Dunharrow Campaign, Quest 5: Rohan vs. Dwarves

Hey Reader!

This is Centaur with another battle report!  This will likely be the last battle in the Dunharrow Campaign, though keep an eye on us here at TMAT.  Sometime within the next 6-8 months we may end up doing a group-wide campaign using different civs going for similar mission objectives (what I'll call "achievements"), so we'll keep you posted on that.  Some of the details are being ironed out, but we'll keep you all posted on that, :)  To wrap up the Dunharrow Campaign, I got together with Tiberius after church to play a good ole' Domination game, as I haven't done that scenario yet for this campaign, and he brought a highly unconventional dwarf list to match me.  Here are the armies:

The Men of Dunharrow (Rohan, Warbands)

Warband 1

-Eomer, Knight of the Pelennor Fields with armored horse (Army Leader): 130 points

-5 Rohan Royal Guards: 50 pts

-1 Rider of Rohan: 13 pts
-1 Rider of Rohan w/ throwing spears: 15 pts

-2 Warriors of Rohan w/ shields/throwing spears: 18 pts
-2 Warriors of Rohan w/ shields: 14 pts

Warband 2
-Captain of Rohan w/ heavy armor/shield: 55 pts
-1 Rohan Royal Guard: 10 pts
-3 Rohan Royal Guards w/ throwing spears: 36 pts
-1 Rohan Warrior w/ banner: 31 pts
-1 Rohan Outrider w/ bow ("Hawk Eye"): 7 pts
-3 Warriors of Rohan w/ shields: 21 pts

22 units, 400 pts, 5 Might

The Watchers of Ered Luin (Durin's Folk, Warbands)

Warband 1
-Balin, Son of Fundin with Durin's Axe (Army Leader): 85 pts
-2 Dwarf Rangers with throwing axes: 20 pts
-3 Dwarf Rangers with throwing axes and 2Hers: 33 pts
-4 Dwarf Rangers with 2Hers: 32 pts
-3 Dwarf Rangers with dwarf longbows: 30 pts

Warband 2
-Gimli, Son of Gloin: 90 pts
-2 Dwarf Warriors with shields: 18 pts
-4 Dwarf Rangers with throwing axes: 40 pts
-3 Dwarf Rangers with 2Hers: 24 pts
-3 Dwarf Rangers with dwarf longbows: 30 pts

26 units, 402 points, 6 bows + 11 thrown weapons, 6 Might

This is the first dwarf list I've ever seen that is not heavily D6 and D7 all around - instead of focusing on a shell that's hard to crack, Tiberius is running a list that uses 17 ranged weapons - which is almost as many models with ranged attacks as I have models on the table - and two F6 heroes that can beat Eomer on the punch.  This should be interesting, :)

Scoring

The scenario we will be playing is a Domination game on a 48" x 48" board.  Scoring rules are below:

• Game ends when one side reaches 25% of its starting force
• 3 Victory Points are awarded to the team if they have at least one model within 3" of an objective that is uncontested by the other team
• 1 Victory Point is awarded to the team with the most models within 3" of a contested objective
• 2 Victory Points are awarded for killing the enemy army leader
• 1 Victory Point is awarded if the enemy force is broken at the end of the match, and 3 Victory Points are awarded if the enemy force is broken at the end of the match and your force is not broken

Deployment

The map is pretty standard: some good coverage and multi-layer fighting is available if a team wants it, and there's plenty of open space for cavalry to move around.  Since neither team has a volley line or a sizeable amount of archery (though the dwarves are sporting a lot of throwing axes and a decent number of longbows for the size of the army), we didn't feel like there was an inherent advantage to archers on this map.

The Dwarves won the roll off for deployment, they chose the top left corner (so that he can hold the objective from the top section of the wall while being safe from cav charges - well played, :) ), we deployed our men as you see above, and we prepared for Turn 1.

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Turn 1: (Priority - Rohan)

Nothing happens: we moved up, archers moved their full distance, so with no shooting, we moved to Turn 2.

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Turn 2: (P - Dwarves)

Our forces keep moving up, with the dwarf archers only moving 2.5" to square up for shots this turn.  Hawk Eye moved 3" to prep a shot, and my horsemen moved half their distance.

One of the dwarves with longbow brought down one of the RRGs (Man, I never get to use all of these guys!  They always get picked offer early!) ("For Balin!"), and, naturally, my boys did absolutely nothing to his men (It's amazing that even "lightly armored" dwarves are still D5, so I'm still wounding on 6s with my bows.  Dwarves are hard core) (and skilled in archery. :) ).  So we moved on to Turn 3.

