This is a scenario of Games Workshop's Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game, from the War in Rohan sourcebook.
This a book-only scenario taking place in the background during the build-up to the battle of Helm's Deep. Saruman's forces are invading Rohan in earnest, and need to command the ford at the river Isen to get the bulk of the army army into Rohan.
Victory here is entirely determined by model count on the ford. Whichever side has the most at the end of ten turns wins.
The Rohirrim are desperate to foil Saruman's plans, so their models on the ford can re-roll Wound rolls of '1'.
(Click on any image to see an enlargement.)
The Good forces are identical to the First Battle of the Fords of Isen, except of course that Théodred, having died there in the books, plays no part here. Again, the Warriors of Rohan with green shields are Helmingas with +1 Strength, and the Royal Guard horsemen are subsitutions for the Rohan Outrider models that I don't have.
The Evil forces, though, have considerable changes from the first battle. Instead of Uruk-hai Scouts, Evil fields better-armed Uruk-hai Warriors, with crossbows, pikes, and more shields. The mounted Warg Riders are now supplemented by a contingent of Dunlending cavalry, and Thrydan himself has been given a horse as well. Adding to the Evil leadership is Gorûlf Ironskin.
As with last outing, Uglúk here is standing in for an Uruk-hai Captain, so that he will be more easily identifiable on the table.
The Evil infantry sets up in a line west of the ford. The archery models are on the wings, while the Uruk-hai Warriors form a three-deep phalanx so as to take advantage of their pikes, with the Captain and Gorûlf in front. The remaining warriors mill about behind the phalanx to await developments.
Grimbold sets up in the center of the ford and the Warriors of Rohan are placed within 6" of him. The shield-armed men are up front so as to maximize their defense. The bows are off to the side so as to have the best visibility for their shooting.
The cavalry begin east of the river. Saruman has somehow gotten cavalry (Thrydan's Dunlendings here) south of the Rohirrim. Worse for the Good side, the Warg Riders are threatening from the north as well. Fortunately, Elfhelm is riding again to the rescue from the East ... and he's available from the beginning of the game, no die roll required.
Good has Priority in the first turn, as always in narrative scenarios.
The Warriors facing Evil at the ford ready their throwing spears. At the rear of the ford, there's some shuffling so as to get Warriors in delaying positions should the Evil cavalry break through. The archers turn to shoot at the cavalry; this doesn't count as movement but just looks better on the table.
Elfhelm debates whether to concentrate on one or the other of the Evil mounted groups. But he's got a a 16-13 advantage in numbers, which should be augmented by some infantry support. So his forces split in two, he himself leading the southern group to counteract Thrydan. The forces make a half move so they can do some Shooting this turn in hopes of thinning out the Evil ranks a bit.
The Evil infantry advance but can't quite make it to the ford this turn. The archers remain back so as to maximize their shooting. The cavalry head toward the ford.
Good looses a hail of arrows and throwing spears, which kill a Dunlending horseman and two Uruk-hai pikemen. Evil has maybe half as many shots but none of them have any effect.
There's no Combat this turn.
Good Priority, 6-1.
Evil sees no urgent need for a Heroic Move, and so saves his Might.
Good wants to stay on the ford to take advantage of the special re-roll-to-Wound rule. So the Warriors there stay put and brace for impact. But the cavalry, aided by a few Warriors on each flank, can and does Charge as much as possible. A few infantry models move to protect the archers behind the ford. The unengaged Evil cavalry is happy to accept their sacrifice and Charges in, delighted to get that cavalry-charging-infantry bonus.
Shooting favors Evil this turn. Good archery has no effect. In return, crossbows take out two Warriors at the ford, and a Dunlending archer kills an archer across the river.
Combat is interesting. Two of the "sacrifice" Warriors, one on each flank, win their Duel rollss despite the odds, though the others are slaughtered as expected.
Two Riders are cut down but so are a Warg Rider and two Dunlending horsemen, the latter costing Elfhelm a Might point.
At the ford, the Evil heroes easily kill their opponents, but the men facing the three-deep Uruk attacks surprisingly win their Combats, one even managing to take out his foe!
Good Priority, 6-3.
The Evil heroes at the ford want to save their resources, but Thrydan, now up a Might point against Elfhelm, calls a Heroic Move. Elfhelm counters and Good wins the roll-off. The Evil cavalry is surrounded. A throwing spear takes out a Warg Rider on the way in. Evil then continues to push onto the ford.
Good Shooting is savage, as six out of seven shots hit, and two crossbowmen are shot down. In return, all of the Evil Shooting misses.
The cavalry battles also favors Good, with two Dunlending horsemen and three Warg Riders killed. One warg decides to stick around (third image, yellow bead). Elfhelm underperforms and loses his Combat against a horseman, but at least suffers no Wound.
At the ford, Grimbold wins against the Captain plus pikes despite the -1 for his two-handed weapon. (Grimbold got his '6' and the Captain rolled snake-eyes, so Might couldn't help.) But the +1 for Wounding with a two-handed weapon isn't enough to penetrate the Captain's tough Defense 7 armor.
Then Good's run of luck ends and all of the Warriors on the front line are chopped down.
Good Priority, 4-1.
The Evil cavalry is so outnumbered at this point that a Heroic Move by Thrydan seems pointless. And the ford seems well in hand. So no Heroic Moves.
Good then re-surrounds the cavalry and prepares to be Charged at the ford, where his models have been thinned out to a single rank.
