BGiME #7: Repel the Marauders! Part 2

This scenario was run a second time two weeks ago. A friend and I play miniature wargames every Tuesday night at a FLGS and I thought it time to brush the dust off my Lord of the Rings SBG models and get caught up with this blog. I’ve proposed that the first game night of each month be dedicated to the SBG and Dave readily agreed. That should keep me up to date on my painting, building, and working my way through this series.

While the models used in this game are the same as the previous one, you’ll notice the terrain has enjoyed a slight upgrade. The buildings are my Rohan-style houses I built a few months back. We’ll cover those more in a future discussion about "Battle Games in Middle-earth."

The Warriors of Rohan rush to man the walls around their village.

The Uruk-hai slowly advance across the Riddermark.

The scent of man-flesh hangs heavy in the air, driving the servants of the White Hand forward!

A high view of the battle about to commence.

"They are upon us, men!"

The Uruk-hai have scaled the fences!

Battle rages along the length of the walls.

Rohan holds back some of the Uruk-hai, but for how long?

Pikeman surge forward to push back the Men of Rohan.

The battle reaches a fevered pitch!

Rohan begins to falter.

Two Uruk-hai engage a single Warrior of Rohan.

The melee swirls around the verge of the village as Rohan is overwhelmed.

The last Man of Rohan perishes under Uruk-hai numbers.

The battle begins anew!

The Servants of the White Hand spread their forces about the village boundary.

Archers conceal themselves behind the rocks.

An early hole in Rohan's defenses is discovered!

A solitary Uruk-hai holds his own...briefly.

The hole is closed and the Uruk-hai are pushed back!

As Rohan begins to fail, I discover I didn't take more photos.

Rohan lost both matches this time around. In retrospect, I'm to blame. I failed to refresh myself with this issue of BGiME and was using the rules for Courage and broken forces, something that hadn't been introduced to the readers of the magazine yet. So instead of Rohan being able to fight to the last man without issue, I was having them make Courage tests to remain on the field after they had been "broken" (lost more than 50% of their force). That might have made a difference in the battles.

Even without the Courage rules in play, this scenario is a tough one for Rohan. The Uruk-hai are one of the meanest forces in the original SBG. They are heavily armored, have high Fight score, and are strong, making them tough opponents. Without cavalry to back them up or similarly armored or better fighters on Rohan's side, the odds were stacked against the forces of Good. It will be interesting to see how Rohan fares in a few issues when they gain Heroes to help them and horses to ride. Stay tuned for that in upcoming posts.

Next up: making walls and fences.