Heirlooms of Ages Past: Battle Report

Good morning gamers!

Well, the world might be paralyzed by the Barrow-Wight that is COVID-19 at the moment, but my good mate Centaur and I recently rolled a 6 and decided to use our movement to get up and use our movement to get a battle report in. :-) This game will be between a 750-point variant of one of the armies I recently presented in my List Building series (the Bare Necessities) and Centaur's go-to force this year, the horde that is Azog's Hunters. Here are the forces:

The King Arrives: 750 points

Aragorn, King Elessar on armored horse - 240 points

8 Warriors of Minas Tirith with shields - 64 points

6 Warriors of Minas Tirith with shields, spears, and bows - 60 points
4 Knights of Minas Tirith with shields - 56 points

The King of the Dead - 100 points

5 Warriors of the Dead with shields - 75 points

4 Warriors of the Dead with shields and spears - 64 points

1 Warriors of the Dead with shield, spear, and banner - 41 points

Damrod - 25 points
1 Warrior of Minas Tirith with shield - 8 points
1 Warrior of Minas Tirith with spear and shield - 9 points
1 Ranger of Gondor - 8 points

34 units, 8 bows, 3 heroes, 5+ Might points

Azog's Boys: 749 points

Azog on the White Warg - 215 points

1 Hunter Orc with banner - 33 points

3 Hunter Orcs with two-handed picks- 27 points

8 Hunter Orcs - 64 points

Narzug - 50 points

8 Hunter Orcs with Orc bows - 72 points

Fimbul on Fell Warg - 60 points

5 Hunter Orcs on Fell Wargs - 80 points

4 Fell Wargs - 32 points

Hunter Orc Captain with two-handed pick - 50 points

2 Hunter Orcs with two-handed picks- 18 points

6 Hunter Orcs - 48 points

41 units, 8 Orc bows, 4 heroes, 14 Might points

The scenario we will be playing is an Heirlooms of Ages Past game on a board that is 48" x 48". We have a hill in the middle (still working on it) with a smattering of woodland patches, some field boundaries, and a bog nearby (can you smell it?). We rolled to place the objectives - Centaur placed the three red objectives (represented by Bilbo Baggins, Farmer Maggot, and a Hobbit Militia that I call Wilcome Tunnelly), while I placed the three blue objectives (represented by Grip, Fang, and Wolf).

The Hunter Orcs won the first turn priority and will begin to roll for his warbands to arrive first.

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Turn 1: The Forces Arrive (Priority - Azog's Hunters)

The first warband to arrive is Fimbul's warg-band and they get a 2. I select the point marked by the red die and one of the Wargs races to the Bilbo objective. In a very thematic turn of events, the Warg gets a 6 and has discovered the Heirloom (good boys!)!

Azog and Narzug both roll 1s to arrive and choose to not arrive this turn. The Captain gets a 2 as well, so I have him coming on at the opposite possible corner (marked by the red die). 

With the Move Phase starting for the Minas Tirith alliance, the King of the Dead is the first warband to arrive and I get a 5. I choose to walk onto the board right next to where Fimbul's warband arrived, hoping to hedge them off on the next turn (since I can't charge them on the first turn).

King Aragorn is the second warband to arrive and I get a 4 for his warband, so they arrive on the other flank of Fimbul's warband, with Aragorn and his knights racing around the side to cut off the retreat, while a screen of melee infantry will attempt to prevent a counter-charge on the Knights (this...could be really bad...). The 6 Warriors of Minas Tirith with bows move 3" onto the board (from the white die) and prepare to shoot at the Orcs.

My last warband is Damrod's little squad and they got a 5. I could have had these guys arrive near the King of the Dead (and probably should have, in hindsight), but I wanted to pester that captain and his squad that I deployed on the other side of the board, so I could pepper them with 2 ranger bows before they could join with the main army. They moved 3" so they can shoot this turn.

In the Shoot Phase, the Minas Tirith contingent makes 8 shots at the Orcs and proceeds to hit nobody with the Rangers and only one model with the Warriors of Minas Tirith,which fails to Wound.

