This another scenario of Games Workshop's Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game, from my playthrough of the scenarios in the Return of the King journeybook.
Here we see a mixed force of Good cavalry and infantry ride out against three groups of Evil troops, each led by a Captain. Good wins by killing those three Evil Captains; the Evil force wins by breaking the Good army. A draw is possible if both victory conditions are met on the same turn.
(Click on any image to see an enlargement.)
The Good force has both mounted and foot Swan Knights of Dol Amroth, led by Prince Imrahil and supported with a large contingent of foot troops and Knights of Minas Tirith. One big help to the cavalry is that they cause Terror in this scenario. At least theoretically this should help the knights when they lose priority.
A force of Mordor Orcs form the largest Evil group, led by an Orc Captain. Joining them are a Khandish force led by a Captain (here represented by a King to make him stand out more) and group of Easterlings, also led by a Captain. Since Imrahil is the only Good hero, the three Evil Captains out-Might Good 6-3, which is most unusual for a narrative scenario.
The Good troops set up in one corner with the knights farther along one side. The Evil forces then deploy, one group per remaining corner. Evil decides that the Easterlings are the best defenders against horsemen, and accordingly deploys their pike-backed, heavily armored warriors nearest the enemy cavalry. The Orcs, most numerous but the worst fighters, get the opposite corner, while the Khandish forces set up in between.
The line of shrubs you can see in the background of the first image marks the edge of the map. It won't matter much, though.
Good always starts a scenario with Priority.
With the cavalry already in charge range, the Knights charge where they can, though with their relatively larger bases not all can engage and so some move to off to their right so as to get behind the Easterlings and/or engage the Khandishmen. The infantry advances but the archers stand pat to maximize their shooting percentages.
Evil largely does the same; the archers stay put while the rest advance. The Orcs in particular would like to chew up the Good right flank before the cavalry can disentangle themselves from the other side of the board. The Easterlings roll well on their Courage tests to charge the Knights, and only one man fails to engage.
Shooting sees the Warriors of Minas Tirith take out two Orcs, while Evil archery kills a Knight(!), a spearman, and (from shooting into a combat) the Easterling Warrior charged by Imrahil. No Heroic Combat this turn for you, Mr. Hero!
Combat goes surprisingly well for Evil. True, three Easterlings are ridden down, but those doughty warriors manage to take down two Knights as well.
Casualties: Good 4, Evil 5
Evil Priority, 5-3.
Good would really prefer to move first so as to get that cavalry charge bonus. But he has only 3 Might points, and those are probably going to be needed later to take out the Captains. So Good lets Evil have the first move.
The Easterlings charge the horsemen, and again only one fails his Courage test. A lot of the dierolls were sevens, so it's a good thing for Evil these are Courage-3 Easterlings rather than Courage-2 Orcs. The cavalry countercharges where it can.
Evil Shooting is on target as two mounted Knights and one foot Knight are slain. Good bowmen nab only a solitary Orc in return.
Combat is likewise disappointing for Good as even with the bonus for (counter)charging the Knights do not win very many combats. And neither side is very lethal. Out of ten combats, only one Orc and two Easterlings are killed. But at least no more Knights were lost, either; nearly a fifth are already dead.
Casualties: Good 7, Evil 9
Evil Priority, 5-1.
Feeling that what should be a sweeping charge is already bogging down, Imrahil calls a Heroic Move. The Easterling Captain counters, and Good's sinking feeling is confirmed when Evil wins the roll-off.
Movement on the western side of the battlefield is more or less a repeat of last turn. In the east, the Orcs and Warriors of Minas Tirith finally get to grips with one another.
Shooting finds Evil with few clear targets, but, being Evil after all, his archers fire into combats. The results are a dead Warrior of Minas Tirith but also a dead Orc. Good responds by adding two more Orcs to the tally.
In Combat, the Easterling Captain swings at Imrahil and wins his combat 5-4. Imrahil looks at his stats and, realizing that he can't die this turn (he's not trapped), elects to save his two Might points. The Captain rolls 5-5 on his strikes and uses his last Might point to turn one of those into a Wound.
Elsewhere, the Easterlings are generally winning their Combats but failing to inflict any Wounds. Good says a silent "thank you" to the armorers of Minas Tirith. The squishier Orcs and Khandishmen fare less well and though one foot Knight goes down, at the end of Combat Evil has lost 10 more models.
Casualties: Good 9, Evil 21
Good Priority, 3-2.
Good finally gets Priority back. The Orc and Easterling Captains are nowhere near and the Easterling Captain has no Might left, so Evil cannot contest the Good cavalry charge. With the Easterlings beginning to look thin and archery causing as many friendly casualties as enemy losses, it's now time to throw the bowmen into the melee and so they move to engage.
