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!

Battle on the slopes of Erebor

Finally, after more months of shutdown than I can count, Trumpeter Gaming is back!  Of course, I missed the October game night, but on November 4th, I was able to take Arthur to his first wargaming night.  And much excitement was had by all!

With cooperation from Craig, who provided the dwarves, and from Gord, who although unable to attend himself, lent a small force of elves (also some eagles, who didn't make it on to the table), we set up a Dragon Rampant game.  I was happy to pull my BSC2021 boards out of storage, where they were re-purposed as the slopes of Erebor (also known as 'The Lonely Mountain').  Here, we find a small group of 13 dwarves have barricaded themselves behind makeshift walls to resist the encroachment of some elves of Mirkwood, and men of the Long Lake.

The men and elves attempt to parley with the leader of the dwarves, but he tells them (quite rudely) to be gone.  Just as the armies on both sides get ready to rumble, the Grey Wizard appears in their midst, and warns the men, elves and dwarves of the approaching army of orcs and goblins. 

Mobs of approaching orcs and goblins.

The Lakemen turn to face the orcs.

And so do the elves.

The first waves of orcs rush forward to break against the Lakemen shieldwall.

Laketown archers keep up a steady rain of arrows on their foes.

Arthur took to gaming like a fish to water!  Here he is getting some tactical advice from his ally, Doug.

On the right flank, the elves take advantage of the rough terrain to break up the orc advance.

The wizard and the hobbit decide that the safest place to observe the battle is from a hilltop far to the back!

Dwarves and elves cooperate to push back the orcs and goblins.

On the right, the lakemen stop the enemy's advance.

 I kept the scenario deliberately simple, as my main goal was to introduce Arthur to the rules and concepts, and also to ensure that we finished up the game in good time!  As the forces of good readily repulsed the baddies, there was no need for the eagles to show up as a deus ex machina.  It was a good, fast and fun game, and now Arthur is a new gamer, eagerly waiting the next outing!  The scenario was inspired by the book Arthur and I recently finished reading together.

Miniatures came from a variety of sources.  There was a good selection of Games Workshop Lord of the Rings figures, but also many from other sources.  The Lakemen were made up of a mix of various Dark Ages figures, including Late Romans from Foundry and Old Glory, Saxons from Eureka and Gripping Beast, El Cid-era Spanish from Crusader, and more. I hope Craig will jump into the comments with the pedigree of the dwarves!