This scenario picks up where The Horse and the Serpent left off. The Witch King on his Fell Beast has arrived on the field to check the victorious Rohirrim.
(Click on any image to see an enlargement.)
This is one of the smallest scenarios in the official books -- only the Emyn Muil (Sam & Frodo vs Gollum) and versions of Shelob's Lair without Gollum are smaller. Here we have Théoden, Éowyn, and Merry against the Witch-King of Angmar on his Fell Beast. Other versions of this scenario include some extra models, but here, in movie-like fashion, the battlefield has been stripped down to our main characters.
And the victory conditions are equally simple: Evil has 20 turns to kill all the Good characters, or he loses.
The characters start with opposite corners of the Pelennor Fields. I've sprinkled some terrain about for visual interest but there will be no effect on play.
Good always has Priority on the first turn. I forgot to take a picture, but honestly the battlefield didn't change much anyway. Théoden and Éowyn moved towards each other, then the Witch King zoomed in towards their meeting point but was still too far away for spells.
On turn 2 (pictured), Evil got Priority 5-1. Good decided not to spend a precious Might point; though he does have a 5-3 advantage he can't get them back as he could in the last scenario. The Witch King then moves so as to stay out of Éowyn's Charge range, then casts a 3-dice Compel on Théoden which pulls him into combat. The Witch King's '6' against Théoden's '3' means the Rohan King can't even use his Might to tie, so the nazgûl strikes and gets three Wounds. Théoden spends two Fate (both succeeding) to stay in the game.
Not a great start for Good.
Evil Priority, 5-1.
A weakened Théoden calls a Heroic Move and is countered by the Witch King. Evil wins the roll-off. The Witch King lobs a three die Compel on Éowyn, but her 1 Will die matches ringwraith's '5' and she successfully resists the spell. The Witch King charges her anyway, as getting rid of the horses considerably weakens the Good side's manueverability.
Théoden stands up and moves to the Ringwraith, but with only a half-move remaining he doesn't get very far.
Combat pits Éowyn's '3' against the Witch King's '4'. Éowyn spends a Might point to tie the combat, forcing the Witch King to also spend a Might point to guarantee the win. The Witch King inflicts two Wounds on the unfortunate shieldmaiden, who uses both her Fate and her remaining Might point to stay alive.
Evil Priority, 4-1.
Théoden burns his last Might point for a Heroic Move, with the Witch King countering with his last Might point. Evil wins the roll-off.
With Merry and Éowyn on the ground, the Witch King switches back to engage Théoden, who's compatriots stand up and advance their remaining half move.
Combat sees both sides getting their '6' and fortune finally smiling on the Good side as Théoden wins the roll-off. He fails to inflict any Wounds on the high-defense ringwraith, though.
Good Priority, 4-4.
Good's luck continues with finally getting Priority this turn -- albeit barely -- and the King of Rohan passing his Courage test to charge the terrifying Witch King. Fearless Éowyn joins him, but Merry is just out of range.
Good wins the Combat and gets spectacular strike results, inflicting two Wounds on the Witch King which forces him to spend two Fate points to survive.
Good Priority, 4-1.
Uh oh. All three Good heroes engage the Witch King, who is now trapped. Good wins the combat, but despite the flurry of strikes only Éowyn succeeds in causing a Wound. But the ringwraith has only a single Fate point left, and it fails. The Witch King goes back to the nothingness whence he came and Théoden is saved!
The small number of figures and the equal Fight values make this a more luck-dependent scenario than some. But there's still some room for tactics. I should have had the Witch King hang back and used more Compels to separate the Good characters and attack them one by one to prevent being surrounded.
Not a bad change of pace from some of the larger scenarios.