MISSION OBJECTIVES

Most games can use the end conditions to determine who has won. For example, if playing to the Secure the Quay end conditions, the attacker will lose if his models are driven from the quayside or eliminated. Alternatively, if playing to the War of Attrition end condition, the player who loses 50% of his force first loses the game. Of course, there are plenty of ideas for goals scattered around The Lord of The Rings scenarios, so players should feel free to agree their own situations and objectives with their opponent. If playing the Random Game Length end condition, the winner is the player with the most models left alive at the end of the game.

Hopefully by now you've had a chance to launch several of your own coastal raids, or at least to defend against those of your opponent. Let's face it though, piratical behaviour is as its best when you have a suitably piratical goal, like kidnapping, stealing or just razing things to the ground. Ever being a little sympathetic to the call for wanton destruction, I've taken the opportunity to allow exactly that. As with the Deployment options, Game Length and Special Rules that I presented last month, simply agree with your opponent on which of the options you want to use, or roll a D6 if you can't agree.

ADVANCED MISSION OBJECTIVES

Every fight has a reason, even if it is just a case of two hosts meeting in battle to take land, and coastal raids are not an exception. It's always worth trying to think up a good narrative for your conflict based on the forces you and your opponent are using. Perhaps Aragorn is trying to destroy the ships of the Corsairs, harboured in Umbar? Maybe Gothmog is trying to breach the defences of Osgiliath? Whatever your goal, you needn't worry too much about the game being balanced. Dice have a funny way of rebalancing these situations, and some of the most enjoyable games can be ones where you are struggling against the odds. Included below are a few ideas to play your scenarios around, but feel free to come up with your own. Note that any objectives can be combined in any way, so if you want to play a scenario with Ransom and Plunder objectives, you can - the attacker has to achieve more objectives than he fails to win the game.

OBJECTIVES AND ALIGNMENT

Many of these objectives might look like they are told from one point of view and are not necessarily suitable for both sides (ie, would a Good army really try and assassinate an Evil Hero?). The answer is, of course, that absolutely they would. Players should feel free to come up with their own narratives to justify the actions of their forces. So, for example, while Orcs might pillage a village because they can, Elves would more likely raid an Orc military outpost. The same rules and objectives apply in each case, but one paints a far nicer picture of the 'Good' models than the other.

KIDNAP

This raid has been initiated to kidnap one or more enemy warriors, to hold them for ransom or torture. If a Kidnap is part of the mission objectives, the attacking player can choose for his troops not to slay their enemies in close combat. To represent this, whenever a defending model loses its last wound in close combat, the attacker can choose for them to have been knocked unconscious, rather than killed. Attackers (or defenders) may drag unconscious models by moving into base contact with them. Once a model is in base contact with an unconscious model, it can complete its move normally, dragging the unconscious model alongside. If the model doing the dragging is engaged in close combat, it will release the model. In all Kidnap missions, the attacker must drag his victims to a boat, which must then leave the board.

There are several iterations of the Kidnap objective. Players can choose which one to use or, if they wish, roll a D6 to determine their mission objective.

Targets of opportunity (D6 roll of 1-2)
In this mission, the attackers are attempting to kidnap as many enemies as possible (to take away as slaves if the attackers are Evil, or for interrogation if the attackers are Good). At the end of the game, the attacker scores:

• 1 point for each Warrior kidnapped
• 5 points for each unnamed Hero kidnapped
• 10 points for each named Hero kidnapped (Aragorn, Gandalf, Gothmog etc.)

If the attacker scores 10 or more points, then he wins the game.

Ransom (D6 roll of 3-4)
A captured leader is always worth much to the opposition, whether in terms of concessions, or simple currency. The attacker must kidnap one or more enemy Heroes (named or unnamed). If he does so, he wins the game.

Checkmate (D6 roll of 5-6)
Even more than the capture of enemy captains, the capture of an enemy king can often lead to great wealth or victory. The attacker must capture the most expensive Hero on the defending side. If two or more Heroes are of the same points cost, then the attacker must declare which at the start of the game.

Next: Pillage and Raid Missions
Previous: End Conditions