DESCRIPTION

This double scenario revisits the finale of The Fellowship of The Ring. Boromir has tried to take the ring from Frodo's hand, and the Ringbearer has fled the Fellowship with his inseparable friend Sam. All the other members of the Fellowship are scattered around the ancient hill of Amon Hen looking for the missing Hobbits when they are ambushed by a large force of Uruk-hai led by the evil Lurtz. The minion of Saruman has clear orders - he is to capture the Hobbits and take them back to his Master. Nothing else matters and nothing must get in his way!

This scenario is similar to the one in the rules manual, but with distinct differences as we had much more space here to recreate the detail of this exciting event. The scenario is divided into two linked episodes, and the result of the first will influence the setting of the second. The details of how this happens will soon become clear, so keep reading and have fun!

Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas face some Uruk-hai.

POINTS MATCH

This scenario is not really suitable for a points match, but if you want you can play with two forces of equal points value. The Good side's force consists only of Heroes. The Evil force must include only one Hero and cannot include more than a third of its models as armed with bows.

LURTZ'S URUK-HAI FORCE

The Evil side's force is made up of Lurtz, 24 Uruk-hai warriors with shields and 12 Uruk-hai warriors with bows. The Evil player must split his force into two, following the instructions in the relevant scenario. He will find that this leaves some degree of freedom on the number and type of models he can allocate to each episode, presenting him with an interesting choice.

SCENARIO ONE - TO THE RESCUE!

PARTICIPANTS

On the Good side is Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli. They all have Elven cloaks.
On the Evil side is 18 or more Uruk-hai warriors from the Evil force (at least three must have bows).

LAYOUT

The game is played on a 6'x4' (168cm x112cm) table. The Seeing Seat is on a hill at the centre of the Good side's deployment area (see map). Trees and areas of rocky terrain are scattered around the rest of the table. The river Anduin flows along one of the short table edges, making it impassable.

STARTING POSITIONS

Aragorn is deployed first, on the hill of Amon Hen, up to 12" away from the Good side's table edge. Six Uruk-hai warriors are then deployed 4" away from Aragorn. Legolas and Gimli are then deployed anywhere at least 8" away from the Uruk-hai and up to 12" from the Good side's table edge. The remaining Uruk-hai are finally deployed within 12" of the Evil side's table edge.

OBJECTIVES

The heroes of the Fellowship have to move as quickly as possible off of the table from the Evil player's table edge, in order to help the beleaguered Hobbits. The Uruk-hai must delay them as long as possible and inflict as much damage as they can. It should be clear from the beginning that the Uruk-hai force is not strong enough to kill the Heroes, but it can certainly buy some time for Lurtz to capture the Hobbits and knock a few points of Might off the good guys, weakening them in the next episode.

SPECIAL RULES

This double scenario is a race against time. Keep track of the number of turns that have expired during this episode and record in which turn each Hero leaves the table by moving off the Evil side's table edge.

SCENARIO TWO - CAPTURE THE HALFINGS!

PARTICIPANTS

On the Good side is Boromir, Merry and Pippin. The Hobbits have Elven cloaks. On the Evil side is Lurtz and 12 or more Uruk-hai warriors taken from the remainder of the Evil force (at least three must have bows).

LAYOUT

The game is played on a 6'x4' (168cm x112cm) table. Trees and areas of rocky terrain are scattered through the entire table. The river Anduin flows along one of the long table edges, making it impassable (see map).

STARTING POSITIONS

Merry and Pippin are deployed anywhere within 15"/35cm of the Evil side's starting line (see map). Boromir is deployed anywhere within 12"/28cm of the Evil side's starting line (see map). Lurtz and the Uruk-hai are not deployed, but will move on from the Evil side's starting line. The Evil side has priority in the first turn of this scenario. Keep track of the number of turns expired during this game. Any of the Heroes on the Good side who left the table in scenario 1 will move onto the table in scenario 2 the turn immediately after (for example, if Aragorn leaves the table on turn 11 of scenario 1, he will enter the table on turn 12 of scenario 2). These Heroes enter the table anywhere from the Evil side's start line and are in exactly the same condition as they left scenario 1 (wounds suffered, points of Might expended etc).

OBJECTIVES

The Uruk-hai must capture the Hobbits and carry them off the table from their own starting line. The Good side must stop them. If both Hobbits are carried off the table from the Evil side's start line, the Evil side wins. If one Hobbit is carried off and the other is saved, the game counts as a draw. If both Hobbits are saved, the Good side wins.

SPECIAL RULES

The Evil side is trying to capture the Hobbits rather than kill them. Hobbits can only be captured in hand-to-hand fighting, so the Evil models cannot shoot the Hobbits. Exceptionally, they are allowed to shoot through Hobbit models (over their heads that is...) if Boromir starts to use them as human shields (booo, hiss!).

To capture a Hobbit, a combat is fought as normal except that, when fighting to subdue rather than to kill, the Evil models count as being armed only with knives. If a Hobbit suffers its final Wound then the Evil player can ‘knock out' his opponent rather than slay him. The model retains 1 Wound but can do nothing. The knocked-out model is lain down to indicate this. Once knocked out, a model can be carried by one enemy, reducing his movement by a half, or by two enemies at normal movement speed. To pick up an unconscious model, one or two Evil models must begin their move in contact with it, and can move off in that same turn. Any Hobbits carried to the Evil side's start line count as having been captured.

A model cannot carry an unconscious foe whilst doing anything else. Evil models cannot voluntarily drop Hobbits they're carrying but, if fighting, they must drop their burden.

An unconscious model that is not touching an enemy can be revived by any Good model that ends its move in contact. The captive revives immediately and can act that turn – but must first rise to his feet (taking half a move). Good models cannot shoot Evil models carrying unconscious Hobbits.

In this scenario, if an Evil model has to retreat and there are no Good models in sight, it will retreat towards the closest point of the start line and not towards the closest table edge. Unconscious models are ignored for the purpose of determining direction of retreat (Uruk-hai warriors are not scared of unconscious Hobbits!).

If Evil models fail a Courage test while carrying a Hobbit, they retreat carrying the Hobbit. If two models are carrying a Hobbit, take a single test for the two, using the best Courage available.

ALTERNATIVE IDEA: FOUR PLAYER GAME

Another great way of playing this scenario is to have two Good players and two Evil players. The scenarios are played simultaneously on two different tables, making sure that turns are played at the same time on both tables. This is easily achieved if the first table to finish a turn waits for the other table before starting the next turn, so that the turns proceed at the same speed in both scenarios. This makes for an even more fun game, because the models in Scenario 2 don't know beforehand how many turns they have before the heroes turn up!

The Uruk-hai make their getaway!

Other Isengard Scenarios:
The Butchers of Isengard | War of Saruman
A New Power is Rising | The Wrath of Rohan | Escape from Orthanc

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