"The Time of Man is Over...
...The age of the Orc has begun!"
Gothmog - Lieutenant of Mordor
After last weeks close battle, Craig again decided to field the same army Gothmog's Morannon Orc Battlehost. I, guessing he would planned an army that I was convinced would crush his Morannon orcs and Gothmog.
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| WotR: Gothmog Lieutenant of Mordor |
I was convinced that I needed to fight fire with fire and opted for the Gondor equivalent of the Gothmog's Morannon Orc Battlehost... The Osgiliath Battlehost. Looking at Craig maximum formations of 6 companies I decided to favour maneuverability over size (after all it is rare that 6 companies will all be able to fight at once - often most are support) and decided that smaller formations of 4 would allow me to engage the enemy and have more points for more formations.
My son Thomas didn't want to come... Lord of the Rings is not for him!
We again played on our usual 6 x 4 battlefield (shield wall) with one ruin to the south of the board which had capacity for 6 companies. We used the usual Realm of Battle battleboard and had the hills in each of the four corners to create a valley.
I am no longer worried by the sheer number of troops Mordor can muster for a 1600 point battle.
Here are our army list:
 |
| WotR: Gothmog Morannon Orcs |
Mordor force Circa 1600 points
(Craig)
Epic Hero:
Gothmog
Common:
6 x Comp of Morannon Orcs
- (with Banner)
- (with Captain)
6 x Comp of Morannon Orcs
- (with Banner)
- (with Captain)
6 x Comp of Morannon Orcs
 |
| WotR: Mordor Battlehost |
- (with Banner)
- (with Captain)
6 x Comp of Morannon Orcs
- (with Banner)
- (with Captain)
Rare:
1 x Troll Chieftain
2 x Mordor Trolls
1 x Mordor Catapult
To ensure that the army was legal (decree of variety) Craig dropped the Battlehost and went with the troops as is, which suprised me as I though he could have easily added some archers or a small band of orcs to help balance the decree.
Gondor Force Circa 1600 points
 |
| WotR: The Osgiliath Garrison |
The Garrison of Osgiliath Battlehost
4 x Comp of Warrior of Minas Tirith (WoMT)
4 x Comp of Warrior of Minas Tirith (WoMT)
- (with Captain)
4 x Comp of Warrior of Minas Tirith (WoMT)
 |
| WotR: Citadel Guard Long Bows |
- (with Banner)
- (with Captain)
4 x Comp of Warrior of Minas Tirith (WoMT)
- (with Captain)
6 x Comp of Knights of Minas Tirith (KoMT)
3 x Comp of Citadel Guard
- (with Banner)
- (with Captain)
3 x Comp of Citadel Guard Longbows
1 x Trebuchet
Legendary:
4 x Comp of Osgiliath Veterans
- (with Banner included in cost)
- (with Cirion)
Deployment
 |
| WotR: Gondor Battlehost Deployment |
We decided to lay the field with minimum scenery - the ruin with capacity for 6 companies was the only piece of scenery. Again Craig lined the entire side of the board with the Morannon orcs and they still look impressive, with the occasional Mordor troll between formations for good measure.
The building in the south was my target, I lined my force up and it was clear that the main bulk of my army was going to fight for it (I wanted to get the Osgiliath veterans in to the building and so placed them as close as I could to the building. The main part of my army was Minas Tirith warriors who lined the battle field opposite the Morannon orcs. My Minas Tirith Knights, along with the citadel guard and citadel long bows were placed near the building.
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| WotR: Gondor v Mordor |
I had my tactics, get the building shoot his flanks with the Osgiliath Vets, draw him into the centre and plough my cavalry around the southern flank into the rear of the main Morannon force.
I placed my trebuchet on the northern hill.
Boromir joined the knights of Minas Tirith as Craig had placed his Troll Chieftain opposite them, Boromir would be crucial in ensuring that the cavalry made it around the building and in to the open space behind the orc horde.
Gothmog was center stage in the horde of Morannon orcs… I was not worried about Gothmog's ability as I planned to keep him tied up fighting my warriors of Minas Tirith and NOT Boromir.
