The Halls of Moria Campaign Log

Halls of Moria

Wargate Season 1, 2014

Over the centuries since it fell to Evil, there have been many parties of intrepid adventurers who traveled to the Black Pit for one reason or another.  Almost none were ever heard from again.  Yet, many brave souls who heard the tale of the treasures of the dwarves assembled expeditions, heedless of the warnings of older and wiser folk.

And so it is that Khalid of Arkhuin has come, Master of the Easterling Dragon Warriors.  Following the recovery of the Dragon Sword, the Easterling warriors attempt to find purchase in the lands of the west.  With him come hordes of orcs from Mordor itself, terrorizing the land as they go.  This is to say nothing of the goblins already living in Moria.  So strong an evil force massing in an evil place has caused great alarm among the Free Peoples.

The wise among men know of the threat of the Black Pit.  Both the King of Rohan and the Chieftain of the Dunedain have sent warriors to assess the threat of the army moving to Moria.  Unseen by most, the wizard Gandalf Stormcrow lurks nearby as well.  Yet when they arrive at the mountain, these forces of the Free People find it's much worse than they could have imagined.

All that remains is to escape the Black Pit, by any means necessary.  Oh, and grab some treasure on the way out - if you can.  Just don't stop to look behind you...

Campaign Design
Halls of Moria is a dungeon scenario campaign, played on a constricted field.  The entire campaign takes place in the delves of Moria, and as such the scenarios played will be set-up according to the rules outline below.  16 games will be played for the season, the new standard for 2 month campaigns.

The overall winner of the campaign will be the player with the most Influence at the end of the campaign.  The modifier to this will be a flat 4% Influence bonus per Treasure Obtained.  The winner will be crowned the Wargate's Guardian (or Ravager!) of Middle-Earth for 2014!


Dungeon Scenarios
The following procedure is used for the Wargate's dungeon scenarios.

The Vast Halls
Preparing the table for battle.

• Determine battle parameters.  The battle chart gives the # chambers and the size of the table here at the Wargate.  Chapters are free to decide what points value and # of chambers they wish to use.
• A number of large chambers are placed on the battlefield corresponding to the number indicated in the battle. (Generally 1 or 2 per 2 feet of gaming table, or 1 per 100 points of soldiers).
• These Chambers must be placed at least 6" from all other Chambers and table edges.  Players roll for first pick and alternate placement of Chambers until the requisite number is reached.
• A number of entrance corridors are placed along the sides of the map corresponding to the number indicated in the battle.  Generally, place 1 entrance corridor per 2 feet of game table, or 250 points of soldiers.
• These must be placed at least 12" from each other, and from any table edge other than the one they are indicated to be on.
• Each chamber will have D3+1 corridor entrances (doors or open portals).  Each of these leads to a corridor section.  Each section must connect to another Chamber if possible, but both Chambers must have the correct number of doors.  A connection is only not possible when  all other Chambers have no exits available.  Up to two entrances can be placed on the same wall of a Chamber, but they must be 4" apart.  As much corridor as needed can be used to connect rooms far from one another, as long as it doesn't intersect another Chamber.
• Unused exits end in dead ends.

Treasures & Traps

Objectives in the Dungeon.

• The contents of each chamber is unknown until a model enters the room.
• At the beginning of a turn that you have models in an unchecked chamber, make an Exploration roll on a D6.
• On a 1-3, nothing happens.  Otherwise, roll on the Treasures & Traps table.  Once the Exploration roll is made for a Chamber, no further Exploration rolls may be made for that Chamber.
• Treasures & Traps (2d6)
• (2 or 3) - Falling Rocks
• Model and all those within 6" are hit with a Str 6 hit.
• (4 to 6) - Pit Trap
• Model must make a to hit roll as if he were shooting.  Failure means he's fallen down into a pit and takes a S4 hit.  The model must be helped out of the pit by another model, who must start and end his Move phase in contact with the model in the pit.  At the end of the Move phase, stand the model in the pit upright next to the pit.  He may act normally from here on, but cannot Move this turn.
• (7 or 8) - Spear Trap***
• Model takes an S4 hit.
• (9 or 10) - Treasure Chest
• Place a Treasure chest in the center of the room.  A model may pick it up by moving into contact with it and remaining there for the rest of the Move phase.  A model carrying a Treasure chest moves at half rate, but two models can carry a Treasure chest at full movement rate.  Forces in possession of a Treasure chest at the end of a game are awarded 1 Treasure for each chest recovered.
• (11) - 2 Treasure Chests
• (12) - Artifact
• An Artifact counts as a Treasure but is light enough to be carried by one model at full movement rate.

Starting and Scoring the Dungeon Scenarios

Setting up the table. 

• Players Roll to Select Deployment Zone.
• Player chooses a side and may deploy his forces up to 8" from any Entrance Corridors on his side.
• Player who selected Deployment Zone deploys a warband first.  
• Players roll for their mission, which is kept secret.  It is shared with a moderator at the start of the game.  If no moderator is available, simply roll one scenario for both warbands without any secrets.
• Objectives (2d6) 
• (2 to 5) - Retrieve the Treasure 
• (6 to 8) - Secure the Ruins 
• (9 or 10) - Explore the Halls 
• (11 or 12) - Defeat the Enemy 
• Victory Points are tallied as thus: 
• Enemy Leader Wounded
• 1 Point (2 in Defeat the Enemy)
• Enemy Leader Killed
• 3 Points (5 in Defeat the Enemy)
• Heroes Put Out of Action
• 1 Point each (2 Points each in Defeat the Enemy)
• Treasures Obtained
• 1 Point each (2 Points each in Retrieve the Treasure)
• Exploration Rolls
• 1 Point each, successful or not (2 Points each in Explore the Halls)
• Capturing a Chamber
• A hero in a Chamber captures it if there are no enemy models in it at the end of the game.  
• 1 Point each (2 Points each in Secure the Ruins)