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Turn 3: (P - Rohan)

Our forces moved up further, and believe it or not, the dwarves beat me to the lower objective, :P  Eomer threatened the archer core in the center, while my RRGs fanned out to prepare spear casts at the incoming dwarf lines.  The archers pulled back 2.5" to shoot at the Red Knight, and Gimli and a number of the dwarves with throwing axes got in range to cast axes up top.

Hawk-Eye took down one of the archers in the center (Yay!  He paid for himself for the first time since...Quest 1!!!), the horsemen missed with their shots, and the RRGs at the lower camp wiffed their spear casts.

Up top, my two throwing weapons both wounded dwarf rangers with throwing axes, and no wounds were dealt by the dwarves in archery (ouch...I hate facing throwing weapons).  As we headed into Turn 4, we expected combat, one way or another...

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Turn 4: (P - Dwarves)

...And we have fights this turn! :)  Eomer showed my charge of the archers for what it was: a feint so that I could get behind Gimli's detachment (and get out of range of Gimli, as he was anchoring the inner part of his warband), and my infantry engaged the two large bodies of dwarves.

One of the longbows shot the horse out from under the rider (who passed his fall test on a 6!), and then the party was cut short (literally) by a throwing axeman on the steps who carved down the rider (oh well, :-/ ) (*ROAR*).  And, as you can imagine, my archery did nothing in response (because that's just how this game is going, :P ).  Heading into the Fight Phase, Balin (1/3M) and the Rohan Captain (1/2M) called Heroic Combats; we rolled off and Tiberius won, so we settled Balin's first, and then the RoCap.

Balin squares up, rolls low, and the Warrior of Rohan wins combat via shielding on a 6, so Balin backs up 1" and the combat ends (kinda wanted that to work...).  Then the RoCap squared up:

...And after winning combat, he completely botches his roll to wound, :P (wow, two failed heroic combats....Wow, that's unreal...).  So, after an uneventful set of heroic combats, we moved to the rest of the fights:

Down below, a dwarf ranger was killed - the board had a lot of defensive victories, and not a lot of wounding.  Up top, there was a similar story:

A ton of defensive victories (read: basically everyone that shielded won).  Heading into Turn 5, the armies were now solidly meshed in combat.

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Turn 5: (P - Dwarves)

The dwarves engaged us - as in, they engaged basically everyone except Hawk Eye, my banner, and my Rider of Rohan, as they were out of range.

On the charge, Gimli took down the Warden with his throwing axe ("Baruk Khazad!"), and then rammed into my Warrior of Rohan.  I was able to wrap around with my other Warrior of Rohan with throwing spears, and he failed his cast on the charge.

In the Shoot Phase, Kili took down Hawk-Eye (farewell, friend); nothing else happened in the Shoot Phase, and as we began the Fight Phase Balin (2/3M), Gimli (1/3M), and Eomer (1/3M) all called Heroic Combats, resolved in the following order: Gimli, Eomer, Balin.

Gimli finished off the warrior (2/3M), and then engaged one of the RRGs.  In Eomer's fight:

...He barely killed the dwarf shield (2/3M), and because of how Tiberius placed his men and how he charged my men, Eomer was unable to engage more than one dwarf following the heroic combat (bummer), so he engaged the other D7 shield.

Down below, Balin kills my poor shield, and then he engaged my banner (Okay: this was a dumb mistake, and per the fact that I made the exact same mistake in my battle against Donatello's Easterlings in Quest 1, I was really ticked with myself that I didn't see that, :P ).  So, I basically gave up on the banner at this point, and I'm glad that he's in base contact with one of my other warriors.

...And then, yeah: he started with the battle against the banner, Balin handily won, wounded him on 3s (ouch...gotta love Balin), and killed him, so the banner was picked up by his comrade.  Two rangers (one with throwing axes, one with a 2H) also fell on this side of the map (really starting to feel the impact of low defense now...).

Up top, one of the dwarves kills my Warrior of Rohan, and Gimli and the dwarf finish off one of my RRGs.  Eomer and the RRG polish off the Dwarf Warrior with shield, and one of the rangers was killed by the last remaining throwing spear warrior in my force.  As we headed into Turn 6, it was still anyone's game, as both teams came dangerously close to their break points.

