Turn 5 – evil priority. While the Betrayer does nothing at all in the small forest he’s in, Khamûl hears something behind him. Instead of returning to the road, the wraith turns around and rides at full speed towards the central board. Spotting Gildor, he raises an alarm.



This is heard by the Tainted, who immediately spurs his black horse towards the central board and the hobbits. Frodo, Sam and Pippin flee towards the forest in the center of the board, while Gildor valiantly charges Khamûl. He wins the ensuing duel but fails to wound the Ringwraith.

Turn 6 – good priority. While the hobbits flee into the woods, Gildor charges Khamûl again. This time the elf lord is victorious and he slays the wraith.



The Betrayer backs out of the woods, while the Tainted is already within sight of the Hobbits. The Tainted targets Sam with a black dart but misses.

Turn 7 – evil priority. Frodo makes a heroic move and has his entourage penetrate deeper into the forest, making it impossible for the Tainted to charge the hobbits.



Frustrated, the Ringwraith turns his steed towards Gildor and charges. Despite having a mount, this proves to be a bad move for the Tainted – his seeping decay does nothing to the noble elf, who wins the duel and slays his second Ringwraith that day.



Turn 8 – good priority. The hobbits still hide in the forest, while Gildor rushes towards them from southwest. He is afraid that he arrives too late, as the Betrayer is already at the northern edge of the hobbits’ hideout forest. The last remaining wraith casts a black dart targeting Frodo, but the evil side continues with poor magical performance, and the deadly spell misses again.

Turn 9 – good priority. The Betrayer sees the approaching elf and unleashes a blood-curling cry. The Noldorin lord acts as if he doesn’t even hear the piercing wail, and he charges the Betrayer. The elf is victorious yet again, as he effortlessly slays the black rider. The game ends in good victory!



In conclusion, we were rather pleasantly surprised by the battle-worthiness of Gildor; his double attacks and high fight value allowed him to dispatch the three Ringwraiths quite easily, despite them being mounted. The forests proved to be a salvation for the hobbits, and a curse for the mounted wraiths. The good side had almost continuous luck with priority rolls, and was able to move the wraiths into difficult spots within the forests while they were in sentry mode. The hobbits never failed their courage tests, and did not wander lost in the forest – they kept their focused eastward direction throughout the game up to the point when the alarm was raised by Khamûl.

The evil side lost relatively few will points – Khamûl, the Tainted and the Betrayer are now down to 5 will each. Frodo used one might point, and Gildor used one will point.

Next, the hobbits will meet with Merry and attempt to cross the Brandywine River. Stay tuned!

Oh my word your pictures keep getting better and better!!! Excellent stuff

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Manners maketh man

Really good report.
How did you simulate the Ringwraiths not seeing where the Hobbits and Gildor were, and also the one following the false trail?

Nice work on those pictures! stunning! Just like the atmosphere u created. It's like a good story, the images are really strong. Keep it up! I want to see more stuff like this. Amazing quality

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goblin: "people associate me with boogers because i am green"

Thanks for the kind words! Rest assured, more reports will follow. The next scenario will be played after a bit longer while - the university mid-term break postpones the next game (and we are eager for a game of Mansions of Madness for a change).

@LordElrond, the Ringwraiths operate in sentry mode - these are in the old rules manual, but I haven't been able to find them in the Hobbit rules anymore. Basically D6 is rolled for each Nazgûl at the move phase (apart from turn 1, where the scenario stipulates that they do nothing at all). Depending on the dice roll, the wraiths either stay still, are moved by the player with priority (this was more often than not the good player in our game above), or are moved normally by the evil player. The sentries become aware of the enemies only if these are within 4" at the end of the move.

Hence, for a long time, the Nazgûl don't see Gildor or the hobbits. In addition, the scenario considers all good players to have elven cloaks thanks to the poor daylight sight of the wraiths. Our board was quite full of trees and outcrops, so that would also have caused the models not being seen (hence the few black darts).

