Here's an unusual scenario from the War in Rohan book for Games Workshop's Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game. This is a mini-game not using any of the usual MESBG rules. Instead, Gandalf and Saruman use card play to fight for control of Théoden's mind.
There's no real board for this scenario. Instead, nine playing cards are used to regulate "movement". I thought photos of that would be both busy and uninteresting. So I've opted for a different format from my normal playthroughs, as follows:
Each turn, Gandalf and Saruman secretly choose a card from a mixture of Offense, Defense, and Manipulation cards. Offense beats Manipulation, Defense beats Offense, and Manipulation beats Defense. The winning wizard pull Théoden one space towards him; victory goes to the player drawing Théoden entirely into his space. Most of the cards also have a special effect, which takes place only if the card wins.
Since I'm doing this solitaire, I'm going to take the role of Gandalf and I'll just choose Saruman's cards at random. This should put Saruman at a disadvantage, but Gandalf winning is the "historical" result, so I'm okay with that.
Each turn I'll show the cards played and then Théoden's final position. To give the cards a bit more flavor, I gave them titles taken from the movie scenes (more about that in the Post-game Thoughts) but I show the value and type for those of you that are especially keen.
Gandalf: I Release You! (8, Defense)
Saruman: Confusion (9, Manipulation)
Since Saruman's draws are random, there's no psychological games to play here. So I chose what seemed like it would a useful Defense card, preventing Théoden from moving towards Saruman next turn. Unfortunately, Saruman's Manipulation card beats mine. Théoden moves closer to Saruman's clutches, and I have to choose my next card at random.
Gandalf: Gandalf the White (7, Offense)
Saruman: You Have No Power Here (2, Defense)
Gandalf's randomly-chosen Offense beats Saruman's randomly-chosen Defense. Théoden moves back to the neutral position, and Saruman discards a random card. The discard pile is supposed to open information, but I didn't peek to make things a bit more interesting, since Saruman isn't working to any plan.
Gandalf: I Have Passed Through Fire and Death (Jack, Defense)
Saruman: Gandalf Stormcrow (5, Defense)
Gandalf's card would have prevented Théoden moving away for two turns, and Saruman could have picked up a discarded card. But neither card beats the other, so both are discarded to no effect.
Gandalf: Staff of Power (5, Defense)
Saruman: Mind Mastery (0, Offense)
Gandalf's card wins, so Théoden finally moves in the "correct" direction. Gandalf's card allows him to pick up a card from the discard pile, so he redraws the "I Have Passed Through Fire and Death" card, in hopes of preventing Théoden being dragged back to the dark side.
Gandalf: I Have Passed Through Fire and Death (Jack, Defense)
Saruman: Ill News is an Ill Guest (6, Manipulation)
That Saruman's a tricky guy, and he out-thinks me again. Théoden moves back to neutral, and Gandalf has to swap a card in hand for a card in the discard pile. Let's take back Staff of Power, and discard Breathe the Free Air Again (9, Manipulation). The latter's power makes Saruman pick his next card randomly ... but he's already doing that every turn anyway.
Gandalf: Hearken to Me! (Queen, Manipulation)
Saruman: Dark Dreams (7, Offense)
Gandalf's card, if successful, moves Théoden two spaces towards the light instead of just one. But Saruman's card wins, and Gandalf must discard a card.
Gandalf: Narya (10, Offense)
Saruman: Rohan is Mine! (Jack, Defense)
Outplayed again! Not only does Théoden again move towards Saruman, but he can't move towards Gandalf for the next two turns!
Gandalf: Staff of Power (5, Defense)
Saruman: He Is Not Welcome (King, Offense)
Gandalf wins but Théoden stays put per Turn 7's winning card. Gandalf recovers the Hearken to Me! card.
Gandalf: You Did Not Kill Me (6, Manipulation)
Saruman: Drain Power (10, Offense)
Théoden still can't move towards Gandalf, but it doesn't matter since Saruman wins anyway and Théoden can be moved towards him. Gandalf discards a random card. Things are looking grim for the good guy.
Gandalf: Insight (4, Offense)
Saruman: Power of My Voice (Ace, Offense)
Théoden is now free to move towards the light, but the results are a push.
Gandalf: I Will Draw You, Saruman (Ace, Offense)
Saruman: Power of the Palantir (8, Defense)
Saruman outplays me again, and Théoden is lost. Evil victory!.
Well, that was embarrassing. I was worried that the game could drag out in a series of pushes and pulls that never quite get to the end. But Saruman won handily even with the handicap (ha!) of random choice.
Although you can play this with an ordinary deck of cards, I thought the constant need to cross-reference cards with the table in the rules detailing what the cards mean was too inconvenient. I also had trouble remembering exactly which type of power beat which other type of power. So I got some stick-on blank labels, put them on spare cards, and wrote the type, the type it beats, and the card effect directly on the labels. Much better. I added some flavor titles to the cards. Here's the titles I used, taken from lines in the movies where possible:
| Rank | Gandalf | Saruman |
|---|---|---|
| Ace | I Will Draw You, Saruman | Power of My Voice |
| 2 | You Cannot Harm Me | You Have No Power Here |
| 3 | You Will Not Kill Him | If I Go, Théoden Dies |
| 4 | Insight | Mind Mastery |
| 5 | Staff of Power | Gandalf Stormcrow |
| 6 | You Did Not Kill Me | Ill News in an Ill Guest |
| 7 | Gandalf the White | Dark Dreams |
| 8 | I Release You! | Power of the Palantir |
| 9 | Breathe the Free Air Again | Confusion |
| 10 | Narya | Drain Power |
| Jack | I Have Passed Tdrough Fire and Death | Rohan in Mine! |
| Queen | Hearken to Me! | Wormtongue |
| King | Begone! | He Is Not Welcome |
Using individual cards also let me make the text more specific, so "your opponent" becomes "Gandalf" or "Saruman" as appropriate.
I thought this was an okay scenario. I think it could've used maybe a bit more refining, though. Some of the card effects are a little underwhelming, for example "Your opponent swaps a card from hand and discard pile" which seems to help your opponent as much as hurt him. Others are pointless; "Opponent must show you their hand" doesn't matter when discard piles are public information. But the basic idea was pretty solid, and, based on the results here, it's more suitable for solitaire than I originally thought!
But I think the Restore the King scenario from Battle Games in Middle Earth #51 (video), which covers the same event, is even better. I wonder why GW didn't include that in the book instead?