Today, the topic is a tier list of the most toxic armies of all time! We kick off going through some of the top meta lists of the current edition of MESBG. After that, we compare them with some of the top armies of the past few editions to see how they stack up!

Time Stamps:

00:00 Introduction

02:37 Men of the West

05:12 Depths of Moria

07:40 Army of the White Hand

09:00 The Eagles

10:25 Garrison of Dale

13:12 Ugluk’s Scouts

15:27 Kingdom of Khazad-Dum

17:46 The Shire

18:40 Moria Dragon Build

21:27 Riders of Theoden

25:53 Assault on Lothlorien

28:19 Assault Upon Helm’s Deep

31:16 Host of the Dragon Emperor

34:55 Battle of the Five Armies

37:08 Army of Lake-town

40:49 Goblin-town

44:13 Rangers of Ithilien

47:11 Witch-King + Suladan Alliance

48:41 Nature’s Wrath Spam

50:02 Army of Arnor

53:46 Vanquishers of the Necromancer

55:32 The Black Riders

57:17 Angmar

01:00:59 Galadriel + Gwaihir Alliance

01:04:42 Watcher in the Water Lists

01:09:29 The Iron Hills

01:12:24 All-Fellbeast Build

01:14:48 Alfrid + Legolas Combo

01:16:28 Shade + Reaver Combo

01:20:02 Final Thoughts

Links:

Baron of Dice Affiliate: https://baronofdice.com/?ref=intothewestpodcast

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/IntotheWest Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ITWpod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/intothewestpodcast/

Credits:

Music: Music from Youtube Audio library Tavern Loop One by Alexander Nakarada (www.serpentsoundstudios.com) Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Music: Bay Bridge Musician: mr. hong (from Audiio)

Music: Redline Musician: EnjoyMusic Site: https://enjoymusic.ai

On this episode, we cover 5 of the most toxic armies that we've seen in this edition so far. This is also a prequel to the next episode where we will go into the most toxic armies of all time!

Time Stamps:

00:00 Intro

01:16 The Eagles

03:20 Moria (Dragons)

05:55 Depths of Moria

07:44 The Shire

10:38 Army of the White Hand

15:12 Outro

Links:

Baron of Dice Affiliate: https://baronofdice.com/?ref=intothewestpodcast

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/IntotheWest

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ITWpod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/intothewestpodcast/

Credits:

Music: Music from Youtube Audio library Tavern Loop One by Alexander Nakarada (www.serpentsoundstudios.com) Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Music: Bay Bridge Musician: mr. hong (from Audiio) Music: Redline Musician: EnjoyMusic Site: https://enjoymusic.ai

We are joined by Andrew and Bazuso for a discussion on pet peeves that have resulted in some of our most miserable tournament experiences.

#lotr #warhammer #mesbg #sbg #tabletopgaming #tabletop #tabletopgames

Time Stamps:

00:00 Introduction

02:39 Miss-tracking Resources

07:19 Time Mismanagement

15:26 Tilting

22:01 Dice Rolling

30:50 Take Backs

39:11 Handling Opponent’s Models

41:10 Precise Measuring

44:53 Bumping Tokens

48:05 Outro

Links:

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/IntotheWest

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ITWpod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/intothewestpodcast/

Credits:

Music: Music from Youtube Audio library Tavern Loop One by Alexander Nakarada (www.serpentsoundstudios.com) Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Music: Bay Bridge

Musician: mr. hong (from Audiio)

Music: Redline

Musician: EnjoyMusic

Site: https://enjoymusic.ai

Joined by friend of the channel Bazuso, we dive into a number of controversial strategies that can currently be used in MESBG; some that are minor and situational, others potentially game-breaking!

#lotr #warhammer #mesbg #sbg #tabletopgaming #tabletop #tabletopgames

Time Stamps:

00:00 Introduction

01:23 Siege Deployment

04:11 Gale Winds Lockout

07:34 Gail Winds Turn Off Shooting

09:50 Untouchable Objective

13:04 Locking Out Objective with Eggs/Flowers

16:19 (Locking Out Objective With Heavy Objects)

18:23 Blocking Fences

20:25 Blocking Maelstrom Deployment

28:23 Final Thoughts

Links:

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/IntotheWest

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ITWpod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/intothewestpodcast/

Credits:

Music: Music from Youtube Audio library Tavern Loop One by Alexander Nakarada (www.serpentsoundstudios.com) Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Music: Bay Bridge

Musician: mr. hong (from Audiio)

Music: Redline

Musician: EnjoyMusic

Site: https://enjoymusic.ai

The final video of the Adepticon vlog trilogy recapping how Richard won the largest ever Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game (MESBG) tournament in North America!