As to the false trails... well, that was my dramatic narrative - the good player was chuckling to herself when she had my wraiths constantly ride directly into forests, and wanting to keep with a sensible narrative from the Nazgûls' point of view, I took artistic liberties. Chasing rabbits was nothing more than the good player moving the wraiths either away from the hobbits or to difficult terrain.

A great thread, doing what a lot of us have set out to do at some stage (myself included) but here it is done in amazing style. Great miniatures, awesome terrain and cool photography. Looking forward to following your epic adventures in Middle-earth.. Excellent work.

This thread is really heating up now, Celevue. It is a high bar that you have set for yourself!

Having played this very scenario only a fortnight back I can attest to the abilities of Gildor. He surprised us too with the way he casually despatched the Nazgul. My failing 4 Will rolls in a row to save the Wound didn't help, but neither should it take away from Gildor's impressive form.

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3coloursbased - irregular painting and gaming blog

I will post a campaign scenario flowchart shortly, just to help people keep track what we have planned, and where the campaign is at any given moment. As the campaign progresses, I probably need to revise and repost a new version every now and then...

Incredible work. The terrain is truly inspiring, but so are the figures, the narrative and the beautiful (yes, I thought about the adjective) photography.

This is what LoTR is all about.

I had to chuckle when I read about 'Mansions of Madness'. Played this a couple of times and thought it was brilliant - even if the investigators lost on both occasions. It was the most similar thing to a role-playing experience without it being a role-playing game that I have encountered. Get some brandy, whisk(e)y and cigars in and link to 1920s radio http://www.whro.org/home/1920s/. We even went so far as to dress up in suits.

Mind you, we still haven't quite got our heads around the idea of 'collaborative gaming'. Perhaps if we investigators hadn't been so intent on fighting and quarelling amongst ourselves. (in character, I hasten to add). We might have won. Nevertheless great fun was had.

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"We may have cared about many things in life, but what will we have in our last moments.”
St. Teresa of Avila

How soon is shortly, not to be pushy or too eager or anything, I just wondered?

Sorry for the absence – the weekend was quite busy with the model show (and clearing my working areas the day after… pretty messy after two weeks’ intensive modeling). LordElrond, wait no more – “shortly” seemingly turned out to be a bit less than four days!

Without further ado, the following two posts attempt to clarify the intended, planned campaign structure. The scenarios marked with the Ring in the flowcharts are played with LotR / Hobbit SBG hybrid rules (another topic which I must make a post about in the near future), and those with a rectangle are War of the Ring scenarios. “Helm’s Deep” and the “Battle of the Pelennor Fields” have both the Ring and the rectangle, and we have initial plans of playing the overall scenario with WotR rules, and having concurrent small skirmishes with SBG rules (e.g. demolition charges and siege ladders in Helm’s Deep, and siege towers in Pelennor) – however, we still need to figure out the details of such a combination. Here is the first part of the campaign structure flowchart:



As you can see, the first nine scenarios lead to either of the two alternative Councils of Elrond. The one marked as the “Council of Elrond (1)” has the Ring arriving safely in Rivendell, and this leads to the forming of the Fellowship of the Ring. The Fellowship will definitely include Gimli, Legolas and Boromir, since they are introduced at this point. However, in case one (or more) of the six heroes already in play (the hobbits, Aragorn and Gandalf) is dead, other suitable characters are included up to the total of nine (possibilities include Radagast, Halbarad, Murin, Drar, Glóin, Glorfindel and Arwen). Gildor and Erestor are possibly needed later on in the Rivendell Guardians battlehost, and Elladan & Elrohir in the Return of the King battlehost, so these four elves are not eligible. Speaking of the dead, I will elaborate on the wound / might / will / fate recovery procedure in a separate post, but now it suffices to say we mostly follow the Journeybook rules for this during the SBG scenarios (and not the Hobbit SBG rulebook rules).

