Cob Wargaming
The Bridge Of Khazad Dum!
​"Swords are no more use here!"
The Fellowship have beaten a hasty retreat from Balin's Tomb! However, the danger isn't over yet! The Goblin riddled Mines of Moria have more surprises in store for our favourite Fellowship. So far they had breezed past some lowly goblins so it was time to see how they fared against a real challenge! It was time for the Fellowship to ditch the weapons and put on their running shoes!
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The Scenario
This scenario is pulled straight from the original Fellowhip rule book and focuses around the Fellowship's desperate escape from the Mines Of Moria from one of the most powerful and evil creatures in Middle Earth; The Balrog! In this early edition The Balrog is truly formidable opponent and the strongest in the game without question!
The scenerio gives the Fellowship the challenge of escaping from one board edge to another, crossing a long narrow bridge in the centre of the board.
However, with the Balrog in hot pursuit it is not merely enough to escape the chamber, they must destroy the bridge to prevent the huge demon from devouring them all.
Good
The Good side was simply the fellowship (Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin, Aragorn, Boromir, Gandalf, Legolas and Gimli). None of the company can take Elven cloaks because this takes place before they arrive in Lothlorien and they are given them by Galadriel.
Evil
The Evil side contained 24 Moria Goblins, 8 with swords and shields, 8 with spears and 8 with bows and the Balrog!
Deployment
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The board consists of three entrances on one side, and one exit on the other.
The fellowship may deploy in a small line, 7" from the entrances, a small head start but an important one!
The Evil side's deployment is staggered. The Evil side deploys ten goblins in the first turn from any of the entrances, ten more in the second turn, and then on the third turn they may deploy the Balrog and the remaining four Goblins.
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Objectives
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The Good player wins if 5 of the fellowship (including Frodo) make it off the opposite board edge and destroy the Bridge.
Evil side wins if they kill Frodo or 5 members of the Fellowship or stop the Fellowship from destroying the Bridge.
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The Bridge Of Khazad Dum
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The Bridge has a Defence of 10 and three Wounds and can be attacked by any model in base combat with the Bridge who is not involved in combat.
Turn One
As always with Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game the good player takes the first priority. Naturally the Good side made straight for the bridge, Frodo first, followed by the rest of the Hobbits and Gandalf. Gimili follows behind, the Good side really making sure to get all the slow movers across the bridge first! Legolas and Aragorn move half distance in order to fire off a few shots at the approaching Goblins!
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Evil deploys 6 swords and shields and 4 spearmen in the central entrance and they make a sharp beeline for the Fellowship!
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Legolas and Aragorn kill a Goblin each with their shooting.
Notes on set-up
To represent the impassible terrain and the gaping chasm we used ruins. we did this because it seemed better if we had something to look at rather than just mark with dice or paper or whatever. we felt that it worked in adding something to the atmosphere
Turn Two
Evil wins priority, but Aragorn calls a heroic move in order to keep the Fellowship ahead of the oncoming swarm of Goblins threatening to slow them down! The Hobbits make it to the Bridge with Gandalf and Gimili close behind. Gandalf casts Sorcerous Blast on a Goblin hoping to slow the advance, however, he only blasts a single Goblin a couple of inches and doesn't even manage to wound it. Aragorn and Legolas move half distance in order to shoot with Boromir staying close by to help out just in case.
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The second wave of Goblins enter the board, all the eight bowman enter from the far right entrance in order to get a clear shot at the Fellowship. The Goblin's from the first wave come within striking distance of Aragorn and Legolas...
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The 8 Goblin bowmen do not have a clear shot as the Goblin's have moved a little too close and are in the way. However, Boromir only has 1 Goblin in front of him and the Goblins use the Evil side's advantage of being able to shoot at their friends! 4 Goblins miss and 4 Goblins are on target. 3 arrows make it past the Goblin in the way and cause a wound on Boromir! However, the one arrow that hit the Goblin also kills him! A small price to pay to wound the mighty Boromir!
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The Good side retaliates, and although Aragorn fails to wound, Legolas manages to take down another Goblin.
Turn Three
Good won priority, which was a big relief for them as this was the turn the Balrog would make an appearance! The Hobbits almost make it to the bridge, with Gimili behind them. Gandalf waits by the Bridge clearly prepared to get ready to do some damage to it should something go awry! Gandalf fails to cast Sorcerous Blast on a lowly Goblin however so a Defence 10 Bridge may be a challenge later on!
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The Balrog enters the fray and makes a full advance towards the back end of the Fellowship! He is a truly imposing sight on the Battlefield and for the Evil side it is a relief to have a powerful model on the board! A Goblin manages to make it into combat with Aragorn.