#lotr #warhammer #mesbg #sbg #tabletopgaming #tabletop #tabletopgames

Time Stamps:

00:00 The Background

01:20 The Preparation

03:52 The Journey

04:31 The Masters

04:52 Masters Game 1

06:19 Masters Game 2

07:21 Masters Game 3

08:24 Masters Game 4

09:56 GT Game 1

11:33 GT Game 2

12:10 GT Game 3

14:13 GT Game 4

15:50 End of GT Day 1

16:30 GT Game 5

17:38 GT Game 6

20:21 The Epilogue

Links:

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/IntotheWest

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ITWpod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/intothewestpodcast/

Music by: Music from Youtube Audio library Tavern Loop One by Alexander Nakarada (www.serpentsoundstudios.com) Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Additional sound effects from https://www.zapsplat.com

Joining us this week is Alisher of An Unexpected Podcast. We break down and discuss the results of AdeptiCon 2026, including the first North American Masters tournament, as well as the top 20 lists of the Grand Tournament!

North American Masters Tournament: https://www.longshanks.org/event/30934

Grand Tournament: https://www.longshanks.org/event/30935

Time Stamps:

00:00 Introduction

01:27 Masters Tournament

9:16 20th Place

12:50 19th Place

15:38 18th Place

18:30 17th Place

20:37 16th Place

23:30 15th Place

24:37 14th Place

28:15 13th Place

31:08 12th Place

33:59 11th Place

36:24 10th Place

39:53 9th Place

42:33 8th Place

48:01 7th Place

48:58 6th Place

51:28 5th Place

53:16 4th Place

01:00:27 1st-3rd Place

01:11:08 Men of the West Discussion

01:16:36 Final Thoughts

Our Links:

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/IntotheWest

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ITWpod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/intothewestpodcast/

More Open Topic Episodes: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4AjD8eksrQEbY6i8_wCaxxMH9ULExZ6_

Credits:

Music: Tavern Loop One by Alexander Nakarada (www.serpentsoundstudios.com) Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Andrew of Tabletop Admiral and Now For Wrath YouTube channel returns with all-new tournament stats. Our friend Rob also joins in, as we take a look at the numbers behind the highest performing armies, and the most popular armies.

Follow along to all of the stats here:

https://tournaments.tabletopadmiral.com/podiums/Middle-Earth%20Strategy%20Battle%20Game%20-%202024

Our Links:

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/IntotheWest

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ITWpod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/intothewestpodcast/

More Open Topic Episodes: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4AjD8eksrQEbY6i8_wCaxxMH9ULExZ6_

Time Stamps:

00:00 Introduction

01:37 Top Podium Armies

12:01 Bottom Podium Armies

16:50 Most Played Armies

19:17 Least Played Armies

22:10 Open Discussion

26:34 Post-FAQ Predictions

40:44 Stats we would like to see

44:48 Final Thoughts

Credits:

Music: Tavern Loop One by Alexander Nakarada (www.serpentsoundstudios.com) Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Another FAQ has been released, and we are here to discuss all the changes, clarifications, and the ways this FAQ may shift the MESBG meta in the coming months.

Our Links:

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/IntotheWest

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ITWpod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/intothewestpodcast/

More Open Topic Episodes: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4AjD8eksrQEbY6i8_wCaxxMH9ULExZ6_

Time Stamps:

00:00 Intro

01:35 Armies of LotR

21:40 Armies of the Hobbit

23:59 Armies of Middle-earth

33:38 Matched Play Guide

39:34 Rules Manual

50:15 Final Thoughts

Credits:

Music: Tavern Loop One by Alexander Nakarada (www.serpentsoundstudios.com) Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Stephen is back in our latest list review episode, taking a look at lists submitted by our patrons over on Patreon. This time, the theme is lists with one or more monsters.

Our Links:

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/IntotheWest

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ITWpod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/intothewestpodcast/

More Open Topic Episodes: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4AjD8eksrQEbY6i8_wCaxxMH9ULExZ6_

Time Stamps:

00:00 Intro

00:52 Shadows of Angmar (Owen)

07:39 Cirith Ungol (Eli)

13:40 Buhrdur's Horde (Orc Pilled)

16:45 The Black Gate (Alex)

22:56 Host of The Witch-King (Jonathan)

27:43 Legions of Mordor (Chris)

32:28 Minas Morgul (Brandon)

Credits: Music: Tavern Loop One by Alexander Nakarada (www.serpentsoundstudios.com) Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

To kick off the new year, we break down some of the easiest and best armies for new players getting into MESBG! Friend of the channel, Stephen, joins in on the discussion and shares some of his own picks.

Our Links:

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/IntotheWest

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ITWpod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/intothewestpodcast/

More Open Topic Episodes: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4AjD8eksrQEbY6i8_wCaxxMH9ULExZ6_

Time Stamps:

00:00 Introduction

01:44 Stephen's Pick

07:54 Richard's Pick

11:15 Charles' Pick

15:57 Honourable Mentions

38:22 What about other Evil armies?

43:40 Outro

Credits:

Music: Tavern Loop One by Alexander Nakarada (www.serpentsoundstudios.com) Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Music:

Redline Musician: EnjoyMusic Site: https://enjoymusic.ai