Dwarf Battle Company Stuff

Today is just some battle company shot of dwarves =)

Here is my starting battle company for my "normal" dwarves. Boggle with his massive shield is the leader, Brynmor with his shovel is second in command and Bluey (the archer with red hair) is the third in command. Joining them are Rocky (two handed standing on a rock), Hornstriker (with the radioactive shield) and Loki Longshot with the bow.

These dwarves are great for a battle company, especially near the start as they have good defence and strength 3 bows. However, they are slow and miss out on cavalry, so some missions are harder than others.

Here's the battle company I made for my son, it's Thorin Oakenshield (the old Balin model, but I've added a piece of wood from the garden to his non-axe arm for a shield) and they're all wearing the colours that are indicated in the book (including Dwalin's blue beard!). It's not a proper out of the book battle company because they're rangers, but Thorin is a warrior and, of course, they have a hobbit =) My son likes the brighter colours and boy, the throwing axes are just nuts in battle companies! All of the heroes are given throwing axes and against some low defence armies in particular they can just be devastating given the low model count of battle companies.

I haven't unlocked any Iron Guard yet, but I've got the models ready to go! I plan on using the King's Champion model for any Iron Guard that become heroes in the making. Strength 4 with 2 attacks, defence 6 and throwing axes! Yes please! 

I've unlocked one Vault Warden team, we decided that they counted as two individuals, the spear guy worth 10 points and the shield guy worth 15 points (to keep the 25 total points). Defence 9 in battle companies is just nuts, and getting a spear in a dwarven battle company can be really useful. I'm not convinced of their use in battle companies yet, it's a lot of points for slow moving, low attack models, but they're strength 4 and high defence, so we'll wait and see how they go. 

The other guys I haven't got any of yet are the Khazad Guard. Automatically passing courage tests while the hero they're bodyguarding is alive when that hero is a dwarf hero with a shield is pretty fun, I reckon! Strength 4, defence 7 looks good too (particularly against pesky armies with strength 2 bows). Also, I love the models =) 

So those are some of the miniatures I'm hoping will hit the table with a bit more levelling up of my companies! Would love to hear any comments from more experienced players as to which options tend to work out better in the long run!

Etako's Expeditionaries Battle Company - Narrative Mission 2 Battle Report

After being beaten several times by The Falcon and the Harad group, Etako's band is hot on his heels, but get lost wandering through Mirkwood. Finally in a clearing they stop to rest and then notice eyes peering out from behind web-shrouded trees. Uh oh.

Seeing how close a match it was for my brother I was quite despairing of this mission, I don't have cavalry and my high defense isn't as good against the strength 5 spiders, especially if they web me up! So it was with heavy heart that we set up the board for me, fortunately I have healing herbs still saved up, so hopefully there won't be too much mess afterwards!

Round 1. Byrnmor charges with Boggle at the purple spider, win the fight and they each score a wound against it, slaying spider number 1! Only a bazillion to go! I really wish I had horses to charge with!

Both archers let fly, Loki scores a hit on the green spider, which leads a pack of giant hairy legged creatures towards the stalwart dwarves.

Round 2. I forgot to take a photo! Brynmor killed the already bow-shot green spider and Loki shot and wounded the yellow spider.

Round 3. Boggle attacks the purple spider, who wins the combat (Boggle rolled double ones!) and wounds the dwarf twice (even though he has Heavy Dwarf Armour AND a shield! His fate saves one of the wounds so he fights on!

Hilda hunkers behind the massive Iron Shield and deflects the orange spider while Kara stabs past with her spear and wounds the monstrosity!

Etako charges in and uses his iron fist to pummel the yellow spider into a gooey patch. But not before it paralyses Loki!

Round 4. The green spider rushes in, paralysing Mighty Monty then taking him out of the game! The first casualty! The yellow spider spits web and paralyses Skodi!

Brynmor and Boggle team up to take out the purple spider while Etako uses a point of might to kill the orange spider after he, Kara and Hilda roll terribly!

Round 5. Boggle uses a point of will to overcome his failed courage tests and charges towards the green spider in an effort to help the poor, paralysed Skodi. His throwing axe thwacks into the spider and he and Rocky take it out a moment later. Unfortunately Skodi falls beneath the chittering yellow spider, unable to do anything while covered in sticky webs!

