TURN NINE

Good managed to acquire Priority this turn, and Mat had his Easterling Captain on the defenders' right flank call a heroic move in an attempt to maintain the initiative. But as the Easterlings on the right flank swarmed over the defenders once more, on the left flank another Ultimate Sorcerous Blast from Gandalf bowled two Easterlings to the ground, even as two Citadel Guard managed to push the Morannon Orcs' ladder away from the wall. It seemed that the defenders' luck had finally changed as, in the Shoot phase, the Trebuchet managed to land a shot on the remaining Catapult, causing two Batter Points of damage, while the Avenger and a bowman each managed to kill another Uruk-hai, and a Citadel Guard's arrow managed to pierce the armour of an Easterling. Conversely, and even with extra crew to supplement its efficiency, the Mordor Catapult managed to miss with both shots. As the Fight phase dawned, the two Mordor Trolls failed, yet again, to make any impression upon the gate. Meanwhile, though the sheer numbers of Easterlings once more enabled Mat to prevail in most of the fights, the armour of Gondor cheated him of his kills, and the skill of the Citadel Guardsmen added another dead Easterling to the butcher's bill. In the space of a single turn, Alessio's forces had managed to turn the game around.

TURN TEN

As fighting became all the more desperate, Mat managed to secure Priority this turn and, as the Morannon Orcs picked their ladder up again, the Easterlings on the right flank engaged the remaining defenders. On the left flank, the attackers scattered as best they could, minimising their vulnerability to Gandalf's Ultimate Sorcerous Blast. This was a seemingly wise move, as only a single Easterling was blasted, and though he survived, the Warrior of Minas Tirith he was propelled into was not so fortunate. As the Easterling Captain behind the wall was set upon by no less than six defenders, the Shoot phase began. Both the Trebuchet and Mordor Catapult missed their targets once more, as did the handful of archers with targets. Meantime, the Avenger managed to justify its presence in a single round, spitting out six shots and managing to kill one of the Trolls by the gate and wounding the other! In the Fight phase, the Easterling Captain behind the wall was finally overwhelmed, suffering a total of six wounds! The forces of Good did not fare so well elsewhere, however, as the remaining Troll finally managed to damage the gate – worse yet, the remaining two defenders on the right flank were overwhelmed and slaughtered by the Easterlings.

The minions of Sauron rampage across the walls

TURN ELEVEN

With the game nearly over Priority returned to the Good side, though they were now short on troops to maximise on their fortune. Those defenders able to do so threw themselves at the foe, with what reserves remained rushing to the right flank. Fortunately for the Evil side, Gandalf's Ultimate Sorcerous Blast failed to work once more, for with Gandalf still alive and the defenders still far above a quarter strength, the only way Mat could now win was to force sixteen models onto the walls and, with only just enough warriors left to achieve this, every casualty was starting to count. As Mat rushed to get his remaining troops into position, the Morannon Orcs thrust their ladder back onto the wall. The Troll backed off from the gate to give the surviving Catapult a chance to breach the portal – a gamble that failed as both shots went wide of the target – though as the Trebuchet had missed its target, and only a single Easterling and the Morannon Orcs' ladder had fallen to the Avenger, Mat was happy to settle for the trade. With Gandalf blocking the left flank, the only combat was at the opposite end of the battlements where the savage hand-to-hand fighting led to the death of another Citadel Guardsman. With no Evil models falling in return, Mat just barely had enough troops left to win the game.

TURN TWELVE

In the closing turn of the game, Mat won Priority once more and used this advantage to have an Easterling charge Gandalf, figuring it was safer to fight the Wizard than risk the danger of his Ultimate Sorcerous Blast. With the Morannon Orc's ladder destroyed, there was no chance of getting them onto the battlements, but the remaining Evil warriors on the battlements were just numerous enough to win the game if no others were slain. With this in mind, Mat got as many Easterlings as he could into the now empty tower and out of the bowfire of the defenders. With most of his remaining troops too far away from the right flank to make a difference, Alessio had two of his Citadel Guard charge down the stairs of the tower in an attempt to kill the one vital Easterling that would win him the game. As he did so, he gave his Trebuchet a chance to fire on the few Evil warriors left on the battlements of the right flank but, seeing the danger, Mat tasked his own Catapult to target the crew of the Gondor war engine and, with a lucky shot, slew both remaining crew! With things getting really tense, Alessio's unengaged bowmen fired on whatever targets they had, but though they hit, were unable to score a wound. Even the Avenger, though managing to hit the Troll four times, was unable to cause enough wounds to finish it off. To add to Alessio's frustration, Gandalf was unable to slay the lone Easterling! His final chance for victory lay with the two Citadel Guard who had charged into the tower. Unfortunately, the Easterlings fought like men possessed and slew both opponents, leaving victory in Mat's hands...

...or so it seemed. As it turned out, in the heat of battle, Mat had forgotten to move one of his Easterlings onto the wall in the final turn, leaving him one model short to claim victory. However, as the game was so close (and great fun into the bargain) Alessio generously allowed Mat to move his forgotten Easterling onto the wall.

The martial might of the Easterlings carries the day

PLAYER CONCLUSIONS

ROHAN HAS COME!

Alessio: Well, after twelve hard-fought turns it all came to a terrible moral dilemma: I could allow Mat to move the model he forgot on the Siege Tower and therefore give him the game, or stick to what effectively happened and win.

After some pondering I decided to be generous, since anyway it was a very close game and we both really had great fun, and that's what really matters in the end.

On a tactical level, I think I should have insisted on bombarding the Siege Towers rather than get demoralised by the lack of success my Trebuchet was having against them and switching target in favour of the catapults. The poor luck we both had at the beginning of the game with our Siege Engines was bound to change, and when it eventually did it resulted in the destruction of a Mordor Catapult and of my Trebuchet.

Oh and here's a few hints I can give you after having learned a couple of lessons from my mistakes – always hide models that don't have a missile weapon in the early turns of the game and always remember to keep at least a model in base contact with your banner bearers, to pick the flag up in case they get killed.

Oh, I forgot, the other lesson to be learned from this game certainly is: Fear the Easterlings!

LET THE WHITE CITY BURN!

Mat: Not a word. Not one word. My momentary (and, if truth be told, utterly predictable) break in concentration aside, everything went according to plan. That said, there are things that I should have done differently – firing the catapults at the walls or, better yet, that dratted Avenger Bolt Thrower which was a thorn in my side for the entire game. Yes, it's true that I lost a lot of troops (to the point where I could only just win the game) but then, that's the nature of taking a fortress by storm. Fortunately, I brought just enough flesh to feed into the meatgrinder, and the forces of Evil prevailed in a thoroughly enjoyable and closely fought game.

Previous: Turns Five to Eight

Related Articles:
The Tactics of Gondor | Modelling Siege Towers | Gondor Miniatures Range |
Mordor Miniatures Range | Mordor Homepage | The Siege of Gondor Homepage

Online Store:
The Return of The King | The Siege of Gondor