Hello again, it's been a while!
I have been busy painting and terrain-making, and I am now at a stage where I can jump into the main campaign
I have revised Act 6 - Saruman's War on Rohan to include some of the scenarios in the War in Rohan supplement, however it will still be a while before I get onto that.
I have listened to people's suggestions and feedback regarding the outcomes of scenarios, and have decided to use the following post-game procedure:
Hero models can roll to regain spent Might, Will and Fate points. Each spent point is rolled for separately, and on the roll of a 3+, the point is regained. Might can be used to modify the roll, however that Might point cannot be attempted to be regained until after the next scenario.
If a Hero is reduced to 0 Wounds and 'slain' during a scenario, then only Wounds can be attempted to be recovered. Again, each Wound is rolled for separately and recovered on a 3+. Might can be used to modify the roll, however that Might point cannot be attempted to be regained until after the next scenario.
There are exceptions to this of course, such as if Boromir dies at Amon Hen, then he automatically stays dead.
The outcome of the game also has an impact on these rolls for recovery: should Good win, they can re-roll a single recovery roll of their choice. Should Evil win, they can force the Good player to re-roll a single recovery roll.
Of course, I may have to modify some of these rules as the campaign progresses, but I think they are fairly balanced at the minute. The main inspiration for them is taken from the FOTR Journeybook.
Anyway, enough rambling, on to the battle report!
Act 1 - Ride of the RingwraithsScenario 1 - OsgiliathThe Dark Lord has spent every moment trying to find the One Ring since Isildur cut it from his hand, but through chance and desperate fortune, the Ring has remained hidden from his eye. Now, after many long centuries of searching, the whereabouts of the One Ring has been gleaned. In the dungeons of Barad-Dur, the creature known as Gollum has been tortured almost to death by the Dark Lord's servants. In his pitiful cries were two distinct words: 'Shire' and 'Baggins', and so Sauron is finally one step closer to tracing his quarry. He sends his most faithful servants, the nine Ringwraiths, to retrieve the Ring.
The Nazgul are afraid of water, especially the large and swift river Anduin, and so the Ringwraiths have to cross the bridge at Osgiliath. From the western bank they can then head off through Rohan to find the Shire and hunt for a Hobbit called Baggins. Unwilling to delay his war plans even for the search for the Ring, Sauron also uses this moment to test the resolve of the west bank defenders. Fortunately for the free peoples of the world, the Lord of Mordor has not counted on the sheer bravery of the Men who garrison the western bank.This scenario is from the Ride of the Ringwraiths campaign which was printed in White Dwarf (I'm not sure of the issues, but the DC Hobbit League have a copy on their website). I have slightly modified the scenario to make it fit on my 4' x 3' Osgiliath table. Additionally, the photos have been slightly edited so that they resemble the battle taking place under the moonlight at night.
Objectives:
For Evil to win, more than half of the Ringwraiths must cross the bridge and exit the western table edge and head for the Gap of Rohan.
The Good side must prevent this.
All is quiet on the western bank of the Anduin. The orcs across the river have been laying low for some time, and the soldiers of Gondor on the night watch are relaxed.
However, a piercing wail suddenly rips through the darkness, a sound that chills the soldiers to the bone. In the pale moonlight, nine shadows can be seen galloping across the bridge.
With Evil automatically having priority in the first turn, the Ringwraiths move onto the board via the bridge, the Witch-King out in front. With them come two boats full of orcs, heading towards the bank.
The third boat unfortunately rolled a 1 and so cannot move that turn, as the orcs have to struggle to keep control of the boat on the fast-flowing river.
Reacting to the charge of the Ringwraiths, the captain of Gondor rallies some of his men, hoping to delay the wraiths until help can arrive.
Unfortunately for him, multiple black darts come from the wraiths, taking down the captain and one of his men. The only consolation for the Good side here is that many of the Ringwraiths burned Might to ensure the black darts were effective.
As the Captain of Gondor falls, black shadows piercing his armour, the Ringwraiths charge forward in haste, knowing that the key to their passage through Osgiliath lies in the speed and surprise of their attack.