The rest of the troop rally around Loki, who has been paralysed for some time and clear the webs from him!

Round 6. At the start of round 6 calamity strikes! the purple spider kills both Hilda Greatshield and Archie, rolling four 6s in a row! The dwarves are falling rapidly as the spiders seem to only roll 5s and 6s! As a matter of fact, my brother swapped dice to try and save the dwarves!

Loki draws and shoots, hitting and wounding the oncoming green spider. Boggle and Rocky together take out the yellow spider. Brynmor and Etako use a point of might to take out the orange spider.

Round 7. By this stage I was tempted to run for the edge to escape rolling on the injury table! But the spiders are way faster than me! 

Boggle uses a throwing axe as he charges in at the orange spider and wounds it, then Etako joins him in combat. The spider wins the combat and kills Boggle (dwarves rolled all ones, spider rolled a 6 to wound!)

Fortunately Loki kills the green spider in close combat, showing that he is quite a skilled dwarf!

Unfortunately the purple spider overwhelms Brynmor and Kara Longspear and kills Brynmor!

Round 8. Only four dwarves are left standing! Kara and Rocky take on the purple spider, who beats them back and kills Kara Longspear!

Meanwhile Etako and Loki attack the orange spider, win the combat and somehow manage to fail to wound it - even only needing 4+!

It's not looking good, the dwarves need two alive at the end of the game to win and there's only three of them left!

Round 9. Fortunately for the game, unfortunately for Rocky, three spiders are close to him so charge in and completely overwhelm him on his first ever game! However, his bravery is recognised by Etako and Loki who take out the orange spider.

And then the elves arrive, saving Etako and Loki from certain doom and helping disentangle the other fallen dwarves!

It's victory, but at what cost!?!?

Actually we get off fairly lightly, Rocky, poor brave dwarf, is injured and will miss the next game. But the worst of it is that Boggle gets an arm wound and can no longer use a shield - even though that's his whole, you know, thing! As a dwarf, not being able to use any two handed things is pretty rough!

However, all those dead spiders make for quite a lot of experience and my rolls for rewards were pretty amazing so let me go through Etako's Expeditionaries now...

Etako Ironfist, a warrior with Heavy Dwarf Armour, a two handed axe and throwing axes, with fight 5, 2 wounds, Furious Charge and Parry
Brynmor Deepminer, a warrior with Heavy Dwarf Armour, a two handed shovel and throwing axes with fight 5, strength 4 and 2 wounds.
Boggle Bootmire, a warrior with Heavy Dwarf Armour, an axe and throwing axes, fight 5, Blademaster and Furious Charge and suffering from an Arm Wound.
Skodi Strongarm, a warrior with axe and shield.
Loki Lightfingers, a ranger with a dwarf bow.
Archie Longsight, a hero in the making warrior with dwarf bow.
Mighty Monty, a warrior with axe and shield.
Definat Diva, a warrior with axe and shield.
Hilda Greatshield, an Iron Shield.
Kara Longspear, a Foe Spear.
Rocky, a warrior with two handed axe.
and the newcomers...
Yet to be named Mirkwood Ranger who was so impressed by the dwarves that he/she has joined their team.
Yet to be named Iron Guard!

So it's a pretty cool squad now of 13 (there's a maximum of 15, so hopefully will still get some more cool guys, would really like a Khazad Guard =)

Anyway, that was quite a tough battle! Next time it'll be back to versus games against the Harad force!

Dwarf Army - Warband Edition

As has been noted, the new rules (actually, even the not so new rules, but waaaaaay back when there wasn't a warband structure so I'm slow to change!) are based on leaders with warbands of varying sizes.

So my son chose warbands for the leaders and we realised that I'm short a few captains for this type of army.

I may be missing something, but there doesn't appear to be a dwarf leader for rangers or archers so there are a few mixed bands there.

Feel free NOT to click to see larger pics this time, the close range shots aren't always pretty! You can see (hopefully) which dwarves I spent more time painting than others, also a skill level increase, oh, and just the ones that are better since washes were introduced!

Here's the dwarves in their warbands (you may need to click to see this at proper size as it's quite wide).

Durin with a lot of Khazad Guard, a banner, some Iron Guard and some Vault Wardens. As High King he has a powerhouse of a warband!

