This is a scenario of Games Workshop's Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game, from the War in Rohan sourcebook.
This battle takes place off-screen and off-book, although we see the results in both. King Théoden's son and heir Théodred defends the border of Rohan at the Fords of Isen from treacherous Saruman's marauding troops. But his forces are defeated and he himself is killed.
So Evil wins by killing Théodred and getting 12 models across the river within 12 turns. If Evil meets one condition but not the other, it's a draw, and if Evil fails in both tasks, Good wins.
Because Saruman wants Théodred dead, Evil models get to re-roll failed Wounds against him.
(Click on any image to see an enlargement.)
The Good forces are led by Théodred, Elfhelm, and Grimbold (front rank). Their troops are 24 Warriors of Rohan (half of them, with green shields, are Helmingas with +1 strength), 12 Riders of Rohan, and 3 Rohan Outriders. I don't have any of the latter, so I've substituted Rohan Royal Guard.
Facing them are an assortment of Uruk-hai led by Vrashkû (left), a Dunlending contingent led by Thrydan Wolfsbane (right), and a squad of Warg Riders. I was missing a few Uruk-hai Scouts with no special equipment, so I substituted some siege assault troops.
The board is mostly flat, with a river running down the middle and a ford in mid-river. The river is Deep Water and so models can try to swim across but risk drowning if they do.
Théodred sets up in the center of the ford with half the Warriors of Rohan behind him (2nd image). Then behind them, 12" from the east edge, are Grimbold and the Helmingas (3rd image).
Elfhelm and the horsemen will come on as reinforcements. At the end of each turn the Good player rolls a die, adds the turn number, and if the sum is 8 or more, Elfhelm arrives on the following turn.
Evil then sets up within 18" of the west edge. Thrydan leads the troops arrayed against the ford (4th image), while next to them are Vrashkû and his archers, and the Warg Riders (5th image).
Good always has Priority on Turn 1 in narrative scenarios. Sometimes this is a bad thing, but here it's to Good's advantage, as Théodred's Reckless Charge rule means he must Charge if he can. So if Evil gets Priority, they can move within his Charge range to kite him off the ford and isolate him from his troops. But since Good goes first, all the Evil troops are out of Charge range and Théodred can hold his ground. His forces move up to protect him. Grimbold begins his march to the ford, his bowmen taking just a half-move so they can shoot.
Evil nears the ford (1st image) while the Warg Riders, not fearing the river due to the +1 Swim Test modifier for being mounted, get to the edge of the river.
There's a lot of Shooting this turn, but the effects are fairly minimal. The Rohirrim kill a Warg (yellow bead in the 2nd image) while losing two Warriors to the Uruk-hai. Vrashkú himself whiffs with a '1' and a '2' and chooses to save his Might for later.
There are no Combats this turn.
Evil Priority, 3-3.
Théodred and Thrydan are equal in Might. Good decides to not to fall behind in that valuable resource and so forgoes calling a Heroic Move.
The Evil models north and south of the river begin crossing. Thrydan leads a phalanx onto the ford. It sure would be nice if the Uruk-hai had thought to bring some pikes here. The Evil archers stay put, hoping to cause some more casualties.
Grimbold moves his troops up, barring the archers. He'll be able to support Théodred next turn.
Shooting is dire for Evil as a torrent of '2's and '3's means he causes no casualties. In return, the Rohan archers kill another Warg and a Warg Rider (2nd image).
On the ford, Evil wins most of the Combats, two Warriors of Rohan dying while a single Uruk-hai is lost.
Thrydan and Théodred, facing each other, both call Heroic Strikes. Thrydan gets a '6' and Théodred rolls a miserable '1'. Thrydan inevitably gets his '6' on the Duel roll so he wins. He kills Théodred's horse and inflicts a Wound.
Good rolls to see if Elfhelm arrives. He gets a '3'. Not yet.
Good Priority, 3-2.
With similar reasoning as Théodred, Thrydan doesn't want to fall behind in the Might race. So Evil forgoes any Heroic Move this turn.