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Turn 2: The Merry Chase (Priority - Minas Tirith)

With Minas Tirith winning priority, Fimbul calls a Heroic Move (1/3M) and Aragorn counter-calls a Heroic Move with his free Might point. The roll-off saw Fimbul make the first move and his models raced for the opposite board edge (I should note here that I recommended in a post on 5 Ways to Waste Might points that counter-calling a Heroic Move isn't a great strategy - I ended up regretting it, so learn from my mistake here and don't counter-call in this situation. Yes, catching them would have been good, but Aragorn was going to be able to charge into someone this turn and now a subsequent Heroic Combat will cost an actual Might point. Oh well).

On the other side of the board, the Captain's squad splits up, with the Captain and five of his best warriors charging at the annoying Damrod and his mates. The rest move towards the center of the map to help Fimbul out of the mess he finds himself in.

Narzug and his mates arrive on the roll of a 2, so they're placed near the bottom of the board (away from the Captain's warband, but with basically a straight shot at Fimbul - I didn't want them reinforcing the Captain's guys and taking out Damrod's men).

Azog's warband gets another 1, so the White Warg spends a Might point (1/3M) to promote that to a 2. This is the fourth warband I've been able to place for Centaur (sorry, rotten luck that) and so I placed it between the other two forces (didn't want a flank charge in the north) (This is fine: as long as the heirloom carrier stays ahead we can preserve him).

In the Shoot phase, Damrod and his band stood still and fired into the advancing Orcs. With great skill, they fell two of them.

In the Fight phase, King Aragorn calls a Heroic Combat (1/3M) and kills the Fell Warg that he and a fellow Knight were fighting. Aragorn charges into two Hunter Orcs on Fell Wargs, while the Knight joins another fight against a Fell Warg.

In the ensuing Fight phase, one of the Knights loses a fight to a Fell Warg, but the Warg fails to wound him. The two Knights working together kill the Fell Warg they charged. Aragorn has a very disappointing roll (3 high after his banner reroll) and has to spend a second Might point (2/3M) to win his fight. He kills one of the Hunter Orcs he's fighting (the Fell Warg flees), but the other is unscathed.

Casualty Count: Minas Tirith 0/34, Azog's Hunters 3/41.

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Turn 3: The Swarm (Priority - Minas Tirith again)

With priority once again going to Minas Tirith (this is a problem), Fimbul calls another Heroic Move (2/3M) and Aragorn (again, against my recommendation) counter-calls. This time, it's King Aragorn who gets the roll-off and he charges into the Fell Warg with the Heirloom. The rest of the Knights charge into what infantry they can and the King of the Dead charges into Fimbul and is spear-supported by a banner-man. The rest of the Warriors of the Dead swarm a Hunter Orc on Fell Warg, while the Warriors of Minas Tirith (for the most part) scale the hill to prepare for the advance of the Hunter Orcs from the other side of the board.

Azog's warband and Narzug's warband have merged together and approach the hill, itching for a fight!

The Hunter Orc Captain advances with his remaining warriors closer to Damrod's squad - they choose to stand and shoot, trusting their bows to keep them alive. In the Shoot phase, the Rangers shoot but fail to wound (uh-oh).

In the Fight phase, Fimbul calls a Heroic Strike (3/3M). He proceeds to win his combat, but fails to wound the King of the Dead. In the other fights, the wargs fight back valiantly and a few mounts are killed (but the riders are still alive) (I wanted to have infantry targets for my knights to hit - forgot they get more attacks now). The Warriors of the Dead have more luck and kill the Hunter Orc they charged and Aragorn succeeds in cutting down the Fell Warg with the Heirloom (well, getting this back is going to be hard...).

Casualty Count: Minas Tirith 0/34, Azog's Hunters 5/41.

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Turn 4: Mopping-Up (Priority - Minas Tirith Three-peat)

As Minas Tirith claims yet another round of priority (starting to feel bad), lots of charges happen. Damrod and his boys decide to charge into the Hunter Orcs since they would be caught if they backed up to shoot again. They couldn't tag the Hunter Orc Captain, who charges into a Warrior of Minas Tirith, who had valiantly sacrificed himself to tie down 2 Hunter Orcs (oh no).

