After seven months, I've finally reached the last scenario in Games Workshop's Scouring of the Shire (2019) supplement for their Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game.
This scenario posits Bilbo, having left The Ring with Frodo, sets off for Rivendell, but runs into trouble in the form of Orcs and Warg Riders. Fortunately, he has some friends looking out for him, a team of Wood Elves and small contingent of Rangers of the North lead by their leader, Aragorn.
The victory conditions are simple here: For Good to win, Bilbo must exit the east edge of the map. For Evil to win, Bilbo must die.
This scenario is nearly the same as the 2004 version of The Scouring of the Shire, with two important changes:
(Click on any image to see an enlargement.)
Bilbo heads out on his own, but nine Wood Elves are looking out for him, as are three Rangers of the North and Aragorn. This Aragorn is among the first models I ever painted, and looks it. He's about due for some touching up.
Looking to hinder Bilbo are the standard sprue of twelve Orcs, and twelve Warg Riders. Notable for Evil is the absence of any heroes, hence no Might.
Bilbo sets up 12" away from the western board edge. He's a little hard to see in the first image, where the camera is pointing north (he's northwest of the center), so the second image is a Bilbo's-eye view looking east. We'll start zooming in as the action commences.
The Wood Elves then set up at least 12" from Bilbo. They set up in a rough semi-circle around Bilbo, mostly sticking to the trees in hopes of using them with their Elven cloaks to stay out of Evil line of sight.
The Orcs then set up more than 6" from the Elves and also more than 12" from Bilbo. Four Orcs set up behind him, figuring they'll catch up to him eventually, since they move 6" to the hobbit's 4". The remainder set up outside the protective umbrella of the Elves; not all are visible in the picture.
Where are the Rangers and Warg Riders, you ask? They begin off-map. Each turn, their side rolls a die at the end of Movement. On a 2+, a reinforcement appears on a randomly-determined board edge. Aragorn isn't allowed to enter until all three Rangers of the North have come in.
Let's start!
Good always starts a narrative scenario with Priority. So Bilbo starts hiking east. The Elf archers nock their arrows while the remainder move towards Bilbo, keeping themselves out of next turn's Charge range of the Evil models. The Orcs run as fast as they can towards Bilbo, too, even the archers, who will likely be more effective as blockers than as shooters.
In the Shooting phase, all three Elf archers hit, but no Wounds are scored.
Evil Priority, 5-1.
Evil again rushes towards Bilbo, barring the two archers who can't resist Charging the nearby Elves. Evil's first reinforcement dieroll doesn't bode well as it's a '1' and so no Warg Rider enters this turn.
Knowing that Evil can't react this turn since they already moved, the Elves move to engage the Orcs under favorable conditions. Bilbo moves ahead, angling slightly north where there are a few less Orcs, and being careful to keep out of next turn's Charge range. Good's reinforcement roll succeeds and a Ranger of the North enters, appropriately enough, from the north edge (image, upper right).
With one Elf archer in Combat, there's only two Shooting attacks this turn but a Wound is finally scored on an Orc threatening Bilbo.
Good botches Combat. A couple of one-on-one attacks are indecisive. Then two two-on-one attacks are resolved. In one, the outnumbered Orc wins outright and kills one of his attackers. In the other, the Elves roll a miserable '1' highest vs the Orc's '2' ... but the Orc has a two-handed weapon, so his '2' becomes a '1' and Good wins on Fight Value. Good news, right? But then the Elves roll double '1's to Wound. Just dreadful.
So given a golden opportunity, Good caused all of one casualty this turn, and that by Shooting. The Orcs took down an Elf themselves, and are plenty happy to exchange warriors on a one-for-one basis.
Good Priority, 6-2.
Most of the Orcs are Charged, enabling Bilbo to continue east unimpeded. But now it's Good's turn to fluff the reinforcement roll, so Aragorn remains at least three more turns away. Evil's few unengaged models move towards Bilbo, and a Warg Rider enters the board from the eastern edge (first image, top right).
The sole shot from the Elves misses, but they step up their game in the Combat phase. Although one Elf dies, four Orcs are slain in return.
Evil Priority, 6-2.
Bilbo is in danger of being Charged by three Orcs. Between the Elves helping him out and his Mithril coat, he'd probably survive. But he doesn't want to get tangled up -- he's got places to be, and every turn it's likely that Yet Another Warg Rider will enter play. So he calls a Heroic move with the sole Might point on the board.
The Elves within 6" of him engage the threatening Orcs while Bilbo slides by, continuing east.
The unengaged Evil models all continue to home in on Bilbo. Another Warg Rider enters from the south. The Elves then play catch up, and they, too, get a reinforcement in the south. The new Ranger makes a half move so as to be able to fire in the Shoot phase.
Shooting has no effect, and neither does Combat. Though the Elves win every Combat, they fail to inflict even a single Wound. They must still be tired out from their heroic efforts last turn.
Good Priority, 4-2.
The Ranger of the North in the north nearest Bilbo attacks the approaching Warg Rider, allowing Bilbo to continue his journey east. He takes a very slight detour to in turn help out the Ranger helping him, Charging the Warg Rider. The Elves move to tie up the Orcs, accepting unfavorable odds at times to keep the Orcs from moving. Remember that the Wood Elves have a special spear that can use the Shielding rule!
Good muffs the reinforcement dieroll again; that's two times out of four. Will Aragorn never arrive?
The unengaged Orcs move in, and another Warg Rider enters from the south.
Bilbo and the Ranger roll a miserable '2', '2' against the Warg Rider's '3'. Bilbo would definitely survive -- the Warg Rider doesn't get the Charge/Knock Down bonus because the Good models Charged him, not the other way around -- but the Warg Rider's potential to stop Bilbo's progress means the Ranger spends his Might point to tie the Duel, win the Combat on Fight Value... and then neither Good model can land a Wound.