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Campaign Updates

1. (1/5/14) - Many battles were fought near the entrances to the upper levels.  Good forces dealt a serious blow to the orcs and goblins defending these levels, but Dunedain from the Grey Company made the best progress in capturing ground.  The Delving Dwarves managed to not only repel a goblin assault, but recovered treasure as well.  The large orc raiding force (from the East!) took the most damage in these sorties, and requires more time to reorganize.
2. (1/12/14) - Rangers of Middle-Earth see themselves involved with several skirmishes with the forces of darkness in the upper levels.  Though they stand fast in many places, hordes of goblins and ranks of Easterlings force withdrawals in others.  Another treasure was obtained by Zkud and his goblins, but the committal of more forces to the side of good swings the struggle in their favor.
3. (1/19/14) - All is quiet in the northern caverns as a dark pall settles over both man and goblin alike.  However, the dwarves and elves moving through the southern reaches of Moria clash several times, with only the Delving Dwarves coming out ahead.
4. (1/26/14) - Goblins move out to attack several enclaves at once.  In the North, the Dunedain of the Grey Company push aside the Moria goblins attempting to halt their search of the upper chambers.  The elves and dwarves in the southern quarter suffer staggering losses, but the Wilderness Warriors are able to save a few of their kin from marauding goblins.
5. (2/2/14) - Great heroes of good find themselves fighting a horde of Easterlings in the north chambers, and the Dragon Warriors fight hard, recovering an artifact.  However, the Easterlings become scattered in the chambers, and the heroes are able to recover that artifact and remove it to the surface.
6. (2/9/14) - In the northern chambers, the forces of Good are able to win several critical positions within the catacombs!  Moria goblins from Gundabad bring trolls to the north, which cause consternation amongst magic-users.  Rohirrim join Grey Company to push out the Easterlings and Mordor orcs.
7. (2/16/14) - A strange stillness falls over the battlefield...could it be a portent of things to come?

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The Forces of Good secure victory!

Racking up an impressive number of wins, the Good team can rejoice once more!  They managed to secure 5 treasures, and ended with a total score of 3.66!  The Evil team didn't fare as well - but they are sure to be back in force, looking for revenge!

Best Overall Score goes to Steven of the Texas Chapter!  With his Delving Dwarves, he racked up a large tally of wins, and more importantly - treasures!  Now, he'll hold the title for the Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game:

Guardian of Middle-Earth 

- until the next campaign.  

Congratulations to Steven, we hope you had fun participating!

Thanks also to all the players who visited Middle-Earth this season.  We'll be doing more in this location soon, so don't think the green fields of the Shire are safe.  After all, this is the Wargate...

Welcome to the Dungeon: Texas Edition!

 Our Lord of the Rings campaign, The Halls of Moria, is running strong in both Oklahoma and Texas!

Today we wanted to share some pics from The Smith, of our Texas chapter, showing off some dungeon terrain they have been using in their campaign.  These dungeons are fully 3d, and make use of some nifty sets you might not have thought to use. The dungeons look cool, and the chambers and corridors are clearly demarcated.

Our tandem campaign looks to be working out great!  We'll be rolling out more campaigns in tandem with the Texas chapter later this year.  We'll be sharing their progress as well as ours - and the Wargate's titles for those campaigns can be won by players in any chapter!

For this campaign, the forces of darkness are currently losing - even though Zkud's Elf-Killers have the most treasures, the Delving Dwarves have the current high score.  This means that the forces of Good are in the lead currently, but we've got a long battle ahead of us.  Both of those teams have done a great job representing their chapter during the competition so far!

As we plan and complete more campaigns with our chapter, we'll be updating game systems and implementing new rules as well.  The guys at the Texas chapter have been enthusiastic and were quite boisterous when we met for lunch at the beginning of the year.  They have some cool events and interesting plans coming up as well, and we're very excited to share some of these projects with them.

In Moria, blades and bows are drawn and ready.  Treasures are rare, and the battles are bloody.  Will the forces of darkness win, and thus gather strength across the lands of Middle-Earth?  Or will the forces of Good maintain their lead, stifling the corruption where it gathers?  This campaign will affect our ongoing 3rd Age narrative, and will be reflected in future rpg and wargame scenarios - so fight hard, and win the campaign for your team!

Brave the Halls of Moria!

It's been quite some time since we've visited Middle-Earth.  Not for the lack of trying, however - we've literally been so swamped with mad gaming it's coming out of everyone's orifices.  Yet, the new season starts next game day, and The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game has it's triumphant return to Schedule 1!

This time, we're trying some nifty new things new all around.  The campaign is more of a dungeon crawl than an open wilderness battle.  It's set amidst a fouled reconnoitering of Moria by several groups of Men, and their mad flight from evil while trying to grab anything of value that they can along the way.  The terrain used will reflect the constricted areas of fighting, and the maps will resemble Dungeons & Dragons maps more than the sort we're used to.  Yet, we hope to open a discussion on how this sort of game can be achieved and look forward to sharing ideas all around.

This season's Halls of Moria (which has it's page on the State of Play -->) will be played cross-chapters!  That's right folks, the Smith & Co. down at the Texas Chapter will be fighting for treasure as well!  We will be holding a conference with those guys during a very long overdue reunion that is set to take place sometime in the next week to go over everything, but rest assured we'll see a lot of action in the first wargames season!

We're readying a metric ton of cool stuff to be traded / eBayed off for some of the stuff on the itenerary.  A full inventory and budget plan will be presented on Game Day in the next few weeks.  Big thanks to all the movers and shakers out there - you know who you are.

Be sure to check out the State of Play to get the skinny on the new campaign! We love your comments here, but cruise by FaceBook as well to discuss The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game, or whichever game you like.  Just remember to keep as quiet as a goblin in the dark whilst navigating the unforgiving chambers of Moria...

Shaun's Moria Adventure, Le Portion De Treis - On the Table!

Greetings from the battlefield!  Perpetually late and behind posting schedule,  I figured I'd better snap some photos of Shaunny's models, since they've been done for almost a month.  Here is the third and final installment of Shaun's Moria Adventure, showcasing his 500 point Moria army.
Continued from Part 2.