On the hill, King Aragorn and the King of the Dead charge into some more people (King Aragorn charges Fimbul), but most of the Minas Tirith army forms up to receive Azog (on the left-side) and the Hunter Orcs (note that two Schiltron formations that have been formed by the Minas Tirith infantry: this is a great anti-archery formations that maintains Shieldwall very well, but is also effective against skirmish cavalry, since they knock people over and you don't have to worry about trapping yourself). The Heirloom is picked up by the Warrior of the Dead with the banner.

The Orcs continue to advance behind Azog. One of the Hunter Orcs fails his Jump test to get over the wall.

In the Shoot phase, all six of the Warriors of Minas Tirith can see and shoot at Azog. Two arrows hit, one striking Azog and one striking the White Warg. The shot on Azog fails to wound, but the shot against the White Warg wounds him and the White Warg fails his Fate point (1/1F, 1/2H).

In the Fight phase, King Aragorn and the Hunter Orc Captain call Heroic Combats. Aragorn goes first and kills Fimbul, proceeding to charge into the King of the Dead's fight. The Warrior of the Dead with him joins a Knight in his fight nearby.

On the other side of the board, the Warrior of Minas Tirith shields valiantly and gets a 6 on his high dice. Against most odds, the Hunter Orc Captain and his men can't get a 6 in return and so back away. In the other fight, Damrod and his two supporters can't beat the Hunter Orc they're fighting and the Hunter Orc fails to wound the Ranger.

On the other side of the board, the Hunter Orcs and Fell Wargs are killed off.

Casualty Count: Minas Tirith 0/34, Azog's Hunters 10/41.

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Turn 5: Bolging (Priority - Minas Tirith AGAIN)

For the fourth turn in a row, Minas Tirith takes piority. As the army forms up to receive the Hunter Orcs, King Aragorn is careful to stay outside of charge range of Azog (Azog is sitting on 5 Might, while Aragorn is sitting on 1 Might with his free Might point - not a great match-up). Azog responds by charging into one Warrior of Minas Tirith (Plan: we pre-measured and confirmed it between both players, but with this guy gone I can slip between the control zones to get to the heirloom).

On the other side of the board, the Warriors of Minas Tirith are thrown into bad fights, while Damrod and his ranger friend charge a single Hunter Orc.

The Hunter Orcs continue to advance up the hill, following their fearless leader. In the Shoot phase, the Hunter Orcs pour their arrows into the King of the Dead and Narzug succeeded in dealing a Wound. The King of the Dead took it in the helm (1/2H - this was a mistake, as Narzug has Morgul Arrows, but we forgot that . . . sorry).

As the Fight phase begins, Aragorn calls a Heroic Defense. In a not-so-stunning turn of events, Azog calls a Heroic Combat (1/3M, 1/3M on the Warg) and slays the warrior he's fighting dead. He proceeds to charge into the Warrior of the Dead with the banner (WHO LEFT THAT HOLE OPEN?!?!?!?!)!

On the other side of the board, the Hunter Orcs are dominant: the Hunter Orc Captain cleaves the warrior he's fighting in two (2 Wounds dealt) and Damrod sees his Ranger companion killed after they whiff their dueling rolls. Damrod hismelf is also wounded, but saves it with his Fate point (1/1M, 1/1F). The Warrior of Minas Tirith who charged two models succeeded in not dying, despite losing the fight.

Azog proceeds to kill the bannerman and the Heirloom is dropped again (okay, I made a huge mistake here: besides leaving a massive Azog-size hole in my ranks and exposing the Heirloom-holder, I had an unengaged, not-prone, adjacent model with the spearman and he FORGOT to pick up the banner - he FORGOT to pick up the banner in a scenario that gives you victory points for having a BANNER! Oh well . . .).

Casualty Count: Minas Tirith 4/34, Azog's Hunters 10/41.

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Turn 6: The Deep Breath Before The Plunge (Priority - HUNTERS!!!!)

For the first time in the game where it counts, the Hunter Orcs get priority (WOOOTTT!!!). Aragorn did not call a Heroic Move this turn and so Azog did what he wanted. Azog charges into two of the knights and the Hunter Orcs charge up the hill. Narzug and his band advance a little to fire their bows this turn. The Warriors of Minas Tirith with bows advanced 3" forward and the melee members changed their formation a little bit to provide a front-line to deflect the Hunter Orcs (as best they can).

