Good morning gamers,
This post was supposed to go up last weekend, but the impending arrival of Centaur's newest "colt" required a delay. We're wrapping up Part 5 of Fantasy Fellowships right now and we're tackling both the Cirith Ungol mission and the Plateau of Gorgoroth. After two big defeats in the last few missions, I get to use . . . potentially none of my Fellowship members in this first mission! The second mission will probably prove to be quite difficult to win (though a draw is quite easy to get), but we'll see how it goes. Let's get into a scenario where I get to use some of my favorite Mordor units - Mordor Uruk-Hai!
Cirith Ungol
We deployed our models one at a time, keeping our new models at least 2" away from a deployed enemy model (more on this later). The castle proper was pretty packed, as you can see:
Let's get into Turn 1!
Turn 1: Priority Good
I charged into as many guys as I could, focusing on securing the top level. My goal was to stall out his guys on both of the second tier flanks and then bunker up on the top tier. A lowly grunt picked up the coat and the dogs entered Cirith Ungol.
In the Shoot Phase, an Orc archer on the outer wall didn't hit anyone. In the Fight Phase, I declared a Heroic Combat with Shagrat (1/3M), who diced up the guys he was fighting and moved towards the ramp where Gorbag is:
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| I probably could have gotten Shagrat into combat again . . . but I forgot . . . |
The fighting went pretty well for me - I lost a few fights, but only lost 3 models! In trade, I killed 5 Orcs (7 if you count Shagrat's Combat).
With an initial model count disparity of 9 models, we're closing the gap nicely!
Centaur got the jump on me, but couldn't get to the guy carrying the Mithril coat. Centaur's archer didn't hit anyone in the Shoot Phase.
Centaur declared a Heroic Combat with Gorbag (1/3M) - and we both forgot that he was F5 at first (since he's fighting two people). We tied highest rolls on the dueling roll, Gorbag lost the roll-off, suffered 2 wounds, and then burned both of his remaining Might points to not die . . . then we realized our mistake, ret-con'd it, and he killed both of his foes:
The rest of the fights went pretty well for me - thanks to getting a few 2-on-1 fights and rolling pretty well when I only had one guy present, I only lost 1 other model. In trade, I killed all three of the guys on the top tier and killed one other guy on the second tier.
I've got 10 models left, while Centaur's got 14 models left - I'm feeling like we have a chance here!
Turn 3: Priority Evil
Well, Gorbag got a charge in on the guy with the Mithril coat - and with Shagrat tied up, I probably should have called a Heroic Move here. I ended up with a few guys "trapped" on the top level, unable to reach any foes with jumping down a tier. I guess I'm ready with reserves for next turn? Centaur's archer didn't hit anyone.
Centaur declared a Heroic Combat with Gorbag (2/3M) and I declared one with Shagrat (2/3M) - Shagrat went first, won the duel after burning his last Might point (3/3M), and got a little closer to Gorbag:
Gorbag won his fight, killed both foes, and jumped down with the mithril coat to the bottom tier . . . right next to Maggot . . .
The rest of the fights were uneventful - each of us lost a guy.
I only have 7 Uruks left and I don't know how to catch Gorbag - I REALLY need priority to tag Gorbag next round . . .
Turn 4: Priority tied, Good
Nailed it. :-) The dogs and Maggot lended some very helpful muscle, freeing most of my Uruks to tag the Orcs on the second tier. A few Orcs are moving towards Gorbag - and the archer couldn't hit anyone:
The fights went well for me - Shagrat killed his guys, two of the dogs killed their guy, and Maggot lost his fight, but wasn't wounded:
8 Uruks, 8 Orcs, 3 dogs, and 1 Hobbit (technically 2) remain - I really need to get down those stairs and get that coat back! I mentioned to Centaur that he was broken, but then my son pointed out that you don't test for breaking in scenario play. We looked and low and behold, he was right . . . well, that would have changed a few things in a few scenarios . . .
Turn 5: Priority Good
I tried to tie up as many of the reinforcements Centaur was sending to help Gorbag as I could - but two got away. Four Orcs are in 2-on-1 fights and I have one slinker cutting off Gorbag's retreat. Centaur's archer has enjoyed far too much ale and can't hit my slinking guy.
There are now more Uruks on the board than Orcs . . . we just need Maggot to kill Gorbag and get one of our guys to the shirt and we win!
Turn 6: Priority Good
We roll some more, getting our guys as far down the ramp as we can. The dogs head up the ramp to secure the tower, while my Uruks continue their two-pronged push for the lower level. Somewhere nearby an arrow is heard.
In the Fight Phase, Gorbag lost again and was killed. Since Maggot can't pick up the Mithril coat, it "just lies there." I lost two Uruks this round, which was annoying:
There are 4 Orcs against 6 Uruks, but their positioning is MUCH better . . .