Casualty Count: Rohan 9/22 (2 from break), Dwarves 9/26 (4 from break).

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Turn 6: (P - Rohan)

I threw my force into the Dwarves, and my throwing spears did absolutely nothing (again).   Tiberius responded by engaging with everyone that remained, including attempting a jump test with one of his rangers, who passed on a 6 to engage the RRG in a 2:1 fight (nice, :) ).  Nothing happened in the Shoot Phase, so we moved directly into the Fight Phase.  Both of my heroes called Heroic Combats (which is 2/2M for the RoCap and 3/3M for Eomer, so we're out), so I resolved the RoCap first, then Eomer's combat.

The RoCap slew his ranger, and then engaged one of the two rangers on my RRG.  Eomer's combat was more strategic, and my reason for the Heroic Combat was much more risky...

Thankfully, Eomer killed his men, and then charged Gimli (we've got one shot at this boys, and we have no Might remaining, so this had better work! :P ).

In the rest of the fights, Balin handily killed the Warrior of Rohan, and the RRG fell to the 2H ranger.  The RoCap and one of the RRGs were also able to take down two rangers, so both armies are now broken.

Up top, a ranger was killed by the two RRGs, and Gimli rolled low, lost the fight, was knocked down, and between the warrior and Eomer they were able to deal enough wounds to kill Gimli (NOOOOO!!!!!).

...And in the center, the Rider of Rohan won the fight, knocked over both of the dwarf archers, and wounded one of them, ending the Fight Phase.

So after combat, this is what the board looked like.  Current kill count:

Casualty Count: Rohan 11/22 (broken, 6 from game), Dwarves 17/26 (3 from game)

At this point, Tiberius ceded the game (which probably would have ended next turn anyway), so we called it there.  Both armies were broken (Victory Points: 1-1), both army leaders were still alive (still 1-1), and each side was in full control of one objective (4-4).  Rohan was in dominant control of two objectives (6-4), and one objective was open, resulting in a 6-4 Minor Victory for the Men of Dunharrow.

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Conclusion

Assessment by Glenstorm: This was an interesting fight - being able to leave RRGs to guard objectives was extremely helpful, as I knew I'd hit my break point (after four games with this list, you just know some things walking into it, :P ), and I didn't need to think about the bases in the back.  Eomer did what he usually does, and my lines held.  It's a good way to end the campaign, as I didn't see a number of problems that plagued me against the uruks and goblins.  The game would probably have been different had I faced a D7-heavy dwarf list, though the throwing weapons and longbows paid for themselves easily over the course of the game (with 38 pts earned through range damage).  It was a fun dwarf list to face.

Assessment by Tiberius: Playing with all my rangers is fun, but it's difficult. If it weren't an objective game (and if my foe's throwing weapons didn't have longer range than mine), I probably could have skirmished more and killed a few more warriors before engaging in combat. As it was, I ended the game outnumbered on all but one objective and with a killing hero on a single objective, it would have been tough to win. All in all, I'm happy I got a game in and look forward to having a smaller part of my army be composed of rangers from hereon out.

Stellar unit for Glenstorm: This game was totally Eomer.  My battle line did a stellar job of holding off two kick-toe heroes, my cav actually contributed to the kill count (instead of just being archer/hero fodder), but Eomer is the reason that the game was ceded.  Five kills (including a hero) in two rounds of combat: not every hero can do that, :)  I know we try not to give this to heroes, but he really made the day today.  Props to the Red Knight.

Stellar unit for Tiberius: Dwarf ranger with Dwarf longbow. Not that many kills this game that didn't go to these guys: with 24" range, they can stand at one objective and fire into other ones, which is great if you don't have spears. I don't normally field more than two of these guys in any game, so it was fun to have a half-dozen who could fire out into enemy ranks at my bidding.

And with this fight, the Dunharrow Campaign will be coming to an end.  It's been fun to get back into the first army I collected, and to play with some of the oldest models I own.  I hope you all enjoyed seeing a list in action, and I look forward to doing similar campaigns in the future.  If there's a particular civ you'd like to see, let us know!

I'll be in Texas next week for work, so I probably won't be posting much come the end of January.  Once I come back, though, I'm looking forward to using my Misty Mountains force, and preparing my Shire list for the TMAT Grand Tournament in March, so keep watching this space!

Watching the stars,

Centaur

"(Your teacher) is a human...and is therefore blinkered and fettered by the limitations of your kind." ~ Firenze, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix