This is a scenario of Games Workshop's Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game, the third in the A Shadow in the East sourcebook.
Not long after the previous scenario, Cirion decides to raid a nearby Khandish encampment to get a prisoner for questioning. The Khandish forces are outnumbered on their own, and to make the raiding forces job even easier they are equipped with grapnels which enable them to go over the walls of the fort with no more than a Climb test. But a squadron of heavily armed Easterling allies is riding back to the fort, bringing with them a detachment of Khandish cavalry.
The Good side wins if it captures a Khandish Chieftain (there's one in the fort and one with the reinforcements; they are knocked out rather than killed when they lose all their wounds) and gets him off the south edge of the map before being wiped out. Otherwise Evil wins.
(Click on any image to see an enlargement.)
The Good forces are your standard Warriors of Minas Tirith (4 swords, 4 spears, 4 bows) augmented with 3 Rangers and led by Cirion, Múrin, and Drár.
Of the Evil forces, the Chieftain and Khandish warriors on the middle tier set up in the fort, while the horsemen and Easterlings enter on or after turn 3 on a dieroll of 4+.
The fort is supposed to be in the middle of a 4'x4' board, but my gaming table is a little shy of that. Since only the south (where Good sets up) and west (where the Evil reinforcements enter) edges matter to game play, I've shortened the north and east sides of the playing field. Within the fort, bowmen are stationed at the corners, with the axemen distributed along the walls.
Good has set up in two groups, one to the southwest (with the bowmen) and one to the southeast (with the leaders and Rangers).
As always, Good starts a scenario with Priority.
With a number of targets visible at the walls of the fort, the bow-equipped troops stay in place to maximize their shooting chances, while the rest rush the fort. Responding to the attack, the Evil troops move to south repel any attempts to get over the wall.
Shooting on both sides proves ineffective save for a single hit against a Khandish bowman (the guy lying down in the southeast corner of the fort in the second picture).
Casualties: Good 0, Evil 1
Evil Priority, 6-5.
Deciding not to offer more targets for the Good archers, the Khand forces wait behind the walls, except for a couple of bowmen who will get the first shot this turn due to the Priority roll.
Because there are so few targets, the Good bowmen make a half move (except Drár, who's a bit slower and needs to be nearer the action). Everyone else rushes the walls.
This turn the shooting nod goes to Khand, with a bowman taking out a Warrior of Minas Tirith spearman and the rest of the Shooting being ineffective.
Casualties: Good 1, Evil 1
Good Priority, 5-2.
Good charges, with Cirion actually making it over the ramparts. One Warrior of Minas Tirith tries to follow him but gets the dreaded '1' on his Climb test and he falls to the ground. The rest of Cirion's force are close to walls, but not close enough to attempt to climb this turn.
On the left, the Good forces engage the defenders of the wall. The Evil troops swarm the Good forces where they can. The reinforcement roll is low and the Evil defenders are on their own this turn.
There's no Shooting this turn. Casualties in Combat are even, with Cirion taking out a Khandish Warrior on the right as the wall's defenders kill a Gondorian swordsman on the left.
Casualties: Good 2, Evil 2
Good Priority, 4-3.
Now it's the turn for the Good forces to swarm the defenders. The bowmen hang back, though, just in case the Evil reinforcements arrive this turn. Don't worry about Drár there -- he just rolled a '1' on his Climb test.
The concern about the reinforcements turns out to be baseless, as the roll is again too low. Why are they lollygagging, Evil wonders? Unengaged Evil troops move up to counterswarm the Gondor marauders.
Cirion manages to take out another Khandish Warrior, but two Warriors of Minas Tirith are slain in exchange.
Casualties: Good 4, Evil 3
Good Priority, 5-4.
Good swarms the fort's defenders again, this time engaging all of them. Cirion opens the gate, enabling the Rangers to get inside the fort in preparation for next turn.
Fortunately for Evil, the reinforcements show up at last.
