And it's Yet Another Scouring of the Shire (2019) scenario from Games Workshop's Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game. Sharkey's Rogues are trying to drive the brave Tooklanders out from their land. The game will end randomly on a dieroll of '1' or '2' after one side has lost at least eight models. Whoever then has the most models within 3" of each of five objective markers controls that objective; the player with the most objectives wins.
(Click on any image to see an enlargement.)
Paladin Took and Baldo Tulpenny lead a dozen Militia and four Archers against Sid Briarthorn and what looks like the standard Sharkey's Rogues contingent we've seen in previous scenarios. But (surprise!) it isn't; there's an extra whipman, bowman, and regular ol' Ruffian (here represented by the guy just behind Sid, even though he's technically a bowman).
It's a little weird to have such a slight variation on what seems to be the normal contingent. I guess GW's playtesting showed that the Ruffians needed an edge?
It's hard to fit the whole board in one picture with any level of detail at all. So I've resorted to overlapping shots. The five black poker chips down the centerline are the Objective Markers; since they can't move, I hope they will help you with seeing the overlaps and orienting yourself with what's going on.
The hobbits start within 12" of the southern edge while the Ruffians begin an equal distance from the northern edge. If both sides look concentrated on the center, that's intentional, as Warrior casualties come back as reinforcements on a dieroll of '4'+ and can arrive on either side edge. So there's plenty of opportunity to contest those edge objectives after the casualties start coming in.
It's Good Priority on the first turn, as always in narrative play.
The hobbits all move up, even the archers. With only 4" of movement they need to get into the action. The Ruffian bowmen deployed in the woods move to the forest edge to take advantage of the cover -- note also the tricky guy hiding behind the single tree in the back center of the first picture -- while the others move forward to claim the objectives. Sid, learning from Rowan's mistake last game (Turn 3), hides behind his mates.
Ruffian marksmanship is well above average with three of the five archers rolling '6's. But only one hit manages to Wound.
Casualties: Good 1, Evil 0
Good Priority, 5-3.
The hobbits in the center (including the heroes) stay put and stoop for stones while the other hobbits move up. The single casualty from last turn does not come back.
The Ruffians advance, controlling four objectives at the end of their move. But the hobbits still have time to contest, as neither side is near eight casualties yet.
Hobbit Shooting is terrible. There are few enough hits, with even Baldo missing first with a '2' and then muffing his reroll even worse with a '1', and in the end just a single Ruffian is slain.
Not to be outdone, the Ruffians Shooting has no effect at all.
Casualties: Good 1, Evil 1
Evil Priority, 4-2.
The Ruffians move to engage where they can. Their whips miss, and the Ruffian killed last turn does not come back.
The Hobbit archers, Baldo, and one Militia hold to maximize their Shooting, while the other move to get into the scrum. The hobbit casualty doesn't come back, either.
The Ruffian archers all miss. Hobbit Shooting takes out a Ruffian on the western objective, and then, thanks to his re-roll ability, Baldo Wounds Sid ... and so does the Militia! Luckily for Sid his Fate point comes through, albeit at the cost of a Might point. He should have remembered his bodyguards.
There are a number of Combats this turn and they are fairly bloody. Given their superior Fight value, the Ruffians have a surprisingly hard time of it and three Ruffians are slain while only two hobbits are lost.
Casualties: Good 3, Evil 5
Good Priority, 3-2.
On Turn 2, casualties seemed pretty manageable. But if this turn is as bloody as last, Evil will be at eight casualties and this could be the very last turn! So the hobbits move up to contest those objectives and tie up Ruffians. Luck is with them and all three casualties come back as reinforcements; Paladin sends one west and two east.
Sid moves up to help a mate. Of the five possible reinforcement rolls, none is above a '3' and the Ruffians get no zombie troops.
No shooting has any effect.
Evil has it better in the Combat phase. There are five combats, and although the Ruffians lose one and in it their man goes down, Evil wins the other four (including one where outnumbered 1:3!) and takes down three hobbits.
