Icelandic Battles

 

For quite some time, and after many ... many hours of preparation, I took my plans to play Dark Age wargames using MESBG rules. The decision seemed like a great one. At the end of the evening, I wasn't sure if that was the case. 

I also wanted to use the Icelandic sagas as a context for the games. I prevaricated between the career of Offa, king of Mercia, but decided on the sagas. This may may have been influenced by my listening to the 'SagaThing' podcast which I very much enjoy. 

But to the battle, I'd made (and re-made) lists for both Saxons and Vikings using the MESBG rules. This included making point values for each type of figure. I eventually made two armies in 200, 300 and 400 points to enable a range of battles and skirmishes. I would be using the excellent Lion Rampant Icelandic Blood feud supplement to help make games. I'd used this before and it was fun. 

My first idea was to start the blood feud with a bear hunt. The valley's most wealthy farmer had suffered losses over several weeks to a violent bear. The creature had killed several hunters and our two potential heroes - Kolbein and Finnbogi - set out with their men (300pts MESBG) to find and kill the creature. Both sides would have to poke through caves and woods to flush out the bear - which had the stats of a hill troll. The area was also filled with bandits who had an equal chance to emerge from the woods and attack the searching parties.  

Above is Kolbein's forces. Both side had around 17-18 men made up of bondi, veteran warriors and a very few huscarls (the only troops with mail.) At the very first attempt, Kolbein (Nick) flushed the bear from the woods. It was played by another friend, Ian. This happened sooner than I'd hoped and left Ian with only a bear to command. I had envisaged he'd have a few more troops to influence the game. As can be seen above, the bear took flight from the entire troop of Kolbein. 

Kolbein advanced. His force had more veteran warriors but less missile troops. 

In the foreground was my force - Finnbogi. I tried to use my two archers and some spear throws to thin Kolbein's ranks - but to no avail. We closed on each other as the bear watched bemused. 

I cobbled together a 3-way initiative roll on the night but I don't think this really worked. I'd done lots of writing in preparation but I just couldn't cover every base. 

The lines clashed. Behind the boulder, Finnbogi attacked with his berserker friend. I hoped these two powerful warriors would dent the opposing warband but this took a long time to eventuate. 

My missiles continued to do little and now Kolbein urged his men on. My line was refused toward the left leaving a chance for Kolbein to wrap around. 

Early victories went to Kolbein as around 3-4 of Finnbogi's force fell. Kolbein can be seen on the left with a blue cross on his shield. He readied his dane axe to slice through his foemen. His veteran warriors were pushing back the opposing bondi. 

At the rear, the bear had run all the way around the back of the hill. Only once did he attack killing one of Finnbogi's men. In response, Finnbogi's kinsman, Grettir, advanced - using a point of might - and surrounded the bear. It battered away these men but failed to kill anyone else for now. 

Fierce combat continued. Spears were hurled at close quartered. Finnbogi and the berserker continued to be mired among lesser foes behind the boulder. Their men were losing ground. Kolbein charged in but Grettir returned from fighting the bear and both these heroes used might to add points of strength. Whoever won would cause hideous wounds to the other. Finnbogi won initiative and Grettir dueld Kolbein first as he was trapped. Grettir hacked down his rival. 

Odin decided victory this day would go to Finnbogi. The fates changed their favour and victory after victory went to Finnbogi's warriors in a single turn. This left more of his enemies dead and now match-ups were favourable to Finnbogi who finally slew his opponents and engaged in the main battle hacking into Kolbein's huscarls. The berserker slew bondi. 

Kolbein's forced reached their break point and we decided to call it there. MESBG usually ends when one side is quartered but we're playing a campaign with one hero possibly mortally wounded. His men dragged their leader away while Finnbogi's men were only too glad to jeer and shout scornful words at their retreating enemies. The fate of Odin was with them this day ... but each warrior knew they were lucky to be alive. 

As for the bear, Grettir managed to wound the creature claiming part of its claw as a prize. But, Grettir also received a deep wound which almost led to his life's dark blood spilling out on the ground. Once more, the Fates, and strong mail links, had saved the day. But the murderous bear escaped. 

For a small game (300 pts as side) the game when much longer than I expected. Part of this was due to talking but also the bear seemed to have taken on the persona of a marathon runner dashing about heedless of its actual murderous nature. As he only commanded the bear, Ian was very hard to engage in the game and perhaps this was reflected in his bear strategic choices. 