Théodred (Hama, actually, as I don't have the Théodred foot model) Charges, which he must, and his troops keep up to prevent him getting surrounded. Grimbold gets onto the ford to help him.
Evil has one Uruk-hai north of the ford drown in the river (1st image). The Warg Riders make it across but a Warg-less Rider couldn't quite make the edge. Unable to break through the ford yet, the Evil troops around it start swimming, too. The archers again stay put and notch their arrows.
Good Shooting lands many, many hits ... but, frustratingly for Good, none prove to be lethal. The Evil archers knock off two more Warriors of Rohan (3rd image).
At the ford, Grimbold curses the -1 imposed by his two-handed axe and loses his Duel roll '4' (=> '3') to '5'. It's not worth spending Might to beat just one Uruk so he loses. Luckily for him, the Uruk fails to Wound.
Théodred and Thrydan again Heroic Strike. Good ends up with Fight 9 but Evil reaches Fight 10. But the Duel roll favors Good, '4'-'3'. Thrydan saves his last Might point, thinking he can survive one Combat loss. And he's right, as Théodred fails to get a single '5'+ despite six Wound rolls. (Remember that his Reckless Charge rule lets him re-roll failed Wounds when he Charges.) Infuriating.
Combat is likewise infuriating for Evil, as he wins all but one of the warrior-vs-warrior Combats but fails to Wound in any of them. Meanwhile, Good kills an Uruk-hai in his sole victory (2nd image).
The Elfhelm reinforcement roll is a '1'. Not even close.
Evil Priority, 3-2.
The Warg Riders in the south move to engage (2nd image). In the north (no image), the three remaining Uruks reach the far side of the river.
Near the ford, two Dunlendings' shields pull them under the water and they drown (1st image, left).
With Good archery doing little recently, some bowmen peel off the ford to help defend against the Warg Riders.
Since most of the Good troops are engaged, there are no obvious targets for Evil Shooting. He decides to aim for the 1:3 combat faced by an Orc (2nd image, left). If he accidentally kills the Orc, well, then the Good models can then be shot with no hindrance.
But Shooting causes no casualties for either side.
Théodred and Thrydan yet again Heroic Strike, each using their last point of Might. This time Good gets the higher Fight value and wins the Duel. Since he didn't Charge, Théodred doesn't get his re-rolls on failed Strikes and only manages to cause one Wound.
Perhaps inspired by their leader's success, 3 Evil warriors are killed for the loss of a single Rohirrim.
The Elfhelm reinforcement roll is a '2'. Better than last turn, but not good enough.
Evil Priority, 6-5.
Grimbold calls a Heroic Move so that Théodred can do his Reckless Charge. Evil can't counter, as Thrydan is out of Might and Vrashkû is too far away to be useful.
Rohan swarms Evil on the ford. On the way in, not just one but two throwing spears take out Dunlendings on the way in!
Evil then brings up his troops, including the archers, who don't have many worthwhile targets, as his forces are looking a bit thin at the ford.
There are many Combats this turn but they are remarkably unlethal. Only 3 Warriors of Rohan die, and Grimbold takes a Wound. Thrydan pulls out an upset against Théodred plus a Warrior, but even with the re-rolls granted by the scenario all of his Strikes miss.
The Elfhelm reinforcement roll is a '1'. Sigh.
Evil Priority, 5-2.
Grimbold again calls a Heroic Move so Théodred can get his Reckless Charge bonus. General engagement continues. The Evil archers reach the riverbank.
There's no Shooting this turn.
Combat starts out well for Evil as the Warg Riders mow down two Warriors of Rohan (2nd image, foreground). But then the luck swings to Good. A Warrior of Rohan outnumbered 3:1 wins his Combat anyway and slays one of the attacking Uruks (2nd image, center). Then in the north two Rohirrim fight off three Uruks, killing one of them (2nd image, background).
