This is a scenario of Games Workshop's Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game, the second in the Return of the King sourcebook. This is a book-only situation where the Rohirrim, on their way to the succour of Minas Tirith, bypass the army of Mordor through the aid of the Woses of the Drúedan Forest. Since the Woses help keep the Rohirrim hidden, there's little combat in the book. But suppose the Riders of Rohan had been discovered after all by Sauron's forces? That's where we pick up here.
(Click on any image to see an enlargement.)
The Good forces are 16 Riders of Rohan, led by Éomer and Théoden. Théoden has armor though the only mounted model of him that I have does not. The Rohirrim are guided by Ghân-buri-Ghân and 9 Woses.
The Evil forces are led by three Orc Captains (Grishnákh here is a stand-in). There are 12 Morannon Orcs, 36 regular Orcs, and 12 Warg Riders.
The Journeybook irritatingly just gives suggested points values rather than an actual order of battle. So I made up the forces here. I tried to base them on multiples of standard boxes, which didn't quite work out for the Riders but worked well for the other forces. Strangely, while the scenario says the Evil can't take any mounted models, their suggested force mix is "Orc Warriors, Morannon Orcs, and Warg Riders". Um, so can I take mounted Warg Riders or not? Make up your mind, scenario. I ruled in favor of allowing some Warg Riders just because they make the Evil forces a bit more interesting. They're going to make things harder for the Good side, though.
Despite this being a larger than average scenario in terms of model count, the game is played on a half-size 2'x4' table. First 6 Orcs are deployed on the board; I set them up acting as scouts. Evil wants to have someone within 6" of a Good model at the end of turn because then the whole Evil army can enter the board. Until then, only a die's worth of models show up each turn. So it makes sense to spread out. And it seems more thematic, too, to have them investigating this enemy territory.
The Woses set up anywhere more than a move away from any Evil model. Story-wise they really belong in the woods areas, but with the Good models only appearing a die's worth at a time, it seems to make sense to stay out of range of the Evil models and postpone the mass arrival of the Evil army for a few turns. So the Woses begin where their blowpipes can reach the Orcs but the Orcs can't reach them.
The objective is for Good to exit half of the Rohirrim including Théoden off the east edge of the map (at the top of the images). With this force mix that means eight models. If Good fails in that objective, Evil wins.
Good always starts a scenario with Priority.
Per the first turn rules, Théoden and d3 models (2 in this case) enter from the west edge. Here's a case where having Priority is actually worse for Good. So they stay more than 12" away from the Evil models so no Orc can move 6" and be close enough to raise the alarm. The Woses likewise stay put.
The two scouting Orcs nearest the Good forces are unlikely to survive on their own and head for cover, while the remaining scouts and five reinforcing models (including an Orc Captain) move up to help. Two scouts end up in blowpipe range but the Woses manage to kill only one while the bows of the Rohirrim are entirely ineffective.
Casualties: Good 0, Evil 1
Evil Priority, 3-1.
The nearest Orc, having survived the blowpipes one turn, figures he's immortal and charges, hoping to survive again and raise the alarm. The rest of the Evil models advance, too, except the guy still hiding in the copse of woods on the left (not shown in the images this turn). Five more reinforcements show up.
Good remains out of 6" range of all but the sacrifice Orc. Six reinforcements show up; half the Rohirrim are already on the board! Reinforcement rolls for both sides have been pretty good.
Two Warg Riders are just in bow range of a Wose and loose their arrows, but both miss. The Woses mow down the sacrifice Orc but the bows of Rohan continue to have no effect.
Casualties: Good 0, Evil 2
Good Priority, 4-1.
Again, Good would have preferred Evil to go first. Too bad there are no Unheroic Moves. Good stays bunched up to again deny Evil the chance to raise the alarm. Six(!) more Rohirrim enter, leaving only two remaining in the reinforcement pool.
Evil moves to stay out of blowpipe range (12") but get within Orc bow range (18"), which unfortunately means they will also be in Rohirrim bow range (24"). Five(!) more Evil models enter. One Orc again risks an advance to get in range of Good, this time using cover. He doesn't survive the Shooting phase, but the Rohan bowmen again underperform and he's the only casualty.
Casualties: Good 0, Evil 3
Good Priority, 5-2.
Good again pulls back to avoid raising the alarm. The remaining two reinforcements enter and the Good position is getting rather crowded.
Evil charges ahead and brings three Warg Riders onto the table. Even with the mostly-above-average reinforcement rolls, the Evil army is so large that about two thirds of the troops are still waiting to enter.
Subpar shooting continues as there are no casualties whatsoever.
Casualties: Good 0, Evil 3
Good Priority, 6-5.
No pictures, sorry. Your cameraman spaced out. And this was a poor turn to do so, as the action now starts in earnest. There's no more room to pull back so the alarm is going to be raised this turn no matter what. And the entire Rohirrim are on the board. So: charge! The horsemen attempt to ride down the Orcs while the Woses move towards the woods in the center, where their mobility and invisibility in cover should be useful.
Evil brings up as many troops as they can but of course most of their units are pinned by the charging Rohan cavalry.
Good shooting finally pays off as an Orc and a Warg Rider are brought down. Evil scores their first kill ... against a horse. That still counts as none!
The Combat phase sees Théoden and Éomer each take down a Warg Rider, while the regular troops ride down two more Orcs.
Casualties: Good 0, Evil 9
Evil Priority, 6-2.
It's much better for cavalry to charge than to be charged, so Éomer calls a Heroic Move to get his licks in first. The nearby Orc Captain counters, but Good wins the rolloff. Éomer is so far on the right that there aren't many friends within range, but those that are charge. Evil countercharges, of course, and the remaining two-dozen-odd Evil models enter.
Good decides to send some unengaged horsemen around the copse where the Woses are heading. Perhaps they can surround the Evil forces, or maybe even just run off the board?
Despite all the combats, the turn is remarkably unlethal. One Warg Rider (3rd picture) and one Rider of Rohan (2nd picture) go down, but that's it.
Casualties: Good 1, Evil 10
Evil Priority, 6-5.
Seems like when Good doesn't want Priority, they get it, and when they do want it, they don't get it. Théoden calls a Heroic Move, again the Orc Captain counters, and again luck favors Good. And again the calling hero is so far to the right that he can't bring many forces to bear.
It's charge and countercharge everywhere except on the left, where the Rohirrim are in the sweet spot of their bows reaching the Orcs on the hill while reverse is not true. So the Orcs must advance to get within range as the Rohirrim stay put to maximize their firepower. Rohan scores about average, being rewarded with a single kill.
In the center the Woses use their spears to bolster the horsemen, which helps a bit with the numbers. But again combat is largely bloodless. The exceptions are a single Warg Rider, who is killed although his Warg passes his Courage Test and remains, and, more importantly, the Orc Captain, who is ridden down by Théoden himself.
Casualties: Good 1, Evil 13
Evil Priority, 4-3.
Théoden uses his last Might point to Heroic Move again. It's generally charge and countercharge again, except on the left. With fire superiority, the Riders are content to pick away at the distant Orc bowmen, nailing one and suffering no losses themselves.
And on the other side of the copse the Warg Riders are in danger of being surrounded by the Woses, so two of them pull back to form a solid unflankable line. Some Woses (including Ghân-buri-Ghân) head into the woods to get some shots at the huge army in the background, while four Woses remain in place so as to use their blowpipes. Which turns out to be futile, as even with their poison they fail to inflict even a single Wound.
Combat favors Good, though. Two Orcs and a Warg Rider fall. Théoden loses his combat but his armor protects him and he suffers no Wounds.
Casualties: Good 1, Evil 17. At this point Evil is halfway to their breakpoint.
Good Priority, 6-1.
Good catches a break and everyone can get their charge in. Evil continues to advance, with the main force now getting near enough to be threatening.
Shooting does nothing. Despite the charge bonus against them, Evil holds up pretty well, losing only one Warg Rider and two Orcs. In return a second Rider falls.
Casualties: Good 2, Evil 20
Good Priority, 2-1.
An Orc Captain calls a Heroic Move. Éomer is a little exposed so he counters, but Evil finally wins a rolloff and most of the Evil army swarms the Good models.