Etako is my special character/king so he gets a big warband too, though not as impressive as Durin's, of course. My son decided that all of the important dwarves should have at least two Khazad Guard accompanying them, so you'll notice behind each main leader there will be some Khazads. I think it's a nice touch.

The King's Champion band is smaller, with a mix of melee troops. I kept all my archers to two warbands rather than scattering them.

Boggle, the shieldbearer, has a squad of throwing axe rangers as they'll probably be rushing around to protect leaders.

One King/Captain has his two Khazad Guards and ten archers. I actually did a bit of fairly intricate work on painting this guy, there's some freehand on the bottom of his cloak etc. I don't think I have the eyesight to do that anymore!

Another King/Captain has the same set of troops.

And finally, Brynmor has a squad of two Khazads, a Vault Warden team, some shields and some 2-Handed guys. A multi-purpose squad. As long as the purposes involve closing with the enemy and chopping at them.

So there you go, I need another couple captains to get all my dwarf minis on the table. Not sure what to do about that at the moment. Not that we're likely to ever get them all on at once anyway! Still. Have to think about what to do. GW prices are a bit nuts, so might have to hit eBay and hope for a cheap dwarf miniature!

Dwarf Armies

So my son and I got out all my dwarf miniatures to see how many there were now that I've completed the King's Champion.

We arranged them according to type so that I could see them a bit more clearly (with some creative license thrown in to keep things at aleast a little interesting for a 7 year old).

There are:
Balin (who we call Etako).
Dain (who we often call Durin).
2 Dwarf Kings (We often use as captains).
Brynmor (Captain).
Boggle (Shieldbearer).
King's Champion.
14 Warriors with shield
10 Warriors with 2-H weapons
20 Warriors with bows
2 Warriors with banners
8 Rangers with throwing axes
8 Rangers with 2-H weapons
8 Rangers with bows
6 Iron Guards
5 Vault Warden teams
20 Khazad Guards

Click on the pics for bigger sizes as always!

Here are the Vault Wardens and Dain/Durin

Etako with some other Kings and the King's Champion

Some more of the previous, showing some of the line of Iron and Khazad Guard

The back section shows some of the shielded dwarves, warriors and rangers.

Continuing along you can see the main body of axes

Here on the other side are more shields and bows in the back row.

And lastly a sort of side shot to show off the new banners =)

So there you go, roughly 1700 points depending on some of the options for the Kings etc. I know there are bigger armies out there, but I quite like how you can just paint and paint for a while and then put them all together to look pretty cool =)

Next up I need to finish painting some goblin prowler conversions and then do the same for my goblin army!

Battle Report - Take the Hill - Dwarves vs Goblins

Battle Report - Take the Hill - Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game - Dwarves vs Goblins.

Okay, this is a big one. Stickyfingersss at The One Ring was the first person to post about the Oasis song titles in the previous battle report so I figured he should get some reward for encouraging my poor attempt at jokes. I asked if he had a request for a battle and he did - a big dwarves vs goblins fight with lots of terrain.

So that's what we set out to do. With warbands I am limited to not getting all my dwarves out (I need to get some more leaders) but I could come up with 1425 points (I thought it was only 1300 points, but then I remembered a giant eagle =)

I have to apologise for the photos, they're still pretty good, but I wasn't using my normal camera and wasn't 100% sure what I was doing with the stand-in camera. In any case, get yourself a drink and settle in for about 75 odd pictures!

We decided to play the battle for the hill. Victory points for having men on top of the hill when the game ends. It ends when one side breaks and a 1 or 2 is rolled. The catch - it's super gusty with wind and if priority is rolled and is a tie the winds gust up a lot. No archery that turn and (we included the old rule) all figures on the hill are blown to the ground! So much fun!

Anyway, on with the show...

Some of the caverns below the surface of Middle Earth are massive, this one is no exception. A sink-hole really, it is like a huge bubble just underground. It meets the surface at a roughly circular hole that allows a single shaft of light to pierce down into the cave. The light shines on the tomb of a particularly noble dwarf, Etako V. Buried with a rare Lavastone that had been mined far deeper, the jewel has been calling for centuries now, calling in a language inaudible to dwarven, human or elven ear, but compelling to those ears of a darker, more sinister nature.