Once our forces were deployed there was a long silence as we both stood and looked at the armies working out in our heads the strategy. Which army would win priority - Gothmog with his Morannon Orcs or the Osgiliath Garrison battle host (steadfast against orcs), time to roll...
Turn 1
Priority
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| WotR: Osgiliath Veterans ATD to the ruins |
We both rolled the D6… and for once I won the first priority, I smiled as I needed to move my Osgiliath Veterans in to the ruin!
Move
Having won the initiative I did exactly as I had planned; the Osgiliath Veterans ATD to reach the ruins before any of Craig's orcs could get there and Boromir moved forward with the knights to the southern side of the ruins, while the Citadel Guard moved in behind the vets to support any later attacks.
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| WotR: Citadel Guard Longbows |
All my Warriors of Minas Tirith moved forward in a straight line, slow and steady, I was going to reach the orcs all together and ensure that I could engage as many troops in to direct combat in the coming battle as possible.
With my troops moving forward I edged the Citadel Guard Longbows forward to allow them better range across the field.
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| WotR: Gothmog ATD to Meet Gondor |
Craig tried to ATD his army, but some passed their leadership tests and some didn't, this meant that Craigs army was staggered, and it almost looked like he meant it to be like that!
Gothmog was lurking north of the ruins and had passed his ATD and was now in the centre of the battlefiled.
Craigs Mordor Trolls edged forward towards the ruin.
At the end of the move phase my Osgiliath Veterans moved into the ruins.
Shoot
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| WotR: Cirion and the Veterans of Osgilaith |
I considered calling heroic shoot for
Cirian to shoot his Osgiliath Veterans at the Morannon (having ATD to get into
the ruins), but knowing the Morannon shields are just too good to waste a might
point on, I didn’t and Cirian’s Osgiliath Veterans held.
My Trebuchet started work on Gothmog
landing a hit and killed 3 Morannon.
My Citadel Guard shot at the Mordor Troll north
of the ruins and scored 2 wound counters.
 |
| WotR: Mordor Trolls attack the ruins |
Craig loosed his catapult at the Osgiliath
Veterans to capitalise on them being in a building… despite the high defence he
still managed to kill 8 of them, ouch!
Next he measured the Trolls and threw them
at the Osgiliath Veterans, but they were not strong enough to get through the
walls.
Charge
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| WotR: Gondor Charge Gothmog |
I knew I had to get the charge in where I
could and so charged Gothmog and his 6 company strong Morannon Orcs with the
Warriors of Minas Tirith and successfully manage to make the distance, try to
be clever I positioned the spearhead to avoid the wound troll from charging my
flank.
Craig, seeing my cunning move then charged
the second formation of Morannon onto the Warriors of Minas Tirith, but
couldn’t get the flank and could only engage 1 company from the 6 in his
formation.
Fight
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| WotR: Gothmog gets a bloody nose |
The fighting was tough, Minas Tirith held
there ground and amazingly managed to kill 10 Morannon orcs, while Gothmog’s
formation killed 3 and the other formation killed 2 (total of 5) warrior of Minas Tirith.
Gondor had won the first battle and so it was Gothmog and the Morannon who took
panic tests, Gothmog passed, but the Morannon supporting his attack failed
miserably and another 5 died in the confusion. Kills 15 to 5.
ROUND 2
 |
| LotR: Boromir advances |
Priority
Eager to win priority again we rolled, but
I won again and set my plan into motion.
Move
First I moved Boromir and the knights of
Minas Tirith forward to the base of the ruins.
The Citadel Guard moved the rear and north
of the building keeping their eye on the Mordor Troll lurking in the shade.
 |
| WotR: Gondor advance |
Then I moved the centre column forward,
then the far northern column (who rolled unstoppable charge) forward to engage
ALL of Mordor in the centre of the field.
Craig moved all of his trolls forward.
Shoot
I started with my Osgiliath Veterans and
shot at one of the approaching trolls, initially I only got 1 hit, so used a
might point in the vain hope that I could roll a 6 and kill the Mordor Troll…
he ended up with 1 wound counter.
 |
| WotR: The Battle Intensifies |
Next the Citadel Guard Longbows shot at
the same Mordor Troll and still didn’t kill it, they inflicted another 2 wound
counters, taking it to 3… what do we have to do to kill a Troll!
