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.

Orc's Drift

A week ago, I was in Wisconsin to attend Gary Con X, a gaming convention held to remember the life of game designer and co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons, Gary Gygax. It was the seventh Gary Con I attended and it was good to be back in the gaming motherland.

Gary Con is a mixture of role-playing and miniature wargaming events (the former having evolved from the latter). I usually run RPG sessions while I'm there, but play in miniature wargaming events as I seldom get the chance to play by classic wargame rules such as Chainmail.

After seeing it set-up and played several Gary Cons in a row, I finally got to experience the glory that is "Orc's Drift." This is an alternate history historical miniatures wargame scenario where the British defending Rorke's Drift find themselves not under siege by the Zulus, but by a horde of orcs fresh from Isengard. I was duly elected the war-leader of the orcs and, despite having to leave 15 minutes early, led my forces to victory over the vile British invaders of the sacred orc motherland. I mostly did this by agreeing to whatever strategy was proposed by my fellows and trying to roll high on the dice whenever possible.

I stopped by the table later in the con and noticed that the previous game had a lot more orc casualties, leading me to believe the British won that game. I'll take our early Friday victory as a testament to my superior leadership skills and the valor (or bloodthirst) of my under-commanders.

While the game uses Chainmail rules to resolve the battle, the figures are all from the Games Workshop line of Lord of the Rings SBG miniatures. Seeing them arrayed out on the table and facing off against stiff-lipped British infantry was a hoot-and-a-half. Winning the battle was even better. Below are some photos from the event. You can watch the battle-mad orcs advance, hungry for man-flesh, and their eventual overwhelming assault on the British outpost.

Light the beacons, for I have returned!

Time has flown by while I’ve been head-down in other projects for work and neglecting my miniature adventures in Middle-Earth. Now, however, sunlight shines through the clouds and I can return to chronicling tales of conflict and triumph in the Professor’s creation.

I’ve been working on getting my Grey Company army painted while I’ve been away and I’m almost ready to display them for public view. I need to finish basing them, but I have been hampered by the cold weather here in New York. Luckily, today is a pleasant and warm one, ripe for priming, sealing, and basing. My worktable should soon be clear and I’ll then be able to get back to working my way through Battle Games in Middle-Earth.

Before we get back to that, let me share with you the fun I had this past weekend at Gary Con VII in lovely Lake Geneva, WI, the birthplace of role-playing and home to many a miniature battle over the years. Gary Con is held each year to commemorate the life and work of D&D co-creator, Gary Gygax, and is one heck of a convention. This was my fifth Gary Con and it shows no signs of slowing down.

Gary Con is my chance to play games I rarely get the opportunity to play anywhere else and my convention schedule—aside from my duties for Goodman Games—always has one or two old school miniatures events. This year saw me playing Dawn Patrol for the first time and Chainmail for the second. The Chainmail game was a Middle-Earth-based scenario that occurred during the Kin-strife of Gondor, a pitched battle outside the walls of Linhir. I command the Umbar Marines, faithful soldiers beneath the command of Castamir the Usurper. Things did not go well for Castamir and my Marines were trampled beneath the hooves of the Eotheod, but it was a great game. Game organizer and referee Kevin Cabai has some wonderfully painted Games Workshop miniatures he used with the Chainmail rules and it was seeing his game at Gary Con VII and Gen Con that made me sign-up to play this year.

The forces are assembled before the gates of Linhir

Opening gambits. My Umbar Marines are down on the near left

Umbar forces with Chainmail stats

Umbar tentatively advances from beyond the cover of the farmhouse

The Eotheod advances from around the hill. Umbar realizes it must hold the right flank

The Eotheod is hesitant and refuses to come into archer range. The Marines attempt to draw them out

Half-trolls for Hadad and far too many slain Umbar Marines stand off the battlefield

The battle was lost, Umbar was decimated, but I technically survived to earn a certificate

I was too busy fighting for my life to take further pictures, but suffice to say the results weren't pretty. Umbar held on as long as it could, but the infantry was outmatched by the medium cavalry of the Eotheod. The right flank collapsed when Umbar was routed and the middle of Castamir's line soon buckled under its own enemies. The Usurper was driven away and the legitimate reign of Gondor endured a while longer. I did received a nice certificate of participation and a pair of dice for answering Middle-Earth trivia correctly. I've said I'm no Tolkien scholar, but apparently I'm pretty good with Arnor-related minutia.

That's it for now, but new content is on the way, including the next installment of the Battle Games in Middle-Earth project. Until then, may your marines never be forced to face off against charging cavalry without support!