With all the models ready to go, we brushed Vallejo Black Lava onto the bases to give them some texture.  After that, a quick black spray got them basecoated and primed.  The troll got a grey basecoat, as it would have a different skin tone than the goblins.  Shaunny also asked that I paint his cave troll, as he was intimidated with the model's large size and strange skin tones.  I happily obliged - I hadn't painted a troll before.

Durburz's Warband (Blackshield Drummers, 4 Blackshields & Cave Troll)

A limited palette was formed when we dug through our mountain o' paints and found all the basic colors for the goblin color scheme in the books.  No wild color experimentation here - this is about learning the basics. Thankfully, it's basically red, green and metal.  The textured bases were painted to match the Brown World table, and we thought about how to spruce them up.

Blackshield Captain's Warband (8 Goblin Spears & 4 Goblin Bows)

I have to take a moment to tell you how everyone stopped and tried to figure how this could be Shaunny's first army.  The models were looking great!  To top that off, they were coming off the paint tray a lot faster than expected for a total novice (as he claimed to be).  Shaunny seems a natural and getting the paint where it needs to go, and quickly at that.

Once the models were painted with Shaunny's surprising skill and speed, I still had to finish the troll.  First things first, however - we applied Army Painter Quickshade to the goblins, and shortly thereafter applied Anti-Gloss to tone down the sheen of the shade coat.  The results turned out fantastic, and make these goblins look worn and weathered.

I didn't apply Quickshade to the Cave Troll, instead using the opportunity to demonstrate drybrushing and inking to Shaunny.  I think it turned out nice, and the Agrax Earthshade ink we used (from GW) did a nice job of bringing the bigger piece in line with the shade on the goblins.  Now that he's armed with the basic techniques, I have no doubt we'll be seeing a lot of nifty things come from Shaunny's burgeoning paint table.

Blackshield Shaman's Warband (8 Goblin Shields & 4 Goblin Bows)

We decided to try something different this time.  For the bases, texture is good but embellishment is better.  We thought that it might look cool if the goblins were scurrying across a muddy field, so we immediately got to work with the Woodland Scenics Realistic Water.  Using some darker browns to simulate wet mud, we mucked up the bases and added the water effects to form the pools.  Some Swamp Tuft sets the base off, and breaks up the color a bit.

500 points of love, straight from the Black Pit.

500 points of Moria goblins never looked so good!   Shaunny performed well in the latest campaign with this army, but next year's event season is more promising after the completion of this project.

Bigger update to the site today with all current campaigns updated.  We've been getting more games in, so make sure your forces keep up with the magnitude of their battles!  It could get out of hand if your soldiers aren't being deployed enough, and it can really impact your campaign scores.  Plan your battles accordingly!

Dragon Sword Campaign Log

The Wargate Presents

Dragon Sword

2012 Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Campaign

The struggle has raged for centuries, but neither Sauron nor his enemies in Middle-Earth have been able to gain the upper hand in the eternal war.  The 3rd Age grinds onward, towards the doom of all...but there are many untold stories that yet influence the struggle between the powers.  Indeed, there are terrors in the world that predate the threat of Sauron himself...

It is the waning years of the Third Age of Middle Earth, and Sauron knows he must do all that he can to ensure his armies will utterly destroy the free peoples.  There are many monstrous beasts under his sway - but some are powerful enough not to kneel before him.  Creatures made by his long fallen master, Morgoth.  Creatures such as balrogs, werewolves, vampires...and dragons.  Now, the Black Enemy means to subdue as many of these powerful monsters as he can before his war can take place.

The dragon Arthax lives in the Ered Mithrin.  He has openly defied Sauron by eating every emissary that is sent to his lofty lair.  However, Sauron has servants who are skilled in the arts of slaying monsters...and with a little help could perhaps subdue many dragons and drakes to his will.  It is to that end he sends forth his mightiest warriors to search the Rhovanion for an artifact of his master's power.

It is called simply the Dragon Sword.  Some say it was forged by Morgoth himself during the First Age, and gifted to a favored general.  Even the Wise cannot say for certain, but it is indisputable that it harbors a terrible power within its shining steel.  Both the Wise and the Enemy have ascertained it's location to be somewhere near the Iron Mountains, in the fork between the River Running and Redwater.

The enemy have made many lairs here in their search for the sword.  It is now up to the forces of good, as led by the White Council, to destroy these lairs and end the search for the tainted sword.

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Campaign Rules

Dragon Sword is the Wargate's 2012 campaign for Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game!  The campaign runs the months of April, May and June ending on July 1st!

The rules for this campaign are simple.  The Forces of Good have 20 expeditions to mount into the Rhovanion to do battle with the Forces of Evil.  The Forces of Evil have 20 lairs in the Wilderlands as well.

Each Good player may pick and choose his battles against the Forces of Evil, pursuing leads where ever they wish to combat their hated enemies.  Each Evil player has five lairs that can be destroyed, and games can be played whenever time is available.

Any scenario can be selected, as long as a campaign narrative is discussed!  Whenever a Good  warband wins a scenario, the lowest lair is marked destroyed and counts as a Destroyed Lair.  If an Evil warband wins, there is no change.  In the unlikely event of a draw, the side that has destroyed more points has won, with all the consequences thereof.

At the end of the campaign when the Forces of Good exhaust their expeditions, warband Influence (Win / Loss ratio) is applied to the team score for each team.  Forces of Evil use the number of remaining lairs, while the Forces of Good use the number of Destroyed lairs.  Each player will have a different influence rating depending on the number of games played and how well they did in each of them.  Individual Scores will be calculated this way, and the Team Score will be the total number of final Individual Scores added together.

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Armies
The following armies are doing battle in the Wilderlands.

Forces of Evil

• Raiders of the Ruthless East - Mordor Orcs led by fierce Orc Captains and Shamans!  They will stop at nothing to carry out the will of the Eye!
• Dragon Warriors - Powerful warriors from far away, the Easterlings have arrived to sway the dragon to join their conquest of the Free Peoples.
• Minions of Mordor - The orc rabble of Mordor, and a few other interesting servants of darkness.
• The Goblin King - A nazgul operating in the Misty Mountains, the nefarious Goblin King has been sowing discord for years around the Mirkwood.