I then fired my Gondorian trebuchet at a mass of orcs, but to my surprise I only managed to kill 1 Morannon
Orc.
 |
| WotR: The Knights of Minas Tirith |
In return Craig fired his catapult at Boromir and his formation of Minas Tirith Knights, making the most of gaining the bonus for there being 6 companies, but failed to kill any due to
them being resilience of 2.
The Mordor Troll Chieftain and a Mordor
Troll both threw their weapons at the Osgiliath Veterans and killed 2, the
other Troll seeing the approaching Citadel Guard threw and killed 2 of them.
Charge
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| WotR: The Ruins of Osgiliath |
Boromir, wanting to lead by example
charged the Mordor Troll in front of him, at the south of the ruins, but in
doing so exposes his flank to the Mordor Toll Chieftain.
In the charge phase I charged all my
warriors in direct sight of the Morannon Orcs in to battle and manage another
unstoppable charge.
 |
| WotR:Unstoppable charge |
My Citadel Guard attempted to charge the
Mordor Troll, they passed the courage test but then rolled a 1 and failed the
charge, fortunately their banner bearer came into play and they re-rolled -
rolling an unstoppable charge!
In retaliation Craig charged the Mordor
Troll Chieftain in to Boromir’s flank - he had no other units able to charge.
Fight
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| WotR: Mordor Troll Chieftain Counter Attack |
Boromir called Epic fight and Mighty Blow
- those Mordor Trolls are gonna’ die I tell myself… but amazingly neither the
Knights of Minas Tirith nor the Trolls manage to inflict a single wound… what
are the odds!
Elsewhere the fighting is intense. The
Mordor Troll stuck first and killed 4 Citadel Guards, who in turn kill the
Mordor Troll.
Moving down the line, the battle was
resolved as follows:
 |
| WotR: Mass battle between Gondor and Mordor |
Warriors of Minas Tirith kill 4 of
Gothmog’s motley crew and they in turn 5, some rubbish rolling meant that
Gondor were disordered and failed the panic test.
Next in line Warriors of Minas Tirith kill
6 Morannon Orcs who only killed 2 of Gondor.
ROUND 3
Priority
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| WotR: Gondor Reserves Advance |
We both rolled for priority, and again I
won rolling a 6.
Move
Waisting no time I tried to rally the
disordered Warriors of Minas Tirith, but failed and used the captains 2 might
points to regain control.
Boromir moved back to the line of the
ruins to protect his flank and waited near to the Mordor Trolls.
Shoot
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| WotR: The Mordor Troll to Die |
My trebuchet was first to start the shooting and shot at the
back of the reserve Morannon Orcs, but it only managed to killed 4 of them, not quite what I was expecting.
Next I fired the Citadel Guard Longbows to try to assist Boromir as best I could and fired at and killed the
Mordor Troll directly in font of Boromir and the Knights of Minas Tirith, while the Osgilith Veterans opened fire at the Mordor
Troll Chieftain, but unfortunately failed to kill him.
 |
| WotR: Longbows target the Mordor Troll |
Craig, seeing his flank waiver loosed his
catapult at Boromir and this time killed a knight of Minas Tirith.
The Mordor
Troll Chieftain also threw his weapon at Boromir, but being so worried by his
impending doom he threw wide and missed the Knights of Gondor.
Charge
 |
| WotR: Boromir Charges Troll |
Again this time I charged everything I
could against Mordor.
Boromir charged the Mordor Troll Chieftain
the Citadel Guard Charged the edge of Gothmog, then all my Warriors of Minas
Tirith charged the Morannon Orcs in front of them, I even managed to roll an
unstoppable charge on the unit to the far north.
Fight
I started with Boromir again, the Troll
Chieftain struck first and killed a knight of Minas Tirith, but could not
withstand the charge from the cavalry and died. Boromir rolled for an Earth
shaking charge - the reserve Morannon in his sight, but only rolled a 5.
Again, completing the battle in order of
where they are located we rolled for Gothmog.
 |
| WotR: Craig Surveys the Battle |
Gothmog’s Morannon Orcs killed 1 Warrior
of Minas Tirith but Gothmog sensing his doom used a might point to make it 2,
as well as killing 3 Citadel Guard.
