in the lead because of the destroyed Hearthguard unit, but that might have changed quickly with just a few below-average rolls.

All-in-all it was an enjoyable experience, and I look forward to play SAGA a lot more! I am certain that Kevin is also interested in playing the 'historical' version of the game, and as the game flow is almost identical in SAGA 1 and SAGA 2, we should be able to get the rules 'worked in', so as to not have to look up rules all the time (we did that a lot yesterday, as it always happens with new or not so often played games).

Cave Troll Rebased

I also managed to get Tiny's base finished for tomorrow's game.

I expect him to be found in the midst of the action, probably taking on Boromir and/or the Knight of Dol Amroth, and it will be interesting to see how he fares against those Human heroes!

In about 12 hours, Emil and I should be stooped over the Age of Fantasy Skirmish table in Argonor's Attic, rolling dice and probably enjoying a beer or two, and with 250 points a side, a game probably lasts for between one and two hours, which would give us time for a re-match if we feel like it.

But that is for tomorrow - now I shall soon be turning in for the night to get some sleep and be fit for tomorrow's ordeal!