Announcement: Hobbit SBG Painting Competition

Today we have a very exciting announcement for all LotR/ Hobbit SBG players. As a thank you for all your support this year, we have decided to run a super painting competition. The GBHL team have very kindly allowed us to host this at their Desolation of Stockport 3.0 (TBC April 2015). 

When:  Stockport 3.0 April 2014

Entry Fee & Conditions:

This competition is FREE to enter. Potential entrants must be able to attend the chosen tournament to submit their entry in person for judging. Entrants may enter a single model into each category if they so wish. All models entered must have been painted by yourself. 

Categories

Single Miniature/ Hero – This category is for a single GW Lord of the Rings/ Hobbit miniature on foot. Models may be placed on a scenic base measuring no bigger than 40mm. Only one model may be on the base, no dioramas please.

Single Cavalry/ Monster – This category is for a single GW Lord of the Rings Cavalry or Monster miniature. Only one model may be on the base, no dioramas please.

Prizes:

There will be a cash prize for the 1^st and 2^nd place models in each category.

First Place: £100

Second Place: £50

The two winners will then be judged and an overall winner will be decided. The overall winner will receive an extra £50 (for a total of £150).

There will also be a people’s choice award worth £50. This will be voted for by the players and all models from both categories will be eligible.

Judging:

Kev Lawrence of Shadow and Flame will judge.

http://www.shadowandflame.co.uk/

Check out the video below for more details!

Membership Fees & Dates for 2015

So with the end of the year approaching, Tom, Craig and Myself have sat down and reviewed the pricing for next year. We also have some early bird special offers for those who are interested.

Club Pricing

2015 Year Membership Early Bird Special (Only valid until 28/12/14) -£30

Benefits:

• £10 saving on Standard price.
• You'll receive 8 custom MSWG dice (Colour TBC)
• You'll receive 10% off any Tournament entry fees you attend which are hosted by MSWG

2015 Year Membership - £40

• You'll receive 4 custom MSWG dice (Colour TBC)
• You'll receive 10% off any Tournament entry fees you attend which are hosted by MSWG

**Please note the dice will be sent out in early 2015 once the Early bird offer has expired**

2015 6 Month Membership - £25

2015 Individual Session - £2

Example of the 2014 MSWG Dice.

To pay for a 2015 membership, please send payment via Paypal to midsussexwargamers@gmail.com or see Craig, Tom or Myself at club.

Hope to see you all soon!

Sam

Important Notice!

Hi All,

I have spoken to the manager at the Dorset Arms and he has informed me that the long overdue refurbishment of the pub will begin on either the 5th or 12th of January and they will be closed for 3 weeks (providing everything stays on schedule).

This will mean that there will be no club on the 11th Jan and possibly the 25th Jan.

As I get more information I shall post it here.

-Sam

Hobbit SBG: Best Event Ever Pt 2 Prize Unboxing.

So as you all should know by now, MSWG are hosting their 3rd Hobbit SBG event on October 11th (All sold out now!). 

To ramp up the excitement, Myself and Tom decided to film a little video showcasing just some of the prizes that will be on offer. 

So yeah, if you like what you see, be sure to head over our facebook page, the GBHL facebook page or keep an eye on here for details of future tournaments. 

Hobbit SBG: An Unexpected Journey Campaign - The Chase

''These are Gundabad Wargs, they will out run you!" - Gandalf the Grey - An Unexpected Journey

Welcome all to the second instalment in the MSWG - An Unexpected Journey Campaign. Apologies for taking so long to write it - I will try to remember the details as best I can. I think this will probably end up a lots of pictures with a little description rather than a full on Bat rep.

So anyway, where are we? After escaping the trolls Thorin and Gandalf raid the Troll horde for weapons. The arrival of Radagast also brings the arrival of a pack of Hunter orcs led by the most vile of all their race: Azog the Defiler.

In this scenario the dwarves (minus Gloin) have to escape off the opposite board edge. To win, 11 members must escape within 12 turns. As the dwarves won the last scenario, Gandalf may call a free heroic march at some point in the game. There is an endless supply of Hunter Orcs as they may respawn on a board edge after being killed.