Barukshathur the great eagle had flown down through the sinkhole to notice a new eruption of lava on the cavern floor. Sensing a great evil awakening he took flight and gave Etako VII the news. Combining forces with Brynmor, Boggle and three other dwarven kings, Thrar, Skodi and Rorin they reach the hill in darkness. A heart-stopping drumbeat starts up and suddenly the dwarves notice that they are beset upon by a legion of goblins, and something more ancient and far more terrifying!

Thanks to the new system, rather than having to slog for five turns to get to the center, most of our warbands started off there already! Straight into the action!


On the hilltop Brynmor with vault wardens and two goblin warbands, led by Mur'baj and Varnik.

Durburz, goblin king, drums and Shar'lok (the shaman) are just to the east of the hill.

Etako and his khazad guard are to the north of the hill vs Lurnik the goblin captain and his band.

Thrar, dwarven king, and his band of rangers steel themselves in the face of...

A balrog, giant spiders and a swarm of giant bats.

Board overview before the game starts... North is to the top, hill is in the centre, south is down where the Balrog is. You can see (or maybe not) two groups of 12 archers each (Kar'cha and Nar'po leading) on the eastern goblin side and in the ruined building near the eagle on the western side is a group of 12 dwarven archers led by Rorin. Skodi leads a group of Khazad guard on the southern flank of the hill. Boggle (shieldbearer) leads a group of shielded dwarves and Iron Guard just to the west of the hill.

Turn 1 priority goblins. 


In a hail of arrows, no fewer than twenty six goblin arrows are launched every turn from the volleying goblins. This turn a single dwarven ranger falls. In retaliation the dwarven warrior archers unleash a volley of their own, half as many arrows, but still they bring down a goblin spear bearer.


On the top of the hill the melee is entered into without delay! Brynmor uses his might in an effort to slay the goblin captain, Jornik, but his shovel clangs from the goblin shield, leaving the green skin shaken but unharmed. 


A dwarven warrior with shield dodges aside as a goblin sword thrusts at him, then he ducks under the spearthrust and hews his axe down into goblin flesh, spilling the first blood on the hill. 


As the Vault Wardens stoically block attack after attack, one goblin trips over his backup spear, tumbles forward, lets go of his sword... only to have the sword tip lance through the small slit in a Vault Warden shield and slay the surprised dwarf beyond! (so many 6s in a row!)

North: Etako swings forward with his axe, causing the goblin captain, Lurnik, to dodge back, then as the goblin swings his own blade forward his head is met by the massive uppercut of the Ironfist Gauntlet. Although the captain uses all his might and calls upon all his luck, nothing can save his brains from being splattered all over the ground.


The slippery mess of goblin brain makes this fight deadly dangerous, a goblin falls to the massive swing of a two handed axe in the expert hands of a Khazad Guard, but a noble dwarven warrior slips and is savaged by a goblin warrior and his spear support.

South: Skodi faces off against Varnik, it's no contest really, the goblin captain's shield is battered aside by the mighty dwarf and his two handed axe, the massive blow breaking several goblin ribs. The snapping sound of his captain's wound causes a momentary fear in the goblin fighting next to him, just the opening a stalwart Khazad Guard needs to chop the legs our from under him and bury a massive axe in the goblin's chest.

Balrog Advance...


As the Balrog and his monstrous entourage approach, throwing axes and arrows flit through the air. By some amazing dwarven skill, three axes smack into the huge evil creature and flames spurt through the air as three wounds are inflicted! The roar emanating from the balrog is heard and felt throughout the cavern.

Back up on the hill, hearing the shouts from their fellow rangers about their axe-throwing prowess, the Iron Guard pull back their own muscular arms and let fly, slaying two goblins near the tomb, including the spear support for a goblin that had leapt around the back of a Vault Warden team. The massive Vault Warden spear skewers the goblin, who had been expecting the help from his spear support only to slip in the blood splattered from the throwing axe wound.

Turn 2, priority goblins, the Balrog advances, while giant spiders spread out and skitter, leaping effortlessly among the rocky crags to engage dwarven rangers. A flock of giant bats hurls itself at the dwarven king, Thrar.

Turn 2 sees battle all over the hill, Barukshathur stands out above the ruins, feathers catching rays of light from far above.

