"One does not simply walk into Mordor.
Its Black Gates are guarded by more than just Orcs. There is evil there that does not sleep, and the Great Eye is ever watchful. It is a barren wasteland, riddled with fire and ash and dust, the very air you breathe is a poisonous fume. Not with ten thousand men could you do this. It is folly. ."
Boromir, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lord of The Rings
Gondor v Angmar v Durins Folk
Some time at the end of last year, Sam, Rick and I got together to have a battle. It ended up a three way battle, I took my monster Angmar army, led by the Witch king, with a Cave Drake, Buhrdur, Shade and some cave trolls.
Sam took his trusted Durins folk army, with Gimli, Gandalf, Kings Champion, shield wardens and a myriad of dwarves.
Rick, took Boromir with citadel guard... erm woses and rangers.
The objective a hill in the centre of the battlefield - 1 point per figure within 6 inches.
Who will win the battle....
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| My Angmar army |
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| The Witch King on Fellbeast |
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| Buhrdur leading two cave trolls |
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| My Cave Drake |
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| a single orc tracker (I had some points left over)! |
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| A shade |
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| Ricks Gondor Army |
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| With elite troops... |
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| ...and woses! |
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| A whole warband. |
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First round after deployment and Sam used sourcers blast
to bowl a cave troll in to the other trolls, knocking them prone. |
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| Meanwhile my cave drake advanced towards the other armies through the woods |
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| Ricks Elite Gondor, with Boromir deployed away from all the combat... apparently he had a plan! |
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| The rest of Ricks Army deployed right next to Gandalf... |
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| Sam was forced to deploy with Dwarf army together on the flank of the Gondor army |
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| Gandalf, winning priority was able to move out of the way of the Gondor army |
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| And the lines clashed - dwarves and woses battle it out |
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| Rick moved his rangers to try to target Gandalf |
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| and moved some of his warriors of Minas Tirith in to engage the trolls |
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| The woses doubled up with their spears to try to even the odds |
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| Ghan Buri Ghan gets a cheeky boost from Alfred... |
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| Sam charged Gimli into the woses and Ghan |
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| and wins the combat |
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| My trolls and the Gondorians clash |
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| who will win? |
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Rick sends in some of his rangers to support the woses,
but it could be too little to fight of the might of Durins Folk |
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| Enter the Kings Champion, straight into Pipin |
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| Ricks banner man adds support against the trolls |
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| The woses take casualties |
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| and are forced back |
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| The vault wardens create an iron wall |
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| My trolls start bowling |
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| The Dwarves push the advantage on the woses, cutting through them with ease |
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| The rangers are also struggling |
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| The Witch King joins the fight with the trolls, Gondor look like they are in trouble |
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| Cirion v the Witch King |
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| Gimli and the Kings Champion team up to squash a wose |
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| SPLAT! |
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| The woses are looking in real trouble |
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| Sam moved his dwarves to mop up the rangers too |
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| Back to the trolls |
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| and enter the Cave Drake |
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| Cirion also has to deal with Buhrdur and is trapped... |
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| Sam, still cutting through Ricks softer part of the army targets Alfred |
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| and the rest of the army |
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| Now his mind turns to the objective |
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| But Cirion, is slain |
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| Along with his Citadel guard |
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| Spotting Ricks 'Plan' I turned my army to the objective in the centre of the field |
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| Boromir claims the objective and starts to spread out to claim maximum points |
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| Sam moves towards the objective too |
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| My cave drake looks at the Gondorians |
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| and the Witch King moves in to support |
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| Sam takes the opportunity to kill a few stragglers |
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with Ricks Army broken - the game ends...
his plan was to take the objective, use his soft troops to be broken and win the battle...
well done Gondor 14 v Angmar 3 v Durins Folk 3 |
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| With time to spare - we played on -to the last man, dwarf or beast standing wins! |
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| and so my bowling continued, but the high defense minimised the kill power |
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| My monster team rush in to kill the Gondorians |
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| But Boromir pounces on a cave troll and wins the fight |
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| Killing him immediately |
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| Buhrdur, enraged hurls another warrior at Boromir |
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| The monster Angmar army rush Boromir |
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| win the fight... |
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| and kill him |
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| Gondor are spent, the last few warriors are smashed |
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| Sam forms a line of dwarves |
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| The Witch king and Gandalf fight it out |
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| While the Cave Drake and Kings Champion battle |
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| The Kings Champion is slain |
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| But Gandalf beats the Witch King back |
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| Sams Iron Guard successfully threw an axe at the cave troll, on his last wound... |
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| and kills it! |
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The witch King was forced to move away - he was very low on will
The dwarves rushed in again |
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| The trapped cave drake strikes out |
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| and knocks over all the dwarves |
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| The battle raged on... |
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| but the cave drake could not hold up to the onslaught of the dwarves |
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| my Angmar army withdraws |
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| Fighting as it went |
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| Buhrdur rended Gimli |
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| Killing him, but is still outnumbered |
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| a hurl to clear the dwarves out makes some room |
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| But it was all too much - both the shade and Buhrdur are killed, the dwarves finish as victors, having charged the Witch King in to battle with his last will point. |
Final thoughts
Well done Rick... he remembered the objective and played the game well, we soaked up his soft troops, broke him and handed him the game.
The second half was really just Angmar v Durins Folk, but this just showed how hardy they are, the slowly beat the monsters down and used their numbers and high defence to be an unstoppable army.
A good game of two halves.
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Man of the Match
Ginmli Son of Gloin |
Man of the Match
This was quite clear, Gimli son of Gloin was a beast in this battle, he smashed through the woses, Gondorians, killed the cave drake and really made it a slog to try to stand up against him....
So for this fight, Gimli simply has to be the man of the match.
We welcome anyone interested in playing The Hobbit SBG, Lotr SBG, WotR or any Warhammer/40K, X-Wing battle or table-top war game - why not let us know so that we can arrange some starter battles,
Or if you/your club want to challenge us. We have all the figures and scenery from the Mines of Moria to the siege of Helms Deep, snow fields to desert boards ready and waiting; fighting in the ruins of Osgiliath, Helms Deep and Far Harad, you cannot afford to miss it.
Why not join our watch list for updates and look out for more battle reports, campaigns and armies on parade... as well as our brilliant GBHL Hobbit Hobby Tournament.
Feel free to come along to
Midsussexwargaming or arrange a game.
