Original Air Date: April 16, 2011
So today I finally am playing with someone other than Gaius (I play with him a lot). Today, I'm playing with my good friend Glenstorm. He has challenged my Isengard army to a battle, so we'll see how it goes. For those of you who keep track, you know that my Uruks have not had the best record, as has been seen in their previous games with the Wood Elves and the Dwarves.
The Fist of Isengard: 449 points
Uruk-Hai Captain with heavy armor and shield - 60 points
16 Uruk-Hai warriors with shield - 160 points
16 Uruk-Hai warriors with pike - 160 points
1 Uruk-Hai warrior with banner - 39 points
3 Orc warriors with Orc bows - 18 points
2 Orc warriors with spears - 12 points
39 units, 3 bows, 1 hero
The Horse Masters of Rohan: 454 points
Eomer, Knight of the Riddermark with shield, throwing spears, mount, and bow - 100 points
3 Rohan Royal Guard with throwing spears - 36 points
14 Warriors of Rohan with throwing spears and shields - 126 points
5 Warriors of Rohan with bows - 35 points
2 Warriors of Rohan with banners - 62 points
Legolas, Prince of Mirkwood with armor - 95 points (ally)
26 units, 7 bows, 18 throwing weapons, 2 heroes
We will be playing a Brawl game on a board that is 24" long by 24" wide, because it will move quickly. As has been identified in past Brawl games, we will play until one side is broken and then will roll a dice at the beginning of each subsequent turn: on the roll of a 1, the game ends, with each passing round adding 1 to the required roll, thereby making the game end after 5 turns of one side being broken.
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The Uruks will be approaching from the left, while the men of Rohan will approach from the right. The map is reminiscent of the Westfold, as there is a small village of sorts in the center of the map with rocks and hills surrounding it. This fight has an added element to the battle in that Isengard and Rohan are traditional enemies in the books and in the movies, so we'll see how this fight ends.
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Pre-game assessment of my strategy:
I know from the get-go that my Uruks have an advantage over the men of Rohan if we can engage them in combat, because not only do they not have spear support units, but I have nearly as many spears as I do swords. But...I learned from my game against Gaius that throwing weapons and bows can be really dangerous against my Uruks. Granted the bows I will be facing today are only strength 2 bows, but that's little comfort for my shield-bearing Uruks since they are wounded on a 6 by both strength 2 and strength 3 units.
I'm also running two simple formations: a phalanx and a wedge. For the phalanx, the men of Rohan will need to get to the flanks in order for the strength of the Uruk-Hai to not overbear on the Rohan warriors. I'm also hoping that I get to charge him in combat and not the other way around, because otherwise, I could be torn up by the throwing weapons. My largest concern with the phalanx is that there are a few Orc spearmen in it, which is great for spreading the battle line, but should the Uruks in front of these units die, we will be fighting with a Fight value 3 and a Strength 3 unit, instead of a Fight value 4 and a Strength 4 unit...which is not very good.
Pre-game assessment of Glenstorm's strategy (unknown to me until after the game):
My Rohan warriors are going to need to decimate the Uruk-Hai with their throwing weapons. Because Tiberius's Uruk-Hai have more strength, fight value, and armor, and they have the good opportunity to roll three dice to win the fight and wound (should they win), the chances that my men win the fight or escape a lost combat with their lives is rather slim.
Using the obstructions in the center, I'm going to attempt to swarm the flanks of the Uruk-Hai line of battle, which should trap some of his units and double my wound dice in the vent that I win the fight. I am going to use Eomer and Legolas in tandem to crush one flank, and then we will wag them and any supporting soldiers back toward the middle.
Turn 1: Advancing Into the Westfold (Priority - Uruk-Hai)
Both sides move towards each other...here's a look at the different formations we're using:
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10 Warriors of Rohan with shields and throwing spears, 2 Warriors of Rohan with bows, 3 Rohan Royal Guards with throwing spears, and a Warrior of Rohan with banner support Eomer in the center of the board. Eomer is mounted, but the horse model is currently under repairs...as is his sword.
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On the Rohan left, 4 Warriors of Rohan with shield and throwing spear support Legolas, 3 Warriors of Rohan with bows, and a Warrior of Rohan with banner.