In the north, Etako and his dwarves are hard pressed by the goblins and amidst the fierce battle the ring of metal on metal is loud. Shields and armour holds against all attacks, save for one goblin who falls to a Khazad Guard's enormous axe.

Barukshathur soars over the top of the northern melee to land and engage a few goblin stragglers, but their nimbleness keeps them safe from his razor sharp talons and beak... for now.

Atop the hill there is a similar brawl happening, with no blood spilt. Brynmor hacks viciously at the goblin captain, Jornik, who calls on all the mighty manoeuvres and lucky stars he has to remain, somehow, alive.

Four goblin archers have perched themselves on the hill and somehow manage to send black shafts into the lightly armoured (relatively) body of an Iron Guard. The goblins on this western side of the hill take heart and outperform themselves under the eyes of Mur'baj their leader, two more dwarves falling to rusty goblin weapons.

The southern melee is similarly bloodless, the cavern echoing with the ring of many parry attempts and shield blocks this turn. Only far down near the lava is any real blood spilt, the balrog, enraged at the throwing axe wounds, which still spurt small streams of fire, slaughters two rangers, trampling them with steam rising from their corpses. The spiders fare not so well, one falling and two others being wounded. The bats do their job, confounding Thrar and stopping him from helping in the battle against the balrog.

 Turn 3 started with some awesome goblin shooting, the goblin archers kill four dwarves! The balrog lost its fight, but there were no wounds. Thrar hit the bats for two wounds, scything through the thin membranous wings with ease. The green spider is defeated, and the carcass is kicked into the lava, disappearing with a flash of flame that momentarily blinds the other combatants, no further wounds are caused in this area.

Turn 3 atop the hill Jornik with his spear support manages to overwhelm Brynmor's defence for long enough to stab the mithril-clad dwarf in a weak joint, luck eludes the dwarf and the stab hits deep, drawing out a gush of blood. Goblins have crawled all over the tomb and around the back of the dwarven warband, splitting up vault warden teams. The chaos leads to another vault warden shield going down, to a stab in the back. Three other goblins fall to a mixture of throwing axes and sharp dwarven steel.

In the south Varnik dies, a Khazad Guard lopping the goblin captain's head clean off. Skodi uses a mighty strike to slay a goblin while next to him a lucky goblin pair manage to infiltrate a Khazad Guard's defences and slay him with a serrated goblin spear.

Here you can see the three arrow covered dwarven corpses amidst the ruined building, no more volley firing for the dwarves!

Turn 4 begins with goblin priority again! The balrog slaying three brave dwarves, immolating their charred corpses amidst the flaring lava flows. Thrar is continually plagued by the bats, but manages to kill another off, leaving one flying rat remaining.

Durburz, the goblin king assaults Brynmor as the hill is well and truly being overrun by the green-skinned goblins, dwarves are being pushed back all over the hill and the banner itself is under attack. Brynmor, sensing that the tide of battle is flowing the wrong way, lets out a mighty roar and redoubles his assault, battering back the goblin king, Jornik and their attendant spear wielding goblins and goes on to bury Lemya in Jornik's chest, knocking the wind from him and cracking several ribs. The rest of the battle on the hill flows with little blood shed as the cavern air goes unnaturally still.

To the north, Barukshathur is beset by seven goblins, all eager to add giant eagle feathers to their outfits. The great eagle is too skilled to fall to mere goblins, however and scythes through them, scattering them back and slaying one with a slash of a talon. 

In the south, Skodi racks up another goblin kill, and another dies to a two handed axe next to him, though a Khazad guard falls to a concerted goblin assault.

The orange backed spider is hacked to pieces, chitin flying through the air as rangers use their axes against it. The yellow backed spider, poison dribbling from its fangs, pounces atop two rangers, wrapping them in silken bonds to digest later before it moves on towards a new target.

On the western edge of the hill, Boggle and his troops begin to feel concern as the hill looks more and more full of goblins, including one impudent warrior standing atop the revered tomb!

At the end of turn 4 we were both ready to hand the game over to the goblins, but also wanted to see just how much they'd win by, so we played on.