Forces of Good

• Riders of Rohan - Warriors from the noble houses of the Horselords of Rohan, these mighty warriors follow the tales of the Wise looking for enemies to destroy!
• The Grey Company - Battle hardened men and elves from the North, the Grey Company wishes to keep the dragons in the mountains where they cause relatively little harm.
• The Fellowship - Heroes committed to the cause of the Wise.
• Dol Amroth - From Gondor hails the Swan Knights, who have traveled far to heed the wisdom of the Wise and stop a greater evil from occurring.

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Campaign

Campaign ended July 1st, 2012!

The Black Gate has won the campaign!
Rivendell has been defeated!

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Updates

• (4/2/2012) - Campaign page posted.  Will update the following as they occur:
• (4/22/2012) - The Dark Lord Sauron manifests partially in Middle-Earth with the full power of the One Ring, but only briefly.
• 3 Expeditions exhausted.
• 3 Lairs wiped out.
• (5/6/2012) - The Forces of Good surge forth for weeks, breaking lairs where they find them.
• 8 Expeditions exhausted
• 5 Lairs wiped out.
• (7/1/2012) - After the initial surge, the armies of evil routinely pushed ever forward, and the forces of good can do little to stop them.
• 18 Expeditions exhausted. 
• 7 Lairs wiped out.

Evil has won the campaign!

Tales of the Dragon Sword

• They say that the dragon Arthax has a strong dislike of orcs.
• The Dragon Sword contains a portion of Morgoth's power, and that power has sway over dragons themselves.
• Nazgul are coming closer every day...
• It seems the Dark Lord can manifest in Middle-Earth, but only briefly...and the more powerful his form, the shorter the amount of time spent in the material world.  However, he can now influence events with a much firmer hand than the Eye of Mordor...
• It seems the Dragon Sword has been found.  Large warbands of orcs have carried it to the Black Gate itself...

Darkness gathered in the ruined tower where the orcs gathered to meet their master, the nazgul.  The assembled orcs groveled as the wraith manifested, a cold chill heralding its' presence to the devoted followers of the Eye.  With a wicked hiss, the shadowy form stretched out it's hand to Snurkh, captain of the Red Fangs.

The orc warrior proudly hefted the Dragon Sword, Inilrach.  The eldritch weapon was snaked with runes of dark power, and had a strangely organic texture about the hilt and pommel.  He reverently placed the sword in the wraith's outstretched hands, and was rewarded with an even louder, more triumphant shriek from the being.

Khamul the Easterling, second among the Nazgul, held Inilrach and communed with his master.  Now, as Saurons' captain at Dol-Guldur, he would have the resources he needed to crush this council of the 'Wise'.  Even now, fanatic Easterlings and droves of orcs marshalled to march toward Mirkwood.  Soon, they would all be at his disposal to destroy the free peoples.

His castellans drew around him, and the wraith of Khamul was gone from the tower in a swift rush of whirling darkness.

And the shadow crept further across Middle-Earth.

Shaun's Moria Adventure, Part the Second: Puttin' On the Table

Our buddy Shaun is a newcomer to the world of miniature wargaming, and this is the short story of how his first army comes together.  

Continued from Part 1.

Shaunny’s been hard at work on his goblins of Moria list, and the project continues at a solid pace.  I’m impressed with his ability to work with new mediums and techniques in a short period of time.  He’s at the stage where the army he sees in his mind is going to become painted actuality.  We’re going to examine the next step in that process.

After building the list, he had to actually obtain those models.  For a while, it was quite daunting to try to build an adequate Lord of the Rings force.  There was a lot of confusion, but the new sourcebooks make it much easier.   Also, Games Workshop reworked a lot of the plastics lines to include 12 warriors each.  So a lot has changed over the years.  For Shaunny, as a member of the club, he had it really easy.

Our friend Captain Video had a Mines of Moria boxed set, and was wanting to divest himself of the goblins and troll.  A short barter later (goodbye, metal Legolas) and the core force of goblins and the cave troll was in Shaunny’s possession, brooding and wanting a chance to be evil.  Of course, they still needed the treatment.

Wash, rinse, paint.

Let the troll-bathing commence.

Shaunny already made his decisions about the list, so all we had to do was fill it out with the command models he needed.  These were readily available from the GW website, so a short time after figuring out we wanted Durburz, some Blackshields and the Blackshields command we had it on the way.  Good ol’ GEE-DUB.

Once they got arrived, Shaunny cut his teeth on preparing models for painting the proper way.  He painstakingly got all the mold lines, flash and vents cleaned up from his shiny new models and glued them up.  He even used some Liquid Green Stuff on his plastic troll, which worked fantastic.  Once they were ranked up and he saw his army taking shape, there was no going back for our intrepid gamer.  The new goblin king has arrived!

It’s always a good idea to wash every box set you get to remove the release agent, especially on plastics.  Once all the models were washed, Shaunny set about painting them right away.  Like I said, I was quite impressed with his speed, and he was very eager to learn all the techniques such as drybrushing, overbrushing, layering, inking, glazing and highlighting.  We’ll see the finished army here quite soon!

Now, these goblins are waging war in our Dragon Sword campaign, and not doing such a bad job!  They look great on the table, and it seems Shaunny’s just a natural at a lot of the angles in the hobby.  Yet the fighting is frenetic here at the Wargate.  We’ll see how the endless waves of war take their toll! 

Our Season 2 campaigns are wrapping up soon!  More news on Game Day!  See you then!

Shaun's Moria Adventure, Part the First: New Player, New Book, New List

In this series, we'll be exploring how a new player gets started in the Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game by Games Workshop.  We'll be exploring the different stages of bringing the army to the table, from inception to it's first victories and incorporation into the Wargate's ongoing Middle-Earth narratives.  We'll be doing more of these articles as more armies are raised across all our games, to help show off our organic army building process and help encourage new armies to be built expediently, without becoming a chore.