On the far side, the fights are . . . very one-sided.

Blurry image, I know. In the Shoot phase, some of the Warriors of Minas Tirith shoot at the Hunter Orcs and succeed in killing one Hunter Orc.

In the Shoot phase, Narzug succeeds in wounding the King of the Dead (using his free Might point to boost his roll). The Wound is saved by Fate (1/3F).

In the Fight phase, both Azog and Aragorn call Heroic Strikes (Aragorn's is free, Azog is at 2/3M, 1/3M on the Warg). Azog gets to Fight 10 and Aragorn gets to Fight 8. Azog takes the fight on Fight Value after spending all of his Might to win the fight (3/3M, 3/3M on the Warg) and proceeds to try wounding Aragorn on 3s. His To Wound roll is . . . less than stellar.

On the hill, the two Knights who charged into one Hunter Orc are fended off, but the Hunter Orc fails to kill either of them.

Another blurry picture, sorry (I was crying at the time, ;-) ). The three Hunter Orcs brutally slew the Warrior of Minas Tirith and the Hunter Orc Captain beat Damrod's roll while two-handing and proceeded to wound Damrod twice. 

Casualty Count: Minas Tirith 6/34, Azog's Hunters 12/41. The Minas Tirith army is 12 away from being broken, while the Azog's Hunters army is 9 away from being broken.

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Turn 7: Battle Is Joined (Priority - Minas Tirith)

The battle focuses on the hill now, as the Minas Tirith force is able to charge int the Hunter Orc swarm. Azog is charged by Aragorn and the King of the Dead continues to charge at Narzug. The Hunter Orc Captain is advancing towards the hill as quickly as possible. In the Shoot Phase, Narzug and his band shoot at the King of the Dead - Narzug uses his free Might to boost his To Hit roll, but they all fail to Wound. 

In the Fight phase, Aragorn calls a free Heroic Strike and gets to Fight 8. Aragorn needs to spend his last Might point to win the duel (3/3M) and does 1 Wound on the White Warg (killing it, 2/2H) and dealing 1 Wound to Azog, which is saved by Fate (1/1F).

Elsewhere, the hill becomes a mess. With fights going back and forth, a string of bad rolls for both Dueling and To Wound see 3 Hunter Orcs dead and no Minas Tirith troops killed.  

Casualty Count: Minas Tirith 6/34, Azog's Hunters 15/41. The Minas Tirith army is still 12 away from being broken, while the Azog's Hunters army is 6 away from being broken.

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Turn 8: The Battle Rages (Priority - Hunters)

Another wide shot - the Hunter Orcs charge people (especially the knights) and Azog charges Aragorn (no free Heroic Move - I need the Might for other things). The King of the Dead and his crew charge into Narzug's warband.

In the Shoot phase, Narzug shoots through a gap in the battle line at the Warrior of the Dead who is holding the Relic. He gets a 6 to hit . . . then a 6 to wound . . . then a 1 to wound when he needed a 4+ (thanks to the free Might point).

At the start of the Fight phase, Aragorn calls a free Heroic Strike and once again gets to Fight 8 (again - really?). Aragorn wins the fight and deals a single Wound to Azog (1/3H). 

Elsewhere, the Warriors of the Dead traded evenly with the Hunter Orcs, seeing two Hunter Orcs fall and one Warrior of the Dead killed.

On the hill, a wave of bad rolls goes against the Hunter Orcs and while 1 Warrior of Minas Tirith is killed, 5 Hunter Orcs fall.

Casualty Count: Minas Tirith 8/34, Azog's Hunters 22/41. The Minas Tirith army is 10 away from being broken, while the Azog's Hunters army is broken.

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Turn 9: The Ranks Reform (Priority - Hunters)

The Hunter Orcs start testing for Courage and all of their heroes pass. Azog charges into Aragorn again, while the Hunter Orcs on the hill tie down the knights and as many warriors as they can. Most of Narzug's boys are unable to pass their Courage tests to charge the Warriors of the Dead. The Warriors of the Dead charge whoever they want.

Despite their best efforts, one Hunter Orc isn't covered by Stand Fasts and flees.

