Post by welleran on Apr 15, 2015 10:21:49 GMT -6
This scenario was run by Kevin Cabai who does a tremendous job every year running minis games - he's done Middle Earth based games of Chainmail for the last several years at Garycon.
In this scenario, the Witch King of Angmar (AKA the Lord of the Nazgul) is defending the barrows near what will someday become the Shire against a force of Dunedain men from the Northern Kingdom of Arthedain, led by King Argeleb II, and supported by a force of Elves from Rivendell and the Havens, led by Glorfindel. The men and elves have decided that the artifacts buried within the barrows, relics of the First Age and the great wars, would be highly useful in fighting the Witch King. In response, he has sent fell spirits to inhabit the barrows, thus creating the Barrow Wights.
I was the Witch King, in overall command, and had five subordinate commanders each with a force to command. The opposition had four players, with their leader running Glorfindel.
The field of battle: the hills with green tokens are all Barrows (off limits to troops but accessible to captains and champions). The Witch King's forces are left, men and elves to the right. I deployed mostly orcs to my left, separated by a force of Warg cavalry (Orcs of differing tribes might fight if too close), with a Black Numenorean champion at the extreme left. In the center, I put the Witch King, his pet wizard, and his small force of Black Numenorean heavy cavalry. On my right I had more orcs, human hillmen skirmishers, and three great Trolls (not placed yet).
We advance across a wide front (evil on the right in this one). I was not sure of the enemy's victory conditions and suspected it might entail entering Barrows (that turned out to be incorrect, apparently) so I ordered my forces to keep the enemy away from them, where possible. On the center-left, I ordered the Warg cavalry to charge Elf archer units to break them up a bit...the Wargs were decimated (and that player was very unhappy for a while, not understanding that I did not care about casualties). Also during this time, the Witch King began to raise Barrow Wights -- they came somewhat randomly and caused some chaos and damage, but turned out to be more disruptive than destructive, for the most part (they did chase an Elf wizard and captain around in the back for a bit, keeping them busy; later, I began to assign them to whoever was in the area, ordering them to assist with melee - you can see a few wights atop the barrows where they generated).
As time went on, the Witch King realized that his forces on his left were outmatched by the men and elves. However, he also noted that Glorfindel was opposite his far right, where the trolls were advancing very slowly. Also on that wing, a single barrow wight managed to distract an elf infantry unit for nearly the entire game -- neither side could seem to hit the other (as my Troll commander pointed out later, that might have been what turned the game, as that unit was not in a useful place for a very long time)
My black knights charge an elf infantry unit (they subsequently routed and were ridden down)
On the left, the Witch King's army was slowly being massacred. However, the Trolls were moving into position to go after Glorfindel himself, which was our highest possible victory condition -- by this point, I began to ignore my left, the only order I gave being to keep the enemy busy even if it cost everything we had. All looked to be going the Witch King's way, until the stinking elf wizard appeared from thin air (he'd been invisible for a time, apparently) and popped out some dime-store Silmaril that cast a brilliant light (I'd cast a darkness spell before play to make it possible for the orcs and trolls to function). The light caused all three Trolls to check, and fail, their morale. They now fell back before the intense illumination. On the left, you can see the Witch King as he moves towards their position, heedless of the great dice tray in his path.
I continue to move the Witch King towards the far right, along with his pet wizard, as that seemed to be our best hope for victory (I was in despair at this point, as our lines were collapsing everywhere except where the heavy cavalry and trolls went, and the latter had now broken). The Witch King was very fatigued, as he'd been maintaining the spell to summon Barrow Wights. Eventually, I ceased that and let the Nazgul lord rest for a good long time to recover his strength - it would be needed soon. His wizard managed to break the morale of an elf unit or two with his wizardry, though to only modest effect. Also around this time, I ordered the remnants of the Warg cavalry to race from left to right across the field in order to keep some of the enemy distracted. The heavy cavalry I also sent that way, to engage the human king's cavalry and keep them from the important part of the battle.
I parked the Witch King atop a barrow near the trolls (and well forward of them) to rest and be in position for the desperate gambit I had planned (under the fig are markers for fatigue -- he still had a bunch at this point). The nearby enemy archers were utterly useless against him and he did not dare send his leaders up the hill. In fact, in hindsight, it was clear that the Elf lord had no clue what we were planning.
The final gambit is played! The Trolls lumber forward (in some disarray as they rallied in series) as the Witch King charges down the barrow straight at Glorfindel for a duel to the death! (Meanwhile, the wargs reach the fight and engage a weak unit of elves to keep them out of the way)
The great duel.
Glorfindel is slain (who would now rescue Frodo at the Ford of Bruinen after I stab him under Weathertop?!?) Minutes later, the King of Arthedain rushes in for vengeance and is also slain. With his son and heir slain earlier, I guess there will be no one named Aragorn to later take the throne of a reunited kingdom. It is a dark and terrible day for Middle Earth!
All in all, a tremendously awesome game, in both visuals and game play. After six Garycons, I might rate this the best single game yet (a high bar, to say the least). Kevin Cabai has run a First Age LOTR game (elves vs. dwarves at Sarn Athrad), a Fourth Age game (Gondor and Rohan versus the remnants of the Easterlings), and now a third age game. Can't wait to see what he has next year -- he is doing another LOTR game that is TBD, as well as Orcs Drift...I plan to be in both!
In this scenario, the Witch King of Angmar (AKA the Lord of the Nazgul) is defending the barrows near what will someday become the Shire against a force of Dunedain men from the Northern Kingdom of Arthedain, led by King Argeleb II, and supported by a force of Elves from Rivendell and the Havens, led by Glorfindel. The men and elves have decided that the artifacts buried within the barrows, relics of the First Age and the great wars, would be highly useful in fighting the Witch King. In response, he has sent fell spirits to inhabit the barrows, thus creating the Barrow Wights.
I was the Witch King, in overall command, and had five subordinate commanders each with a force to command. The opposition had four players, with their leader running Glorfindel.
The field of battle: the hills with green tokens are all Barrows (off limits to troops but accessible to captains and champions). The Witch King's forces are left, men and elves to the right. I deployed mostly orcs to my left, separated by a force of Warg cavalry (Orcs of differing tribes might fight if too close), with a Black Numenorean champion at the extreme left. In the center, I put the Witch King, his pet wizard, and his small force of Black Numenorean heavy cavalry. On my right I had more orcs, human hillmen skirmishers, and three great Trolls (not placed yet).
We advance across a wide front (evil on the right in this one). I was not sure of the enemy's victory conditions and suspected it might entail entering Barrows (that turned out to be incorrect, apparently) so I ordered my forces to keep the enemy away from them, where possible. On the center-left, I ordered the Warg cavalry to charge Elf archer units to break them up a bit...the Wargs were decimated (and that player was very unhappy for a while, not understanding that I did not care about casualties). Also during this time, the Witch King began to raise Barrow Wights -- they came somewhat randomly and caused some chaos and damage, but turned out to be more disruptive than destructive, for the most part (they did chase an Elf wizard and captain around in the back for a bit, keeping them busy; later, I began to assign them to whoever was in the area, ordering them to assist with melee - you can see a few wights atop the barrows where they generated).
As time went on, the Witch King realized that his forces on his left were outmatched by the men and elves. However, he also noted that Glorfindel was opposite his far right, where the trolls were advancing very slowly. Also on that wing, a single barrow wight managed to distract an elf infantry unit for nearly the entire game -- neither side could seem to hit the other (as my Troll commander pointed out later, that might have been what turned the game, as that unit was not in a useful place for a very long time)
My black knights charge an elf infantry unit (they subsequently routed and were ridden down)
On the left, the Witch King's army was slowly being massacred. However, the Trolls were moving into position to go after Glorfindel himself, which was our highest possible victory condition -- by this point, I began to ignore my left, the only order I gave being to keep the enemy busy even if it cost everything we had. All looked to be going the Witch King's way, until the stinking elf wizard appeared from thin air (he'd been invisible for a time, apparently) and popped out some dime-store Silmaril that cast a brilliant light (I'd cast a darkness spell before play to make it possible for the orcs and trolls to function). The light caused all three Trolls to check, and fail, their morale. They now fell back before the intense illumination. On the left, you can see the Witch King as he moves towards their position, heedless of the great dice tray in his path.
I continue to move the Witch King towards the far right, along with his pet wizard, as that seemed to be our best hope for victory (I was in despair at this point, as our lines were collapsing everywhere except where the heavy cavalry and trolls went, and the latter had now broken). The Witch King was very fatigued, as he'd been maintaining the spell to summon Barrow Wights. Eventually, I ceased that and let the Nazgul lord rest for a good long time to recover his strength - it would be needed soon. His wizard managed to break the morale of an elf unit or two with his wizardry, though to only modest effect. Also around this time, I ordered the remnants of the Warg cavalry to race from left to right across the field in order to keep some of the enemy distracted. The heavy cavalry I also sent that way, to engage the human king's cavalry and keep them from the important part of the battle.
I parked the Witch King atop a barrow near the trolls (and well forward of them) to rest and be in position for the desperate gambit I had planned (under the fig are markers for fatigue -- he still had a bunch at this point). The nearby enemy archers were utterly useless against him and he did not dare send his leaders up the hill. In fact, in hindsight, it was clear that the Elf lord had no clue what we were planning.
The final gambit is played! The Trolls lumber forward (in some disarray as they rallied in series) as the Witch King charges down the barrow straight at Glorfindel for a duel to the death! (Meanwhile, the wargs reach the fight and engage a weak unit of elves to keep them out of the way)
The great duel.
Glorfindel is slain (who would now rescue Frodo at the Ford of Bruinen after I stab him under Weathertop?!?) Minutes later, the King of Arthedain rushes in for vengeance and is also slain. With his son and heir slain earlier, I guess there will be no one named Aragorn to later take the throne of a reunited kingdom. It is a dark and terrible day for Middle Earth!
All in all, a tremendously awesome game, in both visuals and game play. After six Garycons, I might rate this the best single game yet (a high bar, to say the least). Kevin Cabai has run a First Age LOTR game (elves vs. dwarves at Sarn Athrad), a Fourth Age game (Gondor and Rohan versus the remnants of the Easterlings), and now a third age game. Can't wait to see what he has next year -- he is doing another LOTR game that is TBD, as well as Orcs Drift...I plan to be in both!