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The Uruk Phalanx, approaching the center with 10 Uruk-Hai with shields, 16 Uruk-Hai with pikes, and 2 Orc Warriors with spears. Unfortunately, this beautiful formation will need to break up a little as it approaches the town.
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On the Uruk right, the Uruk Captain leads his men in a wedge formation: six Uruks with shields and one Uruk-Hai with banner support him. Barely featured in this shot is one of the three Orc Warriors with Orc bow...you can see his hand on the right side. The other two are on either side of the Phalanx.
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Turn 2: Momentum Builds, A Rider Appears (P - Uruks)
Both armies continue to move towards each other...
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As you can see from the picture (and more clearly if you zoom in on it), Eomer has entered the outskirts of the city and is preparing to fire on the Uruks. The Uruk advance remains steady, but slow.
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Here's a rear view of the Phalanx advance. You can see in this picture that two of the Uruk pikemen on the left are having an argument and two of the Uruk pikemen on the right are having a more civilized discussion...probably about medium rare meat. :-)
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Turn 3: More Haste - More Haste! (P - Rohan)
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Eomer has moved to support his left flank and begins to fire on the Uruk-Hai in the wedge formation. Everyone else simply continues to advance towards each other.
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Here are the Uruks in the Wedge formation. Thanks to the rock that you can see at the bottom of the screen, most of them were given the benefit of an in-the-way roll from Eomer's bow. During this round, Eomer hit his target (the Uruk on the far left), but failed to wound him.
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Turn 4: Arrows Fly (P - Rohan)
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Both armies are now in bow range, which means that Rohan has the superior advantage. Eomer, Legolas, and the 5 Warriors of Rohan with bows have taken up positions to fire on the Uruks, while the rest charge into the melee. It was at this moment that I realized that I only had 3 lame Orc archers to return fire with, and was greatly...displeased.
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Legolas never ceases to amaze me as an archer. This round, he only succeeded in wounding one unit (using a Might point), but that happened to be my Captain. Thankfully, my Captain saved the wound with a Fate point on the roll of a 6. Eomer also killed an Orc archer who was preparing to climb one of the buildings.
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In other news, the Rohan "hawk-eye" as Glenstorm likes to call him nailed an Uruk with shield. Thankfully, my Phalanx is only 9 long by 3 deep, which means that I had an extra Uruk-Hai on the end of the battle line, so the look should remain about the same.
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Kill count: Rohan 2, Uruk-Hai 0.
Turn 5: The Heat of Battle Rises (P - Rohan)
Sorry, no pictures. During the Shoot phase, Legolas paid another Might point to wound my Captain. He is now 1 wound away from dying and hasn't even been able to fight yet! From the get-go, I was hoping that his 7 Defense would keep him safe from Rohan archery, but I wasn't expecting Legolas today...
Kill count: Rohan 2, Uruks 0.
Turn 6: The Sound of Arms (P - Rohan...again...)
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Rohan has once again gained priority and has moved into defensive positions against the Uruk-Hai. Now most of their Warriors with throwing weapons are in range, which is the part I was most afraid of. The only ones who are not in range are the two Warriors at the top of the picture, who are moving around in a sneaky sort of way.
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As you can see, we are engaged in battle. You can also see Glenstorm's shaggy arm...and a certain lack of a captain in the wedge formation. This is because Eomer threw his throwing spear and killed him (spending 2 Might points to do so, but making sure that my captain's Strength 5 didn't get a chance to be used).
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During the Shoot phase, one of the Rohan warriors with throwing spears on the right killed an Uruk with shield (already removed) because of an in-the-way roll - originally aiming for one of the pikes behind him. Above these guys at the top left, there used to be an Orc Archer on one of the buildings...but he was killed by a Rohan archer...probably the hawk-eye guy. During the Fight phase, 3 Warriors of Rohan and a Rohan Royal Guard were killed.
