BGiME #7: Repel the Marauders! Part 1

A horde of Uruk-hai bears down upon a Rohan settlement. Can its brave defenders hold them off long enough for the rest of the village to flee? That is the premise of this scenario, designed to recreate one of the many minor skirmishes that occurred in Rohan leading up to the Battle of Helm’s Deep. It also puts the newly-learned rules for defending barriers to good use. How does Rohan fare against the Uruk-hai? Let’s find out:

I’ve played through this scenario four times at two different occasions. Once was a couple of years back when I was organizing a short-lived SBG group, and the second was just a couple weeks ago. These images are from the first pair of games:

The start of the battle. Uruk-hai are positioned behind the hill, while Rohan holds the wall.

The Uruk-hai advance!

"They can't hit me if they can't see me!"

The heavy Uruk-hai armor shrugs off Rohan's arrows as they clamber over the hill.

"Hold the wall, men!"

"I smell man-flesh!"

The battle is joined. Rohan holds for now, but the Uruk-hai seek to climb and unprotected fence.

"These crossbows are pretty sweet!"

A view from the ruins.

Uruk-hai breech!

"Fight for your lives!"

"I can pick those men off from here. I don't mind if I shoot a few friendlies if I miss. I'm Evil, after all!"

I'm going on hazy memory here, but I believe Rohan won one battle and lost the other. This is a tough fight for Good. The Uruk-hai have stronger armor and a higher Fight value. Only the walls keep this from being an utter cake-walk for Evil. Once the Uruk-hai breech the walls, Good has a rough time holding them off. I think Good only won because the players running Evil in that game made some inexperienced decisions, allowing my partner and I to capitalize on their mistakes and squeeze out a win.

The second and more recent play of this scenario will be covered in the next post.