In the Fight Phase, Aragorn calls a Heroic Defense and proceeds to lose the duel to Azog (not tied high-dice, so wouldn't have won even if I'd called a Heroic Strike). Azog strikes at Aragorn's horse (a side-effect of calling Heroic Defense, I guess) and Aragorn spends a Fate point with Horselord to protect his beloved mount. He gets a 2 . . . followed by another 2 . . . followed by another 2 . . . so the horse is killed AND Aragorn is out of Fate (3/3F). Azog swings at Aragorn, but can't get a natural 6.

In the Fight phase, the King of the Dead and his men kill 3 Hunter Orcs, while Narzug kills another Warrior of the Dead.

On the hill, the Hunter Orcs get a better round, killing a Knight and Warrior and only losing 1 Hunter Orc in return.

Casualty Count: Minas Tirith 11/34, Azog's Hunters 27/41. The Minas Tirith army is 7 away from being broken, while the Azog's Hunters army is 4 away from being quartered.

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Turn 10: The Day Ends (Priority - Hunters)

Azog pulls yet another brilliant maneuver and runs AWAY from Aragorn. With Aragorn unable to charge him, he calls a Stand Fast that covers all Orc models within 12" of him (which is everyone on the hill). Aragorn is caught speechless and hurries after him but can't charge him. Lots of charges happen on the hill, with the Knights denied (yet again) any charge bonuses. Narzug and his guys do their best to charge the Warriors of the Dead (one charges the Knight because he doesn't cause Terror) while Narzug charges the Warrior of the Dead with the Heirloom.

During the Fight phase, one Warrior of Minas Tirith is killed while two Hunter Orcs are killed.

On the far side, Narzug wins his fight, but fails to get a Wound on the Warrior of the Dead. The Knight is killed, but the other two Hunter Orcs are killed by the swarm of Warriors of the Dead, which quarters the Azog's Hunters army and ends the game.

Casualty Count: Minas Tirith 13/34, Azog's Hunters 31/41. The Azog's Hunters army is quartered and the game ends. Minas Tirith was awarded 6 VPs for holding the Heirloom, 1 VP for wounding the enemy army leader, 2 VPs for not being broken and breaking the enemy for a 9-0 victory.

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Conclusion:

Assessment by Tiberius: There were two things that caused the Hunter Orcs lots of problems: having to charge a Terror-Harbinger battle line and arriving in Maelstrom on 1s and 2s (while my models arrived on 4s and 5s - I got to all of the entry points in this game). While my army was (for the most part) concentrated in one place on the map, the Hunter Orcs were spread across three parts of the map (where Fimbul showed up, where Damrod's warband showed up, and on the hill). One of those fights was won convincingly, but as a result, I never had to face the full strength of the army at one time. Maelstrom scenarios are like that, I guess. The priority also tended to come in waves (we both got priority for five rounds, but I got it for four rounds in a row early-on - and that was when it mattered the most).

Assessment by Centaur: Such an interesting fight. Naturally not starting with over half my army on the board and not getting any control on where any warbands entered was less than stellar, but truthfully for the first few rounds I don't think there's anything else I could have done. We couldn't screen any more than we did, and by the time the rest of my troops got up into the fight the relic was in the hands of a D8 second rank model. Lots of low rolls in combat, but truthfully that's just Hunter Orcs for you: when they're on fire, they're on fire, but if they lose combat that low Defense will get you.

Stellar unit for Tiberius: Warriors of the Dead. This was a tough call, since the Warriors of Minas Tirith did a decent job of holding the line on the hill and the Knights of Minas Tirith were everywhere and did good work early on. Still, the Warriors of the Dead held off one of the waves of Hunter Orcs from entering the fight (and were a reliable group of warriors to hold the Heirloom, due to their Terror and high Defense). When it comes to fighting Hunter Orcs, they're one of a handful of models that can reliably withstand an attack from Hunter Orc swarms and they did really good work throughout the game at holding the Hunter Orcs at bay (all except Azog that is).

Stellar unit for Centaur: Hunter Orc Captain. Hard in this one because not many of my pieces rolled high enough to do much, but this guy was reliable. He got almost 25% of our kills, got rid of the archers that would have plucked my banner and two-handers off, and gave me Stand Fasts when I needed them.

Hope you enjoyed this battle report - we hope to get some more games out soon! Until next time, happy hobbying!