Original Air Date: July 1, 2011
So, I'm playing regularly with Glenstorm now and we have yet another fight for you today. This time, Glenstorm is using his Isengard Raiders (Uruks Scouts, Orc Warriors, and Uruk heroes) against my Wood Elves (featured in several past posts, in case you had forgotten).
The Might of Mirkwood: 492 points
Legolas, Prince of Mirkwood - 90 points
Gandalf the Grey - 170 points
8 Wood Elf Warriors with Elven blades and throwing daggers - 80 points
8 Wood Elf Warriors with Wood Elf spears and throwing daggers - 80 points
8 Wood Elf Warriors with Elf bows - 72 points
26 units, 8 bows + Legolas, 2 heroes
Raiders of Isengard: 496 points
Ugluk - 60 points
Vrasku - 60 points
8 Uruk-Hai Scouts with shields - 72 points
8 Uruk-Hai Scouts with Orc bows - 72 points
8 Uruk-Hai Scouts - 64 points
8 Orc Warriors with shields - 48 points
8 Orc Warriors with spears - 48 points
4 Orc Warriors with Orc bows - 24 points
3 Orc Warriors with two-handed weapons - 18 points
1 Orc Warrior with banner - 30 points
50 units, 12 Orc bows + Vrasku, 2 heroes
The scenario we will be playing is a To The Death game on a board that is 48" long by 48" wide. As described in a past To The Death game, we will roll to see where half of our army is placed: on the roll of a 1-3, the selected half of the army is placed within 3" of your selected board edge. On the roll of a 4+, the half of your army is placed within 18" and 24" of your board edge. We rolled to see which board edge was claimed by who and Glenstorm chose the side that had the largest wooded portion (see map later).
Our forces were split as follows:
Elf division 1, "Broken Arrow": Legolas, 6 Wood Elf bowmen, 3 Wood Elf swordsmen, 3 Wood Elf spearmen
Elf division 2, "Furious Light": Gandalf, 2 Wood Elf bowmen, 5 Wood Elf swordsmen, 5 Wood Elf spearmen
Isengard division 1, "Rain of Arrows": Vrasku, 8 Uruk Scout archers, 4 Orc archers, 4 Uruk Scouts with shields, 2 Uruk Scouts with swords only, 3 Orc spearmen, 1 Orc axeman
Isengard division 2, "Brutal Fist": Ugluk, 4 Uruk Scouts with shields, 6 Uruk Scouts, 8 Orc swordsmen, 5 Orc spearmen, 2 Orc axemen, 1 Orc banner-bearer
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I rolled to see where "Broken Arrow" is placed: on the roll of a 5, they will be at the front line of the battle. I spread out my archers as close to 18" as I could, with swordsmen and spearmen making a solid line in front of them. In the next picture, you'll see where Legolas and the rest of this detachment were placed...
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Legolas remained on the wing with two archers, hoping to distract some of the enemy and break them to pieces.
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Glenstorm rolled to see where "Rain of Arrows" would be, and he also rolled a 5. Both archer forces are now at the front of the conflict and are preparing for a bloody volley.
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I then rolled for the "Furious Light" formation: I rolled a 2, and subsequently placed my melee-heavy force as close to 3" from my board as I could. Hopefully, they will get into the battle quickly.
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Glenstorm then rolled for "Brutal Fist" and rolled a 6...all of the Uruks are breathing down the necks of half my army. This is not looking good at all...though Glenstorm seemed pretty happy about it. After we each roll for priority, I was happy to find that priority was mine, allowing me to get my Elves out of the pinch they were in.
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Turn 1: The Narrow Escape (Priority - Elves)
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As you can see, the Elves thankfully won priority and began a valiant retreat towards Gandalf and the rest of his gang. Gandalf successfully cast the spell "Cast Blinding Light," which will afford some archery protection for most of the Elves. The Uruk raiders advance further, threatening both the main corps and Legolas' small band at the top of the picture.
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Here is Vrasku (represented, as mentioned previously, by an Elrond figure). In the Shoot phase, Three Elven units (an archer, a swordsman, and a spearman) killed 3 Uruks (1 with shield, two with swords) and Legolas killed one Orc swordsman. Vrasku responded by killing 2 Elven archers (paying 1 Might to do so) and 2 Orc archers assited him by killing 2 more Elven archers. Ouch...
