THE JOURNEY NORTH

With the principal players of the Evil side in place, all that remained was to give them a foe to oppose them who was worthy of their mettle. Who better to do so than Imrahil and the Knights of Dol Amroth? For me, Imrahil remains one of the more memorable characters in the book. Imrahil tirelessly encouraged the flagging spirits of the Warriors of Minas Tirith even as their citadel was brought under siege.

Sadly, he had no part to play in the film, but the opportunity to bring him to the fore could not be missed. Thus, it is under Imrahil's leadership that the defences of South Gondor are held against the advancing Southrons. Imrahil and the Knights are everything that should be expected from the pinnacle of Gondor's military tradition but are few in number and rely heavily on the more common warriors of Gondor.

Prince Imrahil of Dol Amroth

As for their struggle, the seven scenarios that make up the Harad section of the book follow not only Imrahil's defence of Harondor but also Suladân's bid to gain control of Harad so that both Good and Evil players can feel that they have something concrete to aim for over the course of their games. I've tried to create scenarios with a slightly different twist to them without compromising playability. The scenarios range in size from a handful of models, all the way up to complete army battles, but all can comfortably be played in less than 2 hours. As in Siege of Gondor and Shadow & Flame, the scenarios in the first half of the book all tie together into a campaign that brings the various characters to the forefront of the action.

THE PELENNOR ITSELF

The second half of the book, penned by Graham McNeill and Adam Troke, deals much more with the meat and bones of the Battle of the Pelennor Fields itself. Adam's scenario is a prologue of sorts, recounting Faramir's ambush of the Haradrim army, as told in The Two Towers. Though we covered this battle in The Two Towers rules manual, it seemed only fair to replay it with the historical participants. In the remainder of the book, Graham weaves the key events of the Battle of the Pelennor Fields into a series of scenarios, from the desperate sally of the Knights of Dol Amroth to Éomer's final stand by the Harlond.

So there you have it – The Battle of the Pelennor Fields in its entirety: 11 new scenarios, over 10 profiles for new Warriors and Heroes, painting and modelling guides (and that's before you go into the maps and background information), and more. The battle has begun!

Dol Amroth for Gondor!

Graham McNeill

Graham: Working on The Battle of the Pelennor Fields was a great opportunity for me to get involved with The Lord of The Rings game. Working on Codexes for Warhammer 40,000 has kept me pretty busy over the last few years, but I'd always had a hankering to try my hand at a supplement for The Lord of The Rings. I came to the project fairly late in the day, Mat having already penned most of the first half of the book. So, I was tasked with writing the second half of the book, which dealt with Halbarad Dúnadan, the Rangers of the North, and several scenarios that reflected moments from The Return of The King (but owed more of a debt to the text of the book itself).

Halbarad Dúnadan

In terms of the text, Halbarad is a fairly minor character, his primary claim to fame being that he carries a banner crafted by Elrond's daughter Arwen Evenstar. After rereading the parts of the book he appears in, it was clear that these Rangers were a cut above your average human, what with having the blood of Númenor coursing through their veins. I wanted Halbarad to be a fairly tough character, but not too tough, given that he meets a rather perfunctory end during the battle (we only learn of his death in a list of those who will never make it home!).

I also decided to give him a slightly higher Will value (again, to represent his Elvish blood) and made Arwen's Banner something that would help in the desperate struggle of battle – especially in the final stages of the battles on the Pelennor Fields.

The scenarios I wrote for the book represented pivotal moments from The Lord of The Rings that did not make the final cut of the movie or that were written before we knew how a particular scene in the movie would play out. I had particular fun with the Éomer's Rage scenario and threw in as much as I could from the book. It was also fun to include such a large number of Good Heroes, as I think that moment is fantastically dramatic – as represented in both the film and the book. I think that Éomer's Rage was the most complicated of the scenarios I wrote. It was certainly the one that took the most playtesting, but I think it's worked out well and makes for an interesting and fun game. The Glory of Dol Amroth is also a challenging scenario that makes the Good player work hard for a win, but the tactical considerations the Evil player has to make to prevent his opponent from winning make for an interesting game. The last scenario I wrote was a good old-fashioned cavalry charge: Théoden against the Serpent Lord, with loads of angry horsemen charging at one another. Simple, but fun – a bit like me.

It was great fun to work on this book and actually write stuff for The Lord of The Rings. The book has a wealth of scenarios and background to keep even the most ardent The Lord of The Rings fan happy. Oh, and it also has a frikkin' huge elephant!

Previous: The Haradrim

Related Articles:
What Is The Battle of Pelennor Fields? | The Battle of Pelennor Fields Miniatures Range

Online Store:
The Battle of Pelennor Fields