In return the Citadel Guard killed 4
of thee Morannon orcs and the Warriors of Minas Tirith killed 4 as well.
Next skirmish saw a draw with both the
Warriors of Minas Tirith and the Morannon Orcs killing 3 warriors each.
 |
| WotR: Morannon Casualties |
In the North of the Battlefield the
Warriors of Minas Tirith kill 6 Morannon, and only loosing 3 win the battle.
ROUND 4
Priority
This time Craig won priority.
Move
With the southern flank clear, Craig
wheeled his Morannon orcs round to face the Knight of Minas Tirith with
Boromir. All other units were pretty much face to face and remained in place
ready to fight.
 |
| WotR: Boromir Charges Morannon Orcs |
My turn, Boromir ATD’d to try to out flank
the rear Morannon, but fall slightly short and leave a line of sight for the
Morannon to charge.
Shoot
Craig shot his catapult at Boromir again
and again killed a Knight of Minas Tirith.
 |
| WotR: Osgiliath Veterans shoot |
Seeing an opportunity to kill Gothmog and
charge the flank of the Morannon in the centre and rear of Craig’s army I shot
the Citadel Longbows at Gothmog killing 4, the Osgiliath veterans then fired in
the side avaiding the shields and killed another 4, but this wasn’t enough to
remove the last company of Gothmogs who blocked my plan.
Not wanting to risk killing my own, I
fired at the rear Morannon to whittle them down for Boromir and killed 7.
Charge
 |
| WotR: Gondor Unstoppable Charge |
Now, I always try to get the charge,
especially with cavalry and so Boromir immediately called a Heroic charge,
Craig seeing that this could be bad also called one and so we rolled off -
Craig rolled 1 -evil first then rolled 1 for his charge, but used his last
might point for the captain to make it a 2 which was just enough to make the
charge… Grrrrr.
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| WotR: Morannon Charge Boromir |
I then systematically called heroic charge
all down the line - the captains using a might point to charge.
Gothmog - within 12 inches of a Captain of
Minas Tirith called a free heroic charge, again rolled 1 for evil first, then
rolled 1 for stalled charged, Craig considered using a might point, but with so
few left he didn’t.
Fight
Craig having won the priority decided on
the order to fight and changed so that the Warriors of Minas Tirith and
Morannon would fight first.
 |
| WotR:Gondor and Mordor fighting intensifies |
Warriors of Minas Tirith kill 8
Morannon Kill 6
Warriors of Minas Tirith kill 7
Morannon Kill 5
Warriors of Minas Tirith kill 4 and the
Citadel Guard kill 4.
Gothmog Morannon Kill 2 Minas Tirith and 2
Citadel Guard - the Lieutenant of Mordor holds out until the last.
 |
| WotR: Boromir Calls Epic Strike |
I Called Epic Strike for Boromir and had
planned to duel the Morannon Orc captain seeing an opportunity to butcher them,
but we were distracted for a short while and I forgot… say no more.
The end of the battle saw 4 knights killed
and 3 Morannon.
ROUND 5
Priority
This time I won priority again.
 |
| WotR: Citadel Guard advance |
Move
With Boromir stranded and now outnumbered
I moved the Warriors of Minas Tirith at an angle to Gothmog to allow the
Citadel Guard through who ATD’d to the rear of the Morannon Orc’s - could they
save the day in time?
Craig’s only move was to spread out and ensure
that he had maximum number of attacks on Boromir.
 |
| WotR: Gondor Reserves |
I move my troops around so that the centre
is opened up and the fresh reserve of Gondor troops can move forward and engage
in battle.
Craig failed to move Gothmog to a bigger
unit of Morannon to help keep him alive - I didn’t highlight the point!
Shoot
Worried about loosing Boromir, the Citadel Guard
shoot and kill 2 of the Morannon Orcs and the Osgiliath veterans kill another 3
all in an effort to assist Boromir and whittle down his foe.
 |
| WotR: Gothmog holds |
My trebuchet then fired and killed 4 Morannon orcs in the
centre of the battlefield.
Craig shoots his catapult but fails to hit
a single warrior of the reserve of Minas Tirith entering the battle.
