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The Board
A 4'x4' board with the north half a light wood, a small but swift running river running north to south near the western edge, a ruined village in the centre of the bottom half, and a small castle in the south-east corner.
The river had a ford in the centre of the northern half, and a small bridge in the centre of the southern half. The ford was rough terrain, the bridge two inches wide, the river otherwise impassable.
There was a watch tower in the wood (but in the end it played no part in the battle) along with some old ruins. The entire wood was rough terrain.
The Objective
To win, evil must have planted a banner on the central tower of the castle. Otherwise it would be a good victory. Normal courage rules were in effect.
It was agreed that ladders were too heavy to lift over the walls, but once inside evil units could open the main gate on a roll of a 1 on a d6. Once brought inside the ladders could be used if necessary to get to the top of the walls or the tower. Ladders could be used normally on the outside of the walls.
Evil Force (700 points)
There were lots and lots of orcs, in two groups. The main body consisted of a captain, banner, six trackers, and a horde of miscellaneous troops. This group set up on the west side of the bridge, with the trackers positioned further south, taking up position to shoot any enemy that presented themselves as targets across the river.
The reserves consisted of Gorbag with his devoted band of cut-throats. They were lined up further north, ready to cross at the ford.
A support group of Easterlings, with a captain, banner, six archers, and eight warriors entered the forest from the north, along the east edge.
All three groups were well-equipped with scaling ladders, and sufficient passion to take them through to their objective.
Good Force (500 points)
Eight Citadel Guard archers were led by Beregond. There was a large handful of Men of Minas Tirith equipped with an assortment of spears, swords, and shields.
Finally there was King Elessar. It seems that he was passing through the neighbourhood on secret business when the nasty evil troops were spotted. While his mission was urgent, he hoped that by staying for just a couple hours he could ensure the safety of this small castle.
Most of the archers took up positions on the walls, while Elessar took the brave Gondorians, Beregond with two of the archers, and the banner to the field. They took position, waiting in ambush in the ruined village.
All was ready, and both sides were certain of a win.
The Battle Part I – Who Is that Old Armoured Guy on the Bridge?
With priority, Elessar and a small group of four determined warriors, including the banner bearer, headed for the bridge. They took up position, blocking it and hoping to make the crossing a very expensive proposition for the orc horde. Beregond steadied his archers, and they prepared for the onslaught. Finally, the rest of the rank and file decided that with Elessar on the bridge, they were more useful on the other flank. They headed off through the ruins to help defend against the Easterlings. The orcs at the ford were too far to be considered an immediate threat.
Not recognizing the king, the orcs crashed onto the bridge, hoping to make short work of the oldish-looking man foolish enough to stand in their way.
Gorbag led his group cautiously across the treacherous ford, and they began their slow march to the walls.
The archers on both sides traded shots, an Easterling was felled by the archers on the walls, and the orc trackers picked off one of the small group on the bridge.
To their dismay the orcs discovered the true nature of the man on the bridge as he carved his way effortlessly through two ranks of their brethren.
By the end of turn one an Easterling had fallen, slowing their siege ladder, the Easterling archers were in a position to fire from the wood (although their shots would be obstructed by some of the overhanging boughs), a warrior of Minas Tirith had fallen, and one of the trackers fell to a Citadel Guardsman’s excellent bowmanship.
The battle had begun.
The Battle Part II – In the Thick of It
Over the next few turns the castle archers continued to try and whittle the number of the Easterlings, but the Easterners’ superior armour meant that the losses were minimal. The Easterling archers, hampered by trees and the walls of the castle were totally ineffective, though they continued to move slowly to the edge of the wood in order to gain a clearer view of their foes.
The orcs continued to try and cross the bridge, but Elessar was at his heroic finest, slaughtering rank after rank of the horde sent to best him, and not even noticing that it was an orc captain that fell to one of his mighty blows.
The orc trackers skilfully picked off a couple more targets of opportunity.
The remaining defenders continued across the field, judging that the most urgent threat was the steady approach of the Easterlings to the walls, now defended only by a small handful of archers. Beregond also recognized the threat, and headed back to the castle, leaving a lone archer behind to try and pick off the remaining orc trackers using his superior range to remain safe from the enemy’s counterfire.
Well into the battle the orcs at the bridge finally realized the hopelessness of their task and, now leaderless, showed some rare initiative and headed for the ford instead, leaving a hapless two-handed axeman to fend off the juggernaut that was Elessar. Freed from the constant onslaught. Elessar also realized that the biggest threat was both the Easterlings and the steady approach of Gorbag’s group. He headed off to the castle, leaving the lone axeman breathing a sigh of relief that could be heard across the battlefield.
