The battle of the Hornburg played with GW rules. The scenario comes from the siege of Gondor supplement: there are five objective markers spread around the fortress, the side who controls most of them by the battle's end will be the winner. We used the forces mentioned in the book, not Peter Jackson's version.
The armies:
Light:
Gimli
Legolas with armour
Aragorn with armour and Anduril
Theoden with shield
Eomer with shield
Gamling with royal banner of Rohan
21 warriors of Rohan with 2 handed weapons/shields/spears/bows
Darkness
4 uruk captains (hornblowers)
Dunland men chieftain
6 bersekers uruk hai (2 handed axes)
20 uruk hai with shield/bow
4 Uruk hai with crossbow
3 uruk hai demolition teams
22 orcs with 2 handed weapons
20 orcs with shield/bow
23 dunland men with shields
Both grups combine orcs, men of dunland and uruks, using the first two as cover for the uruks and the charges.
The forces of Saruman carry no less than three demolition charges heading to the gate
While the siege ladders are aimed at the deeping wall
The deeping wall is defended by Aragorn, Guimli and Theoden
While Gamling Eomer and Legolas protect the Hornburg itself
Eomer
Aragorn, Theoden and Gimli
Gamling
Saruman's hordes move forward
The cotton puffs mark the uruks with flaming brands
The uruks hit the wall
Ladders!
Legolas is killed by a crossbolt at the same time
Eomer leads a party of rohirrim to aid the defenders of the deeping wall
The soldiers of Saruman begin to advance over the causeway
Battle is joined over the deeping wall, with the orcs gaining a foothold in the right
The defenders move to cover the gate in the Hornburg
Aragorn, Theoden and Gimli stem the tide of darkness
While Eomer fights a second group further to the left
Charges incoming
It's a hard life fighting for the darkness
Specially when Aragorn is at the top of the ladder!
The charge is dropped next to the gates
The defenders of the inner court move to hold back the inevitabe onslaught
However, a rohirrim arrow kills the berseker carrying the brand and the uruk enginners will spend several turns gathering the courage to blow themselves and the gates while igniting the powder (quite a suicidal act!), the other bersekers will be unable to advance, trapped in the jam of troops over the causeway
Unfortunatelly Gimli is brought down under the uruk's blades; well at least he had killed several more evil soldiers than legolas's single kill
Aragorn moves towards the Hornburg to aid in the defence
But suddenly....
Ka-booom!
The gate (and several evil soldiers) are blown up
Theoden now holds a section of the deeping wall all in his own. Funnily eonough, since in the siege of Minas Tirith that same model hold in his own a wall against a siege tower full of easterlings and southrons after all the defenders had been killed.
Orcs and uruks fall before the might of the heir of Isildur who lets none stand in his path. Eomer had at this point climbed back to the Hornburg to defend the gate.
The sons of Eorl charge forward rather that wait for the besiegers, Gamling (with the banner) uses his might to call several heroic moves and charge before Saruman's soldiers thus protecting the objective.
But the wikedness of Saruman knows no boundaries, while a line of his soldiers blocks the defenders a charge is placed to blow them both!
Leaving a huge gap in the causeway wich is soon filled by the endless hordes of evil
Theoden finally succumbs to his many wounds
While Aragorn leaves the now lost deeping wall
The new forces that pour into the gate are the elite of Saruman's armies: uruks and berserkers, the previous troops were just the bait to draw the defenders forth!
The rohirrim line begins to crumble as some defenders are killed easily trapped inside the confines of the gate
While climbing the ladder to the Hornburg Aragorn recieves a wound by an uruk arrow, reminds you of some gondorian?
The melee continues near the gate, with the objective now in uruk claws
Eomer now has joined the fray
Aragorn climbs the ladder, turns round and kicks it down with a 6' killing one of the orcs climbing it.
A lone bowman left guarding the objective in the tower is killed by the massed fire of bows and crossbows
While Aragorn reaches the ladder to the gate
Eomer pushes forward and contests the objective marker, but Gamling, fighting to his right, is killed
In the last turn, the banners of Isengard wave over the towers of Helm's Deep claiming yet another objective!
Aragorn is unable to reach the fight under the gate
And Eomer is killed, losing the objective
Final count: the light controls the two objectives in the inner court
The uruks (and friends) control the objective marker in the gate
The one in the ladder leading from the south tower to the deeping wall
And the one in the wall itself. With a 3-2 the day belongs to the darkness.
A hard won victory for the forces of evil, won only at the last minute; the numeric superiority of Saruman's forces proved useless in the cramped confines of Helm's Deep and only at great (and unsuspecting) sacrifice by his minions, has Saruman achieved victory. In fact the light's player lost the battle when he moved Aragorn from the objective in the tower if he had left him there he would have claimed perhaps the third marker.
Next scenario: Forth eorlingas!
Aragorn leds the last three defenders of the Hornburg to the safety of the Aglarond,
What a great game. Nice to see the eye of Sauron on shields again....back in the late 70's every orc figure available sported the eye or hand device.
ReplyDeleteYes, it was pretty undecided until the last turn. A friend of mine has those lead orcs I hope that he'll paint them someday for skirmish games!
ReplyDelete