Fear the New King of Moria.

This season, we have Shaunny.  Shaunny joins us from the North by Northwest, and has been hanging around for a few Krampus Days now.  He's finally decided it's time to pick up a banner and enter the Wargate - after careful consideration he's entered this season's campaign to help the Dark Lord achieve dominance over the Free Peoples of Middle-Earth.  Lurking around the edges for a few game days, he's done his research in the Moria sourcebook to find the models he likes and put together his list.

Since the army is hitting the ground running this campaign season, Shaunny's first step is to assemble a list to his liking.  Unafraid of the manlings and elves, he's agreed to share this list with us so we can see how he plots to build his army.  So born are the Bad Company from Gundabad (tentative title), Shaunny's first army.  With this he'll gut halflings from here to the Bree-lands.

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Bad Company From Gundabad

Warband 1

• Durburz, Goblin King of Moria
• 2 Gundabad Blackshields with Shield
• 2 Gundabad Blackshields with Spear and Shield
• Gundabad Blackshield Drummers
• Cave Troll

Warband 2

• Gundabad Blackshield Captain
• 8 Moria Goblin Warriors with Spears
• 4 Moria Goblin Warriors with Bows

Warband 3

• Gundabad Blackshield Shaman
• 8 Moria Goblin Warriors with Shields
• 4 Moria Goblin Warriors with Bows

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This list is 500 points, making it more than enough to engage warbands around the ol' Wargate.  For our Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Games we usually do 250 point increments, so if you prepare for that you won't be disappointed.  If you're interested, build a 250 point list.  If you're into it, build a 500 point list. If you're serious about it, try 750 points.  If you're a fanatic, 1000 points is going to include a lot of models, perhaps 80 or more if you really squeeze it for orcs.  Of course, 1000 points of heroes isn't going to have many models at all, as is evidenced by the White Council or Fellowship lists.

So, Shaunny's army is done and setup in the Battles Book.  He can literally spring this army forth at any time, so any Good generals out there should listen up.  More of the Shadow is spreading, creeping forth from the Misty Mountains like the tendrils of some evil tree.

You should attempt to destroy the dens of Moria's evil before it's too late!

The Search for the Dragon Sword!

Lots of stuff this week, going to try to keep up with the demanding schedule!  Many apologies for not posting more last month, but I'll try to make it up this week!

The schedule 2 campaign this year has prizes!  If you weren't already in the know, there winner will get a new unit or two, so Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game might even have more players next year - but that's next year.  What about now?  Check out the new campaign page!

This campaign centers around Sauron's search for a mystical artifact, the Dragon Sword.  The Forces of Good are attempting to break the concentrations of the Enemy's followers before their evil plan can come to fruition.  There are some slight anachronisms (certain members of the Fellowship, maybe?) but overall our campaign is entirely within the mythos, and remember - at the Wargate, no canon is sacred.  It's entirely possible in our "reality" the Dark Lord wins the War of the Ring.  Unsettling, to say the least.

This campaign is very similar to our last Schedule 1 campaign (Horrendous Hordes) in that it's an "attack" campaign.  This time it's good-guys on the attack and the evil players are defending their camps and dig sites.  One other neat feature is that there aren't actual "Attack Rounds", but any game can be fought at any time.  Though it's up to the players to decide, it's probably a good idea for each good player to get 5 of the expeditions, unless a player can't get all his games.

We're trying a new system to promote team battles also.  At the end of the campaign, players will have their personal Influence scores, but those will be compared to the total number of objectives scored by each respective side.  The total team win score will be the adjusted totals of all players on a team.  Therefore, the teams will be more closely linked this time.  If one of your team mates fails or is destroyed, you can be the entire alliance will feel it.

Dragon Sword will also let us see some brand new armies here at the Wargate!  If you're in the game, get a warband painted so we can showcase a bit of your force this season.  Remember, this time you're fighting for something real - namely a set of new models for your army!

Five Sourcebooks to Rule Them All

Last weekend, the new sourcebooks for the Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game were released, and we've been in a frenzy preparing our armies for the next campaign!  As we gear up for battle, we find a few more pledged to the banners of Middle-Earth, and who can blame them?  Never has the time been better to get into this exciting battle game, as it has undergone quite a facelift with the publication of these books.  Not quite an entirely new edition, as the basic rulebook is still the same, these sourcebooks have done something that was absolutely essential to the survival of the line - and I find I have little complaint (miraculously)!

For the longest time, Strategy Battle Game players had to get several sourcebooks to make sure they had all the rules and profiles they needed for their battles.  When we first started a few years ago with GW's Middle-Earth ruleset, many players were confused about how the armies worked.  I'm happy to say - all that has been cleared up!  We won't need a lot of the special White Dwarf profiles to be in our Battles Book (i.e. Lord of the Rings binder), as everything present in the game through all supplements and White Dwarf has been addressed with these sourcebooks!

First, I'll start by answering a few of the common questions.  First, the lists have all been recompiled.  That is, units have been rearranged, and in many cases entire lists have been moved or changed.  Forget Legions of Middle-Earth, that is no longer relevant - except for perhaps a few scenarios not in the new books.  The bow limit is still in effect, but how it is calculated is different, as bows carried by heroes no longer count.

Armies are now organized into "warbands" - that is, a hero and his followers.  Warbands can have up to twelve warriors, so warbands can range from a single hero to thirteen models.  I find that this rule could actually help some players who insist on bringing too many goblins to have a reasonable chance at downing a mighty elf lord without some Might.  This should even things out, meaning both sides should have a lot more heroes than some armies from previous campaigns.

You'll find some of the rules have tweaked here and there.  Some heroes and warriors have new things that apply to them, such as Gildor's strange ability to upgrade Wood Elf Warriors to Noldorin Exiles - strange because Wood Elf Warriors aren't in the same list Gildor is in!  The good news is the allies rules have changed slightly - you can include warbands from any list on your side, Good or Evil!  Dol Guldur might not exist as a list anymore, but I can include Giant Spiders, Castellans of Dol Guldur and Mordor Trolls in an Evil army just by creative use of warbands from different lists.  Oh, don't forget my Spectres and Wild Wargs, please.  I'll just drop those in from the Angmar list...

