A Tale of an Angry Troll ...

 

After a break, Nick and I returned to MESBG. I was eager to play again and wanted to try something new. I designed a Carn Dum list using two recently rebased ogres I had painted some considerable time in the past. Both were Reaper Miniatures and represent Hill Trolls very nicely. 

The game was 700 points and it was Minas Tirith with the Mad Dad in command with his less famous son, Faramir, and also Ingold and Irolas. That's right, a veritable who's who of the White Tower. Faramir was mounted and commanded knights as he was inspired by the result of similar actions in the books/movies. 

Carn Dum consisted of Aldrac - who had been a total dud in the only other battle I had fielded him - with three orc captains. They commanded around 43 orcs with a single banner, no bows, 2 Hill Trolls and 5 warg riders. 

(Now, perhaps someone working in continuity could explain how Carn Dum had time traveled to the era of the War of the Ring??? I can't. Best not to think about it. I'm sure a similar Orcish stronghold had similar abilities and army roster somewhere in Eriador late in the Third Age.)

We battled around a pond, that wasn't too deep - probably ruined by climate change as a certain Maia had been producing more than his fair share of carbon emissions of late. 

Elsewhere, scattered houses and fences created a few choke points my orcs were keen to avoid. Tin cans are hard enough to kill as it is, without a fence to further inflate their defences. 

It would be 'assassination' so we could line up right to the half way. It was also dark meaning Minas Tirith's citadel guard bowmen would be very deadly ... and my poor diminutive trolls were only D6. Nick could select orc captains aplenty to assassinate but I had a few tough choices. In the end, I chose the worse one ... Ingold. I thought the others might not engage in the fray. 

I lined my forces as far up the board as possible. I hoped to simply crash directly into the Minas Tirith line. I'd deployed a small force over on my far left to close down that side of the board to Faramir and his knights, who could flank me. I also had my right flank refused, Theban style. This was mainly to try and play a few shenanigans in deployment. In any case, my plans worked when I got initiative. A lucky break as I was concerned Nick might fall back with his forces - and his bowfire could kill a troll (especially at +1 to wound due to the darkness from the sceanrio.)

Splashing through the shallow water, the orc line parted to allow a Hill Troll to barrel forward. He was not alone as Aldrac was just to his left - he did a twinkle toed charge along the pond's edge. Orcs, slowed by the water, held back but did reach a position to guard the trolls right. Elsewhere we moved up quickly. Faramir considered which way to commit his knights. I held my warg riders in reserve as I had no confidence in their ability to fight Gondorian knights.

Over on my right, my refused force hurried up and I sent two of my warg riders in a wide arc to, eventually, threaten the Gondorian flank. 

And then the troll happened. With the +1 FV on the charge - thanks Carn Dum - the troll impacted the line surging from the pond water and swinging his bulbous club with frightful menace. Four citadel guard were instantly mashed to paste. Any contribution from Aldrac just paled against that effort. 

Another win for evil in initiative saw evil orcs viciously charge right across the line. No subtly, no finesse ... just savagery. The orcs won most of the fights (thanks again to the +1 FV on the charge) but really didn't kill anyone. Aldrac and the troll maybe popped another two or three. 

Faramir had sent some knights frontally but led another couple around the side. An orc captain expended might, won the roll off, then used a heroic move to catch the cavalry before they could charge. This delayed the second troll from engaging - he was just within the 6" zone of the 'With me!' call - but it blunted the knights effect. One or two knights fell or lost their horses. I did manage to tie up Faramir with a single spear armed orc who promptly won his combat ... but, of course, did not wound.

NOTE: This seems to be developing a theme where my armies in MESBG detest and target all animal life ... birds, wolves or horses. And I'm not sure why???

My right flank force was delaying but it did prevent Ingold from fully committing his line to overwhelm the exposed end of my centre battleline. 

