NOVA OPEN 2015 - Lord of the Rings Events

Rohan Campaign Turns 7 & 8 - At the Gates of Edoras

Having defeated the defenders of Helms Deep, Saruman set his eyes on the Rohan capital of Edoras.  Gandalf, Théoden, and Aragorn were all his prisoner and only Deorwine, Captain of the Royal Guard, was left to garrison Edoras.  Having won priority in Turn 7, Saruman and his army moved into Westemnet, almost guaranteeing that he would reach Edoras by Turn 8.  Treebeard and his three remaining huorns moved into the Folde so they could come to Deorwine's defense.

With no battle being fought in Turn 7, priority was rolled for Turn 8, the final turn in the campaign.  The Evil side again won priority and moved the Isengard army into Edoras.  Deorwine stood on the the ramparts of Edoras and looked out at the mass army of uruk-hai before him.  With only two companies of Royal Guard, Deorwine surrendered Edoras to Saruman without a fight.  Treebeard seeing this, moved into Eastemnet so he could save the huorns and return to Fangorn to go into a long tree slumber.  There will be no dawn for man.

Thus concludes our War of the Ring "mini-campaign".  Our goal was to see how a campaign system would work using both War of the Ring and Strategy Battle Game systems with fixed army lists and scheduled reinforcements.  Points wise, the total numbers of formations and Epic Heroes combined were almost even, with a slight nod to the Good side, since they had so many Epic Heroes compared to the number of their formations.  This actually was an advantage for the Evil side, since with only three Epic Heroes to the Good side's nine, the Evil point values were in formations of orcs and uruk-hai which would ultimately wear down the Rohan army.  Even with formation killing heroes such as Gimli and Aragorn, they quickly used up their Might on Epic or Heroic actions in battles and were not enough to take down the larger number of Evil formations by the end of a gaming session.

The one advantage that the Good had was in their cavalry superiority, but they used their formations piece-meal, and never massed all of their cavalry formations into one area to be used as a counterattack.  The forces of Good did very well in the First Battle of the Fords of Isen even though they were forced to fight a battle regardless since Evil had priority the first campaign turn. But following up on their success, the Good side chose to send Erkendbrand's Riders, two formations of Outriders and keep Elfhelm's Riders in the Fords of Isen to fight the whole of the Isengard army in Turn 3.  If the Good side kept what formations they had in Turn 2 at the Fords of Isen and moved all the infantry formations into Helms Deep and kept all the cavalry formations in either Eastemnet or Edoras, they could have been able to counter-strike at the Isengard army along with the ents and then follow through all the way to Isengard.

The Good side also could have placed just one formation of Oathsworn Militia in Edoras along with Eowyn to meet the requirement of having to keep one formation and one Epic Hero in the capital.  This would have put all of the best infantry formations and Epic Heroes at Helms Deep in order to wear down the Isengard army on the walls and hope to last eight game turns forcing Isengard to withdraw.  The next turn, Isengard would most assuredly try and assault Helms Deep again and the Good could have had all of their cavalry and ents arrive as reinforcements to fight an already depleted Isengard army.  If the Good side had been successful in this and taken the Isengard army down to 30 percent, Isengard would have no choice but to retreat to Orthanc and hope to prevent a Good victory.  But as in any wargame, much came down to die rolls.  The Evil side were able to capitalize when they won priority and send two formations of uruk-hai into Westemnet twice and pin the ents into a SBG skirmish battle not allowing them to move out of the area. 

If I had to change anything, I would have probably given Isengard a Troll Captain and two Isengard Trolls instead of so many uruk-hai formations.  I know I have criticized GW's Isengard Troll since Tolkien makes not mention of them in his writings, but the campaign came down to who could kill more companies than the other side, and trading 350 points of uruk companies for three trolls could have changed the dynamics.  Isengard having trolls in this regard makes the game more balanced.

But the campaign was overall balanced, the Good side won two battles, lost three and two were a draw, and the evil side won three, lost two and two were a draw.  The game did come down to the final turn, and it was the fact that Isengard had an overwhelming number of companies at the end of the campaign being the reason the Good side decided not even to fight a battle on Turn 8 and concede.

The next mini-campaign will be a Mordor-Gondor campaign, following Mordor's invasion of Gondor in order to take Minas Tirith which we will do some time in the Fall.