Since Frodo has not yet revealed his mission to the other hobbits, Sauron gains the Ring should Frodo be slain in the next scenario we play, “The Bucklebury Ferry”. But after that, other hobbits can carry the Ring (and later on, of course, other Fellowship members, too, should we reach Rivendell still in possession of it). The sixth scenario will be “Wizards’ duel” – if Saruman is victorious, Gandalf is delayed and will meet the Ringwraiths in the scenario “Grey Pilgrim”. If Gandalf beats Saruman, however, he will meet up with the hobbits in Bree on time, and will accompany them + Aragorn to “Amon Sûl” (and we skip the “Grey Pilgrim” scenario altogether). Should the evil side slay all the good models at the “Amon Sûl” or in the “Flight to the Ford” (of Bruinen) scenario, Sauron gains the Ring and we have the alternate “Council of Elrond (2)”, where a new alliance between elves and men (and dwarves) is forged. Elrond musters the battlehost of Rivendell and marches towards Minas Tirith for the ultimate battle for the future of the Middle-Earth. He is accompanied by Boromir, Gildor, Erestor and Glorfindel. If Aragorn is still alive, he rides to Rohan (as does Gandalf), and we will meet them again in the scenario “Warg attack”. Gimli returns to Erebor with his father, and Legolas can either accompany Aragorn or return to Mirkwood.

Here is the second part of the campaign flowchart:



The forming of the Fellowship after the “Council of Elrond (1)” leads us to the scenarios taking place in Moria. Depending on the fates of the Balrog and Gandalf in the “Bridge of Khazad-dûm”, there might be a need for “Duel at Zirak-zigil” scenario (and terrain), leading, possibly, to the transformation of Gandalf the Grey into Gandalf the White. The remainder of the Fellowship rests and recovers in Lothlórien. Depending on how depleted the Fellowship is at this stage, we may add Rúmil to the entourage.

“The Breaking of the Fellowship” scenario includes Uglúk as the Uruk captain. Any two surviving and escaping hobbits continue towards Mordor and “Taming of Sméagol” and “Passage of the (Dead) Marshes”. As to what happens to the rest of the Fellowship at this stage, we can only speculate – the actual paths depend on who are still alive, and how the “Breaking” scenario plays out. If no hobbits escape towards Mordor (all being either dead or captive, for example), some other members may continue the journey towards Mount Doom. Aragorn probably goes to Rohan regardless of whether the Uruks have captured any hobbits, and Legolas and Gimli will follow. If Boromir is alive, he probably beelines towards Minas Tirith, instead. We’ll see when we get there.

If no hobbits are captured by the Uruks at Amon Hen, the second WotR scenario, “Uglúk’s last stand”, is played without captives. It may, of course, be that Uglúk himself is already dead and not present in the scenario named after him. Without captives escaping, there is no need for “Alone in Fangorn” scenario, either.

The battle of the “Fords of Isen” is the first WotR scenario to be played, regardless of whether the Ring reaches Rivendell. However, without the Fellowship, the Uruks have no mission to Amon Hen, and we will omit the “Uglúk’s last stand” and move straight into the “Warg attack” against the people of Rohan moving towards Helm’s Deep.

With several story threads ongoing, and with increasing uncertainty as to what events actually unfold (and where the named characters are), I hope you are still with me. Here is the third and final flowchart:



The first really big battle of the campaign will be the Helm’s Deep, combining both SBG skirmishes and an overall WotR structure. The elf force of Haldir will join the fight only if the Fellowship reached Lothlórien earlier in the campaign. Things begin to converge here a bit – Gandalf (the White) returns from Zirak-zigil (if that scenario is played), and any hobbits in Fangorn join the main storyline in the “Fall of Isengard”, concluding the Rohan-focusing leg of our journey.

We briefly move over to Ithilien to witness Faramir’s force fight a Mûmak in “Ambush in Ithilien”. Here, we meet Sméagol and whichever heroes are still carrying the Ring to Mordor, but the scenario can be played just with Faramir’s rangers against Harad, if applicable. But if the Ringbearer has reached this far, this is a watershed scenario. Should the evil side gain possession of the Ring here, then Sauron gets it early enough for the “Battle of the Pelennor Fields” to be the final, decisive fight. If, however, the Ringbearer keeps moving on, I’d better start building the Black Gate terrain…

Next, we have four WotR scenarios. “Battle for Osgiliath” will include Boromir, if there is no Fellowship at all, or if Boromir survives the “Breaking of the Fellowship” and we decide that he may then travel back home to Minas Tirith instead of going to Rohan. If Sauron has gained the Ring early enough (prior to the Council of Elrond or during the passage of Moria), he may appear here in person if the evil player chooses (but more likely, he will join the fight later to oversee the destruction of Minas Tirith after his lieutenants have removed any opposing forces in Osgiliath).

