"...the folk of Arnor dwindled, their foes devoured them...
...and their lordship passed."
- Elrond, The Fellowship of the Ring
Lord of the Rings battle report - SBG Arnor vs Angmar
So, this is the latest SBG battle report from East Grinstead Wargamers, which sees Arnor with the elven twins Elladan and Elrohir, with Halbarad with an army of Dunedain and rangers (750 points), face the might of Gulavhar, Buhrdur, shade, troll and a mass of orcs (1000 points).
The battle was similar to both Surrounded (LoME) and Ambush in Rhudaur (The Ruin of Arnor). The idea was that the elven twins and Halbarad had been hunting elves and had stopped over night to rest at the ruins at Rhudaur. Unbeknownst to them, Gulavhar and Buhrdur had both gathered a small force to launch a counter attack at dusk to rid the Rhudaur of the Dunedaun once and for all.
We had planned for Dan (a new player) to have Buhrdur's 500 point warbands and I would have Gulavhar - Craig would defend with 750 worth of Arnor, but Dan couldn't come so I fielded the 1000 point army! The aim was simple, Angmar HAD to drive the good force out of the ruins or kill the vast majority, while the good had to keep the evil army from taking the ruins.
 |
| LotR SBG: The Ruin of Arnor - Rhudaur |
 |
| LotR SBG: The Ruin of Arnor - Rhudaur |
|
 |
| LotR SBG: Buhrdur's Angmar warband 500 points |
|
 |
| LotR SBG: Buhrdur and Cave Troll |
 |
| LotR SBG: Wild Warg Chieftain Warband & wild warg |
 |
| LotR SBG: Buhrdur's Angmar warband 500 point |
 |
| LotR SBG: Gulavhar's Angmar warband 500 point |
 |
| LotR SBG: Angmar Shade |
 |
| LotR SBG: Gulavhar |
 |
| LotR SBG: Angmar Orc warband - Command |
 |
| LotR SBG: Idea's for scenario |
 |
| LotR SBG: Angmar and Arnor Deploy |
 |
| LotR SBG: Elladan and Elrohir, Rangers of Arnor |
 |
| LotR SBG: Arnor Rangers and Dunedain deployment |
 |
| LotR SBG: Buhrdur's view of the Ruins |
 |
| LotR SBG: Rangers of Arnor in the Ruins |
 |
| LotR SBG: Shade and Orc warband advance |
 |
| LotR SBG: Orc warband view of Ruins |
 |
| LotR SBG: Gulavhar's warband view |
 |
| LotR SBG: Angmar horde advance on the Rhudaur ruins |
 |
| LotR SBG: Angmar Orc Archers on Ruins |
 |
| LotR SBG: Warg Chieftain leads the attacking Wild Warg |
 |
| LotR SBG: Ranger of Arnor eyes Gulavhar |
 |
| LotR SBG: Ruins of Arnor surrounded by Angmar Orcs |
 |
| LotR SBG: Orc war band advance |
 |
| LotR SBG: Gulavhar's warband reach ruins |
 |
| LotR SBG: Angmar Orc warband reach ruins |
 |
LotR SBG: Wild Warg Chieftain attacks
Dunedain and Ranger of Arnor from the rear |
 |
| LotR SBG: Wild Warg warband attack Elladan and Elrohir |
 |
| LotR SBG: The Elven twins surrounded |
 |
| LotR SBG: The Dunedain climb the walls of the Arnor Ruin |
 |
| LotR SBG: Angmar Horde reach Rhudaur the Ruins of Arnor |
 |
| LotR SBG: Elladan and Elrohir kill the Wild Warg with ease |
 |
LotR SBG: Gulavhar reaches the walls of the Ruins
and attacks the Rangers and Dunedain |
 |
| LotR SBG: More Wild Warg attack the Sons of Elrond |
 |
LotR SBG: Buhrdur hides from Rangers in the corner room
while the orc warband storm the ruins - having reached it unharmed,
the rangers kept missing the Cave Troll! |
 |
| LotR SBG: Angmar Orc warband view of the assault on Rhudaur ruins |
 |
LotR SBG: Orc warband overwhelm the flank as the Rangers
are caught in the end room |
 |
| LotR SBG: Buhrdur kept at bay by a Dunedain and Rangers of Arnor |
 |
LotR SBG: Angmar Orcs swamp the Ruins and surround the rangers,
who are trapped and unable to move having lost priority |
 |
| LotR SBG: Wild Warg Chieftain and Orcs try to Kill Elladan and Elrohir |
 |
| LotR SBG: Arnor desperately fighting to keep Angmar at bay |
 |