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Kill count: Elves 4/50, Uruk Raiders 4/26
Turn 2: Turn and Fire! (P - Elves)
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After winning priority again, my Elves are able to group together, with Gandalf on one flank, perfectly posed to cast a devastating display of magic. The Uruks contiune to press, however, and remain very close to Legolas' friends.
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During the Shoot phase, 2 Elf archers and an Elf spearman killed 2 Uruks with shields and an Orc spearman. The Uruks responded by killing another Elven archer and wounding Legolas (no fate used). Vrasku then cranked up his crossbow and wounded Legolas, who saved the hit with his 1 Fate point. As you can see, Legolas has no friendly support and is greatly outnumbered.
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Kill count: Elves 7/50, Uruk Raiders 5/26.
Turn 3: A Flurry of Arms (P - Uruk Raiders)
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So here are the lines of battle: Ugluk and Gandalf calls a heroic movements, with Ugluk moving first and Gandalf moving second. Ugluk leads his men into the line of Elves. During the Fight phase, Ugluk and 2 other Uruks killed their swordsmen, making the ranks a bit less even here.
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Gandalf responds in kind by knocking people over with "Sorcerous Blast:" with the 2 Will points and free point he spent to cast the spell, he killed the spearman he targeted and one other, but two others remained on the ground (bummer). The Elves responded by killing 2 Uruks and 1 Orc with spear during the Shoot phase and killed 1 Orc.
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Gandalf was engaged by the other Uruks (able to move after the heroic movements), was trapped, and lost his fight, but fortunately his 3 Fate points saved him from taking any wounds. Legolas (not visible in any of these pictures) won his fight (spending 2 Might points) and killed an Uruk with sword.
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Kill count: Elves 14/50, Uruk Raiders 8/26.
Turn 4: The Battle Ensues (P - Uruk Raiders)
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With the armies now firmly engaged, the battle rages. BUT, Gandalf called an unopposed heroic move, cast another Sorcerous Blast (not blocked), allowing him to attack other units and prevent him from being trapped again. Ugluk was also taken out of commission. Two Elves with throwing daggers killed their targets during the Move phase and 2 others killed their targets in the Shoot phase. Vrasku succeeded in picking off an Elf spearman (2 Might points) who was supporting another unit, while an Orc archer sent a painful, barbed arrow into an Elven archer's chest. In te Fight phase, two Elves killed an Uruk with shield and an Orc swordsman, while the Uruks ganged up on an Elf separman and slew him. Legolas killed an Uruk with sword, again evading death and danger.
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Kill count: Elves 21/50, Uruk Raiders 11/26. The Uruk Raiders are 4 units away from breaking, while the Elves are 2 units away from breaking.
Turn 5: Mettle is Tested (P - Elves)
The pictures for the next few rounds were sparse, and I completely forgot to take pictures of this round. So...here's what happened. Ugluk calls a heroic movement and leads his men into as many men into the Elves as possible, hoping to break them. The Elves respond by...fighting pretty much, because very few can move.
In the Shoot phase, an Elf spearman killed an Orc spearman, making one fight very unfair. Legolas won his fight but failed to wound anyone and used his last Might point to do it. Two Elves succeeded in killing their Uruk opponents (shield and bow), while the Uruks killed 3 Elves (sword, spear, and bow) and one Orc with two-handed weapon crushed an Elf with spear. Gnadalf used his last Might point to kill an Uruk archer he was fighting.
Kill count: Elves 25/50, Uruk Raiders 15/26. Both armies are broken...what a fight so far.
Turn 6: Hope is Kindled (P - Elves)
So there are very few times when you don't want to get priority in this game. With only 9 Elves and 2 heroes left, this would sort of be one of those times. But, since Glenstorm has Ugluk in the field, I'm glad I got it. Gandalf casts "Immobilize" on Vrasku, in an attempt to keep that nasty crossbow from shooting my men up...the spell was resisted. None of the Elves flee, but believe it or not, Vrasku (along with 3 Orcs) fled the field! Wow...how things change. In the Shoot phase, One Orc swordsman died, as did an Elven archer (I think the one that killed the Orc swordsman).
