The Scouring of the Shire, Part 5: The Mayor's Arrest

Good morning gamers,

We're back in the Scouring supplement today and after a pack of Hobbit Militia couldn't keep Ted Sandyman from getting into his mill last time, another brave band of Hobbit Militia will be attempting to escort the Mayor of the Shire, Will Whitfoot, to safety. Attempting to capture the Mayor today is Sid Briarthorn and a motely crew of Ruffians - let's see what happens!

The Mayor's Arrest

The board has four Hobbit smials in it and Will Whitfoot is attempting to get off the board edge at the top of the photo above. Sid arrives on that board edge with some thug friends, but also has some flankers coming in from the left and right. Both sides have 13 models (one hero and twelve warriors), so the Ruffians have a points advantage (about 30pts) over the Shire force, not to mention the Fight Value advantage they have. The only advantage for the Shire is . . . they have Centaur at the helm (who has used Hobbit Militia for years).

While the Shire player will win if Will can get off the top board edge, the Ruffians will win if they can bind Will and drag him off any board edge (including the top board edge). Let's see what happens!

Turn 1: Priority Good

A scenario rule prohibits Will Whitfoot from moving on the first turn - so naturally, Centaur had his Hobbit Militia (all but one, who surged forward) stand still and pick up stones. I could have had all of my Ruffians stand outside 8" and avoid the hailstorm of stones that were coming, but doing so would prohibit me from charging on the following turn, and since my shooting is so bad, I figured it would be better to charge the Hobbit Militia who surged forward (he was just within charge range) and just move in with everyone else and set up charges on the following turn. How bad could Hobbit throwing stones be?

Apparently, it can be pretty bad! Three Hobbit Militia managed to kill three Ruffians (two vanilla guys on the left and one whip-carrying guy on the right), while Will Whitfoot could see a single Ruffian standing next to Sid Briarthorn and killed him with a stone. Four Ruffians down after the stone volley - OUCH!

In the Fight Phase, I was able to get the odds to play out pretty well, with my Ruffian beating and killing the advance scout before he could tie down my guys from behind.

Kill Count: Ruffians 1/13, Shire 4/13.

Turn 2: Priority Good 

Sid wasn't in range of enough guys to make a Heroic Move worth it, so Will and his men raced forward and tried to get double-charges on Sid and his nearby buddies, while simultaneously shielding his flank from my guys coming in from the right (the guys on the left were all killed with stones last turn, remember?). I held tight to Centaur's advice that archers are swordsmen (or swordswomen in this case) and had everyone converge as best they could. I have three archers coming in from the rear and six models engaged with more than six Hobbits . . . something needs to change.

To improve my matchups and expose Will to some pressure, Sid declared a Heroic Combat (1/2M) and Will became a banner for the round (1/3W). Sid only got a 5-high and had to boost to win the duel (2/2M). With only a single wound, the combat failed . . . nuts . . .

The rest of the fights went well for me - I didn't lose a single guy but killed two Hobbits. Not a bad round - we're all even now!

Kill Count: Ruffians 4/13, Shire 4/13.

Turn 3: Priority Evil

Will called a Heroic Move - and since Sid is out of Might, I was helpless to stop him. Will moved around my ranks, charging a Ruffian, and Centaur got double-ups on as many of the guys near Sid as possible. Since Sid can't call any more Heroic Combats, he was charged by only a single Hobbit (one guy failed his Courage test to charge and ended up fighting both of my archers on the left side of the picture). 

Will was a banner again (2/3W) and both of us traded bodies pretty equally (2 Ruffians and 3 Hobbits died - the Hobbit fighting the two archers in the smial garden was removed before the photo was taken). Will is two turns from escaping and the two models I lost were the closest models to him . . . uh oh . . .

Kill Count: Ruffians 7/13, Shire 6/13.

Turn 4: Priority Good 

Well crap - Will just moved 4" towards the board edge while his buddies tagged who they could. Sid was tagged by a single Hobbit (again) and one of my archers was able to move to the shrub hedge and got a 4 on her jump test. I could have tried a shot (5+ To Hit, 4+ in-the-way from the shrub, 5+ To Wound), but EVEN if I got in a wound past Will's Fate point, I'd only get a draw. By jumping the hedge, I just need to win priority (almost 60% chance of that) and I can charge him and then try to bind him.

Will became a banner for the last time (3/3W). Two Hobbits and one Ruffian died - I can still make a game of it if I can just get priority . . .

Kill Count: Ruffians 9/13, Shire 7/13.

Turn 5: Priority Good

Um . . . I, apparently, can't win priority. Oh well - Will got off the board and the Hobbits tied down who they could (not risking a Terror test to charge Sid). Sid, therefore, charged where he wanted and the matchups are pretty one-sided towards the Ruffians . . .

. . . and YET, I only managed to kill one Hobbit. In fact, I won a fight and killed a Hobbit (Sid's fight), I won a fight and COULDN'T wound a Hobbit who was trapped (the Hobbit in white with the hammer), and I won a fight against a Hobbit that wasn't trapped anymore but was fighting three people . . . and couldn't get a single wound. Sheesh, it's like they knew it didn't matter whether they killed someone or not . . .

Kill Count: Ruffians 10/13, Shire 7/13.

Victory for the Shire! The bonus for this scenario is that Will Whitfoot will be added to the scenario participants of the Attack on Tuckburough scenario.

Conclusion

I really enjoyed this scenario - there were a few things I might change, but the scenario was engaging and could be replicated with other forces (though you'd need to do a points balancing - more on that below). 

Tiberius Scenario Rating: 3/5 stars. I gotta say, having only Hobbit Militia is a challenge, but since Wil isn't allowed to move on the first turn, it's pretty clear that you should stand and shoot - and if the Ruffians stay out of rock range, they'll still be out of charge range on the next turn - and the bows of the Ruffians are just not good enough to sit back and shoot all game. Maybe there's a place for not rushing in with the Ruffians, but eh - it could have still been close. The Heroic Combat was probably a bad idea, but it was gutsy and that's fine in scenario play.

I was a bit surprised that the game ended up pretty equal, despite the advantages stacking up on paper in favor of the Ruffians, but once you get to actually playing it, it can be pretty even . . . assuming the shooting goes alright. I can't give it 5-stars, though - the forces have the same model count but you should have 8 more Hobbit Militia (or a 30-point hero) to aid the Shire side. This could be solved some by dropping some Ruffians, but could also be solved by adding a hero to the mix (like Baldo Tulpenny - which would require dropping 2 Militia, but the game would be very interesting).

We'll be back in a few weeks for the Death of Lotho scenario - and if it seems like deja vu a little . . . well, it seemed like that to me preparing for the scenario. And yet, it is different and quite fun (and I think more fun than this scenario). See if Centaur can pull another one out of the bag (or if Worm gets to catch and kill Lotho) next time - and until then, happy hobbying!