MESBG... AN AWFUL LOT CAN HAPPEN IN FIFTY-FIVE DAYS!

 A mere 55 days after our last game, Dan came round on Monday to set up a game of MESBG on the dining room table. A lot has changed in those 55 days... last time we played I had a fully functioning right knee and I wasn't clunking around in a cumbersome leg brace... last time we played, the new edition of the rules was still causing all sorts of prophesised controversy with players coming to electronic blows on social media over undisclosed changes and adaptations.

The battlefield... just a small table as we were using the game to get our heads around the new rules.

Our game was a straightforward scenario, with a couple of objective markers, one of which contained a precious relic to be collected and defended. Which of the markers contained the relic was determined randomly, using the new Intelligence Test(!). Having a force comprising Uruk-Hai and Dunlanders, I didn't hold out much hope of discovering the relic, even if I did manage to get to the objective first.

As it turned out, my Dunlanders, lead by a Wild Man Chieftain, Intelligence stat 7+, got to the objective marker on the ruins first and, at the second attempt, discovered that the sacred relic was, indeed, contained therein! Ominously, my Uruk-Hai, advancing on the left of the ruin, found themselves being approached, at an alarming rate, by Theodan and his Rohirrim horsemen, while the Dunlanders readied themselves to face a warband of Gondorian warriors, eager to get their hands on the sacred relic. 

As things transpired, my group of Warg Riders, having failed to get onto the table on the first game turn, arrived in time to deflect the Gondorians from their planned assault on the ruin and give the Dunlanders  time to form something vaguely resembling a line of defence. 

The fight between Wargs and Gondorians turned out to be something of an epic blood bath, with both sides gaining the upper hand before a combination of numbers and the Shieldwall rule swung the conflict decidedly in the favour of Gondor.

Out on the flank, the Uruks initially gained the upper hand against Theodan and his riders and, for some time, it looked as though the Bad Guys might just get away with the sacred relic and win the day. For some time, but not long enough! Even with the assistance of some of the Dunlanders, who jumped down from the ruins to join in the fight, the ascendancy ultimately swung in favour of the Rohirrim and the White Hand casualty rate began to rocket towards breaking point.

With the Men of Gondor closing in on the ruin and causing further casualties on the Dunlanders, the White Hand army broke and victory went to Theodan and his allies, although the Wild Man Chieftain still had his grubby hands on the sacred relic!

Our first small engagement with the new version of MESBG was an enjoyable experience, although games with Dan always are; we play for fun and to tell a story not to be ranked in a league table. By the end of the game, we both said that we hadn't noticed any massive difference from the old rules, apart from having the option to play first or second in the Priority Phase and having to test the intelligence of my Wild Man Chieftain! The outcome of fights involving cavalry was different, but that was only because we'd been doing that wrong when we played using the old rules!

We're already planning our next outing and that will be very different... we both decided to use the arrival of the new rule set as an opportunity to try commanding different factions in our Middle Earth gaming. Dan has switched allegiance to the forces of Evil and has been working on a Mumakil, Haradrim Warriors and Morannon Orcs, while I've been painting up some Army of the Dead and have some Warriors of Gondor sprues to build a couple of warbands as defenders of the Pelennor!

I'm not sure what's going to happen to all the Dwarves I have at various levels of completion but I'm sure the coming months will see all of that malarkey come to a positive conclusion!