Rohan Campaign Turn 6 - Back to Helm's Deep

 

Saruman crossed the Isen with his host from Orthanc.  His forces reeling from their defeat in Westemnet told that the ents were moving to reinforce Helms Deep.  Saruman knew if he could delay their advance, the remaining forces at Helms Deep would be helpless.  Having won the initiative, he sent two companies of Uruk-hai with pikes to pin the ents in Westemnet so he could lead the rest of his army into Helms Deep.

The ents were few in number having suffered heavy loses from the battle last turn.  Treebeard had only five huorns and one other ent to face the two companies of Uruk-hai.  Since this was a skirmish, the Uruks were able to increase their attacks on the ents with the length of their pikes.  Although many Uruks fell, they were able to kill the remaining ent and three huorns forcing Treebeard to retreat into Eastemnet.

The Uruk-hai use their pikes to increase their attacks against the huorns.

The defeat of the ents allowed Saruman to assault the fortress of the Hornburg at Helms Deep unimpeded.  He lead a formation of Uruk-hai crossbows along with Vrasku's Talons and Thrydan Wolfsbane and his Dunlending archers close enough to the walls to rain shooting attacks on the Rohan defenders.

Knowing this could be their final hour, Gandalf deployed with a formation of dismounted Rohan Outriders to cause as many casualties as they could with shooting attacks as well as use Immobilize spells against the Uruk-hai ram.  Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas fielded as The Three Hunters so they could both use shooting attacks against the approaching Uruks, as well as charge into close combat if the fortress was breached.  Eomer and Theodred fielded with Erkenbrand's Riders and the remaining formation of Oathsworn Militia while Théoden held The Keep with a company of Oathsworn Bowmen.

Isengard prepares to assault The Hornburg.

Although the dismounted Outriders were able to cause some casualties, Saruman casted Bolts of Fire onto their formation ultimately destroying them.  With no formation protecting the gates.  Saurman sent four formations of Uruk-hai warriors to take their ladders to the Deeping Wall, and with no one standing in their way, were able to move along the walls to take the gate.  The ram ultimately smashed the gate and the Uruks piled into the fortress.

The ram finally is able to smash the gate.

Theodred and Erkenbrand moved to the gate to prevent the Uruks from reaching The Keep, but ultimately were defeated in close combat.  The Three Hunters attempted to hit the Uruks in the flank, but both Legolas and Gimli were killed leaving Aragorn to face the Uruks alone. 

With Legolas dead, only two hunters remain to fight a formation of Uruk-hai warriors. Soon Gimli would also fall.

Eomer moved his last company into The Keep to help Theoden.  But Saruman moved into the fortress and cast a Tremor spell against The Keep, killing all those inside.  Helms Deep had fallen and all the remaining survivors surrendered and were taken prisoner.

The ram smashes The Keep door as Saruman casts a Tremor spell.

Now that he was in possession of Helms Deep, all Saruman needed to do was take Edoras and Rohan would be his.

Rohan Campaign Turn 5 - Westemnet

Isengard moves into position to prevent the ents from reaching Helms Deep.

The ents moved out of Fangorn after defeating Saurons wargs who were sent to stop their advance.  Treebeard knew that the defenders of Helms Deep would not last unless he led the army of ents and huorns to their aid.  But as they moved through the open plains of Westemnet, they saw on the horizon a mass of Uruk-hai with two massive assault ballistae ready to rain down on them.  The ents had their chance to crush Saruman's siege weapons, thus negating their advantage if they were brought to bear on the Hornburg or Edoras.  So the ents and huorns slowly moved across the plain with no woods to conceal their force or protect them.  This fight was to the death. 

The Fangorn army moved along the Rohan plains with no woods or forests to protect them.

But Thrydan Wolfsbane and Vrasku had their orders from Saruman; destroy the ents.  Vrasku and Thrydan stayed behind with their shooting attacks and hurled fiery arrows against the ents and huorns causing many of the them to burn to the ground.  The wargs swarmed around the left flank to try and catch the slow moving huorns, gnashing them with their claws and fangs.  But seeing this, the ents charged the wargs pulled them apart with their thorny arms destroying them and halting the charge.

The Uruk-hai beserkers moved forward on the right flank hacking at the huorns with their two-handed weapons cutting several of them down.  But the beserkers were no match for Beechbone and the ents as they destroyed both of their companies.  See that Beechbone was wounded, Thrydan directed his Dunlending archers to fire their flaming arrows at him setting him ablaze as he fell.