All the dwarves (minus Gloin who is recovering somewhere) rush out of the troll lair and are immediately in danger as Azog and his Hunters charge towards them. Now in this scenario, all evil models must take a courage test to charge any model that isn't Radagast on Sleigh until either Radagast or the sleigh takes a wound. Knowing this, I sent Azog straight in Radagast hoping to kill the wizard in one turn. Fimbul was coming on from the North Board edge while Narzug was coming on from the west (left side). 

Gandalf had other ideas though and cast sorcerous blast on Azog which promptly knocked over everyone, forcing both Radagast and Azog to dismount. 

This allowed the rest of the dwarves to charge in without fear of being eaten, both Bofur and Fili taking on the White Warg. I think they killed her that turn.

Gandalf didn't have it all his own way though as Narzug charged in and promptly knocked the wizard on his backside, possibly wounding him aswell. Radagast was doing his best to avoid being smashed by Azog.

Only a timely intervention from Thorin and Bifur was able to save the crazy brown wizard. Gandalf meanwhile had called for aid in the form of Balin and Dwalin who promptly smashed Narzug into oblivion. 

Dwalin is knocked over by a hunter orc but fate shines on him and he escapes unharmed

Azog falls after the dwarves surround him to avenge both wizards (apologies, I seem to have forgotten to record the wizards' demise :/ ). Even the great Defiler cannot withstand 5 angry dwarves. However, the dwarves have been so occupied with killing the orcs that they are no-where near to escaping the board edge in the allotted turns. I have also slain  Fili and possibly Nori. 

The hunter orcs closed in a slowly began chipping away at the dwarves. Again apologies for the lack of details but I think I killed enough/ help them up long enough to win the scenario. 

Oin did fall to the blade of Fimbul in the last turn. 

So yeah, after all that, the dwarves had been chased down and were delayed in arriving in Rivendell. As punishment, no evil model was allowed to be awarded the 'Most Audacious Fellow' bonus. 

None of the dwarves who were slain in the Chase were slain outright, however Oin would miss the next scenario. 

The next scenario up is 'The Capture'. Hopefully that will be up relatively soon. Until then, thanks for reading. 

Hobbit SBG: An Unexpected Journey Campaign - Roast Mutton

Welcome to the first of many campaign battle reports. Over the coming weeks, myself (Sam) and George are going to be playing through the Unexpected Journey Scenarios from the big Hobbit rulebook. We do plan to eventually do the Desolation of Smaug scenarios aswell but we need to source the correct models and scenery.

For this campaign, George would be controlling the mighty band of Dwarves and their allies and I would be trying to stop them.

So without further ado, lets begin. 

Scenario 1: Roast Mutton

For those who don't know, Roast Mutton is the scenario based on when the dwarves are captured by the 3 trolls (Bill, Bert & Tom).

The trolls start must start within 6" of the camp fire in the middle. Bilbo starts within 3" of Bill and Kili the Dwarf starts on one of the board edges. The rest of the company start in reserve. The trolls cannot strike blow against Bilbo for 3 turns. 

So turn 1, Bert advances towards Bilbo while Tom and Bill move towards Kili, foolishly thinking they could take one lone dwarf. Unknown to them, Kili had sent Fili back to fetch the others. On the first turn, all the dwarves bar Fili, Ori and one of the others (cannot remember) turned up. This was bad for the trolls as the finest dwarf heroes were suddenly charging towards them. In the shoot phase, Kili took aim at Bert and managed to wound him. Fate was not shining on Bert and he roared in pain.
Turn 2, all the dwarves charged forward towards the trolls. Their stumpy legs mean't they were just out of range. The remaining 3 dwarves also arrived and hurried towards their friends. In turn 3, hoping to strike some early blows, Bill charged Gloin and Tom charged into Dwalin and Dori. Bert had also charged Bilbo to prevent him moving towards his friends and decided to stuff him in a sack for good measure. In the combat phase, Dwalin & Dori were able to wound Tom but fate prevented the troll from suffering any lasting damage. Bill was far more successful against Gloin, smashing him into dwarf jelly with his log. 1 down, 13 to go.
Turn 4 was interesting. Bert, having stuffed Bilbo, moved towards his fellow trolls to help out with the oncoming dwarves. However he was unable to reach his friends and watched in horror and the dwarves mobbed Bill and Tom.

