Hobbit SBG - Wanders in the Wild v Mordor

“Dead men are not friend to living men, and give them no gifts."

        Ghan-Buri-Ghan, Chief of the Druadan, Return of the King, The Lord of the Rings

With just over a week left until the end of month two of 'Tale of Four Gamers' I had to fight a battle with my Wanders in the Wilderness army - Treebeard and the Woses were poised and set to fight the might of Mordor in this crunch battle at 500 points.

The Hobbit Battle Fieldon

My 500 point Galadhrim knight army led by Legolas had won a victory a few weeks ago, now I had to win again to secure both armies maximum points.

With Thomas' Mordor horde ready for war, we set the battle field a 4 x 4 board, with plenty of trees, ruins and some building in the centre for good measure!

I rolled and chose the left side of this board (Treebeard is already on his side of the board).

As the visitor, I asked Tom to roll for the scenario... TO THE DEATH!

So it was set, two 500 point armies, big creatures and a battle to win, we allocated 1 1/2 hours to get it finished, just in time for the next battle between me and Sam (he would also need to battle his Mirkwood Elves Army as part of the Tale)

So with everything to play for, we rolled for deployment...

Treebeard, Ghan-Buri-Ghan and Bullroarer Took, 
line up with 32 Woses

Treebeard's view of one side of the Mordor army,
along with the Troll Chief, banner and a few orcs

Ghan-Buri-Ghan views the rest of the Mordor army
"Kill gorgûn in woods, hate orc-folk"

Battle lines are ready to fight

The orcs army advances

All forward, you maggots!

The Troll Chief move in line with the warg riders,
while the rest of the orcs advance

Ghan-Buri-Ghan orders the woses to open fire -
that'll be 32 blowpipe shots then!

3 dead orcs on the left, but the target (the Shaman) survives

Treebeard charges forward to stop the warg attacking the woses,
while Bullroarer Took (who is very large for a Hobbit)
moves forward to protect his flank

My Woses hold, there must be another round of shooting in there

Treebeard standing strong,
and causing fear normally stops the Orcs
from charging, however Tom has channeled fury...
and the Shaman is there!

Gorbag and Grishnak charge a company of orcs forward,
filling the gaps of the dead 

The orcs divide, where to attack?
 confusion is set in as they panic between attacking
Treebeard or the Woses!

CHARGE! a single warg rider attacks the Woses line

Tom moves the Chief into attack Bullroarer Took
and a spear man to support the warg rider against Treebeard,
I use a might point to call heroic Strike with Took,
but fail to roll enough to beat the Chief - Fool of a Took!

To my utter surprise, I loose both fights,
but neither the Chief nor the Warg manage to wound my heroes.

Next round and the Chief charges Bullroarer Took,
so I move Treebeard and a few Woses to support him 

Treebeards warband have now charged the warg
and forgo their shooting

Woses charge the Warg, who is still alive

It looks like the fighting is thick on left flank...

Meanwhile, Ghan-Buri-Ghan and the Woses fire all their blowpipes
and kill Gorbag (General) to secure 3 points as well as kill
a few more orcs before they rush in!

Ghan-Buri-Ghan and Grishnak are locked in combat
- both with the same fight value

The rest of the lines clash, but with a few more troops
I start to wrap around his orcs

Ghan-Buri-Ghan kills Grishnak and the orcs are given a bloody nose

Ghan-Buri-Ghan - is ready for the next battle

Treedbeard and the Took win and leave the Troll Chief
with one wound and no fate,
he is looking very vulnerable

Ghan-Buri-Ghan leads the charge, with priority and starts to wrap it up

The Woses are surrounding the orcs, and despite the fury rolls,
they are starting to get out numbered

Treebeard goes for the kill on the Troll, while Bullroarer charges an orc,
the rest of the Woses charge in too.

The Chief call heroic strike, so Treebeard counters and rolls to keep the advantage,
we roll for combat...

"HO-HUM" The Chief is killed and removed from battle

The rest of the army is starting to struggle to kill the orcs needing 6's due to their armour and shields... only a 4 for a Woses

Woses are fighting hard, but still can't kill the Shaman
and the fury is keeping the orcs in the battle

The battle is at a critical point, and Tom is desperately positioning his troops to stop Treebeard from getting into combat and using Hurl!

But slow and steady is the Ent way -"Have you seen the Ent Wifes?"
The deadly duo of Treebeard and Bullroarer Took
start to work across the board

Ghan-Buri-Ghan rallies the Woses, the numbers are about even

Ghan-Buri-Ghan with spear support goes for the orcs

Things are looking bleak on the left flank,
as Treebeard, Bullroarer and the last Woses mop up

The Woses start to use their numbers,
but will Ghan-Buri-Ghan hold out long enough

The two armies are spread out

As expected Treebeard and Bullroarer kill the banner and orcs

Ghan-Buri-Ghan also wins,
but that Shaman still lives and is still giving out fury!

The Shaman is now attacked by Ghan-Buri-Ghan and Treebeard,
his time is numbered

Tom takes great delight in out numbering one of my woses!

Time Time to start the rolling....

Finally Ghan-Buri-Ghan and Treebeard Kill the Shaman
NO MORE FURY!

Bullroarer Took and the others start to decimate the orcw

But, with just over  a 1/4 the orc army lives on

All charge, this has to be the last round and I intend to mop up

Took gets the charge - with spear support

My Wandering Woses use an orc to start a May Pole dance -
Anyone seen a Wicker Man?

After a decisive round it is clear (even if the photo isnt)
That the orcs have been totally wiped out
(bar the one who was hurled, but didn't die)

The huge victory for the Wanderers in the Wild Army
leaves them dancing with joy.

Final Thoughts:

The final score is Woses 6 - 0 Mordor

This battle was a very clear victory for the Woses army, I even forgot to add the +1 for hating orc folk to the rolls to wound... 

The final score was:

Woses 6 - 0 Mordor

Treebeard is a monster, the woses have elven cloaks, blow pipes and +1 to wound against orcs, Goblins and Uruk Hai - how cool is that (just have to remember to use it all).

There wasn't mush Tom could do here, his big guns the Troll Chief was no match for Treebeard, and despite his best efforts, he just could not stop him. 

So a win for good and my new Wanders in the Wild 500 point army secure maximum points in the second month of Tale of Four Gamers - this means both they and my mounted Galadhrim are on max points.

Man of the Match:

Man of the Match: Treedbeard!

Quite simply this has to go to Treebeard, he was more than a match for the Mordor Troll Chieftain and was unstoppable.

He was able to support when and where it was needed and and got stuck into battle where right from the off, setting the pace and tone of the Woses army.

Ghan-Buri-Ghan killed the general and the other Mordor hero, but his presence was no concern for Mordor, Treebeard on the other hand had Tom thinging about him constantly, for this reason, he has to take the accolade of Man of the Match.

All in all another brilliant game and an enjoyable battle.

We welcome anyone interested in playing The Hobbit SBG, 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/Hobbit SBG figures and LOTR scenery from the Mines of Moria to the siege of Helms Deep, snow fields to desert boards ready and waiting.  

Why not join our watch list for updates and look out for March Great British Hobbit League battle event... a full day of fighting in the ruins, forests and hills of Middle Earth, you cannot afford to miss it.

Feel free to email us to come along or arrange a game.

East Grinstead War Gaming club 

Sussex

At East Grinstead War Gamers we often play Hobbit/LOTR SBG - both skirmish battles and walk through the books/films each Monday night and WotR on club nights