Nick stated mid-game that it was very hard to tell the figures apart. After the initial clash, battle lines become very confused in MESBG and, as both armies are vikings - looking very similar - his comment was very sound. This made things a little confusing. I was okay but I had painted all the models on the table. I'll need to go back to the drawing board to solve that issue. 

The result of the game was due to an amazing run of luck turning the tide of combats in a single turn. Finnbogi's men won duel roll after duel roll and killed quite a few (maybe 4?) in a single round. This is quite a bit when both sides only have 17 men. Missile fire was useless on both sides - which did affect Finnbogi as he had more of these troops and slightly less hand to hand troops. The berserker did take quite a while to warm up but eventually felled several opposing warriors. Finnbogi, or his cousin Grettir really, was the only side to challenge the bear (whose tactical choices have already been discussed. Grettir had also hacked down Kolbein with lusty strokes of his sword earning him aclaim, a bag of silver and, possibly, a name for his weapon. 

After the write up, the game sounds pretty good ... but ... afterwards ... I didn't feel like it had worked. I'm unsure if it was enjoyable for a few reasons. The sides are very similar with forces both being made of the same troops. This means dice throws may be the main deciding factor - and no-one likes dice alone deciding a game. I also didn't have everything figured out to answer all the players questions - leaving me feeling a bit uncertain. Overall, I'm not sure MESBG are the right rules for the job and I think next time, I might run with Saga. I'll also considering altering the lists to buy troops in 50 point 'blocks' of troops - either 8 bondi, 6 veteran warriors or 4 huscarls. I've done so much work on my Dark Age figures since December last year (rebasing and re-highlighting around 180-190 28mm models) that, while I can see the benefit of labeling each figure into named units, I'm not sure I've got the energy right now. Perhaps I'll just listen to another Saga on 'Sagathing' to become inspired. 

Then again, after years of striving to successfully bring the Dark Ages to the tabletop - and engaging other players in a time period I find so intriguing and beguiling - I'm a bit fatigued. Perhaps the Norns have weaved my wyrd, the skeins of fate, to determine I shall wander wargaming unfulfilled for another year.  

Arnor wrests heirlooms from Dunnish hands

This week was back following Dunland's prolonged campaign to spread evil across north-western Middle Earth. Once again, Thrydan led his troops against Arnor, but Saruman was busy attempting to craft the materials gathered in their last battle into a working ring of power. 

It was 600 points Dunland vs Arnor. The scenario involved corner deployment and four heirlooms that needed to be gathered, then dragged into the centre of the table where ... well, I don't really know. Was there a supernatural locii here that focused their energies? Maybe, we'll go with that explanation. 

My Arnor force contained Arvedui, Malbeth and a captain - my confidence in Agardir had fallen of late. I'd chosen to increase my missile power and had 10 rangers in my force. I also had around 6 knights. Model numbers were quite even between the forces - maybe Arnor was a little higher. 

Due to deployment in each corner, each segment of our armies could be threatened. As it turned out, we all tried to go for the closest objective rather than trying to amass our forces to wipe out a part of the opposition. This was probably due to the scenario ending on the roll of a 1 or 2 after one force broke - not quartered as usual. 

Thrydan led a reasonably large mounted contingent. 

Across for them, Arvedui commanded a body of spear+board men with 3 knights and 4 rangers. These men looked across the table at the Dunnish horse and grinned. The rangers liked their chances at felling the enemy steeds before they could play a significant role in the battle. 

On the opposite side, Malbeth ordered his men forward while trying to organise his tarot cards and fluffing about with tea leaves. 

A deadly game of cat and mouse began amidst the buildings. We didn't precisely locate our battle. I'm thinking Tharbad, crumbling city on the Greyflood River. 

Each commanders cavalry was cautious of being charged by the other. Arnor knights had deadly lances, while Dunland had Thrydan. The cavalry positioned themselves behind the buildings but leaving avenues to counter-charge if the enemy proved to be rash. 

The Arnor rangers also awaited the Dunland cavalry to advance. They had shot down two cavalry in the first exchange, however, after the initial volleys, their aim proved less effective and arrow points were failing to bite. 

Above shows Dunland cavalry lurking while Arvedui's men picked up one heirloom. 

Despite this, it was Dunland who secured 3 (i think) of the objectives early in the game. I, Arvedui, was cautious about picking up the objectives as, each turn they are held, the model must roll to be transfixed by the allure of the heirloom. I decided to stop near the objective, wait for Dunland to pick up, then attack. 

I was well served by a helpful crebain with an overhead go-pro. As the urban battlefield was quite littered with objects discarded by terrified townsfolk, and the army deployment was so widespread, it was hard to grab good shots of the combat. 

Arvedui's force was assailed by two cerbain flocks. The doomed king hacked at the creatures as they repeatedly swooped down to kill the standard bearer of Arnor. These birds, even with a reduction in their powers, are still real menaces as they are continually difficult to eradicate. I find that trolls always die much faster than bloody crebain ... where's the logic there, MESBG???

While the king fought in the background, the Arnor warriors edged toward the centre of the table with one heirloom. 

A mixed group of pyromaniac and huscarl Dunnish moved around a building. One held an heirloom but this group would pair off to try to secure another heirloom which was just out of sight around the building on the left. 

I think I shall simply call this image, "Fucking birds!" Arnor may need to new sword and lance sharpener as well. 

Just off camera to the right, two Dunnish riders had attacked and the rangers had shot then stabbed at these two as they threatened the flank. By now, almost all the original mounted force of Thrydan had peeled off or, mostly, been shot down. 

The Dunland group pictured above now battled Malbeth's soldiers over another heirloom. The Arnor forces pressed them back, with some casualties, then a ranger would run forward to grab the prize. 

Overall, Dunland were taking steady casualties across the field. This steady drip of losses inexorably moved them toward their break point which could end the game suddenly. Both armies held an equal number of objectives now but Dunland was more effective by moving them closer to the centre of the battlefield. 

Frida and Gorolf (no idea if I spelled those correctly) led their force to secure an heirloom but were pressed fiercely by the Arnor warriors. Here, Dunland was proving more effective in combat and the Arnor line was thinning. An Arnor captain was present but I felt a Dunland push could defeat this force. However, time was passing and objectives needed to be the centre of the table to claim maximum victory points. Dunland opted to protect their prize and slowly move back. 

Malbeth's force hacked through their enemies but themselves suffered steady losses. Here the Arch-Twit of Prognostication, Malbeth, mixed his Taurus with his Elbereth. His foresight swam and he failed to save almost anyone with his powers. Arnor were losing more troops than preferred but they were still much ahead of Dunland. I think I noticed having less combat troops in the ranks with my increased count of rangers and cavalry. 

Also above, Arnorian warriors and knight surround and stab at the Oathmaker. This should have resulted in an easy defeat for this high-strength but low-defence hero. However, he simply would not die and showed surprising levels of martial prowess to drive away his assailants. 

Thanks goodness Malbeth did not mix up his ability to influence initiative rolls at this point in the game. After not involving himself early in the battle, Malbeth now ensured Arnor controlled the tempo of the game. Arvedui used his palantir to also grab initiative at a key moment. Both of these resulted in extracting precious might from Dunland to try to wrest control of the battle rather than spending it for other uses - such as heroic combat. 

Without his horsemen, Thrydan rode into the middle of the table, to protect the Dunnish heirloom bearers when they arrived. He sheltered behind an obelisk, no doubt an artefect left by those imperious Numenorians in the Second Age. However, the butt of his faithful steed was just within reach of Arnorian spears who happily advanced to tie him up. Just to the left, an Arnorian knight charged one Dunland heirloom bearer. 

Thrydan had just enough might for a heroic combat and, in this, everything went his way. He hacked down two Arnorians but then failed to kill the knight. This freed the heirloom bearer for precious moments. 

Dunland losses were mounting across the table and their precipitous break point approached. Arnor needed to act to secure the game in its final moments. 

Above shows Arnor finishing off a Dunalnd riders and the melee around the obelisk. Arvedui is in this pack. Both leaders were in the centre of the table. A reckoning may occur ... 

Malbeth urged his troops forward and one soldier stabbed his spear into the entrails of a Dunnish warrior. The heirloom spilled onto the ground. In the background, the ranger with another heirloom reached the centre, guarded by a warrior who used his shield to ward off any stray arrows. 

(Yep, at the top left, the Oathmaker again fights off two charging Arnor knights and two warriors who surround him. He's not killing anyone but the self-harming fanatic isn't dying either.)

(The One Ring is marking the centre of the table.)

Now quite a few (around 8) Arnorians were in the centre, outnumbering any Dunland forces. This was another key aspect of the scenario. It was all coming together for the forces of the falling kingdom. 

At the top of the table, the battle had long raged. Dunland edged backwards but the powers of Malbeth and Arvedui - which controlled initiative in the battle - meant Arnor warriors continually pressed up to engage their enemy. This tied up many warriors. Frida fought ferociously to defeat the Arnorians as they pressed up. Gorolf fought well too but the Arnorians chose to avoid him. The rangers continually targeted Gorolf, who is nigh untouchable in combat due to free heroic defences each round. Fate narrowly saved the Dunland hero from the dark clutches of death. 

The Arnor Captain pressed into the Dunland warriors, avoiding their heroes. At the last gasp of the battle, his axe hacked down the heirloom bearer and this too spilled onto the cobblestones of Tharbad. 

Everywhere the Dunland lines were thin, their corpses ready to feed the ravenous wolf and sharp raven's beak. 

(You guessed it, bloody Oathmaker is fighting off yet another assault in the top of the image!)

And, as a new turn began, a dice result ended the game. Dunland had broken two turns before so this wasn't unexpected as the scenario did have a 1 in 3 chance of ending each round. What was significant was the felling of both Dunland heirloom bearers in the turn before the game ended. This left them with no victory points. Arnor, with two heirlooms in the centre, more troops in the centre and their enemy broken, had won. It was 11-0 VPs. 

Both Nick and I found this one very interesting as it provided strategic challenges for each player. Having two deployment zones on opposite table corners made the division of forces one delectable problem to solve. Each army had the objectives within reach but would need to split their forces to challenge all. As it turned out, Dunland elected to directly threaten more heirlooms in the game while Arnor secured two with a strong force then tried to wrest control of the others. In the end, this strategy worked but this was likely due to particular factors of the Arnor force. 

We both agreed, Arnor's ability to dictate the flow of initiative in crucial phases of the game was very important. This was a major advantage and limited Dunland's ability to move their captured heirlooms away from threats. Also, Arnor's rank and file troops - the Arnorian warrior - has good FV and defence. As all have spear, positioning is less of a problem. Their troops are simply better than Dunland although the Dunnish high strength is a constant threat. The heroes of Dunland are low cost, numerous, supply sound stores of might and have special powers (high strength for the Oathmaker and high defence for Gorolf) that are useful. While his fight isn't impressive, Thrydan's raw killing power is worthy of much praise as he consistently causes damage. Praise should go to the Oathmaker who, despite all the odds, simply would not lose a single combat rolling six after six against many foes of equal FV. But such deeds should not be relied upon. 

Dunland's heroes fight well while Arnor hero's buff their troops. Both Nick and I agreed its quite a close match up with very mid-range heroes for both sides and no over-the-top powers or heroes that make you feel dirty after use. I didn't get Arvedui's position right tonight, and Malbeth only saved one soldier, but my little captain fought well. Archers nibbled at their opponents but provided a metronomic threat rather than game changing casualties. I liked having the advantage in missile fire for once (I'm used to the lacklustre fire of Orcs) and also a goodly amount of knights with lances. Arnor is quite a happy place for me as I like the combination of troops (stalwart footmen, effective archers and reliable knights) and the lore of the gradually diminshing doomed kingdom. 

It was another high quality night of wargames aided by the solid MESBG rules and greatly enhanced by sharing it with a very good friend. 

Behold! I am Saruman, destroyer of worlds!

 

After a brief break, we were back to MESBG. My friend, Nick, looked for a way to enhance his Dunland army, which, thus far, had been flailing for success. As Arnor is a little one dimensional, I decided to give Army of the Great Eye a go for the first time. 

The scenario involved both sides being only around 6" apart and the deployment zone was situated diagonally across the battlefield. A single objective marker was at each end. Both sides had a couple of wargs to harry the back objective. Dunland had a hero on a horse and two crebain giving them a clear advantage in their ability to threaten the back objective. I had an advantage of about 7-8 figures, but these were mostly Mordor Orcs. I did have a troll but ... he turned out to be more trouble for me than the enemy. 

And then, of course, Nick had taken Saruman ... 

We set up ... as you can see a barricade separated the armies with lots of scatter terrain to stop the formation of a long battle line. This would inhibit the ability of Mordor to use their advantage in numbers in an meaningful way. The Orcs frothed in a rage to close with their foes - to no avail. 

More images of deployment. 

The game began with initiative falling to the Dunnish and they used this to fall back. I had a brief opportunity to launch my troll after my 'C' grade general wraith used a compel. I thought better of this as I had no way to support him with orcs. Much to my considerable anguish, I knew trolls were pathetic without support. They need a banner and flank guards at the least. 

Falling back was a great move from Nick and played directly into his strengths. Dunland had 5-6 archers while Mordor had none. Also, Saruman. 

The Destroyer of Worlds began by summoning lightning. This was made slightly more difficult by the close deployment allowable in this scenario. But retreating alleviated this problem and a bolt struck from the heavens killing 4-5 Orcs ... who were all my front shield-carrying battle line. This resulted in the left side of my army dangerously exposed as my rear line of Mordor Orcs are unable to take shields ... and Defence 4 is very vulnerable to everything. The lightning strike also wounded my Task Master and robbed him of his single fate point. 

Dunland did advance and ran toward Mordor's back objective. It was two identical warg riders each but Dunland had a crebain. If my Orcs could only hurl their javelins well ... 

Dunland continued to retreat. As shown above, more scatter terrain provided fairly good blocking features to guard their flanks and prevent the Mordor forces from establishing a single battle line. 

I run one group of Morannon Orcs around the side of the building and then I was "Saruman-ed" again. I called a heroic march - to speed my flankers advance - but Saruman summoned the winds halving my movement ACROSS THE ENTIRE BATTLEFIELD! 

This wind had the addtional effect of preventing my charge in the centre. I had drawn one Dunland warrior out with a compel and the troll was positioned to charge-barge then attack. This time he would have Orcish support but nothing could happen because of the wizardly gale. My Orcs again gnashed their teeth and cursed Dunland but, in fact, their own deep inadequacy was to blame. 

You recall I hoped I could throw javelins ... yep, I couldn't. Nick did with ease. Now the objective was held by one lone warg rider versus two and a crebain. 

These troops immediately obliged by buggering the single warg rider witless. 

Saruman's next trick was to make his entire army terrifying. I've already made my views on terror in MESBG pretty clear on this blog - it sucks! Good is immune to it and evil is vulnerable to it. With my terrible leadership of 7+ and 8+ it wasn't worth even trying to attack. This would only result in a piecemeal assault which could be surrounded and cut down. My Orcs quailed and, sensing the ebbing influence of their master, didn't even have the ferocity to wail and claw to show their disgust. It was becoming very clear Mordor was totally outclassed this day. 

By this point in the game, I'd lost about 8-9 models to Nick's 1-2. My number advantage was gone. 

Apart from Saruman transfixing the troll, Dunland had the initiative and charged in. Numbers were equal now and Mordor performs dreadfully in such situations - Orcs need some type of advantage as they are mostly terrible troops. The scatter terrain ensured that the warriors were lined up neatly. It was around this time Saruman gazed into his palantir ... he would have giggled looking at the massive pile of Mordor dead his army was soon to create ... but for now it simply enabled him to control the flow of the game by grasping the initiative. 

In desperation, I expended two might to try to create some combat advantages, but the 50/50 roll went against me. My Task Master failed to stop the might point expenditure and this meant I had only my Orcish Captain might remaining. 

The only good thing about the 'Army of the Great Eye' is ... you guessed it ... the Great Eye. This is a disappointing little 25mm marker than moves around the battlefield to aid Mordor acting as another banner. It radiates a -1 to leadership, which is entirely a joke as this army only has one real ability to make their enemy test courage - the terror causing compulsory wraith general. I also had a troll in this scenario - providing some hope this leadership reduction may prove beneficial. As long as you don't roll a '1', the Great Eye can bolster Mordor forces. The moment a '1' is rolled, your opponent can send it hurtling across the battlefield at double the speed it can advance. 

This is exactly what happened to the Eye as the battle lines met. 

Dunland's mounted hero - Thrydan - also decided he couldn't be arsed securing the objective (he didn't need to as my defending forces had already collapsed) and attacked the flank of my army. 

I felt okay about this as my Mordor Captain guarded the flank. He has good defence and a banner, ... a real physical banner ... not a flitting easily distracted Great Eye of a demi-god with ADHD either. 

With these advantages ... Thrydan buggered him in a single turn, inflicting around 8 wounds. 

There goes my might stores. 

Things were getting worse and I just needed my troll into the fray. I couldn't wait so pushed him up. This, unfortunately, was into the only Dunland hero I didn't want to fight - the Oathmaker. On paper, he isn't much but he does have heroic strength - making him a natural threat to a high defence troll. However, with my high fight value and three attacks I might be okay. Oh, if only I had that Great Eye marker that my army was named for ... 