Meanwhile, the Easterlings had managed to get a ladder up, and in spite of heavy losses the captain made it onto the top, only to be finally beaten off by Beregond with the assistance of one of his archers. The ladder was pushed down, and no further attempt could be made until the men now at the at the base of the walls could be brushed out of the way.
And the men had made their arrival a good one. After crossing to engage the Easterlings, they stopped the red and gold advance – dropping their numbers with some skilful sword work. But they were soon trapped between the few remaining Easterlings and the fresh minions sent by Gorbag. In spite of shielding and some tactical retreats, the brave warriors of Minas Tirith were slaughtered, but had managed to stem the tide of Easterlings and hold the orcs until the arrival of Elessar.
Gorbag’s group had split in two, and while half was supporting the few remaining Easterlings, he took advantage of the dwindling number of defenders and led the other half to an undefended section of wall. Quickly raising a ladder they managed to get a foothold on the castle wall, and then moved along, killing three archers in three turns.
Meanwhile the archers on the walls fought off the Easterling assault on the ladder, still had time to kill the Easterling holding the banner, and then the Easterling who recovered the fallen flag. A couple more orcs and Easterlings also fell to their exceptional marksmanship.
Finally the Easterling archers, having gained the relative safety of the edge of the wood, continued their shooting at targets of opportunity, picking off an archer and a couple men of Minas Tirith.
The Battle Part III – The End Is Nigh, and It Is a Bad Day to Be Evil
With little might remaining, Elessar managed to clean out the orcs and Easterlings from the base of the wall, whittling the numbers down, and breaking the evil side’s morale. With only Gorbag remaining, and him inside the castle, the orcs outside fled in droves, losing fifteen of their number in one turn alone!
Gorbag and Beregond battled on the wall, with Gorbag’s skill and better supply of might finally making him the victor. But the victory was short lived. When he realized how few troops he had remaining he also deserted the field, hoping to have some quiet time to himself to think of creative excuses he could present to his master to explain his lack of success. For the day certainly seemed lost. His remaining troops were dissolving away, and Elessar was heading towards the wood to mop up the remaining Easterling archers, bravely holding their position at the edge of the woods A final Easterling was locked in hand-to-hand combat with an archer remaining on the wall, and the reaming archer in the tower continued to pick off orcs in the castle itself.
The Battle Part IV – When the End Comes, It Comes Quickly
For evil, it was the end of a day that they had begun with such optimism.
Now all hope seemed lost. For the orcs, their few remaining troops were about to be slaughtered by the king. Gorbag had disappeared, their captain lay dead in a pile of bodies at the bridge. The banner was lost. There were only three orcs remaining in the castle, and it seemed it would be a dark day for the bad guys.
The Easterlings were having a bad day as well. One was at the top of the ladder, unaware of the carnage below him but determined to win his place on the wall. The remaining Easterling archers could only see a heavily armed and armoured Elessar striding toward them with a smile on his face and blood on his sword.
Then, against all odds, Elessar turned unexpectedly and left the field.
But it was too late. The evil troops had seen too much, and used any opportunity to flee the field. With the departure of their king, and the death of Beregond, the remaining good side also fled. By the time the rout was over there was an Easterling battling it out on the wall with two remaining Citadel Guard archers, and even the watching gods were uncertain how the day would end. Finally the remaining Citadel Guards realized the futility of their task, and fled. The lone Easterling, battered, bloodied, but elated, climbed slowly to the top of the tower, stripped off his armour, and raised a blood-spattered tunic on his weapon,. A banner was raised! Evil was victorious! But to the lone man with his red and gold armour, surveying the blooded field, it was a pyrrhic victory indeed.
Life Choices
With his armour off, his tunic flapping from the tower, and after a brief search of the castle, the lone Easterling settled down with some food and a keg of wine in the now-empty fort. As he listened to the birds singing he considered his life options.
There was no one alive who could swear if he were alive or dead. Someone would be along soon to see what had become of the castle, and if it were the orcs he was certain that the end result would be some orcs claiming the property for their own. His contribution would be quickly forgotten. If the next group to come along were to be Easterlings, he would again receive no credit, but could be certain that his life as a soldier would resume in earnest, and he was pretty sure that any favours that Lady Luck owed him had been more than used up over the last few hours. If a group of Gondorians were to come by, his chances of holding the fort single-handedly were laughable, and death was the most likely outcome.
Maybe it was time to find a quiet beach and live a life, a long life, of solitude and peace.
Battle played by Falcon_master and DwarvesRule
Written by DwarvesRule
Photos shown in Falcon_master's gallery
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