Back for a new year and as a running tradition for me I attended Into The West. One of the only tournaments I get the free time to attend anymore, but still a lot of fun and great to still see some old faces and meet some new ones. This year was the fifth anniversary of the event as was also the largest turnout ever at 50 (ish) players. It was great to play some Lord of the Rings again and this year I went with both my
Last Alliance and
Angmar armies intending to swap between the two as the weekend went on.
That's the pre-amble, lets get into the games!
Game 1 Sean - Isengard
My first match against Isengard, mostly scouts and warg riders, with few heavy hitters for good measure. The objective was to capture the relic in the centre of the table and then escape off the opposing board edge. I thought, Sean had me here due to cavalry giving him the speed to claim the objective early, but we'd see.
The Uruks advanced from the right corner of the board, the wargs from the left. I didn't have time to wait, so I moved everything up towards the centre as quick as I could.
I one turn to hold back Sean's charge. I used the Numenorians as a screen so Elrond could grab the relic. I figured once I had it in hand, Sean's Uruks would struggle to take it from me, but I still had to fight my way into the open.
The Wargs hit the line hard, but Isildur proved their better, breaking free and taking the fight to them.
With the men of Numenor holding back the Uruks on the right, Elrond used Natures Wrath to devastating effect and broke through on the left flank. I had my opening...
Lurtz would not be denied. Carving his way past the Numenorian shield wall, the Uruk leader barreled into Elrond at full force. This fight lasted for ages whilst Sean set about trying to collapse the rest of my army.
In the end, Elrond couldn't defeat Lurtz in their duel and bolted for the trees, still carrying the relic. The human survivors reformed their shattered lines one last time.
A great start for my first game and Sean was a truly gracious opponent. always laughing, despite some shocking dice. In the end I'd scored a solid win to the goodies.
Game 2 Sam - Isengard
Another horde of Uruk-hai and warg riders, this time I thought to recreate my success, but Sam had a slight difference that I had over looked.
for this mission, we were aiming to keep certain heroes alive, whilst actively hunting others. Sam took Ugluk (my target to kill) and ran him to safety over the far side of the field. Due to my small numbers, I couldn't split my force. I had to draw my line in the sand and hold.
Sam held his main lines just out of reach, using the time to bring in his second flank an surround me, that's when things when south. Sam's army looked similar to my previous game, but there were no scouts. I was fighting fully kitted Uruk-hai and my army just couldn't get through the heavy armour. every attack I made bounced and those that were successful were a drop in the bucket compared to the casualties I was taking.
In the end, Sam took the win and rightly so. A well played game and an interesting mission to deal with.
Game 3 Sean - Mordor
Next game saw me take on Gothmog's Legion in open combat. No finesse in this mission, most wounds caused, wins!
I set my force in two sections, archers to the right, Numenorians to the left. Elrond took the centre and Isildur held the left flank. I hoped to whittle down the orc advance as they came through the trees, but the drummer sounded the marching beat and the Orc forces cleared the woods far quicker than I'd have liked.
When the battle lines met it came down to the Heroes. Every attempt to break out or reset the line was countered with Gothmog's mastery of battle. In the end it came down to solid grinding. Both Isildur and Elrond had to cleave a path through the orcs to rebuild the battle line whist the remaining Numenorians simply held out for a chance to regroup.
In the end, luck favoured me and I was granted my chance to regroup. Elrond and Isildur had held the line long enough to break the orc army and in turn had won me a narrow victory. Fair play to Sean he had everything going his way, but the dice turned on him at the worst moment.
Game 4 Simon - Denizens of Mirkwood
This was an interesting mission. Points were scored for breaking the enemy army and killing the general, but the game would play at night. This cut my shooting down to one or two turns max, less if Simon had anything to do with it. A horde of gribbley giant spiders and swarms of bats, with only a single chance to shoot anything? This was going to be interesting.
Simon used the spiders' speed to get the charge, but the Numenorian shield wall held whilst Isildur and Elrond went on a killing spree.
