TURN 5
Angmar's forces are now isolated between the Shaman, Trolls and Wargs on Forest Hill, and the Cargul with its Marauders sandwiched between Rhudaur's Knights and Spearmen.
The turn opened again with Angmar's Command phase. The Shaman, knowing that the Trolls were still located deep within the wood, decided to move the brutes to the edge of the trees. If they were located 1cm inside the wooded area, they would be secure from any cavalry charge, and yet be able to see out at their enemy.
Rolling a 8 for his command check, the Shaman orders the Trolls to move to within 1cm of the Forest Hill's edge.
Meanwhile, the Cargul was dangerously located between two units of Knights and four units of Spearmen. The Cargul at this time was still attached to the Marauders from the combat in turn 4 and would have to wait to the end of the Command phase before it could detach itself.
Burrow Hill now was too well defended by Rhudaur for the Cargul's plan of raising the dead to come to pass. So the Cargul hastily hatches a cunning plan. Ordering the Marauder's on (with a command check of 4), they burst from between the two Rhudaur battle lines and make for the far side of Forest Hill.
However, the Cargul and it's Marauders were not out of danger yet. Again it orders the Marauders on. But with the Marauders now at a -1 command penalty due to receiving a second order, the Cargul now needs to roll an 8 or less. The Angmar command roll is a 10!
Not perturbed, the Cargul calls on its Might (expending 2 points) to pass the test and the Marauders finally make it to relative safety.
Giving it one last go, the Cargul (now at a -2 penalty with the Marauders) rolls a 12. Blunder!
Fortunately, General's are immune to blundering. So the Command phase comes to an end.
The Shooting phase begins with the Shaman attempting to cast Dark Swarm on the nearest unit of Rhudaur Spearmen. Fortunately for them, the Shaman fails. The Cargul then successfully casts Faster You Dog's on the Marauders, moving them a final time. They are now well away from Rhudaur's lines.
With no fighting possible, the Combat phase closes without blood being spilt.
Rhudaur now opens its Command phase. The General is now well aware that in order to finish this battle he will need to dislodge some tough enemies from Forest Hill, or chase down the last unit of Marauders, who are now located on the far side of Forest Hill.
The Lord elects to attempt to get the Knights to head around Forest Hill in an attempt to engage the Marauders on the far side. Even if a game of cat and mouse ensues, the Knights will at least have cut off the Marauders escape rout. The Knights, still forming an irregular brigade, are given the order to head eastwards. However, a command check of 11 by the Lord puts a swift end to that idea.
The General's irritation is palpable. Barking orders at the Spearmen brigade line (command check of 6), they wield around to face Forest Hill.
A second order (command check of 7) gets the battle line moving again to Forest Hill
A third order would put the Spearmen within Initiative range of being charged by the Tolls and Wargs. So the General moves up to the battle line and decides to wait for the new turn.
With no units within shooting distance or combat, both the Shooting phase and Combat phase close with no other actions. The scene is now set for what may prove to be the final turn.
TURN 6
This could be the final turn, however the option remains open to roll to see if another turn will follow after this, should Angmar still be on the battlefield.
Angmar opens the turn with its Command phase. However, with no units within Initiative range, and holding the best defensive position on the field, Angmar elects to stay put.
The Shooting phase then opened with the Shaman attempting to cast Dark Swarm again on the nearest Spearmen unit. Needing a 5 to hit, the Shaman rolls a 3 and fails. The Shooting phase comes to an end as the Cargul is out of spell range.
With no units in combat, the Combat phase also quickly comes to an end. Angmar's turn has been uneventful.
Rhudaur now opens its Command phase.
If the game ends now, Angmar will surely be on the loosing side due to their casualties. However the Cargul and Shaman will escape with a total of 610 points of forces at the end of the battle (assuming no further turns are played). In the Fall of Arnor Campaign, any retreating forces of 500 or more points from a battle will survive on the campaign map.
So Rhudaur cannot afford to leave things as they currently are.
The Lord orders the Knights onwards (passing a command check with a roll of 6), and they make for the far side of Forest Hill in the hopes to engage the Marauders.
However the second attempt to move the Knights fails with a command check roll of 9.
The General now orders up the brigade of Spearmen to move forward in order to engage the Trolls and Wargs on Forest Hill.
Now within range of the interlopers on Forest Hill, the General makes a second order.
Passing the command check with a role of 7, the Spearmen charge!
With no shooting units within range of any enemy, the Shooting phase is passed over for the Combat phase. Two units of Trolls and a unit of Wargs in defended terrain on Forest Hill now face off against four units of Spearmen, one of which is supporting a unit in combat. And one great fight ensues.
The Spearmen score 4 hits to the Trolls & Wargs 16 hits.
After armour save rolls, the result is Spearmen inflicting 4 hits and the Trolls / Wargs inflicting 12 hits. The Spearmen are forced to retreat a total of 2cm (12 hits - 4 hits = 8 hits. 8 divided amongst 4 units of Spearmen = 2cm retreat).
The Spearmen lose 4 stands. Angmar also lose a single stand and have one outstanding hit. Angmar loses a single stand of Wargs and outstanding one hit is allocated to the Wargs.
Angmar elects to pursue the Spearmen, who are quickly surrounded. The loss of Spearmen stands meaning that the supporting unit was now isolated from the combat on the other side of the hill.
Another round of combat resulted in the Spearmen stockily scoring 9 hits to the Trolls and Wargs 25 hits. The Wargs only managing to score one of those hits (see the purple dice below). Dunedain armour comes to their rescue, saving 4 hits scored against them. Whilst thick Trollish hide deflected a single hit against them.
The resulting 21 hits to the Spearmen's 8 hits (and the single outstanding hit on the Wargs from the previous phase) sees the Spearmen wiped out. The Wargs and their Warg Chief are also killed. As this is the second phase of combat, the Trolls cannot advance to initiate a new combat with the nearest unit. As such, all combat is over and the Combat phase comes to an end.
Angmar has lost its last unit and is now forced to withdraw from the battlefield. Game over. Rhudaur has prevailed.
The final disposition of forces on the battlefield.
Angmar's losses amount to:
- 8x Carn Dum Warband = 400 points
- 1x Carn Dum Marauders = 90 points
- 1x Wild Wargs = 70 points
- 1x Warg Chief = 70 points
- 4x Ghostly Legion (who never made it to the battlefield!) = 360 points
Rhudaur's losses are:
- 3x Spearmen = 135 points
- 2x Knights = 220 points
- 2x Retainers = 120 points
Post match huddle: the Trolls discuss what could have been done better.
Post match comment by the Rhudaur General:
"Wow, great match! Those Knights really stood out. They won the day for us, no doubt about that."
Post match comment by Angmar's General:
"Ssssssss... Warbandssss....We hatesss them........"
Well that's it folks for the first battle report for this blog. Its been a long one, but it was a fun battle with both sides learning something today. And that's that violence doesn't pay.
The Cargul can skulk back to the Witch-king and receive its due punishment for failure, whilst Rhudaur can hold their head high, and perhaps invest in a lot more Knights.
