Gary Con X: Beren and Luthien escape from Angband, First Age: 466

As mentioned in the previous post, I attended Gary Con X this past March. While most of my time was spent running games, I squeezed in a bit of tabletop wargaming. Orc’s Drift has already been covered, but the second game I played in was near-and-dear to my Middle-earth-loving heart. It was a scenario based on the story of Beren and Luthien, specifically the flight to Doriath following their escape from Angband. It was one of the final events of the con and well-worth the wait.

The scenario used the Chainmail rules rather than the SBG, but was otherwise a wonderful chance to get some Middle-earth miniature gaming done on the road. The referee and scenario designer was Kevin Cabai, a Tolkien fan and an experienced wargamer. He really knows how to construct a Middle-earth miniatures battle that is both entertaining and steeped in Tolkien’s work.

The premise was the Beren and Luthien were almost to Doriath, but the forces of Morgoth were closing in. To protect his daughter, Thingol and his allies take to the field beyond the Girdle of Melian, forcing the servants of Morgoth to engage them. The delay may allow Beren and Luthien to reach safety. Beren and Luthien used hidden movement rules (movement was tracked on paper and known only to the player controlling the duo and the referee) and Angband employed orc trackers to try and pinpoint their location on the board. In the meanwhile, the orcs, wargs, and trolls of Angband marched on Doriath. Would Beren and Luthien reach safety or would the forces of evil extract vengeance and possibly reclaim the lost Silmaril?

I was on the Evil team for the scenario, placed in command of three units of trolls. After running games all weekend, bashing and lumbering was about all I could handle tactically, and I feel I did a good job commanding my forces. I’ve never had the pleasure of using the Games Workshop trolls on the table before, and even though we were playing Chainmail, it was still a great deal of fun to wade into a company of dwarves and start squashing them into jam.

My brutes also had the honor of slaying King Thingol, after being forced to slowly plod through dense woodlands when a unit of wargs cut off my advance. Stupid mutts. But our dogged patience was rewarded when we engaged with the High King of the Sindar and laid him low with a high roll of the dice. Not a bad way to end the last event of the convention.

Ultimately, evil scored a minor victory. Beren and Luthien were slain along with Thingol, but in the end, Carcharoth escaped with the Silmaril in his belly, granting the wolf the game.

A small farm. Are Beren and Luthien hiding within?

Orcs search the farm only to be delayed by tasty morsels, requiring them to lose a turn.

My trolls ignore the farm, eager for battle.

The Forces of Angband move towards Doriath as the hunt continues.

The Forces of Good enter the field to stop Morgoth's minions.

Warg riders and trolls clash with dwarves. The stubborn dwarves fought to the death, slowing my trolls' advance.

Engagements everywhere!

Still dealing with dwarves. Will this fight never end?!

Dwarves, elves, and orcs fight in the middle of the field.

Thingol (the Glorfindel model) leads his troops against a unit of wargs.

The trolls begin their long slog through the forest to reach Thingol.

At long last, we battle the Sindar king.

It was a short battle.