Turn 7+: Priority Evil like every time
I'm only going to show the Move Phases of each of the following rounds - this game turned into a game of "chase the Orc" while Maggot climbed towards the tower. The Orc that was with Gorbag got the coat - oh, and the archer never hit anyone:
Look, that Orc at the top is STILL alive . . .
Maggot is stuck - that buys Shagrat time . . .
We're getting out of Maggot's way, hoping to catch that filthy Orc before the game ends . . .
The only Orcs left on the board are hiding in turrets . . .
Here comes Shagrat . . .
. . . and Shagrat gets the coat!
The Orc archer has a chance to take a pot-shot at Shagrat (who I think was damaged at this point) . . . he missed. :-)
And that's how we leave it - victory for the Uruks!
Postgame
When Centaur and I played this again with his Fellowship, we realized that the deployment rules require you to be 2" away from any model - not enemy models. The deployment looked more like this:
That changed quite a bit about the feel of the game, though whether it would have changed the outcome is unclear to us. In the end, I'm happy with a win. I gave my Bravest Companion award to Maggot, of course, and had Bilbo roll to recover as well (+3 resources!) - here's where we stand:
Okay, time for a quick game . . .
The Plateau of Gorgoroth
I told Centaur this scenario was going to be fast - and I decided to go with my strategy from the deep-dive post to see if I could skate past the Orcs. Here's the setup:
The Orcs have to advance at least 2" north each turn, except on the turn that they call an inspection - let's see if we can squeak by!
Turn 1: Priority Good
I hugged the wall with Maggot and Bilbo, keeping away from the Orcs (though using the dogs as a potential screen). The Orcs formed an amorphous blob . . .
Turn 2: Priority Evil
The Orcs made a more crisp battle line - and since they had to go first, I measured 6" away from them and stayed away:
Turn 3: Priority Evil
INSPECTION! Yeah, the Orcs didn't move, so I kept the Hobbits away and had the dogs move just below:
We tested to see if the dogs were spotted and Centaur got a 1 (he needed a 6) - so we moved on to priority for round 4 . . .
Turn 4: Priority Evil
With Evil having to commit AGAIN before I went, I knew I could stay 6" away from him with everyone if I just hugged the bottom of the board. So yeah, this is what things looked like . . .
Turn 5: Priority Evil
Same thing - Evil continues to walk north at 2" each turn and I continue to creep along the bottom of the board . . .
Turn 6: Priority Evil
Evil had its last priority and is basically off the board as the dogs race off for Mount Doom . . .
Turn 7: Priority Good
And with Evil models getting out of range of us, Maggot and Bilbo are very close to the edge of the board . . . though the Orc bowmen think something is amiss . . .
Turn 8: Priority Good
And we're off - and the archers attempt to catch up to the rest of the group . . . victory for good!
Postgame
The strategy I employed here could have not worked - a Heroic March on the first turn that caused the Orcs to move diagonally towards me would have seen me rolling from Turn 1 - thankfully, that didn't happen. Since you only need 6 turns of moving 4" each turn to get off the board, you actually CAN wait out the Orcs and race along the bottom if you want (and this is probably the one scenario where getting a Heroic March in from Holfoot Bracegirdle or Robin Smallburrow would have been really nice, since you could get that down to 5 turns if you drift 1" towards the Eastern board edge during your previous 5 holding turns). So long as the Orcs don't drift towards you, you can stay out of reach and "just coast."
This game took about 20 minutes to play based on the photo timestamps, but Centaur was done in 5 minutes because I did something very silly as Evil (on purpose, for a lark): I called a Heroic March with the Captain (didn't get it for free with the Taskmaster) and jumped 9" forward. Turn 2, I did the exact same thing and had guys who were almost touching the northern board edge. Turn 3 I yelled, "INSPECTION!" Turn 4, everyone walked off. Frodo and Maggot were giggling because after 4 turns . . . they simply walked into Mordor. 5 minutes and done - and a LOT of laughs were had.
But it also underlays how you could play the scenario with MORE rolls for spotting - you could have the Orc Captain and the Orc Taskmaster face the northwest corner of the board, call a March in that direction on Turn 1, and declare an inspection on Turn 2 or 3 depending on whether the Fellowship drifted south (you'd call this on Turn 2) or north (you'd call it on Turn 3). By doing this, there's no way that the Hobbits will be able to get out of your spotting range for the next 1-2 turns, so it's quite likely that Evil has a chance of seeing them. You could then call a March and head 2" north and many more inches to the east on the following turn to give yourself at least one more time to "catch them" if they slip past you unnoticed, but if Good delays on the first few turns, they will eventually be in the clear . . . and that's okay.
That's a wrap on Part 5 - next time, we're reviewing what you need to think about for the missions in Part 6 - which gives us two missions for our Gandalf/Pippin characters, one mission where our Merry character might make an appearance, and one mission for the Hunters to fight. Oh, and we'll be killing a bunch of Orcs - that's always fun. Until next time, happy hobbying!
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