If you would like extra content/perks AND you would like to support our channel, please check out our Patreon: www.patreon.com/IntotheWest If not, we still really appreciate you for watching! Thank you!
I’m really loving this video and discussion! Out of the 8 armies I own, 4 of them are in here so suddenly I don’t feel so terrible about losing games. I just choose to play MESBG on Hard mode
I’ve been into the hobby for 20 years, but have very little experience actually playing the game. What does the US east coast scene look like, and how is the best way to find people to play with? I’ve been following quite a few MESBG RUclips channels for a while and have no idea how I just found this one. This channel has got to be my favorite now and all of your content is super informative! Thanks for what you guys do!
Welcome to MESBG! A good place to start is the American Facebook group ASBGA. You should be able to connect with players in your area by making a post there!
Awesome episode. Hoard Loth is my all time fav thing to run. Channelled enchanted blades onto a charging horse captain is one of my all time favourite plays to pull off vs someone who doesn’t see it coming. Can one shot all most anything, That’s your hitting power :P. Can also ally in Theodred if you’re feeling extra spicy.
As someone who just started playing mesbg and with a Khazad-Dum army, I can attest that they aren't an easy army to play, as you have to find an almost perfect balance between attacking hard, be very strategic, learn where to place your dwarves when moving and attacking, and know when not to attack hard. And despite that I'm a noob and it's a difficult army to play with, I have been enjoying playing with them and learning how to play with them. But yeah, they ain't easy to play with.
Great that you’re giving yourself a challenge! As tough as they are to play sometimes it is a fun army, that’s for sure. We have a video on Khazad-dûm tomorrow, keep a lookout for that! -Charles
@@intothewestpodcast Dalamyr is just fun as hell, all smoke bombs and poison and stealth. especially if you get to pull off some secret agent nonsense with him. and khazad dum i just go full elites. only warrior/ranger i have is a banner bearer that pops in at 1000 odd. i mean you're gonna be outnumbered anyways, might as well play into it
My brother plays Corsairs, and we don't really play competitively yet. He goes with mostly Black Numenorians and arbalesters while sprinkling a few reavers and filling out the rest with Corsair spearmen. Just in our casual gaming group, he tends to do pretty well. He tends to beat my dad's Minas Tirith and Mordor armies reliably while struggling against my Rohirrim, Easterlings, and Lothlorien. It seems like the fight 4 and Dalamyr does really well when not going up against fight 5 elves, cavalry, and mounted heroes that can one shot Dalamyr.
Elves definitely can be challenging for the corsairs! Interesting build with the Black Numenoreans; personally I tend to lean into pure corsairs to take advantage of backstabbers, but can see the benefit of that build too. -Charles
Another top tier Video lads. This renier fella knows exactly what hes talking about. The perfect guest for this episode. P.S. I'll never get over Ian just vibing painting on all the videos. P.P.S Can't believe y'all didn't choose Dale, disappointed -Sean
When I first looked at Khand my eyes locked onto "horse archers with no bow limit" so badly that I didn't notice that said cavalry are also S4 with Piercing Strike. They're not exactly Rivendell Knights, but they ARE 8 points cheaper. S4 with axes seems to be a decent breakpoint, too. Piercing Strike improves your wound chance against D4 (chaff orcs), D5 (armour plus shield or heavy armour) and D7 (Shieldwall & Dwarves). That seems like pretty consistent value.
I agree, having piercing strike on such a cheap cavalry profile is great! Also since they’re low Defence, there aren’t many downsides to piercing strike in a lot of cases. -Charles
What, no Sharkey's Rogues? xP But seriously, I think the two hardest are probably Rangers and Ents. Rangers with their might on every model means you have to both be always thinking about when to use it so it isn't wasted, while also having meticulous bookkeeping so you don't mess up and send in the wrong model. Ents on the other hand are just slow and expensive. Sure they're scary to see on the other side of the table, but when fighting them its just too easy to both kill them and kite them.
