Mighty Armies: double header

A couple weeks ago, Maurice and I sat down for a couple games of Mighty Armies. Totally meant to have them written up by now, but summer being what it is, things just get busy. Historicon is approaching fast, though, so gotta get affairs in order.

Both games featured his increasingly-desert Goblins taking on my Hyperborean elves. First game, we both rolled Engage! and thusly would be jockeying for victory points from destroying enemy forces.

A paucity of movement points the first couple turns meant a slow start for everyone.

Overconfident in my troops from our first outing, I tossed my Dragonman far ahead to try and drag the goblins into a prolonged melee, with enhancements from the sorceress. The Dragonman got cutdown, like, almost immediately. Disheartening! Shouldn't have put all my eggs in that one basket.

(My sorceress was tossing spells left and right, especially using bind to break up the enemy formations. That was handy.)

The ruins would prove to be the defining element of the day. Movement in or around is messes up battle lines dramatically, so we ended up orbiting it and using it as a lynchpin for tactics.

Unlike the previous battle, shooting provided little to no tactical impact. Lots of dice were thrown, but not much happened. Still working out the kinks here.

After turn six, we rolled every turn to see if the game was over, with increasing odds each turn. Added a little variability to the end-game that I appreciated.

Things really broke down after that, with units being traded for units left and right. In the above pic, you can see my general and his veteran swordsmen lining up a big charge on his remaining heavy wolves cavalry. The turn after it, I got the initiative, and with the only movement point I rolled, got the charge and took out the big beasties. Whew.

We rolled for a ninth turn, but no. In the end, the elves took the day, but it was a bloodied victory.

Second game, we redid the table for a little more openness. I kept the same force, while the goblins brought on some intimidating trolls.

Lord, my notes for this game were terrible. OK, again, six turns or so. The Hyperborean elves were going all-out for a massacre, while the goblins were looking to control table corners.

(Hmmm. The wide-open middle of the board meant a slow march right at the enemy. Might not have been our best call, creativity-wise.)

It was a monster mash!

The trolls are a big concern, as they could rampage right over the bulk of my forces. Elves are elite, and losing any main unit is a big loss.

One troll down.

And the other two follow!

But you'll notice in the pictures how few troops are left. We scramble on the last turn to get spread out and just over the border into one more corner. Nonetheless, the goblin-stomping gave me the win on victory points again.

Mighty Armies is still working out for us, but we might end up grafting some more 'meat' onto the bones, to add a little complexity. Also might look into borrowing objectives/scenarios from another game, or seeing if we can cobble together a campaign to play out. (Or these event cards!)

(And more close-up pics next time, if I can work it out.)

Mighty Armies: first game

Last week, Maurice, Aaron and I sat down to play Mighty Armies for the first time. I brought the Dark Elves of Hyperborea to bear arms against a fierce goblin force and an army of Leonines and their allies. (All figs either Rebel or Splintered Light.)

The battlefield. My elves come in from the north, a terrifying Dragonman at the center, with veteran armored Swords on his left and skirmishers on his right. Those sword infantry proved to be rock solid, and held their own to the bitter end. And the Dragonman was a nightmare, taking on entire enemy units singlehandedly.

Goblin cavalry take shots at the leonine infantry. Two turns into the game, we jokingly decided it was a secret 'king of the hill' scenario. No one knew!

Goblins to the east? Leonines to the west? Time to charge right into the middle!

Above you can see my sorceress, hiding behind the elite polearm guards. (I forgot to base my general and the sorceress, will have to correct that before we play next time.) The sorceress accomplished.... very little all game. Chalking that one up to my inexperience with how movement works in the game. Line of sight is crucial, even if spellcasters are squishy. Especially from ranged attacks.

Speaking of ranged attacks, this pic commemorates when my skirmishers took a random shot at the leonines on the hill, and eliminated their general. (Hello, Harold!)

It also commemorates the sweet measuring stick I made on my lunchbreak at work, since I had forgotten my measuring tape, but we had a bunch of coffee stirrers. 

 The Dragonman follows up after crushing his opponents. So mighty.

The remaining Hyperborean elves form a defensive square to fend off assaults from two sides. It doesn't help. My veteran troops were hella tough, but numbers took their toll.

Attrition was massive, as forces were whittled down. The Dragonman was finally eliminated, but only through dedicated effort. After my elves were routed, the last few stands duked it out, until the goblins reigned supreme, with only the warlord and maybe another stand or two besides.

So, highly enjoyable game. Plays fast, but includes enough tactical depth and variety to keep us entertained, I think. We're already talking about different armies to try or how to expand next. (We're also going to expand these armies, so we can use them to try out Pride of Lions as well.) Maurice also wrote his side of the story, check it out on his blog here.

 

Two of Maurice's figs, because that guy can paint.