Casualties: Good 6, Evil 6. But those numbers are a little misleading, because three of the hobbits have come back and none of the Ruffians have. It's almost certain that the game-ending die-rolling will start next turn.
Good Priority, 5-2.
It's all about the objective markers, baby. The hobbits move to win as many as possible. Baldo and two Militia try to Charge the literally Terror-causing Sid, but the hero fails his Courage test miserably, as does one of the others, leaving just a single Militia engaged with a presumably very angry Evil hero. One (of three possible) reinforcement enters from the east edge.
The Evil men are all engaged except the archers. What should they do? Their Shooting has been nothing to write home about, and with the hobbits getting casualties back and the rogues not, Evil really needs boots on the ground near the objectives. He measures out carefully and notes that a full move won't get the bowmen within 3" of the objective this turn, though. So they take a half move. Maybe they'll get off a lucky shot? Three (of six possible) casualties re-enter on the west edge. By coincidence they are all whipmen, who take their shot at the nearby Militia to no effect.
Good has no Shooting. Evil does get his lucky shot, taking out a hobbit on the surrounded Ruffian (third picture, left).
Paladin wins his Combat and uses his single Might point to get the Wound, leaving him in sole control of the nearby objective.
Sid also wins his Combat and uses his single remaining Might point to get the Wound, showing no respect for his brave (if foolhardy) opponent.
Elsewhere another Ruffian goes down, while another combat is indecisive.
Casualties: Good 8, Evil 8. Is this the last turn? Dieroll '5': nope!
Turn 6 Evil Priority, 4-4.
Evil attacks in the west. All three whipmen hit, but frustratingly none of them Wound. In the center the archers move up to the objectives, while the isolated Ruffian withdraws to be near them. In the east, two (of five possible) Ruffian casualties re-enter.
The unengaged hobbits move up to at least try to contest the objectives. Two (of four possible) casualties enter in the east.
There's not much Shooting. The lone Evil shot has no effect, while the hobbit return fire takes out a bowman (first image, right). Baldo chucks a rock at Sid, hits, but muffs his Wound roll with a '1'.
Combat is fairly bloody, with two Ruffians and two Militia slain.
Does the game end this turn? The dieroll is '3', and the game continues.
Evil Priority, 3-2.
The Ruffians Charge, except in the east, where the lone outnumbered Ruffian moves away to prevent getting trapped. A Ruffian whip finally has an effect as a Militia falls (first picture, middle). Only one (of possible six) reinforcements enter, coming on the east.
The hobbits are mostly engaged but where they are free to move they go help claim objectives. Two (of four possible) reinforcements enter in the east.
There's no Shooting this turn.
Combat isn't too bloody, but it all goes Evil's way. Two hobbits die, and Baldo gets a revenge Wound from Sid.
The end test dieroll is '1' -- Game Over. Carefully measuring around the objectives, Good has eked out a victory, 3-2!
I've got a confession to make: I was not particularly looking forward to this scenario. The placement of the objective markers is so arbitrary -- it's clear from the board image that they are all pretty much out in the middle of nowhere -- that it's hard to rationalize why the sides are fighting over them. Seriously, those plots of empty land are more important than the hobbit holes or the trees?
But my fears were misplaced. Whatever the difficulties in rationalizing the action, this was a super fun scenario! Every die-roll was consequential, and the final result always felt in doubt.
Consider: had Evil won the 2:1 combat on Turn 7 (first image), the nearby objective would have been uncontrolled and the game would have been a draw. That's how narrow Good's margin of victory was. And had the Evil reinforcement rolls been better, an Evil win is easy to imagine.
Speaking of those reinforcement rolls, they certainly weren't very even. If I did the math correctly, Good had 16 casualty rolls over the course of the game and got the expected 8 successes. But though Evil had 23 casualty rolls, they only had 6 successes -- a rate nearer 25% than the expected 50%. I certainly think 5-6 extra Ruffians would have had a big effect on the game!
What really makes this situation work is the ability to enter reinforcements from the sides, very near the objectives. It's much less interesting when the resuscitated troops have to enter from the friendly board edge.