This hypothetical scenario for Games Workshop's Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game sees an Uruk-hai force attack a Rohan fort somewhere in the Westemnet. It was published in issue 27 of Battle Games in Middle Earth magazine.
This is another solo effort. My kids and I tried playing this scenario a few months ago, and although we had to stop before concluding play it was clear that Evil would win. Since then I've discovered a couple of things that we were doing wrong, so I thought I'd see if Good has a chance.
(Click on any image to see an enlargement.)
Twelve Warriors and six Riders of Rohan, lead by Eomer, begin the game in the fort. The Riders appear to be running away because they are headed toward the fort's gate, off-camera to the right.
Marching on the fort are 10 Uruk swordsmen, 10 pikeman, 4 engineers, and a berserker, led by a Captain (represented here by Lurtz). Notably absent from the Isengard forces are any missile-armed troops, a problem compounded by the fact that any Good warrior within the fort has access to throwing spears and stones.
The game lasts until the Evil side is reduced 50%, in this case thirteen models. If Evil can kill Eomer and get the Rohirrim down to 50% (nine models) before that happens they win. If they accomplish one but not the other it's a draw. If neither, Good wins.
Good always begins with Priority. While the Riders head out the gate to threaten the flanks of the Isengarders, the Rohan archers loose their arrows and manage to score a kill.
Dead models: Evil 1, Good 0
Good keeps Priority. As the Riders continue their advance and the Warriors continue to await the onslaught, the Uruks advance but stay just out of range of the Rohirrim throwing spears. No point in subjecting them to two turns of missile fire instead of one! The archers again claim an Uruk.
Dead models: Evil 2, Good 0
Good priority. With the cavalry clear of the fort, the gatekeeper moves to join the rest of his comrades. Eomer advances so as to threaten a charge next turn, but the other Riders do a half move so that they can fire their bows. The Uruks close in on the fort.
The Rohirrim missile fire is below average, but there's so many folk lobbing spears and arrows that three Uruks are killed regardless.
Dead models: Evil 5, Good 0
Evil wins priority for the first time. The Uruks rush the stockade, leaving three warriors to block the cavalry, which charges them. Eomer calls a heroic combat, hoping to help out the fort's defenders.
Aided by two other horsemen, Eomer kills his man, enabling the group to rush into other combats.
The cavalry attack works well, but at the near end of the stockade three Uruks manage to kill their opponents and break into the fort.
Dead models: Evil 9, Good 3
Good gets Priority again. The horsemen charge, while the Warriors move to engage the Uruks inside the fort. Eomer moves to engage the Uruk captain, but this proves to be a mistake as the Uruk pikemen redirect their attention from the fort to Eomer himself.
Both sides get their 6s in combat, so the tie is broken by Fight values, where both sides have a 5. So the combat winner is decided by dieroll, and Evil wins. The Uruks inflict four wounds, which is sufficient to slay Eomer.
In other fights this turn, 1 Rider and 2 Warriors of Rohan are slain. Things are suddenly looking bad for the Good guys, and in fact they can no longer win. Can they pull out the draw?
Dead models: Evil 9, Good 7
Good Priority, yet again. But the Uruk Captain calls a heroic move, and engages the horsemen before they can charge. Everyone on the board barring one Rohan reserve ends up in combat
But despite their superior stats and not facing the cavalry charge bonus, the Uruks lose 3 warriors while inflicting only 2 losses on the Rohirrim. Perhaps the latter were stirred to new heights of effort by their desire to avenge Eomer?
Both sides are now one kill away from getting their enemy to 50% losses.
Dead models: Evil 12, Good 9
Good again gets the Priority nod, and again the Uruk Captain calls a heroic move to forestall a cavalry charge. The Rohirrim manage to inflict an Uruk loss, but lose two men themselves, so the game ends with an Evil win.
One of the complaints sometimes made against the LotR SBG is that it's decided by luck instead of by tactics. It's tempting to make that judgement in this scenario, since the combat where Eomer died was in fact decided by a 50%-50% dieroll, and Good stood little chance after that. But I think it was a tactics error on my part to move him out of support range of his compatriots. He stuck his neck out too far, and got his head cut off for his pains.
I'd still like to see a Rohan win in this scenario. They really have a hard time inflicting casualties on the Uruks, though, requiring a 6 to his those warriors with a shield, while the Uruks generally kill the Rohirrim on a 5+. I also for some reason always forget about the Shielding rule. I'm not sure how much effect this would have, though, because the Rohirrim need to inflict casualties to win; shielding doubles the number combat dice rolled at the cost of preventing rolls to wound should you win the combat. And since Uruks win ties (because of their higher Fight values), Shielding doesn't actually buy Rohan much.