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The Uruk in this picture wounded Legolas, but this wound was saved by his 2nd Fate save (1 more left). At this point, Glenstorm was getting a little unhappy with his inability to wound the famed archer of Mirkwood. In the rest of the Fight phase, 2 Uruks killed 2 Elves, while an Elf killed one Uruk in return.
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Kill count: Elves 27/46, Uruk Raiders 18/26.
Turn 7: Blow for Blow...Measure for Measure (P - Elves)
With the Elves trumping priority again, they pull back and engage as few units as possible. Ugluk keeps most of the units in line with his Stand Fast! (he didn't give a 12" radius because he didn't want to lose anyone), but 5 Orcs and 3 Uruks fled the field...bummer. Not much happened this round, but the Elves killed 2 Uruks and Legolas killed 1 Orc, while an Uruk took down yet another Elf.
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Very few units remain on both sides, which bodes well for the Elves. There are, at the end of this round, 8 Uruks and 7 Elves. YAYE!
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Kill count: Elves 30/38, Uruk Raiders 19/26.
Turn 8: Wrapping Up Details (P - Uruk Raiders)
So this round was interesting: no Uruks fled, but one Elf did (cone of shame for you, pal). Legolas was able to shoot in his first shoot phase in the last 5 turns this round, and scored only one kill (an Orc archer). Grrr...in other news, the only other things that happened this round (besides a lot of people looking really silly) were that an Elven swordsman killed yet another Uruk with a throwing dagger and an Orc swordsman wounded Gandalf. With no fate points left, that's 1 health down, 2 more to go.
Kill count: Elves 32/38, Uruk Raiders 19/25.
Turn 9: The Unhappy End... (P - Elves)
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Here you can see the last of the forces. Legolas is shooting away now with impunity, free from those who were pursuing him. Gandalf failed to cast a Sorcerous Blast against Ugluk, but kept the rest of the Elves in line and ready for the fight. 2 of the Elves with swords (not the one facing Ugluk) killed their men.
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Gandalf is supported here by an Elf, but they fail to wound their opponent, who jumps back and avoids the glowing sword, Glamdring. For a moment, I thought I was going to get some revenge on the Orc that actually wounded Gandalf...but alas, not today.
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Gandalf's failure was joined by Ugluk, who also succeeded in winning his fight, but failed to roll a 3+ on either of his dice (rolled a 1 and 2) to wound his only opponent. Bummer for him...
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Kill count: Elves 34/38, Uruk Raiders 19/25.
It was as this point in the game that the Uruks decided they were not going to win this, because not only did Legolas sit far from reach with a (mostly) full quiver ready to strike, but most of the Elves near Gandalf were free of their opponents. The battle was over.
Assessment:
There really is nothing else to say except that this was a close game. I really enjoyed going head-to-head with Glenstorm's Uruk-Hai and Orc army, which was both enjoyable and fun. Ultimately, the Elves carried the day, but had a few things changed, the Uruks definitely could have seized victory. I'm looking forward to playing Glenstorm again...but all in due time.
Stellar unit for Wood Elves: Wood Elf Warrior with Elven blades
I need to credit these guys with most of the victory. They killed (sometimes with the help of supporting spears) 10 guys and with the aid of spears managed to kill 1 other unit. The spears killed 9 on their own (mostly by throwing daggers), but given that one of their number fled the field, I can't in good conscience give them the "stellar unit award." I would like to add as an aside that in the open ground, the throwing daggers of the elves succeeded in killing 8 units in the first 4 rounds and 7 total during the game. The cost of the units the daggers killed was 107 points, which is more than three times the cost of the daggers themselves (32 points).
Stellar unit for Isengard Raiders: Uruk Scouts with Shields
These guys are dependable, powerful troops. Not only do they attack with Strength 4 weapons, but their shields allow them to take a beating from most troops. Today, however, they struck deadly blows against 6 Elves, which nearly pays for the cost of all 8 units fielded (and more than pays for the 6 who killed their foes). It should also be noted that the archers in the army killed 6 Elves (between all 12 archers), half of which were protected by Gandalf's Cast Blinding Light spell. For being Orc bows in the hands of marginally helpful archers, the work of these bowman must be applauded (especially since the "peerless" Elven archers only killed 5 units at a distance - not including Legolas).
