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Wednesday, June 22, 2016

Some Quick and Easy Terrain

I decided I needed some more "rough" terrain and knocked these out over a weekend.  The bushes are from JTT Scenary Products which retail at Hobby Lobby (in the USA) for $9.99 - but with that 40% off week coupon . . . They are the "Detachable Wheat Bushes" product #95579 and have 30 in the pack.  The height of the bushes are 3/8" or .95 cm.  Plywood also purchased from Hobby Lobby for about $3.00.

 Detach and randomly place with white glue.  Rocks are from my garden path.

 I used several of my figures to double check that I was spacing the bushes correctly.

  . . . and the glue has dried.  Huzzah!


 Now for the sand . . . globs of glue.

 Spread it out with water on an old brush . . .
 Dip it in the sand bin.


 Once the sand is dry I always add another layer of glue on top.


 Completed bases though they look a bit bare.  I think I will add some more static grass or other fluff.

Sunday, June 19, 2016

Save the Hobbits! Part 2 and the Conclusion

. . . the Hobbits have been rescued - but there still are some orcs and an evil wizard loose.

 Now that the hobbits are safe, a reduced The Three Hunters holds off Oggugat's Awesome Orcs.

 Come on!  We can take the ranger!
 Saruman encourages his forces to break through and seize the hobbits.
 Eomer is distracted and the Uruk-Hai rally and are back in the fray.
 The Elite Infantry special rule of Ranger allows the Uruk-Hai to hack down the horsemen in rough terrain. Eomer is slain!
 Huzzah!  We got them back!
 It doesn't look good as the reduced forces of good try to pull victory out of the jaws of defeat.
 A desperate back and forth struggle between a weakened Three Hunters and what's left of the fearsome Uruk-Hai.

 The mighty heroes are forced back as the Uruk-hai howl in triumph.  The Three Hunters will then fail their Courage test.

 The riders approach again with their last troop of a cavalry.
 "Hey!  Remember us?  We are the Archers of Gondor and we are finally going to get into the fight!"

 Run!!!
 Dang it.  Fireball.
 Run away!!! (Sigh)
 Charge!!!




 The Riders are forced back but they move to block the exit.  

 Tah Dah!  Shoot them from behind!  The Archers of Gondor finally make their presence known!

 Good shooting chaps as the Uruk-Hai go down in a arrow storm.


 Escorting the hobbits to safety.
 Surprise! Oggugat's Awesome Orcs launch a last desperate attack!


 In a mutually self - destructive melee, both the Riders and Oggugat's Awesome Orcs are eliminated.

This is probably a good time in the narrative to point out that virtually every unit on the tabletop was either destroyed or extremely reduced; yet both sides kept fighting on.  In rolling for courage tests, never have so many "12's" and "11"s" have been rolled in the annals that kept units fighting to the last man.  And that's the beauty of this game - that added to the "narrative"; the desperate nature of rescuing or keeping the hobbits.
But now we had an issue; with no units to "escort" the hobbits, what were the hobbits supposed to do?  In an amazing display of flexibility and awesome gamesmanship, we decided that the hobbits would get a free Move every turn in an attempt to escape.  Hobbits are darn hard to spot, and in addition we decided to give them Invisibility since they obviously were wearing their elvish cloaks.


 We made it!  Dang it. Where are the hobbits?
 BWAH HAH HAH!
 Ready . . . aim . . . fire!!!
 Hi. We are the hobbits. We just wanted to mention that no actual evil wizards were hurt in the playing of this game.
 Saruman does his impersonation of a pin cushion.
Huzzah!

Okay.  The hobbits escaped.  Now let's figure out who won this exciting game of adventure and daring.

Hobbits are rescued and on their way:  5 points for the Men of the West.

The Forces of Evil (BWAH HAH HAH) Quests:

1.  The gods have listened.  3 points go to Saruman.
2.  Smite their champion. 2 points for eliminating the Three Hunters.
3.  Their aim will be poor. -1 point for the bad guys.

The Men of the West Quests:

1. I will destroy more units than I lose. 2 points to the Forces of Good.
2. Every blade will be drawn.  -1 point.
3. Our missiles will rain down upon them. 1 point (Huzzah!).

Final Tally:  Men of the West 8, Forces of Evil (BWAH HAH HAH), 4.

A close game and fun was had by all.

Now that the hobbits are safe, what could possibly go wrong?