The actual report! (Finally! Sorry it took too long) I'm not sure how I'm going to do this. It might be a mix of narrative and commentary from myself. (Also so you all know, I played this battle by myself as my friend that actually knows the rules and was going to do this battle with me was extremely busy and I got impatient. )
You also may notice that Gondor's army isn't in line with the 1/3 bow limit. I forgot about that until the middle of the game, but you'll see what affect it had on the game. To the game!!
The Game Board after deployment:
Boromir and his warband deployed first and took to the middle of the ruins to avoid the Mumakil.
An Easterling captain and his troops are placed opposite to keep them occupied as well as harass Gondor from above with arrows.
Gondor places a group of Rangers to shoot at the flank of the enemy from behind cover. But the Easterlings discovered that they could deploy right next to them inside the cover as it laid in their deployment zone. So Gondor had to place its other warband of warriors of Minas Tirith and Captain to help defend the rangers.
Khandish horsemen deploy behind this wall out of sight of the other ranger warband with Faramir leading them (I used the Madril model). This may prove to be their downfall as they weren't close at all to charge the rangers. Arrows can take their toll...
I placed the mumakil right up close and personal to those rangers as the mumak could trample the terrain as well and really make a mess of things (small stone walls I gave a Defense 8 Wound 2).
The knights and riders of Rohan were placed in charge range to try and pin the beast.
And finally, Khamul on his fellbeast.
TURN 1: Priority on the first turn went to the Good side. The Mumakil commander urged his mighty beast forward before the Knight Captain could sally forth his riders, and, smashing through the weak stone wall, demolished the ranger warband. One ranger however was able to dodge the deadly tusks and feet of the mumak and stopped it from moving further! In total, 13 of Gondor's finest were ground into the dirt or tossed aside like rag dolls.
(Dice roll to trample came up short!)
The Knight Captain charges at the Mumak, lance aimed at it's hind legs, with a couple of his soldiers taking courage to charge the mighty beast. However, many of the others cowered in fear seeing the destruction of the rangers.
Two knights split off from the group, hoping to help the the infantry in the ruins but Khamul intercepts one of them.
Swords and shields meet in a clash both in the ruins and at the base of the Mumakil. The Khandish Horsemen rush out from behind the wall hoping to reach the rangers, but the rangers are prepared and ready their bows.
Minas Tirith archers ready their bows to shoot at the crew in the howdah.
A couple of Haradrim are shot from their lofty perch while they return fire, killing a rider of Rohan with poison arrows. (For some reason, I didn't take very many pictures of the shoot phase.)
Two wounds are made on the Mumak causing it to panic and attempt to flee the field. (Next turn it will stampede.)
The good side moves first (I've forgotten what turn it is as I didn't keep notes very well) to hold the Easterlings in place as the Mumakil will stampede right over them on its way to the board edge. The Mumak carves a deadly path through men, good and evil alike. The Gondor captain could have saved himself (wounded twice, fate could have been saved with two might points spent) but he thought that the beast would finish off the three or four models left in its way and flee the field. But it was in vain!! A lone Gondorian archer somehow miraculously survived the stampeding Mumak and stopped the beast mere inches from the table edge! The crew had to hold on for their lives as the monster lurched forward. Only one unfortunate soul lost his grip and plummeted towards the ground. However, something must have broken his fall as he suffered no fatal wounds but dents in his armor.
(Gondor Captain added to the pile)
(The Haradrim crew that fell is the purple on the left)
I believe that this point that I failed to take very many pictures at key points. Khamul used a point of might to do a heroic channeling and transfixed Boromir, causing his Fight and Attack values to go to a pathetic 1. Needless to say, he lost the fight and failed all of his fate rolls. A dark day for Gondor!
The Rangers break from their cover, to get closer to the enemy and yto hopefully whittle away at the enemy. Unfortunately I didn't take pictures of the last few combats. Khamul charged into the lines that surrounded Faramir in hopes to get to the Captain but he failed to get through to him in time.
With a heavy death toll, Gondor is forced to retreat with what they have left. With Boromir dead, Faramir must lead the forces of Gondor now. It's like it was meant to be or something.
Casualties (and remember, the mumakil trampled most of the evil models):
And the survivors:
This was a really fun fight. Sorry it took too long to post it up. I hope you enjoyed reading and the pictures. Let me know what I can do to make these reports better. I really admire the comments from others. Thanks!
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