This is a modified Take and Hold scenario I hosted last night. Unfortunately no pictures...I was hosting, the players were all inexperienced, tons of questions, no time. Also, we never finished it to completion. My son and I played through a slightly smaller version in about 1.5 hours, but with this group after 4 hours of play we were about 1/2 way to breaking. Still, they enjoyed the scenario and setup.

Description
A recent ambush, surprise reprisal and mad fray has resulted in chaos. His battle-weary troops on the verge of flight, the Easterling leader calls for an orderly retreat. "Make for the ruined tower in the hills! We shall regroup there!...Don't panic, regroup! To me! To me!"...but it's too late: a tide of enemy cavalry sweeps them away. Panicked flight ensues. But after running miles into the hills, exhaustion forces the scattered Easterlings finally take stock. What choice do they have but to attempt to regroup? One by one they head for the ruins...

Meanwhile, not far away, a host of orcs sweeps the remnants of Rohan aside. Men run hither and yon...yet they know the terrain. These are rolling hills of the Westfold and they know every inch. Though scattered in groups of 2 and 3, each thinks of the one refuge they can reach before nightfall, an old ruined tower on the edge of Fangorn forest.

Meanwhile, at the ruins a Dwarf lord surveys the terrain, the rolling hills and scattered woods. His dwarves below begin to unload the pony and pull together their supplies. "They say there be treasure here, boys! Dig! Swing yer picks like only a dwarf can!" The dwarf lord lights his pipe and takes a last look at the surrounding landscape. He blinks suddenly...was that the gleam of steel in those woods? A horse and rider emerge, throwing spear poised. From behind comes a metallic clink. He whirls to see 3 Easterlings come over a low hill. "To arms!" he bellows. "To arms! They'll not be stealing our treasure!"

Layout
A small tower should be placed in the center of the 4x4 board, ideally no larger than 10" across. A small well (eg Mines of Moria kit) or other marker should be placed 3" from the tower in any direction. Otherwise, there should be at least 6" of free space around the tower. Other terrain and ruins should be placed as desired...there should be cover and woodlands, but there should be enough space for cavalry movement.

Starting Positions
Opposing forces should not be deployed, they will come on as per the Take and Hold Reinforcements rules. The Dwarves are already deployed. If you are playing approximately 750 points per side, the Dwarves should consist of something like: Dwarf captain, shield; 2 x Khazad Guard; 2 x Iron Guard; 4 x Dwarves, shields; 4x Dwarves, dwarf bows. Scale accordingly for smaller games. The Dwarf captain should be at least one level off the ground. The Dwarf archers should be on the tower in good shooting positions. The Dwarves' pony should be deployed touching the well at the point nearest the tower (we used Bill from the Sam and Bill vignette). Up to 2 Dwarves may be put into base contact with the pony.

Objectives
Similar to Take and Hold: when one side is Broken roll D6 in the End phase, on a 1-2 the game is over. Points are allocated as follows:
- 5 points for leading the pony off the table
- 1 point for killing a Dwarf (or 2 points for the Dwarf Captain)
- 1 point for each model wholly within the tower

Major Victory/Defeat
You win by 3 or more points

Minor Victory/Defeat
You gain more points than your opponent

Draw
You have the same number of points as your opponent

Special Rules
Reinforcements: as per Take and Hold rules.

Finders Keepers: the Dwarves are loathe to give up the tower. They can not move more than 3" from the tower and are more likely to guard doorways and otherwise make life difficult for the warring groups. If they find themselves more than 3" from the tower they will move to return to it. The only exception is to defend the pony: they will charge any enemy model that is touching the pony, or come into contact with the pony, or both, in order to prevent it being stolen. If they charge, they must charge the nearest model, unless they are required to make a Courage test, in which case they can either attempt the Courage test, or charge the next nearest model. If another model is not available, they will attempt the Courage test.

Enemies Everywhere: the Dwarves are not partial to either side, even other Dwarves. Assume they are not of Durin's Folk. They are here for the treasure, and that's that. Dwarf archers will shoot at the nearest available target, regardless of side. Of course they can shoot into any combat involving the warring factions (resolve in-the-way rolls normally). They will not risk their own warriors or the pony by shooting at enemies in base contact with either.