Turn 5, two dwarven rangers manage to hold off the balrog, fending the massive blows off with their weapons and quick reflexes, diving to avoid the flaming whip and dodging to get out of the way of the sword. The yellow spider faces off against another plucky ranger, who manages to block the many legs of the massive, poisonous beast. 

Thrar finally defeats the last bat, leaving him ready next turn to get back into the main fight.

I may not have mentioned it until now, but on turn five, after the cavern's unnatural stillness, a mighty cyclonic blast of wind spirals down from the surface (priority tie). All stand still for a moment...

Before the massive winds buffet all atop the hill to sprawl on the ground. The dwarves pull themselves together first (for the first time in the game the dwarves get priority).

With dazzling aerial maneuvering, Barukshathur flies over the goblins who had been attacking it and swipes down atop Shar'lok the shaman, picking the goblin up... and up... and up... and dropping him to fall screaming down with a splat on the hard rocks. 

Brynmor and Durburz both call heroic moves to try and get to their feet first... the tiebreaker goes to Brynmor who sweeps up to his feet first to plant a good thwacking on the goblin king, but not heavily enough to draw any blood. 

Etako uses a mighty left hook with the Ironfist Gauntlet to smash another goblin, sending the body flying backwards, lifelessly. 

At the end of the turn the casualties on both sides are starting to mount ever higher (you can see them on the side of the table) there are roughly equal numbers on both sides, which is bad news for the less numerous dwarven army.

  Turn 6, priority goblin (five turns out of six now). The balrog sweeps over the two rangers, their hectic struggle ends in flames and blood. The yellow backed spider overwhelms the ranger it was facing, mandibles clicking in eager feasting. 

Thrar smashes the brown spider to a pulp, wishing he could clean his weapon of the green ichor dripping from it. 

The dwarves suffer greatly on the hilltop. With goblins swarming everywhere, more dwarves die around the hero Brynmor... who roars defiance at his assailants, Durburz, Jornik and four other goblins pile into the dwarf, who cannot save himself among the green tide and falls with numerous stab wounds. The hill essentially belongs to the goblins!

Heedless of the casualties mounting on the battlefield Etako's Ironfist shatters into lifelessness yet another goblin, though his stalwart right hand dwarf falls to a goblin spear.

Atop the hill all is not completely lost, the vault wardens fight back, two goblins dying to well kept weaponry.

On the western hill, however, goblin archers are taking their toll, three dwarves dying with arrows piercing their bodies.

At the end of turn 6 the dwarves are broken, but the game continues nonetheless. I really appreciate the sportsmanship of my brother. We play for fun and for the story and adventure of it all, so even when the battle is one-sided we still really enjoy ourselves! I hope you out there reading this are as lucky as I am in your opponents!

Turn 7, priority goes to the goblins (AGAIN!?!) The yellow spider is wounded, but alive, the dwarven ranger's weapon now covered in goo.

The balrog faces off against Thrar, after having slain so many of his warband, it is the dwarven king's turn to retaliate. Unfortunately for the dwarf, this ancient evil is overwhelmingly powerful. It is all the dwarf can do to stand strong against the flaming monstrosity. The flaming whip encircles him, but fortunately the mithril mail holds! No such luck against the massive sword, which bites deep, sending the smell of scorched dwarf flesh to the nostrils of all nearby. (Thrar had to use all his might and fate not to die!)

Atop the hill something has changed, the death of Brynmor has enraged the dwarves. As Boggle clambers up the hill the nearby dwarves echo his battlecry and assault. Four goblin warriors fall amidst the flashing feathers and stalwart blades and a Vault Warden smashes Mur'baj with his shield, stunning the goblin captain for long enough for the dwarf to swing around the shield with his axe, beheading him!

Etako too, continues to prove victorious, another goblin pulverised to his fist while a Khazad Guard slays another.

With Mur'baj dead, among so many other goblins, the balance of power on the hill may be shifting.

In the south, Skodi and his warband have almost eliminated the goblins near them too!

At the end of turn 7 the die is cast... the game continues! With the number of casualties suddenly skyrocketing on the goblin side perhaps the game is not as one sided as originally thought!

On turn 8 the goblins win priority (I know, it's completely ludicrous). The balrog again faces off against the Dwarven King, Thrar, ending his reign in a splash of lava and flame. 

