Doubles Events

Doubles events have always been a popular way to play the Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game; there is just something about teaming up with a friend to do battle against another team that most hobbyists get a real kick out of. Being able to bring your collective gaming experience and knowledge to the full, and no doubt have a friendly rivalry along the way about whose part of the army can slay the most, are just some of the reasons that Doubles games will often stick in the minds of those who play them for many years.

Over the next few pages we are going to present some additional rules for playing Doubles events, as well as six Scenarios specially written for Doubles games for Tournament Organisers to use at their events. Each Scenario is balanced in the same way as the standard Matched Play Scenarios so that they can be used in Doubles events, and will provide a new fun twist on playing Doubles games.

When running a Doubles event, it will follow the same format as a standard tournament, with the exception that the event will use the Doubles Scenarios presented over the next few pages rather than the Scenario Pool system.

THE ARMY

A Doubles Army is made from a single Army List split into two forces, each controlled by a different player. Each force must be built to the same points limit, so that each force has half of the overall points. The two forces may not share leftover points with their partner. Army Lists are still subject to all of the usual rules associated with them in regards to Army building.

For example: Jay and Rob are playing as a team, each with a 400 point force. Although Jay only spends 395 of his points, he may not give his spare 5 points to Rob and so Rob can only spend 400 points as well.

The entire Doubles Army must be from a single Army List, and so may not contain any models from a different Army List. However, Bow Limit and Throwing Weapon Limit is calculated for each force individually, not across the whole Army - that way you can't just put all of your bows or throwing weapons in the same force.

Each player must note which Hero is the General of their force.

At the beginning of each game, before rolling for deployment zones, teams will need to determine which of them is the Primary Force and which is the Secondary Force. If one force has its General as a Hero with a higher Heroic Tier than the other force, then that force will automatically become the Primary Force. If both forces have their General as a Hero with the same Heroic Tier as the other, then they will roll-off (re-rolling any ties) with the force belonging to the player that scored highest becoming the Primary Force, and the other becoming the Secondary Force.

Example 1: Luke and Lewis are playing a Doubles event using the Kingdom of Rohan Army List. Luke's force is led by Théoden, a Hero of Legend, whilst Lewis' force is led by Théodred, a Hero of Valour. As Théoden is of a higher Heroic Tier than Théodred, Luke's force will automatically be the Primary Force.

Example 2: Becky and Keith are playing a Doubles event using The Last Alliance Army List. Becky's force is led by Elendil, a Hero of Legend, whilst Keith's force is led by Gil-galad, another Hero of Legend. As both Elendil and Gil-galad are of the same Heroic Tier, Becky and Keith will need to roll off to determine who is the Primary Force. Becky rolls a 4 whilst Keith rolls a 2, making Becky's force the Primary Force.

If an Army List states that a specific Hero is always the Army's General, then whichever force the model is in will automatically be the Primary Force for each game - there is no need to roll.

If a team wishes to use an Army List that requires all models to be deployed as a single Warband (such as The Fellowship), then this will still be allowed. In this case, the players should split their Army into two forces of as equal a number of points as possible as usual, with the side that includes the General automatically becoming the Primary Force. This must be done before the event starts and cannot be changed during the event.

THE GENERAL

The General of the Primary Force is considered to be the Leader of the entire Army for the duration of that game.

BREAKING

For Doubles games, the Break Point is worked out across the entire Army rather than each individual force.