My run through the old Return of the King Journeybook scenarios continues with The Horse and the Serpent. This is a book-only scenario where Théoden squares off against the leader of the cruel Haradrim, Suladân. This is a very straightforward scenario, a duel to the death between those leaders.
(Click on any image to see an enlargement.)
The Good forces here are Théoden, Gamling, Éowyn, Merry, 3 Royan Royal Guard, and 18 Riders of Rohan.
Opposing them are Suladân, two Haradrim Chieftains, 5 Serpent Guard, and 16 Haradrim Raiders. There are some substitutions here, because in prepping for this scenario I painted up two boxes of Haradrim Raiders and failed my Courage test when I realized I technically needed to paint yet more horsemen. So the raider with a white gemstone on his base is actually a Haradrim Chieftain, and the Raider models with yellow gemstones are Serpent Riders.
The Suladân model is not a substitution, though. This the old man-in-the-iron-mark version. Many folks seem to prefer the current Zulu-ish model, but I rather like the look of this one, while conceding that metal face armor in what's ostensibly a desert-based army is an off-beat choice.
Here we are in the Pelennor Fields, with the two lines facing each other. There's some random terrain down for visual interest but none of it will affect play. Both leaders hide behind some friends, as there are a lot of bows on both sides and it would be a shame to lose the game on Turn 1 if the archery is especially accurate!
Good always gets Priority on the first turn.
The Riders of Rohan advance a half move so their numerous bows can fire and the Haradrim, with plenty of firepower themselves, respond in kind.
But the Shoot Phase is as unlethal as I've ever seen. The Riders take eighteen shots, of which only four hit and none wound. The Haradrim reply with a volley of their own but though they score a couple more hits and have poisoned arrows they, too, fail to score a single wound.
Good Priority, 5-4.
Théoden does some thinking. The only thing that matters in this scenario is killing Suladân. The models he's hiding behind make it hard to get him through shooting. But Good has seven points of Might to Evil's five, and also also has the Banner of Rohan, which restores a Might point to nearby heroes that have used all theirs up. So Good has no incentive to save Might. Let's use the relatively rare Heroic Accuracy to target Suladân and help with those pesky In the Way rolls.
With this in mind, the Riders again advance a half move, while Théoden and Éowyn spread out a bit to get as many Riders as they can under their 6" umbrella.
Evil sees what's going on -- the disadvantage of solitaire play is that it's difficult to truly surprise yourself -- and uses the same logic to determine that he should force an early engagement. After all, the longer the game goes on, the greater the Might point differential is going to work in Good's favor. So while the horse archers move half to fire, the lancers charge!
Théoden and Merry then call Heroic Accuracies. (Merry is a better choice than Éowyn because, with a single Might point, he's out of Might immediately and so gets it right back next turn.) But Good shooting continues to disappoint ... except for one lucky arrow which reaches Suladân and inflicts a Wound, drawing the Serpent Lord's single Fate point. Otherwise, the sole shooting result is dismounting a Serpent Guard. Big deal.
Evil shooting is even worse, though, being entirely ineffectual. I've never seen so many '2's and '3's.
Good Priority, 5-4. Merry regains his Might point.
Evil, seeing a potential path to Théoden, considers calling a Heroic Move. But careful measurement shows that the gap between the bases isn't quite wide enough to admit a cavalry model. Good vows to be more careful and takes his move.
With numerical superiority, the Riders charge the Haradrim, the leaders hanging back to remain within Gamling's banner range.
Evil spots another opportunity, though. Suladân and a Chieftain move up and engage a Rider, with the Captain calling a Heroic Combat (2nd image). With five dice against one, the Rider is dispatched handily. It's too risky to send Suladân behind enemy lines ... but the Chieftain maneuvers through the new gap and manages to engage Théoden! (3rd image)
The subsequent Combat rolls are tragic for both sides, Good getting '2', '1' vs Evil's '3', '1'.
At this point Théoden spent his last Might point to tie, only to have the Chieftain spend his last point to win, and he rolls boxcars to Wound. Naturally both of Théoden's Fate rolls failed (because that's always how it goes, right?) and that's the end of the game!
That is, until I remembered that Théoden is in banner range! So he re-rerolls his '1', gets a '4' to win (if only barely) and though he can't Wound the Chieftain, he does kill his horse.
The game is still afoot! (Especially for the Chieftain....)
Evil Priority, 5-2.
Théoden calls a Heroic Move so as to Charge the Chieftain and Suladân. The latter counters, but Good wins the rolloff.
Two Riders move in to attack the Serpent King, with a throwing spear actually landing another Wound on the way in. The subsequent Combat roll is a disaster for Evil, '1', '3', '4' against Good's '2', '6'. Fortunately Suladân has a banner in range; unfortunately, his reroll is only a '4'. Is it worth Suladân's last two Might points to win? He's down to two Wounds and no Fate, so if he loses and both of the Riders inflict a Wound it's game over. So, yeah, as painful as it is, it seems worth the Might expenditure. Suladân wins the combat and kills both of the Riders' horses.
The now-dismounted Chieftain is surrounded by the Rohan heroes but gamely sets the bar at a '6', which requires a banner reroll for Good to win due to higher Fight value. The Chieftain is then ridden down.
Elsewhere the victories are split as two Riders and two Haradrim are slain.
Evil Priority, 6-2.
Théoden regains a Might point. Éowyn calls a Heroic Move. Evil has only 2 Might points left on the board (both on the still-mounted Haradrim Chieftain) but Suladân is vulnerable, so the Chieftain counters. Good wins the roll-off again and charges.
If Suladân is vulnerable, so is Théoden, so the Chieftain spends Evil's last Might point to call a Heroic Combat, hoping to join Suladân against the King of Rohan. But the latter sees what's up and spends his newly-minted Might point to counter. The dice finally go Evil's way and so the Chieftain's Combat is first. He easily defeats the two dismounted Rohirrim, but his Wound rolls are a disastrous '2', '3' -- he not only fails to defeat them both, he can't even kill one!
Evil's run of bad luck continues as Suladân's Combat roll is '2', '2', '3'. Unfortunately for him, Éowyn gets the '6' and then rolls '6', '6' to Wound to deliver the coup de grâce and win the game for Good!
I think Good has an advantage in this scenario despite the old Théoden profile used here. Which seems only proper given what "historically" happened.
But the dice were definitely against Evil here. Good had Priority most every turn and won the Heroic Move roll-offs the couple of time when they didn't.
Yet only a banner re-roll saved Théoden from a disastrous turn 3 loss. So it definitely seems possible for Harad to win this scenario.
If I have any criticism, it's how little most of the forces matter. Each side gets d3 troops back from the dead pile every turn, which makes the combats and shooting not involving the leaders seem a bit pointless. It might improve the scenario just to ignore that rule.