Further down the Anduin in Pelargir, the Fiefdom forces try to stop the corsairs in “the Battle for Pelargir”. The Army of the Dead is available only if Aragorn is still alive. Depending on who wins here, the black ships may carry either good (Army of the Dead or fiefdoms) or evil relief forces to the Pelennor Fields. But before the battle for the fate of Minas Tirith, we have “the Siege of Lothlórien” and “Dáin’s Last Stand”. As always, the available heroes depend on how the story has unfolded so far. Haldir may still be fighting alongside Galadriel, but they may face the Balrog, if the Fellowship didn’t kill it in Moria (or, if the Fellowship was never formed in the first place). Thranduil will assist with his elves, which may also include Legolas (unless he is in Pelargir). Over at Erebor, Dáin has the help of several of Thorin’s dwarves from Hobbit (Dwalin, Bofur, Bifur, Dori and Nori at least, and also Glóin, if he is not part of the Fellowship). Gimli may also be here (in the case there was no Fellowship at all). Since the men of Dale should take part in this fight, I’m afraid I have to invest in the newly-released GW figures (four boxes, perhaps). If the good side is victorious at Lothlórien and/or Erebor, there will be elves and dwarves, respectively, fighting alongside men in “Black Gate opens” (provided that that scenario will be played).

Then, the big one – “Battle of the Pelennor Fields”. A humongous amount of evil figures, three mùmakil, six Mordor catapults, four siege towers, the Grond, and possibly two black ships full of corsairs, pitted against the warriors of Minas Tirith (and their 10+ trebuchets), the knights of Dol Amroth, and a (hopefully) impressive array of riders of Rohan (if they win at Helm’s Deep, that is). Depending on the storyline, we may also have Elrond’s battlehost, Sauron in person, Shelob, the Balrog, the eagles, and possibly also elves from Lothlórien (Erebor is probably too far for dwarves to join if this is the final battle). The “Pyre of Denethor” is played separately when we want a break from the big battle, but we will also use SBG rules for e.g. the siege towers (any suggestions & advice is welcome, if you have actually included SBG skirmishes within a WotR game). If Sauron has the Ring at this stage, this battle ends our campaign, one way or the other. If not, then the campaign continues with the Ringbearer facing Shelob in her lair, and the orcs at “Tower of Cirith Ungol”. Losing the Ring in either of these two means that Sauron can appear in person at the Black Gate.

If everything goes more or less as in the book & movies, the final battle will be in front of the Black Gate. If the Ringbearer is still staggering towards Mt Doom, instead of simulating the Crack of Doom with a roll of dice as in the WotR rulebook scenario, we will actually play the “Crack of Doom” scenario in a purpose-built terrain concurrently with the “Black Gate opens”. Failure to destroy the Ring will result in Sauron appearing personally at the Gate (albeit quite late in the battle).

And that’s it – an end, once and for all… hopefully with the Ring destroyed, Sauron banished, and the peaceful Fourth Age beginning. Fast forward 400 years or so, and we have the setting of my model railroad… probably coming along nicely by the time we finish the campaign (we predict this to be in 2015 by earliest).

... ... ... wow...very well thought out and I shall be following this with very great interest. Very much looking forward to seeing all the terrain.

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12th GBHL 2013.
13th GBHL 2014
9th GBHL 2015


Mid Sussex Wargamers

Incredible I don't have the words to describe how awesome this is and will hopefully be written in history books once again the most legen.... Wait for it.....dary, legendary thing ever

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My wip viewtopic.php?f=50&t=25381&start=0

This level of planning and forethought gets the applause from me. I wish you the persistence to carry it through as I am certain to find it pleasant reading for the next two years!