There is a new set of scenarios present in each book, all the same.  This is one complaint I have, as a lot of space in each of these smallish books is eaten up with the same material.  Yeah, our club has all five, as that's what we needed for our armies.  Each book does have some specific scenarios for each army, and they are pretty interesting.  Scenarios for the Strategy Battle Game are littered all over the entire line, so condensing that for these books could prove pretty harsh for the design team.  Still, I would have liked to have seen a single book of scenarios instead of several pages of the same material, which includes the instructions for building armies according to the warband rules.

Despite that grumble, and the fact that I feel all this could have been contained in one volume (hardcover) for fifty bucks or so - I'm quite happy with the direction the sourcebooks are taking Middle-Earth gaming.  War of the Ring has been the hot topic with GW for the last few years, but we're a desperate holdout - no big battle game for us, we already play Warhammer!  All the neat models that were released for War got rules (eventually) in White Dwarf, but chasing them down proved a hassle and I own every single one since 1997.  Now that everything is recompiled, revamped and made easily accessible to new players, I hope the game itself sees some revitalization this year.

Howl of the Warg begins April 1st!  Our new campaign will take our conflict to even darker locales, as we make the battle for Middle-Earth our own.  Signups for the new campaign will open in the next couple of weeks, so make sure if you're a member of the club to have at least one army in one game for the next campaign season - Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game or Mordheim!  Preferably both, if you're truly a hardened warrior of the 'gate!

Things to Consider About Mordor

Greetings from the Forbidden Zone!

Well, the Mordor RPG game has been going on for about 9 weeks now, and the death toll has been quite high!  We did manage to make it through a whole session without anyone getting killed, so I thought today was a good time to reflect on a few things that make adventuring in the Dark Lands a little bit - trickier, say, than the idyllic forests of the Elf Lands.

As our player characters come and go quickly here, it can be tough to get a bead on how things go.  I've noticed a few things that everyone should remember whilst delving dark secrets in the land of Mordor.

1. Everything is black, even the air.
The land of Mordor is black.  All the rocks are black.  Everyone's clothes are black.  The shadows are blacker than black, but remember - there's a lot of ash and smoke in the air at all times.  Orcs must not live very long, because if violence doesn't take them, the poisonous air of their territory would eventually cause serious problems.

2.  The Food is Scarce
There's only one place in the whole dark land where anything grows - around the Lake Nernen and it's tributaries in the far south.  Amazingly, enough is made there to feed all of Sauron's legions.  However, that doesn't mean they are well supplied.  It's insane how often these resources get misappropriated, though the threat of Sauron's wrath helps make sure everything gets done in a surprisingly orderly fashion.

Out in the field, it can be tough.  Outside of rations appropriated at the Forges, there isn't much out there.  Hunting is not really an option, because nobody wants to eat a giant spider.  Those things are rancid.  In fact, it's much easier to eat a fallen enemy - or in a pinch, a comrade or two.

3. The Water is Poisonous
Like food, water is quite scarce in the dark land.  Any free standing pools of water are probably so acidic the water would likely kill anything foolish enough to consume it.  Most drinkable water comes from underground grottos watched over by jealous taskmasters.  Also, dark terrors sometimes rise from the depths and claim a few lives before being driven off, making those very underground water holes as terrifying as they are treasured.

Lake Nernen provides fresh, drinkable water as well as it's other bounties.  Aside from carrying water from Nernen, it's advisable to make sure there are at least a few days worth of water rations for each orc, though orcs tend to drink noticeably less than men or elves.

4.  Everything and everyone hates you.
Life is rough in the Dark Land.  It's also cheap.  Swords and food are not cheap.  Therefore, you might at any given point be killed for your gear, flaps or maybe just to be eaten by starving orcs.

Everyone is a hater in Mordor.  Orcs kill each other in petty squabbles over trinkets or rights to booty all the time.  In fact, the Uruk-hai at the Forge area must patrol in full battle gear just to make sure the rabble doesn't get out of control, and they'll haul offenders off to toil away at the Forges beneath Mt. Doom.

Great care must be taken by war leaders not to ever show weakness - i.e. getting knocked unconcious, or maimed and nearly killed.  Orcs aren't known for their loyalty, and just a few flaps or the promise of a good chunk of leg can change the course of a promising warlord in a flash.  Look out for yourself, and for your gear.  Coins have a mysterious way of disappearing, along with anything else valuable, in the company of raiders from the east.

5.  The Great Eye is Upon You
There is one thing, and one thing only, that compels orcs to be as orcs.  The Great Eye, Sauron, is alive and well in Mordor.  His spirit is the will that drives the actions of the Nazgul, his undead lieutenants, and marshals the armies of evil against the Free Peoples of Middle-Earth.  His eye is real, and it's looking at you.

Shamans of Sauron's power exist in the orc clans, nearly religious demagogues who give the orcs something to look forward to.  It's sort of like church (of Doom) where Salvation is reached through domination of others.  One thing is driven into the masses - Sauron will not be denied.

Some orcs can feel the Eye more than others, in the way some Men are more spiritual than others.  Most just accept that if they step out of line, someone with a red eye design on their armor will beat them into submission.  No matter how close to their dark deity they feel, one thing is for certain - the light of they Eye can be seen and felt.  For his slaves in Mordor, there is no denying the Dark Lord's presence.  There is no escape from the pressure of his will.

That's enough out of me for today.  The playing the morally bankrupt servants of Mordor in Ruthless Raiders of the East has been an absolute blast!  Middle-Earth is one of our favorite settings, and we have tons left in store for this hapless universe!  Have fun this holiday season, and we'll try to keep the posting regular!

Glorfindel's Blades

 Howdy folks!

