Finally, the Shadow to the East has been unleashed! As the dark lord Andrew marches his evil forces to war, the Noble and good Gondorians under Steward Steve were ready to stand their ground and take the brunt of the dark forces' initial bid for control of Middle Earth.
I am honestly pretty excited about this Minas Tirith force! I feel like it can cover a lot of bases. It does feel like magic is a weak spot for it with 7 total will in the whole army... but this is the time to test it!
We opted for no veto system this time around, and rolled right into "Capture and Control". Honestly, with two big armies squaring off, this felt like a great mission for the day!
The setup! My bolt throwers had to be within 6" and of the board edge and I am worried they are gonna be ineffective.
The lines before the clash!
I'm holding Hurin and his cavalry in reserve.
The lines collide!
Predictably, Boromir is the target of much magic. The Dark Marshall hits him with a sap will, and eliminates 2. The Witch King then compels him back, getting a large chunk of my army out of banner range.
In all, the Gondorian lines are holding and more orcs are falling than men of the West. The Witch King dives in and strikes up on a transfixed Boromir. Predictably wins the fight, and unhorses Boromir- eating two of his fate. On the left flank, the bolt thrower is doing work, felling 3 or 4 orcs by turn 3.
Gondor has priority on the following turn. Boromir charges the Witch King and both strike up. The Knights attempt to charge the Witch King as well, but every single one fails their terror check. Boromir wins the fight with the Witch King, but puts just one wound on the fell beast. Hurin charges Shagrat, both strike up, Shaggers wins and unhorses Hurin and puts one wound on him.
At this point in the game Andrew holds 3 of the 5 objectives, and a small band of orcs are threatening my rear. My rangers and bolt thrower have whittled that group from 10 or so to 6. The main battle is definitely swinging my way, but Andrew keeps up the pressure to hold the line.
This round I lose priority and call a move with Ingold. Boromir manages to charge the Witch King. The Witch King saves his might point, while Boromir is still on two. Two knights manage to also charge in, getting the trap on the Witch King.
The Dark Marshall casts a 2 die transfix on Boromir who has no will... and fails. Ouch. On the left my rangers and cavalry prepare to repel the orc assault.
With Boromir not transfixed, the result is not terribly surprising.
Mordor is now broken, but Andrew still has enough oomph in the line to keep me from pushing through to the center objective.
The banner of Minas Tirith still stands!
Andrew makes a really smart move- sending his surviving orcs on to my objective. He manages to get two touching it, knowing the game could end here. If he has one surviving orc touch it, the objective will be neutral! Sadly, the men of the West slay the orcs to a man. er.. goblin man.
We push hard, ready to pounce on that central objective if the game lasts one more turn...
But, it doesn't.
I hold 2 objectives for 4 VPs. Plus, I broke Andrew and killed his leader for 2 VPs.
Conversely, Andrew holds 3 objectives for 6 VPs. for... a tie!
Hey, I'll take it. That was a great game.
Closing Thoughts:
- Facing 3 spellcasters is rough! Boromir was out of will immediately, and it was sheer luck that had him survive the Witch King's assault.
- The bolt throwers were pretty dope! Granted, I was 100 points deep on them and in the end they killed maybe 6 morannons and the Dark Marshall's horse... but I was also prepared to bolster the lines with another might and 3 more bodies.
- Shield wall paid dividends for me here. In the end I only lost 5 total models.
- I'm looking forward to playing this again!
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