They say a picture tells a thousand words...you can guess what happened in the resulting combat phase. Both Bill and Tom were slain in an absolutely BRUTAL assault by Thorin and his friends. Revenge for Gloin was swift...so that left Bert, all alone with Bilbo in a bag...

Roaring with anger and no longer hungry, Bert picked up Bilbo (after charging him) and hurled him into the oncoming dwarves. The result was...

...pretty rubbish. Bilbo died (to be expected) but I think only one of the dwarves took a wound, might have been Kili. 

In the next turn, the dwarves got up and charged into Bert, Fili was particulary furious over the wound caused on his brother so both Fili and Nori heroic struck to avoid being sneezed on. Nori proved his worth again and was awarded the title of Trollslayer (he also inflicted wounds on Bill). I think Fili may have finished him off. 

So, Thorin's Company had prevailed and slain all 3 trolls. However, Bilbo and Gloin had been 'killed' so George would have to roll on the Campaign Injury Table to determine their fate.

1. Funeral Expenses - The Model is dead. If this is Bilbo, Thorin or Gandalf then it is game over.
2. Sorely Wounded - The model misses the next game. Receives 1 wound back and nothing more unless granted 'THE MOST AUDACIOUS FELLOW'. He will return to the company after missing the next game.
3. Sorely Wounded - See above
4. A Flesh Wound - The model recovers well enough to persevere. Restore him to one wound. 
5. A Flesh Wound - See above
6. A Flesh Wound - See above

George rolled for Gloin first and he rolled a 3! Not dead but would miss ' The Chase'. He then rolled for Bilbo, would the quest be over before it had even began? ... ... Nope, he rolled a 5 and Mr Baggins was free to continue on 1 wound. 

We also each had to assign one dwarf/ Hobbit the title of 

THE MOST AUDACIOUS FELLOW (TMAF) - This model regains D6 points of M/W/F/ wounds up to their max characteristics. Chosen by the good player.

MORE LIKE A GROCER THAN A BURGLAR (MLAGTAB) - This model may receive no bonus whatsoever. This must be a model who underperformed in the last scenario. Must be chosen honestly. Chosen by the evil player. 

So, TMAF went to Nori for his amazing troll slaying skills and MLAGTAB went to Gloin for being turned into Jelly in the first combat. All other dwarves (bar Gloin and Bilbo) received D3 points back.

As a reward for winning, Gandalf is allowed to call one free heroic move in The Chase scenario. 

So that is all for now folks, stay tuned for the next scenario coming soon. Thanks for reading!

MSWG hosts: An Unexpected Desolation (Hobbit SBG tournament)

So last weekend (22/06/14) MSWG was proud to host it's first GBHL affiliated event.

It was called An Unexpected Desolation and was 750pts with a twist. The 1 or 2 most expensive models in your army had to cost 250 points or more. The idea behind this was to play bigger points value games, in the time limit of 500pts (1.5 hours). Special thanks must go to Damian O'Byrne (current league leader) for the idea. It also provided a legitimate reason for people to bring the big boys of SBG; King Elessar, Boromir Captain of the White Tower, A Mumakil, The Watcher in the Water to name a few. Most of these models miss out in normal tournament play as they are considered too expensive to be taken competitively.
This tournament also saw the return of the much loved Wargonation scenario. After it's success at The Best Event Ever (run by the old East Grinstead club), I decided to use it again with some modifications.

Damian O'Byrne

Special rules:

Storm of claws:

While wild wargs are common allies of the forces of evil, the pack of wargs that have been disturbed here bear no allegiance to anyone except their home, and will do anything they can to eradicate the intruders.

