Monday 28 December 2015

Episode Two - A New Hope

Seasons Greetings SBG fans and Fanettes! 

Welcome to the last fan post of 2015, as Old Man Jind tells us what he makes of the recent change of direct by GW towards SBG, and why it reminds him of when he was manning the walls at the siege of Vienna...

There have been countless wars & battles in the history of mankind, but one battle in particular stands out, and that is the siege of Vienna in 1529…

The mighty Ottoman Empire was marching to take control of Hungary, and hungrily (inset slow clap here) set their sights on the all but abandoned city of Vienna. 

Just 20,000 defenders (and Old Man Jind), along with 75 artillery pieces, mustered to repel over 100,000 attackers who had brought over 500 artillery pieces. 

As part of their siege tactics the Ottomans dug numerous tunnels as a means to enter the City, but were stymied by an all-but retied 70-year old German Mercenary by the name of Nikalas Graf Salm who instructed the defenders to place bowls of water filled with dried peas around the walls. 

Let’s go over that last part again just to make sure we understand his tactic – bowls of water filled with dried peas to be placed along the walls…against 100,000 men and 500 artillery pieces…

And it worked! The Ottomans gave up the siege taking heavy losses, I’m guessing after being confronted by the sight of bowls of dried peas – because that would terrify any sane person – and it makes you think that perhaps Gandalf COULD HAVE DONE A LOT better when commanding the defence of Minas Tirith during the War of the Ring! He had magic to command, and yet he didn’t conjure up a single water filled bowel of dried peas!

So why does Old Man Jind draw parallels with GW’s recent decisions about SBG to the siege of Vienna?

- Well just like Vienna our beloved game had been all but abandoned
- We are heavily out numbered in the world of table top war gaming, making up the smallest percentage of GW sales, just as the citizens of Vienna were
- Bowls of water filled with dried peas saved Vienna, as will the three new GW Middle Earth team members will save SBG

And the excitement doesn’t stop there…

- Throne of Skulls including SBG
- GBHL Tom & Damien reprinted issues 1 & 2 of the SBG magazine 
- Ardacon 2016 seems poised to be perhaps the largest SBG event of all time (until Ardacon 2017 of course)

There hasn’t been a more exciting time to be in the hobby than now, and Old Man Jind for one is excited to see how the bowls of dried peas will work out for GW!

A very happy new year to everyone, and happy Strategy Battling!

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