Shooting in the Battle of the Bows on the left see both sides inflicting a casualty.
The Combat Phase is wild and wooly. Théoden charges into three Orcs and takes down all three! Ghân-buri-Ghân takes out a Warg Rider and an anonymous Rider takes out an equally anonymous Orc swordsman.
Elsewhere things do not go so well for Good. The Warg Riders nearest you in the middle image wins their combats despite the desperate odds, though they fail to Wound. A Warg Rider takes down the "Rider" of Rohan who no longer has his horse. Éomer is attacked by a group including an Orc Captain. Both Heroic Strike, and end up with a tied Fight Value. Éomer gets his six but so does the Orc Captain, and Evil wins the rolloff. But the Evil Wound rolls are terrible (the Orc Captain rolling 1,2 so even his remaining Might point wouldn't help). Éomer takes only one Wound, and it's negated by his first Fate point.
Casualties: Good 4, Evil 26
Evil Priority, 6-1.
Ghân-buri-Ghân calls a Heroic Move, countered by "Grishnákh", but Good wins the rolloff. Ghân charges the Orc Captain and the Good troops nearby move to engage. Evil then countercharges.
There's no shooting this turn. Combat sees the first Wose casualties along with a couple of Riders and a few more Orcs. Ghân's combat goes well for him and he puts a hit on his Orc Captain enemy, negated by a Fate point. Théoden fares less well as his Orc Captain Heroic Strikes (using the last of Evil's Might points) and wins the combat. Théoden is unhorsed and takes a Wound, which is negated by his first Fate point. (He's not dead nor really prone despite what the image shows; that's a mistake on my part as he passed his Thrown Rider test.)
Casualties: Good 8, Evil 29
Good Priority, 2-2.
Charge! Many Woses sacrifice themselves to hold up the Evil troops, as they are irrelevant to the victory conditions but can still tie up Evil models to prevent them swarming the Riders.
There are many casualties on both sides. Éomer moves out of his exposed position more to the center but even faced with a single enemy he still loses his combat and suffers a Wound (negated by his last Fate) for his efforts. Théoden, now on foot, is joined by a Rider in charging the Orc Captain, but the Captain laughs off their feeble attack and kills the Rider.
Casualties: Good 11, Evil 39. With the dust settled and the casualties totalled, the situation is interesting. Evil is now broken, which puts them at a disadvantage. But enough Riders have been slain that now every remaining Rohan model must move off the board to win. Tense!
Evil Priority, 3-1.
Since Evil is Broken, he has to take Courage Tests before moving. Almost all the Evil forces are within range of the two Orc Captains, so Evil starts with them. The first rolls 1,2 and runs away. Then the other rolls 1,3 and runs away as well. Disaster!
Evil's luck continues to be awful as a whopping 15 of the remaining 22 models also flee. There are now just seven evil models on the board! They charge where they can, though some having moved in earlier turns to head off an end run by the cavalry are too far away to engage.
Good countercharges. A cheeky blowpipe even scores a kill against a Morannon Orc. But when the Combats are resolved, a courageous Orc takes down a charging cavalryman. Good cannot win now ... Evil victory!
I liked that scenario a lot. It was one of the biggest battles that I've attempted and the situation was pretty interesting, with high mobility but restricted terrain. It made a nice change of pace from the smaller, more character-driven scenarios that I've done recently.
The special rules about triggering the alarm don't seem to work well to me. Possibly the Evil forces should be under sentry rules until the alarm is raised? Though I must admit that in playing the Good side I was probably too leery of setting off the alarm. It might have been better to set up the Woses in the big woods in the center and force Evil to pry them out or get blowpiped to death.
Luck seemed to generally (though of course not always) favor Good. Especially at the end, where the Evil Courage Tests were just tragic. And yet Evil still pulled out the win. I suspect that Good has an uphill battle here. The Orcs are easier for Rohan to cope with than their more usual Uruk-hai opponents, but there are so many Evil models that even a charging Rider will get countercharged and so face an equal number of combat dice despite the charge bonus.
Seems worth some more plays.