Here's the second Scouring of the Shire scenario. Ten Ruffians try to cross a long, narrow playing field the hard way. In their path are 5 hobbits, two of which are archers, and a number of traps. If the Ruffians exit six or more men, they win; four or five men is a draw, and three or fewer is a win for the Hobbits.
With no leaders, this is a pretty straightforward scenario. No decisions about when to use Might points here!
On the face of it this doesn't seem like it's going to be very balanced. Maybe it will play better than it looks?
(Click on any image to see an enlargement.)
The Ruffians set up with archers on each flank and reasonably spread out to maximize mobility getting through the woods. I also roleplayed it a little bit and though we-the-viewers can see the potential trap locations -- they are the big red, white, and blue poker chips on the map -- the Ruffians themselves wouldn't know about them, so they don't worry about minimizing their exposure to the traps. Besides, half the traps are dummies.
The hobbits also set up centrally, with archers on the flank. Let's see what the Ruffians do.
Good Priority, automatic
Both sides advance. The Ruffians need to exit, and the Hobbits don't want to begin the melee too close to their own baseline, where a bad priority roll might allow the Ruffians to escape entirely. The Ruffians in the foreground trigger the first trap, but it turns out to be a decoy.
Good Priority, 5-3
The forces continue to close, about to missile range but the trees prevent any bow fire this turn. The Ruffians trigger three more traps, two decoys and a pit (the black poker chip).
Evil Priority, 3-1.
Three Ruffian bowmen make half moves so they can fire; the rest continue to make their way through the woods. The Hobbit archers hide behind trees as to provide only obstructed targets, while the Militia take advantage of the cover of the central clump of trees.
Left Image: The Ruffian's progress. If you look carefully you can see a Hobbit archer in the distance, and the stands of the Militia behind the woods. Middle Image: The sides are getting close! Right Image: the playing area as viewed from the Good baseline.
Most of the arrows miss; each side gets one hit which then fails to wound.
Good Priority, 5-2.
The Hobbits, moving first, consider their options and decide to stand pat. The Ruffians are still over a move away, so there is no threat of melee this turn.
The Ruffians forge ahead, going through three more traps. Two are decoys, but another Ruffian lands in a pit. The Ruffians are now easily within a move of the Hobbit Militia, which also means they are within range of thrown stones.
But again all the missiles again miss but one Hobbit arrow, which, again, fails to wound.
The Ruffians are now two-thirds of the way across the board, and have yet to take a casualty.
Good Priority, 4-3.
Moving first, the Hobbits retreat out of melee range. At least as best they can; two Ruffians manage to catch up to the militia. They cross over a trap as they do so, but it inevitably turns out to be a decoy and so is no help to the little guys.
All missiles and whips miss, but in the subsequent melee the honors go to Evil as one of the Militia falls.
Evil Priority, 3-2.
The Ruffians swarm the Hobbits. Amazingly, despite the odds the only casualty is a Hobbit archer.
Evil Priority, 5-1.
It's Hobbit-swarming time again. One Ruffian archer triggers a trap and ends up hanging from a tree, but that's small consolation for the loss of another Militia.
Good Priority, 6-5.
Surrounded by Ruffians, the Hobbits have no place to run. The two remaining guys are put out of their misery and the Ruffians leisurely exit all ten men a few turns later for a decisive victory.
That was pretty unsatisfying. Since I was playing this solo, I rolled randomly for what the traps were, which worked to the Hobbits' disadvantage. And their die rolling was not spectacular. But the Ruffians are half again as fast, outnumber the Hobbits 2-1, and the traps are mostly delaying devices which don't matter a lot in the long run because there's no time pressure at all in this scenario.
I can accept that scenarios don't need to be balanced 50/50, but I think this one's completely out of whack.
Were I to try this again (not likely), I'd consider some or all of the following:
Anyone have any counterarguments as to the lopsidedness of this scenario?
It does look pretty impressive with all the trees, though.