It's high time we started some Middle-Earth Project Logs, so here's our first.  These minis are for my Rivendell army (for the Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game by Games Workshop) that I've been collecting for a few years, but haven't gotten around to painting.  I'm horribly slow at this, if you've not picked that up by the infrequency of my own project logs here on the site.

We've had more than a few project logs the past few months that deal with using Army Painters' QuickShade,  but I thought it was time to unveil what is the first project I've truly used it for on my own.  Well, I should say this is the first project I've completed on my own using QuickShade, but I'll show off some of my poor attempts at painting aliens later on.

Glorfindel is my favorite elf.  He's already smote a balrog on the slopes of Gondolin in his previous life, and now back from the Halls of Mandos to lead my force to supremacy in Middle-Earth.  I like Elrond and Erestor, but Glorfindel's always been my first choice for leader.  During this past campaign he really proved his worth many times over, and was the main reason the Enemy's forces retreated so quickly!

These models are painted with various paints from GW and Vallejo, but the true secret is the QuickShade and Anti-Gloss Spray.  These materials alter how the model shows it's colors, and the QuickShade really does wonders on the smaller models.  I'm looking forward to using these products on a variety of projects going forward, especially Flames of War.

The bases are finished to represent Mirkwood, where the battle around Dol Guldur continues to rage.  I used Games Workshops' Glade Grass, some Clump Foliage from Woodland Scenics, and another Army Painter product - Poison Ivy.  Really neat material, and this was my first attempt at using some to break up the monotony of the bases.  Definitely added to the repertoire of neat project materials.

I'll be adding more stuff for Middle-Earth Projects next season!  Until then, prepare your forces for our next Strategy Battle Game campaign!

Return of the Goblin King Campaign Log

Our 2011 Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game campaign has drawn to a close, and Middle-Earth is set for woe...

Return of the Goblin King

A Campaign of Good vs Evil in Middle-Earth

The Encroaching Darkness

It's been quite some time since the darkness has pressed in around the elven lands west of Mordor.  The last time there were stirrings of evil, a ringwraith known as the Goblin King threatened to return to the darkness of Dol Guldur and bring forth the armies of Sauron.  Now that the Wise know of the Necromancer's presence in the Hill of Sorcery, provisions have been made against his return.

Now, it seems those provisions weren't made in vain.

The Goblin King has returned at the head of vast hordes of orcs and evil men who have somehow traversed the darkness of Mordor and have begun raiding the lands to the west.  In the Last Homely House, Elrond of Rivendell has given the order to mobilize.  Those elf-lords who still have the heart to fight have mustered there, and messengers have been dispatched to those folk whom they believe may aid their cause.

Among men, Rangers from Gondor and a few warriors loyal to continued safety of the Riddermark have traveled to the woods near Rivendell and Mirkwood to battle this threat to their spirits.  However, their enemies are many - goblins, orcs and evil men from Harad are counted amongst the forces of evil, and battle will soon be joined.

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The campaign will consist of a round robin for each player.  Each player will fight each enemy team member once during the campaign in a 1 on 1 battle.  

Further, there will be an equal number of 2-player team games.  Each team has been divided into 4 teams, and each team will fight each enemy team once during the campaign in a 2 on 2 battle.

Lastly, there will be two 4 player team events in which the entire team will fight the entire enemy team.

Games will be a random size between 300 and 1000 pts, determined by a d6 roll on the Game Size Table.

All wins, losses and draws will be kept track of per player and per team.  If a players team wins a team game, both players on that team score wins and both players on the defeated team accrue losses.

To win the campaign, a look must be taken at influence.  Campaign influence accrues as you fight battles, and is simply the percentage of victories a given party has.  There are three kinds of influence you can accrue.  They are, in no particular order:

• Personal Player Influence
• 4 Player Team Influence (Good or Evil)
• 2 Player Team Influences (Each player will be involved in 2 of these teams)

Good or Evil Influence at the top tier will determine the campaign victors for the narrative.  The team that has the highest 4 Player Team Influence wins the campaign.  2 Player Team Influences can severely change the narrative, and Personal Player Influence will determine our actual placings for the Wargate Campaign Awards.

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Game Size Table

            d6 Roll             1 player                 2 player                      Team 

              1-2                    300 pts           250 pts each               250 pts each 

              3-4                    500 pts           400 pts each               300 pts each

                5                     750 pts            500 pts each              400 pts each 

                6                     1000 pts          600 pts each              500 pts each     

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Campaign Record

All teams have lost the campaign.  All Influence has been reduced to 0% for all sides!

This means that Middle-Earth remains in the grip of constant fear of war, and the Free Peoples are helpless to do anything about it!  Scouts from Rohan and warriors from Rivendell are powerless to stop orcs and fouler creatures from rampaging past the walls of Mordor!

Likewise, the Dark Lord's armies are stymied.  Unable to convene forces from Rhun and Harad due to the meddling of men and elves, he waits and builds his strength in secret.  Soon, Easterlings and Southrons will attempt to spill into Gondor, but the first portions of the armies have been diverted.

Next year, we'll seal the deal with a fully developed campaign to help direct the points of attack against the Free Peoples of Middle-Earth!

Lord of the Rings: Return of the Goblin King Commences!

Back again to Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game!  It's been almost a year since we closed the last Middle-Earth battle campaign, and this years campaign is going to be ten times as awesome as last years!  Who said that Lord of the Rings is dying off?  Ringwraiths will never die, and to prove that the Wargate's Fall campaign will focus on team games in a way we haven't really explored before!

Continuing the narrative from last year, Rivendell and the lands of the West have been peaceful for many years.  However, a stirring of darkness has issued forth from the East, and a vast and silent army of raiders have slipped into the quiet lands.  The Wise know that the ringwraith approaches, but don't realize the amount of hidden soldiers Dol Guldur has summoned...including a band of Haradrim, who have journeyed to Dol Guldur on a sacred mission of servitude to Sauron.

