It was around SA 2100 when the last MESBG game was played at my wargaming dojo. It was a welcome return but I felt fragile. I selected the bludgeoning force, low might, low magic and few profiles of the Black Gate to sooth my return.
I was up against Nick's Men of the West ... with just men and no eagles. Oh, Legolas was jiggering about somewhere ...
I only had two battlegroups. The larger deployed in a central position, while the smaller, above, went to the left. This smaller force had the Mouth and a troll.
Aragorn himself marched with some clanking tin cans. Elsewhere, Pippin and a guard hero (Beregond?) led another force. Legolam was jumping about like a right solo tool.
The Black Gate went up the guts. The Troll Chieftain was concerned about Aragorn and waited behind the line to discerns his foe's movement.
We got closer and closer ...
The Men of the Tower were ready.
Wait for it ....
Pow! I charged in. Going 2nd helped as Aragorn was out of the first round. One Man went down and no Orcs. Good start.
When I catch the bastard eagle that took the above image ... Seriously, it shows the battle line. On the top (left flank) the Orcs had secured one objective. In the centre, they had grabbed a second. A whirling melee rages in the bottom (right flank.) Here the Men have secured the third objective.
But, as only a hobbit and a Beregond (?) hold one flank, I shift the troll around to the centre. I secretly hoped to double team Aragorn with both trolls OR just smash tin cans. This is what the Troll Chieftain was engaged in atm.
A few more men fell ... things looked good. The red marker at the back is an objective in possession of the Men of Minas Tirith.
Orcs totally surrounded the two heroes on the left. But, they were beaten back with loss each time.
The melee on the right now swung around and a succession of Orcs fell. At the very top of the image, Legolas has climbed the ruins and he peppered the Morannon battleline with arrows. He was actually pretty ineffective. My orc banner was his main target but this would eventually fall in combat.
Aragorn killed a few Orcs then made the fatal choice to fight the troll leader. The other troll appeared just in time to reduce numbers against the troll, meaning it would be a general vs general fight.
Both used might to strike up ...
Aragorn staggered back ... less a couple of fate and might. The other troll began to hurl warriors around. He did this with deadly accuracy. One plugged Aragorn, knocking him prone. However, the opportunity escaped as Good won the priority and the heroic move roll off.
The Orc main line numbers had been greatly depleted, but so had the men. On the far right, one warrior is running away with the objective.
Again and again, men and Orcs clashed. Then, Aragorn lost another duel and relentless rending blows tore his armour asunder and battered his body into a lifeless state.
While certainly whittled, the Mouth finally wore down Pippin's fate and wounds while the orcs eventually cut down the Minas Tirith hero.
And thereafter, men fell like corn stalks before the scythe. Aragorn's banner effect and fearlessness robbed them of many bonuses. His death exposed the men to the savage fury of the orcs and trolls - both of whom were completely unscathed. The Trolls collected many kills. The objective had now been dropped.
And the Mouth had won on his side too. Two orcs had been furiously running for turns with the objectives. They hugged terrain to prevent Legolas's unerring volleys from cutting them down (this did happen once.) But, the men were too few to prevent the Black Gate from securing the objectives, quartering their opponent, killing the general and narrowly avoiding their own break point. It was a crushing win to the forces of the Dark Lord.
Nick and I both had lots of fun. My trolls did good work but the Mouth's magic achieved nothing. The biggest disappointment of the night was Legolas. He only killed a couple (2-3) but, no doubt, in his next game he'll slaughter a whole battalion. Aragorn lost all his duels against the Troll Chieftain - who, in his defence, is a mightily, dangerous beast. The other troll killed 5 or 6 warriors by throwing them about. The Morannons probably were a little disappointing but did account for a number of warriors.
MESBG supplies another great night of wargaming. Bring on the next one (which will be frustratingly delayed due to a mass of marking and family events for the next three weeks of Mad March!)
