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Author Topic: Belagus of Dol Amroth  (Read 2109 times)

Offline joe5mc

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    • The Renaissance Troll
Belagus of Dol Amroth
« on: March 02, 2018, 01:55:38 PM »
Just finished up my first Middle-Earth Battle Company. What do you think?



Full story here: https://therenaissancetroll.blogspot.co.uk/2018/03/belagus-of-dol-amroth.html

Offline gmanrocks

  • Mad Scientist
  • Posts: 511
Re: Belagus of Dol Amroth
« Reply #1 on: March 02, 2018, 02:23:47 PM »
Looks great! The blue really pops.

I've been meaning to have a crack at LotR but I don't really know where to start anymore with the games. Seems like a lot of books out there, and I only really wanna skirmish game, so it's kinda confusing... For me anyway :P

Gabbi

  • Guest
Re: Belagus of Dol Amroth
« Reply #2 on: March 02, 2018, 03:56:32 PM »
Same here. Battle Companies looks like a fun game, but looks like actually it's just an expansion and you will need the base book, at the very least. That will bring the initial expense for just the rules near to €100. A hard pass, from me: while I'd like to give it a try, good skirmish games are not a rarity, these days...

@Joe: neat paintjob, really like them.

Offline grant

  • Galactic Brain
  • Posts: 4167
Re: Belagus of Dol Amroth
« Reply #3 on: March 02, 2018, 04:00:42 PM »
Isn’t this making wargaming too easy? Shouldn’t you have have converted those Swan Knights out of regular Knights  :D ;)
It’s a beautiful thing, the destruction of words - Orwell, 1984

Offline joe5mc

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Re: Belagus of Dol Amroth
« Reply #4 on: March 02, 2018, 04:50:34 PM »
Yeah, there is nothing about easy about getting into Lord of the Rings, especially battle companies. Officially, you would need the Battle Companies Book, the Hobbit Rulebook, and at least one other battle book.

Or you can slightly cheat like me, and just use the old Blue Book LOTR Rules. It's got most of what you need, and some say it is a better incarnation of the game. (Plus you can probably get it much, much cheaper). Obviously that won't help you play 'official' games, but that's not an issue for me.




Offline killshot

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Re: Belagus of Dol Amroth
« Reply #5 on: March 02, 2018, 07:25:51 PM »
Beautiful colors!

Offline Little Odo

  • Mastermind
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    • Little Odo's Grand Days Out
Re: Belagus of Dol Amroth
« Reply #6 on: March 03, 2018, 09:33:09 AM »
Fantastic looking warband there Joe. As mentioned above, the blue really makes them pop.

When will you be putting them into action? It would be great to see how they do against those Uruk Hai.

Little Odo's Grand Days Out
http://littleodo.blogspot.co.uk/

Offline joe5mc

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Re: Belagus of Dol Amroth
« Reply #7 on: March 03, 2018, 11:54:26 AM »
Thanks guys!

Little Odo - hopefully next Friday. I think a lot will come down the scenario. Although I am outnumbered 7 to 5, I have slight advantages in bow fire and armour. We both have two archers, but mine are slightly better. My 'plan' is to use them to try and pick off the uruks with 2-handed weapons first, since they are more vulnerable without shields, and hope to my better armour to keep the fighters safe...we'll see if it works!

Offline Mr.J

  • Mastermind
  • Posts: 1704
Re: Belagus of Dol Amroth
« Reply #8 on: March 04, 2018, 06:04:37 PM »
I used to love the LOTR strategy battle games rules but GW faffed too much with additional updates and supplements so I lost interest which is a real shame. Your figures look great (as do the others on your blog).

Offline joe5mc

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    • The Renaissance Troll
Re: Belagus of Dol Amroth
« Reply #9 on: March 05, 2018, 09:43:02 AM »
Thanks, Mr. J.

I think a lot of people believe that the LOTR rules have been 'Over tinkered with'. I have no strong opinion on that - but I have always been happy to toss out rules I don't like, and I think the core game is one of the best skirmish wargames ever written. I'm not sure if it really works for 5 - 7 figures as side, but we'll see.

Offline Momotaro

  • Mastermind
  • Posts: 1320
Re: Belagus of Dol Amroth
« Reply #10 on: March 06, 2018, 12:41:51 AM »
Nice warband!

Count me in as one who things the game has been "over-tinkered" with.  Different weapon rules are a pain and, while the monstrous attacks are a good attempt to make them more dangerous, they're not quite there.

I held off the Army books for a long time, and one thing I'd say is: get your army's book.  They have decent balance and a range of options.  Each force has a range of viable builds.  Later (Hobbit) statlines ARE more powerful, but you pay the points for them: they generally make smaller armies, and that counts.

If you want a simple introduction to Battle Companies, either the Big Blue Hardback (with the One Ring on the cover) or the Return of the King game book (with Aragorn in his Minas Tirith garb) have a decent version of the rules plus stats.  The latter is cheaper, but will lack dwarves for example.

The one thing you will have to do if you don't want to buy the army book is create profiles for advances and reinforcements.  Some of them are pretty tough cookies, and represent a big step up.  Or you could ask some of us who still have the old free GW profile sheets for a copy... ;)

You may want to build your own advances anyway - I found the Erebor/Dale and Gundabad companies to be a bit boring just because there's a limited number of models available, and with only 5 Dunland models available, you're not going to see a company for them any time soon unless you're willing to proxy some Dark Ages figures and write your own company rules.

One suggestion - buy a sprue of Gripping Beast (Viking, Saxon) or Conquest (Norman) plastics.  Lots of weapons for conversions there, and the smaller command sprues have horns, cloaks and banners (plus things like pointing hands and the like).  Dare I say it, but the Frostgrave soldier sprue has many handy extras - rope, lanterns knapsacks - that will allow you to model the extra gear your company acquires along the way.

As to the viability of Battle Companies, I'd say it got better.  Not every scenario is a brawl, so it's not the case that Isengard and Dwarf forces just plough through everyone else.  There are raids and assassination scenarios, objectives to hold or steal, games of bluff and special terrain rules.  Although let's be honest, playing a Moria or Goblin Town force is still for masochists.
« Last Edit: March 06, 2018, 12:43:49 AM by Momotaro »

Offline joe5mc

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Re: Belagus of Dol Amroth
« Reply #11 on: March 07, 2018, 08:58:01 PM »
Battle Companies is definitely for those who like house rules. As you said, some of the companies (the ones from bigger ranges like Minas Tirith) are more interesting than others because they have access to so many different troop types for advancements and reinforcements.


Offline joe5mc

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Re: Belagus of Dol Amroth
« Reply #12 on: March 13, 2018, 01:26:07 PM »
Got in my first couple of games. It wasn't a great day for Belagus and his boys, though it could have been worse.

The full story: https://therenaissancetroll.blogspot.co.uk/2018/03/the-bloody-letter.html



Offline ulgurstasta

  • Lurker
  • Posts: 3
Re: Belagus of Dol Amroth
« Reply #13 on: March 13, 2018, 03:33:35 PM »
What's the recipe for the blue cloth? Looks beautiful! 

Offline joe5mc

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Re: Belagus of Dol Amroth
« Reply #14 on: March 13, 2018, 03:56:26 PM »
Thanks, ulgurstasta.

I'm using 3 Vallejo model paints: Dark Prussian Blue, Blue, & Medium Blue. Mix the first two for a base and the just kind of work my way up.