Dragon Rampant - Gondor vs Mordor

I am a proud papa! Last week at Bonsor, Arthur hosted a game:  He set up the scenario, and then refereed the game.  The scenario had a small force of Gondor spearmen and archers stranded in some ancient ruins, where they needed to defend themselves against a force of Mordor orcs led by the Nazgul.  Meanwhile, a relief force hurried to their rescue!

Arthur setting up the table

Initial disposition of the troops:  defenders in the ruins, and the orcs preparing to assault.

First moves:  a group of orcs advances to the ruins.  Unfortunately, the orcs failed their second activation, resulting in an end to their turn.  This was a recurring challenge for the orcs!

Arrival of the reinforcements.  They arrived by boat. The group of dwarves jumped onto the shore with ease, but Arthur determined that the cavalry would need a bit more time to get their horses ashore.

Meanwhile, the defenders of the ruins easily hold off the orc attackers.  It's almost as if they don't need to be reinforced!

The fighting Uruk-hai attack the dwarves!  The first skirmish sees the dwarves pushed back.  But then a disastrous attempt to rally (snake eyes) sees the dwarves scattered and depart the game!

Meanwhile, the defenders in the ruins are doing just fine; the orc attackers cannot get a foothold inside the ruined castle.

Boromir leads the Gondorian cavalry against the Nazgul, but is pushed back.

Instead, he turns his attention to the Uruk-hai and disperses them.

Finally, with all the orcs destroyed or dispersed, the witch-king flees the field, pursued by the remaining Gondorian horse!

The game went well.  Michael and Evan shared command of the forces of Gondor, both playing their first game of Dragon Rampant.  I lead the forces of Mordor to a predictable defeat.  I didn't take advantage of the Nazgul's special ability to cause fear - I should have had them support the orcs attacking the castle - they could cause fear on the defenders, then send in the orcs to easily defeat the defenders.  Instead, I used them to slow down the reinforcements - all too typical for me, I'm afraid, as I am far too prone to dividing my forces instead of concentrating them for victory.

Congrats to Arthur for successfully running a game at the club, and thanks to Michael and Evan for joining us for the game!