Elsewhere the honors are even as one Elf and one Orc die.
Good Priority, 3-1.
All the Evil models except for one Warg Rider are engaged. Bilbo continues moving east. The last Ranger finally enters; unfortunately for Good, he comes on from the western board edge. He won't show up in a picture until Turn 8, all the way at the back.
The free Warg Rider gets worryingly close to Bilbo, and another Warg Rider enters the game from the south.
As has happened on other turns, the Combats generally go Good's way but he's unable to inflict any Wounds. The exception is in the south (off screen) where the Ranger there is slain. (Confession time: I forgot about his Fate point.)
Evil Priority, 5-4.
Finally getting a break, Evil Charges two Warg Riders into Bilbo, while the Orcs tie up the Rangers and Elves as much as possible to prevent their coming to the hobbit's aid. Another Warg Rider enters, this time from the western edge.
Good could really use Aragorn at this point, but blows the reinforcement for the third time out of six. Time to switch dice, perhaps?
The few shots in the Shooting phase miss, but Good's luck then returns as they win all of the combats, including Bilbo's one die against the four of the Warg Riders! Both sides there got their '6', and Good won the rolloff from the tied Fight values. The hobbit's pity then got the better of him and he failed to inflict a Wound. The victorious Elves roll numerous '1's and likewise score no Wounds. It's definitely time for new dice -- at least for Wounding.
Good Priority, 6-6.
I've swung the camera around to view the battlefield from the east. Bilbo now needs to exit down, not to the right.
Bilbo will never be able to outrun the Warg Riders, so he Charges one. At least now the Duel dice are equal. The other Good models tie up the Evil models as much as they can.
Aragorn enters at last ... and from the east! He may yet save Bilbo, whose situation is dire next turn with the Warg Riders closing in. Aragorn calls a Heroic March with his free Might point to get into the action as soon as possible.
Evil starts wearing down Good in Combat, with one Orc dying but two Elves falling as well. Bilbo again wins his Combat and again fails to Wound.
(Another boo-boo here: Heroic Actions have to be called at the beginning of the relevant phase, and reinforcements in this scenario arrive at the end of the phase. So Aragorn shouldn't have been able to Heroic March this turn.)
Evil Priority, 6-5.
Yep, Aragorn arrived just in time. He uses his free Might point to call a Heroic Move. He takes on two Warg Riders and scoots Bilbo along toward the east edge. Bilbo is about two turns away from victory.
Two of the reinforcing Warg Riders are still able to reach Bilbo and things are still looking grim, though.
But Evil makes a mistake. By not tying up all of the Elves, two are able to take on one of the Warg Riders pinned by Aragorn. This leaves him facing just one Warg Rider himself, so, hoping to save Bilbo, he calls a Heroic Combat using a point of Might from his store. He wins, as one would expect, but then his Wound rolls are a miserable '1', '2', and '4'. He thus barely succeeds in killing the Warg Rider proper, and then (of course!) the Warg passes its Courage test and remains on the table. The Heroic Combat fails, and Bilbo is on his own!
But he doesn't need the help! Again facing four dice against his one, the results are tied at '4'-highest and again Good wins the rolloff. Sting finally finds a vulnerable spot on the Warg Rider and Bilbo scores his first kill of the game! That's how you do it, Aragorn.
Elsewhere, a Ranger, an Orc and a Warg Rider walk into a bar ... er, are slain. (I forgot about the Ranger's Fate point here, too.)
Evil Priority, 4-2.
Aragorn again uses his free Might point to Heroic Move; Bilbo accompanies him and his now just one turn away from the east edge. The nearby Elves ensure that no Warg Rider will be able to reach Bilbo this turn.
Aragorn survives Combat (duh) and now Good should be set, since Aragorn's Might and Evil's lack thereof ensure that Good can go first next turn. But the Turn 11 Priority roll goes Good's way so no contingency planning is needed. Bilbo waltzes off the board for the win.
Good Victory!
There were some crazy luck swings in this battle. But the single most important roll was undoubtably the one determining Aragorn's entry edge. Had he come in on the west edge instead of the east, I think the Warg Riders would have gotten Bilbo. Of course nothing is certain and the hobbit managed to hold his own over multiple turns while being outnumbered. So who knows?
Evil's lack of Might really hurts them. Bilbo's hardly overloaded with it, but given a no-Might enemy, the one-Mighted man is supreme, to repurpose the old saying. Evil was also hurt by their setup. Starting some Evil models behind Bilbo was well-intentioned as theoretically they could catch up to him; but in practice they were obstructed so often that ultimately they played very little part in the battle.
I liked this scenario a lot. The random reinforcements mean a wide variety of situations are possible and the mix of unit types was interesting.
My rating: ★★★★☆
Since this is the last scenario from the book, a few thoughts on the book itself are probably in order. The Scouring of the Shire is a great supplement just based on the scenarios alone. Most of the scenarios -- and there are a lot of them -- are solid and the generally low unit counts make this a very accessible way to get started in the game. I suppose if you've never read the books then maybe the theme is not as exciting as those scenes from the movies. But you should read the books! This is an important part of the story.
The book's supplemental material is also good. In addition to the profiles and army list stuff, there's a section on making hobbit holes using the Forge World kit which is a worthy reference guide.
So does this completely supersede the older Scouring of the Shire book? Profile-wise, yes, certainly. But the older book has a few scenarios not updated here (for reasons of space, perhaps) and they are worth seeking out. Odovacar Bolger's Promenade, for example, is an interesting scenario with no Evil models! The older book also has some good painting guides and additional hobbit hole making material. So it's worth picking up.