MESBG Battle Report Angmar Versus Gondor

MESBG Battle Report - Osgiliath Under Black Gate Assault

 

Last night saw a 700 point between the Army of Osgiliath, led by the Wonder Twins (shown below), and the forces of the Black Gate. The only real feature of the Black Gate was the inclusion of a Task Master. Otherwise the list was the compulsory heroes with as many Morannon Orcs as possible. The Gondorian forces included but two cavalry, which did sterling work, a good smattering of rangers, a few veterans then some tin cans. 

(Not sure which is Faramir ... nah, I think we all do.)

The scenario was out of a book I don't have but consisted of three objectives across the centre. Points were gained for having heroes close to the objectives by the end of the game ... which, of course, was reached when someone was quartered. 

In what was revolutionary strategy in an MESBG game, I won first turn priority and chose to actually keep it. With this, I spent a point of might to heroic march and shuffled down the middle of the battlefield (see image #1 above) as fast as our misshapen orcs legs could carry us. I know, I'm a modern Pyrrhus! 

The Black Gate kept up this bold strategy while taking a faceful of arrows from the rangers. This produced a lot more hits than it did wounds and only around 2-3 orcs fell to this arrow storm (around 10 shots per turn really.) 

"Up the guts!" cried the troll chieftain. 

Boromir, with the large force of Osgiliath veterans, liked the look of the smaller force of Orcs led by the Mouth of Sauron. The Mouth simply obeyed the troll, and went 'up the guts.'

The Troll was thinking about breaking off toward Boromir's force but really didn't want to contact the Wonder Twin with infinity might. He wanted to just crush the rank and file. I was betting I could kill the Gondorians faster than they could kill me and I had a slight number advantage. With one more hero, I hoped I could gain the objective advantage. 

Then, it was on. The battle lines met and foes began to fall. Losses mounted on each side but with a slight advantage to the Black Gate. Morannon Orc Strength 4 and defence 6 was paying off, as was the added FV gained by dueling men. Even the Mouth charged ... but did nothing. His main purpose is to Transfix Boromir at key moments (which happened but once - he's no Mandrake.) 

By now, the Task Master was beginning to really pay off. After the first failed roll, the Task Master stayed with 6 inches of the Mouth, and Troll, and ended up saving around 5 might for the game. With these I called more heroic moves - and an occasional heroic combat, forcing the Wonder Twins to tap into their enormous stores. But today, the sun shone too bright and even might did not lead to evil winning the ascendancy in such tight rolls. 

The Troll would have dearly loved to throw a warrior at Boromir knocking him from his horse but, in my head, I thought I would need to pass 'in the way tests' for a thrown person. Pays to check the rules, and I didn't - to my detriment. 

Above shows the two battle lines clashing. The troll made his way around the back, trying to strike down supports alleviating threats to the orcs front line. Blows rained down on each side and many fell. Boromir's standard is truly horrific to fight against with its large area and tipping the scales when FV duel rolls are drawn. Added to this, the Osgiliath veterans +1 to wound against Mordor meant the Gondorians were just as lethal as the Morannons with their Strength of 4. 

The Task Master ... what an Orc. After one game, I adore him. (No doubt he'll brutally kick me in the nuts in the next game ... I'll still persevere.)

The knights rode around the back sniping away at any stragglers. On many occasions, I thought I had thrown enough orcs to do them harm only to be disappointed. Again, these are a ripe target for the troll, throwing enemies in combat, and I should have done this earlier to save me later pain. 

Increasingly, all sense of battle lines was being lost and a churning melee broke out. Boromir was everywhere and his banner was leading to many losses ... but the orcs also slew their foes. Numbers of Gondorian dead reached their break point. 

Boromir used successive heroic combats to kill an orc and then charge the Troll. The Troll was unscathed despite these attacks and soon it would claim Boromir's horse. (I wish I'd done that a LOT sooner greatly limiting the heroes ability to influence combats.) The heroic combat rolls were going the way of Boromir quite often. This mitigated the trolls damage potential. 

Faramir's command was being cut apart. They were surrounded by bloodthirsty orcs who spared not one soul ... save Faramir who barely lost a duel roll and has more fate than an ent has leaves. 

On the other flank the opposite was occurring. The rangers stood in manly fashion and slew their foes. Although numbers here had been roughly even, the rangers proved to be deadly. The orcs pictured above were soon finished off. 

The victorious orcs from the centre charged across to take out this small force. I felt that killing rangers should be easy with their low defence. On this left side, this was not the case. Damrod, or some other minor ranger hero, stood defiant on the objective. This required attention. 

Then, Boromir charged the Mouth. Also, Faramir fought desperately - and very successfully against a Morannon Captain and 3-4 orcs. It was here that the Wonder Twins began to trade off points to the benefit of both. The Task Master watched on, sticking to his objective in the centre of the table. A hail of arrows aimed at him was prevented by a low stone wall (not picture above.) 

As Boromir moved away, the men now were being cut down. I regret not pointing the Troll at the cavalry but I was thinking about claiming the right objective. The Osgiliath Reclaimed break had arrived and their quartered level was rapidly approaching. The knights continued to fend off any attacks and strike down some foes.

Then I did something I slightly regret. The Troll chieftain fought Boromir. With massive stores of fate and might, realistically I stood little chance at killing him. I gave it a damn good go by inflicting two wounds. Boromir staggered back not broken. I guess this did stop him from killing anyone else. Without his horse, and with little support, I felt that the troll had the upper hand. Again, Wonder Twin powers prevent death. This was mainly due to Faramir not needed any Fate (or might) as he was winning all his combats. 

Now both forces were low but the Men would be quartered first. In a final turn flurry, a knight charged and slew the Task Master and Faramir cut down my Morannan Captain. Just like that, the Black Gate was broken (doesn't mean the same in MESBG as ANY other wargame - only means half casualties) but the game was done. The Troll Chieftain had positioned himself close to the central objective. The left objective looked like it would be claimed for good but the ranger hero fled after failing a leadership test. It would be a victory to evil by 6 points to 2. The wounds to Boromir, quartering the foe and holding one objective decided the game. 

As the above lithograph indicates, it was a torrid battle of considerable blood letting. The Black Gate had lost - neatly - half their forces. Good suffered worse. The Troll remains a beast and the Mouth of Sauron proved an able defender - even thought he didn't kill much in this game. In terms of magic, he was limited from less priority wins and, as Boromir charged him, he was unable to use his tranfix at key moments. He didn't die though and that's something. 

The Task Master was a beast ... not in combat ... but did great work buffing (?) the forces of evil with extra might. He was worth 4-6 might to our side and that was significant. I really like the Black Gate list and have learned to value the troops (I'm looking at you Morannons) that performed so badly for so many games but are now frightful beasts in combat. Its a great one dimensional list that I love for week night play when the brain is a little too tired for complex strategy. 

But, with new models painted, I need to summon my Angmar forces once more from the frozen north ... and that will be a challenge to remember all the special rules. (And will likely involve chucking out a lot of pissweak powers - easily resisted - then trying to kill much superior warriors with shit-house orcs. Ah, if the Angmar lore wasn't so appealing ... would anyone play them? Certainly no-one who needs a shorter game length.)