Quickbeem raced forward as fast as he could to take out the Isengard ballistae.  But shot after shot fell upon him slowing down his advance.  He was joined by Treebeard and the two of them pushed forward only to be stopped by an Uruk-hai formation with pikes.  Pushing aside the pikes, the two ents tore through the formation and reaching a ballista, broke it into to pieces.  Another ent was able to reach the other ballista destroying it, thus taking out all of Saurman's artillery.  But the same fate was to befall this ent as poor Beechbone as Vrasku's Talons held their position and fired their flaming crossbows into the ent who soon was engulphed in flames.

But evil know no morals and the Uruk-hai sappers moved into position.  Quickbeem knew that he had to destroy this company of sappers by sacrificing himself to the demolition charge or else if it moves too far, it could destroy most of the Fangorn army.  But having passed their Courage test, the sappers were the ones to take their ones lives and detonated the demolition charges causing Strength 10 hits to all within 12".  The blast was titanic, killing Quickbeem and several other ents and huorns in the process.  But somehow, Treebeard had survived and seeing that the disordered Uruks also had been damaged by the blast, moved forward crushing an entire company breaking the Isengard army.

The Uruk-hai sappers move into position to detonate their demolition charges.

Saruman's plan almost worked, but the Isengard army fled the field, despite the damage done by the demolition charge.  Isengard had lost all of their ballistae, all of the remaining wargs, and all the beserkers.  Fangorn had won the battle, but at a terrible price.  Beechone and Quickbeem were dead, along with two ents and nine huorns.

Treebeard now had to reach Helms Deep in order to stop Saruman from taking the Hornburg, but fate was about to turn on the side of Good.

Rohan Campaign Turn 4 - Helm's Deep

The forces of Isengard prepare to assault The Hornburg.

Saruman looked into his palantir and knew that he must act fast.  He had to take the fortress at Helms Deep in order to break the resolve of Rohan and then march on Edoras.  But he knew something had awoken in Fangorn.  He dispatched his wargs to the forest to scout out what he had feared.  The wargs found an army of ents and a moving forest of huorns.  The wargs harassed the ents and knew they could out run them.  A company of wargs were killed, but that was just enough time to delay them so they would not be able to help the defenders at Helms Deep.

Treebeard leads the ents against the elusive wargs.

Meanwhile, Aragorn had found his way to the Hornburg, only to see that the Rohan army led by Theodred and Eomer had been defeated at the Fords of Isen and decided to retreat to the safely behind the fortress walls.  They knew that the fortress would give them the best chance against the Isengard host.  But King Théoden was not going to sit aside while a force of evil invaded his land.  He convinced Gandalf to ride with him to Helms Deep and if this was to be their end, to make it such an end worthy of song.  Théoden took four companies of the Kings Guard, while Gandalf rode with two companies of Royal knights.  Along with an eored of six companies of Rohan Riders, they hoped to smash Saruman's force in the flanks as they besieged the Hornburg.

Defenders of Helms Deep.

But the Uruks instructions were clear, not to wait for reinforcements and assault the fortress.  Vrasku's Talons led the Isengard army up to the walls firing their crossbows against the Rohan warriors who returned fire from upon the ramparts.  Four formations with ladders were sent to the left flank to occupy the Rohan warriors upon the Deeping Wall.  The assault ballistae pounded at the fortress gate, hoping to smash it by the time the fighting Uruk-hai made it up the causeway.  But as dawn broke, something happened that no one expected.  Thedoen appeared and charged at the Uruk-hai flank.  Surprised by the quickness of the steeds, the Uruks sent a phalanx of pikes over to protect their left so they could continue the assault on the fortress.  But they didn't arrive before Gandalf cast his Blinding Light on a formation of Uruk -hai who were crushed under the cavalry charge.  But the Uruks were many and the entire formation of Rohan Riders perished from the pikes wielded by the Uruk Hai phalanx.



Gandalf rides forth with Rohan Knights.

Meanwhile at the fortress, arrows were shot back and forth, stifling the Isengard advance.  An assault ballista was able to raise one of the enormous ladders, only to be pushed down by the Rohan defenders.  Seeing that Théoden had arrived to stop the advancing ladders on the Deeping Wall, Aragorn moved his formation with Epic Journey to the other side of the fortress who then began to reign down throwing weapons upon the Uruks.