At the ford, another Warrior of Rohan dies, but so do a Dunlending Warrior and an Uruk-hai Scout. Thrydan loses to Théodred and a Warrior of Rohan, who inflict 2 Wounds thanks to the hero's special rule, but Thrydan saves himself with his sole Fate point.
We're now halfway through the game. Evil has 7 models east of the river, a little over half of what's required. Théodred is wounded but not yet dead. So it still looks to be anyone's game.
The Elfhelm reinforcement roll is a '6'. At last!
Good Priority, 5-1.
Vrashkû, now close enough to the troops at the ford to make a difference, calls a Heroic Move. Grimbold counters and wins the roll-off. Good swarms Evil where possible. Elfhelm storms onto the board. Throwing spears kill a Warg Rider and a Warg (1st and 2nd images).
The Evil archers begin swimming across the river, though Vrashkû himself stays put. One archer near the ford hasn't been able to reach land and drowns (5th image, left).
Vrashkû decides to Shoot into the Théodred & Grimbold vs Thrydan combat. He hits twice. The dice are kind and both hits affect the Good side. One targets Grimbold but bounces off his armor with a '1'. The second scores a Wound on Théodred.
Thrydan then wins the Combat despite the odds and puts two Wounds on Théodred, which kills him! One victory condition down, one to go.
Elsewhere Combat continues to favor Evil. Three Warriors of Rohan are slain at the cost of a single Warg (3rd image, rear center).
Evil Priority, 4-4.
Elfhelm doesn't see much to gain by going first, so no Heroic Move.
Evil tries to get his archers across the river but his dierolling is sub-par and three of them drown! (1st image)
Evil models can't reach Elfhelm's horses but the reverse is not true and there are several Charges by Rohirrim, though many also stay put to shoot the troops crossing the river.
And indeed Good shooting kills an Uruk-hai (1st image, right) and a Dunlending (3rd image, left). Vrashkû, having some impressive crossbow fire last turn, returns to his seemingly-usual ineffective self. He's rolled '1's and '2' so often there's rarely even been the decision to make on whether or not to use Might.
Based on his stats, Thrydan is on his last legs ... but you couldn't tell it from his performance here as he wins against Grimbold and inflicts a Wound. Grimbold has a Fate point but he of course rolls a '1' and dies.
Amongst the warriors, a Rohirrim on the ford is lost but Elfhelm's cavalry take out two Uruk-hai Scouts, too.
At this point Evil has only 15 models left, which doesn't leave much margin for error over the next four turns.
Good Priority, 5-4.
Vrashkû is slightly out of position so saves his Might.
Good Charges where possible. Evil's mostly tied up but another model on the river drowns.
Good Shooting is ineffective. Vrashkû aims for Elfhelm but there's a Warrior of Rohan in the way and he's felled instead of the hero.
Charging cavalry against footmen is usually not good for the footmen, and that's the case here, too. One Warrior of Rohan dies, but the Good troops take out four Evil models. It's now impossible for Evil to win, so I called the game.
Draw!
In truth, I wasn't particularly looking forward to this scenario. It seemed to me that the result was likely to be an Evil blow-out. And I needed to do a lot of prepartion, making new rivers, and buying and painting a fair number of models. So much effort for so little result, I thought.
But my fears were wrong and this was unexpectedly fun.
It's hard to tell how typical my results are. Vrashkû was surprisingly ineffective. Probably I should have thrown him into the melee at the ford. Or maybe just rolled better for him. And speaking of rolls, I suspect that the Evil player suffered from more drownings than he should have statistically. And yet Thrydan beat the odds and was still swinging while Grimbold and Théodred lay dead in the mud.
Conversely, Elfhelm's late arrival really hurt Good.
I do think that honoring Good Priority on turn 1 is important to Théodred's survivability. If he's just mobbed on the second turn and cut down, where's the fun in that?
The time limit here really puts the pressure on Evil. He'd like to hang back and just shoot the Good side to death but there's not a lot of time.
There are enough variables here that I could see replays getting wildly different results. Which is certainly part of the appeal! Though the games where Théodred survives are probably rare.
My rating: ★★★★☆