If we were picking the army that has the hardest time getting 1 win, then Sharkey's Rogues hands down 💯🤣 Totally with you on the Rangers, but I would disagree on the Ents. Similar to the Rogues, they are tough to win with but that's because the army just is kinda sucky but doesn't necessarily mean it's complex to play. If you know how to use monsters it's just a typical monster mash. I love the Rangers pick though, Ian should've done that instead of Lothlorien! -Richard
I enjoy Khazad dum and its model range. I tried for a while but they just do suffer, and depending on the mission and if your facing cheap hordes that can easily get 1/2+ to wound they just are lacklustre all these years later with the expansions out. Here is hoping to a balins expedition legendary legion where scouts come with burly and throwing axes in Gimlis warband :P
Hey guys, long time listener of your podcast, just found your channel yesterday and have subscribed. look forward to watching and listening to all your content. :)
IMO, Riders of Theoden is easier due to the higher Might levels and a playstyle that focuses more on Combat (opposed to skirmishing style for Riv Knights). -Richard
We’re talking about when playing Moria pure specifically, but when allying yes, you’ll want to take advantage of including a banner for sure. In terms of best banner, it would probably be Suladan, but for me personally it would just come down to taking whatever banner is available in the army I want to ally in. -Charles
@@intothewestpodcast I was thinkin just a cheeky Grishnak and a few boyz just to protect the banner 😆 Maybe sneek a Black Numenorean with a Horn in too if taking a Dragon or Drake?
@@DarkhorseOldWorld ye good shout with the Mordor ally, I've done that. But you need a Valour hero since they aren't historical allies, so Grishniakh won't work, Ive used the Mouth of Sauron. I like the horn and dragon idea haha (drake doesn't need Horn since it doesn't have survival instinct) -Richard
Kingdom of Moria is considerably more difficult to play than Kingdom of khazad dum because floi is so hard and Balin is kind of a shitty leader. Durin and hearthguard on the other hand are really solid
@@intothewestpodcast i think Balin is more overcosted than Durin, especially because Durin can really be trusted upon in combat and Balin can't. If you take along the benefit of not losing complete leader points that's quite a benefit to Durin. Especially because with kings champ you're also not giving away banner points and with F4 D7 it's often hard to break the dwarves so taking Durin over Balin means that the easiest standard way towards VPs is cut off. Floí can really break up opponent armies though, especially the higher you go in points
I agree that Balin is probably also a bit overcosted but Durin is 50 points more and I believe he is moreso. Spending so much points for a combat hero that moves 5" is just very limited. Balin is not the most killy hero but he is sturdy enough as long as he doesn't go into a big hero. He also has Heroic March which is nice in lower points where you don't have to take a captain or king. It's an interesting debate and an argument for both sides that we've had with the hosts of The Durin Show many times haha but we generally rate Balin higher than Durin when points are accounted for.
If you would like extra content/perks AND you would like to support our channel, please check out our Patreon: www.patreon.com/IntotheWest
If not, we still really appreciate you for watching!
Thank you!
I’m really loving this video and discussion! Out of the 8 armies I own, 4 of them are in here so suddenly I don’t feel so terrible about losing games. I just choose to play MESBG on Hard mode
I am new to the hobby and it is such a pleasure to have experienced players explain the game in a way I can understand as well.
Happy to hear this has been helpful, means a lot! 🙏
-Richard
I’ve been into the hobby for 20 years, but have very little experience actually playing the game. What does the US east coast scene look like, and how is the best way to find people to play with?
I’ve been following quite a few MESBG RUclips channels for a while and have no idea how I just found this one. This channel has got to be my favorite now and all of your content is super informative! Thanks for what you guys do!
Welcome to MESBG! A good place to start is the American Facebook group ASBGA. You should be able to connect with players in your area by making a post there!