Every effort to slow the heroes down was met with sword a stack of dead spiders.
Elrond squared off against the spider queen, slaying the beast single handed. after that, the spiders had had enough and fled the field.
Simon was not having any luck this game. his force had the tools to tear me apart, but everything slipped away with bad dice and near unstoppable heroes.
Game 5 Dan - Last Alliance
Into day 2 and I had yet to put my Angmar army on the table, so for the second day of the tournament, I put the Last Alliance back in the box and dug out the ghosts and orcs. My first game of the day was against the very army I had just packed up, so I was well informed of what was coming.
The combined actions of the Witch King and the specters drew Isildur from his lines, leaving him alone in front of a horde of raging orcs. The chilling presence of the shade blunted Isildur's attempts to defend himself and he was unhorsed in the scrum. The Numenorians were quick to rally to their king's side, but it was no longer an organised charge.
Warg riders had ran up the flank, claiming objectives as they past, before attacking the unsupported elves.
It was Ciridan's magic that was holding the line, but for how long?
The lines scattered and the Elven mage left exhausted and surrounded saw the forces of the Witch King take a complete victory.
Poor Dan, he had a great plan and all he needed but it wasn't to be. Early on in the game a single warg rider on the far right flank held against a pair of Rivendell Knights, before killing them both and proceeding to capture three objectives uncontested. The rest of Dan's army was either stuck fighting the Angmar front lines or were being dragged about by the specters.
Game 6 Iestyn - Rohan
I don't like taking on cavalry armies without some shooting to whittle them down first, but my Angmar armyhad nothing. I would have to take the full charge and hope that terror and the Shade's chilling aura was enough to hold the line.
I knew i wanted to draw the Rohan lines in a bit at a time, but I worked hard to drag Durnhelm out of formation and chip a few wounds off.
This was quickly followed by the rest of the Rohan army under their own steam. After the initial hit, combat became a free-for-all with only the Witch King holding back to cripple the Rohan leaders with magic. In a final attempt to break the dead lock, Theoden cried "DEATH!" and plunged into combat for the last time. What should have been Rohan's golden moment ended in tragedy as both Theoden and Durnhelm were cut down.
Gamlin held the banner aloft for as long as he could, but the horrors before him was too much. In the end the Rohan army was a single brave soul standing against the With King and his minions.
Iestyn did everything he could get the charges he needed, but his dice failed him time and again. He was a super guy to play and I really enjoyed playing him.
Game7 Adam - Corsairs
Final game and I had some how ended up on one of the top ten tables. I was ready to give my best, but truth be told, this high up, I was well prepared to get kicked down to the bottom tables where I belonged. Enter Adam, with a LOT of crossbows and a board with a huge open corridor running down the length. This was going to hurt.
Adam's army had no reason to advance on me, forcing my army to advance up the left flank using a hill for cover against the massed crossbows. As I finally got within charging distance, The corsair crossbowmen swapped out there crossbows for AK47s and proceeded to mow down my orcs with ease. I was horrified. I seemed karma was paying me back for my last two games worth of luck.
Even in combat, my fortune didn't improve as the corsairs carved bloody ruin through my lines and broke the army without losing more than a handful of troops in return.
The game came to a quick end when a last ditch assassination attempt made by the Witch King backfired and saw the Ringwraith killed out right. We called it there.
Adam had utterly smashed me off the table, but by no means had he made a big deal over it. He well earned his final win of the weekend and my punishment for climbing the rankings was long over due.
Two days and seven games later, Into The West 2020 wraps up. Another great event this year, a lot of cool armies and talented players gracing Cardiff, some for the first time. As always I had fun and probably did better in day 2 than I should have. I've a year to plan for the next event, not sure what army I'll take, but this time I'll try and get something done before the Xmas 2020 rush starts.
Thanks to my opponents, the rest of the attendees and of course the organizers for another cracking show.