Isengard brings ladders up to the fortress walls.

But the tide was turning for Théoden.  He made the mistake of dividing up his Royal Knights into smaller formations who were not able to mass against the fighting Uruk-hai.  His loyal bodyguard Hama fought a Heroic Duel that was directed against the King by an Uruk-hai captain, only to perish underneath the evil blade.  Losing riders fast, the King's sister-daughter Eowyn revealed herself amongst the riders and died in an Epic Sacrifice so that other could live.  But with their companies gone, there was little Théoden and Gandalf could do, but retreat from the field hoping that the defenders of Helms Deep could defeat such reckless hate.

 

The assault ballista tried again and again to hit fortress gate, but only caused minimal damage.  The Uruk-hai ram then tried to smash the gate, but the Uruks slipped and fell as they tried to charge up the causeway.  Ultimately, the Hornburg was too strong for them this day and the Uruks, now dimished in number were forced to lift the siege and retreat back to the Fords of Isen.

 

The ram tries to smash the fortress gates.

Victory ultimately lay with Rohan as they had prevented Isengard from taking Helms Deep.  But at what cost?  The Kings Guard were destroyed along with an entire eored of Rohan Riders.  Their only hope now lay with the ents who have moved out of Fangorn into Westemnet.  But having learned of this, enough was enough.  With his last horde of Uruk-hai now equipt for war, Saruman would lead them personally out of Isengard and crush Rohan once and for all!



Rohan Campaign Turn 3 - The Second Battle of the Fords of Isen

2000 points of Isengard descend on the Fords Of Isen

Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas rode with Erkenbrand to the Fords of Isen.  There they met Theodred and the remnants of his force.  They had put up a stubborn defense against Isengard, but Theodred knew that Saruman's forces would return in greater numbers.  Theodred spoke of a new breed of orc, the Uruk-hai, stronger than any other orc he had ever encountered.  The heroes held their council of war, and decided not to abandon the Fords.  Their plan was to wear down the orcs since they knew they would have been on the march and would have to expend their Might in order to cross the fords.  Once they had crossed, the Rohan forces would attack being lead by five Epic Heroes.  The plan was in place.  They needed to give Gandalf time to break Théoden from Saruman's spell and bring forth Rohan's elite Royal Guard from Edoras.



Rohan decided to fall back from the defenses of the fords forcing Isengard to use their Might on Heroic Moves.

But the forces of Isengard learned their lesson from the first battle.  They knew that their captains would have to expend their Might to get across the Isen.  But they planned to save at least one point of Might to declare a Heroic Fight enabling their formation to fight a second combat if they won a fight.  They had to depend on At the Double moves thereafter to reach the Rohan force on the far side.  The plan was simple, Sharku's Hunters would lead a charge of wargs across the far right ford.  Uguk's Raiders and Mahrur's Maurauders would push across the left ford, leaving the center clear for long range shots from their two assault ballistae.  The Uruk general Lugdush and the Dunland Chieftain Thrydan Wolfsbane would lead the archers to the west bank along with Vrasku's Talons.  Then they would go after the ranger from the north and the dwarf and challenge them to a Heroic duel.


Isengard is joined by Thrydan Wolfsbane and his Dunlendings from the Gap of Rohan.

With the ballistae on the horizon, Rohan decided to stay out of range and keep back from the defensive position at the fords as that would leave them vulnerable.  Then they saw the wargs charging their flank.  Elfhelm's Riders and Grimbold's Helmlingas went out to meet them.  But the wargs were a tougher opponent then they expected.  Sharku's Hunters took the advantage and charged Grimbold's Helmlingas.  Grimbold challenged Sharku to a Heroic Duel, slaying the orc captain.  But more wargs were coming and Elfhelm's and his riders were torn to shreds and Elfhelm became dog meat.  Grimbold's Helmlingas cut through the remnants of Sharku's Hunters and another formation of warg riders, but the Warg Chieftain thirsted for more blood and charge into Grimbold's flank proving too much for the brave Rohan warriors who died horribly from the fangs and claws of the wargs.


The Isengard plan was to push the wargs on the far right flank, while keeping pressure on the left and center.

