The Misty Mountains Campaign Map Click to enlarge

mall, vicious and possessed of an innate cunning, their numbers and persistence can make Goblins a formidable foe. Fortunately they are none too brave, rarely emerging from their lairs unless hunger or a powerful leader drives them to do so. Most often, Goblins are led by mightier individuals than they are capable of producing, such as Orcs or even Trolls. On rare occasions, one of the greater evils of Middle-earth will mobilise one of the great Goblin strongholds – though more often they will mobilise a force that is a little more reliable, such as Orcs or roguish and wild Men.

Perhaps as a result of this, Goblin Kings worthy of the name are rare indeed. Few are mentioned within the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, though this does not preclude the possibility of their wider existence. This mini-campaign follows the exploits of one such Goblin King, a devious and cunning creature named Azghûr who is set apart from his fellows by a fairly keen mind for tactics. It is fortunate for the Free world that Azghûr was born a Goblin, and not something more physically formidable, lest he were able to dominate a more potent warband and cause substantial ruin. As it is, he is satisfied with launching raids on the areas surrounding his lair, raids which, while brutal, fall far short of the terror caused by a rampaging warband of Trolls.

A nuisance can only be borne for so long, and at the time this campaign starts, Azghûr's Goblins have attacked, with varying degrees of success, every village or settlement within several leagues. Each time the Goblin warband attacks, a few villagers are slain, a little food or wealth is stolen, and a score of dwellings are razed to the ground. With every successful attack, Azghûr's forces grow stronger, reinforced by the looted wargear and the barter of stolen trinkets. However, things are about to change and Azghûr's reign is now numbered in days. His persistent attacks have finally roused the ire and anger of Elves, Dwarves and Men alike, and it is not long before the aggrieved parties agree to combine forces to end his threat once and for all.

PLAYING THE CAMPAIGN

This campaign is designed for two players, though several players can take part by dividing up the forces at their disposal. One player takes command of the Goblin warbands of the Misty Mountains, whilst the other controls the defenders of the various villages and settlements that Azghûr's force are preying upon.

THE 'HE'S NOT FROM AROUND HERE' RULE In this campaign, the forces of Good are working together, but do not trust each other. To represent this, a heroic action or Stand Fast! will only affect Warriors of the same race. This means that the Good player may want to think twice about having armies defending settlements of a different race.

For simplicity's sake, this campaign uses a map to allow players to keep track of the action. Showing a portion of the Misty Mountains, this map has several marker squares to represent the rough locations of the settlements. Each has its own symbol and colour, to indicate the dominant race dwelling there (see below). Each Good location always has a 'garrison' of a Captain and 50 points worth of troops for that race. However, the Free Peoples have agreed to pool their resources and create several small war parties that will attempt to defend the villages that are particularly at risk. To represent this, the Good player also has three small 'armies' that he can deploy according to where he thinks the risk lies; one Elf army, one Dwarf army, and one Mannish army (feel free to use Rohan, Gondor or even Ruffians for this). These are each of 100 points and must include a Captain of the relevant race.

Each Good force is represented by a counter but there are an additional five counters which represent 'dummy' defences – the Goblins will not know how strong the defences are until they launch their attacks. The Goblins, on the other hand have three different warbands, each made up of 150 points worth of models, including a Captain. No force, whether garrison or army, Good or Evil, may arm more than 33% of its models with bows.

THE CAMPAIGN TURN

The campaign turn proceeds according to the following sequence:

1. Muster Defenders
2. Muster Attackers
3. To Battle!
4. Evaluation

GAME COUNTERS

Dwarves	Men	Elves	Hero Counter	Goblins 1	Goblins 2	Goblins 3

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MUSTER DEFENDERS

EVALUATION TABLE
1	No Value. Turns out to be an utterly worthless trinket, not worth the effort of stealing. This counter adds nothing to your Plunder tally.
2-5	Tradeable. Rather a valuable little cache of food or coin that will quite handily translate into more resource for your burgeoning horde. For each of these results, add 1 to your Plunder tally.
6	Valuable Artefact. Your minions have laid their hands upon a truly valuable item (a scroll of history, or somesuch) that can be traded for a more immediately useful resource. Though of little value to the Orc and Goblin warchiefs of the Misty Mountains, one of the emissaries of Lugburz may be prepared to pay handsomely for it. For each of these results, add 3 to your Plunder tally. However, you may have drawn the attention of a wandering Hero. In the next game turn, the Good player may place a 'Wandering Hero' counter in addition to his armies for each of these results.

In this phase, the Good player places one counter face down on each settlement. In this way he will normally have placed three Army counters and five 'blank' ones. It's really that simple, there are no other rules that govern their placement, although the Good player will be aiming to predict where the Evil player is going to attack.

MUSTER ATTACKERS

The Evil player now places his three counters on the settlements that he wishes to attack – only one counter may be placed on each settlement. You'll notice that the Evil player can only attack three settlements each turn, so if he guesses correctly, he'll be able to attack settlements that aren't defended by anything other than garrisons.

TO BATTLE!

Once both sets have been placed, all the counters are revealed and battles are fought at the sites the Evil player has attacked. The Good force will consist of that settlement's garrison, plus the models of any Army counter placed there – blank counters yield no extra troops. These games use special battle scenarios named, appropriately enough, Loot, Pillage and Plunder – two of which have been included over the page, the third will appear in next month's White Dwarf. Simply agree on the one you wish to play, or roll a dice if you cannot decide.

EVALUATION

As part of the outcome, the Evil player will acquire a certain number of Loot counters. Once all games have been played, he gets to find out what his travails have won him. To do so, he rolls a dice for each Loot counter and consults the Evaluation table.

WINNING THE CAMPAIGN

The campaign continues for five turns. At this point, the 'Hunt for the Scavenger King' scenario is played (see next month's issue). When this happens, each Plunder point the Evil player has gained allows him to take an additional 15 points worth of models. Whoever wins the 'Hunt for the Scavenger King' scenario, wins the campaign.

WANDERING HEROES

Whether they are seeking to reclaim an item stolen by a Goblin raid, or are merely helping the common folk of Middle-earth defend themselves, Heroes will sometimes fight alongside the Good player's forces. If the Good player is allowed to place a Wandering Hero counter this is done in the same fashion as he places his Army counters (ie, face down, and not in the same settlement as another counter). If when the counter is revealed it is in the same settlement as a Goblin counter, the Good player immediately rolls 2D6 to determine who has come to his aid – the wandering Hero fights alongside that settlement's garrison. Wandering Heroes only have their basic equipment. Note also that wandering Heroes are exempt from the 'He's Not From Around Here' rule.

2D6 ROLL
2	Elladan and Elrohir		8	A Ranger of the North
3	Gandalf the Grey		9	Gildor
4	2 Dúnedain		10	2 Dúnedain
5	Arwen Evenstar		11	Radagast the Brown
6	A Ranger of the North		12	Aragorn
7	A Dúnedain

Next: Evil Heroes & Warriors