IN THE SHADOW OF MORDOR

Mat Ward

Mat Ward: Finally! After a little over a year and five battle reports leading the forces of Good (to somewhat mixed success, admittedly) I now finally get to flex my muscles with the insidious forces of Sauron. Some might say this descent into unbounded villainy is a direct result of getting Aragorn killed the last time I played in a battle report – although at least one of my colleagues maintains that the rot set in long before that. Either way, I'm looking forward to marshalling the armies of Mordor. It's good to be Evil.

Unlike previous The Lord of The Rings battle reports (where we've played out a scenario precisely as written) in this case Alessio and I decided to play a Points Match based on 'The Siege of Minas Tirith' scenario from Siege of Gondor. As the attacker, this gave me a whopping 1,000 points to play around with. Given that most scenarios tend to work around 500 points or less, this equated to rather a lot of troops to play around with – but what to field? First choice had to be as many Morannon Orcs as I could lay my hands on. With a hearty Strength of 4 and equipped with heavy armour, shield, and spear for a mere 9 points, these creatures are about the most efficient troops available to an aspiring Evil general. Unfortunately I discovered that we only have eight Morannon Orcs in the Studio army, so I had to look elsewhere to fill out my force. I didn't have to look far – what we lack in Morannon Orcs, we easily make up for in Easterlings. While not as strong as the Morannon Orcs, Easterling warriors still have two things to recommend them: heavy armour, and shields. With twenty Easterlings drafted into my army, things were starting to look decidedly promising. What I needed next was some muscle – this was provided in the shape of two massive Mordor Trolls and a handful of Mordor Uruk-hai. With approximately two thirds of my points spent, I decided that I needed to make sure that I included a few siege engines. After much um-ing and ah-ing, I settled upon a pair of Mordor War Catapults – one with a Troll for extra effectiveness. With my points rapidly running out, I still had to buy some Heroes to lead my force – a role more than adequately filled by two Easterling Captains and one named character, Shagrat. Last of all, I recruited a handful of Mordor Orcs and some extra crew for my catapults.

As far as tactics went, I decided to eschew a massive esc alade assault in favour of Siege Towers. I would split my Easterlings in two and assign each group to a Siege Tower on either flank. The Uruk-hai would take the middle road, heading straight for the gate, hefting a Battering Ram as they went. My remaining troops, in the shape of Orcs and Morannon Orcs, would grab as many ladders as they could carry. Let the siege begin!

EVIL FORCES - 1,000PTS
	HEROES   8 Uruk-hai 80 Shagrat 55 8 Morannon Orcs 72 2 Easterling Captains 110 8 Orcs 48 TROOPS   1 Mordor Catapult (2 extra crew) 100 10 Easterlings (shield) 80 1 Mordor Catapult (Troll & 1 extra crew) 185 10 Easterlings (shield & spear) 90 2 Mordor Trolls 180
Click to enlarge

I WILL NOT LET THE WHITE CITY FALL

Alessio Cavatore

Alessio Cavatore: Gandalf, it had to be Gandalf! I remember the fantastic description in the book of how the presence of the White Rider is the only thing that keeps the beleaguered defenders of Minas Tirith from total despair. Only Gandalf's aura can counter the shadow of terror cast on the warriors of Gondor by the Nazgûl. I decided that Gandalf the White would lead my force and, always thinking of the book, I included Pippin and Beregond – I still remember vividly the scenes depicting those two on the walls, talking about their feelings in the quiet before the storm as they prepare to give their lives in the defence of the White City. I wanted then to include one each of the new War Engines: a Trebuchet to smash those Siege Towers to smithereens and an Avenger Bolt Thrower to mow down any enemies going for my gate. The rest of my points would be spent on Warriors of Minas Tirith and, most importantly, on Citadel Guard. These guys' Fight value of 4 is vital for beating Orcs and Easterlings in combat and to at least draw fights against the nasty Mordor Uruk-hai. I made sure that a third of my force was made of archers, which are vital in siege games to try and reduce the numbers of the enemy as they cover the open ground to reach the walls. And now, may the grace of the Valar protect us!

GOOD FORCES - 750PTS
	HEROES   8 Warriors of Minas Tirith (shield & spear) 72 Beregond 20 Pippin (armour, Elven cloak) 35 4 Warriors of Minas Tirith (bow) 32 Gandalf (Elven cloak) 210 1 Warrior of Minas Tirith (banner) 32 TROOPS   1 Bolt Thrower (swift reload & 1 extra crew) 97 8 Citadel Guard (bow) 80 8 Citadel Guard (spear) 72 Trebuchet 100
Click to enlarge

DEPLOYMENT

As the Good side had to set up first, Alessio had to spread his defenders across the width of the battlements. On the right flank of the walls, Beregond led a small contingent of warriors, one with a spear and two with bows and a single Citadel Guardsman with spear. In the centre, Gandalf marshalled the defence atop the gatehouse flanked by Citadel Guard bowmen, a Warrior of Minas Tirith with a banner, and an Avenger Bolt Thrower. Pippin, the last of the Good Heroes, took command of the left flank of the castle, supported by more spearmen and Citadel Guard. To prevent it blocking access across the wall, the Trebuchet was deployed behind the sturdy bulwarks, forcing it to rely on relayed targeting information from the defenders who had a clear view of the enemy. Finally, Alessio spread his remaining troops evenly across and behind the breadth of the wall.

In response to the evenly spread defenders, Mat deployed his force across the frontage of the battlefield. On the extreme of either flank, a Siege Tower – crewed by Easterlings, and led by an Easterling Captain – was forced into position by a huge Mordor Troll. In the centre, Shagrat himself directed his entourage of Uruk-hai as they prepared to attack the gate with a Battering Ram (in actual fact, a statue taken from the outer defences of the Rammas wall). Between the Uruk-hai and each Siege Tower an attack ladder was deployed, the one to Shagrat's left manned by Mordor Orcs, while the one to his right was much more dangerous – eight massive and heavily-armoured Morannon Orcs would use this one to assault the defences. To round out the assault force, two massive Catapults were wheeled into position at the rear of the field.

As the dead of night fell, a blood-curdling roar went up from the attackers – the siege of Minas Tirith was about to begin.

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