Awesome episode. Hoard Loth is my all time fav thing to run. Channelled enchanted blades onto a charging horse captain is one of my all time favourite plays to pull off vs someone who doesn’t see it coming. Can one shot all most anything, That’s your hitting power :P. Can also ally in Theodred if you’re feeling extra spicy.
Always nice seeing some love for the Galadhrim Captain on horse 👌🏻
-Charles
@@intothewestpodcast He does all the work hahaha
As someone who just started playing mesbg and with a Khazad-Dum army, I can attest that they aren't an easy army to play, as you have to find an almost perfect balance between attacking hard, be very strategic, learn where to place your dwarves when moving and attacking, and know when not to attack hard.
And despite that I'm a noob and it's a difficult army to play with, I have been enjoying playing with them and learning how to play with them.
But yeah, they ain't easy to play with.
Great that you’re giving yourself a challenge! As tough as they are to play sometimes it is a fun army, that’s for sure. We have a video on Khazad-dûm tomorrow, keep a lookout for that!
-Charles
not sure what it says about me that both of my main good and evil armies are on here :D fun video lads
It means you don't like easy wins lol
@@intothewestpodcast Dalamyr is just fun as hell, all smoke bombs and poison and stealth. especially if you get to pull off some secret agent nonsense with him. and khazad dum i just go full elites. only warrior/ranger i have is a banner bearer that pops in at 1000 odd. i mean you're gonna be outnumbered anyways, might as well play into it
@@darchensol5112 yeah I've heard good things about spamming vault wardens, especially when you know what you're doing!
My brother plays Corsairs, and we don't really play competitively yet. He goes with mostly Black Numenorians and arbalesters while sprinkling a few reavers and filling out the rest with Corsair spearmen. Just in our casual gaming group, he tends to do pretty well. He tends to beat my dad's Minas Tirith and Mordor armies reliably while struggling against my Rohirrim, Easterlings, and Lothlorien. It seems like the fight 4 and Dalamyr does really well when not going up against fight 5 elves, cavalry, and mounted heroes that can one shot Dalamyr.
Elves definitely can be challenging for the corsairs! Interesting build with the Black Numenoreans; personally I tend to lean into pure corsairs to take advantage of backstabbers, but can see the benefit of that build too.
-Charles
Another top tier Video lads.
This renier fella knows exactly what hes talking about.
The perfect guest for this episode.
P.S. I'll never get over Ian just vibing painting on all the videos.
P.P.S
Can't believe y'all didn't choose Dale, disappointed
-Sean
Thanks, Sean for the kind words! We must’ve forgotten after watching you play Dale. You make Dale look so easy 😁
-Charles
When I first looked at Khand my eyes locked onto "horse archers with no bow limit" so badly that I didn't notice that said cavalry are also S4 with Piercing Strike.
They're not exactly Rivendell Knights, but they ARE 8 points cheaper.
S4 with axes seems to be a decent breakpoint, too. Piercing Strike improves your wound chance against D4 (chaff orcs), D5 (armour plus shield or heavy armour) and D7 (Shieldwall & Dwarves). That seems like pretty consistent value.
I agree, having piercing strike on such a cheap cavalry profile is great! Also since they’re low Defence, there aren’t many downsides to piercing strike in a lot of cases.
-Charles
What, no Sharkey's Rogues? xP
But seriously, I think the two hardest are probably Rangers and Ents. Rangers with their might on every model means you have to both be always thinking about when to use it so it isn't wasted, while also having meticulous bookkeeping so you don't mess up and send in the wrong model. Ents on the other hand are just slow and expensive. Sure they're scary to see on the other side of the table, but when fighting them its just too easy to both kill them and kite them.
If we were picking the army that has the hardest time getting 1 win, then Sharkey's Rogues hands down 💯🤣
Totally with you on the Rangers, but I would disagree on the Ents. Similar to the Rogues, they are tough to win with but that's because the army just is kinda sucky but doesn't necessarily mean it's complex to play. If you know how to use monsters it's just a typical monster mash.
