Cob Wargaming
The Gladden Fields
"The Ring passed to Isildur, who had this one chance to destroy evil forever. But the hearts of Men are easily corrupted. And the Ring of Power has a will of its own."
The final scenario in the Fellowship book comes from a barely there scene in the film. However it was a crucial moment in the Third Age of Middle Earth. Isildur is making a journey northward with his army (in the film this is straight after the Last alliance, in the book this was a few years apart when he was going to visit his wife on his way to the Kingdom of Arnor). The army is ambushed by a much larger force of Orcs who are after the Ring. The Numenoreans are slaughtered while Isildur slips on the Ring and dives in the river to escape, the Ring slips off his finger and he is shot by Orc archers.
Scenario
As usual our game was taken from the Fellowship book and was the first LOTR battle to take place on our new gaming mat. The set-up for this battle was quite complicated. The entire Good force sets between two rivers and 6” from the Ford. The Evil side can seemingly set-up anywhere so long as they are evenly split between either side of the river. Isildur has the Ring but he cannot leave the board while wearing it or he counts as a casualty.
Turn 1
The Good side went first because that is an actual rule! All the men rushed towards the Ford, determined not to get trapped. The Evil side also headed for the Ford, quickly breaking cover. All of the Orcs on the small side began to jump the river which naturally slowed them down, only a couple of them rolled 1's for their jump test which left them stranded on the other side. In the shooting phase 2 orcs could shoot, 1 of them hit but caused no wounds, the Good side had no bow armed models.
Good Force
Accompanying Isildur is a small force of men consisting of 12 warriors with spears and 12 warriors with shields.
Evil Force
The Evil side has 2 Orc Captains, 20 Orcs with swords, 10 with spears and 10 with bows. These are split into 2 equal groups each led by a captain.
Deployment
Good
I didn't have much choice when it came to my deployment so my force was placed as close as allowed to the edge of the Ford with the goal of getting over it as quickly as possible. I placed my men in an orderly block with the intention of the peeling off in layers as they got into combat so Isildur could rush up the middle and escape.
Evil
The Orc force simply had to hide behind the rocks, statues and trees as best the could. The plan was to hold the Good side in the bottle neck of the bridge and pick them off using my superior numbers. I also had to cross the river quickly so I could really bring my numbers to bear.
Objectives
The objective for the Evil side was simple, kill Isildur or over half of the Good Force. For the Good side they had to get 24” away from the Ford, we naturally assumed this was up the river but as I write this now I realise the Good force were perhaps allowed to go in any direction so long as it was over 24” from the Ford. The map given does not really illustrate the mission very well.
Turn 2
The Evil side won priority and managed to block off the Ford while the rest of them gathered some numbers. In the Good sides turn, two brave men charged head long into the Orc captain and his friend. The other men realised they would be going no where fast and started to jump over the river with mixed success, but they were not willing to be surrounded. Isildur was put in cover from the archers by hiding behind a rock. The Orc archers fired 4 shots this time, getting 2 hits but still were not capable of breaking down the men's defence of 5. The first fight of the game was a single Man on a single Orc, the Orc won but did not kill him. The other fight was the Orc captain (we used the Gothmog model) vs the other Numenorean, who quickly bit the dust and was tossed cruelly into the river.
Turn 3
Evil side won priority and pushed further onto the Ford. The Orc captain being a big girls blouse completely avoided taking on Isildur and instead took on another lone man. The Good side wished that they had used a Heroic move but pressed on with the plan. More men leapt over the river, Isildur used a bully tactic and ganged up on the lone Orc hoping to start clearing the Ford. 4 shots were fired in the Shooting Phase and the Orc archers had there first kill of the game. Onto the Fight Phase and Isildur got the kill he wanted, even without the help of his friends. The other Good combatant on the bridge fell to the blades of the Orcs. The Orc captain once again drew blood, killing both men he had charged next to the rivers edge. The other fights that were taking place on the river banks went very much in favour of the Evil player as they ruthlesly killed four men whilst only losing one of their one. The Good side had already lost 7 warriors meaning the Evil side only needed to kill another 5 to win. In response the Good side had only killed one Orc!