The spider also finishes off the disheartened dwarf ranger by (funnily enough) slashing open the dwarfs chest and snipping out the heart to slurp between its mandibles as a mid-battle snack. Okay, maybe it wasn't that funny. I guess you just had to be there. And be evil.





Durburz summons up his willpower (yes, he failed his courage test) and charges the great eagle, knowing that he needs to slay the feathered foe to regain momentum on the hill. The move is ill-fated, however as Barukshathur is no goblin-fodder - the talons scythe through the goblin king's armour, though fate is with him enough to save him from serious injury.

Etako and his band continue the fight, the tempo has shifted and they can feel it, the goblins can too and their nervousness shows, three goblins falling beneath axe and fist.

Atop the hill, the plucky Vault Warden takes on the other goblin captain, Jornik, and slays him too! Reinforcements are here and dwarves clamber up over the rocks to join the fight.

At the end of turn 8 the goblins are a broken force! The dice are rolled, the game continues!

In turn 9 the mighty balrog heads up towards the hill, the clang and clash of battle calling it from the delicious warmth of the lava pools and dwarven blood.

And guess what... it's a tie for priority! Atop the hill all are blown to the rocky, bloody ground as the wind whips up again! It also means that the dwarves actually get to go first (for only the second time in the match).

Durburz, beset upon by the great eagle and a Vault Warden with a spear uses a surge of his mighty prowess to beat them back and stand up. The other goblins nearby are not so fortunate, in one fell swoop of dwarven fervour seven goblins die atop the hill! Boggle and his Iron Guard are well and truly in the mix now. Thanks to the shieldbearer and his valiant years of service, honour and integrity the dwarves fear nothing and their courage is emboldened. Not so for the archer band, Rorin flees with four of his troops as goblin arrows continue to fall around them and the might of the balrog can be seen flaming ever closer. (Thank you goblin drums, the minus to dwarven courage is very helpful!) 

Another goblin is slaughtered as it desecrates the tomb.

Etako is chilled to his bone by the sheer number of dwarven deaths that will be upon his head. He musters his willpower to continue the fight though. (He rolled snake eyes for his break test, but had all of his will left - fortunately!)

Skodi and his brethren are fearful of the balrog's approach, but fight on against the last couple of goblins.

The spider is already amidst their group, though the Khazad Guard closest to his king fends off the hideous beast.

At the end of turn 9 the goblins are still winning, but their casualties have skyrocketed. The die is rolled, the game continues yet again! Oh no! One more turn like the last one and the goblins will have failed in their attempt to take the hill!

In turn 10 the dwarves actually win priority, for the first time in the game (not counting the ties)!

Atop the hill the dwarves slaughter all opposition. Durburz dies to Barukshathur, five other goblins perish to dwarven blades. 

Turn 11 Etako and Skodi finish off the last of the warbands they fought against, leaving Etako free to head up the hill and Skodi to turn against the balrog.

But that battle will have to wait for another day... the goblins flee, with their king and heroic captains defeated and the hill completely in control of the dwarven force. The balrog, bloodlust sated, heads off back down deep tunnels to the depths of the earth. The dwarves have won!

With over one hundred models to begin with, the goblins were not left with many! The archers took a great tally over the course of the game and never suffered a loss. Apart from them, well, you can see!

The dwarves hung in there, with ferocious tenacity. The shield bearer, Boggle, really helped save their bacon with his courage enhancing rule completely rocking in this game!

But let's hear it for Etako and Skodi who fought like the dwarven heroes of old. The Vault Wardens were similarly sterling, they were up on that hill fighting every single turn for the entire game and most of them lived to tell the story! Awesome dwarven defence!

It's past my bedtime because this took ages to put together, but my short summary is:
What an AWESOME game!
So much fun! I can't believe that the dwarves won, but somehow I hoped they would! What a come-back! From the very unlucky priority rolls came the very lucky game-ending rolls that kept them in the fight until they finally outnumbered the goblins.


We often find that the dwarven defence takes a while to be really noticeable, but in a long game they really do shine, shrugging off blow after blow.


So Stickyfingersss I hope you got your money's worth on that one!


Obviously there were more combats in this game than in others, so I hope you don't mind the slightly less detailed report, but I have limited time!


I might post more thoughts on the game later, but for now it's off to bed! Thanks for reading!