TURN ONE

To get full use out of a Siege Tower, Mat needed to have warriors on top, ready to charge the enemy – in this case an Easterling Captain and three more Easterlings. The only problem with this is that it makes the tower heavier and much harder to propel towards the battlements. To counter this, Mat chose to deploy a Mordor Troll with each tower. Such is the strength of these hulking creatures that they count as several models for the purposes of pushing a Siege Tower.

As the attackers surged towards the battlements of the beleaguered Tower of Guard, the defenders readied their weapons and prepared for the fight of their lives. Choosing to allow his opponent's plan to fully reveal itself before restructuring his defensive posture, Alessio contented himself with having Gandalf cast Terrifying Aura, which he did without difficulty. In response, the attackers surged directly forwards towards the walls. Seeing the danger posed by having two Siege Towers converge upon his defences, Gandalf called out instructions to the Trebuchet. With a groan of strained wood and metal, the massive construction hurled its payload towards the more distant of the two towers, but their aim was slightly off and the boulder went astray. In a second attempt to halt the progress of the Siege Tower, the Avenger Bolt Thrower opened up, but despite scoring five hits, it managed only a single wound. The volley of fire from the bowmen proved to be more successful, pitching one Mordor Orc and an Uruk-hai lifeless into the mud. The return fire from Mat's catapults was largely cheated by the stone walls of Minas Tirith, but one fateful boulder smashed into the hapless Gondor Banner Bearer, sweeping his pulverised corpse from the battlements.

TURN TWO

By the letter of the rules, Ultimate Sorcerous Blast propels its target directly away from Gandalf, which really means that if he is higher up than his target, the unfortunate creature gets knocked into the ground and is not knocked backwards into any other models. However, after a bit of consideration it was decided to allow the spell to knock its target backwards but at half the normal distance.

Evil stole Priority from the Good side this turn with a decisive roll of 6, and once more Mat's forces continued their steady trek to the castle walls. As they did so, all the Citadel Guard with spears chose to duck behind the walls to protect themselves from the incoming Catapult fire. With the crew of the Battering Ram now in range, Gandalf chose to cast Ultimate Sorcerous Blast into their midst, killing one and, more importantly, knocking enough of the others to the ground to force the rest to drop their burden. The Mordor Catapults once more proved to be deadly – although this time, a shot aimed at Gandalf scattered onto one of his fellow defenders, ironically one of the Citadel Guard who had ducked into cover, and slew him instead. In retaliation, the Avenger and the bowmen struck out at the incoming horde, managing to cull an Uruk-hai, a Morannon Orc, and two Mordor Orcs from their numbers. Finally, Alessio directed the Trebuchet to hurl its burden at the distant Siege Tower once more. This time, it was on target but failed to wound the massive construction.

TURN THREE

Priority returned to the Good side this turn, and with it the chance to prepare for the imminent assault. The Citadel Guardsmen stood up once more and readied themselves. Meanwhile, Gandalf bought Beregond some more time by unleashing an Ultimate Sorcerous Blast into the Mordor Orcs carrying the Siege Ladder, killing two – there were still enough to carry the ladder at half speed, but it would take them another turn to reach the walls. The rest of the Evil force did not have this problem and with a hollow thump, the two Siege Towers crunched into the walls, the Easterlings atop them standing up in preparation of storming the walls the following turn. Even the Morannon Orcs were able to bring their ladder into contact with the wall and, seeing this, Shagrat abandoned his fellow Uruk-hai to their struggle with the Battering Ram and headed for the ladder. In the final volley that they would get before the assault began in earnest, the defenders managed to cull another two Mordor Orcs from the attackers with bowfire, whilst the Bolt Thrower successfully scored a wound on the Battering Ram. The Trebuchet missed once more, as did the Mordor Catapults.

Siege Towers and ladders hit the castle walls

TURN FOUR

As Priority remained with the Good side this turn, Shagrat used a point of Might to declare a heroic move, carrying him to the top of the nearby ladder before the defenders could cast it down. As a Citadel Guard spearman leapt onto the Siege Tower – Pippin tried to join him, but his short legs thwarted the effort – Gandalf summoned another Ultimate Sorcerous Blast into the unfortunate Uruk-hai manhandling the Battering Ram, but this time at the cost of two points of Might. The cost was well worth it however, with another Uruk-hai slain, and two more knocked to the ground – the Battering Ram dropped beside them once more. As play passed to Mat, the Easterlings charged into the ranks of the defenders, while below, their toil with the Siege Towers ended, the Trolls headed towards the gate. With the Easterlings on the walls, the defending archers elected to pour their fire into this new threat, but though many hits were scored, the well-crafted armour of the foreign warriors cheated the Men of Gondor of any kills. The Trebuchet was able to score a hit on the far Siege Tower, but once more failed to do any damage, though the Avenger Bolt Thrower did have more luck, firing a single shot that slew another Mordor Orc. The return fire from the Orc Catapults was largely thwarted by the parapets of the walls, however a single lucky shot managed to crush a stray crewman for the Avenger. With the attackers now on the walls, brutal hand-to-hand combat raged on the left and right flanks of the defences - in both cases a single Citadel Guard spearman was struck down by the elegant precision of an Easterling Captain, though on the defender's right flank an Easterling was killed in exchange. Meanwhile, Shagrat managed to best his opponent and, though it cost him his remaining Might to do so, struck him down and took his place upon the walls.

Next: Turns Five to Eight
Previous: In The Shadow of Mordor