The result ... the Oathmaker smashed my troll in a single turn of fighting! 

(Is anyone detecting a theme for the evening?)

With no other options, I had to run my general back to tackle the objective. This was likely a terrible decision as my magic could have helped in the main line fighting, but it felt like I had little choice. I was actually scared of Saruman's magic. I know from experience Istari can do nasty things to wraiths as I've had my Witch King almost banished a few times. That single wraith wound makes them feel extremely vulnerable to me. I can't say I ever feel confident about using a wraith and I avoid it whenever I can. This saddens me as I really love the Witch King character and the model. (And no, I'm not buying some impossible to store WK on fellbeast model to compensate.)

Now my line was attacked from the front and both ends. My Morannon attack on the flank had arrived but, after a variety of early casualties to the Orcish line, Dunland could easily slide enough troops over to match this force 1-to-1. When this happened last week, the superior FV, defence and decent strength of the Morannons chopped down the Dunnish men. 

Yep, the theme returned ... my Morannon's started to fall. 

Due to Nick's several retreats, the Dunland objective could not be threatened. He'd parked his entire army directly beside it. As he had the advantage in ranged troops, a MASSIVE magical advantage, more mounted troops and flyers ... I was forced to advance away from my objective exposing it to many of those factors.

More and more Orcs fell. I had lost about 17-18 to Dunland's 4. 

Sure, the wraith won the duel ... but did not wound to anything. He couldn't! Saruman can cast spells through the crebain like little feathery fax machines. The wizard had almost battlefield-spanning range on his spells. I expended will but, as the fights were going all to Dunland, Nick's might stores could be spent on more exotic things ... like heroic strikes, heroic strength and - in this case - heroic channeling. 

Oh, how the Orcs died and died and died. It was a total massacre. 

This raised another little beef with MESBG, which I have mentioned ... but a long time ago. The victory point total was only 8-0 in Nick's favour. This was in a battle he totally dominated. I didn't try to break any sooner - I'm a grognard at heart and can't bring myself to play that way - BUT if you were so inclined, you could manipulate a scenario you were losing to minimise losses or (if you were sufficiently sneaky) draw or even win. As far as I'm concerned, I should have lost 30-0. Because my force broke (and almost quartered) so fast, it limited the VPs he could attain. 

What can I say? I was outplayed and my army selection was poor based on the foe I played. Nick's withdrawal and timing of Saruman's skills had been battle changing. In many ways, I think Saruman's powers gave me no hope of victory. These powers completely enabled him to control the battle. 

As stated above, I had a narrow advantage in numbers but disadvantage in riders/flyers - making this scenario hard. I couldn't sit back to defend as Saruman's magic and Dunnish missile troops (the total lack of any missile troops from Mordor) would result in steady losses. Having 2-3 'honesty' bows wouldn't have made any difference. I also had a narrow pool of might and Dunland has copious low cost heroes which supply quite a bit. My expenditure of might was countered by Saruman's tricks. The scary thing was, Saruman did most of his damage without actually expending will points - he had a free one each turn just to show his total superiority. The high strength of the Dunland warriors finally paid off, especially against those exposed Mordor orcs. If the duel rolls turn in their direction, their high strength troops can leave gashes in their enemy lines. The Great Eye ... was a complete non-event. I think this marker/army ability integrates well with people taking the Black Num line - which causes terror. I don't have those troops. 

My selection of a troll was flawed as it had no defence against Saruman's transfix - which he could reliably do with free will points alone. I may been better off with Shelob as she has a store of will to defend herself against spells. Alternatively, no monster all take the maximum number of Morannon Orcs eliminating all Mordor Orcs. Overall, Arnor would have been a much better choice. 

But my main crime was ignorance. I had NO idea of what Saruman was capable of. I just thought he was an ordinary type of caster like the Witch King or Gandalf. All that weather shit caught me totally off guard. I know from experience, fantasy and sci-fi games rely on their players being dedicated enough to learn every aspect and combination of their enemy armies (FOW became like this toward the end of its popularity too.) I really couldn't be arsed to spend time reading about models I don't own. This ensures that I'll fall prey to such situations as I did last night, but I can live with that. 

As Nick said at the end, this wasn't even the optimal Isengard build. This only convinces me my armies (Angmar, Mordor, Arnor) don't stand the remotest chance of standing against such MESBG dominating forces.