Thank you.

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3coloursbased - irregular painting and gaming blog

This post just gets more and more interesting. Plenty of time has been invested in the planning, the painting and terrian creation resulting, I'm sure, in some awesome game play. Really looking forward to reading your Battle Reports, with your excellent photography, as your heroes journey across the landscape of Middle-earth in an attempt to destroy the Ring of power... Good luck with the project, I'll be another who'll be watching this post carefully..

I'm only just about to take my first steps in the lotr/hobbit hobby, but this thread is really inspiring, some beautiful terrain, and a great narrative campaign to go with it. Keep it up!

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WIP thread: viewtopic.php?f=50&t=25860

Just perfect !

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My work in progress thread: viewtopic.php?f=50&t=27503

Great battle reports and pictures! I am happy Gildor proved himself valiant. I 've always liked this character in the book.

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My This and That Again WIP blog: viewtopic.php?t=25598

The fourth scenario of our campaign takes place at night, with Frodo, Sam and Pippin having met with Merry. The four hobbits are now moving very carefully, aware that those riders in black are somewhere nearby. They must try to avoid contact and cross the Brandywine River using the Bucklebury Ferry. For this scenario, we used mounted Ringwraiths, with the evil side choosing the Betrayer, Dwimmerlaik and the Knight of Umbar. As with the third scenario, the objective of the hobbits (or at the very least, Frodo) is to escape via the eastern board edge, while the Nazgûl try their best to kill Frodo. Are the hobbits able to escape into Buckland undetected? Read on…

We used two 80x90 cm terrain tiles to represent the road leading to the crossing, and one 80x90 river tile to represent a section of the Brandywine River. Both the western and the eastern bank have a jetty. The board differs somewhat from that described in the Fellowship journeybook – instead of the forested hill range, we have several woods lining up the road, with a solitary hill near the center of the western board edge. Here is an overview of the board layout:



The actual playing area is a bit narrower than the entire north-south board width (about 180cm); we limited the area to about the width of the backdrop (circa 120 cm) as seen in the overview photo. Despite the differences in board layouts, we used the initial deployment of the scenario as given – the hobbits start near the western board edge (actually, atop the hill from where they can already see the flickering lanterns near the jetty). The Betrayer is patrolling near the southwestern board corner, Dwimmerlaik in the northwest, and the Knight of Umbar is riding along the road not far from the cottage. The Nazgûl begin the game in sentry mode.





From their hilltop vantage point, the hobbits can already see their goal, but are painfully aware that there are still many yards to go, and the black riders are near.A turn-by-turn account of the game follows...



Turn 1 – good priority. The hobbits dash downhill towards the road, while all three Nazgûl mercifully patrol away from the ferry crossing.

Turn 2 – evil priority. While the hobbits continue to cross the woodlands towards the road and the ferry beyond, the Ringwraiths begin to suspect something, and they all head towards the ferry.

Turn 3 – good priority. The Betrayer stops to stand watch, while the Knight of Umbar hears rustling in the nearby woods and rides to investigate. Dwimmerlaik continues to advance on the road towards the ferry. The hobbits sneak quietly in between two small copses of wood.

Turn 4 – good priority. The hobbits reach the road edge, peeking carefully around the road-lining hedge. No black riders in sight… in fact, the Knight of Umbar is still fairly deep within a small forest, and Dwimmerlaik has left the road to check another small forest on the other side. The Betrayer is moving towards the small hill where the hobbits started the game. Our heroes seem safe, at least for the moment…



Turns 5 & 6 – evil priority. The Betrayer stands watch near the hill, while the other two Ringwraiths move out of the forests and return to the road once again. Ahead of them, a shadowy group of four hobbits quickly cross the road and can now see the jetty and the ferry beyond. The Knight of Umbar rides towards the hobbits but does not detect them.

Turn 7 – good priority. The hobbits are now almost on the jetty, with the black riders moving on the road still unaware that their prey is so very, very near… only a few more yards and the hobbits can start crossing the river towards safety. Will their luck hold?