MeG Skullrollers 2021 - Lists, Lists, Lists

Over the weekend of the 25th/26th September 30 eager MeGers gathered at the London Grand Tournament for the MeG World Championships - a.k.a. "Skullrollers". This had last been run in 2019, with the 2020 edition becoming a victim of the pandemic, and so there was a lot of interest. Sadly due to Covid restrictions overseas attendance was understandably low, but a few brave Europeans did make the journey.

So now the dust has settled, and the warriors and kings have departed, here are the lists used ...

Before we get onto the lists used there is a bonus list from Matt Haywood. This is the list he would have used if circumstances hadn't changed and he had to drop out.

I'm presenting the lists used in reverse order of finishing and, because this is my blog, I'm taking the liberty of briefly commenting on each of them. As mentioned there are 30 (well, actually 29 as one player has asked that their list be held back as they are using it in another competition soon), and a varied bunch they were as well, with no duplicated armies.

The competition results were:

And so onto the lists ...

Mid Republican Roman is a good solid list, however, in my opinion it works much better in a themed environment rather than in an open competition where it can struggle. In this particular list I am not keen on the 6 base Thureoforoi units in the ally; I think they'd be better as 8 base units, or better still have pikemen in the ally as is allowed.

I've long been of the view that most of the armies from the Italian Wars PDF only really work in theme; the period feels a bit bolted on to MeG and I think that ReG will be a better game for them to bloom in.

A brave choice for an open competition in my view; there are just too many potential opponents who will be able to run over it - another one that is better off in a theme for me. Can look extremely nice though as this one did.

Good solid Hun army run by a newer player who hasn't tried to complicate things by having any of the horse archers in 4 base units. Personally not convinced by the nobles in 4's though as I prefer my fighting cavalry in 6's. The Alan skirmishing cavalry are a nice touch, but I think it needs more command cards to exploit its manoeuvrability.

This list has a major weakness for a shooty cavalry army in an open competition (or maybe any competition) in that it no Skilled shooters - OK the 3 Cantabrian skirmish cavalry can shoot as Skilled, but not all the time and it makes a difference. In my view the army really needed to have the available Serb ally for punch given this lack.

An attractive army on paper, but I have come to the conclusion that it is actually a bit less then the sum of its parts. This is a fairly standard set up, and I wonder if something a bit more off the wall would work better - if only because it would surprise opponents.

Bit of a 100YW/WotR mash-up. The 2 hefty units of men-at-arms are nice, but another one possibly a bit vulnerable in an open competition.

Nice army in my view, the Skilled shooters raise it above the Medieval English above and the pikemen in the Burgundian ally give it some tough combat troops that really help in an open environment.

Very similar to the 100YW list, just approached from the opposite direction so to speak. Doesn't get the Skilled shooters though and they may just make the 100YW a better choice - mind you, the Burgundian did finish a place higher so maybe not.

Well its big and can potentially swamp the opposition and has a high break point. However, the spearmen can collapse quite quickly when front rank bases are killed as the enemy gets into the Unprotected bases. Not my sort of army I must confess so my view will be heavily influenced by that.

I have an Early Carthaginian army myself and rather like it. This is an interesting take using the Numidian ally means you can have both elephants and the charging chariots which is nice. Think I'd have just had a single unit of the chariots but in a 6 for toughness and I think not taking the Sacred Band spearmen is a mistake, but they are expensive so something else would have to be given up to accommodate them; decisions, decisions ...

A large shooty army, and being Mauryan less ponderous than Classical Indian armies can be. The carts can cover a flank, but can fall apart quite quickly - but they're cheap. Elephants in 3's can be a gamble in my view, can be brittle, but it does mean you have 4 units of them so the enemy will have to face them somewhere.

A charging lancer army that won't die wondering, but the Tibetan ally is a nice twist as they can dismount as FArm Long Spear infantry (with Integral Shooters).

The infantry are good, but the cavalry brittle being in 4's - but you'd hope to use these as a secondary attack after the infantry have bogged down the enemy I think. Not sure it needed the Legendary general, but then I hardly ever use them so that could just be me.

Loads of very mobile and melee competent (to a degree) troops. Although Unprotected the Bedouin cavalry are surprisingly resilient. Is desperate to get flanks and if it can't will suffer.

A possibly insane army, and in practice appears to specialise in close results. An interesting, possibly challenging mix of troops that can be difficult to coordinate - but get it right and it can cause a lot of damage.

An army chosen, I believe, for family reasons - but seems to have done quite well so not a bad choice. Tuaregs add a cost effective shock component and the camel's terrain abilities can catch out the unwary.

Must confess that I prefer the Catalan Company in Anatolia version with the Superior, Fleet of Foot Almughavars so am a bit biased - but I can see why you might want to use this version. I would personally take more of the Almughavars but that is just me. (NB this list was sent in on the 2020 army builder, however, it is still legal under the 2021 version although a few points more expensive.)

Early Imperial Roman is a popular army for some obvious reasons, but I much prefer the later version - due to more interest in the history as much as anything. I think the ally is a bit odd in this as I'd have expected another unit of the infantry; but points only go so far.

Its tough, very tough and a lot of people are vague on the rules on BattleWagons and try and attack them with unsuitable troops. Is a bit of a counter-punch style army but is extremely effective at it if you have the knack - but this can mean it fall just short of a win in some games.

Small and incredibly tough - and in the case of the army fielded beautifully painted. In a straight up fight it fears nobody, but it is narrow which can be a weakness if the enemy is mobile and there is little terrain.

A frighteningly good mobile shooting army, and I think players underestimate how competitive chariot armies can be even in an open format.

Small but with all the expensive units taken it is going to be. If the enemy stand in front of it then it can be devastating; however, if they manoeuvre it can be pulled apart had have its flanks driven in or the weaker units targeted.

Another army I like, but as is often the case not a composition I'd go for. I've never got much value from the integral artillery, but that could be the way I've tried to use them. It finished well up the table so must have something going for it even if not to my taste.

Tough and effective. The Powerbow troops make it unpleasant for mounted armies but the infantry mean it is still very competent against foot armies.

My army and the one I won Cross & Crescent with so obviously I think it is pretty damned good. But being honest I took it because I needed to decide quickly as I was list checking so took the easy option of rinse and repeat. Highly mobile and can put out good shooting power, but can struggle against good infantry or on a terrain heavy table. Also like any shooty cavalry army you do need to be practiced with it to put together a string of results, especially with so many units of 4 base Unprotected horse archers.

Bit of a "what the heck is that" army choice. Tuareg give punch, but it also has a fair amount of junk that can be vulnerable if the enemy gets to it. In my view very much a list designed to be used by a skilful player who can get more out of it than it appears to provide.

I really rather like this. Has a good balance of troops and plenty of cards. Murakami ally is unusual and effective. It is the only Japanese list I have seen that could tempt me to do a Samurai army.

Well it is the winning army so you can't argue with that. Must confess whilst I thought it could do well I also thought that it would have a couple of games where it would stall and so be out of the running. The pike blocks are effective and cheap, but take the hard crust off reasonably quickly and it can fall apart - but it can be tough taking off the crust. It was played well and a deserved winner.