This image simply shows the continued destruction wrought by the troll. He stood besmattered with gore, breathing heavily but elated. He had single handedly smashed the Gondorian centre and his kill count was probably around 10 by mid game. Aldrac had chipped in here or there but managed to fluff his duel roll enough times to make his combat appear rather inconsistent. 

The Carn Dum banner flapped in the breeze and the evil warriors reveled in the 6" extended range of its influence. Now I had an inkling of what playing with Boromir felt like ... bloody easy! That range just covers almost everyone. And it was paying off. Thus far, Gondor's losses were climbing fast while Carn Dum had lost but four orcs! On the far left, an orc captain would fall, easily slain by a Gondorian knight, but that was only a small hiccup in the flow of the game. 

My right arrived and now battle was joined across the line. Here Ingold held out and made me instantly recall why he, and his command, are so damned hard to kill. What was I thinking making him my assassination target ... big mistake! Even my two handed weapon orcs could not make headway. 

The left was shattered and skirmishes occurred between one Gondorian and several Orcs. A consistent drip of casualties were driving the game toward a conclusion. The rampant troll slowed but was throwing and barging his way inexorably toward the Gondor banner and Big Daddy Denethor who had been forced to enter the fray. When he slew an Orc, Nick remarked Denethor could boast in taking one quarter of his armies slain enemies - he was about right. 

(So much for his madness ... it didn't effect him once!)

Aldrac finally completed a deed worthy of song and monstered Irolas with crushing blows leaving him a bloodied corpse, rent with many deep wounds. 

The second troll was also engaged but nowhere near as effective. With several knights lying dead, the Orcs and Wargs riders simply surrounded their foes to hack them down. This doom befell Faramir too who once inhabited that blank space in the wheat field before the trolls upraised club. The infuriated troll relentlessly bludgeoned Faramir inflicting 5 wounds without the assistance of any other Orc that surrounded the hero ... each still had their doubled 'trapped' attacks unrolled and irrelevant.

Little by little even Ingold's command was whittled away. Orcs first flanked, then attacked from the rear. Warg riders threatened the banner and Denethor before throwing themselves into the rear of Gondor's remaining shieldwall. But, nary a blow could bite Ingold's steely defences ...

This crebain eye-view shows the battlefiled in two distinct groups with a small hold out of silver in each area surrounded by the evil swarms from that chill northern hold ... Carn Dum. Any remaining Rohan civilians, huddled in the homes, would have run screaming at this point while a few defenders remained to soak up the attention of the vicious Orcs. 

The left side ... Denethor stood strong but now the troll was only an inch away. The other troll was also within a narrow margin. One Orc captain had won several duels and Aldrac can just be seen at the far right edge of the picture. It was looking grim indeed. 

Not much better was the other side. Orcs were on all sides of Ingold's men but 6 still stood with their captain. Gondor was broken and a roll of 1 or 2 would end then game ... and like that, on the first roll, it did! Neither side had managed to even touch their assassination target or assassin. It was a narrow points victory to Carn Dum (4-1 ... i think) but the game had not been close. 

So looking back ... what happened? Initiative went with Carn Dum at several key moments allowing the troll to embark on a hideous blood-curdling rampage and the Gondorian knights to be engaged flat footed and quite outnumbered. The centrally located troll was hideous and I was left to ponder if I had used the second troll effectively. Perhaps yes as he did kill a knight and Faramir ... not idle boasts. 

With different initiative what would have happened? The citadel guard could have pulled back and some knights could have flanked my force ... but how long could the trolls be held back? Shooting could have easily killed the trolls in another scenario but assassination really helped my cause. If Gondor had managed to kill even one troll here ... results could have been very different. A major factor was the high speed the centrally located Hill Troll killed around 10-11 enemy in around the first 3-4 turns of the game (that may be slightly exaggerated but I call it like I see it!) 

But, ... there's one other factor. Trolls run cold, colder and, very rarely, hot. This was perhaps the most 'hot' game altering performance I've ever seen from a troll and it will take a long time before it happens again, I'm sure. The stars aligned for the two brutes this eve and their wrath was destructively awesome to behold ...