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The 8 Goblin archers fire off some shots, but of the three that are on target none make it past the scattering of cover to reach any heroes.
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Legolas shoots another Goblin dead and Aragorn kills his Goblin in an absolute no contest of a fight.
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Turn Four
Evil wins priority and with the Balrog bearing down on some very vulnerable looking heroes Aragron uses his free Might to steal the initiative with a Heroic Move to get the Fellowship going!
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The Hobbits and Gimili clear the Bridge and make their way to the exit. Boromir stands on the Bridge with Legolas moving 3" behind him to get his feet on the Bridge and rattle off a few more shots! Aragorn positions himself in front of Gandalf to keep him protected from the encroaching Goblins and gigantic fire demon!
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The Goblins are close and another one makes its way into combat with Aragorn! The Balrog moves closer now too, and is two moves away from reaching a juicy Fellowship play toy!
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With the Fellowship now on the Bridge the Goblins get a clear line of sight, and the already wounded Boromir looks like a good target! However, of the 3 out of 8 shots that hit, none of them manage to wound.
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Legolas returns fire, and kills two Goblin archers.
Turn Five
Good wins a crucial Priority roll (even though they would just call a Heroic Move if they lost anyway) Aragorn makes it almost all the way across the Bridge with Gandalf close behind, the rest of the Fellowship clears the Bridge and begins its sprint to the exit.
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Gandalf attempts to cast Sorcerous Blast on the Bridge. In this scenario Gandalf's Sorcerous Blast Spell is incredibly powerful, it can cause up to three wounds in one shot or even blow up the Bridge! So it is important Gandalf can cast this spell to save the Fellowship trying to damage it in hand-to-hand combat. This turn Gandalf fails to cast the spell but he only uses his free point of Will, knowing he will have next turn before the Balrog reaches him!
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The Balrog makes it onto the Bridge and is 2" away from Gandalf! They are face to face in what looks like a crucial turn coming up next!
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The 8 Goblins try and tip the balance in their favour a little more and fire 8 shots at Gandalf! Of the 3 arrows that hit they manage to roll two 5's! But with a lowly strength of 2 they do not wound the Wizard.
Turn Six
This was it! After six turns of pretty much just moving it was going to be make or break for the Fellowship!
Good wins priority and the Fellowship make it as far away from the Bridge as possible! Aragorn and Boromir stay within striking distance of the Bridge incase Gandalf should fail to destroy it!
The time came for Gandalf to prove his metal! And with the Fellowship clear he used a grand total of 5 Will points to cast Sorcerous Blast! Of course he cast it successfully with so many dice and even if he hadn't he still had 3 Might points to ensure it's success.
The real challenge came with the next dice roll. In the Scenario once the spell has been cast there is a random dice roll to take, on a 1-2 he causes 1 wound on the Bridge, 3-4 he causes 2 wounds, on a 5 he destroys it, and on a 6 he blows the Bridge completely killing everyone and everything on it! The roll is random and cannot be influenced by Might so it was a crucial moment as both sides held their breath and watched the dice rattle across the table.
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As we have learnt by now. LOTR loves the good guys. And naturally the dice came up as a glorious 6! The Bridge is obliterated magnificently and with the Balrog and two Goblins on the Bridge they are slain outright tumbling into the seemingly endless chasm! However, they aren't the only ones on the Bridge! And Gandalf also tumbles in after them! The ultimate sacrifice.
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With the Bridge destroyed, the Balrog slain, and the Goblins with no way to cross the chasm the Evil side concedes defeat and The Fellowship win yet again.!
Post Game
"Fly you fools!"
Well this scenario was certainly short and sweet! But with our Scenario working out pretty much exactly like the story it is hard to begrudge the fact it was over so soon! We both really enjoyed how it played out.
This outcome however, definitely isn't the most satisfying for the Evil player, as this game involves a lot of chasing models across the board and a lot of waiting round for the Balrog to come (the only model who can make a real impact in the game) it is a bit of an anti climax when the Balrog is slain outright in such a way without even getting into a combat.
But on the other hand had the Balrog been able to get into combat there would probably be no way for the Good side to both deal with the Balrog, destroy the Bridge and get 5 out of the 9 models to the exit.
So really what this scenario really boils down to is a random roll once Gandalf has cast Sorcerous Blast whether or not he can destroy the Bridge or not which after all the set up and six turns of movement is a pretty poor way of deciding who wins or not! We would have liked to see a better way for Gandalf and the Balrog to duel however it does end up being very loyal to the films.
But still this Scenario is good fun, just to see the look of fear on your opponents face when you bring the Balrog onto the board!