The Ringwraiths charge forward, making swift work of the soldiers brave enough to stand in their way through a combination of black darts and cavalry charge bonuses. However, more Might was spent to call a Heroic Move to avoid being pinned down by the Gondorians.
The orc boats also reach the shore and the orcs charge forward, hoping to tie up the soldiers and allow the wraiths to break through the lines, while the hulking figure of a troll appears on the bridge.
Probably due to the effect of the darkness, none of the Gondorian archers find their mark.
The Nazgul push forward towards the fountain courtyard, using their dark powers to instill terror in the Gondorian's souls, rooting them to the spot.
Worried by their rapidly dwindling Will and spent Might, the Ringwraiths switch up tactics, transfixing the soldiers to enable the wraiths to rush past. Now at the halfway point of the board, it appears the Ringwraiths have the advantage.
"To the river, quick!"
The sounds of battle and cries for help have been heard, and from a dark side-street Faramir leads a group of brave rangers. Have they arrived in time to block the wraiths' escape?
Finally passing the reinforcements roll for Faramir, the rangers move onto the board and attempt to block the movement of the wraiths.
Perhaps crucially, a couple of immensely brave Gondorian soldiers managed to pass their Courage tests and charge two Ringwraiths, slaying their mounts and thus reducing their mobility. However there are still seven wraiths heading towards the board edge, and only five need to escape for an Evil victory.
Faramir leads a charge against the Ringwraiths, however it appears he may have arrived too late, as his rangers can only pin down three wraiths. Yet help is at hand; the horn of Gondor drowns out the wails of the Nazgul as Boromir and his men rush towards the battle!
Hearing the horn of Gondor and seeing the arrival of Boromir, the wraiths recognise that they must escape now to have any chance of victory; should they get pinned down for a couple of turns, the combined might of Boromir and Faramir will surely defeat them. Thus, the wraiths make a daring gambit; one of the free wraiths that Faramir's men had failed to reach spends four points of Will, reducing it's store to one point, in order to ensure the casting of a black dart at Faramir, who is engaged in combat with another wraith.
Having already had to fend off multiple black darts in the previous turn, down to 1 Wound and 0 Fate, Faramir falls victim to the dark powers. With that wraith now free from combat (Faramir was the only one in base contact with the wraith), the Ringwraith with the last remaining point of Might calls a Heroic March, enabling four wraiths to successfully exit the table and escape towards Rohan, with the fifth wraith an inch short this turn, but out of charge range.
The following turn, Evil win priority and get the fifth wraith off the table and secure a victory for the Evil side.
Well that was a very enjoyable scenario to play! I'm very inexperienced with magic and Ringwraiths, so I might have been a bit trigger happy at the start using lots of Will and burning nearly all the Might on black darts; in the end the wraiths had just about enough Might to use Heroic Moves and Marches to escape.
I liked the theme of the scneario and I think it unfolded in a way that fit that theme; the Gondorians were caught unawares with the attack in the night and struggled to organise themselves. By the time help arrived, the wraiths were almost away. However, had the reinforcements arrived a turn earlier it could have been a different story!
Time for the post-game recovery rolls:
All the wraiths except one recovered all their spent Will. All recovered their Might. The Witch-King recovered all but one of his spent Will points and is back to his starting Might.
I did not roll for the Gondorian Captain, as I am going to assume the next scenario that features a Gondorian Captain is just a different Captain.
The rolls for Faramir were very dodgy! As Faramir was reduced to 0 Wounds, he can only roll to recover the lost Wounds. The first roll was a 1, and so Faramir had to use two out of his three Might points to turn that to a 3 and recover the Wound. The second roll was then... also a 1!
And with only one point of Might there was nothing that could be done about it. So Faramir survives, but starts the next scenario he is in with 1 Might, 3 Will, 0 Fate and 1 Wound.
I do apologise for the long post, and I thank you if you've read this far!
I hope you enjoyed the report, I'd love to hear feedback.
Now it's time to go play the next scenario...
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