In Combat, Drár (via his grapnels) and a Warrior of Minas Tirith attack the Khandish Captain at the wall. The results are tied and the tense rolloff die awards the combat to Good. The rolls to Wound are so-so, so Drár uses 2 Might points to inflict three Wounds on the Captain, knocking him out. Will the Good player be able to drag him back to their lines?
Múrin (not visible here, but he's inside the camp) and a Warrior of Minas Tirith in the west manage to kill their enemies, but elsewhere the combat favors Evil.
Cirion faces two axemen, who get a '6' (modified to '5' because of the two-handed weapon) to his pair of '2's. He could win by spending all three of his Might point, but deems that too big a price to pay. Fortunately for him, the Evil models fail to inflict any wounds.
In the southwest corner of the fort four Gondorian attackers are handily repulsed, with a lone axeman killing two of them. That's not normally possible, but because the wall is a defended obstacle the attackers have to attack one at a time, to their cost.
Casualties: Good 6, Evil 5 + Unconscious Captain
Evil Priority, 5-1.
Cirion calls a Heroic Move, as it's time now to evacuate the fort. A few men are left behind to tie up the Khandish forces, while the rest begin their fighting retreat. Two Warriors of Minas Tirith hoist the knocked-out Captain over the wall, and each manages to get a '6' on their Climb test down -- quite a lucky result, as they can make a full move rather than stopping at the bottom of the wall.
The Evil forces close with the Good forces as fast as they can. One axeman tries to follow his Chieftain but rolls a '1' for his Climb test. That's him lying down on the left side of the second picture.
The reinforcing horsemen manage to charge one of the Warriors of Minas Tirith driven from the western fort wall last turn. The Easterlings are still a couple of turns out of contact.
Drár kills the lead cavalryman with a well-placed shot. In revenge, the riders slay the Warrior of Minas Tirith. The rest of the combats in the fort are all inconclusive.
Casualties: Good 7, Evil 6 + Unconscious Captain
Evil Priority, 6-5.
The Khandish Chieftain marching with the Easterlings considers calling a Heroic Move, but he's too far away to get his troops into contact, so he saves the Might.
The Good forces continue their move to the south, the kidnappers angling east so as best to stay out of range of the enemy horses. Everyone is out of the fort now, with Múrin and a couple of Warriors acting as rear guard. Drár moves only half and the Rangers not at all so as to maximize their shooting.
The Evil forces continue their hot pursuit. The horsemen are getting within a move of the kidnappers.
In the Shooting phase, the Rangers prove inept and their bows accomplish nothing. Drár kills one rider handily, and spends 1 Might point to kill another. He's now out of Might.
Combat see one Warrior of Minas Tirith fall in exchange for two Khandish Warriors.
Casualties: Good 8, Evil 8 + Unconscious Captain
Evil Priority, 6-6.
Cirion calls a Heroic Move, as does Múrin. Everyone moves to engage the enemy and keep them away from the escaping troops. They manage to tie up all but one horsemen, who pursues as best he can.
What little missile fire occurs is ineffective.
Combat sees Múrin whiff, and he takes a Wound from the enemy axeman. He then fails his Fate roll. Cirion likewise loses, but suffers no ill result. Drár does better and slays his opponent. That's how it's done, boys!
Casualties: Good 8, Evil 8 + Unconscious Captain
Evil Priority, 3-1.
Cirion uses his last Might point to call a Heroic Move. Ironically, since he lost his combat last turn, he had to retreat 1" ... and that one inch was just enough to put him within 6" (one move) of the lead Khandish horseman! So he moves to engage. No one else is close enough to the kidnappers, and in their move the leave the board. A Victory for Good!
That was pretty exciting. The late arriving reinforcements were the main element in Good's victory. There's only a one in four chance they'll arrive on Turn 5 or later, and this just happened to be one of those times.
I suspect that this result was atypical and that the Evil side wins this scenario more often than not. The Good side has better leadership but is outnumbered, which is hard on the attacker.
This was probably the best of the Shadow in the East scenarios that I've tried so far.