You can check out the campaign page in the State of Play, now active here on the site.  We'll be updating the Influence track there weekly, so everyone can stay abreast of what's going on in Middle-Earth.  We have around 12 weeks to finish this campaign, and all Influence accrued will be final on that date, so make sure to get as many battles as you can in!

That might be a heroic feat, since we'll be having two huge wargames campaigns going!  Never fear however, as we'll be keeping long hours get those battles in!

Over the last year, we've come to understand that our club likes a certain kind of campaign.  The limit is on time, and a set number of battles will be played to help organize the chaos.  We've found this keeps the campaign rolling, and usually we finish up right before the time limit is crossed.  We'll be keeping in mind the time limit as we create new campaigns, but this campaign will be a good test of how many games we can get in that period of time since it represents one battle each for each opponent combination of players and teams.

Influence (win percentage) is likely a concept we'll be seeing in future campaigns, as it is simple to compute and elegant in representation.  We're trying a few new ways to incorporate Influence as a solid campaign mechanic in this go around, so give us some feedback on how you think it's working as the campaign progresses.

Arrive early on Sunday and get in a battle or two!

Rulebook Ruminations: Lord of the Rings Edition

Howdy!

I thought I'd take a moment to explore a little bit of the structure of the Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game. It's structured a little different than some of our other battle games, so it makes it a prime candidate for a rumination. Rather than reviewing the book as a whole, I'll be going over just a few of the things that really make it stick out from Warhammer. Namely, those things are turn sequence and army building.

On the whole, this ruleset is very simple and elegant. The fight sequence is a simplified version of Warhammer's involving fewer rolls, and terrain is given a treatment that makes each piece a different beast than in our other wargames.

In actual play, the game is a lot more, shall we say...focused? Models fight mano e mano, and multiple combats usually involve no more than three models. It's more like a skirmish game in that respect - armies tend to be a little smaller...though if you're running goblins you might end up with just as many models as your Warhammer 40,000 army!

Players share the same turn. That is, after rolling for priority (who will be going first in each phase), we progress through the turn together. So in turn 1, I get priority over you. The turn sequence is Move, Shoot, Fight. I'll take my moves, then you take your moves. Then we do my shooting, then yours. Finally, we do the fighting (which is resolved at the same time).

Pretty simple, and players of other wargames might even find a familiar ring to this sort of ruleset. Just remember to rotate players phase by phase, rather than turn by turn. In the Goblin King campaign, this was an issue that was misunderstood by a lot of folks.

The second major divergence is in army building. The main rulebook lists a lot of models for different forces, but what are Warhammer players to do who are looking for codified lists? Well, your lists are by and large all contained in Legions of Middle-Earth.

This book lists all the 'tournament' style lists for the Strategy Battle Game. The armies are divided by region, and then by list. For example, the Bastions of the Dark Lord section contains five army lists (Dol Guldur, Cirith Ungol, The Black Gate, Barad-Dur and Minas Morgul). You choose from one of the lists, but each list has plenty of options to ally with other lists. For example, you can get your Minas Tirith force together with some Grey Company or members of The Fellowship. Whatever, really...the lists are really loose and there are a lot of options for making customized forces.

Games Workshop has published several supplemental books to the line over the last decade or so, and while a few of those are basically obsolete (save for a few scenarios and collector's value, of course) only a few of them are worthy of mentioning. Fall of the Necromancer, Harad, Mordor, A Shadow In The East and The Ruin of Arnor are fantastic and actually have lists and statistics for new models. These books come closest to being "codeci" or "army books", though none but the main rulebook is truly nescessary except in a few cases. A lot of the rules for new models gets published in White Dwarf.

We'll be doing another campaign with Lord of the Rings sometime very soon! In the mean time, remember that Middle-Earth is part of the Wargate!

Oh Ringwraith, where art thou?

Elrond's refuge at Rivendell is often called the Last Homely House, so-called due to the fact that it is the last civilized area a traveler to the east is to find before crossing the Misty Mountains into Rhovanion. It is sometimes also called the First Homely House, for travelers coming into the West. It is also home to a great many elves of many different houses. Elrond Halfelven himself could reasonably claim lineage from all three houses in Middle-Earth.

The elves of Rivendell, along with their allies the Rangers of Gondor and the Riders of Rohan, have completely defeated the Nazgul known as the 'Goblin King' during his encroachments upon their domains! The campaign was won with a Total Rivendell Victory!

In fact, there was little damage done by the marauders. Orcs from Mordor rampaged through the woods near Dol Guldur, but were met and turned away by warriors from Rivendell. The men of Gondor and Rohan were warned of danger, but the Haradrim and Easterlings either turned from their course or fell to natural hazards. In the end, there was little bloodshed...and all is now quiet. The so-called 'Goblin King' is nowhere to be seen...and may never have even existed!

However, the victory is a hollow one. The turnout on this campaign was less than optimal...so much that we've instated a few new rules to handle campaigns going forward.

The Wargate's Universal Campaign Rules, version 1.0

1. Please do not join the campaign unless you mean to play!
2. Make arrangements with your opponent and set a date to play! This will be done following all campaign games and be mediated by the campaign manager.
3. If a date is set and one party arrives while the other does not, that party that is present is the winner of the campaign game through the other party's forfeiture.
4. Exceptions can be made for absences involving extenuating circumstances. Exceptions will not usually be made in the interest of keeping players playing and the campaign rolling.
5. If one party has forfeited two-thirds or more of scheduled games, the campaign is over and the non-forfeiting party is declared winner by maximum condition, i.e. Total Victory. You have to fight to win a war.

This short list of rules is designed to keep our games rolling forward, and not get mired down in a massive amount of reschedules or delays like some of our other campaigns. Moving forward, we'd like to see a minimal amount of reschedules and absolutely NO forfeitures on anyone's part.

I also want to encourage everyone to DEMAND forfeitures for opponents who do not bring an army to battle! If your opponent does not have a good enough excuse (like he wants to trip shrooms with some pin-up girls instead of do battle) do what the Lords of Old would have done.

Declare yourself the winner and help yourself to the spoils of his lands (or the conditions of victory in that scenario)!