Turn 4
The Evil side won priority for the third straight turn, the Good side was pretty desperate and so Isildur called a heroic move. He led a second party across the Ford, hoping to secure a safe passage and that his superior fighting ability would carve a way through the gathering horde of Orcs. The group of men that had jumped the river attempted to head for the Ford but first they had to get themselves out of danger. In the Evil movement phase the Orcs moved with a new sinister purpose, they ordered themselves so that nearly every Good model was outnumbered two or three to one, they did this by utilising their spearmen. In the Shooting Phase the same 4 Orcs only managed to hit once but it did not cause a wound. In the Combat Phase Isildur got another 2 kills but his partner leading the charge lost his fight and crucially gave away space on the bridge. The Orc captain continued his brutal rampage and pummelled another 2 men into the dirt, taking his tally so far to 5 kills. Meanwhile on the river bank, the Good side lost nearly every combat and a lot of their comrades. By the end of the turn, 9 men lay dead for only the two Orcs that their king had slain, things weren't looking good for Isildur!
Turn 5
This time Good won priority but Evil decided to turn the screw and called a heroic move, Isildur decided not to waste a point of Might. Naturally the Orcs surrounded, isolated and ganged up on every man that had made it over the river. Isildur and the rest of the Ford were pinned back. In the Good sides turn 2 men failed to jump over the river and 2 men managed to get over. Back to the Evil sides remaining turn and they set upon the 2 men that had just arrived over the river. Once again in the Shooting Phase the usual 4 Orcs made a real pain of themselves scoring 2 hits and killing a second Good warrior. Combat phase. Isildur was heavily outnumbered but with his 3 attacks and superior Fight Value all he needed was to roll a 6, so he rolled a 4! Naturally the Orcs got a 6 and this left Isildur with a difficult decision to make. He could use the last of his Might points to win the fight and hope he gets some kills or he could save his might and hope the Orcs don't roll 6/4's because he has no fate points. Leave a comment below to let us know what you would do! The Good side decided to use up his might and luckily he managed to get 2 kills. Else where the Good side actually managed to get a kill with someone other than Isildur, the Man on the Ford beside him clearly felt inspired and took out an Orc. Over on the riverbank, a new Orc captain entered the fray and using a point of Might he started with a bang and got the kill. Nearby the Orcs nearly completed the slaughter of all of the men that had made it over the river but they had done enough to win the game. This was a short and sweet battle just like the scene in the film. We decided that there was more to see and we chose to carry on and see if Isildur could find a way to get off the board.
Turn 6
Evil won priority and the Good side had no more Might points. The Good side had been wanting to use the ring but this would have to wait till next turn. The Orcs surrounded the 3 remaining doomed looking men on the riverbank and piled an Orc captain, a shield armed Orc and two Orc spearmen onto Isildur. In the Good sides turn they moved up the remaining Men onto the edge of the riverbank to stop the Orcs being able to jump over and completely surround Isildur. In the Shooting Phase the Orcs were typically reckless with their shooting and fired 5 shots through another Orc and into the Men on the bank who they failed to wound. Also the usual 4 Orcs fired at the same Men, hitting 3 times but not causing any damage. Onto the Fight Phase, the Good Force finally began to win some combats, they won a key fight on the Ford pushing the Orcs backwards and finally won a fight on the riverbank and even got themselves a kill. Onto the main event, Isildur and the Orc captain both rolled badly but luckily for the Evil side the Orcs rolled that ever important 6! This now meant that Isildur was trapped but the Good side wasn't worried, their king had a Defence of 8, the Orcs however had their own ideas and rolled exactly three 6's which was just enough to kill the king who has 0 Fate points.
Post Game
"It betrayed Isildur… to his death."
"And some things that should not have been forgotten were lost.”
A quick game is a good game! Well it certainly was for the Evil player who made a mockery of the Good side and completely dominated from the outset. They were helped massively by winning most of the priority rolls which let them dictate the combat set up and also kept the Good side trapped. Tactically the Good side should of set up nearer the riverbank and jumped it straight away, running in many different directions to eliminate the Orcs strength in numbers. Alternatively they should have stuck to their side and drawn the Orcs over. Either way Isildur should have put the Ring on earlier. Once again the Orcs spears proved to be extremely deadly but the Man of the Match has to go to the Orc captain (Gothmog model) who got at least 5 kills on his own compared to the Good sides total of 6. All in all a very difficult scenario for the Good side but it was still great fun for everyone.
And that's it folks. The last of the scenarios from the original Fellowship book. Soon we will be moving onto the Two Towers book, exploring the scenarios from that film and also how the rules changed, expanded and developed to include cavalry and sieges.
