”My Lord, the lookouts are signaling that warg riders are approaching from the north and something big is coming through the woods to the south of our position.”
“A troll most likely, have we any news of our reinforcements”, Faramir, captain of Gondor, replied hastily as he began devising a plan for his defenses.
“No news of the reinforcement but we expect them at night fall. What are your orders?”
“Send your best men to the southern stair and tell them to stop whatever it is that comes through there, and tell the lookouts to fire as soon as they have a clear shot at the approaching warg riders. I will prepare the defenses to the north.”
Here follows a battle report of two 400 points forces of Gondor and Mordor. The scenario is a slightly modified version of the “A Rock and a Hard Place” from the Return of the King rulebook.
The Gondor force is divided in two halves; one begins the game on the hill at one end of the board and is lead by Faramir. The other one is lead by a captain of Gondor and moves onto the board from the opposite table end. The good player’s objective is to have Faramir leave the board from the same edge as the Gondor reinforcements arrive from.
The Mordor force deploys on the same table half as the hill with Faramir’s troops. They cannot deploy on the hill and they must be at least 6” away from any good model. The evil side wins if Faramir is killed.
Starting position around the hill:
The Gondor reinforcements enter the table:
The Troll, some Mordor orcs and an Urkuk-hai captain tries to move up the southern stairs:
The warg riders, Mouth of Sauron and the main Orc contingent moves up the northern slope of the hill:
“The troll will soon break through our defenses, we cannot hold the stairs much longer my lord.”
“With me! We make a break for it and try to join forces with the reinforcements, they are reaching the forest line as we speak.”
“What about the lookouts in the ruin? They will not be able to hold for long.”
“ With any luck the orcs will focus on us, I have a feeling that I am their intended target.”
Faramir and his guards make a break for it, trying to stay away from the troll and Uruk-hai captain that breaks through the defenses at the south stairs:
The Mouth of Sauron picks up on Faramir’s intention and leads his orcs in an attempt at closing the trap:
As twilight approaches the Gondor reinforcements reach the fray and manage to wound the Mouth of Sauron and bring Faramir safely back to Osgliath:
“Captain, you are safe!”
“Yes, but our losses have been grievous; half of my men held the southern stairs against the troll and bought me the time I needed with their lives.”