Seeing that the orcs decided to come up the center as the ballistae were useless to them, Gimli led the Oathsworn militia and declared an Epic Rampage destroying an entire orc formation.  Seeing Gimli's success, Aragorn went forward to join him.  Aragorn saw that the Dunlendings had made it across the far fords and pushed forward declaring an Epic Challenge against Thrydan Wolfsbane.  The Dunlendings failed their Courage test and decided charge Aragorn's formation.  Aragorn hacked his way to Thrydan killing many Dunlandings along the way, but Thrydan proved tougher than he thought as Aragorn was wounded.  But seeing the ranger wield Anduril cutting down many in the process was too much for the Dunlendings and they fled the field since Hope is Lost with Thrydan chasing after them.


Aragorn and Gimli join Theodred and his Oathsworn Militia and were able to destroy the orc and Dunlending formations with Epic actions.

On the other flank, Eomer joined Grimbold's Helmlingas and positioned the Outriders above them on a hill so they could maximize their shooting attacks.  Legolas joined the Oathsworn Bowmen and led them out of the woods to secure Erkenbrand's left.  Mauhur's Maurauders led the charge across the ford since they are Pathfinders (Master).  But they fell from continuous shooting attacks, and Legolas's declaring an Epic Shot giving an additional D6 automatic hits.  The Ugluk's Raiders led the charge, but again were cut down by shooting attacks.  Then Lugdush tried to position the Urk-hai Scout archers to fire back, but they also fell victim to Legolas's Epic Shot running due to Hope is Lost with Lugdush running after them threatening to kill all who fled the field.  Now Vrasku's Talons were in range and fired their crossbows with Take Aim! giving each company three additional attacks against Legolas and the Oathsworn Bowmen who fled the field due to Hope is Lost.  Next to come was a formation of Uruk-has warriors armed with swords and shields.  Erkenbrand's Riders charged and after back and forth fighting, destroyed the Uruk formation, but they now had only two companies left.

Now the tide was turning in Isengard's favor as the other archer formations had made it across the Isen as well as Uruk-hai bezerkers.  The Dunlending archers fired into the Oathsworn Militia leaving Aragorn the last in his company and in the confusion, Aragorn fell into the Isen and was carried downstream.  This was proving too much for the brave Oathsworn Militia and Gimli led them to the safety of the woods.  But the woods did not provide safety from the charging wargs.  Gimli, out of Might, could do nothing but watch the Rohan die.

Rohan had been reduced to less than 30% effective combat strength and was forced to yield the field to Isengard.  The remnants chose to seek refuge in Helms Deep.  Isengard was victorious, but paid a heavy price and now must decide to follow up on their momentum, or once again consolidate and wait for reinforcements.  Rohan was beaten and had lost much of their army, but they were soon to learn that the Ents had decided to go to war!

Rohan Campaign Turn 2

The forces of Isengard were not able to break the Rohan defenders at the Fords of Isen, so they decided to retreat back to the safety of Orthanc.  Saruman was displeased that his orcs were not able to kill Theodred and wipe out the line of Théoden.  Even worse, he had learned that Gandalf had somehow appeared in Rohan and had broken the spell he had over the King.  He called forth his orc general Lugdush and told him to prepare his army for war.  He sent word to the Dunlending Chieftain Thrydan Wolfsbane to make for the Fords of Isen in two weeks time where he will be met by Lugdush and an army of Uruk-hai, a new breed of orc that Saruman had created by crossing orcs and goblin men.  These Uruk-hai were stronger and better armed than orcs and could march under the light of the sun.  Saruman then outfitted his new army with heavy armor and pikes to stop the horse lords and siege ballistae, capable of shooting long distances.  Now he had the army he needed to seize Rohan, not of thousands, but tens of thousands!

Saruman confers with his general Lugdush at Orthanc.
 

Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas, and Gandalf the White meanwhile had come into contact with Erkenbrand, master of the Westfold, and his eored of riders. Erkenbrand told them a sickness had come over King Théoden and he would not leave his fortress of Edoras.  Erkenbrand also told them that word had come to him that Theodred, son of the king, held off what appeared to be and advance guard of orcs from Isengard.  Erkenbrand was taking his eored to reinforce the fords in the event Isengard returned.  Knowing that it was Saruman who had cast a spell on Théoden, Gandalf rode quickly  to Edoras.  Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas rode with Erkenbrand to the Fords of Isen knowing that if the position there fell, the forces of Isengard would be unleashed on the Westfold. 

But something was happening that none of them were aware of.  The ents were beginning to wake after a long age, and were to find that they were strong.