| LotR SBG: Buhrdur finally moves forward and ignores the bow fire |
 |
| LotR SBG: Halbared, Dunedain and Rangers fight the orc horde |
 |
| LotR SBG: Gulavhar kills more Dunedain in his lust for blood |
 |
| LotR SBG: Elladan and Elrohir surrounded again |
 |
| LotR SBG: The Battle for the Arnor Ruins of Rhudaur continues |
 |
| LotR SBG: Angmar Orcs surge forward, The Shade is trapped by the door! |
 |
| LotR SBG: Buhrdur enters the fight and the rangers take heavy losses |
 |
| LotR SBG: Buhrdur, orcs and Cave Troll surround and kill Halbarad |
 |
| LotR SBG: Halbarad and The Arnor Army is lost, the Twins Survive, but with no might the fight is lost, Craig concedes the ruins and the Game. |
Final Thoughts
Craig was unfortunate as he lost the priority roll at a crucial point, he had planned to pull everyone back into the centre and then hold the ruins while the rangers and Dunedain on the walls rained arrows on the orcs. Without that priority roll, he was swamped with Angmar orcs and was trapped - the rest was what was expected. The sides were in Angmars favour from the start with the extra points, but Arnor simply had no chance.
I was worried about the bow fire in LotR SBG as in WotR, I could easily lose Gulavhar or Buhrdur... this meant that I held back. Craigs bow fire was poor (and that is putting it mildly) and during my advance one flank concentrated everything on the Cave Troll, he should have been a walking pin cushion, but only sustained one wound counter!
This was the first time we had used the ruins and I agreed that if the base couldn't fit through the arch then the figure couldn't come through...
...this meant that only my orcs could go through, the Shade, Warg, Troll and everything with a 40+mm base had to get in through the two broken walls.
It was a good fast game and drew a lot of attention at the club, wait until we do the siege of Helms Deep!
Man of the Match
 |
Elladan and Elrohir - The Elven Twin
Sons of Elrond |
We both agreed this had to be shared between Elrohir and Elladan the Sons of Elrond as the held the entire flank and killed everything that tried to get passed. Yeah, they used all their might, but nothing got passed...
I still have to get to grips with the rules so it will be interesting to pit a decent Evil hero against him and see how he likes it! And learn the rules for magic as my shaman last time literally did nothing!
To see my fully Painted Armies please visit this blog:
LotR / WotR Dwarf Army
LotR / WotR - Moria / Misty Mountains army please visit this blog:
LoTR/ WotR Angmar Army
LoTR / WotR Huge Mordor Army
LoTR / WotR Isengard Army
We are about to start playing LOTR SBG - both skirmish battles and walk through the books/films each Monday night and WotR on club nights.
We welcome anyone interested in playing Lotr SBG, WotR or any warhammer/40K battle - why not let us know so that we can arrange some starter battles, like the one above, or if you/your club want to challenge us. We have all the LOTR SBG figures and LOTR scenery from the Mines of Moria to the siege of Helms Deep ready and waiting.
Feel free to email us to come along or arrange a game.
East Grinstead War Gaming club
Sussex
It seems you just found what I think is SBG's only real fault: if you roll badly, there is no amount of tactical genius that helps, even though it's a fun game when both sides have about equal amounts of luck.
ReplyDeleteGreat battle report, its good to see the SBG being played more
ReplyDeleteVery cool! Can't wait for Helms Deep! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments! The scenery fits in really well with the LotR and Hobbit figures - hopefully in the New Year will will invest in some Hirst Arts Molds and create the Osgiliath ruins.
ReplyDelete