Short cuts make long delays

Arthur's friend Oliver was over on Sunday, so we tried Scenario 2 of the Quest of the Ringbearer, 'Short Cuts make Long Delays'.  In this scenario, Frodo with Sam and Pippin are walking to meet Merry in Buckland, when Frodo has a bad feeling and persuades his companions to leave the road and proceed cross-country.  Three ringwraiths start searching for Frodo, and at the far end of the board, elf hero Gildor Inglorion detects that Frodo needs his help and moves protect him from the ringwraiths.

Here is the initial table setup.  Lots of trees to allow the hobbits plenty of space to hide from Nazgul searches!

The ringwraiths are subject to the rules for 'sentries' until at least one of them can spot a hobbit.  Sentries have semi-randomised movement, and an additional challenge is that they can't see the hobbits unless they are almost on top of them (i.e., within 3").  Hobbits on the other hand must check courage every turn - however as they are quite brave, this did not turn out to be a problem for them.

Hobbits using the cover of the trees to escape the view of the pursuing ringwraith.

Gildor rushing to the rescue.

The ringwraith at the bottom of the picture was distracted and moved backwards in his hobbit search!

Pippin finally failed a courage test and fell behind, while Sam stays close to Frodo.  Meanwhile, Gildor eliminates the first ringwraith (this also raises the alarm, so an end to all the sentry tests and courage tests).

Pippin connects with Gildor and helps him to fight the second ringwraith.

Rather than sticking around to finish off the second ringwraith, Gildor hurries off to intercept the third ringwraith.

Pippin and Gildor then stop the last ringwaith, while Sam and Frodo escape to the safety of the elf encampment.

This turned out to be a straightforward win for the hobbits and their friend Gildor.  We finished quickly, so tried the same scenario again with Oliver taking the ringwraiths.  In the second game, the alarm was raised on the second turn, but the end result was the same with a clear defeat for the Nazgul.  Maybe once we get a better understanding of Nazgul powers, they will become more deadly!