I love the Rangers pick though, Ian should've done that instead of Lothlorien!
-Richard
@@intothewestpodcast y'know fair enough, I just got into the mindset of looking at "kinda shit" rather then actually complex to play for the Ents lol.
😂
I enjoy Khazad dum and its model range. I tried for a while but they just do suffer, and depending on the mission and if your facing cheap hordes that can easily get 1/2+ to wound they just are lacklustre all these years later with the expansions out.
Here is hoping to a balins expedition legendary legion where scouts come with burly and throwing axes in Gimlis warband :P
100% agree. Curious to see what kind of legions the dwarves will receive once we revisit Khazad-Dûm. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
-Charles
Good content. I’m surprised Beornings didn’t make it.
That’s not a bad shout. With low model count & a number of weaknesses, they can be quite challenging for sure.
-Charles
Heeeeey reineer at this channel!, my fav from dc hobbit league, subbed, keep bringing em
On
He will definitely be back!
Hey guys, long time listener of your podcast, just found your channel yesterday and have subscribed. look forward to watching and listening to all your content. :)
Welcome! Hope you enjoy the battle reports and all the new podcast visuals!
As someone who started the game with goblin town, I found them hard to play and definitely not a beginner army.
great vid thanks for sharing.
Nice episode
For an all Calvary list, which do you think is easier to play, Riders of Théoden or Rivendell Knights?
IMO, Riders of Theoden is easier due to the higher Might levels and a playstyle that focuses more on Combat (opposed to skirmishing style for Riv Knights).
-Richard
Ty for your work.
Ty for listening! 🫰
Cant you just ally in a banner for Moria? What would be the best ally banner?
We’re talking about when playing Moria pure specifically, but when allying yes, you’ll want to take advantage of including a banner for sure. In terms of best banner, it would probably be Suladan, but for me personally it would just come down to taking whatever banner is available in the army I want to ally in.
-Charles
@@intothewestpodcast I was thinkin just a cheeky Grishnak and a few boyz just to protect the banner 😆 Maybe sneek a Black Numenorean with a Horn in too if taking a Dragon or Drake?
@@DarkhorseOldWorld ye good shout with the Mordor ally, I've done that. But you need a Valour hero since they aren't historical allies, so Grishniakh won't work, Ive used the Mouth of Sauron.
I like the horn and dragon idea haha (drake doesn't need Horn since it doesn't have survival instinct)
-Richard
@@intothewestpodcast awesome, great info 👍😎 bummer about Grishy haha
No woses or ruffians?
I can see an argument for woses but ruffians are just bad, not necessarily tricky to play 🤣
-Richard
The shire
Kingdom of Moria is considerably more difficult to play than Kingdom of khazad dum because floi is so hard and Balin is kind of a shitty leader. Durin and hearthguard on the other hand are really solid
Agree Durin and KD is easier to play but he is overcosted, I personally believe KoM is the more competitive option compared to KD.
-Richard
@@intothewestpodcast i think Balin is more overcosted than Durin, especially because Durin can really be trusted upon in combat and Balin can't. If you take along the benefit of not losing complete leader points that's quite a benefit to Durin. Especially because with kings champ you're also not giving away banner points and with F4 D7 it's often hard to break the dwarves so taking Durin over Balin means that the easiest standard way towards VPs is cut off. Floí can really break up opponent armies though, especially the higher you go in points
I agree that Balin is probably also a bit overcosted but Durin is 50 points more and I believe he is moreso. Spending so much points for a combat hero that moves 5" is just very limited.
Balin is not the most killy hero but he is sturdy enough as long as he doesn't go into a big hero. He also has Heroic March which is nice in lower points where you don't have to take a captain or king.
It's an interesting debate and an argument for both sides that we've had with the hosts of The Durin Show many times haha but we generally rate Balin higher than Durin when points are accounted for.