Gondor Campaign: Turn 5

The Forces of Good won priority for Turn 5 of the Gondor Campaign.  With Osgiliath lost, Gondor had to dig in and prepare for the eventual attack on Minas Tirith.  But Denethor first needed to send word to The Fiefdoms of his situation.  He decided to send his two formations of Knights of Minas Tirith to link up with Prince Imrahil and his forces of Dol Amroth in Lossarnach.  This way, all of Gondor's heavy cavalry would be in one force to counterattack if need be.  But the Forces of Evil saw this as an opportunity.  When it came their turn to move, the forces of Barad Dur and Minas Morgul decided to delay their assault on Minas Tirith and led a combined attack on Lossarnach trapping Prince Imrahil.  Elsewhere, two formations on Rohan Outriders went forth to scout out the crossings of the Anduin at Cair Andros and came across the Dwimmerlaik and the remnants of the orc archers who had retreated from Minas Tirith.  They were joined by a formation of orc trackers and warg riders armed with bows in what would be a skirmish amongst the ruined fortifications.

At Cair Andros, the Rohan Outriders dismounted and obsconded several rafts from fearful bargemen and crossed the River Anduin.  The orcs positioned themselves behind several ruins and did their best to pick off the Outriders who were out in the open.  But the Dwimmeralik had no fear of the Outriders superior shooting attacks and charged into the dismounted riders.  Although they had better chances to hit, the ruins being in the way of the orcs meant they were much harder to hit for the Outriders.  The Outriders eventually went down to their break point, forcing them to jump back into their rafts and retreat to the other side of the river and over into Druadan Forest.

Dismounted Rohan Outriders cross into Cair Andros to scout out the ruined fortifications.

At Lossarnach, Prince Imrahil's force saw Sauron's armies crossing the River Erui.  His only hope would be to send the Knights of Minas Tirth to the crossings as a screening force and hold out long enough for his best forces, The Swan Knights of Dol Amroth and his Men-at-Arms to retreat to Pelegir.  But Imrahil backed himself into a corner.  When the knights went forth to the crossings, The Undying and The Shadow Lord swept upon them on their fell beasts and due to their Spirit Grasp, the knight's Courage 3 could not hold against a Winged Nazgul's Strength 6 since they only needed 3s to hit.  The Winged Nazgul also cast Sunder Spirit against the knights further reducing their Courage.

Knights Minas Tirith try and screen a tactical retreat.

With the Crossing of the Erui clear, Khamul led his Easterling force forward.  The Warriors of Pelegir tried to halt his advance, but were no match for Khamul's spells.  The Dark Marshal and the Undying led a flanking force, destroying the Pelegir archers that took refuge in a small village.

The Dark Marshal and The Undying lead a flanking attack on The Fiefdoms force.

The Witch King saw Imrahil trapped and flew across the field in order to slay the Fiefdom Prince.  But Imrahil was not afraid and called an Epic Challenge on The Winged Nazgul.  Not being able to do anything but charge Imrahil and his Swan Knights of Dol Amroth, The Witch King charged forward to meet the challenge.  Imrahil then called an Epic Strike raising his Fight value to 10 and won the Heroic Duel by a margin of three.  The first two rolls caused two automatic hits which meant as a Winged Nazgul, a roll on the Hard to Kill table was needed.  A roll of a four on the Hard to Kill table meant that the Witch King suffered two wound counters.  The next roll was a six which meant 2D3 automatic hits.  Four more hits were scored which meant two more rolls on the Hard to Kill table.  The first roll was a three which became a five because of the two wound counters giving The Witch King two more wound counters.  The final roll was a one which always results in no effect. Prince Imrahil had almost obtained a slain result banishing The Witch King and removing him from the campaign.  But The Winged Nazgul was driven back D3" for each wound counter and was unable to fight in the ensuing Fight phase.

But Imrahil had been flanked by The Dark Marshal.  What was worse, Khamul the Easterling called a Heroic fight and having defeated the Dol Amroth Men-at-Arms, was able to charge his Easterlings and fight again and also charged into the flank of the Swan Knights.  With each company of the Swan Knights formation fighting in the flank at -3 dice, the Swan Knights lost three companies and only causing a single casualty in the Easterling Cohort.

In the end, the Swan Knights were reduced to three companies, with
the Witch King barely escaping Prince Imrahil's Epic Challenge.

Having reached their break point, The Fiefdom forces scattered with the remaining three companies of Swan Knights fleeing to Pelegir and Prince Imrahil taking the remaining Men-at-Arms company to Minas Tirith to inform Denethor of the loss.