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During the Shoot phase on this side, a Rohan archer successfully shot and wounded the banner-bearer. He was, however, in base contact with two Uruks, so the one on the left took up the banner. Legolas then used one keenly shot arrow and wounded the new banner-bearer, who passed the banner off to the other Uruk he was in base contact with. During the Fight phase, the two Uruks with shields succeed in beating Eomer, but fail to wound him, as they used their shielding technique to say alive. In the other fights, the new banner bearer died, leaving no one to pick up the banner. The Uruk on the far left, however, succeeded in killing his man.
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After a very messy round, the kill count is Rohan 8, Uruks 5.
Turn 7: The White Hand Emerges (P - Uruk-Hai!)
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The board is now very messy. Eomer spent his last Might point to call a herioc move. With it, he slammed into some of my pikemen and the other units on the Rohan Left formed up in a defensive position. Legolas was unaffected by the movement, so he would move later with the rest of the Rohan force. With very few Uruk-Hai left in the wedge formation, I engaged as many units as I could, being careful to target the banner-bearer as one of them. In the other fights, I tried to gang up two units to every battle, just to get the most out of my Uruks. With the final remaining moves, the Rohan moved their archers around a little and threw Legolas into the fight with the banner bearer.
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In these fights, Eomer beat the 5 Uruks he was fighting, knocked 3 to the ground, and killed 2 of them. It may not surprise you that the Rohan warrior with banner died against the 3 Uruks he was fighting. The Warrior of Rohan with the throwing spear (second from the bottom left) also died, making the kills on this side of the board 2 and 2.
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In these fights, the Uruks lost most of them, but succeeded in losing no one (thanks largely to shielding) and killing the center Rohan Warrior with throwing spear.
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Kill count: Rohan 10, Uruks 8. To place some perspective on this, the Rohan army will need to kill 10 more Uruks before they break, while the Uruks only need to kill 5 more Rohan units.
Turn 8: The Final Fist...(P - Uruks)
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with the board looking pretty bleak on most sides after the Uruks won priority again, Glenstorm decided to cede me victory...which I took gladly.
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Assessment by Tiberius:
The game went well and I was pleased with how the phalanx worked. To be honest, I was a bit concerned when the phalanx needed to split up because of the terrain. It also was forced to inch across the board when Uruk-Hai were killed in the front line, which added to the cumbersomeness of the force. In many ways, we were lucky to not be killed by all of the Rohan throwing spears...it could have ended much, much worse. Still, once the phalanx attacked, I was not disappointed, which is more than I can say for some of the past few games. The wedge failed horribly, but its purpose was served in that it distracted both of the enemy heroes, allowing the phalanx to advance with impunity.
Assessment by Glenstorm:
The throwing weapons did not work. Period. I underestimated his soldiers, and spent too much on two heroes that killed a total of six soldiers (costing him 110 points total, in contrast to the 190 points I spent on them). His men rolled really well, despite my banner support and his lack of banner support. Also, I should have let him come farther into the center and swung all the way around the battle line, forcing him to split his pikemen from his swordsmen. But, at the end of the day, he rolled a lot of sixes, and that won him the day. He played very well, was very methodical and clever in his troop deployment, and I admit complete defeat. Well played, Tiberius.
Stellar unit for Isengard: Uruk-Hai Warrior with pike
Though most of the kills in this game went to the Uruks with shields, they were empowered by the Uruks with pikes. As expected, the benefit of having a higher Fight value and 3 attacks gave the Uruks a definite advantage, but in the fights that only involved Uruks with shields, they tended to lose. This highlights the benefits of having pike support. I wasn't pleased with the archery I got from the Orc archers. I've experienced in past games (like the one with the Wood Elves) that having Orc archers (or an Uruk-Hai hero) would be nice for the army, but in this game, they simply did nothing for me. I liked having the spearmen, but in future games, I'll probably go with two-handed weapon Orcs, to add an extra level of destructiveness for the army.
Stellar unit for Rohan: Rohan Warriors with bows
Seeing as they succeeded in killing most of the units who were not claimed by heroes, it appears that they were the only real warriors to give that credit to. On the other hand, the Rohan Royal Guards were resilient against the Uruk-Hai Phalanx, only one of which died. At the end of the day, most of the kills were collected by heroes, so perhaps the stellar status should go to Eomer or Legolas. On the whole, the units were fairly even in their scores.