As a result of the general scrum there is only one Shooting attack, a Warrior of Minas Tirith bowman hitting an enemy model but failing to Wound.
With so many doubled charging attacks, Good finally gets the combat results he's been hoping for. Imrahil and a Knight win against the trapped Easterling Captain; though their 12 dice manage only three wounds, that enough to dispatch their adversary. One down, two to go!
Evil does win a few combats but has terrible Wound rolls; as a result only a single Warrior of Minas Tirith is lost. Good manages to slay sixteen more figures. The Evil force is now very close to breaking.
Casualties: Good 10, Evil 38
Evil Priority, 4-1.
Bad news for Good. Imrahil is down to 2 Might against Evil's 4 remaining Might points. Imrahil trusts to Terror and his armor and lets Evil move first.
The Easterlings are much diminished, but all save two men pass their Courage tests and charge the Good cavalry. The edges of the battle lines see flanking maneuvers on both sides in an effort to trap their opponents.
There's no Shooting at all this turn.
If the past turns have often been unlethal, this turn makes up for them. Nine Evil models go down, taking a Warrior of Minas Tirith, four foot Knights, and one mounted Knight with them.
Casualties: Good 16, Evil 47. The Evil force is broken!
Evil Priority, 5-2.
Getting Priority is bad news for Evil because now, being broken, he needs to take Courage tests. The first two images show the results.
The Orc Captain goes first and easily passes with a 10. He can save a lot of Orcs but the warriors nearest the camera are out of his range and five of them run away. Then the Khandish Captain rolls just a 4 and needs to spend a Will point and a Might point to remain. As with the eastern flank, many troops on the western flank are out of hero range and five of them run away, too.
The remaining Evil troops move to engage the cavalry but some Knights are left unengaged and can countercharge. In the center, the Orc Captain risks a bit of exposure to try to crack the foot Knights (last image), while on the eastern flank the Evil troops pull back both to get in range of the Orc Captain for next turn and to avoid traps.
Good troops in the east take a breather and let the Orcs run as it clears the way for some Shooting, which knocks off just one Orc.
Combat sees the cavalry wipe out the remaining Easterlings. One brave Khandish warrior does manage to take out a charging Knight, though, and the Orc Captain inspires his ragtag mob to new heights of effectiveness and they take out three foot Knights, with the Orc Captain spending a Might point to take out one more foot Knight. Fearsome!
Casualties: Good 21, Evil 53. Good is now just six models away from breaking, with two Evil Captains still to go.
Good Priority, 5-4.
The battlefield has now shrunk enough for the first picture to show it in its entirety. The Knights ride to where the action is.
There's no shooting this turn.
Combat sees two Orcs and two Khandishmen go down but in return Evil takes out three Warriors of Minas Tirith and a charging Knight of Dol Amroth who evidently bit off more than he can chew. Then the Khandish Captain uses his last Might point to cut down the Knight charging him. The Orc Captain loses his combat in a rolloff, but none of the Good Warriors manage to Wound.
Good is now one model away from breaking!
Evil Priority, 6-3.
Good hopes to see poor Courage tests and doesn't contest the first move, but his hopes are for naught when both Evil Captains roll 6. This protects all of the Evil models save one Orc, but he goes to 11 and resolves to fight, too. So at the cost of the Orc Captain's only Will point, all the Evil models stay on the board.
The Evil Captains run away to protect themselves while their warriors form a protective ring, rushing Knights where they can to prevent charges and, they hope, score that one more casualty needed to win. But they can't engage all of the Knights, and Good countercharges.
Good takes some shots at the Orc Captain, hoping to score some lucky hits, but hits are all they get -- no Wounds.
Imrahil calls a Heroic move to try to cut through the Orcish line. The first image is the before, the second image the after.
But though Good inflicts a good number of casualties, the Orcs on the eastern part of the battlefield manage a couple of lucky kills. This breaks the Good force, and gives Evil the victory!
That was a really enjoyable scenario. It was fun change of pace to see a cavalry fight that didn't involve Rohan, and Evil having Might to spare is likewise pretty uncommon and hence interesting.
Although Good only managed to slay one of the three Captains, this still felt like a very close game. The outcome could have been completely different if Evil Courage test rolls were just a hair lower. Or Good won more Priority rolls. Or Evil didn't take down so many Knights with archery. Or ....
A lot of the scenarios in the Return of the King journeybook seem to be thrown together haphazardly. But whether through intent or luck this particular scenario worked really well.