Shooting honors are even as an Uruk-hai pikemen and a Rohan archer fall to enemy bows.
In Combat, Elfhelm and three Riders surround Thrydan and win the Duel rolls '6'-'4'. But Thrydan has a higher Fight value -- Elfhelm's lack of Heroic Strike hurts here -- and he spends his last two Might points to win the Duel, and then kills two Riders.
The rest of the Evil cavalry are slain, though. Thrydan is triumphant but looking a bit lonely.
The thin green line at the ford puts forth a heroic effort and only one warrior is lost, though Grimbold takes a Wound as well.
Good Priority, 4-3
There's still no compelling reason for Evil Heroic Moves at the ford, and Thrydan is out of Might. So Good proceeds.
At the ford, the Rohirrim back up a bit and reform their line. Elfhelm and a couple of Riders trap Thrydan, and the rest of the cavalry moves to support the ford, as do some of the archers. Good needs a backup line on the ford in case the front line goes down again like it did on Turn 3.
Shooting has no effect this turn.
Elfhelm and Thrydan tie on their Duel roll, but Elfhelm has Might remaining and Thrydan doesn't, so Elfhelm spends a point to force the win. The trapped Lord of Dunland suffers 3 Wounds, and only one of his Fate rolls comes through, so down he goes! The Rohirrim have completely cleared the east side of the river.
At the ford, your humble narrator suddenly remembered the Shielding Rule. Truly a facepalm moment for me. Rohan has never needed to cause casualties here, just hold on for ten turns. Well, better late than never. The extra defensive die saves two of the Warriors of Rohan, including one facing Gorûlf, who muffs his Duel roll.
Also muffing his Duel roll is the Captain, who for the second time in this game rolls snake-eyes. His supporting pikemen only get a '4' highest, but Grimbold gets his '6' and (again!) even with the -1 two-hand penalty wins the Fight! Unfortunately for him, he only lands one Wound on the Captain.
We're now halfway through the game. It looks like Evil has stalled out, having caused no casualties this turn. But the Rohirrim presence on the ford is very thin, and both remaining Evil heroes still have all their Might points.
Evil Priority, 5-1.
Evil gets Priority for the first time in the game. He continues to grind forward in the center. Good moves to get more reinforcements to the ford and to be able to pepper the supporting pikemen with arrows.
Evil Shooting is all ineffective. One crossbow shot is exciting, hitting and bypassing a Warrior of Rohan to reach Elfhelm. But the hero's armor deflects it. Good does better, killing two Dunlending archers and a pikeman.
Shielding doesn't help Rohan this turn, as Grimbold and two Warriors of Rohan are slain.
Evil Priority, 6-1.
Evil again pushes forward a step. He now outnumbers Good on the ford and the game is his to lose.
The last Dunlending bowmen shoots down a Rohan archer off-camera. No other shooting is effective.
Gorûlf yet again loses a Duel roll to a shielding Warrior of Rohan, '5'-'6'. But now it's close enough that a Might point will make the difference. So he spends the Might, and is able to cut down his opponent.
The Captain also kills his opponent straight out. The Rohirrim facing just Uruks lose, too, despite Shielding, but the Uruks fail to Wound and they survive for another turn.
Good Priority, 4-1.
The situation at the ford is no longer shruggable for Evil, as Good cavalry models are threatening to Charge and ride down the Uruks at the ford. The Evil heroes still have plenty of Might left, so the Captain calls a Heroic Move. Elfhelm is out of Might, so Evil proceeds and the Good models are swarmed.
Shooting is effective this turn, with two pike supports slain before they can help out their mates, and both remaining crossbows killing Warriors of Rohan on the ford.
The Rohirrim seem to be out of steam, as Evil wins all four Combats and only one Warrior of Rohan survives.
Good Priority, 4-2.
It's Gorûlf's turn to call a Heroic Move. Charge! The ford is almost entirely Evil's, with Good reduced to just a toehold.
Shooting is ineffective this turn.
The Evil heroes team up against Elfhelm, with a couple of pikes helping out. They win the Duel, and though they only manage to inflict 3 Wounds, Elfhelm's Fate fails and he is slain!
The horsemen next to Elfhelm is killed also. A single Warrior of Rohan is the only Good model left on the ford.
Evil won Priority on the next turn, and was able to form a line preventing Good from even having the possibility of reaching the ford.
Evil Victory!
With me forgetting the Shielding rule for half the game, I'm not sure sure how typical the results here are. Shielding earlier would likely hold up the pike block an extra turn or two and that would have made a much closer game.
I suspect that Evil will still have the edge even with better Good tactics, though. Elfhelm and Grimbold are pretty decent leaders, but the three Evil heroes are even better, with more precious Might points. And the Uruk-hai pikes are still going to have an advantage over even Shielding warriors of Rohan, who don't even have spears which can be used in support.
Ordinarily I'm not a big fan of victory conditions reliant on a single location, especially when (as in this scenario) there's a large troop density. Since you can only cram so many figures into any given space, most of the troops can feel superfluous.
And we did see some of that here, with the Dunlending foot troops just milling about shouting encouragement. But the cavalry contingents make this much more interesting. Good has to defend in multiple directions and the results of the cavalry battle won't always be as favorable to Good as here.
If it were possible to give half-star ratings, I'd give this a solid 3.5. But only whole-star ratings are allowed at https://www.sbginventory.com. I'm feeling generous, so:
My rating: ★★★★☆