Sugar's Daddy: the pony is loyal to its masters...they feed it carrots, apples and sugar. It has a normal move of 8". It will not be moved willingly by anyone other than one of the treasure-seeking Dwarves. An enemy model attempting to lead it away must be in base contact at the start of the Move phase and not in a fight. The enemy model may pull the pony in any direction at 1/2 his normal move, or 1/2 the pony's move, whichever is less. If two models are in base contact with the pony they may move it at their full move distance, or the pony's full move, whichever is less. Mixed enemy models in contact with the pony (infantry, cavalry, etc) will move at the rate of the slowest model. Each Dwarf that is also in base contact with the pony cancels the movement of one enemy model, regardless of type (infantry, cavalry, etc). If enemies in base contact are slain or leave, the pony will move as quickly as possible back to its original point at the well, or at least try to come into base contact with it.
Note: it is recommended the pony be essentially invulnerable: the opposing sides recognize it and its packs as items of value and will not seek to destroy it. However, you can try an untested version, where the pony may be slain to prevent the other side from gaining it. For shooting attacks, any models in base contact are each considered "in the way". The pony has 2 wounds and D5, representing all the heaped gear.

Playing the Dwarves
As host and ref I played the Dwarves, doing my best to be impartial. If you don't have a ref, the Dwarf rules should take care of most situations: they shoot if they can, charge to save or recover the pony, and otherwise keep to the tower and actively and aggressively defend it. Any conflicts should be resolved with a d6, the winning player getting to decide how that model acts.

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We played with a Rohan/Wose/Radagast force vs 2/3rds Easterlings + 1/3rd Orcs + Khamul, with about 800 points per side. It was fairly hero heavy to let the newbs have fun with Might. Much mayhem and clumped spots of action as small groups cleaned up enemy forces in their area and reformed into solid tactical units. Khamul found himself pinned between two RRG who charged him fearlessly 3 turns in a row, keeping him busy but doing nothing else, until he killed both in one turn with a judicious use of Will and two lucky 5s. In one unreal turn, on one side of the board Rohan managed to kill 5 models with throwing spears out of 8 throws; and on the other side of the board another RRG threw to wound Grishnakh, who failed his Fate roll. A clump of Easterling bowmen found cover and managed to shoot a shielded Dwarf out of the doorway with three sixes in a row. The Dwarf archers did little, but kept Amdur from sticking his neck out too far. The Dragon Knight, surrounded and alone, managed to cut down his points-worth in cavalry before expiring.

Radagast never showed up. Every time reinforcements were rolled, he got a 1, and the player wasn't about to let his opponent decide where to put him should he spend 2 might to bump it to a 3. We decided that "A Wizard is never late, Frodo Baggins, he arrives precisely when he means to"...even if that means he doesn't arrive at all!

We ended the game as the now reformed battle groups prepared to converge on the tower. All the Kataphracts and most of the Orcs had been slain. Rohan had managed a little better, getting priority more often and making good use of their throwing spears. This left a tight group of Easterling archers, swords, pikes, a banner and a wounded Grishnakh approached the tower from the south, shielded by a large piece of ruins. Approaching from the north were Amdur, Khamul and a motley group of swords, pikes, and a few orcs with 2H weapons. Meanwhile, Rohan had full control over the eastern edge, with plenty of RoR, WoR without bows, and a few RRG and Sons of Eorl led by Erkenbrand and Eomer. Technically the Easterlings won, having the sole Dwarf kill, but it was really too early to tell how it would have gone. I was looking forward to the pony tug-of-war.

Well, if you try it out let me know how it goes, it might need some balance tweaking.

Very intresting scenario... May I will try it...

wow, very complicated for me but it seems cool. what model did you use for the pony by the way

I was from the Bill and Sam vignette:

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catal ... rod1091675

ok cheers, that looks a really nice model

great work! I might try this with some friends one day.

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"make me lunch... worthy of Mordor"