The wargs are deployed at the start of turn 2 using the Maelstrom of Battle table from the Hold Ground scenario.  After the priority roll but before any Heroic Actions have been declared, the player with priority rolls on the chart. On a 1 the warg doesn't turn up, on a 2-3 the player without priority places the model somewhere on the relevant table edge, on a 4-6 the player with priority places the model somewhere on the relevant table edge - once placed, the warg then moves directly towards the nearest model (not another warg) - charging if possible.

In subsequent turns, after the priority roll but before any Heroic Actions have been declared, the player with priority moves all the wargs on the table towards the nearest enemy model (not another warg) - charging if possible . Once all the wargs on the table have moved, the player with priority then rolls on the Maelstrom of Battle table for any wargs that have not arrived yet or have been killed earlier and deploys them as above - there can never be more than 6 wargs in play at any one time.

Heroic actions are then declared and the turn proceeds as normal. The wargs are considered neutral for the purposes of Heroic Actions, Banners etc.

Pack Leader: At the start of a turn after 12 wargs have died a ‘warg leader’ will spawn. The player with priority rolls for the warg leader’s deployment as above before rolling for any other wargs. A warg leader has the same stat line as a warg chieftain. It will however get +1 attack on the charge and has resistant to magic. It has no might, will or fate.

It follows the same rules as every other warg. There can only ever be one warg chieftain on the board. If killed, it will respawn every time 8 wargs are killed.

I also modified Seize the prize (added in victory points for killing the leader and breaking the force) by making it so the prize had to be taken off any board edge but your own.

So with that in mind, 22 wargamers descended on the Dorset Arms Pub and battle commenced. The photo's that follow are in no particular order.

Tauriel is no match for the sons of Denethor and their fancy flags.

Ringwraiths battle King Elessar + co on the mordor board.

So there are most of my pictures, I sure over the coming days there will be plenty more posted on the GBHL facebook page. There were some great battles and some epic match ups. Once all the games had been completed, it was time to hand out the prizes.

The prizes were an Ambush at Amon Hen set all split according to the prize. There was also a mini raffle consisting of a Rohan Commanders box (minus the huntsman) and the remaining scout uruk-hai. I had secretly assigned everyone a number and used a random number generator to draw it. 

The GBHL guys very kindly filmed the award ceremony. Follow the link to watch. 

Personal Thoughts

I thought the event ran really well, it was a pleasure to host. Big thanks to Craig for helping me out and keeping it stress free. I thought the terrain and boards looked awesome - a big round of applause to Rick Fryer to building some stunning Gondor houses and providing amazing terrain. Another thanks to Richard of the Dorset Arms and his team for providing us with quality food and beer.

And with that, a big thanks to everyone for coming - especially those who traveled from the north. Our next event will be October 11th 2014. Keep an eye on the club facebook page and the blog for more details. 

MSWG facebook page

GBHL facebook page

Opening Day

Today was the first official meet of the Mid Sussex War Gamers Club.

We had 12 players turn up with an even split of Hobbit SBG and 40k.

40k - Demons v Dark Eldar

Grey Knights & Space Marines V Space Wolves & Vostroyans

Hobbit SBG - Isengard V Rohan

Hobbit SBG - Harad v Goblin Town

Hobbit SBG - Rivendell V Moria

Next club is the 15th June (1pm-5pm) at the Dorset Arms. 

Thanks for reading and hope to see you at a club meet soon.

Welcome to Mid Sussex Wargamers

The Mid Sussex Wargamers are a Sussex wargaming club who meet fortnightly on Sundays between 1-5pm. We welcome new comers, veterans and both over and under 18 years; those gamers with armies, those without and beginners just interested in seeing what table top wargaming is all about.

We have players for many different systems ranging from Warhammer 40k and The Hobbit (LotR) SBG to FFG's X-wing and MTG.

If you are interested, then why not come along or Email us for more information or just turn up on the day.

Upcoming Dates are as follows:

June 1st - 1-5pm

June 15th - 1-5pm

June 29th - 1-5pm

Dates stay fortnightly till the end of the year. If for any reason the date changes, it will be posted here and on our facebook page. 

The club address is:

Mid Sussex Wargamers

Dorset Arms Pub

RH19 3DE

East Grinstead
Sussex

Let table top battle commence and we will see you there! 

Sam Page 

Chairman