Charge
Desperate to save Boromir I call a heroic
charge for the Citadel Guard, which please Craig as Gothmog is within 12 inches
and copied it for free - it pleased him even more when he said:
 |
| WotR: Citadel Guard Heroic Charge |
“YOU DO KNOW YOU
HAVE PRIORITY RIGHT?”…
great a might point used to give Gothmog a free heroic
charge - AAGGGHHH!!!!
But on a positive note, the Citadel Guard
needed at least a 5 to reach the rear of the Morannon orcs and help save
Boromir.
 |
| WotR: Citadel Guard Charge |
When to my amazement I rolled a 6 (unstoppable charge) I shouted “YES” and slammed
the Citadel Guard straight into the rear of Craig's Morannon Orcs (they would now be fighting with -5 per
company for fighting in the rear);
Boromir charged their front and sandwhiched them in battle.
I followed by charging my warriors of
Minas Tirith into the remaining Morannon Orcs.
 |
| WotR: Boromir Saved |
Fight
Cavalry strike first and so Boromir
started the fight - his Knights killed 11 Morannon Orcs and then the Citadel
Guard also killed 11 - the Morannon in return failed to kill any of the Knights
of Minas Tirith - a plan that paid off, what a result!
Next on to the main battle lines:
 |
| WotR: Gothmog in the Way |
Warriors of Minas Tirith kill 5 of
Gothmog’s Morannon Orcs, who only manage to kill 1 Gothmog used his last might
point to make it 2 before he was slain and removed from battle as less than ½
his last company (all hope is lost) and Gothmog is removed from the battle.
The centre of the field saw Warriors of
Minas Tirith kill 6 Morannon orcs who only killed 4 Gondorians.
 |
| WotR: Gothmog Dies |
In the north the Warriors of Minas Tirith
kill 9 using their last might point as time had run out and this was the last
round. The Morannon orcs killed 5 and also used their 2 might point s to make
it 7.
Final
Thoughts
I chose The Garrison of Osgiliath with
smaller formations with one thing in mind - kill the orcs. I think this worked well and the 4 companies
against 6 meant I could field more formations, but only miss out on the odd
support roll here and there, which is why I fielded the size I did.
 |
| WotR: Gondor Wins after 5 rounds |
The Osgilaith Veterans were Ok, the bows
didn’t do the damage I thought and at crucial times they were a let down - but
that is just bow fire for you, the last time I took them they killed 2 Mordor
Trolls in one hit.
The Citadel Guard were OK, worth the
points? Not sure, but they looked good.
Citadel Longbows - again, they are not
worth the points, but they did look good and the extra shooting distance also
worked well.
 |
| LotR: Citadel Long Bows |
The Knights of Minas Tirith were very
good, their lances help with rolling to hit and their shields make them harder
to hit and with a hero they could fly around the battlefield - a must for
Gondor.
Craig doesn’t seem to like using his
might, nor did he move Gothmog at a crucial point, which would have saved him
and helped with the game especially if it had gone on longer - he could have
moved him in to the formation that attacked Boromir and copied his epic/heroic
actions and used his own, which could have seen Boromir dead and the knight
removed - fortunately he didn’t.
Man
of the Match
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| LOTR: Man of the Match: Boromir |
This can only be Boromir - he took on a
Mordor Troll, Troll Chieftain and a formation of Morannon Orcs and cam
e out
victorious (with a little help from his friends). His abilities are very good
and had I remembered to do the heroic
duel I think I would have done some serious damage to the orcs before needing
the Citadel Guard to assist. Would I use
him again… Most definitely!
Next Time
Craig wants to play Warhammer 40K next
time, so I am in desperate need of an opponent (any volunteers!?) I might try
40K again, but I love Lord of the Rings and War of the Rings so much, I just
don’t think I will. Hopefully I can find someone to battle as I might try to
field my dwarf army (especially now I have 3 companies of Vault Wardens), but I
guess that really depends on who I can play and what they want to field. With the release of the new LOTR SBG books I am kean to start playing that, I have the rule books and the old journey books and tonnes of LOTR SBG figures, still trying to find an opponent to learn the rules.
Fingers crossed for the next battle…
